I don't think we've done one of these in a base expansion before but fanbase interest in the story is suddenly at a fever pitch, so let's do this.
MSQ (WHEW WHAT A RIDE; just finished - will take a few to get my thoughts together)
The Set-Up
The first thing I noticed was that getting a foothold on the First required a veritable cornucopia of "this is unrealistically convenient but please just roll with it". To expect otherwise strikes me as silly, so what I really appreciated was that the lore and scenario teams seem to have harmonized their priorities wisely. The more important it was for the in-world excuse to hold water, the better that excuse was. The flimsiest excuses were made for things that were arguably game mechanics wearing a cheap lore costume, anyway.
For the first few hours, you could really feel the gravity of "prevent another Raubahn-gate at all costs". On one hand, they had good reason to front-load SHADOWBRINGERS with clean-up, anyway...challenging assumptions, explaining the status quo, tidying up the storyline, sending you on fetch quests to get immersed in the new world, etc.. But no amount of narrative potpourri could fully mask the scent of "Man, do we hope enough of you drop out for the day by the first content bottleneck," and I wondered if the pacing was going to recover (it did).
The 100-year side-jack is on my contrived-but-forgiven list. The world's just more interesting with the delay. And since the Scions' bodies are still back on the Source, chances are that they're aging in Source Bubble Time no matter how many years they spend on the First. (I bet the Leveilleur lewders are so mad, rn.) How convenient that their spirits are somehow able to spontaneously generate quasi-corporeal properties. (I suppose we are meant to assume the Warriors of Darkness were a similar case, and thereby do we avoid them having possessed corpses or somesuch, which I'm sure would color perception and raise a few, "They fell for this?")
The Exarch's Calamity PowerPoint was good stuff, but if they're laid out "clockwise", the whole world being simultaneously superimposed with the void and called "the farthest from it" by Arbert is awkward, so methinks that isn't an entirely faithful diorama. (Also, I'm not sure why the "all elements but Astral" was dark pink, but I'm calling the color "dragonfruit" for now because it makes me smile.)
Explanation for the Sin Eaters is solid, but now the confirmation pendulum swings back towards the void. Why do those ones leave behind permanent essences?
Twins
Healer Role Quests
I'M NOT CRYING. YOU'RE CRYING.