Contains Spoilers for Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers
Emet-Selch should have been treated with more respect and civility. An opportunity was missed to explore more of his intentions. Below are more respectful, or logical, dialogue options and discussions I wish could have been had with or about Emet-Selch.
To be clear, I am NOT expecting the developers to go back and add all this in with a giant patch; to demand such is unrealistic, to put it mildly.
But, after meeting Emet-Selch, it got me wondering why death had to be the only outcome, and I needed to put these thoughts into writing.
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What I wish I could have decided to say / have caused to have been discussed when Emet-Selch first extended the olive branch.
Why, Urianger, are you going at him for using the illusion when you would have done the same thing in his shoes?
In fact, Iâm disappointed in all of you. Your painting all Ascians with the same brush is causing your moral outrage to kick in; when will we have another opportunity to attempt to understand them and their goals?
Oh, wait, we had an opportunity, but Urianger pulled an Ascian, ruining it for everyone. And yet here Emet-Selch is proposing a truce.
If we treat him like the monster we expect him to be, we have no reason, nor right, to demand and expect him to behave any other way.
Emet-Selch, you have my sincerest apologies for their behavior.
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What I wish I could have said when Emet-Selch explained how he felt he, technically, wasnât committing murder with the calamities.
I appreciate your candor.
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What I wish I could have been said when Emet-Selch offered to save Yâshtola after she used the Flow.
Thank you for the help. What do you need? - [glares at anyone who complains]
After he saved Yâshtola.
You went out of your way to help us even though weâve been less than cordial. Thank you. - [glares at anyone who doesnât thank him]
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What I wish I could have said when Emet-Selch inquired about my health.
(For fun, based on your Job) Fit as a fiddle and ready to go!
Tired and ready to be free of this place.
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What I wish could have been discussed with Ardbert after Yâshtola mistook me/us for a sin-eater.
I knew Emet-Selch wouldnât have been so calm about us ruining his plans by hunting the Lightwardens without having a backup plan; why else would he offer us a truce if our actions werenât part of it?
He wants me to become a Lightwarden. And I canât tell everyone else cause thereâs no point. What are we gonna do? Have Minfilia, a child, handle the last of the Lightwardens to save me? Of course not! But the job needs to get done, which Selch knows.
I fail to kill the last of Lightwardens, he wins because, I guess, the light I have been absorbing goes into the Lightwarden that kills me, making them more powerful. And if I become a Lightwarden, he wins.
(If impressed) Also, I am a means to two ends.
Since we never asked, we donât know what Selch meant for the alliance, but it still means he goes against Elidibus in some form; to onlyassume he would no longer want to cause calamities would be folly. Itâs more than likely he would protect us from them. However, if I become a Lightwarden and the calamity goes on as planned, Elidibus never knows Emet-Selch offered us an alliance. Life goes on.
But he offered the alliance, which means thereâs hope...
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What I wish I could have said when Emet-Selch was talking about Amaurot.
Please, tell me more of the city.
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What I wish I could have said when Emet-Selch claimed he couldnât believe he put his faith in me/us.
But you did, which means you wanted me to succeed. Why?
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What I wish I could have decided to say / have caused to have been discussed in place of Alphinaud when Emet-Selch was walking away (before the final judgement).
Why would we entrust the fate of the star to the individuals who caused it to be sundered in the first place, for one? Secondly, one could make the argument you are planning to sacrifice the planned to be unsundered great grandchildren of those who sacrificed themselves to Zodiark to save the star.
How would your people feel knowing you sacrificed the very lives they sacrificed themselves to save to bring them back? Wouldnât it defy the very purpose of their sacrifice?
They sacrificed themselves for all of us, for you, so you could not survive, but live.
And in regards to my having failed to contain the light, technically, Iâm failing. How often do people succeed at something they have never done before on their first attempt, grandsire?
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What I wish I could have decided to say after containing the light.
You said we could be allies provided I could contain the light. I have done so. What now?
Ha! HA! I contained the light! Now... TURN ON THE GODS DAMN LIGHTS!
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What I wish I could have decided to say / have caused to have been discussed after Emet-Selch / Hades was defeated, before he started his monologue.
I came here to rescue the Exarch, but I did not want to take your life in the process. You offered the alliance! I have done my part!
Choose! Do you you take your last stand and I send you to deathâs sweet embrace? Or do you wish to use the gift of life your people provided with their sacrifice?
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Hades being âonlyâ the God of Death is a common misconception; he is the God of the Underworld, where souls go to either rest or be punished for their deeds in life. He watches over them. Which Emet-Selch has done for a thousand thousand of our lives.
Emet-Selch reached out to us. We were a means to two ends; destruction or alliance, but we never asked him what he meant by âallianceâ or âbeing allies,â which is something I wish we had had the option of getting our heads out of our asses long enough to be able to discover.
Meeting Emet-Selch made me wish we had the option to be more compassionate with our enemies as a whole, similar to our dealings with Ysayle, or Iceheart. But, with Emet-Selch, the only options we really had were mostly antagonistic. Yes, we had a couple of probing questions, but nothing with true compassion and an attempt to understand.
If we treat people like the monsters we expect them to be, we have no reason, nor right, to demand and expect them to behave any other way. We must treat people the way we want to be treated.
Would treating Emet-Selch with more compassion have made a difference? I would like to think so, but weâll never know.
Excellent job on the animations of the facial expressions and body language; well done Rene Zagger with the voice acting. You made a spectacular âvillain.â
Thank you for reading. May every decision you make in the future be in the spirit of fairness and may the rest of your day not go to $#!7.
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The Artist Shout-Out for Monday, November 15, 2021, goes to Arcali!
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