[Spoilers] Why Zenos is the most important character moving forward

[Edax]

/spoiler

Z killed every leader of each country.

Kan-E-Senna... dead.
Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn... dead.
Raubahn Aldynn... dead.
Aymeric de Borel... dead.
Hien Rijin... barely survived.

All with ease, just like the way he killed his father.

Zenos seems to get all the breaks doesn't he? All the privileges of royalty, all the skills of a master, all the powers of a God and on top of that he can't be killed.

[EdwinLi]

Zenos seems to get all the breaks doesn't he? All the privileges of royalty, all the skills of a master, all the powers of a God and on top of that he can't be killed.

That is just because he is so crazy that death does not even want to touch him.

[RopeDrink]

I want to say we've already been told that Varis named Zenos as his heir long ago, exactly to avoid a repeat of the conflict Solus caused by refusing to do so. I don't know where that information is from though.

Indeed, in which case it doesn't matter as he himself renounced it and seemingly has no desire for it at all, so the end result is the same - the Empire in chaos whilst it tries to realign itself. The point is, with the Empire no doubt going to enter turmoil, it may not even be Zenos who resorts to Black Rose. If not him, then possibly the Empire (new ruler or no), or possibly even the Warriors of Light who will no doubt come after us.

On the other hand, I also think that Zenos is the sort of person who would prefer to do it directly.

The deed itself, yes, but as we all know, everything in between is irrelevant to him, thus he'll have no interest in BR in terms of handling the WoL/D, but he certainly might change his tune if an opportunity presents itself to force us out in the open by using it some other way, and that is a scary notion considering how apathetic he is to, well, everything.

it's danger caused by goals unrelated to the main story

Ah, I forgot - crippling the empire (which has been prominent throughout the game) and literally looking at the camera while mentioning a desire to abuse the Zodiark/Hydalaen fiasco (which is fresh in our minds) has nothing to do with the main story... Silly me.

won't use Black Rose because it could kill us.

Which does not mean he will not use it at all. "I will not have my prey stolen" is in reference to us. As I've said many times, this doesn't mean he won't consider using it for other means, particularly if its usage can force us to him. Failing that, there is every possibility of the empire using it, the "Warriors of Elidibus", or even Elidibus himself. In short, I wouldn't rule Zenos out of the Black Rose game, but I do believe it WILL be used one way or another.

Which is so contrived. The Emperor get stabbed with a katana in his own throne room and no one is there to protect him or even witness anything. Where's the Imperial Guard? Where's the Cameras? Where are the security systems? Throne Rooms are the last places on Eorzea where anyone should get away with an assassination.

Nobody anticipated Zenos. Not even Elidibus, who was literally wearing his body and with the Emporer himself. Zenos was under guise, making it easy for him to stroll in - and we all had a good look at his handy work (guards and troopers slain with a single swipe all the way to the throne room). It is not hard to imagine this happening. Zenos could have possibly fought his way to that room from the front door under full alarm due to how powerful he is, so having the luxury of sneaking in as an Officer/General is taking candy from a moogle baby.

He seemed desperate when he marched out into Ghimlyt to kill the WoL

Er, no? We had no means of slaying an Ascian at the time - the Scions were sucked away and all existing allies were otherwise engaged with the battle. There was no desperation there, it was planned - and he technically won thanks to the calling. Even without that, he would have risen over and over to wear us down. When we were called, he even knew what it was and took advantage. That isn't a desperate foe, that is us getting away by the skin of our teeth. Again.

and he seemed like he'd just given up on the moon.

At what point did he even remotely hint he had given up anything? Nowhere. He did no such thing and didn't come across as giving up anything. He confirmed that he was the last whole Ascian and explained in detail what he would be doing in the future, which involves the same desire to have us (WoL) removed from the game. The only defeat he admitted to was against Zenos, which, if anything, just gave him more ideas.

[Edax]

Ah, I forgot - crippling the empire (which has been prominent throughout the game) and literally looking at the camera while mentioning a desire to abuse the Zodiark/Hydalaen fiasco (which is fresh in our minds) has nothing to do with the main story... Silly me.

He's announcing that he's derailed the story for his own selfish desires. Sure, it's related to the story because he's derailing it, but like I said his goals are unrelated to the main story. By assuming the role of main antagonist, he's made it all about himself. But FFXIV wasn't setup to be the Zenos Show all along.

[Iscah]

He's announcing that he's derailed the story for his own selfish desires. Sure, it's related to the story because he's derailing it, but like I said his goals are unrelated to the main story. By assuming the role of main antagonist, he's made it all about himself. But FFXIV wasn't setup to be the Zenos Show all along.

You can't really say that though. He's derailing where we thought the plot was going, but that's doesn't make it unrelated to the story. He's part of the story, and his actions are influencing the direction of it.

[Edax]

You can't really say that though. He's derailing where we thought the plot was going, but that's doesn't make it unrelated to the story. He's part of the story, and his actions are influencing the direction of it.

When was the MSQ ever about The Hunt outside of Zenos being on screen? This was never setup. Zenos is related to the story in so much that he exists and his story intrudes on the main story, but his influences are derailing what FFXIV has been about.
To use an example, Zenos could get addicted to Triple Triad and derail the story even further by making the post-ShB story about Triple Triad duels. Triple Triad card games may become the story, but they were never a part of the story to begin with. Sure we might never have expected Shadowbringers to become Yu Gi Oh, but there's a good reason for that.

There's a good video that Overly Sarcastic Productions made about how random plot twists can break character and story arcs and ruin viewer engagement. It may provoke discussion, I dunno, I'll post the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afuwh0GXwbQ

[RopeDrink]

Above is merely determination to not give a single inch. Square can change the course of the story however they please. They call those shots, not us. You've gone from "Unrelated" to "Derailment" purely because it involves a self-centered character in your eyes, yet everything he has done has drastic implications for the story and its most relevant plot-points no matter what way you try to spin it. This doesn't become false just because the person in question is in it for themselves.

Everything before ShB hinted at an Empire related followup, as did ShB itself, with Zenos' act now pushing it into an obvious 'chaotic' direction that may yet still force CE's vision to come to pass, just by different hands.

So, let's have a snoop at possibilities.

WoE's (Warriors of Elidibus). New sport? New allies? Enemies of all? Possibly even a partnership, one way or another. Could go numerous ways - WoE's and Zenos, Zenos and WoL, WoL & WoE's, who knows. Might be a free-for-all. Might all be handled separately.
The use of Black Rose by people other than Zenos (Empire, Elidibus). Or possibly himself if pushed.
The inability for the Scion's to defend themselves whilst on the First from, well, anyone. I fully expect at least one Scion to be killed on the Source while we witness their form on the First fade to really push out the feelsbringers.
Elidibus in general doing the whole 7th Doctor 'chess-master' shenanigans from complete safety to orchestrate a Source-nightmare.
Any/All of the above can and will involve the state of the Empire.
Any/All of the above can and will involve Zodiark and Hydalaen, which we're still fresh from.

But sure, X is selfish thus it must be derailment and not advancement.

[Lauront]

On another note, if he really wants to go ahead with his plan of hijacking the gods for a clash, he’d be better off usurping Hydaelyn, particularly if he knows the protagonist is unlikely to play ball. That will force a bad situation where you have few choices but to hijack Zodiark. I don’t think he’ll try this since he probably believes you will just merge with Hydaelyn to stop him, not realising it’s unlikely, not to mention unnecessary unless they throw in some curve ball, but it’d potentially be a better way of forcing your hand. It’d also in all likelihood be catastrophic for the world, depending on how it worked in terms of the Primal avatar.

Of course she’d resist but so would Zodiark. Either way, he’d require both to be present. I’m genuinely curious as to whether he’ll realise his ambitions or just end up having to compromise with some lesser ascendant form.

[Lauront]

*snip*

Agreed on all those points. Zenos still needs the Rejoining to bring back Zodiark and if Elidibus succeeds at miring you on the First, the threat to you from the Black Rose vanishes. He has no compunction against its use, barring interference with his hunt - if it furthered it, things would change.

Of course it could be any number of agents in the story, but given Elidibus’s intentions my thinking is that these Warriors of which he spoke will be busying away on the First. Doesn’t preclude one (or himself) from acting out his will on the Source at the same time.

[Alleo]

Even if Zenos was named a successor, rumours about him being demon obsessed might induce objections for him to inherit the throne.

Maybe I remember it wrong but wasnt this the plan that Thancred had before he collapsed? Making sure that the people ask themselves if this is truly Zenos? And wasnt it even talked about that the death of Zenos would have left Varis with another war at hand because he would have no heir left, thus Elidibus snatching the corpse was also going to put down any voice that wanted to claim the right to the throne. That does sound like he was a successor and thus his death at Ala Mhigo would have thrown the country into chaos.

Edit:

I still hope that he wont "eat" either of the crystals. Hydaelyn should be out of his reach until he can somehow find a way into that realm and Zodiark itself was split up? For him to consume that one shouldnt the rejoining be complete? And would Elidibus really stand by and let that happen? Also it would be really boring to have such a villian at the end, at least for me. I want Elidibus as the big bad at the end. Not such a character like Zenos who is just bland. Have something like that as an expansion enemy but more than that?