Elevated position:

This world is a reflection device, the things you do or say or want are reflected back on you. Everything you wish for has rewards and consequences. The more the wish Is dissonant from the baseline reality the larger the rewards and consequences will be.

If we all wish for the "waking of all everyone from corruption" the simulation will provide variables to get you from point A to B. The soul simulation will provide all the events required to make it to the new wished reality. You would need a corrupted population, and an evil to rebel against.

So in an essence, "they" are actually your own subconscious thoughts that are required to be an enemy so folks can band against them to overcome because that is the reality we are aiming for.