No, studying videos is NOT cheating. Studying recorded football games after the plays to study strategies is not cheating. Watching videos of a pro fighters training or previous fights to learn their style is not cheating.

They didn’t “wipe out” humanity- they saved it. Humanity had reached a technological apex where they had the ability to destroy themselves and the planet, but hadn’t yet evolved to the point of “ascension”=basically, they had no souls, YET.