i think most characters are safe now. i dont think there will be many deaths and if there are any deaths then it will be some random side character. the writers tend to lean towards positive emotion when playing ffxiv; they especially want to be uplifting for everyone living through the stress of the pandemic.

the direction they are taking this is a lot like kingdom hearts and world hopping. for the sake of mmo story, they are making our WoL into someone who crosses worlds. when they end this story arc completely, WoL will cross over into a new world shard where we will meet an entirely new cast of characters again and embark on a new storyline. they have been building up the world of ffxiv to explain how the WoL can cross into other worlds, now they have laid out the template for future expansions.