Haurchefant Memorial at a recent 30th anniversary event

[Iscah]

I agree on the spoilers in the title being a bad move. Unfortuntately (as we covered in the topic the other week) there isn't any way we can change it now.

I really hate getting spoiled for things, but prior to playing Heavensward I had three different people in my FC spoil that he was going to die at some point - though thankfully not the details, and ultimately I didn't see it coming there.

It's frustrating that I (and others) got spoiled for it, but at the same time I can see why people want to talk about it afterwards. Which is not to say that spoilers are okay, but that the more people want to discuss it, the higher chance that someone will forget they need to be careful about not putting spoilers where newer players might come across them.

But enough about spoiler etiquette, I want to talk about the story...


(SPOILER WARNING for some post-Heavensward pre-Stormblood events later in this post)


I do think that they might not have built up our character's relationship with him as well as they could have beforehand. Perhaps if it wasn't for the fragmented nature of MSQ and sidequests they could have included him in some more side stories. (He definitely should have shown up in the Lv50 machinist quest - a tournament between the high houses, at Camp Dragonhead! And generally sidequests seem 'intended' to take place at an equal point to the MSQ of the same level, so it theoretically was supposed to be happening when he was still alive - but I didn't do that story until after he died, so it was a sad thought that he 'could' have been there.)

As it is, I think it's only really made clear after his death that we were quite close to him.

From a game-versus-story viewpoint, I also have to figure that 'in reality' our character would have probably been living at Fortemps Manor for a few months at this point (while studying machinistry or astromancy or whatever), minus the trip to Dravania, and may have had a fair bit of mundane interaction with him that doesn't figure into our gameplay. But that's just theoretical-bordering-on-fanfic, I guess. I like to think it happened.

But I agree that he threw away his life for nothing. We should have easily seen the attack and Haurchefant had enough time to warn us about it and run towards us..while we stood there and did nothing. This was not something that would follow us so simply running on or just jumping out of the way would have saved us..and this is why I cant accept his death.
...
Haurchefants death did nothing to the whole story. His brothers might have been changed a bit but the overall story did not change much.

I don't think it was for nothing. He saw someone was in danger, and he acted instinctively to save them. That's his nature. (There are multiple times in the story up to that point where he comes to your aid unexpectedly in the middle of a fight.)

Whether my character "could" have done something, maybe she wouldn't have. Maybe she would have failed to act in that moment of indecision, and she would have died if he hadn't stepped in to shield her.


And as for the wider effect on the plot- maybe it doesn't change events all that much, but it casts a shadow over everything that follows. Although a lot of characters die over the course of the story, this is one of the few we really, properly see mourned by the others, without having to rush off to the next plot point, and it leads to some beautiful story-moments of remembrance.

Speaking with people around Camp Dragonhead afterwards. The solemn responsibility of being gifted the broken shield as we leave for Azys Lla. Laying it at the grave, and the thought of him watching over the city. Returning there in-game and meeting with Francel. That last fleeting vision of him and Ysayle after defeating Nidhogg, and their part in saving Estinien - perhaps if anything, that could be seen as giving a 'purpose' to his death, if you don't believe he needed to be saving us when he died.

It's sad that he died, but at the same time I can see from a storytelling point of view, it works. His whole purpose in the narrative was to be a character that we cared about and couldn't save, and to be remembered afterwards. I know it's something that's driving my character still.