Quote Originally Posted by Cilia View Post
The issue is that in this case the Empire is the hostile foreign power, attacking Eorzea under the false pretense of it being retribution for the Domans summoning a primal.
That's false as of the events of Baelsar's Wall. At that point, Eorzea became the aggressor by pushing into territory that belonged to Garlemald at the time. I don't have much of an issue with the lands outside of Ilsabard being reclaimed, since I believe that the Garleans should never have pushed outside of their own continent in the first place to prevent overextending and weakening their existing claims as a consequence.

Yet for the Eorzean Alliance to reach the heartland is very much a case of extreme aggression on their part, cutting through any and all who stood in their path. That is, logically, a lot of bloodshed - and Garlemald only deployed Black Rose as a last resort. For it to be presented as 'unforgivable' isn't realistic at all, since the Eorzeans have resorted to similar extreme and dubious methods of their own when cornered with no other alternatives. That is why Hien's antics and Omega were brought up.

Given that Hien is one of my favourite characters, it isn't a case of bias. I simply find it disappointing that the story only portrays brutal weaponry as 'unforgivable' when it is embraced by the antagonists, but not the protagonists.

I wouldn't even attribute it to a problem on behalf of the writers, though - they've made it clear that they see every antagonist as having their own reasons to fight and that, from their perspective, they're justified. The only major exception to that is Zenos.

The Eorzeans have the luxury of being able to manipulate aether and they have a walking weapon of mass destruction to call upon in their time of need that conveniently saves them from having to resort to extreme measures. Other nations do not have that luxury and as such should realistically be viewed with that in mind.