Yotsuyu, Fordola, syndrom of "a good writting"? (spoil)

[LineageRazor]

- Fordola

Fordola turned out to be to me probably the most interesting character introduced with Stormblood. I've seen her described as evil, a monster, or irredeemable, but I really don't think that's the case at all. To me, intent is the greatest factor into whether one qualifies as being evil, and Fordola's goals were admirable: She wanted to save Ala Mhigo, in SPITE of what Ala Mhigans did to her family. It's certainly the case that the stoning hardened her, made her a lot less likely to take pity on Ala Mhigans who resist Garlean occupation, whether overtly (the Resistance) or passively (folks who are delinquent in paying their tithe). I see her as a well-intentioned extremist; she has a noble goal, and is willing to get her hands dirty to achieve it. In her mind, resisting the Garleans is both hopeless and pointless. They are an unstoppable force who cannot be beaten, and the only way for a nation to survive is to bow to them. (And she still has not been proven wrong! Our victory at Ala Mhigo was exceedingly unlikely, and came in no small part because Zenos was more interested in paving the way for us to come fight him than he was in actually defending the territory. That bought Ala Mhigo a temporary freedom - and now the Garleans are back in force, and they plan to raze everything to the ground, this time. It's exactly as Fordola feared. It remains to be seen whether we'll be able to stop them as usual, or whether the game will turn down a very dark path with Ala Mhigo's annihilation.)

Her actions, well-intentioned or not, are certainly criminal, and she deserves to be punished for them. What's less clear is how severely she deserves to be punished. Certainly the individuals who were hurt by her would like to see her killed, or at least imprisoned for life - but those options, I think, should be reserved for individuals incapable of rehabilitation. Fordola HAS shown herself willing to play ball with the Alliance. This may be because she still hopes to save Ala Mhigo, and knows that what desperate chance it has left depends on the Alliance, or it may be that she's honestly starting to recognize that there are other options than servitude to Garlemald. Either way, the fact that the Alliance is choosing to make her part of their anti-Primal strike force is not for HER benefit. She's doing hard labor to atone for her transgressions, and the work she's doing could potentially save many lives.

That said, I don't think she should be allowed her freedom for many years yet, and, unfortunately, I think it's all too likely that the story writers will choose to free her from servitude much sooner than she should, whether it be by dying in some kind of noble sacrifice, or her captors deciding that she's "earned it" way earlier than they should. Neither option is appealing, but the best case, in my mind, would be for her to fade into the background: We know she's out there, paying for her crimes, and may one day be forgiven for what she's done, but it will be a long, hard road. Writers in general, not just in Final Fantasy, tend to be very reluctant to leave threads permanently unresolved in this way, and I'm afraid they'll do something hasty!

In short, I feel like Fordola did a lot of bad things but for noble goals, and that should be taken into account when deciding her fate. It's not as cut-and-dried as "she hurt a lot of people and must pay". It's way more complex than that.

- Yotsuyu

I was less happy with Yotsuyu's character, although I think they did a decent job of bringing her character arc to an end. Yotsuyu was introduced as a horrendous monster, who lived for little other than making others suffer. Naturally, she had a reason for it, but the problem was that I just couldn't swallow it.

So, she was terribly abused by her foster family as a young girl, sold into a loveless marriage and eventually into prostitution. Therefore, all Domans must suffer? I might have had some sympathy if the game had gone to any lengths to show that what happened to Yotsuyu was condoned by Doman citizens in general, but it didn't. The only Domans we saw taking part in Yotsuyu's suffering were those DIRECTLY COMPLICIT in the wrongdoing. We were never shown other Domans accepting that what happened to her as being right and natural. There were never laws pointed out that showed her sale as being legal. We can assume these things are true - or, we can just as easily assume that they are not, that the actions taken by Yotsuyu's family were NOT socially or legally condoned, that they were done in secrecy. Because of this uncertainty, the logical fallacy that "Parents are evil and parents are Domans therefore Domans are evil" just paints Yotsuyu as being a lunatic.

It was clear, too, that she KNOWS where the true fault lies. It was made pretty clear that her foster family topped her revenge list (but were previously untouchable, being Garlean citizens), so her torture of random Domans was even less justified.

I wasn't happy when her amnesia arc began. Amnesia is rarely handled with any sort of realism in fiction, and this was no exception. That said, I found myself grudgingly pleased with how it progressed, with Yotsuyu being given the opportunity to experience actual affection, to be valued and protected, to then recover her memories, and then reject the opportunity for redemption in favor of seeing her vengeance through to the end - but not without a moment of wistful longing. Her execution of her parents, and especially her brother, were most satisfying, as all three of them quite clearly felt no remorse regarding their past misdeeds or any intention of reforming.

To sum up, Yotsuyu annoyed me with her anti-Doman mindset, as I felt the game did not give good enough justification for it, and my eyes were rolling during the amnesia arc, but I was pleased with how it resolved and felt that Yotsuyu got a worthy end.

- Lyse

While not the subject of this thread, I thought I'd say a word or two about Lyse. I don't hate Lyse, but neither do I much like her. I felt the same way about Yda. But something that I DO appreciate is that when they changed Yda into Lyse, there was still plenty of Yda left in her. She's still not the brightest, and prone to silly assumptions and behaviors. She didn't suddenly transform into a great leader, just because they made her a leader - quite the opposite. She recognizes that she's not really qualified for the role, and accepted it primarily because the people of Ala Mhigo needed a figurehead and she was the daughter of a great revolutionary. I was quite pleased that they didn't transform her into some kind of Mary Sue who could do no wrong just because she took her mask off.

Frankly, I think that the Ala Mhigans promoting Lyse to leader was a bit of a stretch, and that she isn't really suited to the role. What's important, though, is that the writers seem to realize it, as well. I think they've done a good job of keeping her in-character, and to me that's more important than whether I actually LIKE that character.

Yotsuyu's Amnesia doesn't fit any of these. It's the soap-opera brand of amnesia, drama resulting from hack writing.

It fits the Post-traumatic amnesia you described, and given that Yotsuyu seemed to have acquired it during the collapse of Doma Castle (head trauma) and that it did turn out to be temporary, that seems to be exactly the type the writers were going for. Of course, I don't deny that it has the whole soap opera twist of removing just the right memories for the plotline they wanted. Even so, I don't think it's fair to say that her amnesia doesn't fit any of the listed types.

Soap opera amnesia exists because Post-traumatic amnesia really is a thing. They just stretch the bounds of what PTA is actually likely to do.

[Cybylt]

I think another thing that really singles out the level of hopelessness and indoctrination to the idea that Garlemald will always rule is that random teens not even in the army or anything, complete noncombatants, attacked the Warrior of Light AFTER several major wins for the Resistance including the liberation of Doma to try to appease their rulers.

[Edax]

It fits the Post-traumatic amnesia you described, and given that Yotsuyu seemed to have acquired it during the collapse of Doma Castle (head trauma) and that it did turn out to be temporary, that seems to be exactly the type the writers were going for. Of course, I don't deny that it has the whole soap opera twist of removing just the right memories for the plotline they wanted. Even so, I don't think it's fair to say that her amnesia doesn't fit any of the listed types.

Soap opera amnesia exists because Post-traumatic amnesia really is a thing. They just stretch the bounds of what PTA is actually likely to do.

Well, Post-traumatic amnesia manifest as either anterograde, retrograde, or mixed type. Since Yotsuyu is remembering things after the event, it has to be Retrograde amnesia. The problem is that Retrograde amnesia isn't a regression of personality, it's a loss of identity. A person with Retrograde amnesia might wake up thinking it's 15 years in the past but they don't become a child, but instead become overwhelmed at how everyone has changed. Yotsuyu would not "forget" her brother when she met him, instead she'd be shocked by how much he had aged. Yotsuyu would also remember Gosetsu, just perhaps from a different time so the whole story is junk food.

But since you agree, it is soup opera Amnesia. The kind Spiderman 3 did with which got a bunch of eye-rolls. Amnesia can be an overwhelming problem for people so the way Yotsuyu just goes on carefree with her amnesia is just not giving the disability the proper gravitas. Yotsuyu should know she could not recall personal memories and she should have been terrorfied and overwhelmed, not simple and happy.

[waifugenerator]

I actually loved Fordola's character and found myself sympathizing with her. I hope she's reintroducing into the story now that Gaius has made his return. I'm liking the sounds of their father/daughter dynamic that the MSQ hinted at.

[Theodric]

I actually loved Fordola's character and found myself sympathizing with her. I hope she's reintroducing into the story now that Gaius has made his return. I'm liking the sounds of their father/daughter dynamic that the MSQ hinted at.

...let's just hope it isn't the same sort of father/daughter dynamic that Gaius had with Livia!