This user's frustration is familiar to anyone who has tried to make traditional spreadsheets do what they should do naturally: understand the relationships between their own data. The core problem here is not a formula error, it is a tool limitation. The user knows exactly what they want: filter a list of deities by domain, across two columns, and return all matching names into a single cell. They tried FILTER. They tried ARRAYTOTEXT. They got a value error. The tool failed them, not the other way around.
What this user is experiencing is the gap between how humans think about data and how legacy spreadsheets process it. A person looks at a table of gods and sees that Arcana appears in Domain 1 for Azuth and in Domain 2 for others. They intuitively understand that "Arcana" is a category that cuts across rows and columns. But the spreadsheet does not. Traditional formulas require you to spell out every condition in rigid syntax, and when your logic spans multiple sheets and multiple columns, the complexity compounds until it breaks. The user's attempted solution was reasonable. The tool was not.
This is exactly where AI-native spreadsheets change the equation. Instead of forcing you to translate your intent into arcane syntax, a modern tool can infer the relationship you are describing. You say "filter by domain across these two columns and collect the deity names", and the AI understands that as a cross-sheet filter with a union condition. It does not return an error. It returns the result you expected in the first place. For this user, that means no more debugging VALUE errors, no more workarounds with helper columns, and no more time lost to syntax hunting. The tool adapts to the way they think about their data.
Our take is clear: the era of fighting your spreadsheet is ending. This user's problem is not unique, and it is not small. It represents thousands of hours spent annually by people who know their data but are blocked by their tools. The solution is not to learn more formulas, it is to use a tool that speaks your language. If you have ever typed a formula, stared at an error, and known your logic was sound, you are ready for a spreadsheet that meets you where you are. Start with a query like "show me all deities that match a domain from this list," and watch the AI do the rest.