Revelations from Fan Festival 2017 Frankfurt

[Anonymoose]

this still doesn't make sense.

Disclaimer: The following is my personal interpretation going by what is known right now.
It could change with new information of commentary by the development team.

I take it less as a metaphor and more as a misunderstanding of a noun. Specifically, a "nation" is not just one thing. It is a physical location, a governing body, a sovereign entity, and in the minds of many of its citizens, a state of being - a culture, a set of values and beliefs, customs, traditions. There are lots of ways these things can change, including by force.

This is a big theme with the upcoming expansion. Take Ala Mhigo, for example. What Ala Mhigo is will be different to someone who was born there ten years ago and someone who was chased from it in 1557. Some believe that the "true" Ala Mhigo lives on only in the Resistance. Some believe that the "true" Ala Mhigo was saved from destroying itself (albeit brutally) through Garlean law and order. (Let's refrain from a debate about the accuracy of this belief, for now.)

Yugiri is as biased as Yda when it comes to Garlemald. She's Doman Resistance, through and through. When she says Doma is dead, I believe that she is representing one definition of "nation"; the one she feels is more important. Let me break down the language as far as I can:

この世には IN THIS WORLD すでに ALREADY / TOO LATE ドマ DOMA という SAID / CALLED THUS 都市は CITY 存在せぬ DOES NOT EXIST。

The city called Doma no longer exists in this world.

"This world" could be literal (physical planet) or in the status quo of how things are (the geopolitical climate, that point in time, etc.)

帝国 THE EMPIRE による DUE TO 粛清 POLITICAL PURGE により DUE TO 、 文字どおり LITERALLY 滅亡したのだ HAS BEEN DESTROYED / MADE EXTINCT

Because of the political purges conducted by the Empire, it is literally [completely destroyed / extinct / utterly perished].

As far as she is concerned, the utter destruction of the Resistance and the massive series of executions that purged people who believed in the same Doma she did... those actions have extinguished the soul of Doma. The city, to her, has been destroyed.

Going by the fact that Doma clearly still exists, going by yesterday's presentation, it appears that a combination of Yugiri's bias and a choice of phrasing ("razed to the ground") that didn't age well seems to be the culprit for our confusion. Yugiri seemed to mean that the physical location was destroyed, whereas in reality, while a lot of people were killed and the Resistance was utterly annihilated, Doma is still a place ... just not the one she knew.

To her, a territory of the Empire is masquerading as her beloved city - and that city has well and truly died.

Maybe Yugiri just has issues with metaphors, guys.

"Yugiri, you said this place didn't exist anymore."
"You know what I meant!"
"That's not how Eorzean language works!"
"Ohhh, my Twelve, I am literally going to explode."
"See, you're doing it aga—"
MIJIN GAKURE'D