[Spoilers] Garlemald is a wasted opportunity

[Antoine_Lenheim]

The racism part on the side of the Alliance was explained pretty well. The group was basically volunteers in the minority that wanted to help. They make it clear that for every one person willing to go there were at least 10 who refused. This was a hand picked group for the mission.

On the garlean side, there was plenty of it. From the group at the one house who refuse to accept that you're there to help to the point of the two sisters fleeing in fear and dying out in the cold rather than accept your aid, to the legatus committing suicide rather than letting go of the past and accepting aid, to many of the soldiers you can talk to while in their subway base etc.

I know all of this and yet it still felt poorly done.

The Garleans got the shaft almost as much as the empire in FFXV where the whole "Empire", an Empire that conquered more than their fair share of countries, becomes nothing in the backstory.

And when we do get introduced to it, it's a husk of frightened frozen soldiers and unreasonably stupid civilians.

[Bright-Flower]

I know all of this and yet it still felt poorly done.

The Garleans got the shaft almost as much as the empire in FFXV where the whole "Empire", an Empire that conquered more than their fair share of countries, becomes nothing in the backstory.

And when we do get introduced to it, it's a husk of frightened frozen soldiers and unreasonably stupid civilians.

Seems to be a recurring trend. I never played XV but the Magitek Empire in VI was the main antagonist through the first half of the game. Then Kefkak ills the emperor and screws up the world and the empire is just gone save for one random surviving trooper, and much of the capital being repurposed for Kefka's final dungeon.

Type 0 is kind enough to wait for you to actually fully defeat the Empire before the doomsday shows up.

[symbiote129]

I know all of this and yet it still felt poorly done.

The Garleans got the shaft almost as much as the empire in FFXV where the whole "Empire", an Empire that conquered more than their fair share of countries, becomes nothing in the backstory.

And when we do get introduced to it, it's a husk of frightened frozen soldiers and unreasonably stupid civilians.

Just so you know, the Garlean Empire existed for decades and cultivating their culture was part of it. They developed a cult of personality around Solus aka Emet-Selch to enforce that hatred towards their magical counterparts that was stewing in their nation for centuries before they became the "Empire". Indoctrination was very important so that they have loyal people to their "cause". These "unreasonably stupid" civilians might not have acted stupid towards you if you were a Garlean yourself. Those who could get out of that mindset are mostly those of high education like Cid and Nero, those who travelled outside their country and develop a different view.

More as to why they vehemently deny help when they needed to is because the fact that their country is no more because of an another civil war is their "caught with their pants down" moment. They have been known as a superpower that was about to conquer the whole world and spouted all sort of nonsense that could be said to them as well and this happens to them. Those old guard like that 1st Legion legatus person couldn't see wrong of what he did to the twins and the WoL. He is like following the "can't teach old dog tricks anymore" saying.

[Slatersev]

I know all of this and yet it still felt poorly done.

The Garleans got the shaft almost as much as the empire in FFXV where the whole "Empire", an Empire that conquered more than their fair share of countries, becomes nothing in the backstory.

And when we do get introduced to it, it's a husk of frightened frozen soldiers and unreasonably stupid civilians.

Wha..why did you expect the civilians of an empire with multiple generations of nationalist indoctrination and all of whom are obviously suffering from PSTD to act rationally?

Like, what? Have you seen the way people in the real world have behaved about a certain pandemic? People are stupid and irrational at the absolute best of times. And Garlemald is no where near the best of times even before Fandaniel wiped it out.