[4.4 Spoilers] That hilarious Y'shtola Cutscene...

[Alleo]

I still think he's a cool guy. Not afraid to show vulnerability. Nor did it weaken his resolve.

Oh I also still find his character quite interesting and his big ego will help him get over that. I am just not sure how the generel fanbase will view him after such a savage burn.

Given the...pleasure...she seems to get from fighting, I'm pretty sure that is how she shows her love. Plus she DID offer to cauterize that burn in his heart.

I mean this is fantasy so anything can happen, but at least in my view a couple that only stays together because they love fighting is normally not going to last. (I can already imagine it though: when they are old they will continue to hit each other with their walking sticks)

[Ramesses]

If you do a round of "talk to everyone" back at Mol Iloh after this, Y'shtola says that she's no stranger to clumsy propositions, and believe it or not, Magnai's is not the clumsiest she's ever had!

Ahhhh! Thank you for sharing this... +1 as well.

I must go check that out when I log back into the game.

Yeah, I feel bad for Magnai but it about time for Sadu to fess up that no other chap will do.

[Pinkie_Pie]

I'm pretty sure going at it hard in battle is how Sadu does it. She shows little interest in anything that isn't mutually beating the crap out of another person.

She sounds like a saiyan from dragon ball z ;p

[Cilia]

She sounds like a saiyan from dragon ball z ;p

Xaela are a warrior race!

[Dualblade]

Xaela are a warrior race!

Grabbing a Xaela's tail is a good way to capture them. Only the low-class though, the Elite trained themselves out of that weakness.

[Iscah]

When I saw them in the trailer, I thought for sure they were going back to tie that off nicely, but this was so much better. Not only does it capture the pair's core essence well, it plays off the same trope as Carvallain and Rhoswen (in spite of my headcanon that they've been occasionally hooking up and fighting in cycles since at least '62).

I'm not sure they do play off the same trope, or at least not in the same way (which would be boring, I guess). But I like Carvallain and Rhoswen, and never found Magnai and Sadu that enjoyable - or picked up on any suggestion they're "meant to be". I thought we were sailing towards Magnai/Cirina by the end of the main-game Azim Steppe arc, actually.

I find Carvallain and Rhoswen funny because of the "blatant denial" running theme of their interactions with you (particularly once I'd caught onto the underlying truth to appreciate it). Rhoswen is absolutely not interested in Carvallain. Carvallain is absolutely not from Ishgard. Someday the whole thing may come crashing down, but for now it's fun to watch the dance.

Magnai and Sadu.... just don't seem to like each other very much. On top of that, Magnai is fixated with his perfect image of "his Nhaama", and Sadu doesn't show any sign of being interested in him. Unless I've missed something, there doesn't seem to be anything to it beyond the "they hate each other, so clearly they're meant for each other!" trope.

[Dualblade]

Sadu seems to like how he fights. Course she'd swing at anyone who gives her a good fight probably (and ONLY for the fight most likely, regardless of the game rating.) The problem seems to be more that Magnai just refuses to think that his Nhaama could be anything other than the image in his head.

Plus all the ones who do seem to fit that image either aren't interested in romance OR are pining for someone else.

[Anonymoose]

I'm not sure they do play off the same trope, or at least not in the same way

I think you're mostly right, and also that we're just focused on different levels of analysis, lol. (Yours being more technically specific / accurate.)

Both pairs, by the way the devs talk about them, seem to be conceptualized as a matching pair, but one that will never actually be together - just for very different reasons. Carvallain and Rhoswen are much more obvious. They yell about wanting to kill one another and fight all the time, but we've seen everything from Carvallain risking his life to rescue her from the Battle of Carteneau to Rhoswen outright baking him a Valentione's Day treat. These moments just never hit them both at the same time and universally go sideways. However, this shows that they are aware of these complicated feelings.

This is not true on the Steppe.
Magnai and Sadu are oblivious to a connection that the game's writers (and many of its players) have suggested

Q: Do you have plans to implement quests where Magnai will find his moon?
A: There might be a quest with Magnai and Sadu, but only the Dawn Father knows.

It's all in the Steppe dynamic. Magnai just happens to be Oronir, Sadu just happens to be Dotharl, the Oronir and Dotharl just happen to be bitter rivals. (Just like the Kraken's Arms and the Sanguine Sirens, in spite of the radically different tones of these organizations.) Moreover, the traditions and customs of each tribe have some different values and traits that express success. Magnai and Sadu are exemplary members of their own tribe but worthy of being criticized by one another ... and they take every opportunity to do so because they are rivals.

On rare occasions, these circumstances are muted and their shared love of battle shines through, and for a brief moment it's clear how much thye have in common, how well they work together, and that maybe, maybe... The paradox is that this connection can only be fully realized by upsetting the local dynamic. (Just like in Limsa Lominsa.)

(In the beginning, Azim and Nhaama weren't very fond of one another, either, if you recall.)

[Remedi]

Just let them be apart, there's no need for always a happy ending or destined to be or whatever and frankly witht that personality of his he can be a forever alone for all I care

[ObsidianFire]

I think the difference between the Carvallain/Rhoswen relationship and the Magnai/Sadu relationship is how much mutual respect and self-deception is going on in the relationship. In Carvallain and Rhoswen's case, it's pretty even. Both of them admit to themselves (though not at the same time) that they do actually like the the other person in the relationship and they do respect them as a person. They also know that each other has similar goals in supporting the direction Limsa Lominsa is going. The drama in the relationship mostly stems from hoping that they'll admit their own feelings to each other at the same time, since were that to happen, they'd probably hit it off right away.

In Magnai and Sadu's case, the respect and self-decption is much more lopsided. Magnai has convinced himself that what he wants in a relationship is a gentle submissive woman. He's never going to notice Sadu as potential relationship material until he stops telling himself that. Sadu seems to know that she does want someone who is her equal in a fight, but she can't take people she doesn't respect seriously. And she really doesn't respect Magnai. She doesn't even respect him for a necessarily bad reason either. Sadu sees herself as a worshiper/warrior of Nhaama, a war goddess. Magnai sees himself as the heir of Azim who the Oronir see as Nhaama's protector. The Dorthal (and quite possibly the other Xaela tribes) don't see why they need anyone else protecting them. For them, that's disrespecting their skill as warriors. So not only does Magnai think he doesn't want to be in a relationship with someone like Sadu, he also doesn't respect who Sadu is as a person. I wouldn't go so far to call Magnai a misogynist, since most of his issues actually aren't about Sadu being female (it's more about how they worship different gods). Magnai would probably have the same issues with Sadu if she was male! That said, there is a lot more concerning stuff going on in the Magnai/Sadu relationship they (mostly Magnai) have to change for the relationship to really work. The drama comes from realizing how well they could get along if they got over it, but the odds of that happening are really small at the moment.

There's also the politics involved in the Magnai/Sadu relationship. The Oronir are currently allied with the Buguda. The Dorthal aren't allied with anyone and still everyone is terrified of them. I can see other smaller tribes not wanting the Oronir to ally themselves with the fiercest tribe on the Steppe and being grateful that Magnai and Sadu can not work together.

So yeah, I view Carvallain/Rhoswen as a "just tell each other how you feel!" dysfunctional relationship. Magnai/Sadu is more of a "if both of you respected each other, this would work out great" kind of relationship. The former kind of relationship has a lot less messiness involved then the latter does.