Do you think there is a reason Garleans can't use magic?

[Jandor]

The Garleans lack of magical ability isn't generally that big a deal, the average Eorzean can't really use magic in any meaningful capacity either.

Sure, theoretically Eorzeans can learn how to do it, but most don't really seem to bother. Even if they do try and learn, it's no guarantee that they'll actually be any good at it.

We run in very magically proficient circles and therefore the Garlean lack of magic looks like a ridiculously over the top handicap, but compare the average Eorzean to the average Garlean and frankly, the Garleans seem to win out.

[MikkoAkure]

The Garleans lack of magical ability isn't generally that big a deal, the average Eorzean can't really use magic in any meaningful capacity either.

Sure, theoretically Eorzeans can learn how to do it, but most don't really seem to bother. Even if they do try and learn, it's no guarantee that they'll actually be any good at it.

We run in very magically proficient circles and therefore the Garlean lack of magic looks like a ridiculously over the top handicap, but compare the average Eorzean to the average Garlean and frankly, the Garleans seem to win out.

Except Eorzeans DO use magic on a day-to-day basis. There's the obvious ones like people using crystals for crafting and aetherytes for traveling. Even though most people who aren't the WoL can't travel with the aetherytes repeatedly over great distances, the lore book says that all settlements are built around them. And it's been awhile so I can't remember all the details clearly, but I thought I remember the ALC storyline telling us that all Eorzeans can and do manipulate aether for mundane things like lifting heavy objects. That would explain why we can wield such gigantic weapons and go head-to-head with giants, even if we weren't the WoL. In addition to that, all DoW abilities also are said to be done by manipulating aether. Not everything to do with aether is "magecraft".

In-game, the Garleans' lack of aether manipulation is treated as a major disadvantage. It would be one thing if it was just "Oh, they can't be mages." but it's not treated that way. The reason the Garleans are located where they are now is because every race and tribe from across Ilsabard kicked them across the continent and unless every one of them had an army of mages, it would make more sense if the deciding factor in the fights against the early Garleans was the fact that the people they were fighting augmented their fighting ability with aether. It would also explain why the Garleans are so big, they have to be large and strong in a world where every living being in the world can manipulate aether but they can't.