#patch 6.0

This isn't a post have planned to write or even turn out to be this long, but a sudden thought process turned it into what it is now, so I thought I'd post it here instead because I felt it was too long for Twitter. I saw @autumnslance post on the importance of the other Amaurotines peer-reviewing Meteion which lead me to think about how much her and Hermes's story looks like a way too common "advanced creation gone wrong" type story that is way too common in the science fiction genre as a cautionary tale against learning about the things man was not meant to know (a point I personally also find arguable, but that is a topic for a different post). We have Hermes as a scientist desperate to know a world-changing revelation, and Meteion as his means of achieving it. Much like in such stories, the creation goes wrong and causes a massive catastrophe the heroes have to stand against. And yet despite looking so much like those tales, it somehow manages to be something else entirely.

Although on the surface, their characters look like pretty common science fiction archetypes, a lot of deeper meanings, philosophical even, are present in their characters that makes the stand very apart from those once one thinks about it, to the point that those archetypes start to look like shallow images. Just like a lot of other things in Endwalker, their arcs touch the questions such as life, it's meaning, death and despair, which in their case are the central themes surrounding them. And where a lot of other authors would have questioned either the need for further scientific advancement or the limits of science, Natsuko Ishikawa instead chooses to ask questions related to these themes, turning the whole story into a conflict of views and ideologies, as opposed to a conflict between man and science with it's products.

Despite her differences from Aether-based beings (which cause questions from both several characters and the player as they learn more about dynamis later on, especially during the Ultima Thule section of the story and some post-game content), Meteion is shown to have human-like understanding and independent thought (which could also be said about the memories we interact with at Ultima Thule), with both her and Hermes initially being shown as empathetic (with her literally being able to sense feelings) but doubtful beings hoping to find meaning to life and the universe, believing that there is a way out there to dispel their doubt. Both of them, coming from the peaceful civilization that Amaurot was, saw the stars beyond as a much softer universe than it turned out to be, and despite what they said, were not prepared to hear it. Just like many people for all sorts of reasons, they found something they couldn't bear it without it shaking their entire worldviews and turning them into something different (temporary, in Hermes's case, because he decides to erase his memory, only to have it resurface in the afterlife and later incarnations, adding to his tragedy). And though the circumstances surrounding their experiences are very fantastical, the way their pain shapes them into embodiments of despair and destruction is all too relatable and realistic. After all, many would break if after a life of peace and prosperity, all of a sudden they started seeing only death and suffering without a cause, an idea that is further echoed by the stories of the Ancients that chose to summon Zodiark.

Both of those characters end up representing the nihilistic philosophy that comes from those that do not see any redeemable qualities to the world, or that they are negligible, that, when confronted with life's unfairness, decided that living is nothing but a punishment, with death being the release. A view I have seen all too often both in real life and in some of the older works of my homeland's literature, one that is considered "mature" by some. And Which leads me to believe that the tragedy of Meteion and Hermes (who is also complicit because he didn't even try to stop her) is not one of her being an artificial being. If anything, I find her being an entelechy more humanizing than anything, with empathy, a quality universally regarded as a virtue, becoming their undoing, along with their subsequent failure to understand certain things. What I believe is the real tragedy of Meteion and Hermes in this case is the fact that they lived in the light for all their lives and could not handle the darkness as a result. After all, the idea that all things are doomed to die is not presented as a great truth man was not meant to know. The Scions and many others know it and are able to live with it. Emet-Selch, Hythlodaeus and Venat were able to deal with it. Etheirys in it's entirety is able to live with it, despite not even knowing the full story. Even the shades of the Ea, who feared the end of the universe so much, eventually are able to come to terms with it. No, the conflict that lies in here are things unique to Hermes and Meteion as individuals, qualities unique to them that couldn't have been solved with outside influence.

What would have happened in the case if the rest of the Convocation peer-reviewed Meteion before Hermes sending her anywhere... I am not certain. The way their society focused on research, improvement and knowledge and had no qualms about creating life (or taking it, which is what prompts Hermes to go down the philosophical path he eventually goes down), I am inclined to believe that they would have eventually ended up approving her, all of her capabilities would have likely been deemed beneficial to both the Ancients (who knew nothing of what was beyond Etheirys and could learn more, or could use her to communicate with other life forms on the planet itself) and to the hypothetical people on the other stars (who could benefit from the wisdom of the Ancients in the event they were less technologically/ magically advanced), with the whole thing eventually proceeding the same way as it did in canon, with unexpected results following her return (since more people likely would have known, there is no telling that there wouldn't be more who reacted the same way Hermes did). In the event that they hadn't approved and chose to revert her instead, however, I don't believe his questions about the universe would have ceased to be. He may have refused the Convocation's offer and grown incredibly resentful of it (which could have fueled his doubts even further), but one cannot kill curiosity, even if said curiosity ends up killing the cat.... Multiple times. Whether through remaking her or by some other means he would have kept searching until he found it (since Ancients could theoretically live forever and often seemed to die by their own choice), only to be faced with the horrifying conclusion he could not bear with and it's aftermath.

"Alisaie!"

"Are you alright?"

"I can look after myself, you know..."

"And I've had enough of this rabble! Come on!"

"Come what may, we shall live on.

I made it to the other side of the expansion and completed Endwalker! What a wonderful journey this has been!

Heavensward will probably always be my favorite expansion, but Endwalker is very close and I loved it. It took me by surprise some times and I love how at first I thought “Oh, this is going to be a lot of beating the crap out of Garlenas”, but then they did this wonderful nihilistic philosophy stuff. I am totally in love with that. And before anyone says “Oh! Then you should try Nier: Automata!”. Yes, yes. Already done that and loving it.

As some might now I am a professional writer in my native language and also from time to time I publish some short stories in anthologies - mostly horror stories with a focus on Lovecraftian cosmic horror. With Endwalker they worked on the same themes I try to explore in my stories, but whereas my stories often are rather hopeless and pressimistiv I adore their positive spin on the whole nihilistic stuff.

There is still so much stuff to think about. The story touched me and there were so many great moments. I am sad it is over now, but I look forward for the next adventures. Thank you FF14 for this amazing journey into despair and out of it again. That was some pretty impressive empowering stuff. Just the kind I need right now.

So, I am back now. I still do not have too much time, but finally I will be able to scroll through my tumblr dashboard without worrying about not getting spoiled. Thus ... be prepared! For I am going to like and reblog again more often now!

THIS IS SO FUNNY