Quote Originally Posted by Frederick22 View Post
All this situation with Gaius really made me feel pity about him.
Same. If you closely follow his story from beginning to end, he was what I call a true believer. He bought into the notion that the Garleans, the second coming of the great empire of Allag, were all that stood between the planet and its destruction - that might is right and all nations must be brought under the Imperial standard by will or by force in order to save them. And, compared to others in the Empire, Gaius acted (at least as far as his principles were concerned) with honor. The problem lies at the heart of Garlean philosophy. Their brutality and ruthlessness undermine their own cause, especially as they spend far more time treating the symptoms than the cause and even end up spreading the fear, rage, and hopelessness that causes people to welcome primals and Darkness into their hearts. They, like Allag, are yet but pieces on the board.

However ... XIV, as the successor of XI, takes great strides in setting the standard for what it means to be an installment of Final Fantasy Online. As FFO becomes a celebration of past games, invoking previous installments in a way that stand-alone main sequence games cannot, I'm not entirely sure that Yoshida-san and co. are ready to let the mascots of their own game go down so early in its life cycle. Did we see the death of Gaius van Baelsar the man, or only the end of Gaius van Baelsar, Legatus of the XIVth Imperial Legion and loyal servant of Garlemald?