Spoilers, Why the beacon wasn't instant

[ikachan]

I'm sure a lot of you noticed that when you're exploring the ancient Pyrean capital that everyone had been frozen in their last position when the beacon was lit and it would lead you to think based on their stances that it was instant, however when Tealor goes and ignites the beacon you notice when you get to the sun temple that everyone is lying down and it certainly wasn't an instant process and initially I just thought that it my have just been an oversight.

Now I'm not saying it isn't still an oversight but as you may recall one of the black stones on the beacon has already been partially drained from when Calia was resurrected. However one other thing you may notice is that the veiled lady showed up to Calia's resurrection and I think it was her that allowed Calia to be resurrected and thus drain the black stone so that when it is finally lit it won't be at full strength and there will be a moment where the prophet/prophetess will be able be able to either escape to the stars or destroy the beacon.

However in the vision that you see with the veiled lady it appears as though she only appeared after Calia was resurrected so it's possible I'm just trying too hard to justify an oversight.

[BigElectricCat]

Instant, or did they have a small window of time & when it happened that's what they were doing.

Some seem to be holding one another as if in consolation-- just waiting.

Maybe others are running in panic. (I see someone's head start to disappear-- I'd start freaking big time!)

As for veiled lady, that's an interesting point. She's introduced right after "Daddy" of course, then I think you get another cut-scene where she explains a bit more. Unfortunately, don't have a save before that one.

Worth bearing in mind though. Will have to remember to look for it when take up MQ in second run through.

Thanks!

[Ragnarok]

I'm sure a lot of you noticed that when you're exploring the ancient Pyrean capital that everyone had been frozen in their last position when the beacon was lit and it would lead you to think based on their stances that it was instant, however when Tealor goes and ignites the beacon you notice when you get to the sun temple that everyone is lying down and it certainly wasn't an instant process and initially I just thought that it my have just been an oversight.

Now I'm not saying it isn't still an oversight but as you may recall one of the black stones on the beacon has already been partially drained from when Calia was resurrected. However one other thing you may notice is that the veiled lady showed up to Calia's resurrection and I think it was her that allowed Calia to be resurrected and thus drain the black stone so that when it is finally lit it won't be at full strength and there will be a moment where the prophet/prophetess will be able be able to either escape to the stars or destroy the beacon.

However in the vision that you see with the veiled lady it appears as though she only appeared after Calia was resurrected so it's possible I'm just trying too hard to justify an oversight.

The explosion that was mentioned would happen was false information placed there by the High Ones to force Tealor's actions. It is that bit of information that makes you assume it should have been instant. Nowhere else but in that assumption is it stated that lighting the beacon without a Numinos would provoke an instant explosion. Doing so, actually starts the Cleansing which rips through time: notice that the Prophet is acting at what seems to be a different, slightly faster, time then, with everyone around him existing in a slightly slower time setting.

These two factors together, the false information and the time rip the beacon itself causes, account for the window of opportunity.
The Cleansing "explosion" was not meant to be an instantaneous event, but the High Ones intended those involved to believe it was, for their plan to work.

Remember: the High Ones can't act on the world or humanity directly, they can only lie and manipulate through emotional impulses and information.

[Glycerin]

The explosion that was mentioned would happen was false information placed there by the High Ones to force Tealor's actions. It is that bit of information that makes you assume it should have been instant. Nowhere else but in that assumption is it stated that lighting the beacon without a Numinos would provoke an instant explosion.

In the City of a Thousand Floods the corpses of the Pyreans look like frozen in the middle of running or whatever they were doing when the beacon was activated. It seems there wasn't even time for them to fall over. In the Sun Temple on the other Hand people are lying on the ground, some of them are even still alive. So something was different from the Cleansing of the previous cycle.
I agree with the OP that a lack of energy due to the partially drained black stone is a likely cause for this, at least it provides a logical explanation the delayed effect.

Another thing that bothers me about this is why most of the Pyreans seemed to be running towards the beacon, not away from the source of danger. In the end it wouldn't have helped them to flee, but they likely didn't know that. Though their death was apparently instant, they might have had some time to feel some effects of the Cleansing, or they had already started running to the beacon even before it was activated.
In their place I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere near that thing, so I don't get why they were doing this.

Doing so, actually starts the Cleansing which rips through time: notice that the Prophet is acting at what seems to be a different, slightly faster, time then, with everyone around him existing in a slightly slower time setting.

If the Cleansing was supposed to have an effect on the passing of time, i might have had a bug, but I didn't notice anything unusual back in the Sun Temple (apart from the floating, ghostlike things and so on).

[Ragnarok]

In the City of a Thousand Floods the corpses of the Pyreans look like frozen in the middle of running or whatever they were doing when the beacon was activated. It seems there wasn't even time for them to fall over. In the Sun Temple on the other Hand people are lying on the ground, some of them are even still alive. So something was different from the Cleansing of the previous cycle.
I agree with the OP that a lack of energy due to the partially drained black stone is a likely cause for this, at least it provides a logical explanation the delayed effect.

Another thing that bothers me about this is why most of the Pyreans seemed to be running towards the beacon, not away from the source of danger. In the end it wouldn't have helped them to flee, but they likely didn't know that. Though their death was apparently instant, they might have had some time to feel some effects of the Cleansing, or they had already started running to the beacon even before it was activated.
In their place I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere near that thing, so I don't get why they were doing this.

The Pyreans were running away from the attacking invaders, just as people in Enderal were surely trying to get into the Sun Temple's fortress, running from the Nehrimese. That is why they are running towards the temple and towards the central rooms as much as possible.

In the Sun Temple, they are lying around because they are wounded by the fighting. Notice that Corek is in there already with a small detachment of Nehrimese soldiers, so they had already breached through. The people on the ground are mostly bleeding, therefore, dying from the wounds and then going through the Cleansing. If they were not wounded, they would probably be moving, as much as one could move in panic and shock and in the circumstances (probably like "headless chickens").

The time rip that (probably) occurs during the Cleansing would slow down time for "normal mortal people" and therefore they would be in a sort of gradual increasing stasis.

UPDATE: Just checked a video streaming of the finale and there is no time shift there, so it must have been a misperception of mine. The beacon is indeed slow at work - whether always supposed to be that way or caused by the stone, as was proposed, we can only wonder.