The Future of Zenos Yae Galvus(heavy spoilers for 4.5)

[Iscah]

Sometime between his off-screen burial at the end of 4.0 and that scene of Elidibus and Varis on the airship at the very end of 4.0, since he is already Zelidibus by then. We get told in 4.1 that some people tried to desecrate the graves of Zenos and the Garleans, so it could have been during that confusion.

That seems to be exactly when it happened, and deliberately. See 'Under the Moonlight'. (Garland may be missing some cutscene dialogue, but you get the idea.)

He's back after an elegant finale and... absolutely nothing about him has changed. He's right back to his ennui and fixation with The Most Dangerous Game and we're sort of... stuck with that. I trust the writers to make this worth my while, but I think I'll have a migraine if we're supposed to wind up attached at the hip to the guy. I just don't like or find his role interesting enough for that (do you think cosmic restraining orders exist? asking for a friend LMAO).

I have to wonder about the "nothing has changed" thing though.

KATANA-WIELDING SOLDIER
Shall I use this chance to repent for my sins? Embrace goodness and mediocrity? Nay, I think not. While the one I yearn to face yet lives, the hunt must go on.

By one interpretation, nothing has changed. By another... he's at least thinking about whether he could or should take another path, and is telling himself out loud that he should forget that idea and stick to the hunt.

Admittedly I'm not sure that 'redeemed Zenos' would be any better for the plot than 'one-track-mind Zenos', but a seed of possibility is there.

Whatever they've got in mind for him, it has to be something interesting and not just another round of "duel to prove who is stronger". At least I certainly hope so.

[kamikrazy]

I don't really see Zenos as evil, he's the trope of a blood knight. He actually is rather friendly in this trope as well, and I feel like he'd make a better for a redemption story. We have the ascians and zodiark for the main ever looming threat, and between that and having a villain-of-the-week for expansions to keep a fresh cast coming means that there's no reason to hamfist another 'main villain' into the story. Zenos would be a lot more fun if he was organic and allowed to do what he wanted and what felt right for his character...and playing him straight as a villain doesn't really mesh well with what we've seen of him.

[Daralii]

I don't really see Zenos as evil, he's the trope of a blood knight. He actually is rather friendly in this trope as well, and I feel like he'd make a better for a redemption story. We have the ascians and zodiark for the main ever looming threat, and between that and having a villain-of-the-week for expansions to keep a fresh cast coming means that there's no reason to hamfist another 'main villain' into the story. Zenos would be a lot more fun if he was organic and allowed to do what he wanted and what felt right for his character...and playing him straight as a villain doesn't really mesh well with what we've seen of him.

He only started easing away from absolute villain near the very end, when he actually started talking about philosophy and it was established that he had been deliberately groomed to be what he was. Prior to that we had things like his twisted treatment of Fordola and the massacre at Rhalgr's Reach, which were very firmly evil.

[Bright-Flower]

Not to mention he kills the soldier that reports back to him after we liberate doma doesn't he?

I got the Chronicles of LIght book, and there's a short story about Zenos.

In it, he was a prodigy genius as a child (of course). Mother died while young and Varis rarely had time for him and he basically saw his servants as automatons.

Then when he was 14, he got a new combat instructore. A master swordsman from southern othard. He kicks Zenos' butt every day and at first he can't even follow his movements. Then little by little Zenos starts to learn and improve, until he's able to fend for himself more. He starts studying the swordsman's style and eventually learns it by examining him, even if it means allowing himself to get hit sometimes in training to get a better look.

He's eventually able to replicate the style, even the aether use, by embedding a crystal into one of his palms. Said to be dangerous but Zenos is able to use that to force his body to release aether. The conscripted trainer flips out that Zenos is learning his special sword style and attempts to kill him but Zenos defeats him and kills him. It also plants the idea i Zenos' head that the inability of garleans to use aether naturally is a weakness that needs to be dealt with.

Ultimately nothing all that informative, doesn't really add any more layers to his character we didn't know of before or couldn't have inferred from the game other than I guess the crystal in flesh thing. Though I do wonder when Zenos got his resonant abilities. All of the facilities related to it seem to be in gyr abania and I'm not sure Gaius would have allowed those experiments so it makes me wonder if maybe it was between 2.0 and 4.0. Not sure if it was before or after he crushes the first Doma rebellion.

[Jaywalker]

Honestly I found Zenos insanely well done partly because (whether it was on purpose or incidental) he fits a very particular personality disorder to a T. His behavior, motives, background, all of that made perfect sense to me knowing how this stuff works.

What Zenos does is hugely evil, but I don't think he would be capable of understanding morality with how he works. The wiring isn't there. It's like asking a lungless goldfish to breathe air. Ironically, with all his hunt comments he's kind of living moment to moment in a weird animal state.

...he basically saw his servants as automatons.

Bright-Flower, you said nothing particularly informative came of the short story but honestly there were a few offhanded details that by themselves gave a lot of insight for me. This bit I quoted from you alone even adds to me being all YEP HE IS POSTER CHILD FOR X CLUSTER B PERSONALITY DISORDER. And how he works with the instructor also sounds like it feeds that too tbh.

I seriously want to know if this was done on purpose or not. There are plenty of storytellers who do this kind of thing deliberately, but there are also plenty who stumble into it. Dunno which the devs responsible are.

[myahele]

Ultimately nothing all that informative, doesn't really add any more layers to his character we didn't know of before or couldn't have inferred from the game other than I guess the crystal in flesh thing. Though I do wonder when Zenos got his resonant abilities. All of the facilities related to it seem to be in gyr abania and I'm not sure Gaius would have allowed those experiments so it makes me wonder if maybe it was between 2.0 and 4.0. Not sure if it was before or after he crushes the first Doma rebellion.

I was of the opinion he got the Resonant after experimenting on Fordola proved to be a success. Since he experimented with using crystals on his palm to force his body to manipulate aether then maybe he found a scientist to refine such a technique? Maybe thats where Aulus mal Asina comes in?

[Cilia]

Exactly when Zenos gained Resonance isn't specified, but it would have to be some time between our journey to Othard and the final assault on Ala Mhigo. The process requires someone to modulate the aetheric frequency after, which is why Krile was captured.

That's all there is to go on, unfortunately.

[Iscah]

Exactly when Zenos gained Resonance isn't specified, but it would have to be some time between our journey to Othard and the final assault on Ala Mhigo. The process requires someone to modulate the aetheric frequency after, which is why Krile was captured.

That's all there is to go on, unfortunately.

...wait, if Krile is the only "Echo template" they have, and Fordola got her extreme sensitivity to people's thoughts after one procedure, what about Zenos?

Either it's only a chance thing that Fordola picked up that ability, Zenos has it double-time (and isn't fazed by it), the writers didn't think of that implication or there's something else at play.

(I don't suppose Ascians can be used as a template...?)

[Gula]

Ultimately nothing all that informative, doesn't really add any more layers to his character we didn't know of before or couldn't have inferred from the game other than I guess the crystal in flesh thing.

I hugely disagree and after reading that I need more of my crazy angel.

[MrThinker]

...wait, if Krile is the only "Echo template" they have, and Fordola got her extreme sensitivity to people's thoughts after one procedure, what about Zenos?

Either it's only a chance thing that Fordola picked up that ability, Zenos has it double-time (and isn't fazed by it), the writers didn't think of that implication or there's something else at play.

(I don't suppose Ascians can be used as a template...?)

Personally I think its one of the two bolded explanations, but something else might indeed be at play. Fordola picked up that ability specifically because it was Krile's, who we have been told before is more sensitive to these things, so rather than being an unlucky chance, it was a guaranteed side-effect of modelling the Resonant on so reactive a subject. Or at least that was what I remembered/gleaned from 4.1