3.2 Sephiroth

[Alisa180]

*snip*

I hear this sentiment a lot. It seems to stem from Gaius and the fact he's sympathetic and understandable. Leaving aside the fact I don't share said sentiment (like I don't see how the WoL would have joined Gaius instead of the Scions under different circumstances), its been made pretty damn clear that Gaius was the exception, and nowhere close to the rule. Remember, the XIVth Legion he was in charge of was effectively rogue by 2.0. Even if he'd survived, he'd sure as hell wouldn't be welcome in Garlemald.

As much as some don't want Garlemald to go the 'generic evil empire' route, I honestly can't see them becoming anything but. I've stated in another thread that they believe genocide is the answer to the 'eikon problem', and now that they know normal Eorzeans can summon primals and not just the 'beast tribes'...Well...

Alphinaud even said that any 'reasonable' factions left within Garlemald would cease to exist upon that little revelation.

Barring a plot twist that allows otherwise, its looking increasingly like Garlemald will be the 'arc enemy' for the Ala Mhigan expansion, and again unless something about the primal situation changes, they will very likely fill the 'generic evil empire' role.

[Belhi]

Cid, to me, simply comes across as a traitor. I'm never been terribly impressed with the 'defector' trope in general though. Usually it results in being a convenient plot device for important information to be given to a faction's opponents and then, somehow, the faction's opponents manage to overcome all odds and beat the supposedly mightier faction at every turn. What isn't often explored, however, is the reality of war. Yes, some Garleans are advocating genocide - but how many Garlean soldiers have been slaughtered or even murdered unnecessarily by Eorzeans? How many innocent civilians/non-combatants on Garlemald's side died when the Castrum's were assaulted? Or when uprisings occurred?


I'm sort of hoping for more information on the Doman uprising. What if the Garlean's reacted so harshly because innocent Garleans were taken hostage and killed in an attempt to gain Doma's freedom? I think the story would benefit greatly from more morally grey plots along those lines. They certainly did a great job at making the Dragonsong War complex.

The Castrum's are military outposts of an invading army. Yes there are a lot of Garlean soldiers who have died but they are part of an invading army. I might add that most of those we have actually killed are not actually Garleans but leves conscripted from conquered territories including Ala Mhigo where large numbers of the youth were forceably taken from their families and brainwashed to flow Garlean doctrine after Ala Mhigo was occupied. We have ironically probably killed a lot more Ala Mhigan conscripts than actual Garleans. Most of them probably didn't even have citizenship in the Garlean empire as that takes 20 years of military service to earn.

Genocide is also currently Garlean policy.

Garlemald as an empire might not be evil. Even culturally it might be alright. How they have been aggressively conquering and subjugating the rest of the world and how they have been treating the world as they conquer it. Yes, Garleans have been dying but in a war the Garleans started and have been continuing to perpetrate.

All that said, I think its far more likely we will see more moderate Garleans and even Garlean citizens when we get to Ala Mhigo. I think its almost certain we will find ourselves caught between angry Ala Mhigan revolutionaries and Garleans citizens who have made the city whole and who have actually been responsible for good works. The Garlean Military complex though I see being villians regardless. I wouldn't even be surprised to see them turn on the Moderates if the Moderates at some point for being 'uncommitted' to the Garlean empire.

[Kaiser-Ace]

I'll not quote anyone in particular but you all brought up point I'm the wake of my post id ike to address.

The meteor project was Darnus' idea and Gaius helped the 1.0 heros stop him. To Gaius genocide was unneccicary.

The best tribes could be justified because anyone without the echo could easily be tempered. And no one has ever found a way to reverse it.

Regula seems to be a tech master and likly the one who invented the brain washing. Gaius conqured Ala Mihgo by taking advantage of their rebellion against the King of Ruin. Yes they are conqured, but when Gaius was regent they may not, and still may not, have a problem. We can't take people like Ilberd at face value on the "Ala Mihgan plight".

The new Emperor though, he alone is why I'm now against the Empire. He is even willing to kill everyone who opposes him now. Possibly even his own subjects. A fact Gaius opposed once when he spoke out against the meteor project.

[Belhi]

Darnus may have had the idea but it was indorsed and authorised by the Garlean leadership. Gaius was very careful in what he did in 1.0 to opposed the plan since he was walking very close to being a traitor. Gaius saw the total destruction of Eorzea as unnecessary, not the destruction of the beast tribes.

Half the behaviour of the beasttribes is due to the Garlean invasion. The Sylphs are only summoning Ramuh cause Garleans from the local Castrum keep invading their lands. The Sahagin had to invade Limsan lands after the Meteor project destroyed their old spawning grounds. The Kobalds only summoned Titan due to hostile attacks on their lands.

As for Ala Mhigo, I don't think Regula was even in Ala Mhigo. Regardless Gaius was the administrator and it was under his watch that the treatment of the Ala Mhigans took place. Also we don't just have Ilberd as our source we have several including the Ala Mhigan fellow in Revenant's Toll who was used as slave labour while his sister and mother were used to 'entertain' the soldiers. They threw themselves off a cliff rather than get recaptured.

I agree that I don't think Gaius was completely irredeemable. I think in a rather arrogant and twisted fashion his intentions had some noble qualities. Further, I don't expect the Garleans to remain a simple one dimensional evil. I think the factions within Garlemald will eventually show us a more broad range of opinions.

[Fenral]

Way to miss the stab I mad about how being too critical of hubris is a form of hubris. Ah, well. Subtlety was never my strong suit.

Cid kinda strikes me as a petulant manchild, at least where Garlemald is concerned. More in general, the idealism of our protagonists comes across as stubborn and baseless, like they can never admit that the villains have even the tiniest bit of a point even when it's obvious to we, the audience. Fact of the matter is, we've had two FFXII's worth of MSQ volume and still haven't seen much progress breaking through the Empire's painfully thin veneer of generic evil. Clock's ticking.

[Belhi]

Way to miss the stab I mad about how being too critical of hubris is a form of hubris. Ah, well. Subtlety was never my strong suit.

Cid kinda strikes me as a petulant manchild, at least where Garlemald is concerned. More in general, the idealism of our protagonists comes across as stubborn and baseless, like they can never admit that the villains have even the tiniest bit of a point even when it's obvious to we, the audience. Fact of the matter is, we've had two FFXII's worth of MSQ volume and still haven't seen much progress breaking through the Empire's painfully thin veneer of generic evil. Clock's ticking.

We are dealing with a much more fleshed out world as is the case in most MMOs. The Garleans have been an overarching threat but we haven't really even gotten into them in detail yet. Hell, we bearly actually even fought any real Garleans in 2.x. It was mainly just leves. Garlean culture is something we have only gotten a slight glimpse into in the same way we really only had a surface understanding of Ishgard prior to HW.

Garlemald's time will come. They cant do everyone at the same time.

[Mwynn]

Found an Artwork on the Wiki, though I guess it is already known.



Question is, who are these 3 Figures below the Warring Triad?

[Kaiser-Ace]

Found an Artwork on the Wiki, though I guess it is already known.



Question is, who are these 3 Figures below the Warring Triad?

The Warriors of Light? Not sure who else would stand clearly in opposition to the Triad.

[Nalien]

Question is, who are these 3 Figures below the Warring Triad?

DRGlander, Estinien, and Alphinaud? Definitely Alphinaud judging by the hair. Definitely two Dragoons, so I'd assume Estinien.

The Warriors of Light? Not sure who else would stand clearly in opposition to the Triad.

I don't think they're standing in opposition, I think that's more discovering the statues on the Flagship... Despite my memory being us flying there alone...

[CyrilLucifer]

That artwork was from the TGS fan kits, Day 3 if you check it on the Lodestone. It's definitely 3.0 related, so yeah, probably Est and Alph.