Revelations from Patch 2.55 [SPOILERS]

[Wadoka]

...in fact his exasperated sigh in the post-escape scene with the Handmaiden may be his annoyance at having to even say those few lines he did at the feast.

That small but heart-felt frustrated sigh is, IMO, the most interesting, most intriguing event of the finale. What could it mean...

"This should never have been necessary... the fools forced my hand."

"Well, that could have gone better. Idiots..."

Stay tuned!

Except it is that corrupt, because the scheme did happen.

Agreed. Corruption is an unremarked, accepted way of life to an Ul'dahn. Not to swing too wide a loop, but I'd compare it favorably to modern Mexico, the land of the "little bite". All commerce, all trade, all regulation... greased (or not) by sub rosa money. "I see corrupt people... and they don't even realize they're corrupt." Because it's NORMAL in Ul'dah. "Everybody does it."

As an aside, I shudder to think what you've gone through to the point that watching a close friend and confidant choke and die right in front of you would barely faze you. Truly.

Cilia... everyone has different levels of natural or conditioned empathy. I have low empathy and what little I have, I make sure to refrain from displaying. Overt emotionalism is exploitable weakness. And I am not alone - this is my culture. There are many like me. We may in fact, be Legion.

We are fighters. We've seen death. We've lost friends. We've killed - many times. We are creatures who act. Grief? Well... "I ain't got time to grieve."

Maybe later.

Maybe not.

Well, the WoL was written down to a angsty (and also pretty dumb) coward not even trying to help anyone, abandoning everyone...

One of the low points of the story, was seeing my character thrown to the floor on her butt, in front of the gathering... and just sitting there, looking like she was crying or about to cry. That's not her; will never be her; and should not be the Warrior of Light either.

(What does that scene look like if you're male? Does a male character also look like he's about to cry?)

Here's the problem I see in this argument. We must remember that some of the cutscenes we see show things our characters do not, and a lot of people also have metagaming mental bias as well after the hint that the Scions would be betrayed dropped in 2.5(2.4?) so of course some people are going to forget that our perspective is much more encompassing of than that of the WoL. Would my character be suspicious, hell yes, and I probably would have said something's up to the Scions via linkpearl, and been kind of paranoid around Nanamo (I mean, Wilred got gutted and our friend was MIA at the train tracks) but ultimately yea, I would have checked my weapon at the door, and been kind of screwed if I hadn't thought to dissuade alcohol consumption.

It's a good point - it's called "Irony of Situation" when the audience/reader has information the characters don't - but it wouldn't apply to my particular Warrior of Light. I hadn't picked up on any hints the Scions were going to be betrayed, for one thing; and after further review, from the perspective of how my character would have behaved on the spur of the moment... there would STILL be Brass Blade guts dripping from the chandeliers as I set out, a Blade scimitar in each hand, on a mission to find my friends and wreak havoc.

I am going to go into Heavensward with bated breath to see what plays out next, but I still HATE being railroaded. Railroading is why I never finished XIII or bought its follow-ons. And for what it's worth... I replayed VII six times, trying to figure out what I'd done wrong, trying to save Aeris.