Quote Originally Posted by Seraphor View Post
I think most people interpret that scene as him flat out stating is isn't going to use Zenos.

If they were going to use Zenos, Emerald would have been a much better choice. They could have given his oversoul a Shinryu reprieve, complete with it's green glow, and that way the Diamond-Gaius reveal in 5.5 would have been much more meaningful and a fitting conclusion to the 'Werlyt' saga, ending it with a fight in Werlyt itself.

Now, they have to top the Gaius/Werlyt battle somehow.
My takeaway from that scene was not "Valens is not going to use Zenos' data" but "Valens is going to keep making adjustments and throwing "savages" into the meatgrinder until he gets his desired results, e.g. a "Zenos" that is loyal and obedient to him."

I agree that using Gaius for the final battle would be thematically fitting, but apparently that's not the direction they decided to go in. I earlier said surprises are not this game's strong suit, but I was earnestly surprised they did not save him for last.

No disrespect but "They should have done [X] instead of [Y]" isn't very productive for making guesses (educated or otherwise) as to where a given plot is going.