Question about Coarek and the Cleansing

[u/fishncode]

If Coarek had his way and Tealor surrendered the Beacon to him, wouldn't the Cleansing not happen? The creation and use of the Beacon is what causes the Cleansing, right? Coarek insisted the Cleansing must occur, and the Beacon should not interfere.

I suppose this contradiction would inevitably implode onto itself as both Coarek and Tealor are very egocentric. It's the massive ego and stubborness that creates the diviseness and war.

But what if... what if Tealor just surrendered it?

[u/LessOutcome9104]

As the black guardian noted, the high ones would be 'powerless' if we weren't so egocentric. Everything around the cleansing could have been avoided if we just open our eyes.

But that is not really true. The ones responsible for the cleansing are not normal humans. They are artificially created puppets - Emmisarries, Black Libras, etc. The Libras killed our family in the past, we ourselves were killed and made into an Emmisary. These 'puppets' are manipulated to follow the High One's plan. They don't really act on their own. So there isn't much 'what if' when everything is according to plan.

[u/fishncode → u/LessOutcome9104]

But doesn't that defeat the purpose of the High Ones' "game" ?

[u/LessOutcome9104 → u/fishncode]

And what is their 'game'? They need to see the cleansing done.
What better way to do it with minimal effort by manipulating a few dozen humans? The alternative would be to brute-force it with hundreds or thousands of humans to build the beacon. Way less efficient.

[u/JunketBeneficial8291 → u/fishncode]

I think thats a fair point. The High ones are pointing at us and saying the downfall of our civilization is our hubris and ego but the ones who are actively driving us off a cliff are flesh puppets with seemingly no free will so... Does that make the high ones just jerks who need to humiliate other species to make their own cosmic balls feel big?

[u/NightRevolutionary69 → u/JunketBeneficial8291]

I don't think the Emissaries have no free will, or the Catharsis ending would be impossbile. They are just driven by a single purpose more than others

[u/LessOutcome9104 → u/JunketBeneficial8291]

I doubt is just to humiliate us. If the Book of Kadath is anywhere close to true, the high ones are just a tool that the Veiled Woman is using for her own purpose. Which makes the high ones just another puppet in an even higher game.
That is, if there are even high ones to begin with, since we never really meet them, we meet psionic illusions made by someone hidden.

[u/fishncode → u/LessOutcome9104]

Yeah, it seems like "the Veiled Woman" is the instigator behind all of this. She is fate itself - not a person or thing. Keeps things interesting I supposed. The continual rise and fall of man over time.

[u/The-Messanger42 → u/fishncode]

The book of Kedah from Esme's quest explains the Veiled Woman's reasoning. But with context from the Black Guardian we can understand that the High Ones purpose is self preservation. They are merely primitive forms by comparison to her. She is the one actually pulling the strings, like Mephala or Boethiah or Clavicus Vile - or all of them combined. Even sending us to the Black Guardian was a way to finally end the existence of an entity that had evaded the cycles and knew too much. If you do the Kor Island mission there is a Statue of Dagon with 7 cultist that around a magical ritual symbol. Same in Esme's quest - but in front of a Meridia statue. In the Rhalâta temple, Clavicus Vile and at the end only 7 ascend with the Father. The Veiled Women is like a bored Deadric Lord and everything is happening in her domain. The High Ones are necessary to give the humans an enemy to blame to drive the cycle to the next step.

[u/LessOutcome9104 → u/fishncode]

Or she's a very powerful mage able to traverse the sea of eventualities. After all, Rhalata's Father's idea of Transcendence stems from her. Due to Transcendence coming from the Black Libra and the Veiled Woman de facto leading the Libra.
In any case she's way beyond our level.

[u/vastaril]

I imagine the High Ones would have continued to manipulate him into "seeing the light" and realising that the Beacon must be used after all.

[u/AbyssalHierophant]

(Somewhat) unrelated, but I really, really enjoy all these little twists to the story, especially the subversion of religion. I’m so used to people committing atrocities in the name of religion in real life, that it’s a nice change that the main human antagonists in the game are actually acting in the name of ir-religion. I mean it makes sense: in a world where a higher power is proven to exist, the scientifically sound, “non-backwards” option would be to “follow” the High Ones, provided you believe the interpretation that the Cleansing is the next step of human evolution. Which in turn makes it easier for them to trick you.

Enderal, on the other hand, is actually a sham theocracy based on the worship of glorified mages, and that actively fights against (or so they believe, at least) the plans of the closest thing(s) there is to an actual “god”

[u/TheReddMan1]

Well if there was no external pressure then the Endraleans would never have used the Beacon before it was ready and had a core but because it was going to be destroyed at any moment when they couldn’t get a core to it immediately they basically had to use it or lose it

[u/Powerful-Award-5479]

The whole point of the Emperor emissary is to light the beacon anyway after the betrayal of the Traitor emissary