Assume full MSQ spoilers. 3/3

Best zone in the game and you know which one I'm talking about without my saying it, don't you?
Going back to Elpis, it was both the best and one of the most heartbreaking parts of EW for me. Regardless of what Elidibus said, I felt the possibility of saving the Ancient world was on the table especially following an expansion that introduced alternate timelines in order to save the WoL's life and the First from being rejoined. Instead, after a lovely MSQ experience with my favorite characters, it's ripped away with a ludicrous mind wiping plot device. I was angry, devastated. It was one of the only two times in the game I not only sat and cried, but genuinely didn't feel like playing anymore. Needless to say, the second time was before the last dungeon. The Ancients could've had at least one timeline in which they weren't destroyed and I'd argue that morally that was the only correct choice (which is why it needed to be an alternate timeline since it obviously wouldn't work if the WoL ceased to exist). Elpis carried this expansion hard, which makes it all the more egregious that it ended in tragedy that could've been avoidable.


Scions:
Contrast this with the Scion's plot armor, likely why I have to keep watching my Ancient friends die because the writers/devs won't touch the protagonists. The reason they keep having to bring up losses of characters introduced in ARR is because no major character on the side of the protagonists has died since HW. Having our group discuss overcoming despair when comparatively they've lost the least of any of the peoples we help or fight against rang hollow. The only exceptions are G'raha and Estinien. It's not that I wanted Scions to die (though I'd easily trade over half of them for Emet and Hythlodaeus), but they always win and without having to incur much in the way of costs. Maybe this contributes to why I feel like the Ancients have a more compelling story and characters. As a comment on Reddit said, "I adore their story more than our story."


I felt bludgeoned by the theme and I have to wonder how much of that was pushed due to covid.

Unanswered questions:
Lastly, the sheer amount of unanswered questions, particularly from ShB. When/why did Azem leave the Convocation? Why did Azem not join Venat if she was their mentor? What was Azem's fate (aside from the obvious sundering)? How did the unsundered escape being sundered? What did Emet succeed in doing to Zenos? Why was Zenos dreaming about Amaurot? These are just off the top of my head.


TL;DR: EW is middle of the pack for me, I thought ShB and HW were better.