Revelations from Patch 2.55 [SPOILERS]

[Anonymoose]

What became a friendly exchange of ideas and theories became a war between two sides with torches and pitchforks.

I agree that it's slowly but steadily been heading down that road. Since this subforum was established, it's been of a considerably higher standard in terms of class. We've disagreed, we've debated, and in the heat of a passionate discussion, we've been snarky and dismissive, but we should continue to draw the line at flat out disrespect, no? Tearing down positions and arguments is part of the analytical process. Tearing down people is ugly.

Keep that shite in General.

"I need to know you'll be there for Raubahn in the upcoming hard times that I won't divulge. You will be?! Jolly! Now let me randomly take this PERFECT moment to grab my glass, twirl it around and take a sip of it" *boom death*... I don't know why, but that scene is the only reason why I have a hard time believing that Nanamo didn't know there was poison in it...

Always thought it was odd that she wanted us (Warrior of Light) to be there, so she could tell us something that she was going to repeat in five minutes, to everyone in the banquet hall. <...> Dont really want to believe that Nanamo was setting us up, too, but things just look that way. Praying and asking forgiveness for something she's about to do.. <...> what better way to unite your entire city, than against a "Fallen Hero" assassinating you?

If Nanamo didn't know this was coming (always going to bold the IF since there's hints this is headed in several directions at once), a chunk of this is still easy enough to explain if you remember that Nanamo is a sheltered twenty year old stifled by isolation and manipulation aside from Raubahn. She's essentially an idealistic teenager.

Praying to the Sultantree
I don't think she necessarily needs to be about to screw over everyone she knows to beg forgiveness from the hallowed spirit of the Ul line, she just needs to feel guilt and powerlessness. The first time we meet her, as Lady Lilira, she slips her guard and runs unprotected into Thanalan (ignoring various factions out to get her) just so she can apologize to the tree for someone stealing her crown from the Sultansworn. I think she just does it whenever she feels that she's failed to live up to her own idealistic expectations of herself and how she should empower her people. If the Line of Ul derives its glory from centuries of successful monarchy rule, she probably feels crushing guilt that the only way to reconcile her responsibility to the people as the current Ul monarch is to sever the line entirely. Wouldn't you want forgiveness from your ancestors if you extinguished their legacy to uphold what you believed to be their values? At twenty?

Requesting the Warrior of Light
I know there's plenty of ways to read the scene, but my first impression was that she just didn't have the strength to go through with it. She's relied on Raubahn for nearly all of her strength, and now she's about to circumvent him. He'd have tried to talk her out of this - he'd have said not to put it on herself, not to throw the city into chaos, not to snuff out the Line of Ul, to let him keep eroding away at the Monetarists. By dissolving the Monarchy, she was essentially saying that Raubahn wasn't good enough - that he'd failed in his promise to her. I felt like she was looking at hurting Raubahn, ending her family name, and throwing the city into chaos, and at the same time she knew she had to, she didn't want to and didn't think she could. So, she put it out there to Kan-E and Merlwyb - two city-states of support and pressure on herself to not back out. Then, she told the Hero of Eorzea. I felt like she was deriving strength from the player; what could she have to fear for Ul'dah's future if the Warrior of Light had her back? Everything would be okay and her sacrifice wouldn't be in vain - someone who makes the impossible possible promised. She even says that she was filled with dread up until that moment, and moves to chug some liquid courage as if her next action was to slam the goblet down and head down to the feast to burn some bridges.

The Scene is Suspicious, but...
I agree that, by then, many of us had figured out that SE was at least going to go through with the death scene (regardless of whether they intended to reverse it later). I agree that it looks wonky from that perspective, as well. It's possible that she could have known what was going to happen and planned this to some degree, but it's just as possible that she knew she was about to be taken out and was so filled with hoplessness that she just let it happen, entrusting the future to Raubahn and the Warrior of Light. For all we know, she let herself be taken out because that was her way of dissolving the monarchy. The main reason I'm tempted to discard a lot of that is just that she flat out told the Warrior of Light her plans for five minutes from then. "Raubahn will need help without me," looks a lot less like "I'm planning something... Goodbye," when followed up with, "Let's go downstairs and let this cat out of the bag."

What looks to one person like a clumsy scene looks to another like she has ulterior motives, and to another like SE is laying it on thick because you already know it's coming. It all depends on how much you factor into the equation the fact that you, as a limited-omniscient viewer on the other side of a computer monitor, have seen enough to know what's coming.