The coming Garlean invasion

[Heliantheae]

If still no they will just murder him and give his corpse to another Ascian.

That is what scares me. Subterfuge being their thing and all, what is stopping them was simply killing him. Even better, they could gather him and anyone else they might view as a problem in one area. Launch the Black Rose and then blame it on us. After seeing what "we'll" do, it'll unite the Garleans against us even more.

[MicahZerrshia]

HOW IN THE WORLD IS THE EORZEAN ALLIANCE GOING TO EVEN STAND A CHANCE???

The same way superheroes always win and why story telling is so predictable and boring that things like GoT are exciting.

Newly discovered powers and a good ol fashioned Deus ex Machina.

We may loose a scion here or there but no death will be meaningless or unheroic in some way. Each death will be a catalyst for something, unlock a "new power" in us to help defeat the flavor of the week bad guy or be sacrificial for the good of mankind. Which is also why I knew Thancred wasn't dead when he fell over.

[NoblePigeon]

Idd he won't because the plot demands our presence, but realistically he can't do a thing. Solus has already plan B at ready if Varis won't comply.



They do yes, but still as provinces under Garlemand even Totally-not-Gaius doesn't want for the empire to lose more provinces. The Garleans in the prima vista too believe of the rigtheousness of the crusade of the empire as savior of the lesser races despite being advocates for non violence.
Essentially what they want is a political conquest, not with war, but with politics and agreement, it doesn't make them less imperialist or expansionist it's only different

I'll have to take that with a grain of salt for now, since we know so few about the Populares outside of what Asahi has explained. We do know that Titus, Solus's second son, was a leader in the War of Succession, whom specifically advocated for halting military conquests and the mandate to eliminate primals. I would not be at all surprised if the Populares was aligned with them.

Sure, I reckon they probably wouldn't be huge fans if Garlemald was reduced to a rump state. But as it stands now. they are the first group of Garleans we've seen that we can not only cooperate with, but use to actually put their nation on the right track. I guess we'll see in 4.5 onward if the Populares actually have imperialistic ambitions or not, though I'm still betting on the latter.

[Theodric]

Varis' claim to the throne was stronger than Titus' due to Varis having an heir in the form of Zenos. Titus' forces launched an assassination attempt on Zenos - which failed - as confirmed in Yotsuyu's short story. So if Titus was willing to resort to assassination it doesn't seem like he was the perfect figure some suspected he would be. Furthermore, even if he had succeeded and managed to take out Varis as well...he would have found himself in the same position as Varis. Namely at the mercy of at least two powerful Ascians.

It's also not the Populares that are the first group of Garleans loyal to their homeland to work alongside the Warrior of Light and put it on the 'right track' - Regula van Hydrus and the remnants of his forces are the first. It was a brief, temporary alliance but a promising one nonetheless. Especially given Regula's close relationship with the Emperor.

I'd also point out that the Populares and Optimates are based on real world factions...and neither of them were exactly pure and virtuous. They desired control and power above all else, at times refusing to compromise with the other.

The Eorzean Alliance's recent imperialistic tendencies on the world stage are also going to be a problem moving forward. After all, Eorzea has already shown a willingness to sabotage Hingashi by trying to get around Kugane's trade tariffs. In short, it is more than willing to engage in trade wars. Given that Hingashi has suffered its own troubles in the form of strife and conflict, it's a case of outright cruelty on Eorzea's part.

[NoblePigeon]

Varis' claim to the throne was stronger than Titus' due to Varis having an heir in the form of Zenos. Titus' forces launched an assassination attempt on Zenos - which failed - as confirmed in Yotsuyu's short story. So if Titus was willing to resort to assassination it doesn't seem like he was the perfect figure some suspected he would be. Furthermore, even if he had succeeded and managed to take out Varis as well...he would have found himself in the same position as Varis. Namely at the mercy of at least two powerful Ascians.

It's also not the Populares that are the first group of Garleans loyal to their homeland to work alongside the Warrior of Light and put it on the 'right track' - Regula van Hydrus and the remnants of his forces are the first. It was a brief, temporary alliance but a promising one nonetheless. Especially given Regula's close relationship with the Emperor.

I'd also point out that the Populares and Optimates are based on real world factions...and neither of them were exactly pure and virtuous. They desired control and power above all else, at times refusing to compromise with the other.

I have no doubt that the Populares and Titus have some skeletons in the closet, but they are still the only faction that we have not become hostile to, where an actual alliance could potentially be exploited, rather than an alliance of necessity as it was for Regula.

The Eorzean Alliance's recent imperialistic tendencies on the world stage are also going to be a problem moving forward. After all, Eorzea has already shown a willingness to sabotage Hingashi by trying to get around Kugane's trade tariffs. In short, it is more than willing to engage in trade wars. Given that Hingashi has suffered its own troubles in the form of strife and conflict, it's a case of outright cruelty on Eorzea's part.

...What? Are we really going to go back to the whole "but look at Eorzea it's just as bad" deal?

[Cilia]

I wasn't even aware of the Eorzeans trying to get around Hingan tariffs - is it linked to the Eureka or Namazu quests? (I've given up on the former and don't have a DoH / DoL class high enough to do the latter.)

Furthermore if it's the act of Eorzean companies (the East Aldenard Trading Company is the only known Eorzean operation that far east), that's a very different issue than the Eorzean government sponsoring or actively attempting to evade Hingan tariffs.

Red herring either way. Stop digressing, please.

[Ramesses]

Some people are better at detecting sarcasm in typed words than others. I unfortunately am not one of them, so apologies!

Garlemald is actually my favorite faction in the game because of a lot of its themes appeal to me.

Apologies graciously accepted and likewise, I sincerely liked your evaluation of how the war might have proceeded... very solid comments that made sense.

Similar to you, I have always admired the way SE have been developing the Garlean empire within the fabric of this story. I'm a huge FFXII fan (I still stubbornly keep declaring that Basch had the best ending for me)... and as such, the moment I saw the art direction and cultural themes for the Empire, I was immediately fascinated.

Also, your idea of having a mega-fate area is something I'm glad you mentioned because it would make perfect sense for 5.0. I had mentioned in one of my previous posts somewhere that there should be an exclusive "war-zone" where players could jump in (with or without their GC squadrons), spend anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes battling the empire and then rack up "alliance" points, ala FFXI campaign style.

That would be wicked.

[Theodric]

I wasn't even aware of the Eorzeans trying to get around Hingan tariffs - is it linked to the Eureka or Namazu quests? (I've given up on the former and don't have a DoH / DoL class high enough to do the latter.)

Furthermore if it's the act of Eorzean companies (the East Aldenard Trading Company is the only known Eorzean operation that far east), that's a very different issue than the Eorzean government sponsoring or actively attempting to evade Hingan tariffs.

Red herring either way. Stop digressing, please.

It's linked to the Eureka quest chain. It happens very early on - during the unlock quest for Anemos. I also firmly disagree with the idea that Eorzea as a whole cannot be blamed for what individual companies are doing, especially when at least one of them has immense control over Ul'dah, one of the founding nations of the Eorzean Alliance.

I wouldn't call it a red herring. It's a part of the bigger picture - the Warrior of Light's immense power is being exploited for the sake of greedy opportunists and the expense of a foreign nation that has done absolutely nothing to harm Eorzea.

I'm actually surprised it isn't receiving more condemnation around these parts...though I suppose I should temper my expectations given that there is often immense bias at play when it comes to Eorzea's sins.

I'm a huge FFXII fan (I still stubbornly keep declaring that Basch had the best ending for me)... and as such, the moment I saw the art direction and cultural themes for the Empire, I was immediately fascinated.

I'm in the same boat. It's always great to encounter another Ivalice fan. The similarities between FFXIV and FFXII are actually what led me to be hooked in the first place...and they are what keep me invested as the story moves forward. I'd honestly suggest that those who haven't played FFXII yet invest in doing so if they can. It would, perhaps, aid in understanding FFXIV's delightful nuances.

[Cilia]

It's linked to the Eureka quest chain. It happens very early on - during the unlock quest for Anemos. I also firmly disagree with the idea that Eorzea as a whole cannot be blamed for what individual companies are doing, especially when at least one of them has immense control over Ul'dah, one of the founding nations of the Eorzean Alliance.

I wouldn't call it a red herring. It's a part of the bigger picture - the Warrior of Light's immense power is being exploited for the sake of greedy opportunists and the expense of a foreign nation that has done absolutely nothing to harm Eorzea.

I'm actually surprised it isn't receiving more condemnation around these parts...though I suppose I should temper my expectations given that there is often immense bias at play when it comes to Eorzea's sins.

How Rowena and Lolorito (through Hancock) run their companies is not the responsibility of all Eorzea, and blaming the entire region for a couple of known corrupt business people is not fair. Furthermore the act itself isn't attempting to dodge Hingan tariffs (or smuggle goods into Hingashi), but to set up another port so they can trade more freely in the region. There's nothing illegal or shady about what they're doing, beyond that it reduces the Hingan government's revenue... and if they manage to set up that port on Eureka and Hingashi loses government revenue as a result, well, that's on them for having such high tariffs the Eorzeans don't want to do business there.

It is a red herring. The topic of discussion is a looming conflict with the Garlean Empire, not how a couple of Eorzean companies are attempting to get around Hingan tariffs in the greater Othardian region.

[NoblePigeon]

Apologies graciously accepted and likewise, I sincerely liked your evaluation of how the war might have proceeded... very solid comments that made sense.

Similar to you, I have always admired the way SE have been developing the Garlean empire within the fabric of this story. I'm a huge FFXII fan (I still stubbornly keep declaring that Basch had the best ending for me)... and as such, the moment I saw the art direction and cultural themes for the Empire, I was immediately fascinated.

Also, your idea of having a mega-fate area is something I'm glad you mentioned because it would make perfect sense for 5.0. I had mentioned in one of my previous posts somewhere that there should be an exclusive "war-zone" where players could jump in (with or without their GC squadrons), spend anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes battling the empire and then rack up "alliance" points, ala FFXI campaign style.

That would be wicked.

That's what I loved so much about the system in Guild Wars 2. Meta events actually affected regions of the map based on whether they fail or succeed. Certain waypoints or merchants or the like would be inaccessible if all the meta events failed until people fought back and saved the day. And Heart of Thorns had map-wide meta events, which by completing gives you cool stuff.

I do like it when the "big evil empire" nation in settings gets fleshed out a lot like Garlemald is now. The revelation that it was made for this exact purpose and that a good number of Garleans would probably be horrified if they discovered their nation was made exclusively to destroy the planet, suddenly brings a whole new dimension to the story.

God, if SE actually had that kind of thing by 5.0 I'd go crazy. Or maybe later down the line when we confront Zodiark and the Ascians directly or something.