Quote Originally Posted by HyoMinPark View Post
Except we, the players, did not get the choice—and that caused its own disconnect amongst players; and I have read a lot of criticisms about this. **My WoL would not have fought him.**
I know I'm late to the party on this and maybe it's been addressed and you might not even be following the thread anymore but... the WoL isn't a blank insert character. They do have a personality and agency, though we do get to kind of color it a little bit. But most choices in the game are flavors of the same actual choice because the WoL does have desires of their own.

The WoL is Azem. Azem as we know is a thrill seeker and risk taker. Several times the WoL has canonically done things purely for the challenge of it (like making the Ironworks people take the safety off the Omega Savage simulations, or a similar step for the Warring Triad extremes). We duel other people with outright glee (Raubahn and Venat). We dive into several side dungeons and raids simply because the thought of adventure compels us to do so. We also know from the DRK questline that the WoL is frustrated with people asking him to handle all these easy tasks fubar they feel are beneath them and wants to let loose against something without holding back.

Zenos isn't offering the PLAYER the choice to walk away. He's offering Azem the choice to walk away. And while you can choose Azem's overall reason (enjoying the challenge, duty, revenge), Azem does not choose to walk away. Azem chooses to - with no external stakes, distractions or innocents who could get hurt - go all out.

Anyway the TLDR is we often forget the WoL has a canon- though slightly fluid - personally and backstory. For RP reasons we can ignore it but it is what the MSQ pulls from and acknowledges.