*SPOILERS* Terrified for the remaining Scions!

[TheMightyMollusk]

Why would it be? I'll be the first to admit that WoW often went in the opposite direction and had a little too much destruction and death but it was hardly lacking in consequences and leadership positions were always at risk of changing to prevent stagnation,

Until Thrall gets slotted back into the Horde. Again. Even when he's not officially a part of it, they still tend to defer to him, so it's not a big functional difference.

entire settlements were wiped off of the map

I left the game early in Legion, so I haven't kept up much with what happens later; but I do remember there being no particular consequences for Garrosh bombing Theramore into a smoking crater. It was just another cheap shock stunt to try to ramp up the faction war.

and even beloved lore characters were at risk of being slain to prove that the latest big bad was, in fact, a major threat.

That's not a consequence, that's shock value. From Bolvar Fordragon and Saurfang the Younger at the Wrathgate (yes, I know, they came back later), to Vol'jin, Varian, and Tirion during the beginning of Legion. They were thrown away because the writers decided they wanted a hook. None of them are shown as being a result of anything they did to deserve it; they just get killed off so the next leader can step up.

[Theodric]

Well, we can agree to disagree on that. It may not have been handled perfectly but there were consequences. I'm talking about consequences in the context of the protagonists not necessarily getting everything they want, all the time. As well as, of course, the simple fact that WoW is in itself split into two different factions and then again into many different playable races each with their own agenda and culture. Which is itself something FFXIV is sorely lacking. There's no unique starter zones for each playable race. There's no defined goal or culture beyond regional ones - and even in the case of the Xaela, who have their own unique cultures as a race, it's utterly irrelevant in the context of the player character because they themselves have abandoned their homeland in favour of travelling further afield.

Ultimately, WoW's world felt dangerous. Again, I'm not saying it was handled perfectly - I'm pretty salty as a Blood Elf and Night Elf fan how many plot threads were handled - but it was pleasant to see things shaken up from time to time. I don't particularly like any of the City State leaders other than Hien and there's minimal chance any of them will be killed off or replaced. Which leads to stagnation. I'm sure the people who like them are thrilled but this thread alone is proof enough that opinions are rather mixed and that there's a growing number of people becoming more than a little tired of interacting with many of the same faces day in day out in what is becoming a rather bloated and stagnant cast.

[MikkoAkure]

If anything, I think the writers will be less likely to kill off major characters or “nuke a city-state” after how poorly that was received by the WoW community. Besides the fact that game has stagnated and has been circling the drain so the writers have abandoned common sense for shocking events.

I think the reason the races don’t have their own completely separate cultures and cities is because FFXI already did that and the entire plot was about racism causing trouble and it would be tiresome to have to do that all over again with the same exact races from FFXI.

[Iscah]

I do wish they'd actually shown the scene of the Exarch merging with the younger G'raha. If they'd actually had some dialogue, maybe come to an understanding, made any effort to make it work, it might've helped. But with 5.3 running long already, I guess they decided that had to hit the chopping block.

They had a conversation in my take on it. >_>

As I picture it, the Exarch appeared to G'raha in a sort of dream, having finally had second thoughts about just taking over without asking permission, and offered to not go through with it – but G'raha concludes that it would be worth it to gain so much knowledge on current-and-future history, upcoming famous people, and a hundred years of reading Allagan tomes from the tower.

I had to think a bit to come up with that answer myself, but I think it totally fits with young G'raha's motivations and his tendency to talk about things from the viewpoint of recording them as history. Preserving the sort of knowledge that the Exarch holds is worth a risk of some personal discomfort and odd memories.

[KizuyaKatogami]

It's a pretty typical anime/video game trope for a heroic character to have that last desperate surge of strength despite them being at death's door seconds before. It's also a well-established fact in this game that a strong enough emotion or desire can generate power. And given that the game is, despite touching on darker themes, overall a heroic fantasy story, I don't really feel like it stands out that much.

I do wish they'd actually shown the scene of the Exarch merging with the younger G'raha. If they'd actually had some dialogue, maybe come to an understanding, made any effort to make it work, it might've helped. But with 5.3 running long already, I guess they decided that had to hit the chopping block.

It being an “anime trope” doesn’t change it from being poor writing though. This game has always created lore points and then expanded upon them. It’s one of the better things about the story because people who really get invested in the lore get a nice feeling of payoff for paying attention when it unfolds. Again, it wouldn’t be as big of a problem if they hadn’t mentioned it throughout the entire story multiple times, acting as if they were going to do something with it only for it to be completely dropped. It took away from that entire moment for me because it didn’t feel earned at all. It just felt like another, “here’s an asspull for the protagonist side because we can’t write anything better.” It just defied the lore points that they themselves had written. It felt like a slap in the face for people who follow the lore closely.Especially at this point since it’s just like, well if they’re going to keep doing asspulls, why even bother following the lore at all. We’ll just keep winning through plot devices and plot holes.

To be fair, if aether is anything like MP, and it's something with, for lack of a better word, inconsistent volume [something very common in anime tropes], nothing says he couldn't recharge at least a bit of his energy while 'resting" in isolation and used all that he had left in that last fight. The issue wouldn't have been him doing all that, but rather, showing no lasting effects of doing so, if not being on a full on comma until idk, 5.1 - Plot armor isn't necessarily the same as plot hole

That said, I'm just saying this as what ifs so they can be taken with a grain of salt.

I would believe this if they didnt explicitly state the tower functions as his power source basically. Hence why once he gets a certain distance from it he begins to weaken. He basically starts running out of energy and it drains him. He really shouldnt have had any left after being that far down there for however long he was.

[Kolsykol]

I wouldn't even call it an Anime trope, it's just that people have a tendency to attribute negative things and stereotypes to Anime.
Sudden power surges and completely inconsistent power levels is just common place in fantasy.

I don't rly think it's that bad in this game, both the WoL and other story characters have gotten their asses kicked multiple times too.
It has never really bothered me much in FFXIV.

[Momo_Kozuki]

EW may base some of its theme on FF4 (coming to the Moon, the rabbit race of Namingway, then you see they sell FF4-related things like Lunar Whale and the minions).


So, story-wise, there is a chance that the twin will get into some sort of trouble like the twin in FF4 (they petrified themselves to stop advancing walls of doom), rendering them absent for some time.


Then you know in FF4, there is this old man named Tellah. He is a Sage. He died due to exceed his MP pool to cast the powerful spell Meteor. It is possible that Alphinaud, who becomes a Sage will exhaust himself trying to cast some grand spells, or simply run out of juice when trying to shield WoL from a big attack.



Whether he dies or not, it is hard to tell. But if SE want to kill off one of the twin, Alisae seems to be more likely the one to go. Out of the twin, she is more reckless, hot-headed, so more prone for being killed in battle. Alphinaud is a more helpful when it comes to rebuilding the world post-EW, and he will just continue Alisae's treatment for the tempered.


Another candidate that have a higher risk of dying is Thancred. His story is already completed back in ShB, and he has someone continuing his legacy despite she is in a different world. His liability to use magic and having to rely on other people's charging his cartridges may become a fatal weakness.


Einstein is a candidate too, but he may get away as a rule-of-cool character.



In short, the battle-type characters are more prone to get themself killed/sacrificed, while the scholar-type characters are more likely alive for world rebuilding.

Out of all characters, the one I don't mind dying is Lyse. I don't feel any attachment to her since her poorly-written story back in Stormblood. It feels cringy everytime she appears on the screen.

[RyuDragnier]

I would believe this if they didnt explicitly state the tower functions as his power source basically. Hence why once he gets a certain distance from it he begins to weaken. He basically starts running out of energy and it drains him. He really shouldnt have had any left after being that far down there for however long he was.

How much of it was a lie though? Remember, on Mt. Gulg he was about to throw himself and the Lightwardens power into the Rift, something that shouldn't have been possible if he was indeed weakened that much. He may have been purposefully holding onto a specific amount of power for that purpose and doing everything he could to avoid using it. Not to mention that Emet-Selch wanted him alive so he could discover how he traveled through the Rift and time, so Emet-Selch may have also been providing him with aether to keep him alive while in The Tempest.

[KizuyaKatogami]

How much of it was a lie though? Remember, on Mt. Gulg he was about to throw himself and the Lightwardens power into the Rift, something that shouldn't have been possible if he was indeed weakened that much. He may have been purposefully holding onto a specific amount of power for that purpose and doing everything he could to avoid using it. Not to mention that Emet-Selch wanted him alive so he could discover how he traveled through the Rift and time, so Emet-Selch may have also been providing him with aether to keep him alive while in The Tempest.

There are just far too many unknowns like. We can try and rationalize things, but the fact of the matter is they don’t explain it, and it does clash with what we do know. Again even if he was lying, the fact of the matter is he was amazingly far away from the tower. Like miles upon miles below the ocean and on the opposite side of the tower, whilst also having been shot and it had to have at the very least been a day or two since we passed out.

EW may base some of its theme on FF4 (coming to the Moon, the rabbit race of Namingway, then you see they sell FF4-related things like Lunar Whale and the minions).


So, story-wise, there is a chance that the twin will get into some sort of trouble like the twin in FF4 (they petrified themselves to stop advancing walls of doom), rendering them absent for some time.


Then you know in FF4, there is this old man named Tellah. He is a Sage. He died due to exceed his MP pool to cast the powerful spell Meteor. It is possible that Alphinaud, who becomes a Sage will exhaust himself trying to cast some grand spells, or simply run out of juice when trying to shield WoL from a big attack.



Whether he dies or not, it is hard to tell. But if SE want to kill off one of the twin, Alisae seems to be more likely the one to go. Out of the twin, she is more reckless, hot-headed, so more prone for being killed in battle. Alphinaud is a more helpful when it comes to rebuilding the world post-EW, and he will just continue Alisae's treatment for the tempered.


Another candidate that have a higher risk of dying is Thancred. His story is already completed back in ShB, and he has someone continuing his legacy despite she is in a different world. His liability to use magic and having to rely on other people's charging his cartridges may become a fatal weakness.


Einstein is a candidate too, but he may get away as a rule-of-cool character.



In short, the battle-type characters are more prone to get themself killed/sacrificed, while the scholar-type characters are more likely alive for world rebuilding.

Out of all characters, the one I don't mind dying is Lyse. I don't feel any attachment to her since her poorly-written story back in Stormblood. It feels cringy everytime she appears on the screen.

Tbh i always find it weird when people say thancred is prime for dying because his arc is complete(which it is.) But you can say the same for yshtola and urianger as well. Yshtola’s life is supposed to be decaying anyways so maybe by the end of EE she’ll finally croak. Urianger idk he’s never really had an arc besides not lying to us but he keeps repeating that anyways so idek anymore.

[DPZ2]

Why would it be? I'll be the first to admit that WoW often went in the opposite direction and had a little too much destruction and death but it was hardly lacking in consequences and leadership positions were always at risk

With the exception of Sylvanus, whose plot armor was so thick that she was resurrected at least once.

I spent expansion after expansion watching her suffer exactly zero consequences for her leadership decisions. That's what's called a Really Slow Burn in fan fiction.