Did no one think about the security risk?!

In the Endwalker master role quest "Sum of Our Parts", there are some great appearances from many NPCs you've met on your journey.

Some of them really made me smile but then when we reach the point lots of important world leaders all enter the Tower of Babel AT THE SAME TIME, I couldn't help but think - what would happen to the governance if the star of the whole thing came crashing down on their heads and wiped them all out? Who'd be in charge?

Would the Sultana, Lyse and Gosetsu end up running the show? Would Lima revert to anarchy? Would anyone miss Nero?

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Originally Posted by Joolee

In the Endwalker master role quest "Sum of Our Parts", there are some great appearances from many NPCs you've met on your journey.

Some of them really made me smile but then when we reach the point lots of important world leaders all enter the Tower of Babel AT THE SAME TIME, I couldn't help but think - what would happen to the governance of the star of the whole thing came crashing down on their heads and wiped them all out? Who'd be in charge?

Would the Sultana, Lyse and Gosetsu end up running the show? Would Lima revert to anarchy? Would anyone miss Nero?

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Ul'dah has enough governing figures within the Syndicate to have no issues to keep the political structure afloat.

Ala Mhigo's main leader is Lyse and has a lot of support from the various tribes and settlements.

Gridania would also be in good hands of A-Ruhn-Senna as well as Raya-o-Senna. They may need to learn a thing or two but otherwise no biggie. There are also fairly capable people in the Twin Adders.

Limsa Lominsa, while essentially a band of ruffians under charge of the Admiral, has a code they follow and it would not be long before someone would step up, possibly someone of the Maelstrom files.

Replacing Lord Hien would be a bigger upheaval, however I believe Yugiri as well as Gosetsu could handle it, potentially with help from the Mol Tribe of the Steppes.

Ser Aymeric is by any and all stretches a high pillar of authority, but not the "only" pillar. Given how far the progress has gone to reach this quest, Ishgard would be in fine hands with the four houses and a potential rising star would be Ser Artoriel of House Fortemps.

As for Sharlayan, Forchenault is fundamentally just a part of a sum of parts that governs the affairs of Sharlayan. While it would be tragic, the Sharlayans were literally preparing for a worst-case scenario, which would include losing their "leader" so to speak.

EDIT: What is also important to note is that while none of them have the Echo or regular access to Dynamis like us, they are actually all formidable combatants and aren't the leader of their state for pushing pencils across paper but rather their ability to move people not just with words but also with action - arguably you couldn't have asked for a more powerful troupe here.



The real loss would be "you", the Warrior of Light because putting plot armour aside for just a moment - if you don't exist, the world as it is now would have been f***ed in myriad ways without your intervention.

Reinhardt mostly nailed it, but there's some pretty important things to remember that the OP either forgot or never realized.

1. FFXIV is very much of a world and era where generals 'lead from the front'; to us that's pretty nuts, because we live in a world where that's stupid dangerous and military and political leadership is best done at a distance with very different skills, but that's just not how military leadership works in FFXIV's world. This doesn't just mean that most of them are damn good fighters; it also, in many cases, means that this world probably knows that their military leaders tend to die sometimes, so they probably all have pretty established methods of succession, both in immediate deferral of duties and eventual selection of a full new leader. So, yes, they probably thought about the security concerns.

2. Very few of the people there for Forlorn Glory/Sum Of Our Parts are actually singular leaders. It would undoubtedly be a tragedy to lose any of them (well, maybe not Nero), but to add to/amend Reinhardt's points...

• Both Fourchenault and Aymeric are ultimately only parts of a larger representative government. Their losses bring separate problems--Aymeric's actually got an important role so they'd need to elect a replacement for that, and Fourchenault's absence might lead to some gain by the Bibliothecs--but representative governments are, by design, very good at replacing their members.
• Going by the Encyclopedia Eorzea, Limsa actually has a council of civilians that have some level of governing role, as well as a way they select a new admiral every seven years; it's a boat race, for some reason. So they can also get a new leader no problem, and honestly, are due for an admiral-selecting boat race soon anyway.
• Gridania's sort of accidentally got a 'designated survivor' situation going on with E-Sumi-Yan; they'd be fine if Kan-e-Senna died.
• Raubahn isn't a head of state, he's just the head of the Ala Mhigan military; it'd suck to lose him, but they're looking at an era of peacetime anyway. But Lyse... also isn't a head of state! In fact, we kinda don't know if there is one; all we know is they have a senate, and Lyse is a senator. She's just our point of contact because she's the one that reaches out to us for meetings.
• Ul'dah... uhm, didn't send anyone for that questline! Which I think brings up entirely different questions. Nanamo does fine these days, though, so we shouldn't be worried about that. In fact, she could maybe use us putting a couple of those Syndicate members in deadly situations, it might make her job easier.

Hien's absolutely the one who would cause an actual problem for his nation if he died there; he strikes me as a man who probably already has a successor in mind, but getting people to accept that successor while they're still in a bit of a transitional state is a tough prospect.

The above responses pretty much explained it, but to add to it further - until recently armies were usually personally led by either the nation's actual head of state, or high ranked nobility (who were basically officers), and yes, this could be disasterous to a country whose forces were defeated: see the defeat of the Second French Empire in the Franco-Prussian War for a specific example of that in real life history - and because FFXIV's setting is "late Middle Ages/early Renniasance to early Industrial Era" more or less in equivelant technological and social terms, FFXIV does the same.

Also Raubahn is no longer commander of the Immortal Flames - he was relieved of his commision and duties by Nanamo so he could return to his newly liberated homeland and organise the Resistance into Ala Mhigo's new formal military, so he's now fighting alongside Lyse under Ala Mhigo's flag not Ul'dah (the Immortal Flames are now led by Pipin).

Most of them were at Carteneau too, so fair to say it's a scenario with contingency plans.

To be fair, for the battle at Carteneau most of those present probly figured that if they didnt find a way to win they were going to be conquered(or worse). When the stakes are high enough, youd be dumb not to send your best.

I'd also add that it was a mark of a good leader to be at the front of battle and see for themselves what was going on. The historical mindset very much followed that a leader has no place leading a military into combat if they were not participating directly themselves. The army would win or fall with their leader, and if it fell, then that was on the leaders head and a new head of state would take over - be that by internal mechanisms or by being conquered.

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Originally Posted by Tiramu

I'd also add that it was a mark of a good leader to be at the front of battle and see for themselves what was going on. The historical mindset very much followed that a leader has no place leading a military into combat if they were not participating directly themselves. The army would win or fall with their leader, and if it fell, then that was on the leaders head and a new head of state would take over - be that by internal mechanisms or by being conquered.

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An ideal that, come to think of it, really explains Hien's presence on battlefields specifically. And is a strong contrast with Yotsuyu, a woman who staunchly refused to ever put herself at risk until there was no other option available.

I just wanna say thank you for the well considered replies to what was a bit of a silly question - I love this forum 😄

Nero helps invent time travel and save the world: gets no respect. lol I’d miss annoying him, at the very least.