Quote Originally Posted by Y2K21 View Post
Again: I will repeat the same question I asked.

Why bother writing the Field Notes like that at all if you plan on continuing the story? Its not a subversion of expectations nor good storytelling.
Because instead of everybody asking "Why didn't anybody hunt him down before now!?" when he shows back up again, it gives us a reason ahead of time...everybody thought the man was dead. It's future proofing the storyline, and also allows them to integrate him into the story without us even knowing its him. Example, we could end up meeting some random sick NPC who is part of a questline in EW that we end up helping get better, and then find out when Ivalice is picked back up again that it was really him, resulting in a serious "Nice Job Breaking It Hero" moment. It allows major twists and turns, and for them to think outside of the box with what to do with him. In general it's Storywriting 101, if you want to use a character later but want to put them on the backburner, you have to write them out of the story temporarily.