Quote Originally Posted by Cybylt View Post
I gotta question what kind of greater good Varis is working towards that necessitates the wholesale murder and censure of any and all political opposition that gets a degree of exposure. Or a national expansion that in standard operation enslaves and attempts to erase other cultures while pilfering every natural resource they can get their hands on. What does he get out of that outside of personal profit.
The greater good of his nation. When I say "selfless", it doesn't have to mean they do things for EVERYONE'S benefit. If Varis's motivations are for the preservation of Garlemand, that is enough to cast doubt upon whether he is evil. Even ruthlessness in staying in personal power does not necessarily mean he's doing it for his own benefit. If he believes that ONLY HE can save Garlemand, then of course he's going to go to great lengths to keep his power secure. If it's taken from him, in his mind Garlemand is doomed. It is my opinion that Thordan in Heavensward had a very similar mindset - ONLY HE could save Ishgard, and ANY measures were acceptable to that end.

And, just as with Thordan, the jury's out whether Varis's desire for power is truly for the benefit of Garlemand, or whether it's for his own personal lust for power. Some will argue either way, and unless Varis goes all evil monologue on us, we'll only be able to speculate even after his time on the stage has passed.

Quote Originally Posted by ObsidianFire View Post
People turning out to not be who they say they are only works if that reveal has some foreshadowing. I can't think of anything Hydalyen has done that could be foreshadowing for her not being the Big Good of the FFXIV world. Her weaknesses seem to stem not from her wanting to be weak, but the machinations of the Ascians making her so weak she can't act. Given all the times she has acted (giving us crystals of light, saving us from Ultima, giving us the aetheric energy needed to expel Lahabrea from Thancred, pulling back the light from the First Shard so it isn't overrun with Light) people have been saved who otherwise would not have, I can't seen any foreshadowing for her wanting something different. When you can trace most (if not all) of the sources of Hydalyen's weaknesses back to the Ascians who want her to be weak in the first place... That feels a lot more like proper foreshadowing.
I consider myself to be on Team Hydaelyn, but I think it's an exaggeration to say there's been no foreshadowing that she might not be totally on the up-and-up. That foreshadowing comes from the Ascians, the only other beings we know of that have some idea of the Bigger Picture. In his very introduction, Elidibus claimed that "if only we knew the truth" that we'd side with the Ascians (not that he was actually willing to share that truth, mind). The fact that it comes from the bad guys makes its reliability suspect at best, but, personally, I believe that Elidibus is honest in his belief. He really does think that we'd side with him if we could see things from his perspective.

There are things Hydaelyn is keeping from us. Of this, the only doubt that can be had are in what her motivations for that withholding are (too weak to communicate? Afraid the knowledge would shake our resolve? Personal shame?). That, alone, is enough to cast suspicion on her, and provide room for a face-heel turn down the line if that's the way the narrative is planned. It would not be out of nowhere - there are hooks, if you look for them. I don't think that it will happen, though. Our Big Good is a flawed Big Good, but a Big Good nonetheless.

Quote Originally Posted by Alleo View Post
But then you could have someone that only cares for example about their own family member and to help them survive they would be ready to murder a whole city/nation/world. That is imo quite selfish because they chose the life of one person to be more important than quite a lot more. I could see it more if its like "there is no other way we need to destroy this city otherwise the whole world will burn". Then maybe its a horrible act but at least with some understandable reasons. But Garlemald already started to conquer other lands before they knew of primals thus there is nothing selfless there. And even with the primal threat there are many more ways to deal with it. Like banding together with all the nations to find a solution.
Ah, but the times in fiction where the protagonist has done THIS VERY THING (putting the needs of loved ones ahead of the needs of the many) and still been presented as sympathetic and the good guy. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" is NOT a hard-and-fast philosophical rule. The amount of literature debating this is endless. Heck, it's a decision that every one of us makes, each and every day. By liquidating all of your assets, selling your body's organs, and sending the money to feed starving citizens in other countries, you could potentially save dozens of lives at the cost of one (yours). Only a lunatic would consider not doing so to be "evil". Choosing self over strangers, family over nation, nation over the world - none of these decisions are inherently evil.