FFXIV Writing- Why I Loved Emet-Selch

This video may feel a bit all over the place but that's because I had a hard time really sticking to one thing since they did so much right with this character. I hope you all feel similarly!

Music: Zodiac Structures by NoMBe

Disclaimer: The MMORPG known as FinalFantasy XIV Online as well as all its related publications and merchandise are owned by Square Enix. I have no claims to it.

Primary Sources:
Video Games-
FinalFantasy XIV Online

Publications-
Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I
Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume II

Alternative Sources:
FinalFantasyXIV, The Lodestone/Sidestory
FFXIV, Letter from the Producer
Published FFXIV Brand Art Books

#ffxiv #lore #endwalker

[latelotus]

Hades was the gift that kept on giving. Post ShB completely re contextualized the "remember us" smile. He wasn't just smiling to a respected enemy. He was bidding farewell to an old friend.

[Monstergirl-ologist]

I think endwalker hades is still pretty great to show the "unbroken" version of him. He pretty much leads the charge in trying to stop the future events despite saying that he doesn't believe it and he has so much energy to do what he believes is right. It's great

[mewtje]

I believe that Emet is a deeply hurt man. When I saw Amaurot in the Tempest, my little Au Ra stood on a ledge which showed the Skyline of the city he wove from Aether. When I realized that he *made* a reflection of this city, built on memory, to walk on those streets he loved so much once again, to see reflections of his people once again, even though they were nothing but mere memories, I realized he manifested his pain with the tip of his fingers, weaving the aether and the force that gives life into that what he misses most: Home.

If we look at it, the Unsundered lost everything. Their family, friends, their loved ones, lives, jobs, the mere ground they walked on, all gone. To endure this pain for over 9000 years, holding on onto hope and the deity they created in despair to bring back what they lost has left a mark on all of them. Lahabrea became dark and cynical, Elidibus was losing his memories - he didnt even remember who he promised to help, and Emet became depressed, homesick and ultimately, lonely. He has seen death in all its forms. Calamity of Lightening, people being swallowed by waves of electricity. Calamity of fire, people burning alive. Calamity of Earth, people being swallowed by the ravenous earthquake and crushed by boulders. Calamity of Light, warping all beings caught into the flood painfully into mindless monsters deprived of aether. The list goes on: War, pestilence, torture, murder, rape, violence. He has seen it all. Nobody stood out. And then, in this one era, there is this one little WOL person that managed to withstand and even fight back. Was this the clue he was hoping for? The glimmer of hope that life can persist as it is?

The complexity of this character is unmatched and it is one of the reasons that Shadowbringers is still my favorite expansion of the entire game.

[Nehfarius]

I think the reason Emet-Selch is so fondly remembered is a combination of factors. Partly his generally quirky nature, partly the reveal that he's fond of empire-building(and damn good at it, too), but primarily that he's the first Ascian we meet that actually feels like a real person, contrasting moustache-twirling supervillain Lahabrea and stoic, mission-minded Elidibus.

[xxfrostxx]

"A villain can't be deeply compelling or well fleshed out in only a single expansion" - The Jailer, probably.

[moonelfe]

The simple thing to see it, he's litterally bearing the weight of the burden on his shoulders, until we kill him and stand straight finally.
EW allowed us to see normal Emet-selch, before being destroyed by the loss of his friends, it was particularly beautiful for me. Especially the fact that for him, becoming so disrespectful of life was against his nature at the time.
I think that, despite missing his life before, he spent his life trying to find the sundered worthy. I wonder if he tried to find Azem's shards on every world to see if his quest was finally over, continuing with the rejoining when he find us lacking ...

[TurnerXI]

Yoshida actually explained the whole thing with Emet Selch in a radio mog station broadcast (around the 30:00 - 35:00 minute mark) where they were talking EW spoilers; a lot of people thought that Emet was brought back in EW because of fan service but it was planned since ShB. Elpis Emet is the "pure" Emet whereas after experiencing the Final Days, tried to love the new people, or rather, only fragments of the people he loved, of the sundered world and ended up being betrayed many times resulted in the ShB Emet.
The same reason why Elidibus was only absorbed in 5.3 and his aether was not destroyed is because the writers needed a way for us to get to Elpis and Elidibus was the one who was given that role long before EW released.

P.S. Completely irrelevant to the text above, the reason why Krile is not in the EW art with all of the scions is because Yoshida didn't notice she was missing in his sketch when ordering the artwork and when he noticed that she was missing, it was to late. xD

[thorn_lekoh]

I find it really interesting that Hades is a perfect parallel to G'raha Tia : Both are soft boys turned cloaked and stoic immortal beings, both recreate the image of their home in a world that feels foreign to them (the Amaurote illusion and the Garlemald empire on one side and Cristarium on the other, the latter being a recreation of Sharlayan from Raha's memories), and both keep struggling across generations - and slowly lose themselves in the process - to bring back the time where their beloved friend and hero was alive (that hero being the same person in both cases, although the WoL is like 8-9/14ths of Azem).

You can really tell that behind the scheming and attitude, Hades is just a sad and lonely guy that's desperate and willing to sacrifice anything just to see his hero again, and I think that if G'raha Tia had gone on to live as the Crystal Exarch without success for as long as Hades has been Emet-Selch, he would've turned to despair as well.

[Howlflame]

I feel like there was still some bad blood between Emet-Selch and Azem when Zodiark was summoned. Mostly in the fact that the title of "traitor" in Garlean is Latin for "traveler".

[LyndseyMacPherson]

The writers deserve awards above those of mere gaming awards for this story. Emet is flawed, complex, and beautiful. Doesn't get much more relatable than that.

[adverseflower]

What event really sold me on him was when we defeated the final light warden. I remember him being genuinely dejected by how we were unable to contain the light and that he got his hopes up for nothing. He really did want us to succeed.

[DissonantCressendo]

My hope is that at some point in FFXIV, no matter in which expansion, we are able to see Emet, Hyth and Azem again. Together, as Emet wanted.
Or at least being able to see them in a more happy context.

[the_exegete]

Just speculation, but one thing that might have dampened E-S's enthusiasm for rejoinings was the corruption of the 13th. That's one shard worth of souls permanently destroyed. His people could never be truly complete again. Zodiark could never be truly complete again. Even if every other shard was rejoined there's no guarantee that the people would be the same, or that Zodiark would have the power to fix everything again. More likely than not his entire quest was doomed, but he was compelled to keep at it anyway. Facing down another ten thousand years of committing mass murder with no reason to believe the reward he sought was still attainable. That would wear anyone down.

[averageplayers]

I’m a sucker for antagonists that accompany you throughout the game

[Deilais]

Honestly EW just showed us a slightly "happier" Emet who is still the sarcastic grump but he shows us his kindness, the life he lived with his friends, the reason he was fighting so hard for so long for the rejoining. It drove home the bitter-sweetness of his story, really the entire story, of hydaelyn, zodiark and everyone else.

On a different not, e did anyone kinda laugh at the Emet/Hythlo CS at the end in ultima-thul? Hythlo is being all dramatic and like flourishing his arms about while mono-logging and it's like "best boi you cant do any creation magic!" Emet is probably over there a bit embarrassed rolling his eyes.

[eorzeanECM]

FFXIV story = Hades (Emet-Selch) redemption. One the many reasons why I love FFXIV...is Emet. The complexity and depth of his characterization is an epic tale. I appreciate your POV.

[Kitsune]

hate on time travel all you want. Elpsis was great.
as for Emet him self. or Hades rather. I'd never even considered part of him being so burnt out and done with the Rejoinings was his regular killing of Azem. It makes sense now that it's brought up, as I recall a lot of his lines on 'worth Stuarts of the star' being more focused on 'what he lost' in terms of his friends.

[TheJohnnylupine]

I'd never thought about the fact that he may have realised he was killing a friend over and over. Though really you have to wonder if a person sundered and a person reincarnated are really even equivalent. There was a sundered Azem long ago but they died and were reincarnated . A succession of people that shared their soul were born from it fall making their own memories and each becoming their own person. A person is as much their memories as they are their soul - perhaps more so.

This means that even if Emet really was driven by the desire to reunite with one of his closest friends it was a hope that was doomed to fail from the start, the warrior of light is not Azem - they're a new person writing a new story and borrowing the same soul Azem once borrowed themselves to do so. No matter how many rejoicings that soul has or will go through Azem will never be brought back. At best assuming he planned to use the Azem crystal to give Azems soul to their current reincarnation they'd get a new person that can also remember Azem's life and there is no telling how that person could take this, best case scenario, by the time they're done rejoining all the worlds you might get a person similar enough to the person azem once was that hasn't suffered so much that they develop any major issues, your middle ground might be someone like our own warriors of light who clearly have baggage but seem at least better at keeping afloat than someone like ardbert who coincidentally was ripped from the same cloth as well and we had better hope ardbert is the worst case scenario. Imagine what someone who can fully remember the final days and - the possibility of a remembered failure to save his people coupled with early shadowbringers ardbert who had failed and failed and failed again to save his world and was rewarded for their good deeds by becoming the reason their world fell. That could easily break a person.

now onto the hurting his friend over and over again part, they'd absolutely need to cause significant suffering to practically everyone that was sundered enough times to rejoin all the worlds but that's not the half of it. Emet would have to aid in the rise and fall of civilisations - empires. how many wars- battles the causes and their consequences did he set up and work towards? how many orphans starved on the street only to be reborn again into an equally bleak life because of the wars and injustices he would have had to encourage. given the fact that he knew he was doing this it's no wonder he said the sundered aren't truely alive because to admit otherwise would be to admit the magnitude of the crime he committed on the people he had lived amongst for so long.

[That_River]

"Endwalker nonsense"? What nonsense? I loved him in Shb and EW, and I haven't really heard anyone complain about how he is in EW. What am I missing here?

[FluffieXStarshine]

I really got interested in him at the end of Stormblood... it was the music in the cutscene, Bedlam's Brink that caught my attentio and made me pay attention to the scene and having him come back was just the gift that kept on giving.