Gaius Van Baelsar...

[Vejjiegirl]

Ala Mhigo would have likely continued to attack the rest of Eorzea if not for Garlemald's intervention anyway.

The Irony of it all

[Theodric]

The Irony of it all

If we do visit Ala Mhigo - which seems likely - then I do hope the lore team highlight how volatile the Ala Mhigans actually are. They did a great job at making the Ishgardians and Ul'dahns very morally dubious (but not without some redeeming qualities) so I'd love to see the same thing applied elsewhere. Plus it'd be cool to have more Garleans who are more like Gabranth and Drace from FFXII. The sort that, whilst loyal to their homeland, we can work alongside and ally with. The Garleans deserve more than being fodder for quests, raids and dungeons.

[LystAP]

Gaius destroyed Ala Mhigo (figuratively, he stirred up trouble behind the scenes causing their last king to purge their military leaving them vulnerable while at the same time stoking unrest among the civilian population to overthrow him, thus leaving the nation utterly powerless for him to move in and take over). RP wise he was therefore responsible for the deaths of my character's parents. He slaughtered the Ala Mhigan Resistance wholesale, he shot my Path Companion (and went to shoot me as well if Yda hadn't jumped in and saved me at the last moment).

If I recall from the MNK quest chain, Gaius didn't have to do all that much. The King of Ala Mhigo was already a paranoid ass for quite some time; it was inevitable that he would crack, and the Garleans at Ala Mhigo's door only exacerbated it.

[Gaiussenpai]

I actually rewatch the 1.0 cut scene every now and then because I don't really have a soft spot for the resistance.

Bonus twist plot is after 15 years they go back to Ala Mhigo and the native population are content under garlean rule oh break down of some members would be priceless.

[PArcher]

If I recall from the MNK quest chain, Gaius didn't have to do all that much. The King of Ala Mhigo was already a paranoid ass for quite some time; it was inevitable that he would crack, and the Garleans at Ala Mhigo's door only exacerbated it.

I think Gaius helped to make him paranoid and start that whole mess up. If the Monks were still around, Gaius would have had a TON of trouble taking the city.

[Theodric]

I actually rewatch the 1.0 cut scene every now and then because I don't really have a soft spot for the resistance.

Bonus twist plot is after 15 years they go back to Ala Mhigo and the native population are content under garlean rule oh break down of some members would be priceless.

That's what I'm counting on. Let's not forget that Ilberd saw fit to betray Ul'dah's ruler in the name of 'Ala Mhigo'. How many other atrocities will be committed in the attempt to reclaim the nation? Realistically many of those living there will not want to be 'liberated' - they'll want safety, security and prosperity. Ishgard was 'saved' from 'tyranny' and things have become very chaotic in the aftermath.

[LystAP]

That's what I'm counting on. Let's not forget that Ilberd saw fit to betray Ul'dah's ruler in the name of 'Ala Mhigo'. How many other atrocities will be committed in the attempt to reclaim the nation? Realistically many of those living there will not want to be 'liberated' - they'll want safety, security and prosperity. Ishgard was 'saved' from 'tyranny' and things have become very chaotic in the aftermath.

The thing is while there are a ton of good Ala Mhigans fighting against Garlean; it feels like a fair proportion would probably never stop fighting. The moment they take the city, they'll purge it, resulting in more bloodshed. The city's been occupied for more than a decade now and supposedly Gaius was a decent ruler.

Many of the Ala Mhigan refugees appear to be more of economic refugees these days than actually persecuted, especially under Gaius who did not tolerate discrimination in his ranks; although there's no knowing what the current governor of Ala Mhigo is doing.

[Enkidoh]

Tell that to the countless Ala Mhigans who managed to escape the city and who actually experienced first hand Gaius's 'benevolent' rule - where children are not only forcibly removed from their parents to become new soldiers for the Empire (hint: pretty much all the grunt troops we have to fight in the game are actually draftees from Ala Mhigo), they're actually brainwashed into becoming beastmen-hating zealots, where if you're not lucky enough to be drafted as a soldier, you're pretty much enslaved to toil in endless hard labour in a gulag if you're male, and if you're really unlucky enough to be a woman.... you have to do far worse. And this is not anti-Imperial propaganda either, this is straight from both version 1.0 and ARR's storyline by speaking to npcs (and a 1.0 Echo-scene too which showed it first hand).

Like it or not, but the game pretty much paints the Garlean Empire as being the stereotypical 'evil Empire', the big bad that oppresses and conquers (a common trope for the FF series, and RPGs in general), and thus life under the Garlean jackboot in vassal states is no picnic.

[Theodric]

-snip-

The Garlean Empire is heavily based off of the Roman Empire which was far from 'evil'. By modern day standards it isn't ideal, no - but Ala Mhigo is hardly innocent (and had no issue trying to slaughter innocents and conquer Eorzea) in an attempt to prove themselves as being 'superior'. Military service - in this setting - is also a great way to improve one's quality of life. The average Eorzean is illiterate and constantly at risk of falling prey to all manner of nasty beasts and bandits.

[RyuRoots]

That's what I'm counting on. Let's not forget that Ilberd saw fit to betray Ul'dah's ruler in the name of 'Ala Mhigo'. How many other atrocities will be committed in the attempt to reclaim the nation? Realistically many of those living there will not want to be 'liberated' - they'll want safety, security and prosperity. Ishgard was 'saved' from 'tyranny' and things have become very chaotic in the aftermath.

That's a little different though. The power shift may not affect the common people of Ala Mhigo very much beyond who you say "yes sir/ma'am" to since this is a much more conventional case of war and leadership. Ishgard, however, the civilians and the grunts' lives are changed drastically because of the social implications of the guilt and lies of the "noble" progenitors as well as genuine hope for an end to a thousand-year war and the potential both of those things carry, not to mention religious significance. Ala Mhigo, to my understanding, doesn't face situations quite so world-shaking (at least not as of now; can't really say what future patches or expansions might hold, of course).