I know I said it at the end of the video, but I want to say again thank you all for watching this video. The reception to this has been great, and I'm thankful for it as I did worry while working on this that people wouldn't like it. That being said I plan on doing more videos like this going forward so be on the look out. Also I did end up making the follow-up video that was mentioned at the end. th-cam.com/video/OEjeHUMIfrE/w-d-xo.html
Emet-Selch probably surprised most of us. Up until his introduction (and even his introduction itself to some degree) Ascians were basically Saturday Morning Cartoon Villains. The "haha I'm evil" kind of villain. Emet kinda started off like that too, but even during his introduction he already had this "sass" that set himself apart from the other Ascians. And the rest is history. He basically humanized the Ascians and actually made me take them way more serious. I'd say Emet-Selch single-handedly saved the whole Ascian storyline.
Yeah, and part of the reason for that is they didn't really have proper plan for them until the events leading up to shadowbringers, and so they had to do a lot of work to change the image they wanted to present going forward which is why Emet is such a good character as he accomplished this. They have actually retroactively tried to help this with the changes to the ending of 2.0 as they offer more hints to the true nature of the ascians with the new Lahabrea fight.
Let's not forget the Ascians are all tempered. Therefore, they do are "I'm evil hahah" because of their, let's say disease. Their aether is corrupted beyond repair, which makes them rationalize everything down to "Zodiark will fix it"
@LiorVolf Thier tempering is not like what we see from others, though. The summoning of Zodiark lacked the bit they mentioned when proposing the mass summoning to fuel the Ragnarok. They had no desire to convert others to Zodiark's worship. Zodiark's tempering is more like an.old, comfortable habit you never can seem to break.
I have said something along the same lines. Early Ascians were so one-dimensional and I wasn't very interested in them. In watzed Emet and changed all that. His character isn't only my favorite character in FFXIV, but ALL of media. Never had a character affect me like that.
@@RocRolDis It's not an old habit. Even the Elpis!Emet-Selch himself said tempered!Emet-Selch is a madman. They were from very pacifist civilization and culture, after tempering they were genocidal, all in the name of Zodiark, rationalizing that their god would revive the dead, knowing too well that's impossible (they did have scientific researches about the afterlife), with no proof he could do that, not even looking for another solution, like, you know... Starting again, you know, the natural process (reproduction), even after millennia
Emet-Selch's image went from ''ha ha ha I'm part of the guys who are evil'' to ''So uhm I basically wrote these things you should atleast do would you be my friend's successor'' and even sets up 6.1 and 7.0 and a whole alliance raid
So, one additional thing I'd like to add, although it's minor, is Ardbert in Shadowbringers. They spend the majority of that expansion in a state not too dissimilar to the WOL in Elpis, and Emet and Hythlo could both see the WOL. This could suggest that Emet became aware of Ardbert pretty quickly. Then, when you compare the methods that a rejoining use and the circumstances of Ardbert rejoining the WOLs soul, there's a surprising amount of overlap. I think Emet left the scions to do their plan partially because it had a good chance of rejoining a piece of Azem's soul, and even if he wanted to win, he wanted to help his friend even more.
Though I believe later when you confront him for the final fight, he says something to the effect that he didn't want to believe you were his friend, but once you join with Ardbert, he seems reluctantly unable to continue to deny it, because you now resemble them to a degree he can no longer ignore.
Shadowbringers was easily one if if not the single best stories ive ever experienced, with Emet-Selch being such a defining factor of that story, its no wonder hes one of my favorite FF characters! yet alone ffxiv. Thanks for the vid, genuinely love his story and watching a reminder just before the new expac seems like great timing haha. Also, something i didnt notice till the end of the vid, but the white in emets hair is very likely symbolic! instead of growing white as he aged, it grew brown as he became more of a villain, in a sense... the lone streak we see on him in ShB is likely the last bit of his hopes of bringing back his fellow ancients or he last bit of hope for the current peoples of the source to inherit the star. Regardless, just makes me love him even more.
This was the best summary of Emet's actions and feelings I've ever seen. The only thing I felt left out is just a personal interpretation of Emet, so I wouldn't fault you for it. I think there was some deep, deep love (Whether romantic or Platonic) for Azem in particular. You should've highlighted his closing monologue; I feel that most people roll their eyes and go "Oh yes, Squaresoft, you're telling us about expansions" but they miss the context of that last scene; Emet spent ten thousand years trying to return his loved ones, his brethren to himself... all of his talk in quiet moments during Shadowbringers was him trying to appeal to AZEM within us, highlighted by how he often referred to it as "Our people" or "You wouldn't remember that... would you?" During shadowbringers he desperately, desperately wanted to see a hint of the person he loved more than anything. He wanted us to prove him and the convocation wrong, scrambling in his efforts to try and cling to hope for the past he loved. And... in the end. In Elpis... he reminds us that we can bring our loved ones back. Something he could never do... but that's not it. What is the defining moment is that he sees the pain on our face, the discontentment with that he is leaving us after everything... and he sighs, realizing that whether in this life or another, Azem will always be Azem. So he gives the person he loved more than anything the thing they loved more than anyone... He gives us adventure.
So not mention it being a personal interpretation was mostly because if just didn't fit well when I was scripting in truth I maybe should have just put it as a disclaimer with the spoiler warning in the beginning instead of vaguely implying it in the intro. As for the ending monologue I don't disagree. In fact when scripting I did originally talk about the monologue more; however, I decided to cutback on it because I just couldn't get it flow well into the script. When it come to their relationship with Azem and Hythlodaeus I like to think of it closer to siblings. One always teasing him and the other always getting him into trouble, but despite all they put him through at the end of the day he still loves them.
I still hold HOPE(mainly from the whole Pandaminiem raids hintings and being a Dr Who fan)That We where point blank given a clue that we either ALREADY HAVE SEEN/KNOW or WILL Emet and Hyth again in their NEW lives. Both Hyths line in elipis and everything that gos down in P1-12 hints that not only is Time very"A big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff" instead of a straight line BUT the fact that folks COULD very well be among us just a little different. so I'm holding out HOPE until Square rips from my hands
I'd love to see one on Elidibus and Lahabrea too. Their stories are not as in depth and are somewhat intertwined thanks to Pandemonium. But it would be interesting to hear. Loved how you brought in the backstory stuff not in game and from the posted stories. The conversation with Elidibus and his life as Solus are stuff some who only play the game don't get to hear.
Thanks. Also I plan on it eventually, but as of now the next big lore video is going to be on Alexander ,as he won the last poll, after that one is done I'll do another poll to pick who comes after.
13:42 A slight error, though it's kinda subtle, upon a complete rejoining of Etheirys, there would be two people, the rejoined, and the new life. The rejoined would be as they once were, ancients, though likely without their memories of who they once were. The new life are those who managed to survive the rejoinings and do not have a reflection, as they are not themselves sundered. They are fresh souls, born of the new state of etheirys. The new life are who would be sacrificed to bring back the ancients that Zodiark had inside of him.
That was absolutely beautifully done. Emet-Selch has become my absolute favourite character of all time, including all of the Ancient Lore it’s my most beloved content in the game. I watched a lot of these vids about Hades and this one gave me quite a few small but significant thoughts I will add to my Ancient journal while rewatching. Lots of love to you and to my fav grumpy husbando❤
Well done!! Might have teared up a time or two while watching this lol. I loved how you incorporated some of the short stories! I knew in the game he mentioned that he had sired children, but had no idea about Lucius& just how much his death affected him.
I've had a long hiatus from FFXIV and have been thinking about getting back into the saddle. This was a great refresher on all the previous xpacs. You saved me a weekend of rewatching cutscenes in an inn. Thank you!
Fabulous content! Thank you so much. I just days ago, came through Elpis MSQ on yet another alt, maybe the 5th time through. I continue to reel each time, so dense the story is. This content brought additional insight. thank you!
Fantastic video, i learned some new things from this even if i have beaten the game all the way to 6.4 from the start of ARR, all the info in this video was intresting since i did not even remember that emmet have had a child during his garlemald days and amaurot speech hit now even harder when i had beaten endwalker and knew what was at stake and the world would be consumed by the finals days and everything would have been for nothing had the warrior of light failed. I cant really give any help on future videos since this had all that i wanted 😂
One of my friends hated him and the fact that they're trying to make you feel for him. I'm like DAMMIT I'LL TOSS THAT HEART OF YOURS IN THE MICROWAVE AND TURN ON DEFROST, JUST YOU WAIT XD
Great video! I recently returned to the game and this was a great refresher on some of the relevant plot points before i continue EW from where i had left off. Thanks for this!
Great video. the only, only thing i would poke at would be the audio mixing in the first part was uneven. We get the tempest theme ticking and it goes right into his voice lines, if you had given the section about a 4-7 second breath we could better acclimate to the incoming audio as it is very sudden. His voice lines to your audio is also very loud to quite. same with the card sound at 5:00, maybe bring that down by 30%. Since it's an accent and not a vital requirement.
brother i didnt find it entertaining, i found it absoutely heartwrenching and now i'm sat sobbing at my desk on a friday night (this was incredible work thank you)
There is a bit more info you might have missed out on, There is an ENTIRE Emet Side story in the Neir mobile game that is CANNON LORE that show a bit of what he was thinking in more detail
Me leaving that big hole in Emet-Selch's chest also left a gaping hole in mine... It's been a year now since I've finished Endwalker, but I am still mourning him. He might be my favourite character of all media I've ever experienced.
I wonder, with his indominable will, whether in that final moment when we are swallowed up by his darkness but pull through; was it truly us who managed to overpower his burden, or did he falter one more time because he came to see Azem in us and did not wish to kill his friend, instead choosing to believe that they, WE, have the "Answer" to this tragedy.
I have to think for hard about who some of the villains are throughout the game with only 1 exception. Emet's story is now what FF14 is all about for me. The early expansions and villains there to subvert expectations towards the depth of Ascian characters. Then in Shadowbringer the curtain being pulled back to reveal an amazingly deep and complex character. Endwalker giving us some closure by showing us the character's early days and sending us off with a reunion and passing of the reins from out enemy turned friend. The early expansions were fun to play through but the story never really made me care like it did when Emet was revealed. One of my favorite characters in fiction right now.
A notable chunk of the flood of light info is wrong. Minfilia prevented the First from being fully lost to light. Being fully lost to light would have left the First useless for a rejoining. Emet only started (restarted?) plans for the black rose calamity after the flood was stopped. Minfilia's actions ultimately put the First back on the table for the Ascians. He didn't need the Warrior of Light to defeat the Lightwardens for the calamity to take place (in the original timeline, he was never there). He just needed the First to keep that light-aspect (without tipping all the way) when the Eight Umbral Calamity went off. In this new timeline, when the WoL starts taking in the light (tipping the scales back to darkness) Emet needed to either stop him, or let him turn into a sin eater to restore the light aspect into the First. He decided on the latter (supposedly as a test for the WoL).
In the video I said that Emet was prepping the calamity with the black rose but because of the interference of the exarch he had to travel to the first because by that point the WoL had already starting killing the wardens thus messing of the balance needed for the calamity, and with that being the case he then decides to help them as he knew what the likely outcome to taking in all that primoradial light would have been. Moreover, the first wasn't going to be lost. The ascians made a point of learning from the 13th.The whole point of Elidabus bringing the WoD to the source was to help cause the calamity of light convincing them it was the only way to save their world. Minfilia simply delayed the calamity as if she didn't it would have likely happened with the summoning of Shinryu as that was the main reason Elidabus gave Ilberd nidhogg's eyes.
@@TheNastyNamazu ignoring that fact that the video explicitly says a few things different to what you're agreeing with me here - it was made clear that Minfilia stopped the First from becoming a void of light. The flood of light was NOT part of the Ascian's plans and would have completely removed the shard from being used in a rejoining. Elidibus was trying to trigger the calamity more quickly with Shinryu when he realized Mitron and Loghrif failed and the First was about to be lost to light. But the only reason the Black Rose project was restarted was because Minfilia made it possible.
@@ShadownetZero "Upon arriving in the first he would learn why. Somehow the heroes of the sources were able to travel between the rift to the first, and they had begun to slay the lightwardens" ... "But this did present an opportunity, as if he chose to ally himself with the scions rather than make enemies of them as Lahabrea did, he could use them to restore the damage they caused." This is how I described him arriving in the first and his goal with the scions For a calamity to occur so to must a flood as this complete imbalance in aether is the only way that the barrier between worlds can be shattered causing a rejoining; however, it only provides pressure from one side meaning that when the flood happens they need to start prepping or be ready with a calamity. They always intended on flooding the first with light. It was the whole reason Elidabus set the shadowkeeper against the warriors of darkness; however, since she became friends with them during her time on the first neither side could kill the other. This ultimately lead to the WoD setting their sights on the ascians Loghrif and Mitron, who like the shadowkeeper were overwhelming sources of darkness in their world of light, and they wouldn't hesitate to kill them. Ultimately causing the same flood that would of happened if they killed the shadowkeeper. This was the lesson they learned from the thirteenth because while they did cause a flood of darkness they didn't prime a calamity thus leading to the shard being completely lost before they could take advantage of it. All Minfilia did was delay the coming calamity and give the ascians more time to prepare as with the flood stopped they could no longer cause a rejoining. Moreover, they also now had to make it so it would be consumed by light again which was the whole reason Emet created Vaultry, so the light could continue to grow unimpeded.
@@TheNastyNamazu You're conflating imbalancing a world with a certain aspect and flooding it with that aspect. The Ascians NEVER want to flood a world. That is why the 13th became useless for a rejoining. Mitron and Logrif were meant to win, since the world was already over-aspected in light and losing would result in the entire shard being trapped in eternal stasis from that light. The Warriors of Darkness were too good and the First too easily swayed to light. The idea that they didn't "prime a calamity" (wut) isn't why the 13th was lost. It's because it tipped past the limit of what was usable. Minfilia stopped the First from becoming a void of light. This is explicitly stated and not something you can debate otherwise. Unless you think the MSQ is lying to us.
@@ShadownetZero why are you “wut”ing the part about them not priming a calamity? The 13th was their first attempt, they tipped the shard with one aspect of aether and then it flooded with void and couldn’t be rejoined, this is where they learned they needed a corresponding calamity on the source for the rejoining, Emet and Mitron tell you this in shadowbringers. So yes they lost the 13th due to not “priming a calamity” while tipping the aspect on the shard. You were specifically told all this in the msq.
I dunno if Hades realised, at least consciously, that the WoL is Azem. Otherwise he wouldn't have been so shocked at seeing Azem in their place for a second before you fight him.
He knew the WoL was Azem; however, to him we were just another fractured being not really the friend he once knew. The reason he was shocked was because after fusing with Ardbert for the first time he saw us as his old friend Azem not just a piece of his soul. You have to remember he had an exceptional soul sight, only surpassed by Hythlodaeus, which let him easily distinguish different souls. In fact he could easily identify less defined souls than ours. As he was able to identify Amon as Fandaniel despite the fact that his soul at most would have been rejoined 3 times compared to our 7(then 8 with Ardbert). Moreover, Azem's soul is also one of the souls he would be most familiar with.
I kinda miss the part of what he did during his time in the Aetherial Sea. though i kinda understand that being left out as he was talking to the player, not the WoL. when describing the places where the WoL went to next. though considering there are many reasons you can call the WoL Crazy maybe you could say he was talking to the WoL when introducing the EW areas.
I do not believe that Emet set up all of this to test the WoD/WoL like you and many are claiming. He kidnapped the Exarch partially because he created the Allagan Empire and didn't understand how the Exarch was able to control it. He didn't realize the people he created could have created such a thing or capable of such "magic" and wanted to study or question the Exarch. He doesn't know the entire team would show up and assumes only the WoL/WoD would confront him. Many like to push it aside, but Venat knew him very well. People like to view him as some misunderstood hero, but he killed millions of people either as the creator of Allagans or the Empire. And no amount of "time served" makes that acceptable to me.
It's not really that he set it up It's more that he took advantage of a bad situation. He could have just killed the WoL and the scions if he wanted when they first met and in truth it likely was the smartest options, but instead he allies himself with the party allowing them to slay the wardens without his interference. Of course part of the reason for this choice is that it could restore the imbalance; however, he didn't need to reveal/ally himself to the party for that. He literally serves as a passive observer just there to watch the WoL and see if they are able to actually contain the light. As for Amaurot there is no reason he wouldn't think the whole party wouldn't come as he kidnapped a friend and directly told the WoL to come to him. Also he doesn't show any shock or surprise about them being there at most he is disappointed the WoL didn't come alone like he asked. On the exarch two things can be true at once. Did he want to learn how he was able to all soul across the rift yes, but it doesn't change the fact that Emet used him as bait. If his primary goal was to use the exarch's knowledge he wouldn't of told WoL where to find him. He isn't a misunderstood hero he is a tragic/doomed hero. Yes he has done some horrible things, but on the other hand if not for him the song of oblivion would have never been stopped meaning all life would have ended. The fact is that at his core he is a character that strives to do good, but like any doomed character this core is twisted with time and/or tragedy. However, unlike many tragic characters he doesn't double down as once give clarity he chooses redemption not hesitating to offer his aid to the greater good.
@@TheNastyNamazu I think melissas means he ISN'T a tragic heroic figure. He's a villain who helped the Allagans enslave Miq'otes, mocked the Warrior of Light needlessly, antagonised the protagonists.... then once defeated and he learnt of the truth, this villain turned into an ally, but only if asked to help. Now, most people forgave him his villain past because of the help he gave later - they accepted his redemption. HOWEVER, it's not a foregone solution that everyone will forgive him - forgiveness is from the heart of the victims after all, and there were millions that Garlemald and Allag has killed and enslaved and whose loved ones continue to hate the Empire. If you asked G'raha Tia, whose race was enslaved in Allag, and seen his tribe and Corvos later conquered by Garlemald, you would not see the same adoration in him for Solus zos Galvus that the players have. Even if Emet Selch is from a superior race, a superior people can be kind to an inferior people. It was a kindness you had to admit he did not show due to his callous abrasive nature. To me, getting sundered is like getting degenerative diseases - if your parents were to get Alzheimer's and forget you, would you abandon them and label them inferior? If your friend were to get cancer and get slowly consumed internally by forces they can scarce control like the Warrior of Light was consumed by Light, would you berate them and throw them aside like Emet Selch threw the Warrior of Light aside? If you had any heart and decency at all, you would not. Even if they don't remember who they are, family is still family, friends are still friends. Additionally when I first finished Shadowbringer, I was questioning WHY if, Emet Selch had first seen these sundered people stumbling about confused and forgotten of their past, did he not rise to guide them as a leader? Emet Selch, could have recreated Amaurotine cities of the Ancients and taught the sundered magics and forgotten culture, and then as their leader enlisted their help to rejoin the world and souls together. You know he can, he has the charisma of a cult leader. Yet, Emet Selch had not behaved like a good leader should. Despite this though, I like Hades in Elpis yes, and enjoyed some of Solus's antics, but we have to admit he still has quite a few deal-breaking personality flaws and an apathy to others plight that is tempered only by Azem and Hythlodaeus's cajoling. It was not his usual behaviour to be helpful, he only does things because it's his duty or someone requested it of him, not because it is the right thing to do. Emet Selch is more of an anti-hero than a tragic hero type to be honest, at best he's complicated and somewhere on the fence.
I think you sort of exasperate the side of Emet that actually has a modicum of care for the reflections. From the beginning, especially due to his nature as an ancient, has respect for the nature of their sacrifices, sure he cares about Azem in spite of him defecting from the convocation cause they're likely the person he cares for the most period, and of course he's saddened by the fact he had to lose Hyth to the sacrifices, but also it's not like he blames the convocation for that over the actual calamity and if he did there's no record of it. He simply made the Azem Soul Crystal cause he deeply cares about Azem and didn't want his legacy to be lost over the millennia's it would take to execute their plan. He also in Elpis states that he would hold those who sacrificed themselves to Zodiark in the highest esteem, that he would never forsake them, and sure obviously the complexion of this changes over time, that is the nature of Emet's character but the change isn't caused by the final days, rather it's cause by his unbearable burden. He didn't start off by carrying Azem's ideals by trying to learn about the world and it's people and interacting with it's heart like Azem and Venat did, he was disgusted by the state of their world and the lost people who had put all his hopes in him, the NieR x Reincarnation event explains as much "Such an outcome is unbearable. The man throws himself into restoring his star, his people...his paradise." You also mention that the birth of his son marked a time where Emet was actively proud and had faith in the new generation, but also you miss the nuance that he also loathed the fact that the Garleans would praise his body since it was not even nearly comparable to the greatness of the ancient people: "As the boy grew, his physique was held in awe and admiration by all, though to him it was a source of great vexation." This hope he puts in his son also is not like a big shift from him lessening his Azem-y ideals (which he doesn't really ever have, it's only by convenience that his role would lead him to discover so much about the other reflections), it's as it's a put "a momentary lapse". You also seem to assume that Solus was the first time that Emet has ever put himself in a human body, and while we don't have official confirmation of any other time he's done it, in his speech he says explicitly "I have lived a thousand thousand of your lives, I have broken bread with you, fought with you, grown ill, grown old,! Sired children and yes, welcomed death's sweet embrace." which seems to imply that he's done that kind of thing with Solus many times over and over, obviously we don't know if we can take his words as they are, but I don't think he has much reason to lie in that scene, he does truly believe everything he says, they are the ideals he claims to be "invincible". This lapse though seems to be the first time Emet has begun to start to crack under the pressure, though it's possible it's happened before, but it's not as if he was always this way, he had always believed this from the beginning and our ways as people only served to exasperate and prove his ideals correct. Also you say Emet's actions in ShB are not "letting himself fall into that trap" in reference to him putting hope in the new generation, but his entire plan in ShB is exactly to do that. Knowing that the WoL is a remnant of Azem he wanted to gauge their worth and to see if they could really live up to his old best friends will and if so, he'd feel content letting the WoL carry his legacy. Of course we don't live up to that and we "disappoint him", but his plan in approaching us is to gauge this ability. But of course his selfish desires to rest and let his plan go are to strong, and so he begins to give us a ton of tries to prove ourselves, but he's so conflicted and locked by his desires and his ideals that he can't bring himself to accept that half-truths, half-measures that his weary body has begun to begrudgingly accept, and so he goes out kicking and screaming, yelling at every turn, unable to truly accept what he has and wants to do. This confliction is even mentioned by Emet in Elpis when he says that "I even invited you there, invited my own downfall", and there's a line said by the Wandering Minstrel when unlocking Hades EX which goes "I must say, I find it quite fascinating how this Emet-Selch chose to reveal his true name on the verge of the battle that would prove to be his downfall. I am reminded that the Night's Blessed have a similar tradition, in which they conceal their true names outside of rare occasions, such a funerals..." indicating Emet's hidden desire in his final moments to literally put himself to rest and die. I think the video is great btw and gives a cool summary rundown of the complexities and some hidden emotional sentiments of Emet-Selch that you might otherwise miss if you're so focused on the surface level content of his character. My own personal interpretations just happen to differ and stray a lot to yours when it comes down to the nuances and hard truths of his character. Tbh I don't think you're able to place such strong marks on why he did specific things without generating at least like 4 different reasons, no specific areas where his mentality shifts to clear answers. He is a walking contradiction, a paradox, and I wouldn't want him any other way. (if you want any clarifications or want to counter anything I've said please lmk, I'm always down to discuss the greatest character ever made).
No offense, but you talk about nuance and yet reading this summary shows you missed nearly everything a fully restored Emet relays to us in Ultima-Thule. All the nuance in his speech about broadening our horizons...as he did, for example.
@@WalkerRileyMC I never said he didn't broaden his horizons at all, it's just not something he so openly from the beginning. It's something he found throughout the experience of being an ascian, and leading so much death and destruction.
This was really good but you left out that Ardbert and WoL merged souls during the final conflict with Emet at the end of the world. Its that reason the WoL didnt subcome to the lights burden/toxicity in that instance and why for the brief minute he saw Azem because a part of our fragmented soul rejoined us. Its kinda a big detail in Emet's story as he is the only one who saw it and recognized it.
It's less that I left it out and more that I presented it from Emet's perspective. As it is unclear whether or not Emet was even aware of what really happened as up to that point I don't believe he knew about Ardbert or even if he could see him because remember the phantom Hythlodaeus notes that he is probable the only one that can see Ardbert because of how thin his soul is
There are a whole selection of short stories on the lodestone that give small insights on various characters or events. For example one talks about what happens in G'raha's original timeline(midgar wakes up and helps the world recover). Emet gets like two stories in tales from the shadows and/or twilight, and tales from the dawn has a story about Jullus where we learn the names of basically the whole Galvus family except Emet's wife. Beyond that some inferences were made based on what we know about the character. Such as him being responsible for recruiting the sundered members of the convocation. We don't have a hard confirmation that he recruited them all(as far as I know), but we can kinda assume it because we see him recruit Amon and he was in possession all the memory crystals.
why do you say that the creation of zodiark required "aether and life energy" as if these were two separate things? the ancients used their lives as fuel, becoming the aether required to summon zodiark.
When I say life energy I more so mean their souls which is distinctive from aether as while the ancients could create anything using their creation magic they were incapable of creating souls for their creations. However, when they introduced their creations into the ecosystems over time the future generations would become creatures that did possess souls. This is why the creation of Phoinix was seen as amazing accomplishment as Lahabrea became the first ancient to creation a creature with a soul(he did it by accident as an already existing soul some how got dragged into the the creatures creation leading to an immortal beast that only wanted to die) Now why this is important is important is because technically the ancients that fueled Zodiark's summoning never died instead their souls became trapped/bound to the primal. This can be seen as part of the reason that remaining ancients were so determined to return them. You see dying for the star was noble act, and they would of been less likely to attempt their revival if that is what happened as to do so would be an insult to all those they brought back, but since they were stuck in Zodiark it would mean they could never return to the star nor ever find peace.
I personally don't understand the sympathy towards Emet-Selch. He and Lahabrea commited genocide multiple times just because they thought their ancient civilization deserved to live more than the sundered lives. Shadowbringers had excellent writings for the Scions and especially the Crystal Exarch and Ardbert but the villains (Vauthry, Ranjit and Emet-Selch) are lacking. The overall story arc was also very simple until after the second trial. Kill this boss, restore darkness to this region, repeat 5 times. I did enjoy Ardbert and his friends' story. Excellent writing but overall, it falls below Heavensward and Endwalker and about the same as Stormblood. I'm not invalidating everyone's own experience and feelings, just saying mine. Peace 🙂
The reason why Emet is such a great character and why people sympathize with him it because he never wanted any of this. Unlike his kin who never hesitated or felt remorse for their great mission he did. He never wanted to be the villain he spent countless centauries looking for any other way, but he would never find it. At the same time he couldn't just forsake his people. Doing so would be like asking the WoL to forsake the people of the source. Hell Ardbert was willing to causing a calamity to save his world. Yes, Emet did terrible things, but that doesn't mean you can't sympathize with him. It's not as if he is this evil character that acted for evil sake. His actions, his struggles, were made for his people. He forsook himself for the sake of them, and in all likely hood even if he succeed in his mission he wouldn't allow himself to live in the world he restored because he wouldn't believe he desired it.
I mean, re: the genocides, Emet-Selch himself addresses that. Moral relativism. If you do not feel you have committed a genocide if you kill a nest of ants, you're not entirely in a better position than Emet-Selch is. More than that, the seat of Emet-Selch is inherently responsible for Life and Death, overseer of the Underworld aka the Aetherial Sea. All the lives which are lost return to the Aetherial Sea, and in that way, are never truly dead. Moreover, it's important to also remember that all of those people he killed (yes even the 'genocides') are the very sundered fragments of the souls that Emet-Selch and the Convocation were seeking to put back together again. The Ancients were nigh God-like beings who lived until they chose to die and would thus return to the Star and be reincarnated, a process which Emet-Selch was the overseer of. All of his genocidal acts, as you've termed them, were ultimately, from Emet-Selch's perspective, for the greater good of the Star. Moreover, Emet-Selch very likely believed that everyone would be thankful to be restored to their nigh God-like status once the world had been entirely Rejoined. What he is killing, then, is little more than pale reflections, echoes, fragments of a whole. The world which Emet-Selch and the Convocation sought to restore was a utopia (as noted by the fact that all of the names like Amaurot come from Thomas More's Utopia), a paradise without suffering, want, disease, war, and all of the misery that the sundered lives had to endure. They committed "genocide" not because they thought their ancient civilization deserved to live more than the sundered lives, but because they were trying to save all of mankind from the unnatural state they had been cast into by Venat and Hydaelyn. They were trying to fix what they perceived to be a problem in need of fixing. To Quote Emet-Selch Himself, "But yes, moral relativism and all that. Case in point--I do not consider you to be truly alive. Ergo, I will not be guilty of murder if I kill you" Emet-Selch is sympathetic because he was always looking for an alternate path. He all but says as much, and in the latest short story, Emet-Selch waited longer than anyone else out of hope that Azem would find a solution that didn't involve summoning Zodiark. Emet-Selch is sympathetic because everything Emet-Selch did was out of a sense of duty, and out of love for his people and for the Star they inhabited. Being that he was intimately familiar with the processes of life and death, it would be very easy for Emet-Selch to justify the extinguishing of brief Sundered lifespans due entirely to the fact that he knows how reincarnation works, and because he was working to restore said souls to their original, perfect state. As for the subject of "genocides", The WoL spends much of ARR and beyond wantonly slaughtering the "Beastmen" at the behest of the nations of Eorzea. In Heavensward and ARR, we side unqeustioningly with Ishgard for much of the beginning portion, killing untold numbers of Dragons and Dragonkin only to learn after the fact tha tthe Ishgardians started the conflict, just as we learn over the course of time that the City States of Eorzea are mostly responsible for the "Beastmen"'s aggression by violating treaties and provoking them, and the WoL participates willingly on behalf of the Eorzeans, who believe they have more right than the "Beastmen" to, well, exist.
Rolling my eyes that yet another male-dominated narrative is obsessed with male progeny and the woman that loved him and went through all of the agony of labor and childbirth is discarded in the narrative and not even named and not even important and everyone is celebrating this man for having basic empathy towards another male child as if that isn't like the entire problem. And everybody who's going to comment on this thread I'm not going to see it but I know that I've triggered a bunch of guys by just pointing this out because it's in every narrative The woman dies in childbirth or the mother's not important It's always the father and the child we have so many narratives about fathers and childs and the woman is just not there. No wonder there's men on TikTok right now saying that biology is basically what the kings of England in the dark ages believed.
I know I said it at the end of the video, but I want to say again thank you all for watching this video. The reception to this has been great, and I'm thankful for it as I did worry while working on this that people wouldn't like it. That being said I plan on doing more videos like this going forward so be on the look out.
Also I did end up making the follow-up video that was mentioned at the end.
th-cam.com/video/OEjeHUMIfrE/w-d-xo.html
"I would NEVER abandon my duty" and that was the truth, to the very end, he did his duty to the best of his ability as he saw fit to do it
Emet-Selch probably surprised most of us. Up until his introduction (and even his introduction itself to some degree) Ascians were basically Saturday Morning Cartoon Villains. The "haha I'm evil" kind of villain. Emet kinda started off like that too, but even during his introduction he already had this "sass" that set himself apart from the other Ascians.
And the rest is history. He basically humanized the Ascians and actually made me take them way more serious. I'd say Emet-Selch single-handedly saved the whole Ascian storyline.
Yeah, and part of the reason for that is they didn't really have proper plan for them until the events leading up to shadowbringers, and so they had to do a lot of work to change the image they wanted to present going forward which is why Emet is such a good character as he accomplished this.
They have actually retroactively tried to help this with the changes to the ending of 2.0 as they offer more hints to the true nature of the ascians with the new Lahabrea fight.
Let's not forget the Ascians are all tempered.
Therefore, they do are "I'm evil hahah" because of their, let's say disease.
Their aether is corrupted beyond repair, which makes them rationalize everything down to "Zodiark will fix it"
@LiorVolf Thier tempering is not like what we see from others, though. The summoning of Zodiark lacked the bit they mentioned when proposing the mass summoning to fuel the Ragnarok. They had no desire to convert others to Zodiark's worship. Zodiark's tempering is more like an.old, comfortable habit you never can seem to break.
I have said something along the same lines. Early Ascians were so one-dimensional and I wasn't very interested in them. In watzed Emet and changed all that. His character isn't only my favorite character in FFXIV, but ALL of media. Never had a character affect me like that.
@@RocRolDis
It's not an old habit.
Even the Elpis!Emet-Selch himself said tempered!Emet-Selch is a madman.
They were from very pacifist civilization and culture, after tempering they were genocidal, all in the name of Zodiark, rationalizing that their god would revive the dead, knowing too well that's impossible (they did have scientific researches about the afterlife), with no proof he could do that, not even looking for another solution, like, you know... Starting again, you know, the natural process (reproduction), even after millennia
Emet-Selch's image went from ''ha ha ha I'm part of the guys who are evil'' to ''So uhm I basically wrote these things you should atleast do would you be my friend's successor'' and even sets up 6.1 and 7.0 and a whole alliance raid
So, one additional thing I'd like to add, although it's minor, is Ardbert in Shadowbringers. They spend the majority of that expansion in a state not too dissimilar to the WOL in Elpis, and Emet and Hythlo could both see the WOL. This could suggest that Emet became aware of Ardbert pretty quickly. Then, when you compare the methods that a rejoining use and the circumstances of Ardbert rejoining the WOLs soul, there's a surprising amount of overlap. I think Emet left the scions to do their plan partially because it had a good chance of rejoining a piece of Azem's soul, and even if he wanted to win, he wanted to help his friend even more.
Though I believe later when you confront him for the final fight, he says something to the effect that he didn't want to believe you were his friend, but once you join with Ardbert, he seems reluctantly unable to continue to deny it, because you now resemble them to a degree he can no longer ignore.
Emet Selch is by far the best “bad guy” in the entire Final Fantasy series… and he is my friend
I can't think of any other game or media in general that did "my enemy is also my friend" as well as Emet Selch.
Shadowbringers was easily one if if not the single best stories ive ever experienced, with Emet-Selch being such a defining factor of that story, its no wonder hes one of my favorite FF characters! yet alone ffxiv. Thanks for the vid, genuinely love his story and watching a reminder just before the new expac seems like great timing haha.
Also, something i didnt notice till the end of the vid, but the white in emets hair is very likely symbolic! instead of growing white as he aged, it grew brown as he became more of a villain, in a sense... the lone streak we see on him in ShB is likely the last bit of his hopes of bringing back his fellow ancients or he last bit of hope for the current peoples of the source to inherit the star. Regardless, just makes me love him even more.
This was the best summary of Emet's actions and feelings I've ever seen. The only thing I felt left out is just a personal interpretation of Emet, so I wouldn't fault you for it. I think there was some deep, deep love (Whether romantic or Platonic) for Azem in particular. You should've highlighted his closing monologue; I feel that most people roll their eyes and go "Oh yes, Squaresoft, you're telling us about expansions" but they miss the context of that last scene; Emet spent ten thousand years trying to return his loved ones, his brethren to himself... all of his talk in quiet moments during Shadowbringers was him trying to appeal to AZEM within us, highlighted by how he often referred to it as "Our people" or "You wouldn't remember that... would you?" During shadowbringers he desperately, desperately wanted to see a hint of the person he loved more than anything. He wanted us to prove him and the convocation wrong, scrambling in his efforts to try and cling to hope for the past he loved. And... in the end. In Elpis... he reminds us that we can bring our loved ones back. Something he could never do... but that's not it. What is the defining moment is that he sees the pain on our face, the discontentment with that he is leaving us after everything... and he sighs, realizing that whether in this life or another, Azem will always be Azem.
So he gives the person he loved more than anything the thing they loved more than anyone...
He gives us adventure.
So not mention it being a personal interpretation was mostly because if just didn't fit well when I was scripting in truth I maybe should have just put it as a disclaimer with the spoiler warning in the beginning instead of vaguely implying it in the intro.
As for the ending monologue I don't disagree. In fact when scripting I did originally talk about the monologue more; however, I decided to cutback on it because I just couldn't get it flow well into the script.
When it come to their relationship with Azem and Hythlodaeus I like to think of it closer to siblings. One always teasing him and the other always getting him into trouble, but despite all they put him through at the end of the day he still loves them.
Yup, personal interpretation indeed. Ever heard of friendship?
@@alexandersykes6300 Tell me, random youtube commenter, what does the word "PLATONIC" Mean?
I still hold HOPE(mainly from the whole Pandaminiem raids hintings and being a Dr Who fan)That We where point blank given a clue that we either ALREADY HAVE SEEN/KNOW or WILL Emet and Hyth again in their NEW lives. Both Hyths line in elipis and everything that gos down in P1-12 hints that not only is Time very"A big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff" instead of a straight line BUT the fact that folks COULD very well be among us just a little different. so I'm holding out HOPE until Square rips from my hands
I wish I could like this more than once ❤
I'd love to see one on Elidibus and Lahabrea too. Their stories are not as in depth and are somewhat intertwined thanks to Pandemonium. But it would be interesting to hear.
Loved how you brought in the backstory stuff not in game and from the posted stories. The conversation with Elidibus and his life as Solus are stuff some who only play the game don't get to hear.
Thanks. Also I plan on it eventually, but as of now the next big lore video is going to be on Alexander ,as he won the last poll, after that one is done I'll do another poll to pick who comes after.
13:42 A slight error, though it's kinda subtle, upon a complete rejoining of Etheirys, there would be two people, the rejoined, and the new life. The rejoined would be as they once were, ancients, though likely without their memories of who they once were. The new life are those who managed to survive the rejoinings and do not have a reflection, as they are not themselves sundered. They are fresh souls, born of the new state of etheirys. The new life are who would be sacrificed to bring back the ancients that Zodiark had inside of him.
That was absolutely beautifully done. Emet-Selch has become my absolute favourite character of all time, including all of the Ancient Lore it’s my most beloved content in the game. I watched a lot of these vids about Hades and this one gave me quite a few small but significant thoughts I will add to my Ancient journal while rewatching. Lots of love to you and to my fav grumpy husbando❤
Well done!! Might have teared up a time or two while watching this lol. I loved how you incorporated some of the short stories! I knew in the game he mentioned that he had sired children, but had no idea about Lucius& just how much his death affected him.
Really well-done video-the script, narration, everything. That followup vidro sounds great
I've had a long hiatus from FFXIV and have been thinking about getting back into the saddle. This was a great refresher on all the previous xpacs. You saved me a weekend of rewatching cutscenes in an inn. Thank you!
Fabulous content! Thank you so much. I just days ago, came through Elpis MSQ on yet another alt, maybe the 5th time through. I continue to reel each time, so dense the story is. This content brought additional insight. thank you!
Fantastic video, i learned some new things from this even if i have beaten the game all the way to 6.4 from the start of ARR, all the info in this video was intresting since i did not even remember that emmet have had a child during his garlemald days and amaurot speech hit now even harder when i had beaten endwalker and knew what was at stake and the world would be consumed by the finals days and everything would have been for nothing had the warrior of light failed.
I cant really give any help on future videos since this had all that i wanted 😂
One of my friends hated him and the fact that they're trying to make you feel for him. I'm like DAMMIT I'LL TOSS THAT HEART OF YOURS IN THE MICROWAVE AND TURN ON DEFROST, JUST YOU WAIT XD
I mean that's a sign of good writing, when you are so invested that you hate a character, and really get upset when they try to redeam them
I was the same way. Then I met Hythlo in Elpis and like magic everything made sense. For a friend like that I'd burn the world 1000 times.
I would LOVE to hear the parallels! Please do one! Subbed!
Fantastic video! Absolutely I would be beyond interested to see a video on the parallels and inspirations of Hades!
This was beautiful! Thank you for putting the story together in such a fluid way! Loved it! Thank you!
This was a lovely video, I’d love the followup you mentioned
Great video! I recently returned to the game and this was a great refresher on some of the relevant plot points before i continue EW from where i had left off. Thanks for this!
Hades being one of my favorite characters, I loved this video
Amazing video, hope you get more attention to your channel
Thanks
Great video.
the only, only thing i would poke at would be the audio mixing in the first part was uneven.
We get the tempest theme ticking and it goes right into his voice lines, if you had given the section about a 4-7 second breath we could better acclimate to the incoming audio as it is very sudden.
His voice lines to your audio is also very loud to quite.
same with the card sound at 5:00, maybe bring that down by 30%. Since it's an accent and not a vital requirement.
brother i didnt find it entertaining, i found it absoutely heartwrenching and now i'm sat sobbing at my desk on a friday night (this was incredible work thank you)
There is a bit more info you might have missed out on, There is an ENTIRE Emet Side story in the Neir mobile game that is CANNON LORE that show a bit of what he was thinking in more detail
Emet-Selch is my favorite character in the entire FF franchise.😊
Me leaving that big hole in Emet-Selch's chest also left a gaping hole in mine... It's been a year now since I've finished Endwalker, but I am still mourning him. He might be my favourite character of all media I've ever experienced.
I wonder, with his indominable will, whether in that final moment when we are swallowed up by his darkness but pull through; was it truly us who managed to overpower his burden, or did he falter one more time because he came to see Azem in us and did not wish to kill his friend, instead choosing to believe that they, WE, have the "Answer" to this tragedy.
I have to think for hard about who some of the villains are throughout the game with only 1 exception. Emet's story is now what FF14 is all about for me. The early expansions and villains there to subvert expectations towards the depth of Ascian characters. Then in Shadowbringer the curtain being pulled back to reveal an amazingly deep and complex character. Endwalker giving us some closure by showing us the character's early days and sending us off with a reunion and passing of the reins from out enemy turned friend. The early expansions were fun to play through but the story never really made me care like it did when Emet was revealed. One of my favorite characters in fiction right now.
Very good video my friend I think you did everything right good work!
i can't wait to finish endwalker and come bac k here in a few months because god damn does this man and shb now have me intrigued
A notable chunk of the flood of light info is wrong.
Minfilia prevented the First from being fully lost to light. Being fully lost to light would have left the First useless for a rejoining. Emet only started (restarted?) plans for the black rose calamity after the flood was stopped. Minfilia's actions ultimately put the First back on the table for the Ascians.
He didn't need the Warrior of Light to defeat the Lightwardens for the calamity to take place (in the original timeline, he was never there). He just needed the First to keep that light-aspect (without tipping all the way) when the Eight Umbral Calamity went off.
In this new timeline, when the WoL starts taking in the light (tipping the scales back to darkness) Emet needed to either stop him, or let him turn into a sin eater to restore the light aspect into the First. He decided on the latter (supposedly as a test for the WoL).
In the video I said that Emet was prepping the calamity with the black rose but because of the interference of the exarch he had to travel to the first because by that point the WoL had already starting killing the wardens thus messing of the balance needed for the calamity, and with that being the case he then decides to help them as he knew what the likely outcome to taking in all that primoradial light would have been.
Moreover, the first wasn't going to be lost. The ascians made a point of learning from the 13th.The whole point of Elidabus bringing the WoD to the source was to help cause the calamity of light convincing them it was the only way to save their world. Minfilia simply delayed the calamity as if she didn't it would have likely happened with the summoning of Shinryu as that was the main reason Elidabus gave Ilberd nidhogg's eyes.
@@TheNastyNamazu ignoring that fact that the video explicitly says a few things different to what you're agreeing with me here - it was made clear that Minfilia stopped the First from becoming a void of light. The flood of light was NOT part of the Ascian's plans and would have completely removed the shard from being used in a rejoining.
Elidibus was trying to trigger the calamity more quickly with Shinryu when he realized Mitron and Loghrif failed and the First was about to be lost to light. But the only reason the Black Rose project was restarted was because Minfilia made it possible.
@@ShadownetZero "Upon arriving in the first he would learn why. Somehow the heroes of the sources were able to travel between the rift to the first, and they had begun to slay the lightwardens"
...
"But this did present an opportunity, as if he chose to ally himself with the scions rather than make enemies of them as Lahabrea did, he could use them to restore the damage they caused."
This is how I described him arriving in the first and his goal with the scions
For a calamity to occur so to must a flood as this complete imbalance in aether is the only way that the barrier between worlds can be shattered causing a rejoining; however, it only provides pressure from one side meaning that when the flood happens they need to start prepping or be ready with a calamity. They always intended on flooding the first with light. It was the whole reason Elidabus set the shadowkeeper against the warriors of darkness; however, since she became friends with them during her time on the first neither side could kill the other. This ultimately lead to the WoD setting their sights on the ascians Loghrif and Mitron, who like the shadowkeeper were overwhelming sources of darkness in their world of light, and they wouldn't hesitate to kill them. Ultimately causing the same flood that would of happened if they killed the shadowkeeper.
This was the lesson they learned from the thirteenth because while they did cause a flood of darkness they didn't prime a calamity thus leading to the shard being completely lost before they could take advantage of it.
All Minfilia did was delay the coming calamity and give the ascians more time to prepare as with the flood stopped they could no longer cause a rejoining. Moreover, they also now had to make it so it would be consumed by light again which was the whole reason Emet created Vaultry, so the light could continue to grow unimpeded.
@@TheNastyNamazu You're conflating imbalancing a world with a certain aspect and flooding it with that aspect.
The Ascians NEVER want to flood a world. That is why the 13th became useless for a rejoining. Mitron and Logrif were meant to win, since the world was already over-aspected in light and losing would result in the entire shard being trapped in eternal stasis from that light. The Warriors of Darkness were too good and the First too easily swayed to light.
The idea that they didn't "prime a calamity" (wut) isn't why the 13th was lost. It's because it tipped past the limit of what was usable.
Minfilia stopped the First from becoming a void of light. This is explicitly stated and not something you can debate otherwise. Unless you think the MSQ is lying to us.
@@ShadownetZero why are you “wut”ing the part about them not priming a calamity? The 13th was their first attempt, they tipped the shard with one aspect of aether and then it flooded with void and couldn’t be rejoined, this is where they learned they needed a corresponding calamity on the source for the rejoining, Emet and Mitron tell you this in shadowbringers. So yes they lost the 13th due to not “priming a calamity” while tipping the aspect on the shard. You were specifically told all this in the msq.
I dunno if Hades realised, at least consciously, that the WoL is Azem. Otherwise he wouldn't have been so shocked at seeing Azem in their place for a second before you fight him.
He knew the WoL was Azem; however, to him we were just another fractured being not really the friend he once knew. The reason he was shocked was because after fusing with Ardbert for the first time he saw us as his old friend Azem not just a piece of his soul.
You have to remember he had an exceptional soul sight, only surpassed by Hythlodaeus, which let him easily distinguish different souls. In fact he could easily identify less defined souls than ours. As he was able to identify Amon as Fandaniel despite the fact that his soul at most would have been rejoined 3 times compared to our 7(then 8 with Ardbert). Moreover, Azem's soul is also one of the souls he would be most familiar with.
An Amazing video!
Emet Selch is one of the best written characters in FF in general. If he was a full villain he definitely would be up with the greats like Kefka.
pacing was good, you didn't repeat stuff unnecessarily. Great video!
I kinda miss the part of what he did during his time in the Aetherial Sea.
though i kinda understand that being left out as he was talking to the player, not the WoL. when describing the places where the WoL went to next.
though considering there are many reasons you can call the WoL Crazy maybe you could say he was talking to the WoL when introducing the EW areas.
re: the followup video, yes please :)
One of my favorite villains in all of Final Fantasy, if not all of gaming.
Great video.
I do not believe that Emet set up all of this to test the WoD/WoL like you and many are claiming. He kidnapped the Exarch partially because he created the Allagan Empire and didn't understand how the Exarch was able to control it. He didn't realize the people he created could have created such a thing or capable of such "magic" and wanted to study or question the Exarch. He doesn't know the entire team would show up and assumes only the WoL/WoD would confront him. Many like to push it aside, but Venat knew him very well. People like to view him as some misunderstood hero, but he killed millions of people either as the creator of Allagans or the Empire. And no amount of "time served" makes that acceptable to me.
It's not really that he set it up It's more that he took advantage of a bad situation. He could have just killed the WoL and the scions if he wanted when they first met and in truth it likely was the smartest options, but instead he allies himself with the party allowing them to slay the wardens without his interference. Of course part of the reason for this choice is that it could restore the imbalance; however, he didn't need to reveal/ally himself to the party for that. He literally serves as a passive observer just there to watch the WoL and see if they are able to actually contain the light.
As for Amaurot there is no reason he wouldn't think the whole party wouldn't come as he kidnapped a friend and directly told the WoL to come to him. Also he doesn't show any shock or surprise about them being there at most he is disappointed the WoL didn't come alone like he asked.
On the exarch two things can be true at once. Did he want to learn how he was able to all soul across the rift yes, but it doesn't change the fact that Emet used him as bait. If his primary goal was to use the exarch's knowledge he wouldn't of told WoL where to find him.
He isn't a misunderstood hero he is a tragic/doomed hero. Yes he has done some horrible things, but on the other hand if not for him the song of oblivion would have never been stopped meaning all life would have ended. The fact is that at his core he is a character that strives to do good, but like any doomed character this core is twisted with time and/or tragedy. However, unlike many tragic characters he doesn't double down as once give clarity he chooses redemption not hesitating to offer his aid to the greater good.
A person can have multiple reasons for doing the things they do, not just one motivation.
@@TheNastyNamazu I think melissas means he ISN'T a tragic heroic figure. He's a villain who helped the Allagans enslave Miq'otes, mocked the Warrior of Light needlessly, antagonised the protagonists.... then once defeated and he learnt of the truth, this villain turned into an ally, but only if asked to help.
Now, most people forgave him his villain past because of the help he gave later - they accepted his redemption. HOWEVER, it's not a foregone solution that everyone will forgive him - forgiveness is from the heart of the victims after all, and there were millions that Garlemald and Allag has killed and enslaved and whose loved ones continue to hate the Empire. If you asked G'raha Tia, whose race was enslaved in Allag, and seen his tribe and Corvos later conquered by Garlemald, you would not see the same adoration in him for Solus zos Galvus that the players have.
Even if Emet Selch is from a superior race, a superior people can be kind to an inferior people. It was a kindness you had to admit he did not show due to his callous abrasive nature. To me, getting sundered is like getting degenerative diseases - if your parents were to get Alzheimer's and forget you, would you abandon them and label them inferior? If your friend were to get cancer and get slowly consumed internally by forces they can scarce control like the Warrior of Light was consumed by Light, would you berate them and throw them aside like Emet Selch threw the Warrior of Light aside? If you had any heart and decency at all, you would not. Even if they don't remember who they are, family is still family, friends are still friends.
Additionally when I first finished Shadowbringer, I was questioning WHY if, Emet Selch had first seen these sundered people stumbling about confused and forgotten of their past, did he not rise to guide them as a leader? Emet Selch, could have recreated Amaurotine cities of the Ancients and taught the sundered magics and forgotten culture, and then as their leader enlisted their help to rejoin the world and souls together. You know he can, he has the charisma of a cult leader. Yet, Emet Selch had not behaved like a good leader should.
Despite this though, I like Hades in Elpis yes, and enjoyed some of Solus's antics, but we have to admit he still has quite a few deal-breaking personality flaws and an apathy to others plight that is tempered only by Azem and Hythlodaeus's cajoling. It was not his usual behaviour to be helpful, he only does things because it's his duty or someone requested it of him, not because it is the right thing to do. Emet Selch is more of an anti-hero than a tragic hero type to be honest, at best he's complicated and somewhere on the fence.
I think you sort of exasperate the side of Emet that actually has a modicum of care for the reflections.
From the beginning, especially due to his nature as an ancient, has respect for the nature of their sacrifices, sure he cares about Azem in spite of him defecting from the convocation cause they're likely the person he cares for the most period, and of course he's saddened by the fact he had to lose Hyth to the sacrifices, but also it's not like he blames the convocation for that over the actual calamity and if he did there's no record of it. He simply made the Azem Soul Crystal cause he deeply cares about Azem and didn't want his legacy to be lost over the millennia's it would take to execute their plan. He also in Elpis states that he would hold those who sacrificed themselves to Zodiark in the highest esteem, that he would never forsake them, and sure obviously the complexion of this changes over time, that is the nature of Emet's character but the change isn't caused by the final days, rather it's cause by his unbearable burden.
He didn't start off by carrying Azem's ideals by trying to learn about the world and it's people and interacting with it's heart like Azem and Venat did, he was disgusted by the state of their world and the lost people who had put all his hopes in him, the NieR x Reincarnation event explains as much "Such an outcome is unbearable. The man throws himself into restoring his star, his people...his paradise."
You also mention that the birth of his son marked a time where Emet was actively proud and had faith in the new generation, but also you miss the nuance that he also loathed the fact that the Garleans would praise his body since it was not even nearly comparable to the greatness of the ancient people: "As the boy grew, his physique was held in awe and admiration by all, though to him it was a source of great vexation." This hope he puts in his son also is not like a big shift from him lessening his Azem-y ideals (which he doesn't really ever have, it's only by convenience that his role would lead him to discover so much about the other reflections), it's as it's a put "a momentary lapse". You also seem to assume that Solus was the first time that Emet has ever put himself in a human body, and while we don't have official confirmation of any other time he's done it, in his speech he says explicitly "I have lived a thousand thousand of your lives, I have broken bread with you, fought with you, grown ill, grown old,! Sired children and yes, welcomed death's sweet embrace." which seems to imply that he's done that kind of thing with Solus many times over and over, obviously we don't know if we can take his words as they are, but I don't think he has much reason to lie in that scene, he does truly believe everything he says, they are the ideals he claims to be "invincible". This lapse though seems to be the first time Emet has begun to start to crack under the pressure, though it's possible it's happened before, but it's not as if he was always this way, he had always believed this from the beginning and our ways as people only served to exasperate and prove his ideals correct.
Also you say Emet's actions in ShB are not "letting himself fall into that trap" in reference to him putting hope in the new generation, but his entire plan in ShB is exactly to do that. Knowing that the WoL is a remnant of Azem he wanted to gauge their worth and to see if they could really live up to his old best friends will and if so, he'd feel content letting the WoL carry his legacy. Of course we don't live up to that and we "disappoint him", but his plan in approaching us is to gauge this ability. But of course his selfish desires to rest and let his plan go are to strong, and so he begins to give us a ton of tries to prove ourselves, but he's so conflicted and locked by his desires and his ideals that he can't bring himself to accept that half-truths, half-measures that his weary body has begun to begrudgingly accept, and so he goes out kicking and screaming, yelling at every turn, unable to truly accept what he has and wants to do. This confliction is even mentioned by Emet in Elpis when he says that "I even invited you there, invited my own downfall", and there's a line said by the Wandering Minstrel when unlocking Hades EX which goes "I must say, I find it quite fascinating how this Emet-Selch chose to reveal his true name on the verge of the battle that would prove to be his downfall. I am reminded that the Night's Blessed have a similar tradition, in which they conceal their true names outside of rare occasions, such a funerals..." indicating Emet's hidden desire in his final moments to literally put himself to rest and die.
I think the video is great btw and gives a cool summary rundown of the complexities and some hidden emotional sentiments of Emet-Selch that you might otherwise miss if you're so focused on the surface level content of his character. My own personal interpretations just happen to differ and stray a lot to yours when it comes down to the nuances and hard truths of his character. Tbh I don't think you're able to place such strong marks on why he did specific things without generating at least like 4 different reasons, no specific areas where his mentality shifts to clear answers. He is a walking contradiction, a paradox, and I wouldn't want him any other way. (if you want any clarifications or want to counter anything I've said please lmk, I'm always down to discuss the greatest character ever made).
No offense, but you talk about nuance and yet reading this summary shows you missed nearly everything a fully restored Emet relays to us in Ultima-Thule. All the nuance in his speech about broadening our horizons...as he did, for example.
@@WalkerRileyMC I never said he didn't broaden his horizons at all, it's just not something he so openly from the beginning. It's something he found throughout the experience of being an ascian, and leading so much death and destruction.
This was really good but you left out that Ardbert and WoL merged souls during the final conflict with Emet at the end of the world. Its that reason the WoL didnt subcome to the lights burden/toxicity in that instance and why for the brief minute he saw Azem because a part of our fragmented soul rejoined us. Its kinda a big detail in Emet's story as he is the only one who saw it and recognized it.
It's less that I left it out and more that I presented it from Emet's perspective. As it is unclear whether or not Emet was even aware of what really happened as up to that point I don't believe he knew about Ardbert or even if he could see him because remember the phantom Hythlodaeus notes that he is probable the only one that can see Ardbert because of how thin his soul is
Where did you learn about the stuff that we didn’t see in game or wasnt talked about in game?
There are a whole selection of short stories on the lodestone that give small insights on various characters or events. For example one talks about what happens in G'raha's original timeline(midgar wakes up and helps the world recover). Emet gets like two stories in tales from the shadows and/or twilight, and tales from the dawn has a story about Jullus where we learn the names of basically the whole Galvus family except Emet's wife.
Beyond that some inferences were made based on what we know about the character. Such as him being responsible for recruiting the sundered members of the convocation. We don't have a hard confirmation that he recruited them all(as far as I know), but we can kinda assume it because we see him recruit Amon and he was in possession all the memory crystals.
Sigh ... this was so good that it's got me wanting to go ng+ shadowbringers.
DADDY
DADDY
*moans and runs after him*
think you did a boss job tbh, i wouldnt change much if anything.
why do you say that the creation of zodiark required "aether and life energy" as if these were two separate things? the ancients used their lives as fuel, becoming the aether required to summon zodiark.
When I say life energy I more so mean their souls which is distinctive from aether as while the ancients could create anything using their creation magic they were incapable of creating souls for their creations. However, when they introduced their creations into the ecosystems over time the future generations would become creatures that did possess souls. This is why the creation of Phoinix was seen as amazing accomplishment as Lahabrea became the first ancient to creation a creature with a soul(he did it by accident as an already existing soul some how got dragged into the the creatures creation leading to an immortal beast that only wanted to die)
Now why this is important is important is because technically the ancients that fueled Zodiark's summoning never died instead their souls became trapped/bound to the primal. This can be seen as part of the reason that remaining ancients were so determined to return them. You see dying for the star was noble act, and they would of been less likely to attempt their revival if that is what happened as to do so would be an insult to all those they brought back, but since they were stuck in Zodiark it would mean they could never return to the star nor ever find peace.
RIDIIINGG HOOOMEEEEE
M Emmet Selch
I LIKED Emet-Selch, but I have to say the MOST BELOVED character would have to be G'RAHA TIA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I personally don't understand the sympathy towards Emet-Selch. He and Lahabrea commited genocide multiple times just because they thought their ancient civilization deserved to live more than the sundered lives. Shadowbringers had excellent writings for the Scions and especially the Crystal Exarch and Ardbert but the villains (Vauthry, Ranjit and Emet-Selch) are lacking. The overall story arc was also very simple until after the second trial. Kill this boss, restore darkness to this region, repeat 5 times. I did enjoy Ardbert and his friends' story. Excellent writing but overall, it falls below Heavensward and Endwalker and about the same as Stormblood.
I'm not invalidating everyone's own experience and feelings, just saying mine. Peace 🙂
The reason why Emet is such a great character and why people sympathize with him it because he never wanted any of this. Unlike his kin who never hesitated or felt remorse for their great mission he did. He never wanted to be the villain he spent countless centauries looking for any other way, but he would never find it. At the same time he couldn't just forsake his people. Doing so would be like asking the WoL to forsake the people of the source. Hell Ardbert was willing to causing a calamity to save his world.
Yes, Emet did terrible things, but that doesn't mean you can't sympathize with him. It's not as if he is this evil character that acted for evil sake. His actions, his struggles, were made for his people. He forsook himself for the sake of them, and in all likely hood even if he succeed in his mission he wouldn't allow himself to live in the world he restored because he wouldn't believe he desired it.
I mean, re: the genocides, Emet-Selch himself addresses that. Moral relativism. If you do not feel you have committed a genocide if you kill a nest of ants, you're not entirely in a better position than Emet-Selch is. More than that, the seat of Emet-Selch is inherently responsible for Life and Death, overseer of the Underworld aka the Aetherial Sea. All the lives which are lost return to the Aetherial Sea, and in that way, are never truly dead. Moreover, it's important to also remember that all of those people he killed (yes even the 'genocides') are the very sundered fragments of the souls that Emet-Selch and the Convocation were seeking to put back together again.
The Ancients were nigh God-like beings who lived until they chose to die and would thus return to the Star and be reincarnated, a process which Emet-Selch was the overseer of. All of his genocidal acts, as you've termed them, were ultimately, from Emet-Selch's perspective, for the greater good of the Star. Moreover, Emet-Selch very likely believed that everyone would be thankful to be restored to their nigh God-like status once the world had been entirely Rejoined. What he is killing, then, is little more than pale reflections, echoes, fragments of a whole.
The world which Emet-Selch and the Convocation sought to restore was a utopia (as noted by the fact that all of the names like Amaurot come from Thomas More's Utopia), a paradise without suffering, want, disease, war, and all of the misery that the sundered lives had to endure. They committed "genocide" not because they thought their ancient civilization deserved to live more than the sundered lives, but because they were trying to save all of mankind from the unnatural state they had been cast into by Venat and Hydaelyn. They were trying to fix what they perceived to be a problem in need of fixing.
To Quote Emet-Selch Himself,
"But yes, moral relativism and all that. Case in point--I do not consider you to be truly alive. Ergo, I will not be guilty of murder if I kill you"
Emet-Selch is sympathetic because he was always looking for an alternate path. He all but says as much, and in the latest short story, Emet-Selch waited longer than anyone else out of hope that Azem would find a solution that didn't involve summoning Zodiark. Emet-Selch is sympathetic because everything Emet-Selch did was out of a sense of duty, and out of love for his people and for the Star they inhabited. Being that he was intimately familiar with the processes of life and death, it would be very easy for Emet-Selch to justify the extinguishing of brief Sundered lifespans due entirely to the fact that he knows how reincarnation works, and because he was working to restore said souls to their original, perfect state.
As for the subject of "genocides", The WoL spends much of ARR and beyond wantonly slaughtering the "Beastmen" at the behest of the nations of Eorzea. In Heavensward and ARR, we side unqeustioningly with Ishgard for much of the beginning portion, killing untold numbers of Dragons and Dragonkin only to learn after the fact tha tthe Ishgardians started the conflict, just as we learn over the course of time that the City States of Eorzea are mostly responsible for the "Beastmen"'s aggression by violating treaties and provoking them, and the WoL participates willingly on behalf of the Eorzeans, who believe they have more right than the "Beastmen" to, well, exist.
Rolling my eyes that yet another male-dominated narrative is obsessed with male progeny and the woman that loved him and went through all of the agony of labor and childbirth is discarded in the narrative and not even named and not even important and everyone is celebrating this man for having basic empathy towards another male child as if that isn't like the entire problem.
And everybody who's going to comment on this thread I'm not going to see it but I know that I've triggered a bunch of guys by just pointing this out because it's in every narrative The woman dies in childbirth or the mother's not important It's always the father and the child we have so many narratives about fathers and childs and the woman is just not there. No wonder there's men on TikTok right now saying that biology is basically what the kings of England in the dark ages believed.
I don't know how FF14 could ever beat Emet for a villain. He's fantastic