My favorite bit in Endwalker had to be Elpis. It’s a bit of an exposition dump section, but 1) it introduces the ridiculous ethereal hotness of Hythlodaeus and Venat and 2) it proves that Emet-Selch is actually kind of cool, if still a shitty little gremlin man.
The scene I love in particular is right when Meteion is receiving the message from her sisters that the universe is hell and they’re going to sing a song that ends the world. Rather than immediately jumping to “we need to kill the bird girl,” Emet-Selch actually turns to Hermes, the meteia’s creator, and grills his ass.
Throughout the entire Elpis segment, Hermes has been upset about how flippantly all the other Amaurotines treat their creations. He mourns deeply when he has to kill an animal who is labeled “defective.” It is a largely correct critique; the Amaurotines are entirely too flippant with “lesser” life for it to ever end well. But in the creation of the Meteia and the setting of their goal of “finding happiness in the universe,” we end up seeing that Hermes is ultimately susceptible to the same thinking. He has no regard for what might happen to the Meteia or what they might do should there be any problems with their mission.
And as Emet-Selch so eloquently bodies him with, he has never considered the consequences that might arise if his whole premise is flawed.
I love this version of Emet-Selch. He’s thoughtful and critical, and ultimately horrified by the prospect of the world Hermes is rushing in, and he does what he has to in order to stop it.