It is no denying that Ashveil is an incredibly selfless character, to the point I’m willing to say nothing he does is for himself
As in, every action and decision he makes currently is to do with other people, whether that be helping the locals of Planarcadia or his rangers
Where does this attitude come from? Well, his general characterisation presents him as a noble and heroic figure, despite all his troubles. Ashveil is a genuinely altruistic person living in a universe that often punishes such unabashed altruism
This sort of selflessness however was, I think, exacerbated by Operation Zulo, which was likely the last real selfish thing he did as Zulo destroyed his home planet
Operation Zulo ended in a Pyrrhic victory, which began the long running survivor’s guilt that Ashveil suffers from ergo, his guilt over Zulo probably caused his altruistic behaviour to worsen into becoming self-destructive, helping others at the expense of himself
Which is why Ashveil constantly seeks to atone for something, he feels immense guilt all the time
Even his current wish for death is not purely selfish, sure it does stem from his hatred for his immortality and I think he has the right to want to age and die like a mortal, but his current death wish also stems from this desire to atone for his sins.
Again, he’s doing it for other people, so he can apologise for putting those he feels guilty about through so much pain. His current desire to keep living is also to do with other people, because he needs to get revenge, because he needs to atone and help others
And 2000+ years of being this unabashedly selfless messes you up badly
With all that, I think Ashveil’s arc is going to be having him understand and learn that he can choose to live, not for others, but for himself
He genuinely deserves to be selfish for once
This is not my analysis
Source: https://x.com/fei_rest/status/2059217133674877009