LIVE, DIE, AND KNOW (Reaction) - OUR BRAINS JUST MELTED - Endwalker MSQ (Cobrak FFXIV) 

It's time. Not done with Endwalker, so can't say it's the BEST cutscene I've ever seen in my life yet... but my god.

The part that broke me was Hythlodaeus so casually waving goodbye to Emet-Selch with the intention of willingly sacrificing himself to Zodiark. It was that moment we know the exact path Emet's going into.

"Do not squander it. The legacy I leave you" in EW vs "You cannot be entrusted with our legacy." in SHB right before the final dungeon because he doesn't remember. Man I love the little details in this game

I would imagine that also explains why emet selch would snap to bring you back during ur fight vs. Elidibus in shadowbringers. In death he remembered

Venat has become my favorite Final Fantasy character in the entire franchise. She sundered the world, knowing that will cause untold pain and suffering, because she loved the world and wanted to give it a chance. She was with us every step of the way.

The moment Venat said that whatever was causing the Final Days was surely outside of the planet, I clicked and remembered about the Meteia. When Meteion said "Greetings", I slammed the table and screamed "FOR FUCK SAKE, HERMES!". The thought about a bunch of kids exploring the cold dark space and getting traumatized by finding what people are capable to do, and then deciding to fuck everything up, instantly clicked. Peak storytelling.

I was watching another streamer react and they pointed out that Emet Selch and Elidibus and Lahabrea all viscerally hate Hydaelyn who they know is Venat. That is because of the fact that they couldn't understand why a former member of the convocation and a friend even to Emet betrayed them so. She was a close friend and she actively worked against them. And you saw Emet lost Hytholadeus and it was too much and thus they just hated her and she lived with that animosity.

See how Meteion drops a subtle "HEAR your worlds, share your FEELings, know your (THINK) toughts?

It's so crazy that we've had the "Answers" all along, we just didn't know the question. It's Hydelyn/Venat's answer to Hermes' question.

the way they took Answers and reworked it... one of the best cutscenes they've ever done, and in this game that's saying a lot.

When you realize the real reason Emet-Selch saved you from Elidibus Venat's lonely march through history is just gutwrenching. I wonder if those "impacts" we see are reflections of the calamities/rejoinings, weakening her as she goes

The moment where Venat's jaw in trembling, and she realizes that humanity will fail Hermes test, is honestly so powerful. And tell me that "henceforth, he shall walk" line isn't the rawest dialogue in the game

We really are Hydaelyn's children born from Venat's sacrifice, having birthed a world of suffering and watching on for eons as we live and die in confusion and fear, not unlike the creations in Elpis. Over millennia, Lahabrea fell to madness, Emet-Selch bore the weight of his people, Elidibus lost himself in duty, and Fandaniel died and lived in the knowledge of true despair. What a god damn story.

That final scene with Venat is so powerful, realizing the scale of what she has done to save us. I've seen many content creators busted up so hard from that because they had no trust for Hydalaen, always suspect of ulterior motives. In the end, none were more pure, and to see it all laid bare is downright humbling.

Final Days of Amaurot is easily one of the best scenes I have ever seen. And Answers play, bringing us all the way back to Coils, to ARR, to 1.0... Hydaelyn singing to her children... To both ancients and sundered people alike. MY GOD! But yeah, Hermes is an amazing character. But I won't say no more. You completely understand him and I love it. Meteion too. She's innocent & pure and that's the scary part. EW is literally asking the real-life questions, the game... Constantly teary eyed...

Man I love Venat's final quote before transforming, chills forever

BTW the soul cleansed in the underworld regaining their memories explains why Emet helps us in the 5.3 trial against Elidibus (Seat of Sacrifice)

When I first saw Meteion, I had a feeling of what she'd turn out to be. As the zone progressed, seeing how viscerally she reacted to negative emotions, combined with her taking aspects of other people as her own (example: Hermes' love for candied apples) made me think we were going to see a very steep fall for our precious little birb girl. I knew it was coming. And that made scenes like the adorable little flashback with Hermes so much more heartbreaking. Also. As a proud supporter of Hydaelyn from the very beginning, I point and laugh at the people who thought she was evil.

The "Henceforth man shall walk" killed me...

So it felt like the Elpis storyline is sort of a retelling of the Genesis chapter from the bible mixed with Greek mythology. With Metion was symbolically presented as both the fruit of knowledge to Hermes (besides his favorite food is basically candied apple) which resulted in the ancients downfall and the Pandora’s box since due to their nature as Enthelechy the Metions absorbed all the pain and suffering from the places that they have visited and because of their shared hive mind all of them became some sort of despair incarnate which eventually brought the final days tragedy. Venat’s act of sundering humanity’s souls which resulted in the world of suffering is literally based on the bible, which God decided to cast out humanity from the Garden of Eden into the world. Also fun fact- Hythlodaeus’s name apparently came from a character named Raphael Hythlodaeus/Hythloday (the literal translation is the speaker of nonsense) from the classic philosophy book/novel “Utopia”. I believe in the book he was depicted as long winded traveler from Portugal who happened to come across a place called Utopia during his travel. Based on that, I wonder if that’s probably why Hythlodaeus’s character in the game was written to be adventurous and prefer sidetracking much to Emet’s dismay.

Also, if you're not sure where to start with your report, try this: "G'raha... remember how you left a working time machine on the First?" "UHHHHHH..."

Losing our new old friends was definitely soul-crushing but at least we got that scene with Emmt-Selch waving and yelling ‘I STILL DON’T BELIEVE YOU BUT GOOD LUUUUUUCK’ 😂 ❤️ To everyone reading this.

I finished Endwalker yesterday and I'm still in a state of shock Sophie. I genuinely had to just sit through the FULL credits both as a way of paying respect and also just time to process.

I've watched so many streams that goes through the scenes in Elpis and every single time I can't stop my tears. The ancients' story is just so good and hits so hard. The philosophy of the meaning of life really adds so much weight to the depth of the creation of the antagonist for EW. Even though Emet tried to wipe out stars with living creatures I cant help myself for loving his character even more. From a cool and interesting villain to one of the best companion. Hythlodaeus was also such a big surprise. His character together with Emet really made the duo an amazing pair to adventure with. And last but not the least, Venat, for me is the most well written character among all. I just cant find the right words to justify how greay of a character she is. God tier story telling, god tier music, god tier character development and god tier cut scenes. This game just never ceases to amaze me. Also the song "Answers" from ARR hit much harder during the cut scene where Venat sunders the star.

Technically, Venat didn't work alone. As 5.2 showed us, she had a group of people who agreed with her and worked with her. She did end up sacrificing herself to become Hydalaen's heart, but she had the others who did the actual summoning. However, she did walk alone, through thousands of years of suffering, with the calamaties slowly weakening and destroying her, to keep her promise with us in hope for a brighter future. Venat is MVP to me (some really don't like her). The end scene is definitely more metaphorical than literal, so you have to read between the lines as it kinda flows through time, like a stream of consciousness memory. The final bit with the juxtaposition of you in ShB is her literally walking with you to the end. Also, fun fact, many of the words and questions from Venat's speech come from the song Answers, which has been around since 2.0 first started. The song is literally an Answer to Hermes Question to Meteion. It's an incredible piece of writing. Edit: A couple other cool things- Meteion and her sisters weren't just reacting to Hermes' question. By being life forms that manipulate Dynamis, they are highly empathic and susceptible to it as well. They were literally overwhelmed by all the despair the dead races felt on the other worlds. Also, those planets being dead is a reference to the Fermi Paradox while Dynamis is correlated to Dark Matter. Lots of science-y stuff. Finally, Hermes was an anomaly among the Ancients. He obviously suffered from depression and tried to find meaning in life, but the Ancients, being as emotionally removed as they were, didn't have the want or the means to help him. He must have felt incredibly alone, which is why you can understand him snapping.

Venat reminds me so much of Gandalf. A fellow grey wanderer, who spent his time in Valinor (as Olorinn) learning from Nienna... He was her apprentice. Nienna, the "goddess" of grief, despair, suffering, and pain. She who weeps for humanity. "Yet the lesson of Nienna is not of endless grief, but rather of pity, hope, and the endurance of the spirit."

4:00 funny thing is that this is the sentence (in morse code: "This is wrong, all wrong") from the device Nero throw away at the end of the Crystal Tower Alliance Raids in ARR, "The Light of Hope"... makes you think when was all this write...

I’m just here to gush over this stuff. I’m mindblown. I’ve played since 2.0 release. Others have been playing this game since before me even. 10 years ago, this game entered our lives with an opening cutscene that features this haunting, yet beautiful song. In the moments when I was first watching the ARR trailer, I felt…..in that moment, that song fit the trailer perfectly. That song (ironically named “Answers”) has followed us throughout our journey for 10 years. Whenever it plays, those of us that were tempered by the Hymn of Hydaelyn know….whatever is about to happen, we must get past it. Viewed from a 1.0 player’s perspective, the lyrics could be seen as a message from Square Enix themselves. They are blowing up your world. That mess of a game, however brutal it was, had already been a home to those loyal players. They did not want it to end. They had hope it would get better. And yet they had no choice but to watch their world burn. In epic fashion might I add. Fast forward 10 years and here we are again. One last time. This time though. To finally get your answers. The final piece of the puzzle. The key to changing everything. And the song grips you again. As Venat is literally speaking the lyrics to you as she walks towards an eons long walk of suffering. To be with you, her children. To join us in the suffering she has condemned us to, in order to truly save us. We are given basically 30 seconds. A glimpse. A morsel, of she’s about to face for the next thousand, thousand lifetimes. And she did it to save us. And again, 10 years later, it fits perfectly. The title of the freaking quest is literally the final lyric of the song. Venat sunders us all. Removing from us the need to avoid death. To instead be at peace with the moment of death. Knowing that in the same fleeting moment…. I’m just mindblown by how perfectly they wove this tale together over this long. Everything in between has already paid off immensely, at level 88. You’re not done yet. And now you must follow Her message again. And continue walking towards the end.

Just some little fun facts: 1. Venat getting injured was her taking the hits for us like the ARR Ultima explosion and the more obvious Emet attacking us. So yeah, everyone kept saying Hydaelyn abandoned us when she had our backs right from the very beginning. 2. Midgarsommar told us in previous expansions that our star was the last bastion of hope because during the course of his travels, he has seen it all. Worlds without life or hope. 3. Hydealyn sundered mankind not only to prevent them from using creation magicks and thus making more bad decisions but also to massively reduce the aether of all creation. This allows humanity more chances of survival since they will now be able to interact with Dynamis. 4. The present Hermes is not actually the Hermes with all the memories. He is still sundered so he only has bits of pieces of those.

Brings some tissues Tom, you are going to need a whole bunch for this expansion. Ishikawa really knows how to hit you in the gut.

I finished the MSQ in the first week of release, but I can't resist watching playthroughs of people experiencing it for the first time. No matter how many times I see it, these segment destroys me every time. It is perfection.

In the raid series omega you learn that Midgarsormr choose this planet because it was the last bastion of hope , i wonder if everything we see here was already planned from that point in time

And now, you have your ANSWER. And that song takes on a whole new meaning.

Krile: So my friend, did you find out anything? WoL PC: Man, what a day. First I spoke with the heart of the Primal of all Primals, and he was surprisingly cordial, especially for a prepubescent kid. Then I went on a jaunt 13,000 years into the past, met Venat before she became Hydaelyn, Emet-Selch when he was still a hero, (though he was apparently always a tsundere) found out it was all a Grandfather Paradox, and now I need to go to the very edge of creation and kill a monochromatic little girl with cute little wings on her head, and that's not even getting into everything I found out, but still don't understand, about Dynamis. Krile:...Tataru, a cup of tea, if you wouldn't mind...and I think I'll be needing some whisky 'ere long.

Regarding the philosophical question of "why try when everything ends?", I remember an answer in an episode of "If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device" when the same question type of question was brought up: "What, you haven't thought that far ahead yet?" Still, I do feel pretty bad for Hermes, all he wanted was a pleasant answer but instead found a universe full of quitters.

You can't truly play 4D chess without time travel getting involved. And we are the key piece.

The way that cutscene with Hydaelyn sundering the world perfectly give new context the song Answers is insanely masterful. The final line spoken in the cutscene being "And in the same fleeting moment, thou must live die and know" just summarizes perfectly the entire theme of the expansion and the plight of Hydaelyn.

AMAZING editing! kudos to your editors. leaving the essential stuff while cutting out all the fillers. chapeau bas :)

love love love this part. so much feels and tears. So happy I'm was able experience this game and be a part of the community. I also do feel the same when Cob said that the question feel like its addressing us not as the in-game character, but us in real life. Game keeps asking all those hard hitting questions. "Have a taste!" -Venat, Culinarian(????), 2021

@23:52 You seem to have forgotten in the moment, but time travel in XIV is different than it was handled in Lost. The past can indeed be changed. Remember, the Exarch was from a bad future, and he successfully changed the past to avert that future. Although that future still exists as a separate timeline if that short story from this past summer is any indication. This little adventure, however, is an example of a stable time loop. A series of events lead to the WoL having to travel back in time. And while in the past, the WoL directly participated in events that set into motion another series events that would directly lead to the WoL having to travel back in time. Thus, a series of events which repeats infinitely - unless the loop is broken somehow - is created.

Love you two going through this together and helping each other deal with the emotions, and questions. You guys are great, marriage goals right there

For the longest time leading up to EW I was genuinely worried they wouldn't be able to follow ShB. Elpis was when those worries were completely washed away. The way they seamlessly brought the First into the story floored me, and I know others have said it in the comments but Hythlo pointing out that belief made me want to cry. I know it's suggested that Emet smiled because when we beat him he was potentially untempered. But I believe in that final second as his form was to return to the world, he remembered our time together and saw that we had followed his words to the letter. He knew he could trust us to remember, as we did already once even if we didn't know it at the time.

Remember this quote of Meteion: "I wish only to HEAR your words. Share your FEELings. Know you THOUGHTS". Ring any bells? :) I had to be reminded of it but now I cant "unhear" it ;) 44:15 --- The cutscene symbolism: in Shadowbringers, I think in Akademia Anydar or somesuch, we see an old record of a group of Ancients talking about that they plan to summon Hydaelyn and that one Venat (the first time we read that name) would become its heart, and that he/she was preparing for it. This scene we see now, I reckon at least (otherwise it would be a retcon), is meant symbolic. And no, she wasnt entirely alone - as she said before, she would find allies, those she could trust. And as the former Azem, she has many friends around the world. However, for all the ages, thousants upon thousants of years... yes, that long walk she took alone. Add to that the rejoinings (I think those are the attacks visited upon her and why she looks so broken and hurt), its hard to imagine how much she suffered, waitung for us to finally get born and rise to the challenge. This also explains that we truely are one-of-a-kind, that noone else can do what we have to do. Maybe thats my reading into it, but I always felt like my character was only one among many, one Warrior of Light among hundreds of others through the ages, on the Source and all the shards. Just someone who did what had to be done, accepting that it might be wrong tomorrow, but unable to sit by and do nothing, to save who I can. I thought the only reason I/we stand out is because we are currently the only known Warrior of Light alive, hence our import. But we are not the only ones, not the only ones able to rise to the challenge. Now I/we know, oh sh**, we are a step above the rest, a level ahead of all the other Warriors of Light. ... Tbh, I found it a little intimidating come to think of it ^^° 48:50 --- A Jorden Peterson lecture XD XD XD And yes, thats exactly what this all felt like XD Life is struggle, it isnt fair, there is no justice, only pain and your determination to go on regardless. And there was a german movie, the subtitle went like this "It takes an entire life to be happy for 5 minutes" (its WWII-themed, so its quite a somber movie). I think it encapsulates the message quite right.

I agree. Hermes is an extremely powerful, intelligent man who dwells too much on the meaning of life and death. Speaking from personal experience, I now understand why Fandaniel was so nihilistic and suicidal. Its an extremely complex thing, but I suspect Hermes had a ton of social difficulties as well - which I guess we could surmise from the cutscenes. He always seemed so anxious at times during conversation.

Love to see Sophie's face starting to pop up on these thumbnails! I adore watching you two's reactions and discussion back and forth about the story.

Venat, in a single expansion, went from a non-entity to my favorite character in the franchise. Holy hell man.

"Connection established. Commencing status report." *And then all went both south and out the window*

Watching you go through everything is like a level of therapy for me guys so keep it up lol. Just like Shadowbringers, getting to reappreciate these scenes through fresh eyes is beautiful

You guys handled this better than me. Venat almost always has me in tears. Glad you guys appreciate how deep and amazing this writing is. :]

Yup, on the Hermes' part. It's scary that I could relate to the things he was saying, because I've had similar thoughts in the past. It's best for everyone to lock those thoughts away.

"It isn't right, is it? It isn't right to turn away from the answer....even if the answer....is pain....." Well......it depends on how long one lives in this state, if it is sporadic, chronically reoccurring (and how frequently), or constant. It is also the nature of the pain and its severity. It also depends upon whether other experiences are present, their nature, how positive verse negative they are (as experienced, not necessarily objectively), and a similar set of parameters as those noted above for pain. As an aside (and considerably more "on topic"), as a person who has played a wide variety of MMORPGs over decades, often over the course of years at a time, from Ultima Online to Wow, I have never experienced a game where a discussion of these philosophical, spiritual and existential topics were explored. More pointedly, watching the reactions of the two player's to this story as it began to unfold blew my mind. I have never played FFXIV, but now I feel I might have to try it. I'm a sucker for a good story and have always been underwhelmed by the story's sophistication in these other games through the years. Not only on average, but the very best, most engaging stories have never come close to the above. Outside of Solitaire, I have never really played video games instead of MMORPGs. However, I left playing all MMORPGs quite a few years ago because of the absence of really good stories, whether the overall story or the supporting ones. (Obviously, I am elderly, a great grandmother in fact.) This video really took me off guard. In fact, I don't know how it came up in my RU-vid feed. .... kind of weird. ......Wait......was this just the start of an instance? Ok, I stopped watching. I didn't want to spoil my experience of this should I ever get that far in the game. LOL. I'm an idiot, waxing poetic thinking it was just a cut scene from the start of a new expansion. Sorry. .

The themes of this game are deep. Enjoy the rest of your journey. There's a heck of a road ahead. Thou Shalt Live, Die, and Know is one of my favorite quest story series ever made. There's one ahead that makes you feel the true weight of each step on this journey. The culmination of ARR to Endwalker is what finally allowed the original Mass Effect trilogy to be dethroned as my favorite story game by FFXIV. Funny given I swore never to play this game again after the disaster that was 1.0.

You and Soph are so clued in to how they're telling the story. I'm really enjoying watching all of your reaction videos.

hands down in top 3 reaction video i've seen here..emotions..they are real

This whole zone stunned me, from its reveal to how the Ancients see life to meeting Venat,it was all so different then i thought, but most of all, Emet and Hythlodeus being so different then we thought they would be. U better get ready to keep some tissues with u before u enter the final zone, couse gods will u need them.

"Hydaelyn was playing the 100,000 year long game." 13,000 years, actually. Still a real fucking long time.

phenomenal part of a phenomenal story, it adds so much to everything that's come before, and that end cutscene is crushing.

Always breaks me to see her taking all the hits that were meant for us...

It is very clear that once Venat is walking through the void, it is symbolic to visualize her feelings, but I think it was that from the very start of the cutscene. I really can not believe that Venat would just walk past another person being eaten by a monster without intervening. Or that Emet-Selch and Hythlodeus wouldn't even acknowledge her presence, when she comes close to them. Or for that matter that all the monsters would just ignore her, Emet and Hythlo and only attack everyone else in the area. There's also the issue of the stuff Emet told us in his impromptu history lesson in front of the cave-painting in Shadowbringers, which Hythlodeus later repeated in Amaurot, if I remember correctly. He said there was a second mass sacrifice to repair the damage to the planet, a group of their people banding together to create Hydaelyn and a prolonged battle between Zodiark and Hydaelyn, none of which was shown in the cutscene.

You asked who Venat let into the fold...it would be the ones we see in the flashback at Anyder, the ones who offer themselves to forge Venat into Hydaelyn. With what we know now, they weren't creating her because they opposed Zodiark, it was because they were made privy to the knowledge we and Venat alone knew, and realized that they would have to create and sever Zodiark and his hold on the world if we were to ever be born and reach the point we need to reach in order to fight whatever lies ahead. A very long chess game indeed.

When I got to this part of the game I finally realized what the song Answers really mean I went to read the lyrics of the song after this scene and it really hit me hard. I've always like that song ever since I started 3 years ago, now Endwalker elevated it even more. I really enjoy your reactions and takes you guys, really pay attention to the themes, philosophy and ideas the game explores.

16:30 in hindsight it was somehow easy: we know Fandaniel was Amon, so Hermes was not in custody and was allowed to claim the vacant seat. it was about the "why" and never about the possibility of "could happen or not"

It's actually a good thing we didn't split the timeline, or we'd have a situation like the Exarch had. His original timeline suffered the Eighth Umbral Calamity, and his prevention of it just means that that line continues on, as per the side story An Unpromised Tomorrow, while he continues to live in the altered line he's in, ours. If we had succeeded in preventing the original Final Days, we would prevent the Sundering and leave the Scions on their own timeline to deal with the Final Days themselves, without our help. Instead, we create a stable time loop and have the chance to fix stuff.

Obviously SPOILERS. The way i figured it after this was that Venat didn't "become" Hydaelyn per say. She just made herself into a primal, and took the name we gave her when we told her about the future. But she was still the very same person that we met and who loved her world. Sort of what Louisoix did, though he became a false primal (he did his duty ofc, and it served it's purpose). But Venat had Creation Magic, so she just made herself into a true Primal (like the loporrit's did and explained with our Primals). One who's mind and feelings were her very own. Waiting for generations, just for us to finally appear. Imagine it, she never summoned anything. She just sundered the world she loved because she loved it. Killing almost everything, just to save it. And then having to live with that guilt for generations, waiting.

I personally like that the Lyssa Boss is a Proto-Hrothgar, and the log entry about him references the fact that Hrothgar have extreme difficulty mastering(speaking) new languages. (Which was why they weren't common in Eorzea until Shadowbrringers.)

The moon plan was the agreement between Midgardsomr and Hydelin, she would give the dragon brood amnesty on Etherius in exchange that should the worst come to pass, that he would escort the moon through the cosmos protecting it and the people within.

Ktisis Hyperbroia in Trust is amazing. Also love the armour there too, it's the same stuff that adult Gaia is wearing in the Cutscenes in Eden. The Cutscenes at this point onwards are truly something else. IMO the final days with Venat is the best in the game, but damn if that isn't like picking the shiniest of diamonds out of a pile of diamonds. Either way, I was slamming that screenshot button like it was going out of style in these cutscenes. After that Venat cutscene I actually had to take about a 30 minute break just to lay down and process what had happened, it messed me up that much.

That last cutscene always makes me cry! She carried such a burden, I feel horrible for ever doubting her 😰😭😭😭

Xenogears is another Square game that had the intention of teaching and covering philosophical topics in a way that would get younger people interested in learning about the topics. A long game and perhaps dated gameplay compared to modern standards but if you ever want a game exploring complex themes like this, I'd highly recommend playing it (or watching a let's play of it).

I just saw it but I need more, Ty to upload your reactions :)

Ah yes feelwalker, how the journey continues to never let us down :D

6:38 Emet is not amused, young lady. 8:35 Remember when Omega was chasing Midgardsormr? Frozen star, plagued star, dead star, etc? Also Vrtra said Middy described Etheirys as "the last bastion of hope." Bruh. 28:00 The further from the surface of the star, the more the aether to dynamis ratio shifts in favor of Dynamis and the stronger Meteion gets. That's why I figure she couldn't just zoom away from the beginning. 31:06 ShB Emet "You cannot be entrusted with our legacy." EW Emet "Do not squander it, the legacy I leave you." I cried. 34:30 Grumpy Emet is best Emet. And since he's always grumpy he's always best. 35:05 That's what Montichaigne told us. That's why Emet came to save us during our fight with Elidibus. He remembered. 38:40 Remember in Amamnesis Anyder the recording where we first heard Venat's name. She exhorted her fellows not to deride the Convocation, that they were doing their best. 44:35 "Our souls have been torn and our bodies forsaken." =-( 45:48 The Rejoinings.

I'm sorry mummy for thinking you were gonna be the big bad...... We don't deserve your love.

Man ive had few games that have added not only to the progress we are at but making sense of or adding on to an already critical moment. Like with Emet saving us in the Seat of Sacrifice trial. Learning in death his memory was restored of the time in elpis. Giving him more reason to save our hide. And adding on to new meaning. Bringing answers back for amurots final days and fitting that in *chef kiss* Like even in shadowbringers it simply did not click thats what answers couldve been about because they didnt really play it even as a nod or hint. Soken+ the music team and the writers of ffxiv bouncing off each other flawlessly it still leaves my head spinning.

I highly suggest listening to Answers and reading the lyrics. As the meaning of the song changed based on endwalker’s story.

To me personally this & 1 other cinematic which you will see later are the most memorable & powerful moments of the expansion. It explains so much of the lore dating all the way back to 2.0 and it makes Venat one of the best character arcs in the FF series as a whole. Her VA did an outstanding job delivering Venat's lines with emotion & conviction. On top of it all her lines of "No more shall man have wings to bare him to paradise, Henceforth he shall walk" is in my opinion the defining line of Endwalker.

Krile: Ah, Warrior of Light. How went your sojourn to the First? Have you learned aught of the Final Days? WoL: Well, I successfully met with Elidibus, who was surprisingly cordial and cooperative considering the fact that I killed him. And his brethren. And caused the extinction of his people. And undid over 10,000 years of hard work. And killed his God, can't forget about that one. Anyway, one thing lead to another and I ended up 10,000 years in the past, befriended an OG God before they were cool, encountered a Causality Loop paradox, witnessed the results of both a Fermi Paradox and the Threshold Theory, discovered that the Final Days are caused by, get this, untreated depression and (as noted by Emet-Selch) a lack of peer reviewed research, and now we need to find a way to chase down a creepy monochromatic little girl empath with cute little birb wings on her head to the literal edge of the universe where emotion dictates reality in order to prevent the birb girl from bringing about the heat death of the universe via thermodynamics-induced entropy that she is accelerating through the use of her empathic dark-matter manipulation abilities... Krile: Huh... Tataru, a cup of tea, if you wouldn't mind... And make it very, _very_ Irish. Tataru: I think I'll join you in that. WoL: I think I'll just have the Irish stuff, no tea dilution required.

Dynamis? Pah! What about the Urianger RL affect @cobrak lol 37:28 melancholy made me smile the way the statement was framed :D

So during the walking sequence of Venat, there was like, what, 7-8 flashes? Speaking of which, how many rejoinings have there been?

Been waiting for this 🙃

People still miss the Eastern roots in Final Fantasy XIV and Endwalker, because they do not know Eastern and Japanese thought. Naoki Yoshida, Natsuko Ishikawa, Masayoshi Soken, Nobuo Uematsu, Yoshitaka Amano, et al., were born and raised in Japan. Japanese Shintoism and Japanese Buddhism, consciously and subconsciously, color their thinking. Uematsu, who composed "Answers" (Venat/Hydaelyn theme), "Dragonsong" (Estinien theme), "Eternal Wind" (G'raha Tia theme, originally from FF3), "Welcome To Our Town" (Loporrits and Urianger theme, originally from FF4) says his music is very Japanese in its "melancholy lyricism." The late Japanese American Buddhist monk D.T. Suzuki, an immigrant from Japan - who popularized Japanese forms of Buddhism (which originated in ancient India) in the West, such as Zen and Shin, wrote this about Buddhism: Indian Buddhism is otherworldly and metaphysical. Chinese Buddhism is pragmatic and rational. Japanese Buddhism is intuitive and emotional. Nichiren Buddhism, which was founded in 13th century Japan by the Japanese Buddhist monk Nichiren, has among its global followers Tina Turner, Orlando Bloom, Courtney Love, Herbie Hancock, Hayley Mills, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Belinda Carlisle, John Astin (yes, Gomez Addams of The Addams Family), etc. Chán Buddhism originated in the famous Shàolín Temple, home of Shaolin kung-fu, in ancient China by Indian and Chinese Buddhist monks. Chán comes from the Chinese rendition, chánnà, of the Indian Sanskrit term, dhyāna, which means meditation or meditative state. Chán adapted Indian Buddhism for Chinese people, incorporating Taoist thought and influences. Chinese Chán was later exported, further adapting to local tastes, to ancient Korean kingdoms, where it was known as Seon, to ancient Vietnamese kingdoms, where it was known as Thiền, and to ancient Japan, where it was known as Zen. The 18th-century Japanese Zen Buddhist monk Hakuin Ekaku (1685- 1768), invented Buddhism's most famous koan, or question or problem, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Judeo-Christian thought excludes reincarnation, which is central to Indian religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Furthermore, Hinduism and Jainism believe in a soul, while Buddhism does not. This helps explain why Hermes, when reincarnated as Amon, is very different from the original Hermes, because of Japanese Buddhism's influence on Final Fantasy XIV. I recall how most Christians vehemently oppose the idea of reincarnation, because it violates their religious beliefs. A minority of Christians and Muslims, however, do or did believe in reincarnation, such as the followers of Cathars, Alawites, the Druze, and the Rosicrucians. The Druze are an ethnolinguistic group living predominately in Lebanon. Their religion is a syncretic, monotheistic and ethnic religion, neither Christian nor Muslim, even though it developed from the latter. The late Lebanese American DJ and music host Casey Kasem heralded from a Druze background. They certainly do not form the vast majority of Christians in North America and Europe. The whole tradition of bowing in East Asia and Southeast Asia, owes its origin to ancient India. In promulgating Buddhism in ancient China, bowing was a way of acknowledging Buddha in others. This type of bowing spread to Korea and Japan. Bowing in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Cambodia and predominantly Hindu Bali in Indonesia, is closer to its Indian roots, as symbolized in the traditional Indian greeting, Namaste, in which one puts in front, close to the body, both hands together. The Japanese do not bow like that to other people, with the hands put together. Westerners look like ignorant fools when they misrepresent Japanese people bowing like that to other people. Japanese bow from the waist, with their hands at their sides. Japanese are not Indian, nor Thai, nor Laotian. They do that Indian-style bow in front of Shintō shrines, which came from the native Japanese religion - everything, including inanimate objects, have a spirit associated with it, known as kami in native Japanese and Okinawan religions, and the similar, but not the same, kamuy (kamui in Japanese) in the native Ainu religion - in which they add a uniquely Japanese clap (usually a couple of them) beforehand, when wishing for something good. This native, animistic Japanese religious belief in kami enabled Japanese game developers to anthropormorsize warships (as well as other inanimate objects, such as buildings in the 2014 Japanese anime browser and mobile game Shiro Project:RE ~CASTLE DEFENSE~) as beautiful anime girls in the 2013 Japanese browser game, Kantai Collection, or Kancolle for short. The Japanese anime browser game Kancolle inspired Chinese mobile game developers to later create a number of similarly-themed, anime-style warship girl mobile games, such as Azur Lane (2017), Warship Girls (2018), Blue Oath (2019), Black Surge Night (2021), etc. Many of these Chinese mobile warship girl and other Chinese mobile, anime-style games even use Japanese voice actors, rather than Chinese ones, as the original voice actors, such as Azur Lane. While Japan has been historically been influenced more by China before the 20th century, since the beginning of the 20th century, Japan has influenced China more. A number of Chinese people living in China, who are fluent in English, have documented this huge Japanese influence on China since the late 19th century on Quora. You see Chinese divers, in Olympic and world competition, bow from the waist, with their hands at their sides, to the judges after completing a dive. This comes from Chinese Buddhism. There is a variation of bowing and saluting, which comes from Chinese Buddhism, which is used in Chinese martial arts. It involves using the fist. When my brother and I were young, we learned Chinese kung-fu. We learned the special Chinese martial arts bow. I later recognized variations of it being done by various NPCs in Final Fantasy XIV! The obviously Chinese-inspired monk Yang Fang Leiden in Final Fantasy IV does Chinese-style martial arts. So does Lyse Hext in Final Fantasy XIV. These are major reasons why, I strongly believe, that the FFXIV development team, uses India as a major inspiration for Final Fantasy XIV in general and Endwalker in particular, in Thavnair, Radz-at-Han, and so on. The Final Fantasy series has always borrowed from and been inspired by lore, philosophy, religions, thought, etc., from all the world. Bahamut and Ifrit come from Persian and Arabic lore and Islam. Behemoth is the Hebrew equivalent of Bahamut. Judaism and Christianity, John Milton's Paradise Lost, ancient Greek mythology and philosophy, Dungeons and Dragons, the works of H.P. Lovecraft, the works of Moebius etc. - all contribute to the world of Final Fantasy in general and Final Fantasy XIV in particular. But many Westerners fail to see the East in Final Fantasy, because they do not know it and they do not recognize it. But that is why Japan in particular is influencing the West so much. Because it is so very different from the West - and even very different from other Eastern cultures. The influence of Japanese video games, such as the Final Fantasy series, Chrono Trigger, etc., on many contemporary Western science fiction and fantasy writers, who grew up playing them, has been covered in a 2019 article in Kotaku. The 1995 landmark Japanese anime film, Ghost in the Shell, inspired the Wachowskis to create the 1999 Hollywood blockbuster film, The Matrix. Missing in the Wachowskis's inspiration, however, is the very Japanese melancholy lyricism in Ghost in the Shell. Japanese anime titles like the 1988 theatrical film Akira and a little-known 2004 TV anime series Elfen Lied, as well as the Japanese Dark Souls game series and the Japanese Silent Hill game series, The Duffer Brothers themselves openly acknowledge, help inspire them to create the megahit Netflix series, Stranger Things. In 2018, Kanye West tweeted that Akira is his "greatest creative inspiration." Elon Musk is a huge fan of the Studio Ghibli anime films, the landmark 1995-1996 TV anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion and its later subsequent anime films, and anime catgirls. The late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was an adherent of Japanese Zen Buddhism, a great collector of shin-hanga woodblock prints by Kawase Hasui and other 20th-century Japanese artists, a lover of sushi (even though he was supposedly a vegan), and an admirer of various other Japanese things. Shin-hanga was an early 20th-century take on the 18th- and 19th-century Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, which have exerted a profound impact on Western art, architecture, and design, and greatly influenced artists such as Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (documented by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands), American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (documented by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA), and late 19th-century Anglo-Japanese style designers in the UK like Scottish-born Christopher Dresser. According to his daughter Lisa Brennan-Jobs, on his deathbed Jobs had hung on his bedroom walls Japanese shin-hanga woodblock prints. They probably provided solace in his life. The late, very influential Japanese writer-director Akira Kurosawa inspired and influenced many filmmakers, both in the East and the West, such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, etc. Lucas borrowed much of the story line from Kurosawa's 1958 samurai film, The Hidden Fortress, for his 1977 hit film, Star Wars. Much of the Star Wars universe, it has been documented by American, British and other Western sources, as well as from Lucas's own mouth, has drawn inspiration from Japan.

I get what you say about Hermes abut thinking about the meaning of life it’s more than that though this man is creating living beings on a daily basis and forced to erase them from existence if they won’t work out those things are key on why he came to that desicion and how inhumane he thought taking away life and he wanted to know if there were people who were better than his people and had an answer of life that he could agree with to justify this cruelty that others did yet there’s was none and there was only pain

They had to put in the Kairos thing. FFXIV operates on an open-loop time system. If you travel into the past, you *can* change things. That was the entire purpose for G'raha Tia in Shadowbringers; averting the Eighth Umbral Calamity. In his time, it had already happened, so he went back and created a timeline where it was successfully stopped. If the trip back to Elpis had ended in any other way, the Ancients would have probably prevented the Final Days. Hell, there may even be a timeline where they *did* prevent it.

Subtle, but I really love how the music switches from "Answers" to "From the Ashes" (The Theme of Phoenix) when Venat tells her brethen that returning the world to how it was befor is futile and that they must take a step forward instead of two steps back.

I will HIGHLY recommend going back and doing that last dungeon with the scenario trust, it's a treat. This was such a powerful moment and now you know what is causing it. Enjoy the rest!

I've come to watch these two get destroyed. I wasn't disappointed.

in the end, Hermes created Skynest

Aw man, you guys have to go back and run Ktisis Hyperboreia with the Trust NPC's at some point! Running a dungeon with Emet, Venat and Hythlodaeus is just so god damn cool. The cutscenes after the dungeon though, absolutely soul crushing. I didn't think they'd be able to top 5.3's level of feels, but once again Ishikawa found a way, the absolute mad lass.

Honestly i love the shot of Hermes giving orders to Kairos. The imagery is stunning

I think the Reason Venat made Previsions to evacuate the people to another Star, knowing that they are dead, was for one, to have the Lopporits make a form of Transportation, but also in the case we failed, i think she truly believed that, while all of the Stars are dead, some might still be habitable. As Macabre as building a new Life on the Ruins of another is, it beats dying together with the Planet

WoL to the Scions: "tl:dr - everythings gone to shit and it repeats right now...lets try to avoid that, shall we?" Its amazing how they tie it all together!

When Vyrtra said Midgardsomnr (sorry for spelling) said this planet was the last bastion of hope :( :(

I won't spoil the reason why, but when you make it to the end, DO NOT skip the credits. The game WILL troll you if you do.

22:08, oh God, that's me! If I keep living so much in my head I'll end up like Hermes!

It's a good idea to go back to the dungeon with trust party members

Timelines aint set in stone. The CrystalMethxarc tought us that already

I think that Fandaniel remembered because the spell frayed over aeons and thousands of rebirths. Even Emet-Selch must have remembered at some level, as he eventually set out to create the hardiest, most survival-minded race of humans, the Garleans.

I think venat is that strong because she's not returned to the star when her job as azem done ,that's where all the power she have ♥️♥️

not going to lie, I shed a tear on that rp moment at the end

So, how are you to enjoying things this far? You seem to be having a good time. I have to admit the revelation of what actually caused the calamity of the ancient world caught me by surprise. Such a good writing.