Waking Sands - Explain to me please (Spoilers)

[Rocl]

As for whether Garlemald is 'right' in their attitude of conquest, whatever moral high ground they may have had was eliminated the moment that they started allying with the Ascians, you know, the very beings who actually teach summoning.

Ah, but do we know that Garlemald proper is allied with the Ascians? We certainly know Gaius turned to them for help in the conquest of Eorzea sometime after the Fall of Dalamud, but I don't believe Varis has given us any reason to believe he consorts with the servants of Zodiark. It's important to remember that in the course of ARR's MSQ that the XIVth legion was about as rogue as Darnus' VIIth in the final days of 1.0.

That's an actual question, I can't remember if it was explicitly stated and I'm just forgetting. It's not as clear as Ascians whispering Allag secrets in their ears either, as we know Garlemald has long profited from unraveling Allaga's technology.

Though I guess that's a totally believable plot-twist. "HA! THE GARLEAN EMPIRE? SOLUS ZOS GALVUS' EMPIRE WAS CREATED BY ASCIAN WILL!" What better way to ensure Gods are summoned, aether is drained, and wars waged than giving a backwater nation the power to conquer and installing a right sociopath to helm the most technologically advanced military in over 5000 years?