Something in 5.3 MSQ felt off to me (SPOILERS)

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I viewed it as seto simply reading a message from the soul of adrbert, nothing more.

He wasn't really speaking through your mouth.

[DiaDeem]

Thanks everyone for your kind responses! I'm very glad to see that I'm not the only one who thought the situation was odd.

Personally, while I understand the concept of the sundered soul, the idea of two people sharing a soul after becoming their own person just feels wrong and intrusive to me. I just won't accept it for my WoL. We may be shards of a sundered original soul, but we are now ourselves, and again: I don't even think Ardbert would want such an existence.

That doesn't exclude the two from still being their "own people". That's pretty much the whole basis of the conflict of 5.0; Emet thinks the Sundered trying to claim they are still their own people are nothing but pathetic shadows of their actual "complete" selves that shouldn't even count as people, and we're trying to show him otherwise.

I also very much agree with this!

Maybe Minfilia's not actually dead

There was a very sad yet heartwarming story bit with F'lhaminn at some point within ShB that pretty much bids farewell to our original Minfilia, which I believe did a great job concluding her arc.

On voices, it's a curious thing but I've never enjoyed playing this with the voices switched on. I've tried a few times but it always feels a bit off

That's very interesting! I've always played with voices, so turning them off must be an entirely different experience, specially for something like this topic! I don't think I would have ever imagined Ardbert speaking through my mouth if I didn't openly heard it.

So while Seto "saw" Ardbert in our soul, I think it was a "this all happened in a thought bubble" moment.

I like this interpretation! I can appreciate the Amaro being able to sense and see some particular colors and shapes in someone's soul, which I think works better abstractly and in a way is much more powerful and symbolic than Ardbert literally being there.

I viewed it as seto simply reading a message from the soul of adrbert, nothing more. He wasn't really speaking through your mouth.

I like this interpretation too! I believe it gives better closure to both their stories now that we've concluded the ShB story.

Once again, thanks everyone for reading and taking the time to compose a reply! Safe travels across the realm!

-Viv

[Rosenstrauch]

There was a very sad yet heartwarming story bit with F'lhaminn at some point within ShB that pretty much bids farewell to our original Minfilia, which I believe did a great job concluding her arc.

Oh, I know. And I'm in full agreement on that. But it wouldn't be the first time Minfilia died, with characters reacting to her death and trying their best to move on, only for her to miraculously be brought back to life. That it's accompanied by a funeral this time around makes it seem permanent, but there have been enough odd moments since the Crossroads quest that I feel like the writers are trying to leave her fate partly open-ended.

That said, it'd be pretty weird, being able to do a sidequest where you attend her funeral in a post-revival situation.

[DiaDeem]

Oh, I know. And I'm in full agreement on that. But it wouldn't be the first time Minfilia died, with characters reacting to her death and trying their best to move on, only for her to miraculously be brought back to life. That it's accompanied by a funeral this time around makes it seem permanent, but there have been enough odd moments since the Crossroads quest that I feel like the writers are trying to leave her fate partly open-ended.

That said, it'd be pretty weird, being able to do a sidequest where you attend her funeral in a post-revival situation.

Yeah, for sure! I sometimes feel the writers have wrote themselves into corners throughout XIV's story, so they make up all these new solutions that sometimes work better than others. With sooo many characters "returning" through "strange means" throughout that story, I guess it wouldn't surprise me, but it'd still feel super weird. Really wanted to give F'lhaminn a hug during that quest at the end

[Clover_Blake]

I found it a very beautiful scene, it made me teary. And seeing that my WoL is also a male Midlander, it's not odd for me to imagine that Ardbert is a part of him, just like it wasn't odd to hear Ardbert's voice coming from his mouth in that other scene.

I just don't know everything this entails. Is Ardbert alive? Does he have thoughts of his own? Is he aware of everything happening in the WoL's everyday? How does this work exactly?

[DiaDeem]

Is Ardbert alive? Does he have thoughts of his own? Is he aware of everything happening in the WoL's everyday? How does this work exactly?

Well, if you ask me personally, the answer to all those questions is a resounding no. Beside such ideas feeling really invasive for the WoL's character/privacy, to me it just feels like it goes against Ardbert's character and the message itself of the story in Shadowbringers about each person's individual and irreplaceable value.

That said, I still appreciate you took the time to read my topic and reply with your honest thoughts! I have friends who felt the way you did and I just like seeing how each player treats story bits for their WoLs. I've explained in detail how I feel in my previous posts. If anything, I believe the game speaking to us in different ways is a testament to how much we care

Thanks again for your post! <3

-Viv

[Kirajah]

It is my (technically) (head)canon that ever since the end of 5.0 that all our WoL's, even the smallest, girliest lalafel - talks with Ardbert's voice and no one can convince me otherwise and all the npcs just accept that.
No one can change my mind. I love it.

[Fredco191]

It is my (technically) (head)canon that ever since the end of 5.0 that all our WoL's, even the smallest, girliest lalafel - talks with Ardbert's voice and no one can convince me otherwise and all the npcs just accept that.
No one can change my mind. I love it.

But then what would we have sounded like before the end 5.0?

[Totorixiii]

I don't view it as a soul merge. But simply soul wandering like a ghost/angel?

[Alleo]

The question then: If Ardbert still somehow exist, why is our head not full of the souls of all the other people that got rejoined with us? (We would have been alive at the 7th calamity) Why would he be special?