And that why Y'shtola is me favorite character !

[BillyKaplan]

I can't like Y'shtola while dissing Lyse/Yda because a lot of the allure for me personally in Y'shtola is the times where her mask cracks and you see just how much she cares, that's also part of why I liked the storyline in Matoya's cave so much. If you say you like Y'shtola but at the same time you diss Lyse, you diss a big part of Y'shtola's character as was presented to us thus far. The two care a great deal about each other and after losing Papalymo, Lyse is all the more concerned about Y'shtola. Similarly Y'shtola's hellbent on not losing Lyse, hence why she came close to sacrificing herself for her.

[Andevom]

Urianger is still the best scion imo. Too bad he lost his sexy voice from 2.x

His voice had to go back to Balthier.

[SilverObi]

If you say you like Y'shtola but at the same time you diss Lyse, you diss a big part of Y'shtola's character as was presented to us thus far.

Pretty much this. It's also good storytelling to give other characters time in the spotlight to evolve and branch out. While Lyse's characterization may have felt rushed (to be fair most of the MSQ did in general), she wouldn't have been able to grow unless she got a whole patch to herself. And honestly you can't even say she had the main focus since this felt more like an ensemble as did HW's crew. We'll get more Y'shtola love down the line since she is literally the poster girl for XIV so no worries there, other characters need development or they stagnate or did we really want Lyse to stay as the ditzy comedy relief even without her straight man?

[Galaktica]

I don't understand the hate for Lyse tbh. Up until HW, she was pretty much always told what to do and/or spent her days simply punched some bad guys. Papalymo was her friend, but also her mentor/teacher in a way. Not only is he no longer around, she was essentially thrust into leadership to free her homeland. She went from sidekick to leader. Does she say and do some dumb things? Yes, but that's good. Learning and growing is part of a character arc and a large part of this expansion is her character. In my opinion, this story would be boring as all hell if Lyse knew what to do and say in every situation. We don't need another character like that because the story is packed full of them.

Alphinaud got a lot of flak too, but his was a similar situation. He was young and extremely naive, he tried something out and it failed miserably, but look at how far he's come since then. He's learned from failures along the way. He had a smaller role in SB, but compared to ARR/HW, he's clearly a much more mature, collected individual.

I don't have anything against Y'sthola, but compared to Lyse and even Alphinaud, she hasn't had much of an arc at all. Let's not kid ourselves. In almost every way, she's still the exact same as she was in ARR. She got cool eye powers, sure, and we learn a bit about her through Matoya in HW, but again, she really hasn't had much of an arc.

[Vivi_Bushido]

I don't have anything against Y'sthola, but compared to Lyse and even Alphinaud, she hasn't had much of an arc at all. Let's not kid ourselves. In almost every way, she's still the exact same as she was in ARR. She got cool eye powers, sure, and we learn a bit about her through Matoya in HW, but again, she really hasn't had much of an arc.

It's because Y'sthola is a catgirl and catgirls get automatic waifu points for being one.

As I say that, I don't really like Y'sthola myself. She kind of bores me and puts me to sleep because as you said, she hasn't really had an arc. She's like that character that's just... there. I can't really make an emotional connection with her because almost anything she really does, she does off screen; and what she does on screen is an occasional protect bubble and some witty remakes in dialogue. Do not mistake me though, this doesn't mean I hate her, I'm just saying that I fail to see why so many enjoy her.

[Balipu]

Yeah, Y'shtola is definitely one of the more interesting Scions. It's a shame that she had to sit out in favour of Lyse.

Hopefully once Stormblood is over with we won't have to see Lyse ever again outside of rare appearances. I'd like to see more of Thancred, too.

If I could choose I'd rather see Lyse developed into a likable character. I mean it worked with freakin Alphinaud who was an annoying twerp in ARR but ended up being one of the best Scions with his development over HW.

Thancred? I don't know. I really like they guy but he easily has the most screentime. ARR was mainly about him, in HW he was the second Scion to return and even in SB he had more to do than Y'shtola. How about more Alisaie, Yugiri, or perhaps even a new person?

[Theodric]

-snip-

It worked with Alphinaud since there were very real consequences that he needed to face as a result of his actions. Lyse, however, never truly undergoes any drastic pitfalls - even when she 'fails' everything works out perfectly for her. The narrative completely ignores the complete stupidity of her actions, too, such as having her invite someone blindly loyal to Lakshmi into the throne room of Ala Mhigo itself, leading to Lakshmi being summoned once again. Yet because the Warrior of Light is there to save the day there are no actual consequences - none of the visitors who placed their trust in Lyse end up getting Tempered, so yet again the stakes never truly feel high or meaningful.

...and even before that, Meffrid, Conrad and Papalymo all died purely to pave the way for Lyse to end up in a leadership position. I just don't see her ever becoming truly likable or interesting when her obvious flaws are completely ignored. Much like Minfilia, a lot of people simply want her to go away to make room for characters who have more depth.

[Lauront]

Yet because the Warrior of Light is there to save the day there are no actual consequences - none of the visitors who placed their trust in Lyse end up getting Tempered, so yet again the stakes never truly feel high or meaningful.

The WOL... and Fordola.

[Balipu]

snip.

Well the Lakshmi incident was pretty much the last thing that happened in the patch. And Alphi didn't become immediately likable after Ul'dah. Make no mistake I think the current Lyse is boring and her character arc looks as if it were ghost written by WoW devs, but I'm willing to give her time. At least she's willing to do stuff sometimes, unlike Minfilia.

[Mahri]

I genuinely don't get the Lyse hate.

She's the WoL's dumb punch buddy who, like you, is just rolling with ludicrous circumstances and, also like you, is serving as a flashy (albeit more conservatively) dressed figurehead for the more levelheaded types to rally behind.

(don't worry about trying to change my mind here; it doesn't actually matter)

Anyway here's a good fanart of Shtola, who is also cool and good.