Thou Must Live, Die, And Know [LV87 MSQ CUTSCENE]

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SPOILERS FOR ENDWALKER LV 87 MSQ ABOUND!
My new favorite cutscene in the game!
VENAT YOU GLORIOUS MADLADY!
Venat sunders the world and becomes Hydaelyn while Answers plays in the background

[@WonderBlubber]

"No more shall man have wings to bear him to Paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk."

[@AdeptKing]

Sounds evil but with the context...

[@Dreamfillah]

The toughest and thus, truest of love.

[@gingerspice5477]

I had So many chills when I first heard that line

[@jettabunny8676]

My new favorite quote. Previous one: "ONE BRINGS SHADOW, ONE BRINGS THE LIGHT."

[@Gitaikou]

That quote is a reference to the tale of Icarus is it not?

[@wyrmoffastring]

Seeing Hythlodaeus just leave, smiling, to be sacrificed, because he wants his friends to live on, shattered my heart completely.

[@kapsi]

I'm sorry Hyth, but your sacrifice was useless. Venat killed them all.

[@VDA19]

@@kapsi It wasn't useless. Without that sacrifice there's no Zodiark. Without Zodiark, Meteion kills everyone. Both Hydaelyn and Zodiark were necessary evils. They both saved the world.

[@constablemittens]

@@VDA19 That's the thing really, Fandaniel had to catch some hands but I feel like what he did was itself also necessary because of how the ancients were content with remaining stagnant. His failures as a researcher and a person created crisis, but it also along with everything else led to a future where life might not simply reach the conclusion seen on the other stars. I don't think any of it would have happened if Meteion wasnt trying to force the answer she found.

[@gonoki888]

@@kapsi Zodiark is actually what keeping Etheirys safe for a while. Even after the sundered. Only after we killed Zodiark that Meteion could invade it.

[@archi4226]

Kinda wished they showed us Lahabrea and Elidibus as they showed us Hythlodaeus, emet and fandaniel

[@hanabibibiy]

"No more shall man have instant login to bear him to Eorzea. Henceforth, he shall queue" - Yoshi P

[@ViewTube_Emperor_of_Mankind]

It’s to prevent Denial of Service attacks. (Login and logout repeatedly with a huge amount of accounts (by hackers for example) made it possible to block login for vast majority of players.. a security risk and that is how they fixed it.)

[@darshio8307]

LMAO

[@tomasskala4405]

@@ViewTube_Emperor_of_Mankind You are the embodiment of overthinking lmfao

[@AyaKho]

@@tomasskala4405 I have no idea if this is the reason FFXIV has a queue but what ViewTube said is both very reasonable and certainly very plausible. FFXIV does seem to frequently suffer from ddos attacks and a short queue that attempts to keep a stable flow of, say, 20 players in and out of the game doesn't seem an entirely irrational measure to take to lessen their impact. Even if obviously not a solution in and of itself given recent events. I don't think the problem here is that they're overthinking. I think the problem here is that you just don't think. At all.

[@miriamweller812]

Square was greedy from the start. Europe didn't have servers and by that desastrous lags for TWO FULL YEARS and after that they always used "servers bad" as excuse fo not improving the game and just cutting it down further, but of course never just invest in more and better servers. When there wasn't enough plots for housing, they also didn't just invest into more server power to give more housing plots, not, they abused this to force people staying subbed, no matter how dead the game is, because else you lose the house and EVERYTHING inside, too.

[@sherbLP]

As I said in a different video: The meaning behind Venats decision is so beautiful and logical, yet cruel and unforgiving. She sundered the star, mankind and all of creation knowing that in their imperfection, determined life span and receptiveness to dynamis we would inevitable seek the answer of hermes question. She further stresses to seek the answer by calling to us "Hear, Feel, Think" like a mantra, wich is exactly what we need to be able to understand dynamis and face Meteion. Especially, since Meteion, a beeing communicating using dynamis, tries to understand us using the same terms: Meteion: "I wish to hear your words... Share your feelings... Know your thoughts." tl;dr: Venat dooms mankind to suffer. Because in suffering we would seek meaning in our lifes. Therefore finding the answer hermes and meteion so eagerly seek. I love it!

[@miriamweller812]

@@pawbgles Kid, without that sacrifice (and it was VENAT who told SHIT about that time travel mumbo jumbo), there would have been nothing left for that Super Nazi to slaughter. Those people who gave their life WILLINGLY to save the planet and all others did the job. Venat then just came up with: lol, I kill everyone anyway and to make sure you don't stand up, I slaughter your souls with it and deform you completely.

[@hermeticallysealed1]

@@miriamweller812 Reductionist nonsense at it's best.

[@shizachan8421]

@@miriamweller812 Yeah, thats not how nazi-ideology worked. Nazi ideology was based on an obsession with the ideal of one singular, superior race of super humans who should rule the world and wipe out everything they deemed lesser. It was heavily based on ideas of physical superiority, be it of athletic qualities or a biologically determined idea of intelligence, which in return creats superior societes. What Venat did is to split the world, to creat a humanity which is defined by weakness, imperfection but also diversity, compared to the original ascian race. Like, if you would go with that analogy, the definition of an Aryan as the nazis imagined them to be would be closer to the Ascians, who were a singular race of seemingly perfect humans with super human qualities living in an idealized society. Which actually resembels the idea of many esotericist leaning fascists consider the origins of the aryan race or similar constructs of mythological forebearers to the "white race" like the hyperboreans consider to be: A superior and highly advanced raced of mythical super humans with demi-godlike quantities, from which the "white race" fell from grace and which needs to be restored to their former glory. Considering the plans of the Ascians, both the originals and the Unsundered, to first bring back life to the planet just to sacrifice it again to bring back to life the sacrificed original Ascians and restore their idealized society back to their former glory, they were actually closer to nazi ideals. Like, before his defeat and change of heart, Emet-Selchs entire point was, that the sundered races are not worth living, because he considered them too inferior to the idealized society he lived in. What Venat did, was reject such a notion which forms the core of the world view of many esoteric fascist movements in our current world. Her core thesis was, that an imperfect, sundered and therfore diversified and weakened form of humanity that has to overcome hardship and learn to co-exist and cooperate would be more fit to fight despair than a people who will perpetually sacrifice those who don't fit their standart of perfection. Let us not forget that the Ascians actually engineered and wiped out entire species, just due to their perception of usefullness for the world. I mean, if anything the core thesis of Final Fantasy 14 and Endwalker specifically is pretty leftist, if anything. Normal human (and the different playable races of the games are usually refered to as human in general) beings who try to live their life to its fullest through hardship and find strength in diversity and their differences is more fit to overcome despair and nihilism than some idealized race of superhuman demi-gods who are all the same. It rejects usually rightwing ideas of utopianism which are based on perceptions of biological superiority and a return to a glorified past in favor of more left-leaning ideas of utopnianism, based on creating a more idealized and just society by rejecting nostalgia and creating a stronger society through emotional self improvement, allowing humans to culturally develope into being more empathetic and optimistic. Hell, even the whole beast tribe plot-line has pretty anti-colonialist undertones, considering that it was the usually european-coded city states which created the primal problem to begin with, through their oppression, warfare and chauvinism towards the beast tribes they considered inferior, to the point where all they could do is find flight in religious fundamentalism, because the city states kept on stealing or destroying their territories, ressources and cultural archievements. Like, the whole Limsa-kobolds Plotline in Shadowbringers can be fully read as an allegory of the history between european settlers and native nations in america, in that it the settlers who broke written treaties that clearly defined borders for their own self-gain and pushed the natives more and more to the brink. And in that plot, Merlwyb fully acknowledges that the entire fault for the conflict and the primal summoning was fully on her and her people, that the kobols are right to not trust them and that the burden to creat peace is fully on the Limsa Lominsans. The Limsans owe their wealth to the kobolds and paid them in treachery. And she fully acknowledges, that it isn't enough to just make peace, but that the Limsans owe it to the kobolds to engage with them in fair trade relations and support them in gaining prosperity to rebuild their society.

[@miriamweller812]

@@hermeticallysealed1 Yeah, sure planetar genocide is a question about that. Typical Nazi 'argument' (not that it actually is one...). congrats. You just prove it more. Also typical for fascists, they just dig deeper...

[@Leiliel1]

@@miriamweller812 Ah, so too many big words used, because Nazis are known for being literate and making reasoned explanations not based on inherent superiority. I fully buy your logic now.

[@belld.s5276]

In that moment you realize the sheer tragedy of it all. There was no evil mastermind in the end. Venat and Emet fought for the same damn thing, but on opposite sides. It's heartbreaking. At the end of EW, it is the only time in my years of gaming that I looked at the main character and think, "you've been through too much." The WoL, the Ancients, they have suffered way too much.

[@ahriisnotakitsune]

meteion and hermes are the mastermind

[@erym7483]

@@ahriisnotakitsune I wouldn't even say they were. Hermes loved all his creations Meteion included and didn't want her to die because she was a threat and wouldn't be of service to the star. Meteion was like a daughter to him almost and he wanted to hear her report. The notion of the Convocation examining her when they all knew the final verdict adding in what all 4 of them saw. So by wiping their minds and sending Meteion away to judge mankind and to be free he doomed them all. I think his suffering as an Ancient also compounded to Amon and Xande and finally OUR Fandaniel. It's a tragedy all around.

[@prinstyrio0]

@@erym7483 Yeah, neither are masterminds as much as victims of suffering just as everyone else, Meteion in particular given her nature, what she was made for and what she found. Despite it all, if it weren't for Hermes and Meteion, all the tragedies wouldn't have happened and what then? Would the ancients eventually reach perfection? As seen in the last dungeon, that may have led to their own end as there would be nothing left to strive for and it by itself is a form of suffering. In the end, what the xpac and story teaches is that suffering and imperfection is not a curse or something to be rid of, cause even if it can lead to a tragic end, it's what completes life.

[@ahriisnotakitsune]

@@erym7483 i dont think id agree with ur hypothesis and even if i did, what you wrote is just motives not really why they aren't "mastermind" they literally planned it and deliberately wanted to and caused the final day to happen later on

[@roetheboat1]

Spoilers for Endwalker: * * * * * * * I've never been a huge fan of the whole "The world and life is suffering, so I'll just kill everyone to bring peace" trope in stories. But the idea that Hermes accidentally created a universal gestalt consciousness of all of the suffering in the UNIVERSE by having Meteion's sisters explore the stars is definitely a unique take on the concept. It definitely makes the nihilistic philosophy more reasonable, because Meteion absorbed the desolation of countless destroyed planets, absorbed the despair of countless dying civilizations, and inadvertently set another unknown number of people off on the path to extinction as a result of her discoveries elsewhere. I can't really blame Meteion for her reasoning and actions, as much as I disagree with her. She inadvertently absorbed the emotions of entire sapient species in their last moments, like the Ea who learned about the expansion of the universe. Or the Omicron, who realized that their fear of being conquered led to the extinction of others. Goddamn, it's a depressing reality with no real easy answer to something that is immortal and has experienced so much.

[@Lethos1000]

I love that they showed her literally taking every step we took, taking the hit from Ultima to carrying us walking up to Emet. This woman had so much love for her children.

[@aaronh678]

Taking the hit from Ultima? Where? or am I blind.

[@Alien361]

@@aaronh678 that shield that she maid in the mainszenario when Ultima was made to fire its ultimate attack. That was her taking the hit for us

[@aaronh678]

@@Alien361 Thought he was on about in this cutscene..

[@StellaStarfall]

@@aaronh678 One of the sound effects that plays when she’s struck during the long walk is the same one that Ultima’s attack used.

[@aaronh678]

@@StellaStarfall Thanks. I'll have to listen out :)

[@bobdarkgamerofthesith2500]

The very definition of a strong female character.

[@dlvarcade9729]

Remember when WoW honored women by turning them in to bowls of fruit?

[@darthmarth87]

And the secret is they never have to draw attention to the fact or disparage men in the process. She's just a great character that anyone can resonate with. So glad there's still writers out there who get it. The Character of the, er, character is all that matters.

[@Vincent-hx1ql]

@@happygaysounds Trust me. I have read fanfictions about Sylvanas that got better writing than whatever shit Blizz been pulling right out of their ass.

[@mjs3188]

@@Vincent-hx1ql Because the fanfic authors actually care about the character lmao

[@mattlandgrave1573]

Take notes Western developers this is how it’s done right, not some Mary Sue Bull shit !!!

[@joshuagraham1598]

Sylvanas fucking WISHES she was half as badass as Venat

[@SergeDuka]

There’s really no comparison between a world and a character carefully built with love over many years and a stitched together Frankenstein of a woman puked out by every misogynistic abuser at Blizz.

[@Bubbatauti]

It's small, but really powerful to me, the look on Emet-Selch's face as he watches Hythlodaeus leave. For how offended he was at the idea that he would become who he was in Shadowbringers, that wave goodbye is 100% the moment that would start him down that path.

[@TheAuthorgal]

It's easy to assume you would never do something until you're put into a desperate situation. He was a very tragic and well done character.

[@wontononionslicer1004]

watching your comment made me realise, hytho said that when a human returns to life stream all the altered memories will be cleansed, same theory was said also by the old prof in sharlyan. When we defeated emet and send him to life stream ( not sealing him as laha was absorbed in thordan's sword or elidibus in the tower). Emet returned in the 5.3 Beause he remembered!

[@luminusprime]

@@wontononionslicer1004 Emet WAS sealed, though. That's why he's in the lifestream at all instead of brooding in Pandaemonium... or already in another clone body, since he only stayed dead for two seconds when Varis shot him. Don't you remember Thancred slicing his auracite into a zillion pieces?

[@mjs3188]

@@moonxrose26 and then later in a certain zone starting with an E when... Hythlodaeus tells us that no matter how frustrated Azem makes him, he ALWAYS answers the summons when she has need. So not only did he remember after returning to the aetherial sea, but he also continued to support one of his best friends when in need.

[@fawkespryde9183]

It wasn't so much that he was offended of what hw would become though. Emet-selch was a member of the Convocation. They were trained and upheld truthfulness. You told him something that he knew was undoubtedly the truth. Just like he knew that whatever comfort Hythlodaeus shared in that last moment was a lie. That he was accepting his end to save his people. Emet-selch didn't want to believe the story but you had no reason to tell such an outlandish lie and could tell you were being truthful. That's why he entrusted their legacy to you. Because you told him what he would become in his grief and he chose to trust you over anything he would be able to do to stop the End times. He told us to remember because in his long quest to save his people, he had forgotten the reason for fighting along the way.

[@AlphaDormante]

I had faith. I had so much faith that Ishikawa wouldn't give us the tired, tired trope of "Your God is Actually Bad". I kept the faith that Hydaelyn was the loving being she always showed herself to us as. If anything... I only underestimated just how much love she truly had. Edit: If one more of you armchair warriors with a lack of critical thinking skills screams at me "she committed GENOCIDE" I'm going to sunder my own buttcrack. Since I seem to have to clarify: I NEVER said that what Venat did was indisputably the correct moral decision. The choice she made had repercussions that inflicted suffering on all mankind and she herself admits how morally gray it was. But she did it with the intention to SAVE humanity, not eradicate it, because she loved humanity. That is, by literal definition, the opposite of "genocide". You are free to disagree with what she did with all you want and you wouldn't even be wrong, but god forbid you ALSO acknowledge that she is morally gray, instead of screaming a buzzword so that you can fake the moral high ground on anyone who disagrees with you.

[@DiogoJ1]

Agreed.

[@DakonBlackblade2]

The woman is the embodiment of hope. You feel like nothing could go wrong after you defeat Hydaelyn in that trial and get her ultimate approval, with her on your side nothing can stand against you. Its sad that she is gone for good now, my WoL will miss having Hydaelyn watching over him all the time.

[@AdeptKing]

She's the reason that the Wol is so good in the first place.

[@JackgarPrime]

The writing team played us SUPER good. Got us all set up to expect the reveal of her actually being evil, or at least very neutral or manipulative, just to hit us with "actually she's the biggest hero there ever was and one of the coolest characters in the entire franchise."

[@andylawlzz]

instead we got the tired tired trope of "literally no one important dies" how much harder would the message of carrying on in spite of despair had hit if one of the scions *actually* died?

[@balambtransfer8317]

All those years of the suspicions, the wondering, is Hydaelyn good? Could she perhaps be secretly evil? Then this tear inducing cutscene spells it out. No. Hydaelyn/Venat is a big. fucking. Hero. The biggest one if it weren't for the player character.

[@joshuayung5158]

The seat of Azem should seriously be renamed the Seat of Suffering. I say this facetiously because of the 5.3 trial, but it actually makes some sense from a story perspective. The Ancients/Amaroutines showed that they would have played right into Meteion's hands by sacrificing themselves right out of existence to avoid pain and loss. Venat forcibly changed their course from guaranteed oblivion to the possibility of a future by offering her own body and soul.

[@Pompadourius]

I can't think of another time that a character so quickly went from suspicious to one of my favorites and believing in them fully, and done so well.

[@garouchieflol]

nah i always wondered after SHB what could cause a calamity those monsters from amaurot didnt explode in aether like almost every foe defeated in raids and dungeons and that the convocation was fanatical for some reason.

[@Fulldre]

I was suspicious until vritra's line about how midgardsormr trusts her and I'm like, OK valid

[@prideofasia99]

@@Pompadourius Show Blizzard how it's done

[@killerbunny2021]

I see it now… just how much work they have put into this story… “To listen, to suffer, to entrust unto tomorrow…” “Thou must live, die and know…” She has given us this torch to carry, and sacrificed everything in hopes of our success… a true hero above all…

[@j-beezy4667]

You know what? Louisiox did too and the same song was used there. This games thematic tie ins are kinda nuts!

[@miriamweller812]

She killed everyone and distorted them. Your just cheer to the worst kind of fascism, you get this, right? That's the story fascists tell. That you have to get rid of the 'wrong' people. That you nave to use brutal violence to forge society in the way they want it to. And even in that fucked up story, nothing proves Venat''s Holocaust right in any way. You just got random plot armor, most things that help you succeed got NOTHING to do with Venat and the people it distorted but actually Garleans or remaining ancients. And of course all this could have been done MUCH better without the Holocaust.

[@TheTriforceDragon]

@@miriamweller812 You do realize that the ancients had no way to defeat the Endsinger, right? Aside from the fact that they lacked the understanding of suffering and hardship to fight of the despair she inflicts, the fact that their dense Aether made them unable to even manipulate Dynamis means they would have been helpless against her if they went to face her, in her realm where the flood of Dynamis washes away and overwhelms Aether. In the current state of the world, they could have fought as hard as they wanted...and it would all have been for naught. They lacked both the experience and the very means to face the Endsinger in any meaninful way. Without Venat's actions, as harsh and cruel as they were, everything would have ended sooner or later.

[@spartanhexus6759]

​@@miriamweller812 Nah she didn't killed them, they were sundered, all they lost is their ability to live forever and the ability to create things out of aether, which were their "wings to paradise", those were the only 2 things that were realistically stripped from them. The only ancients which brought genocide were the ascians who had ideals closer than the nazi, believing themselves to be superior to other and the only ones worth of existing, and the people at elpis who liked playing god, hermes in special who created a being which caused a cosmic wide calamity, meteion was using dynamis to hasten the end of the UNIVERSE. Zodiark wasn't saving anyone, it was stalling meteion effects, over time as the universe and everything around the world died, so would the world. Its like you didn't played this game, or just skipped to endwalker and decided to see nazi on everything.

[@miriamweller812]

@@spartanhexus6759 When I destroy your personality, delete your memories, take away all your abilities and everything you are, have been and would be - I KILLED you. Those people are DEAD. Even worse: Their souls are destroyed. Ripped apart. And it does not matter what you call them, they were just NORMAL. THEY were the normal people. From the PoV of an insect a human got an absurdly long life. But that's just normal. You can't argue from the PoV of that insect, that humans 'live too long' and so it's fine to cut that down. Again: this is like taking RL problems and say: yeah humans are the problem, let's just kill them all and use their biomass to form short lived mini humans out of them, which only live for a few months. And yes, killing a few billion humans WOULD solve many problem we got. The idea to just think about that is still just sick on every level - and to cheer for it... hell...

[@Spartanz1170]

Venat might just be Final Fantasy's greatest hero. Not by power or might, but by sheer indomitable will that most Final Fantasy characters could never match.

[@Maddog3060]

She limit broke through all history.

[@AdeptKing]

She's the reason Wol is so good as well. She passed it on to them.

[@Lancun]

@@AdeptKing It's actually mutual strength they gain from one another in an endless cycle of time. The WoL is the sundered soul of the final Azem, her pupil and friend. So obviously we are strengthened and pushed by her, but it actually goes both ways. She explains when you finally face her Primal Form that you, her Champion, were HER inspiration. The time you spent together with her in Elpis, the stories you told her of your adventures, the beauty of the world that she loves. You pushed her just like she pushed you. I hope that someday in the future, she, Hyth, and Emet can all be reincarnated as new characters who carry on that same spirit now that they're dead and returned to the star. It happened to Azem, why can't it happen for them?

[@wildwombatarmy]

The thing is also (correct me if im wrong) that primals usually require worship/faith and insane amounts of aether to be born into existance. She apparently manifested herself into a primal with nothing but her own power and her unbreaking will.

[@NikkoTanGoogle]

@@wildwombatarmy The absolute audacity!! Venat is the original WoL!!!

[@poggamus4330]

"As fragmented imperfect beings, yours is a never ending quest. A quest to find your purpose, knowing your end is assured." SHIT JUST GOT META... Some of us may never know their true purpose in life. Or even get to that age. We suffer greatly yet why does mankind continue to move forward? It's because we find joy and happiness in the little things. Like family, food, comfort, ambition, religion, etc. We may not live forever but we value life more than any immortal being. That's our strength, we may fear death but when the time comes we accept it.

[@rencunin]

I'd recommend Viktor Frankl's 'Mans Search for Meaning'. This was his ideology, and he founded logotherapy, a therapeutic practice that seeks to help the client find their own personal meaning. He was incredible, and the book covers his time in a literal concentration camp, where his own personal meaning kept him going. So much of what he talks about ties in so closely to Endwalker's plot.

[@OnibiTeru]

I think it's interesting how a video game makes more sense with life, than life has had any sense so far. Yes, it's fantasy, but I think the way they incorporated these ''ideals'' and ''morals'' is insane and genius. It might sound cheesy, but this literal scene, and the entirety of Endwalker, has made me look at life SOO much differently. I couldn't agree more with how they wrote Venat, and the reasons she made humanity suffer. They made her into this godly being, that only seemed to speak to a chosen few - to most, she was but fiction and just a name. But given everything they built her up to be.. I don't even have words. If we had to pick our own reality, this reasoning would be my nr.1 way to tackle life. Life sucks? Too bad, do something about it, because nobody is going to hold your hand and kiss your booboo and say it'll just go away. People are their own strength, but there's nothing wrong in believing in something bigger.

[@jerome6519]

i love how in this part they move the camera to show us looking directly into her eyes its as if shes actually talking to us the player at that point telling us what we need to do and that there is no easy answer for us and that we need to find that answer

[@VinPetrol420]

Henceforth, he shall walk. Every single time, this brings me to tears

[@chkh007]

And amidst deepest despair, Light everlasting…

[@WalkerRileyMC]

All the more powerful when one realizes she isn't saying mankind is barred from paradise, but now they have to work for it...and in doing so they will find the answer Hermes sought.

[@jerome6519]

@@WalkerRileyMC yes this. we can make it to this paradise but we need to work for it. it won't be handed to us on a silver platter

[@lucas_lipp]

Okay, whoever decided to make Hydaelyn the best characters with the rawest lines in the game in the midst of an exceptional cutscene that completely recontextualizes the literal main theme of the game while the lyrics are (kind of) used by the characters, needs a raise. Endwalker did not need to go this hard, but I'm glad it does. I also love the part where normally the "Now open your eyes, while our plight is repeated" plays, but instead the song shifts to an arrangement with an organ as the main instrument, you know, representing the goddess and all that, while Venat uses the text of the part that would normally play, to lecture the others. It's so good. And then cross cutting between her and the WoL in the ShB finale as she talks about perservering and whatever is just such an incredibly cool moment. God, I love this game. Until Shadowbringers, almost everyone was cautious of Hydaelyn, suspecting her to secretly be evil or something like that, and then Endwalker just turns everything on its head.

[@joshuayung5158]

Yeah its amazing how Hydaelyn goes from being a distant and seemingly uncaring god that people cry to in their time of suffering, asking for answers. Only to find out that she has no answers and exists that we might have a chance to find them for ourself. And the suffering? She's enduring it with them every step of the way.

[@lucas_lipp]

Yeah. I really didn't care much about Hydaelyn before as she didn't have much depth and/ or screen time. And now she might just be my favorite character.

[@mrcool9090]

Until now, I always imagined that section of Answers to be a bitter mortal screaming at a God that has failed them. This cutscene flips that on its head by making it a God calling it to another, higher God. God this game is so good

[@joshuayung5158]

@@mrcool9090 I don't think think venat/hydaelyn is calling on a higher power actually, but asking her sundered children to find their own answer to the question that she and the Ascians could not. It's a beautiful parallel in a way, that for Hydaelyn, the struggle for the sundered life on Eitherys to exist validates her own decision and the pain she endured to give them the opportunity to live.

[@TenchiSawada]

What i love about it is that it also shows she's not perfect. Some all knowing being. but a person trying to do good with the cards given and being forced to pass on that hope. Such a beautiful story moment all wrapped in the song.

[@clearcat7296]

I love how this game shows that both Zodiark and Hydelean weren't evil, Zodiark was made to be a stop gap from Dynamis, but it was the people that couldnt let go of thier sorrow and fear and hatred, that prompted them to want to sacrifice more to him to make thier plight easier, becoming a temptation/crutch to make everything better. And Venat/Hydelean decided to that it woudn't fix our problems, just make them worse, til we were like every other star that Meteoin saw. SO she sundered us and locked him away to make sure we didnt cause that. It was only later the Ascians made Zodiark seem evil, (and one actually portray him that way in the end)

[@huynhvonhatan]

@Urazz I don’t think zodiark can temper his follower nor the ascians were tempered. These 2 were created by the power of creation magic, not unlike the summoning magic that we know of, but the inherent different is that these 2 creations have hearts and souls (elidibus/venats). Beast tribes are taught summoning magics by the ascians but with a twist, they added in the will to dominate and temper them to the will to the primal.

[@paladinbrewer]

@@huynhvonhatan The Convocation was 100% Tempered, Emet actually tells you this in Shadowbringers, in flavor text, if you talk to him within the Crystal Tower.

[@CelerisXIV]

@@paladinbrewer But endwalkers dialogue suggests otherwise before the Ragnarok. He could've meant that they were tempered in the manner that they were already fully devoted to his summoning and preservation and he was deemed the last bastion of hope for the majority of ancients

[@Yomens123]

@@CelerisXIV This is just a theory of mine but from what i get is, the summoning of Zodiark was imperfect, cuz it was summoned out of despair and fear which already tainted their creation magic as you see how they where creating the terminus beast out of thin air because of said despair. Also as Livingway explain it as they were about to use the mothercrystal to boost Ragnarok and ask for the beast tribe's help, the reason why the primals tempered people in the first place is because the summoners wished to enforced their will and believes on others, so the primal only indulged in doing so exerting its creator's will, hence its imperfect creation magic. Those who created Zodiark where adamant that it was the only way, so they pretty much tried to enforced those same believe on other, which would temper them. At least that is the way I see it, Endwalker for me was a huge lore bomb, so my lore knowledge is shattered and all over the place xD

[@hiddenmaster6062]

@@paladinbrewer If they were tempered, then they would have been hideously wrapped and mindlessly devoted to the cause. Emet would have never tried to reason with you or even help you. None of the unsundered were. Elidibus gave off the impression, but in the end it turned out to be obsession for a duty long forgotten. They wanted so bad to return everything back to the way things were, that they didn't care how many people died to make it happen.

[@selstad84]

What amazes me is just how quickly Square managed to build a character. Hydaelyn has been this unknown "God", lurking in the background but never been fully explained. We have gone years knowing nothing, then suddenly boom, everything in one expansion. And honestly, I think this is the most perfect way they could ever have done it. Had we known about Venat as Hydaelyn before, the emotions would not have been the same. Square is a master at playing our emotions like a fiddle. And I'm perfectly fine with it.

[@leafyr0kr]

It's incredible to me how they made me care DEEPLY for Venat in just an expansion. She went from something that didn't even exist to one of FFXIV's best characters in one single expansion.

[@MyVanir]

@brandovlogs And 14 is mostly thanks to CBU3, not the rest of SE.

[@wanderingpaladin4927]

The words "wept for innocence lost" and "wailed" seem to compare the Ancients to children. Their mindsets were that of children since the vast majority of them hadn't seen hardship and had the chance to grow from these experiences. A beautiful depiction how what we've been through makes us strong.

[@Ambs90]

The fact that “Answers” was THIS level of important is painfully incredible to experience after so long. Absolutely magical and yet horrendously sad to see this scene. So many emotions. Thank you to the writers for this story. Hydaelyn and Zodiark’s arc is one of the most impactful pieces of gaming I’ve experienced in my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this brilliant and beautiful moment.

[@-u-waa]

@@miriamweller812 Feel free to tell us what would've happened if Venat didn't do this.

[@Darkfire0721]

@@-u-waa Totally agree. The fact that Venat did it was for the survival of all living things so that they can LIVE, so I'm interested in hearing their answer as well.

[@Lagiacrus1996]

@@miriamweller812 I really don't think you understand what Venat did. She stopped the genocide of the other races.

[@miriamweller812]

@@Darkfire0721 No, Zodiark saved all life. Venat killed all life and broke it. What would you say, when I kill your family, use their orgns to make humanlike abominations out of them and then just tell you, it will be for the greater good? Because that's the FF14 story. It's not like they even try to give it a reason. You are just told: yeah, Holocausting a planet is good and you should accept this. And then people really do that, wtf... Again: this is likely coming up with the idea to kill half of humankind to solve clima change and world hunger. Oh, yeah, this WILL work - but it's fucking insane and evil to the core. And in case is what not only only one half but everything and there was not even a plan. It was just pure insanity^2. But, yeah, she's an anime MILF with a nice voice and a sad song, so it's fine. W.T.F.

[@trombleyscat]

@@miriamweller812 Tell the world you didn't understand the story without saying you didn't understand the story

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

It was when I hit this cutscene when I realized this is officially the best FF to date and not just "one of the best", but literally THE best

[@agentriot]

Fetch quests till you succumb to the boredom and start skipping every single cutscene since 2.4

[@英-v9u]

@@agentriot then skip ARR?? Lmao

[@Esfuerzo31]

You didn't need the word literally

[@pppgggr]

@@agentriot Still better than FFXVI

[@MrXxsnipesXx]

@@pppgggr nah.

[@aronth]

Venat really went "This is why we can't have nice things" then proceed to nerf the world.

[@shaevizla]

And give us catgirls

[@AdeptKing]

It was a nerf and a buff at the same time.

[@NebulonRanger]

The best part? She was absolutely, 100% right. The Ancients who summoned Zodiark had a tainted view of the past and their own world. They didn't know the sorrow because they couldn't see it.

[@AndreAConquerorII]

@@NebulonRanger Not only they went a dark path to try and achieve their Utopia back, even IF they in the end managed to get their perfect world as it once was, it wouldn't have lasted. Venat knew this. You can see it in Meteion's report: once she starts talking about the world who ended all suffering (the last area of her dungeon too), you can see Venat's face darken as she hears about that people losing their will to live, after apathy and boredom settled in for good. She knew that an endless life with no adversities would eventually be meaningless, leading Meteion to victory once again.

[@NebulonRanger]

@@AndreAConquerorII *Precisely*. Venat didn't create the current shards of Etheirys as a cruel joke. She saw what her people were becoming and set the world on a different path, one that would actually lead to lasting change. The post-Elpis cinematic confirms that was the intent. In a way, she actually agreed with the Fervent Ancient: what was happening *was* all wrong, but not because they had lost their utopia. It hadn't really existed in the first place ("No paradise is without its shadows."), and the Ancients' desire to pretend otherwise would have led to their stagnation and inevitable downfall, if not then, then in the future. Was her decision the right one? That's murky, since she (as Hydaelyn) admits it wasn't completely just. In the end, though, it was the correct decision to make to ensure mankind's future in the universe, even if not as ancient man.

[@dennamc6511]

I kept thinking of Answers during this segment of the story When this cut scene came to an end... I don't think I can ever listen to Answers in the same way again. Such beautiful foreshadowing from the start

[@DakonBlackblade2]

Ye its magical how this scene completely recontextualizes the lyrics to a song composed 10 years ago.

[@strikefred0m]

Answer marked the beginning of the reborn, and marked the ending of the saga. It tis very scary if they already plan that far to tell the story from the same version of a song

[@DakonBlackblade2]

@@strikefred0m They do plan very far ahead but Answers was composed before Yoshi P. was even working on FFXIV so I'm pretty sure they just found a way to use the song for the finale at some point after Yoshi P. assumed.

[@sharlockshacolmes9381]

This scene made me feel bad for ever doubting her conviction to help us during Shadowbringer. Still haven't finished Endwalker but this was so good I had to watch it again.

[@falcontomto]

10:44 "As fragmented, imperfect beings, yours is a never-ending quest. A quest to find your purpose, knowing your end is assured. To find the strength to continue, when all strength has left you. To find joy, even as darkness descends... ...and amidst deepest despair, light everlasting."

[@celesyn]

this scene is so incredible on a lot of levels - but one of the most striking things to me is that it's one of the very few times they've really gone all out on playing with metaphor instead of representing a scene directly "as it happened"... and it winds up resulting in a phenomenally powerful scene with legitimate claim to the title of best scene of the expansion, if not the whole game. just fantastic.

[@baconbits3731]

Hands down the best scene in Endwalker SPOILER ALERT!!! . Here are my Top 5 picks for best moments in Endwalker 5. Best of the Best (or The Avengers Assemble moment in the Lochs) - Most of our favorite Characters from earlier expansions assembling to form the Ilsabard Contingent is a very satisfying scene especially because not only that it features favorite Main Scenario Characters but also Sidequest chatacters which you will recognize if you played their particular quest or if you haven’t you will be encouraged to try out their story arcs. 4. Urianger and Moenbryda’s Parents - One of the most heart felt moments if not the most in Endwalker. They somehow gave more meaning to one of the most forgettable characters in the game. 3. Looking for Qerasaf, Mehvan and their child - fetch quest are suppose to be dragging and exhausting and most side characters are forgettable but doing the series of quests here really got me totally engaged and my heart raised and watching Matsya try to calm the dying Qerasaf so he wouldn’t turn into a blasphemy and him trying to bring the infant child of Mehvan and Qerasaf to safety while fighting his fear so he wouldn’t turn really left a mark on me. 2. Quintus shoots himself, Garlemald has fallen - From the very beginning, Garlemald is the enemy for them to meet their end this ironic way is brilliant writing because it is unexpeted and Quintus’ final message on why he will never accept aid from his enemies really hit me. Honorable mentions: Zenos takes control of your body, Zenos’ entrance in the Final Trial as Shinryu, journey in Ultimate Thule 1. Thou must Leave, Die and Know (Venat sunders the Star) - All the questions that we have on what happened during the sundering and why it happened, finally we are given an answer and after ten years, “Answers” was finally given meaning.

[@jonathanichirochia4381]

Venat carried humanity on her back for a millenia, alone. Heartbroken to see what she had to endure in this cutscene.

[@Mnemoniforma9.00]

What is a goddess? Is she a maiden as undefiled as crystal? A being sacrosanct with the bounty of the earth and the wrath of the heavens? Venat's "Answer": Nay, a goddess is lone duelist, caked with blood and beset by oblivion. But nonetheless, the light never leaves her eyes and the boundless darkness she marches through is permeated by a lonely, unrelenting grace, enough to sustain the entirety of the will that burns in those who persist onward in her footsteps, however invisible the path she has traced may be.

[@macura88]

@@Mnemoniforma9.00 you should become a writer

[@OnibiTeru]

Y u gotta do this. Why did I read this. Did I cry, yes - and thank you!

[@azatheeverchosen7615]

A big flaw of Endwalker I feel is how much it focused on and wanked her pain, though. Why does it focus so much on how she suffered from the decision? Regardless of how you feel about her, she made the decision to cast judgement on all of humanity and that's wrong. Any chance to call her out in game is immediately handwoven by the characters and they even force the player to have a personal connection with her by tying us to her via Azem. That's not really to us few who didn't personally like her all that much. Square needs to step back and stop forcing so much characterization onto the Warrior of Light.

[@OnibiTeru]

@@azatheeverchosen7615 That's literally what we've been missing the entire time though lol, no true characterization for the WoL - and it's still their story to direct, as they're the literal creators of it. Also, she wasn't judgementing people in a sense I feel as you're portraying it. She sundered people to suffering so they may know true happiness through hardship, and not continue down a path of hopeless sacrifices if this were to happen again, as they could not let go of their past - being over taken by grief and fear and all kinds of emotions. There was suffering everywhere if that passed your view. It doesn't take a genius to generally see that the Ancients suffered at the idea that their home be destroyed, that their people would disappear. There's more anguish there than anything, but I assume that to be clear to everyone who went through the entire thing, all of the expansion. And just because the WoL is tied to Azem, and Venat, they are still very much different people - you as the character carried out what the story was, but you can still hold your own values and that's fine. You also seem to forget that every person throughout the entire thing shaped the end one way or a another, be it fiction or not. Venat wanted humanity to continue, not perish. Just as did the others.

[@szczunokin]

6:48 - That facial expression... When she finally understood why she had to make that decision...

[@yuriwolfvt]

She even asked the wol why she would do that. Guess you could say she got her answer.

[@AdeptKing]

She had little choice. I like to think this is like if the people the Wol met refused to listen/change and instead stuck to their old grudges.

[@chkh007]

Who were the idiots that suspected her of being evil??? Lmaoo y’all clearly didn’t pay attention to the story if y’all thought that… oof

[@zelohendricks51]

@@chkh007 She isn't evil but blood is on her hands and always will be. She also played God which no one has the right to do

[@chkh007]

@@zelohendricks51 she saved the world from doom. If she’s didn’t sunder mankind, they would’ve eventually bring about their own down fall just like those other stars did to themselves. Also she sundered us she didn’t kill no one. Mankind was weak in sundered form and have short life span. ppl of Eitherys weren’t immortal. They had longer life span but would eventually die.

[@manip1980]

To think we speculated that she's evil. What a great character she turned out to be.

[@aronth]

To be fair for the longest time we are led to believe any primal that is summoned usually lead to bad things. The fact that hydaelyn is a primal is just a matter of putting two and two together at that moment

[@miriamweller812]

She's evil. 100%. Or crazy, that she's evil without getting it. And people who don't see that should ask themselves, if they are crazy, too, to just accept genocide, because someone sells it as the right thing to do.

[@shinkamui]

@@miriamweller812 when did hydaelyn accept genocide? she was trying to stop senseless mass suicide and teach people resillience to face the final days, since the amaurotines were so ill prepared to face life

[@miriamweller812]

@@shinkamui Hydaelyn COMMITED genocide. I wish it would only accept it. YOU people accept genocide and praise it here. Hydaelyn distoreted all life that it has to kill each other all the time and dies all the time. That it is driven by fear, gread and hate. That it suffers, endlessly. And that for NOTHING, because stopping that broken AI thing would be easy in endless ways. You people cheer for something that is on the same if not worse level than the idea to kill 4 million people on planet earth to solve climat changes and hunger. Just because someon tells you: yeah, that's the only way, just don't question it, just do what I tell you. NO! Just no! It's sick to write such a story in such away and I have read quite a lot of sick stories, but this one, hell, that's a whole own level of sick. To have a Holocaust in your fiction is one thing. To praise it like that... wtf.

[@PakuTheMagnificent]

@@miriamweller812 The ascians committed genocide Seven times in canon. Through 7 rejoining they killed 7 entire stars, let alone Emet-Selch not considering sundered beings anywhere close to "worthy of life." Fully creating and enforcing the Garlean empire, whose head is focused on creating a pure master race and a singular world nation. The "broken AI thing" was using a power that the Ancients had no knowledge of, they were fully doomed. Calling the sundering a "Holocaust" is also an ignorant insult to the survivors, victims, and relatives of, those who experienced actual systematic murder led by real life racists subscribing to fundamentally ignorant ideologies. Hydaelyn's actions aren't even praised, they were seen as a necessary evil. Do you feel special that you're so different though? Do you feel cool just spouting edge lord horseshit?

[@qaztim11]

I wish i could forget all of Shadowbringers and Endwalker so i could experience it with fresh eyes again. Such an amazing game, and story

[@Xadov]

What’s truly moving about her is not that she is suffering outright, physically, but that faced with an impossible choice, she took on the burden of choosing the hard path for the ultimate sake of everyone she loved. Emotionally, it must have been devastating to know that all the eons of strife and pain she witnessed were due to her intervention, like a parent putting their kid through chemo to treat their cancer, and having to watch and hold their hand as they scream and thrash and curse. You know that if they can only get through the pain then they have a chance to survive and find joy in life, but part of you also wants to yank out all the cords and IVs and take them home to let them slip away in a morpine-induced bliss, free of that pain and suffering. In fact I think the entirety of this story is a lot like someone getting cancer. It begins with one malignant cell, in this case Meteion’s despair, proliferating and choking out its neighbors, and consuming everything. The host can either succumb to that despair and give up, or they can give it their all to fight for every additional moment, every new day.

[@haziqtheunique]

I would say that she's also _very much_ suffering physically. Those moments in the cutscene where she's feels pain & thrashes about is basically the calamities causing shards to be rejoined, and as the will of Etheirys, she feels that calamitous impact physically.

[@evilphemt]

They made me cry. Again. Absolutely stunning. Emeth and hythloadeus silent farewell broke me.

[@Ville_x]

Hythlodaeus‘ pained smile broke me

[@lenieagle4158]

I am so glad someone else feels this way. When I saw him bidding his farewell to Emet I just lost it. So deeply, deeply sad

[@NebulonRanger]

@@Ville_x What broke me more than that was Hades' pained expression as Hythlodaeus walks away, knowing he'll never see his friend again.

[@Akispark]

This made me ugly cry for an hour. Relentless, cruel, enlightening and most of all.... beautiful. Venat earned her place as a goddess.

[@XemnasTM]

Who would have thought that when Hydalen finally tempered us, it would be IRL...Would have never guessed Venat/Hydalen would be the most badass character in the entire story....

[@niceguymcmike7990]

"Henceforth, he shall walk" struck me to my core

[@madmulk9]

This cutscene actually killed me. I want to see a reaction supercut for all sorts of popular streamers reacting to it.

[@Reynsoon]

Poor Wesk had to take a 10 min brb. I was tired at the time, which makes me even more emotional, (not 'tired and emotional', a British euphemism for being drunk), and I blubbed like a baby for five whole minutes, couldn't see the quest UI for the forcible closing of my eyes.

[@aftermarkgaming]

When the "Answers" choir kicked in, I whispered a little Michael Scott "Don't", because I knew there was no way I was getting through this cutscene without sobbing.

[@Lilrose1989]

When I saw this cutscene for the first time it made my hair stand up on end. I was completely speechless. It’s so beautifully powerful. I’ve not finished ew yet but it’s absolutely amazing.

[@heymattyirl]

I was speechless after this cutscene. I put my controller down and just let that scene sink in. A well written heroine!!

[@Ridley369]

Heroine lmao

[@Rakka5]

This is up there along the greatest video game cinematic cutscenes ever made. An actual perfect culmination of a 10 year long journey, flawless cinematography, giving new meaning to a 10 year old song's lyrics, astonishing VA. This belongs in a goddamn museum of art.

[@starbreeze7249]

It makes sense how the former Azem, Venat, would care so much about everything and everyone given what Azem's job was. It only makes sense the most recent Azem, the WoL's soul, would be equally as strong as Venat. Maybe the only person capable of it. It's nice they both saw it through to the end. It's funny how there was a two way split and division among the Ancients, but our world was unanimously united.

[@erickelley1680]

3 azems technically that we know of, venat, the current azem when we are in elpis, and our character

[@moonflowlatte]

@@erickelley1680 Technically 2 Azems because the current Azem in Elpis and our character is the same person... or at least the same soul.

[@beatricecorradi7072]

@@erickelley1680 we are the Elpis Azem sundered.

[@erickelley1680]

@@beatricecorradi7072 I know. But at the time we are at elpis there are three azems. Even if we are an incomplete soul of the current one that is exploring the world/worlds

[@nimbuscapitalsolution]

This cut scene remind me greatly of "Youre not alone" segment from FF9. The setting and the mood is the same. Except, this is much darker. Zidane went through his segment hopeless and aimless, but his friend came to his aid along to the way to show that he's not alone. Eventually, Garnet slap some sense into him. All his friends acknowledge Zidane's positive impact on them and in turn they want to be there for him. Vanet, however, walked this path alone for thousand of years with no one to truly understand her plight and what she had to do. Her impact on her surrounding isn't positive but rather "a necessary evil". She bear the weight on her own.

[@TheKnightswhoplaywii]

And it definitely isn't where the FF9 references end. People call this the FF4 Expansion, but it's got connections to multiple parts of all of Final Fantasy.

[@ionmeth2031]

The last part before final dungeon too reminds me of ff9. Even the quest name is the song name.

[@TheKnightswhoplaywii]

@@ionmeth2031 I'd even go so far as to say the final boss is themed similarly to Necron from FF9. That inevitability of death being fought back by the beliefs and hopes of your allies.

[@inuclearpickle8628]

@@TheKnightswhoplaywii yeah definitely

[@shahleonheart]

@@TheKnightswhoplaywii agreed.. The endsinger is the better written Necron

[@uhltide3]

I was emotional through the whole video... but then the fadeout to the final line, "Thou must live, die, and know,"... returning me to the fadeout of the Realm Reborn trailer. The end referencing the beginning, and making every step of our journey as a character and as players have meaning. We lived, we died, and now we know. Pardon me as I go cry over this game now.

[@zacharyjackson7444]

If anything, the beginning referenced the end, which makes it all the more impressive. The heart of this conflict was written almost a decade ago.

[@kirbylionking88]

I dont know how they could ever top this scene.

[@Labbish1]

After Dawntrail main quest, Endwalker was pure gold!

[@galethweiss]

After I finished this quest I simply started crying. This is what we've been fighting for years, years and years of suspicions and they deliver the greatest hero of all. And let's not forget how incredible this song is. This is THE quest of the expansion

[@castoputa]

When pyro sees this he will explode! The most incredible moment in the game for me, literal answers whilst we get a god tier version of answers playing. Take my tears!

[@Cammycam1000]

If he doesn't explode i will be shocked to the core, especially since he loves answers.

[@necroxisz]

He'll complain that Hydaelyn/Venat wasn't actually evil. Bet anything.

[@CrashB111]

@@necroxisz I think by the time you complete Elpis, and especially once you see the cut scene after the second trial, anyone that suspected Hydaelyn of being evil will feel profound levels of guilt for ever doubting mom. She loved all of her children unconditionally this entire time.

[@BARALover96]

@@necroxisz i know he mentions he wants that story and to be done right. But i dont think he will be angry at it that she has been good all along. But where he is at now he kinda changing what his thinking BUT i feel once Emet comes into play he might think Hydealyn is evil. Personally i never doubted Mommy Crystal. Even after finding out she was a primal. I just knew Venat knew what she was doing.

[@agnosticnixie]

@@necroxisz There's already people on the sidelines whining that they didn't go with that

[@kijinseija8474]

This might be my favorite cutscene of the entire game. I’ve watched it over and over again. So powerful and beautifully done.

[@ChateauDIf07]

Hyth's resigned face @ 2:32 destroyed me.

[@J-manli]

I believe that was they moment he told Emet he would be part of the initial sacrificial pool.

[@necroxisz]

I can't believe they spent so long making us doubt Hydaelyn and then reveal that Venat is the main fucking hero of the universe (alongside yourself). If Shadowbringers recontexualizes the argument of "Light = Good & Dark = Bad" then Endwalker did the same to...basically everything we know. How are they one upping Shadowbringers.

[@dracotias]

The weirdest thing here is that we actually have a God in a JRPG that "ISN'T" 100% self servingly evil...a very uncommon thing

[@jacobkern2060]

Fourteen (or fifteen, depending on how you count Nald and Thal) of them, if Myths of the Realm is anything to go by.

[@leandronogueira01]

Endwalker was such a great journey, this is one of the most impactfull scenes!

[@ccshade7294]

venat saw that the ascian society was doomed from how her fellows reacted to her plea. if it wasn't meteion, it would've been something else

[@CallMeNoa]

God the lyrics to Answers hit so fucking different now.

[@unknowngamer4628]

Because of this cutscene, the meaning of both answer and the 2.0 trailer is way more sorrowful and meaningful. I have always felt something Missing about the meaning of the song and title "Answers", but now the truth of "Answers" is laid bare and it makes me both happy and sad 😭.

[@UCvow2TUIH0d2Ax2vik9ILzg]

Oh my god, Answers actually contains the... Answers to everything.

[@Yomens123]

Answers as a totally new meaning after this CS. Before i tho it was about renewal (From 1.0's ashes, ARR was born)

[@yongjulian3200]

Henceforth… he shall walk

[@wontononionslicer1004]

this moments is venat's "if you take one more step, could you save our world" moment, or perhaps ours mirrors hers.

[@aybarra912]

Answers hits differently in this expansion with it being used as her theme more or less. and damn i could hardly keep the tears in watching this

[@tom-xz4ox]

The pain in Venat's face as she realises what she has to do. Bravo. What an immense scene.

[@zman1347]

Games very rarely make me sob. I've shed tears before. Felt emotion. But never has a game made me audibly weep before. I was one of the people who was incredibly suspicious of Hydalyn. I thought she might have been the cause for the final days. That she was going to betray us. To have it so plainly shown that she was no god but a person with great power who sacrificed everything to simply give us a chance at life. It's the first time a game has ever made me break down and made me feel like I should apologize to a character. It's all fiction but.... I've never been hit so hard by a piece of a fiction.

[@elicious7574]

My favourite part of EW, is even if meteion didnt exist, etheirys could have very well still have ended up like the other stars, destroyed and barren. It was only the curiousity of hermes that allowed for them to know of the fate of the other stars. If hermes rationally thought about it, and sent better questions for meteion to ask, the ancients would be more informed of the suffering of lives unlike theirs and learn from it. But then again, maybe venat is right, maybe without sundering them, the ppl of etheirys would never have grown and accept suffering.

[@kerwynbrat5771]

This made me cry.. Knowing what I knew, knowing the helplessness, knowing that it could have all been avoided. The finest story I have ever played.

[@coheedbeast2113]

This is probably my favorite cutscene/story moment in any game I've ever played. The music, the struggle to come to terms with what must be done and the consequences afterwards. Truly a masterclass in story telling. Bravo CBU3. One of the best stories in gaming ever.

[@baconbits3731]

Hands down the best scene in Endwalker SPOILER ALERT!!! Here are my Top 5 picks for best moments in Endwalker 5. Best of the Best (or The Avengers Assemble moment in the Lochs) - Most of our favorite Characters from earlier expansions assembling to form the Ilsabard Contingent is a very satisfying scene especially because not only that it features favorite Main Scenario Characters but also Sidequest chatacters which you will recognize if you played their particular quest or if you haven’t you will be encouraged to try out their story arcs. 4. Urianger and Moenbryda’s Parents - One of the most heart felt moments if not the most in Endwalker. They somehow gave more meaning to one of the most forgettable characters in the game. 3. Looking for Qerasaf, Mehvan and their child - fetch quest are suppose to be dragging and exhausting and most side characters are forgettable but doing the series of quests here really got me totally engaged and my heart raised and watching Matsya try to calm the dying Qerasaf so he wouldn’t turn into a blasphemy and him trying to bring the infant child of Mehvan and Qerasaf to safety while fighting his fear so he wouldn’t turn really left a mark on me. 2. Quintus shoots himself, Garlemald has fallen - From the very beginning, Garlemald is the enemy for them to meet their end this ironic way is brilliant writing because it is unexpected and Quintus’ final message on why he will never accept aid from his enemies really hit me. Honorable mentions: Zenos takes control of your body, Zenos’ entrance in the Final Trial as Shinryu, journey in Ultima Thule 1. Thou must Leave, Die and Know (Venat sunders the Star) - All the questions that we have on what happened during the sundering and why it happened, finally we are given an answer and after ten years, “Answers” was finally given meaning.

[@keiichiiozawanikoot6435]

Farther still exists a star free of strife... Where none remembered life's trials...or it's joys... What they had gained from ease... They lost to apathy...

[@mmogeek1]

I've rewatched this so many times. In hindsight I think this might've been the best story moment in gaming for me. The way the cutscene plays out giving meaning to the lyrics of the song, that one song that accompanied us since the beginning. This moment answered so many questions we had, it's also asking mankind for their Answer all the while "Answers" plays in the background. It's years of storytelling culminating in this one revealing moment and all the pieces fall together neatly. I'm honestly in awe at what they've done.

[@itsOasus]

Almost 6 months later. And 2:29 STILL makes me cry so much. It breaks my heart to see them so afraid...

[@BigStou]

When she sundered man, I cried she sundered all his ambitions, made him suffer for his own good, but also cried for the people who worshiped Zodiark because they wanted to keep living pain free, that is what Zodiark gave them by enslaving their will.

[@sophuz]

The saddiest scene is Hythlodaeus saying goodbye to Emet as he one of the sacrifices

[@TheStereovenom]

Endwalker just has been a 20/10 expansion, story tied up everything really well and love how they developed Venat/Hydaelin.

[@fuqumeen9764]

Oh...the pain in her face when she realized what she had to do.

[@shadowthehedgehog181]

Not one time did ever doubt Hydaelyn. I never thought she was evil or tempered the WoL, even after she was revealed to be a primal. Since ARR, not all primals are alike and Hydaelyn's sole purpose was to keep Zodiark restrained, not to seek worship for it. Even though the WoL looked to her for guidance, everything they did was for the betterment of the people around them, not for Hydaelyn Herself. afair, no one has ever said they did anything "in Hydaelyn's name." I think a lot of people thought she had ill intentions because of how cryptic and silent she was and a lot of crucial information about her was expressed by the Ascians.

[@ANon-ip9jh]

Half the population had already sacrificed itself to stop the end days, and then half again was sacrificed to bring Hydaelyn into existence. And, in her sealing of Zodiark, she destroyed her world in its entirety and made 13 reflections of the source where every member of her world was created as a weak and pale imitation and forced to live and die a mortal life, over and over again for eternity. So, not only did she essentially kill all of the survivors of her world, she also condemned all of their souls to an eternity of prolonged suffering (multiplied by 13), and for the entirety of that time since (if Emet-Selch lived 1000x1000 lifetimes, that would mean over 100 million years), she still did nothing about the Oblivion Song, and allowed a number of shards to be destroyed by light/darkness, because "lol, suffering is good for you." All of this, of course, because the Zodiac worshipers were going to sacrifice the new life on the star that would develop to bring back the ones who sacrificed themselves to prevent the destruction of their world in the first place, which was "wrong" in the eyes of Venat, despite the fact that she would go on to create 13 worlds where conflict and the consumption of others to survive would be a daily necessity to only temporarily stave off death, a fate she now guaranteed to all of her fellow members of the source. Which, again, because of the cycle of death and rebirth, would happen endlessly. Hydaeln is the biggest villain the FF series has ever seen, because not only did she destroy the world, she also forced its inhabitants to be mind-wiped and be copied a dozen times and then be essentially tortured for 100 million years by having their souls be reborn over and over again in mortal forms, which she herself was conveniently spared from. Emet-Selch did nothing wrong, and Venat should have been killed in the fight with Zodiark.

[@agnosticnixie]

@@ANon-ip9jh They didn't sacrifice anyone other than Venat and maybe (we're not even sure) her 12 followers to make Hydaelyn. It's amazing how wrong literally everything posted here is.

[@TheSuperRatt]

@@agnosticnixie Not everything they posted was wrong. The beauty of Venat is that multiple interpretations of her deeds exist, and they're all mostly valid. She did destroy her world. She did condemn all life on the star to short, brutal lives of suffering. That is all true. What people have to answer for themselves is if it was worth it, or justified. Venat certainly thought it was, and the game tends to agree with her. It does beg the question though: is eternal suffering with a few sprinkles of light thrown in, preferable to a shorter, blissful existence? As someone who's struggled with depression and mental illness, I... don't know. I certainly don't envy Venat as the one to make the choice.

[@Danny191]

So many emotions, I had goosebumps on my arms and tears in my eyes, BRA-FUCKING-VO SE! BRA-FUCKING-VO I cannot wait for the final cutscene

[@HayTatsuko]

this entire scene destroyed me emotionally and yet I cannot stop watching it over and over because it informs me how much Venat loved her fellows

[@SkepticalChris]

"henceforth we shall walk". I say the same thing to myself when I pickup pizza from a shop 2 blocks away instead of driving.

[@AnaCarolina-nd2bc]

Whenever my anxiety peaks I return to watch this. The last few sentences are strong and soothing...

[@ItsMeYea]

When I first watched this I was literally speechless like holy hell WOW

[@Brendanj101]

Playing EW and having the timetravel section really makes me wish we got more on Venat, Emet, Hythlodaeus and Azem. Considering how we were pretty much besties with Emet and Hyth and how much Emet "complains" about us, he almost mirrors us in the sense that he really does like helping people, just unlike us, he is a Tsundere. Also read the stories on the website, I'm fairly positive that is where the story of how Azem dove into a volcano to fight pseudo-Ifirit because how how much they liked the grapes.

[@vayalond7203]

And the time travel is great in FFXIV, like Elidibus told you before you go: "Whatever you say or do it will not impact the event between the time where you go and the present day, you'll know what will happen but can do nothing to prevent it. it's so painfull and smart at the sametime: smart because it's don't create a big plot-hole and inconcistancies about time travel and painfull because, you know Hythlodaeus will die, you know Emet Selch will survive but will be changed forever and you'll have to fight him, you know Venat will become a Primal but you can do nothing about this fact and being close to them will be worse for you because they are great characters

[@JackgarPrime]

I'm sorry I yelled at you on the boat.

[@ryokkeno]

Shadowbringers was complicated for me and i have never 180'd so hard in my appreciation for a villian then i did for Emet-Selch. It was such a dramatic change of events that drew so much attention from the first 9 levels of the DLC i literally forgot the rage i experienced when Vauthry was permitted to fly away while some idiot asked me to administer sleeping powder to unconscious people(sorry fans of the character, but that was REAL dumb)... Then Endwalker strolled up and basically said "I don't think your miserable enough about Emet" and proceeded to flesh him out in an expansion of his character that still infuriates me to this day that i couldn't do anything other then slay him(and if it was bad for me, imagine what Emet must have felt 5 minutes after regaining himself in the lifestream only to get back the day of memories he lost, only to be trumped by 5 minutes after Hythlodaeus returned to the lifestream and regained his day of memories, can only imagine what that conversation must have been like).

[@TheAuthorgal]

So much sorrow and heartbreak, and at the very end of it, there's hope. Despite all she went through, she never gave up believing things could be better. What a well done character represented by this scene. Masterful writing to get us to so adore a character after only a few quests. Well done FFXIV team. Well done!

[@reaganmoreira181]

Venat walked with us our entire journey, and held close her promise. She had so much love and hope. This expansion made me cry harder than any game, book, or movie ever has. This scene still makes me sob uncontrollably. It’s been a month since launch and I am STILL breaking down this story in my head and crying over it.

[@Sol_399]

I’m so glad Venat/Hydaelyns story played out this way. It finally got my brother to shut up about Lightning being the only end all strong female character.

[@kaihedgie1747]

Has your brother not played FFVI or even X/X-2? Not even even IX?

[@Sol_399]

@@kaihedgie1747 Has, the effort is absolutely wasted. For some reason Venat got him to stop on it. The entire Elpis portion of the game I had to disable discord notifications due to spam about how Ascians were Org.XIII knockoffs.

[@Yomens123]

@@Sol_399 But FF as plenty of very strong female characters, Venat is a very well written and extremely strong female character, not through strength, but through her compassion and unwavering will, like Yuna for example in FF-X, and they manage to convey this in just a couple of MSQ with her, that is how much she is well written. Idk whats your brother's ideals of a strong female character other then just simply how she easily can "own" peoples... Which in my opinion is a very weak and lazy way to write a female character.

[@petrus9067]

"It will be ours again! A world free of sorrow" i thought this was gonna be said by forchenault. Turns out it was just a random ancient. Same with the "fandaniel " lines

[@filthycasual8093]

I was hearing JP version and it sounds like Elidibus alot

[@JohnyScissors]

Best cutscene in XIV and definitely top 5 Final Fantasy cutscenes (with context) of all time

[@UneclipsedGamer]

Answers is my favorite song in FFXIV. And the fact that it plays in this cutscene and how perfectly timed it is with some of the moments of the cutscene itself is WILD! This is now my favorite quest in the game. This right here is tied with End of an Era/Flames of Truth cutscene from the end of 1.0 for my favorite cutscene in the game

[@shamsiel3775]

Still amazed how Answers fits so perfectly with this, 10 years later

[@Picatchuzie]

I was really hoping after Elpis, that even if we couldn't change our past, we could pull a G'raha and give a different branch of reality a happier ending. Seeing the timelines converge and Venat go down the path we told her she would take; seeing the Final Days come despite our warning, it really made me want to cry.

[@Gamemaster-64]

yeah, it went the Alex way with a time loop.

[@AdeptKing]

I thought that a parallel history was going to be made too and for a moment it seemed like it would happen since they said that the Wol could not change their own time but they could change theirs. Except it slipped through their fingers in the last moment.

[@DoomsdayR3sistance]

There is already a separate timeline, one where the WoL died to black rose and the world basically turned to junk. Amaurot was already getting close to becoming the final dead star, the people lived only to make the world "better" and then died/"rejoined" when they felt their purpose fulfilled, if it hadn't been Hermes, another Amaurotine would have discovered the fate of the other stars and perhaps also found out about the heat-death too. But additionally it was getting to a point where things couldn't really be "better", they were in danger of becoming essentially worthless since why continue to improve a star that is destined to die? This is why Venat said Sorrow needs to be their companion, to eliminate the bad leaves only a hollow emptiness.

[@V0Ontis]

'Despite'? Not 'despite'. 'Because'.

[@DoomsdayR3sistance]

@@V0Ontis The WOLs actions did not lead to the final days, Meteion had already been sent into space at a time before the WOL arrived in Elpis, at that point the Final Days were basically inevitable.

[@Raziel_Hijikata]

Tyvm for putting this cutscene up, u did a wonderful job editing it so nothing left out. Its so tearful 😢 its great

[@KomboKong]

"As fragmented, imperfect beings, yours is a never ending quest. A quest to find your purpose, knowing your end is assured"

[@justus4justice]

The expression on Venat's face at 6:24 kills me every time.

[@longtimenosee6169]

> "I birth a world of suffering to mire and plague" > Immediately show cat girl

[@wolfofsummerbreeze]

... the injuries she gets at the end... Are those the umbral calamities?

[@ISoulreaverI]

possibly

[@ababilashari9970]

yes. the cutscene director didnt get that memo tho so its fucking unclear, when theres no reason it should not be. Fucking waste of money man

[@razzie3719]

@@ababilashari9970 I don't think you can say that. There may be things they've left out, because it will help the story going forward. You don't know.

[@NikkoTanGoogle]

@@ababilashari9970 It's called a metaphor. Did you go to school? Read books? Maybe you should.

[@rogthepirate4593]

@@ababilashari9970 It's fairly obvious, honestly.

[@pforgottonsoul]

having answers playing in the background makes this hit so much harder.

[@lightninggamereviews]

First time I watched.Tear shed. Second time I watched. "God this is good." Tenth time I watched. "NOW OPEN YOUR EYES!!!!"

[@PurpleStar22]

I was beyond speechless during this whole scene. The goosebumps, man. This is S tier level story telling.

[@24Sparja]

"our souls have been torn, and our bodies forsaken" goddamn even though i know its physically impossible it feels like answers was written for this scene.

[@zacharyjackson7444]

It literally was, though. This part of the story has clearly always been at the heart of this game since ARR.

[@budakbaongsiah]

The great thing with the story writers of XIV is that they're willing to use things from the past.

[@mermme2988]

The cutscene illustrates beautifully how suffering, when confronted with a hopeful mindset, introduces us to our values and virtues to which we may reduce the purpose and meaning of life.

[@megalomic875]

Venat really did just cultivate the indomitable human spirit because she knew that without hardship people could never overcome suffering.

[@scarfacefan19]

This expansion broke me. So many amazing moments. I just cried my heart out

[@agnichannel1466]

I burst into tear here ngl i will protect her honor now