I did NOT know.
If this is true, then alright I stand Corrected.....at the same time, it still sounds silly that 12 years of story telling is called 1 season XD
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A season will typically have multiple plot points that continue into a subsequent season anyway, and there's no real objective need to discontinue said plot points simply because you don't think the cast is rough enough. It would be worse for them to drop the plot points or continue them many years later down the line, especially with the whole situation of shard travel that Y'shtola has been keen to do. It's a perfect time to really conclude these other stories anyway.
Further, a conclusion to an arc does not mean that references won't be made to characters involved in a said arc (e.g., Hydaelyn)
Speaking of Arenvald, I wonder how many people TRULY care about his welfare and the once possibility of him being a Trust member and fully fledged Scion. I always did take issue with the fact that Square gave him one adventure/quest chain then proceeded to forget about him throughout all of Shadowbringers, only for his arc to culminate in his legs being fucked over and then relegated to fleeting side materiel.
To me, Arenvald is a prime example of how the dev team will even maim the so called "GOOD GUYS" just to prop up the main Scion team as exceptional Ubermensches. I cannot understate how disappointed I am in how they've mishandled his arc.
Personally, I don't think they "mishandled" his arc at all - I've felt it's resonated well with me. Things happen that fundamentally change people. They've happened to the scions, too. Y'shtola lost her regular eyesight and now needs to use aether to "see." Thancred lost his ability to use magic in his trip through the lifestream. Yda/Lyse came to terms with who she is and now fights for Ala Mhigo instead of the scions. The dev team "maims" the scions, too, and turns some of them into side material. An expansion doesn't have to kill a major character to be good; then you devolve into killing someone off purely for the sake of killing someone off, and all that will do at this point in a long-running series like FFXIV is alienate fans.
If you haven't done so yet, I'd also encourage doing the Healer role quests in EW. Arenvald plays a major role there and is given significant development.
Yes, Fordola features prominently in the healer role quests and Arenvald is the backbone of them. He has always been strong of character and I think he's even moreso now in a wheelchair, which you'll see in that questline. He is certainly not idle or letting anything hold him back.