fate of emperor varis at the end

[Alleo]

So, yes, its use is perfectly understandable in such a context. The unintended consequences were unfortunate, though given the Eorzean's inability to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict one can argue that they should not be surprised that such a thing would happen. You don't slaughter your way through large swathes of territory, murdering any and all that stand in your way and then complain when a last desperate act is made.

Again, the Eorzean's are the aggressors in such a scenario. Which, strangely, does not seem to be acknowledged by many around these parts...

First we are not talking about the soldiers or the common people when we talk about Garlemald, we talk about the government and their decisions. Of course a lot of the Garleans soldiers (people forced to battle by holding their family as hostages) are not bad people. But in a fight its us or them and we are shown to spare them too. So of course its better to have less fights so that less people will die. And as we are shown in Stormblood we even managed to turn some Lupins on our side thus stopping some unnessary deaths but in war this is mostly not possible.

Eorzea was not the aggressor because after taking back whats theirs (or better: Helping those people in the country take back their own countries) they did not make any moves to attack Garlemald. It was only after the summoning of Tsuyu (a plan done by the Garlean side), the take down of one of the sides in the garlean government by their own government and the news of an Ascian being in Zenos body that they acted by spreading the news of him being an Ascian in the hopes of stopping a war with Garlemald.

The talk with Varis (which they too agreed to so they have tried to do something for peace) was a failure because Varis wanted the Calamities to get his perfect race back to stop the Ascians which is something the Alliance dont stand for. There was simply no solution for peace there and I hope you did not believe that they would just surrender to Garlemald..

We also know by the cutscenes with Varis and Elidibus that Elidibus still needs the acceptance from Varis to do something. So no I dont believe that this was all alone on Elidibus. Varis could have easily just said no to such a weapon and tried to turn against Elidibus but he never truly did.

[It does not always have to be the case but if many people see things differently from you than maybe because they are right? Of course we all could be wrong either but sometimes if you are in a lot of cases in the minority then maybe its not because the others are wrong]

Lastly, Yoshida's answer is apparently their general writing style for antagonists; Zenos and Emet-Selch were simply the two examples focused on. There is no reason why such logic cannot be extended to Varis given the nature of the answer. Reposting it:



Seems pretty clear to me that it's generally applicable to their antagonists and, given his aims, I would certainly put Varis closer to Emet-Selch.

And I would him put more towards Zenos. Thus its in the end again just pure speculation because he is not mentioned there.

[Theodric]

And I would him put more towards Zenos. Thus its in the end again just pure speculation because he is not mentioned there.

...and you would be mistaken in doing so, given that they are not at all similar. Though I can see that this conversation is, as always, not going anywhere so the best course of action would be to agree to disagree I suspect.

As someone invested in the lore across a broad range of characters and factions, I prefer to examine things from the perspective of every character of relevance. I'm not particularly interested in bringing personal biases and likes/dislikes into the equation.

As an aside, unless I'm mistaken it was strongly implied that one of the upcoming anniversary stories is going to touch upon Varis either directly or indirectly. If that is the case then I suspect he will be painted in a sympathetic light there, too. Which would make sense, given that he has never been painted as a straight up villain such as Zenos who cares about absolutely nothing but his own satisfaction.

[Lauront]

The talk with Varis (which they too agreed to so they have tried to do something for peace) was a failure because Varis wanted the Calamities to get his perfect race back to stop the Ascians

This point keeps coming up - what he is referring to in all likelihood is the people who lived on the Source before the Sundering, like the Amaurotines. This is not some obscure racial slant but a reference to the people who existed before the split, with his understanding formed by the knowledge imparted to him by the Ascians.

We also know by the cutscenes with Varis and Elidibus that Elidibus still needs the acceptance from Varis to do something. So no I dont believe that this was all alone on Elidibus. Varis could have easily just said no to such a weapon and tried to turn against Elidibus but he never truly did.

Yeah, I am sure that would have ended marvelously for him, and not resulted in his death and Elidibus simply taking direct control over his body or having Zenos crowned Emperor... bear in mind it is unlikely that Elidibus was simply invited there. The Empire has been an Ascian scheme from the outset. My belief is that Varis sought to make use of him to find a way to counteract the WoL. And to be fair to Elidibus, but for the time travel element, he did deliver on that... a little too well, but he has his own agenda in the end.

[It does not always have to be the case but if many people see things differently from you than maybe because they are right? Of course we all could be wrong either but sometimes if you are in a lot of cases in the minority then maybe its not because the others are wrong]

Nope, it just points to a different interpretation of the facts and wanting different things out of the game. This is very much a very subjective area of discussion.

And I would him put more towards Zenos. Thus its in the end again just pure speculation because he is not mentioned there.

It may be "speculation" but it is a very general formula and I am sorry but I don't see how Varis, intent on keeping the Empire together for the greater purpose of eventually overcoming the Ascians is closer to Zenos, whose only interest is causing destruction to fuel nothing else but his blood sport and thus quell his boredom. If they are putting Emet-Selch in the corner of the "sympathetic antagonist" given his aims, I am fairly confident Varis would fall into the same area.

[Absimiliard]

Are we truly trying to make the use of a chemical weapon like the black rose seen as something fine?

No one is saying that. What we are saying is that some of the methods employed by Eorzea are pretty horrible. Continually lambasting the Empire for doing awful things while at the same time ignoring the fact that Eorzea has committed more than a few atrocities of their own is not a type of writing everyone is going to enjoy.

Can people not just accept that Garlemald does some very messed up stuff? When the story again and again hits you over the head with people (even Garleans themselves) saying how horrible it is? I am quite sure that the very same people defending this would surely blame Eorzea (rightfully!) if they would use such methods. Its fine if you love Garlemald but maybe its time to accept that stuff they are doing is not fine. Trying to spin this as something positive or spinning it as if they had to use it even though it was again the empire that striked back is victim blaming at its finest. Especially when you kinda forget that these countries did not belong to Garlemald, did not want to belong to Garlemald but seemingly that was fine? But when these people with the help of other countries get their homes back and then defend it they are in the wrong? What?

Try to look at this through the lenses of politics and cold logic without any emotion thrown into the mix. Legally speaking, a country that is conquered by another country is in fact recognized as part of that country. Even Great Britain acquired the vast majority of its lands through conquest. To invade any of those lands is to invade Great Britain, and they will retaliate as they deem appropriate. Garlemald is no different in this regard. Those lands were won by shedding of Garlean blood, sweat, and tears. They've got every right - nay, an obligation - to protect what is theirs. I don't believe I've seen anyone deny that the Empire has done some fairly terrible things. The fact that the people in the conquered territories got assistance in taking their land back is also fine. What isn't fine is the assumption that Garlemald shouldn't retaliate when it is being attacked. The Empire, as a nation, should by all rights do anything within its power to protect itself. If manpower and technology are no longer enough, then yes, it is perfectly reasonable for them to resort to using something as terrible as Black Rose. It isn't as if the Eorzeans haven't been burning, freezing, electrocuting, poisoning, rotting, and exploding Garlean troops all along.

Remember that if they were not stopped and we did not change the future they would have used Black rose and would have thrown the world into the next calamity (a goal that varis too had, even after knowning about the ascians) which would have still been going on after 200 years and which would have left the world death thanks to it turning the soil bad. A meteor cast by a mage can never ever be that devasting.

The Garleans - including Varis - did not possess this information. They saw it only as a weapon they could employ, and they only decided to employ it when backed into a corner with no way out. The issue is who they used it on. Killing the non-combatants was a bit much, though such a thing is inevitable in war. One cannnot hold the Garleans responsible for something that hasn't even happened yet. As for a meteor cast by a mage? I encourage you to look at the sheer size of some of the meteors that have been dropped over the course of FFXIV. A space rock of that size would in fact be quite the catastrophe. Then there was the War of Magi. There are areas of the Source that cannot support life to this day because of that event - not only because of the catastrophic damage done by magic itself, but also due to the sheer amount of aether consumed by all that spellwork.

[Iscah]

The problem with the auspices is that they basically work like primals. They still run off of aether and belief.

The auspices are believed to take on their transformed states by drawing a massive amount of aether from their surroundings.

"Believed" by whom? Where do you remember this being said?

I'm looking through the Four Lords quests trying to find a source for it, and I'm not seeing one - only that they need to live long enough and they will eventually become auspices: gaining some power after a hundred years, and full auspice-hood after a thousand.

Some are worshipped for other reasons, but not necessarily. Genbu's tale in A Tortoise in Time indicates the opposite - he had the power to see the future centuries before anyone perceived him as anything but a normal turtle. And men believed Suzaku to be the legendary firebird, but that belief itself didn't give her the powers of one.

Additionally, all that Soroban needs to temporarily become an auspice is the enchanted box that will age him a thousand years.

In short, the empire goes nuts, Black Rose becomes a prominent threat in our timeline despite it being altered in the other one [...]

I've said it before and will say it again - just because Grah prevented his timeline version of the Black Rose debacle does not mean it won't happen in a different manner in our present. I fully expect Black Rose to be unleashed (regardless of waning potency) and cause all kinds of trouble.

You're phrasing the timelines in a very confusing way and I had to re-read a few times to get what you're meaning.

Black Rose was not "altered in the other timeline", it was altered in ours (whether it gets used differently later or not).

G'raha's original timeline can't be altered, only avoided.

Our current trajectory has been altered from the version that G'raha knows as history.


Also, the original trigger for the Garleans using Black Rose, at least as it was understood and passed down to G'raha, is that it was the Eorzeans gaining the upper hand and pressing the Garleans to desperation. So presumably that risk is still there, even without the underlying danger of the First's aether supercharging the reaction.

The point was not who used it, but what were the consequences of its usage.

A really good question. I'd forgotten about it until now, but it's hard to work out how that would factor in with the state of the First and the fact that setting off Black Rose during the brink-of-Flood state is exactly what will trigger the rejoining.

Perhaps it happened to be used at some point where the First was just below the theshold point?

Or maybe Gaius doesn't visit that camp very often, and it was long ago enough that it happened prior to the beginning of the flood in 3.4? If it "halts aether" then it might halt decay as well, and the bodies could have been there for months.

They could go for a redemption arc with him, but I think Gaius has kind of stolen his thunder on that point. Even as a villain, Gaius had redeeming qualities (like his refusal to exterminate existing populations, and his hatred of the Empire's prejudice against its female and non-Garlean soldiers) so the seeds of something redeemable were already there. Varis only thinks in terms of power and control, with a weird side of racist ideology. Even if he considers you a useful ally I have little doubt he'll betray us in the end, assuming he survives.

I think there's potential to have Varis survive and then the two of them come to an understanding together. I'm not sure if it would work well, but it's a direction they could go with it.

[Alleo]

The Garleans - including Varis - did not possess this information. They saw it only as a weapon they could employ, and they only decided to employ it when backed into a corner with no way out. The issue is who they used it on. Killing the non-combatants was a bit much, though such a thing is inevitable in war. One cannnot hold the Garleans responsible for something that hasn't even happened yet. As for a meteor cast by a mage? I encourage you to look at the sheer size of some of the meteors that have been dropped over the course of FFXIV. A space rock of that size would in fact be quite the catastrophe. Then there was the War of Magi. There are areas of the Source that cannot support life to this day because of that event - not only because of the catastrophic damage done by magic itself, but also due to the sheer amount of aether consumed by all that spellwork.

I am not ignoring what Eorzea did but I am looking at the stuff that happens now or in recent history instead of the past. If Garlemald had done all of this hundred years ago then I would not use that as an argument but they did not. And nothing that Eorzea ever did in recent years comes near to the stuff that Garlemald did and still does. And the story does point out some of the bad things in Eorzea but it goes even more out of its way to show what Garlemald is doing is wrong. Heck even the new Gunbreaker job quests have an character that right away talks about his family being killed even though he worked (under force) for Garlemald thus he went away from them. He is outright comparing things between the states. Not everything is right with Eorzea but its nothing in comparsion to Garlemald and the writers do their best to show this ingame too.

Why should I look at this without any emotions? Everyone is thriven by them, even someone like Varis. Heck even the Ascians are.

If we use that as an argument (being right to conquer and thus owning the country) than many years ago when Garlemald lost to another tribe they were completely in the wrong to then unite the other tribes under them and reclaim their land..but seemingly that was fine? I mean if the amount of time that went by was huge and there was nobody there still living from the old time you may be right that its best to just let them be (as long as the people of the country see it that way too). But for Doma and Ala Mhigo it was still recent and a lot of people before the conquering were still alive. It was also not like Eorzea marched into this and threw Garlemald out just because..no they were forced to fight at Balsear Wall because of Ilbert and even then only reclaimed Ala Mhigo because they knew a lot of people wanted that. Heck even Hien the prince and later king of doma only went against them because the people wished to be free once more and otherwise would have given up his life.

And just like it was fine for Garlemald to take back their country it was completely fine for Ala Mhigo and Doma to stand up to take back their country. It would turn them into aggressors if they then (like Garlemald did) decide to conquer other cities that were not once part of theirs. But that is not what is happening. They are defending their cities that are now theirs again.

Varis might have not understood how bad the black rose would be (I am not even sure if the Ascians knew how bad it would be) but he 100% knew about the calamity plans the ascians had and was on their site on this. He was more than ready to kill a huge amount of people (and in that case also lots of garlean soldiers that were at the battle field..but who cares about them right..they were mostly soldiers from conquered cities anyway and not Garleans) and be fine with the destructions of shards which also kills billions of peope to achieve his goal.

There are things like war crimes and after the war is over people are punished for them. Chemical weapons are part of that and killing civilians is 100% not fine or inevitable in war. They are only hit when one side decides to employ weapons directly against them instead of fighting on the battle fields.

Garlemald was also not backed into a corner..we know from the bad future that Eorzea was simply winning the battle on their ground and pushing back. There was no talk about them standing on the doorsteps of Garlemald..heck Elidibus already talked about black rose when they were at a stalemate..so no there is no good reason for them to use them, even in the bad future. They could have easily just make another try at peace and this time just said: Okay fine you get your countries but dont you dare attack us and the alliance would be fine with that. They never wanted a full blown war againt Garlemald.

Which meteor was cast by a normal person in recent history in FF14 that is that bad? The only meteor drop was from Bahamut..and the war of magi too was done by the Ascians. Right now there are probably not many people who would be able to do such a thing.

This point keeps coming up - what he is referring to in all likelihood is the people who lived on the Source before the Sundering, like the Amaurotines. This is not some obscure racial slant but a reference to the people who existed before the split, with his understanding formed by the knowledge imparted to him by the Ascians.


Nope, it just points to a different interpretation of the facts and wanting different things out of the game. This is very much a very subjective area of discussion.



It may be "speculation" but it is a very general formula and I am sorry but I don't see how Varis, intent on keeping the Empire together for the greater purpose of eventually overcoming the Ascians is closer to Zenos, whose only interest is causing destruction to fuel nothing else but his blood sport and thus quell his boredom. If they are putting Emet-Selch in the corner of the "sympathetic antagonist" given his aims, I am fairly confident Varis would fall into the same area.

Yes we know now that a race like that existed but we also know now that they intented to sacrifice everyone on the source to only get back those sacrificed people. So Varis talk about the perfect race (under the banner of Garlemald probably) would not exist because most of his people would probably be death anyway thanks to the calamities but those that survive would be sacrificed. So he is working for someone and creating death and destruction for some half truths he was probably told by Elidibus. For someone that wants rule under the hands of humanity its interesting how he threat humanity and how he still listens to Elidibus.

Yes parts of a discussion will always be subjective but there are also facts. Stuff that is shown ingame. One could of course interpret these facts differently but there is a point were it gets too much and the interpretations turn out to be wrong. So even in a subjective discussion one side can simply be wrong. (And I am not saying that you are, just pointing out that this can be the case)

Yet Emet was still a villian at the end, maybe one with more reasons but to us he was one. Yet some claim that Varis is not even a villian and this is imo false. You can find him sympathetic (I dont) but that does not change what he has done. Heck SE even went out of their way to give him the evil smile and evil aura. Why do that if they want to make him into a grey character or even turn to our side? Why not outright do scenes that are showing him in a good light? They could have easily have one sentence in the bad future where they tell us that he found out what black rose would lead to and wanted to stop it but was killed off and the weapon was used..yet there is no mention of him doing something else which gives us a big reason to believe that he let it be used.

Varis may see himself as the one that will lead humanity into a better future but "the greater good" is not a great reason for all actions. With all these wars he will kill many of his soldiers too. He was ready to slaughter all beast tribes, he is completely ready to kill anyone that goes against him even if they too have the best for Garlemald in their minds. He let it happen that other regions under Garlemalds control are threated badly (even sending his monster of a son there..) and he rules with such an iron hand that a well known theatre group flees from the country because they fear for their life simply because of their work. Something even Emet himself never did. For someone who seemingly stands for his people he really was doing a lot too that would hurt them. And in the end continued to work for and believe the words of an Ascian who was wearing the body of his death son.

[Theodric]

Varis was firmly against Zenos' actions, he simply found himself limited in what he could do due to his people essentially being held hostage by the Ascians. They attempted to persuade him to work with them, which he resisted doing for quite a while - and given that the Ascians would have thought little of killing him if he resisted for too long, it isn't particularly difficult to figure out why he reluctantly went along with at least part of their schemes.

One might even argue that he chose not to send reinforcements to Ala Mhigo out of a desire for his son to be put down like the rabid dog Zenos was - he outright stated on multiple occasions that Zenos was not fit to lead Garlemald. As for the theatre group, again that doesn't take into account Varis' position. Subversive elements working against him from within by risking instability were clearly putting his attempts to lead under further strain. I'd also point out that Solus was the one who set up the theatre in the first place and as such it may very well have been encouraged as part of his plan to plunge Garlemald into chaos.

Though, as always, certain posters insist on painting any Garlean that is not an outright defector in the worst possible light even when the story very clear shows that things are not so simple. It happened with many characters around these parts, including but not limited to Regula, Gaius, Varis, Yotsuyu, Fordola and Ardbert. Yet strangely those characters are condemned by many here whereas the one character deliberately written to be an outright monster is falsely attributed as being more complex than he actually is.

At any rate, his place often reminds me of a certain film:



If anyone happens to be unfamiliar with it, I'd encourage them to give it a look - it's a rather excellent reflection of people who take a fictional setting and the characters within far too seriously!

[Alleo]

Though, as always, certain posters insist on painting any Garlean that is not an outright defector in the worst possible light even when the story very clear shows that things are not so simple. It happened with many characters around these parts, including but not limited to Regula, Gaius, Varis, Yotsuyu, Fordola and Ardbert. Yet strangely those characters are condemned by many here whereas the one character deliberately written to be an outright monster is falsely attributed as being more complex than he actually is.


If anyone happens to be unfamiliar with it, I'd encourage them to give it a look - it's a rather excellent reflection of people who take a fictional setting and the characters within far too seriously!

Only half of those are Garlean anyway.

Gaius: As far as I can see the view on him is quite good on this forum. I would see him as one of the few that managed to change from a bad guy to someone that at least helps us in some way. He saw his mistakes and is now trying everything in his power to stop the Ascians. He has done some bad stuff and is fine with conquering (wondering if he still is after finding out all about the Ascians) but at the same time has shown to be honorable and has shown to have some morals too. He was against project meteor, is destroying black rose because its a horrible weapon and is also actively fighting against Asicans. He is a good written character with nuance.

Regula: Has barely any scenes in the game until he is killed of in a side quest. He could have been an interesting character but he barely was even in there. Was still ready to kill every beast tribe in the name of Varis and called us savages but showed that he has a heart by giving his life (and cares for the men under him).

Ardbert: Barely had any character when he had his first appearance and most people here were more annoyed that the WoD storyline was over so fast and we do know thanks to one interview that they did not really had their roles for Shadowbringer down either. I know of no person that outright hates him after shadowbringer and I really wished he could have stayed with us. So not sure why he even is on that list.

Yotsuyu: Well not everyone accepts that a bad past (and remember she was mistreated by a few people in one village) gives any right to do what she did later to everyone in Doma, including to people that were not even alive at that time. I am also not a fan of having such character getting amnesia but at least they solved it quite nicely imo. In the end she could not get over her revenge and choose that and took down Asahi too. I do believe that nothing much would have changed if she just had died with Gosetsu when the tower collapsed.

Fordola: She has some motives and one could understand her, but she still did war crimes against her own group! And threated those that also did not do anything to her like the worst. But she has a nice character development in form of her punishment. She does not get killed, she has to work for what she has done. A fitting end for such a character.

Varis: Was ready to do calamities to get his perfect race in a belief that this would give them the chance of winning against the ascians (while the WoL and Gaius just defeats them anyway) which in turn will probably kill of most of Garlemald anyway. (None of the bigger civilisations survived the calamities). Is ready to genocide the beast tribes, let people with different political opinions be killed of, takes down freedom of speech.

(And no we do know that Emet enjoyed the art. The theatre group outright states that it got only worse with Varis and that they had freedom of speech with Emet and that he loved to visit it, which fits perfectly with his character)

A few of these characters got necessary character development so people could understand and feel sympathetic quite more with them. And a couple of them died before they ever deeply explored these characters and we are left with the hints they have given ingame. We cant turn around and argue on what they could have done or would not do. In the end what they showed is what we have to work with.

Also if people have the right to love someone like Yotsuyu who was a monster with a bad past then people can have the right to love Zenos. If you argue that its emotionaly bad for someone to lose person x than you cant go around and say that this does not count for another character. Zenos too has lost his mother and the story hits us again and again that nobody is born evil. He was raised that way with probably a certain hang towards being how he is. But I am quite sure that he would not have turned out that way if he was raised somewhere else. That does not make him good, he is still a horrible monster that should be put down. But the same can be said about Yotsuyu for example. And if someone can feel sad for one, then its not surprising that others might feel that way for him too. (I dont understand it either but people are different with that)

You know who is missing from that list? Emet-Selch. Why? Because he seemingly was a well written character from beginning. I read a lot of curiosity about him when he was first revealed. And this continued until the end where he seemingly is now one of the most beloved villians of the game. He is charismatic, funny, with a hang to the dramatics. He has so many different sides and yet of course still clashes horrible with the morals of our character. But at the end when all is said and done a lot of people can feel sorry for him. Could see the burden he was wearing. Knowing that he had to be stopped, that it was horrible (for our races) on what he had planned but still understandable. Those are the villians we really could have more.

About your sentence with the movie: That can easily be turned around. Seeing how deeply some debatte when it comes to defending Garlemald and some of its members.

[Theodric]

About your sentence with the movie: That can easily be turned around. Seeing how deeply some debatte when it comes to defending Garlemald and some of its members.

I'm disappointed. The equivalent of 'no, u' as a comeback is rather pedestrian, don't you think? At any rate, you're incorrect! Garlemald isn't even my favourite faction in this game. My favourite characters aren't even Garlean, either. I just prefer bringing the facts to the table as they are established from the perspectives of the appropriate characters/factions to better counter the one sided arguments, manipulation of facts and moral grandstanding that goes on here.

It's pretty obvious that my posting style isn't super serious, too. Or at least it should be. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The only reason I even bother posting here these days is due to popular request. Most of my posts are over on the general discussion board, since there's less uptight and preachy folk over there. Not nearly as much tone policing, either I've noticed.

I'm not sure why many here cannot simply agree to disagree. It's not at all difficult, especially when it comes to subjective elements.

At any rate, I disagree with the idea that the characters listed above didn't get enough character development. They had plenty - enough to get a feel for their personalities and for those who were objective, they correctly deduced that there was much more to their motives. Yotsuyu didn't owe the world anything, either. She had to be stopped, though when someone is tormented in such a horrific manner then it isn't at all surprising that they lash out in response...especially if they are never shown a single mercy. Some victims of abuse do not turn out that way, though they're typically the ones who get help and ongoing support.

[Absimiliard]

Snip

No one is saying it was wrong of people to band together and drive the Garlean Empire out of their lands. What we are saying is that Garlemald was well within their rights to defend territories that they conquered. Again, a conquered land is legally the property of the conquering land until such time as it is liberated or released.

The Gunbreaker NPC you refer to did not have his family murdered by the Garlean military. They died as a result of an experiment gone awry - one which the perpetrating scientist has since made every effort to try and make up for. He is now working to make Ishgard a better place as one small step toward redeeming himself.

The game tells us on at least two separate occasions that the Garleans are getting desperate. The losses of Doma and Ala Mhigo left them in a very vulnerable position. Considering their history of abuse, oppression, and violence suffered by the other Spoken races, it's likely they perceive this threat as being of the direst nature.

I asked you to look at it without emotion because facts are facts. Feelings are irrelevant a lot of the time.

All those thaumaturges and whatever else in game that are shown to be able to throw meteors around? That also applies to lore. The War of Magi has already shown us how immensely destructive magic can be. Some areas of the Source were rendered uninhabitable as a result of the effects of spells themselves rather than the aether drain they required to cast. Worse still, there is even some text from way back in the day showing that the Eorzeans were considering taking steps to regain access to magic as it once was instead of simply being content with the lesser form of it they can cast now. Y'know what happens if they do that? War of Magi 2.0, probably yet another calamity, and possibly even the end of the world.