More importantly, Alphinaud is basically the player's voice. Being the silent protagonist we are, we're basically just the muscle, the gopher, the rube sent out for busy work while the important people get shit done.

Seriously, if it weren't for Alphinaud (and even with him around), most of the time we're just standing around with a vacant expression as everyone talks around us.

Without a consistent character acting as our voice, the rest of the NPCs might start to wonder why they keep us around.