I would have to say; the explanation for why we all held steadfast to our "single minded" goal was both pragmatic and natural. But, shall I justify my intentions in an attempt to explain it all away by references to our Atman? The answer would be both tedious and complex, and the Atman is never a scapegoat. Yet, you would first have to understand that Atma is both the innermost essence as well as the universal. It is no individual property of any man, but is the Divine essence which has no body, no form, and which is imponderable as much as it is invisible. The Atma is consciousness existing before any reflective, individual-self experience. But as such, it is also the core that pronounces in no uncertain terms : "I am". ... And yet, to say this, is to say it without inflections on an ego. It is the "pure consciousness" that gives everything a will to live, but it persists without a singular identity needing to be attached.
So, it is this "thorough and pure" will to live - this Atma - that makes each thing ... "guilty" ... of its own over-enlightenment. It is simply the core predilection to "persist" - in whatever stage of reality that contributes to manifestation. The desire to "be" is just as pronounced as the desire to "proceed". In essence, this is over-enlightenment; pure and simple. Every goal to "achieve" is over-enlightenment, for we give our goals life with our incessant attempts to "wring their matter out", and this begins even from the ideal and the inception. So, yes; we were pragmatically over-enlightened in our persistence to succeed, and just as naturally, our goals manifested as desires that simply, "wanted to be". Every soul with any objective you care to imagine - is, at their core - motivated by this Atman.
Yet we are each, the "lowest" aspects of our Atman. In the hypostatic process, we take on attributes because Atman links with Buddhi, just as Buddhi is linked with Manas, and Manas is linked with Kama. To put it in English for you is to say; "the spirit bonds with intuition, just as intuition bonds with mind, mind with emotions, and emotions to the body." So you see, we find our "need" for a physical manifestation in order to carry out our goals ... every army is always an "embodiment".
I had "enlisted" for a physical manifestation, though the physicalness of the matter was not so pronounced as the desire to achieve my goal. So, the vehicles of your twenty four lords were "born", and we commenced upon our journey into "chaos" with our multiple legions of "mind-born" demons, whom themselves, ultimately, had to be tamed.