Political Ideology and Storytelling Within FFXIV

[MikkoAkure]

It’s why they use the term protagonist and antagonist as opposed to hero/villain. Story has never really been straightforward.

The Japanese title of the expansion Shadowbringers is literally “Jet-Black Villains”.

Lahabrea laughs and monologues while floating above carnage he caused in ARR. At that point of the story, I don’t think you’re supposed to think “hmm, this is morally ambiguous and he may have a very good reason for this”.

You can easily say the game has become more nuanced since then, but ARR is very straightforward and black and white.

I'd fight for them purely because what happened to them was completely out of their control. They were kicked out by other countries simply because they couldnt use aether. They then adapted and conquered those same countries. Pretty cool conquest story and i do quite like conquest.

That was 800 years ago, and they went to war and lost against the natives of Southern Ilsabard after making territorial claims on that land after they had already blown their own homeland up.

Conquest isn’t exactly the cool thing to do either, neither in video games nor in real life. Especially when it’s based on a lie spread by shadowy spirits at the behest of their dark god. But you do you I guess.