doot doot magic flute

The idea of ascension was culturally seen as good and positive, and highly celebrated when achieved. They seem to have referred to it as Enlightenment.

"I once had! I was embalmed, adorned, readied for the journey. So proud. There was jubilation! My name was sung, loud and clear." (Four Needles Under Plentiful Leaves)

"Seventeen Axes, Fifteen Spoked Wheel nobly decided to ascend in the beginning of 1514.008 […]" (Deep Magenta/Shaded Citadel pearl text)

"[…] a Gift of Charity from Us to The World (unable to reach Enlightenment by itself - being composed mostly of Rock, Gas, dull witted Bugs and Microbes […]" (Pale Green/Exterior pearl text)

see also: most things that ancients or iterators have to say about ascension, like, in general.

Their conception of ascension was to escape the cycle of life and death, which all living things are subjected to. (However, it's not totally clear how this works or how literally the concept should be taken.)

"The repeating mantra is important because it symbolizes the cyclical nature of life and death, and the termination verse is a symbol for ascension above and beyond it." (Light Blue/Outskirts pearl, LTTM commentary)

"Then you know that death isn't the end - birth and death are connected to each other like a ring, or some say a spiral. Some say a spiral that in turn forms a ring. Some ramble in agonizing longevity. But the basis is agreed upon: like sleep like death, you wake up again - whether you want to or not." (Light Blue/Outskirts pearl, LTTM commentary)

"It became the symbol for enlightenment as it momentarily enables a creature to let go if[sic] its carnal self, and to contact the selves of other planes - dreams, memories, imagined worlds." (LTTM commentary on Karma Flowers)

They saw the world and the cycle as an unpleasant circumstance that all beings should seek to escape. They saw these ideas in some sense as universal, and universally applicable.

"The first verse starts by drawing a comparison between the world and a tangled rug. It says that the world is an unfortunate mess." (Bright Green/Drainage System pearl, LTTM's paraphrasing)

"You're stuck in a cycle, a repeating pattern. You want a way out. Know that this does not make you special - every living thing shares that same frustration." (Five Pebbles)

"[…] a Gift of Charity from Us to The World (unable to reach Enlightenment by itself - being composed mostly of Rock, Gas, dull witted Bugs and Microbes […]" (Pale Green/Exterior pearl text)

"The triple affirmative - affirmative that a solution has been found, affirmative that the solution is portable, and affirmative that a technical implementation is possible and generally applicable." (Pale Yellow/Shoreline pearl, LTTM commentary)

"We were supposed to help everyone, you know. Everything. That was our purpose: a great gift to the lesser beings of the world." (LTTM dialogue recieving a neuron fly)

The Ancients (as a culture) viewed the scenario of everyone ascending as highly desirable goal. There is explicit reference to the concept of "global ascension".

"Although our community is Blessed with an ever shrinking Population, and we can Almost Glimpse that Glorious moment when the last of us has joined our most Admired peers […]" (Pale Green/Exterior pearl text)

"It's a methodology for global ascension of course - quite good, although the Peripherists or the Slab Mongers certainly wouldn't agree!" (Deep Viridian/Garbage Wastes pearl, LTTM commentary)

Religion was a major aspect of Ancient governance and politics, and the driving force of how their society was run.

Source: a lot of things, but we can probably start with the fact that iterators exist at all? They exist for the purpose of figuring out Ascension, and granting this to other non-Ancient creatures in the future (unclear if this aspect was their initial purpose or more of a pivot in the timeframe leading up to global ascension, though)

"As an Iterator, he is also a Gift of Charity from Us to The World (unable to reach Enlightenment by itself - being composed mostly of Rock, Gas, dull witted Bugs and Microbes - and towards which We thus have Obligations)" (Pale Green/Exterior pearl text)

"On regards of the (by spiritual splendor eternally graced) people of the Congregation of Never Dwindling Righteousness, [...]" (Deep Pink/Farm Arrays pearl text)

"In the iterator projects many old industrial-religious sites like this were remodeled and incorporated." (Bright Blue/Industrial Complex pearl, LTTM commentary)

"I therefor ask you to Do Anything in your Might to stop the House(We both know which House) from Further Obstruction! They have less than forty members on the Council, but still Tilt the spiritual Discourse with Our Iterator in a direction that most obviously Displeases him […]" (Pale Green/Exterior pearl text)

They appear to have been a highly dogmatic and stratified society.

"The portrait is likely a fake, as this style was quite fashionable for aspirational lower caste aristocrats to impress each-other with." (White pearl commentary, LTTM)

"[…] Seventeen Axes, Fifteen Spoked Wheel, of the House of Braids, Count of 8 living blocks, Counselor of 16, Grand Master of the Twelfth Pillar of Community, High Commander of opinion group Winged Opinions, of pure Braid heritage […]" (Deep Magenta/Shaded Citadel pearl text)

"May Not as long as the Stars stay fixed on their Celestial Spheres Grey Hand, Impure Blood, Inheritable Corruption, Parasites, or malfunction settle in Your establishment." (Deep Pink/Farm Arrays pearl text)

"I was once the Count of 2 living blocks, esteemed by my peers. I had progeny!" (Nineteen Spades, Endless Reflections)

"We, of the Five-hundred-and-ninety-second High Convocation of the True Anointed Citadel, do hereby demand, with full force of Law and Religious doctrine, an Immediate end to construction of the Apostate Superstructure Abomination. To place shadow upon the Divine Body of the True Anointed Citadel is outrageous blasphemy and cannot be tolerated, no matter the circumstances…" (White pearl text)

The Ancients, as a culture, sought ascension, but many of them weren't very good at following their own religion's advice on how to do that.

"This was an eternal dilemma to them - they were burdened by great ambition, yet deeply convinced that striving in itself was an unforgivable vice. They tried very hard to be effortless. Perhaps that's what we were to them, someone to delegate that unrestrained effort to." (Bright Green/Drainage System pearl, LTTM commentary)

"In ancient times the masks were actually about showing spiritual persuasion - covering the face as a way to symbolically abate the self. Then of course, that was quite subverted as excessively ornate and lavish masks became an expression of identity." (Bright Blue/Industrial Complex pearl, LTTM commentary)

Void baths acted as a shortcut, allowing individuals to ascend without going through the usual process of spiritual development/enlightenment.

"Now of course when Void Fluid was discovered these methods proved obsolete, as it was more easy just jumping in a vat of it to effortlessly leave this world behind." (Bright Red/Farm Arrays pearl, LTTM commentary)

"There were some horror stories though… That if your ego was big enough, not even the Void Fluid could entirely cross you out, and a faint echo of your pompousness would grandiosely haunt the premises forever." (Bright Red/Farm Arrays pearl, LTTM commentary)

By the end, it seems that void baths became widely available as the primary way to ascend, with the traditional method becoming more of a minority.

"So even when the Void Fluid baths became cheaper, some would still starve and drink the bitter tea." (Bright Red/Farm Arrays pearl, LTTM commentary)

"For you though, there is another way. The old path [...] where the land fissures, as deep as you can reach, where the ancients built their temples and danced their silly rituals." (Five Pebbles, directing the Survivor to ascend)

During the time of iterators, at least some Ancients believed they had, as a society and civilization, painted themselves into a corner with few options left.

"By Now, living on the surface is Laughable. We are Across the River and have Kicked out the Boat." (Pale Green/Exterior pearl text)

They altered their world and biosphere to be nearly unrecognizable.

Source: basic premise of the game; every impact iterators have on their environment

"When I came into this world there was very little primal fauna left." (Bright Magenta/Shoreline pearl, LTTM)

Multiple echoes describe their former bodies as "vessels" or "prisons" to be escaped.

"From within my vessel of flesh, I would perch upon this spot to observe the rising of the sun." (Nineteen Spades, Endless Reflections)

"Should I be ashamed that I now envy your flesh prison?" (Four Needles Under Plentiful Leaves)

There was a "final public ascension", which seems to have been an actual distinct event. Writing from shortly before this timeframe suggests urgency and possible conflict.

"This is an official decree of cultivation sent from the twenty-second Subsistence Council ordering the eastern spoke Farm Array administration to "immediately harvest and process all viable crops, despite whatever misgivings they might have." A short-sighted endeavor for sure. I would assume this was sent sometime during the final cycles leading up to final public ascension, when interest in biosphere sustainability was at an all-time low." (White pearl paraphrase, LTTM)

As far as we know, all Ancients ascended. There are none left.

We know iterators can talk to each other and have pretty extensive ability to observe surrounding regions. If anyone were still left, it seems very unlikely they wouldn't know about it.

"Have you seen a bone mask? Likely not, they are all gone with their owners." (Bright Blue/Industrial Complex pearl, LTTM commentary)

Ultimately, you can take what you want from this -- there's definitely kinder readings to be made.