I thought this game went ultra lite with its killings. Even for an FF. Spoilers obviously coming.
When I first saw Thancred was sided with the Ascians, my first thought was "Woah he was a traitor all along?" or at the very least we'd be faced with killing him in mercy. Doing either would have been a huge deal and a risk worth respecting on the writers part considering his story preceeds 2.0. But nope... just possession... he'll be fine if you give him a smack. Really, when you can't see Moenbryda for being anymore like a redshirt (alongside all the nameless tempered people) the Ascians really don't seem like a big deal.
Haurchefaunt wasn't the biggest player either. He certainly pushed things along but his presence was dotted and his purpose had gone well past by the time he was cut out.
And don't get me started on the Sultana. In many respects her death would have had some of the same points attached as Thancred's. Except they also used it in a trailer promoting a huge expansion. A huge fake-out. Along with seemingly all the Scions (yes probably Minfillia too).
This game is still pretty generous considering. I was about to say something like "They could blow up the planet and absolutely every named character would be fine"... but then I remembered that 2.0 was built around the premise that something very similar to that had literally just happened. Even the guy that seemed to die in that instance got more life milked out of him first.
