[Spoilers] Garlemald is a wasted opportunity

[MoofiaBossVal]

Did we find out what even happened to Lord Nerva? Was he just tempered or killed offscreen in between ShB and Endwalker?

[GrizzlyTank]

Not much that can survive 2-3 civil wars in a year along with mass mind-control and transformation of most of the remaining citizens.

Even then there are still some legions that remain and might try to found their own nations such as the 4th in south/western Othard.

[iheartlove42]

Right, I think it was convenient for the writers to destroy Garlemald because development of the story around the Garlean Empire and its people as a whole is sorely lacking. I suppose they did put the Ascians in the forefront permanently as the main enemy in ShB, when they made it so that the Empire was formed by an Ascian and the one pulling the strings, which was shoddy writing and makes me think they just wanted to sweep the Garlean Empire under the rug.

Despite the Garlemald disappointment I think the rest of EW ties up the story well and the subsequent zones somewhat make up for it.

Garlemald Empire being a puppet state for the villains is par the course for Final Fantasy.

[GrizzlyTank]

Garlemald Empire being a puppet state for the villains is par the course for Final Fantasy.

Pretty much FF staples aside from enemies. Crystals, an empire and a "jester".
Even FFXIV have had multiple "empires" and "jesters"

ARR: the XIV, lahabrea
HW: the VIth/church, pope
SB: the XII, Zenos
ShB: eulmore, emet
EW: garlemald, fandaniel

[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.

[dynus]

<snip>

Hell, we know they were making copies of Ultima weapon when we played as Estinien. Where are they? Where are their airships?

I don't know if they told us of Garlean history before this expansion, but the fact that they kept throwing garbage in our faces like "they were chased from their original land" and "it's really cold here, like all the time even though that has never been mentioned once. Feel sorry for them yet?" just made me hate the area even more since they were trying to get us to pity them for no reason.

The narrative of them being chased from their homelands has been around since at least Stromblood. Possibly Heavensward, as I know the Great Gubal Library has (very easily missable) references to Garelmald in it via books you can look at, which is where we learn what most of the naming conventions of Garleans come from; van, pyr, quo, and the like.

The area being cold and unforgiving has been around much longer. It's very much a story of revenge, and the damaging effects it has on everyone. As for where the airships and ultima weapons went? I imagine they were destroyed and their materials used for building the Tower of Babil by the tempered Garleans.

[Bright-Flower]

The ultima weapon copying thing, those were probably early prototypes of the weapons program that we dealt with in Shadowbringers. Between the WOL destroying all of those, and Gaius/Estinien wrecking the facility we saw the prototype in, and the results of the empire's civil war collapse, and the mass enthrallment of its population, it's not shocking that a lot that stuff was lost.

[Laisera]

I don't recall where it was said before, but their homeland being very cold and unforgiving and being driven there by others was not new information in EW, pretty sure we knew that as early as ARR or even 1.0.

It was at least mentioned during Return to Ivalice, I know that. (as part of the relevance of Dalmasca)

[MrThinker]

It was at least mentioned during Return to Ivalice, I know that. (as part of the relevance of Dalmasca)

Out of the game, it was mentioned earlier in the first Encyclopedia Eorzea, which came out just before Stormblood, and had a full section on Garlemald.

[Gameovers]

I was wondering when someone was gonna make this topic. I don't care about Garlemald personally, but I will say with people screaming to go there all the time it is funny when you finally go it's nothing but ruins lol. I actually do like the radio jiggle tho. It's cute but sells how fucked up the mood is there all too well.