Disappointed in one Endwalker Aspect [SPOILERS]

[Shookbeast]

I am of two minds with Azem. I of course am curious how they were and what they have done but at the same time I am like: Would it matter?
(Snipped for space)

Azem could matter for a few reasons I suppose.

1) Azem (and their shards/pieces) are a clear game mechanic that the writers/designers seem pretty keen on continuing to use. Call them “Chekhov’s Soul Shards” in that they’ve been mentioned, (and we know how many there are) - so it’s likely we’re going to see more of them as the story goes on. It would be a very odd plot-line to abandon - given it relates directly to the player character.

2) Azem relates directly to the player character. There’s been some argument that somehow Azem’s closeness to the player character will mean we won’t see Azem included - because it could conflict with headcanon. This has never stopped the writers before (see almost every major quest where we have to make an important decision - or are simply not allowed to decide). We’ll likely get some dialogue options to help give the illusion of choice - but really Azem is all about the story the writer’s want to tell.

3) Azem is a story device that could be described as an “ace in the hole.” Azem is a character held back, on reserve - until the writers know when/how they’d like to use them. Right now, we can only really speculate what Azem was up to - but the writers have taken time to mention Azem again and again - with the likely intention to someday use Azem when they have a particular story need. As far as what that particular need might be - our clues point toward it having something to do with/during the Sundering - but not necessarily involving either Venat or the Convocation.

4) Azem is the Sundering POV. Our character only exists because Azem got split into 14 pieces. At some point we’ll likely find out how that happened to Azem, what they were doing when it happened, and how they felt about it.

5) Azem is a solution to failure, and possibly a narrative twist. Because we don’t know what Azem was up to - or even who they really were - the writers are in a position to use Azem as a “get out of jail free” card. It’s entirely possible Azem did not fail at whatever they were doing (whether it was monster punching - or searching for an alternative to the Sundering). We may just not know the solution yet - because we haven’t met Azem yet (:

Given the list I made above - I think it’s possible we’ll get a playable/play-alongside Azem storyline, where we run the whole gamut of Final Fantasy questing. We’ll likely beat up Big Bads, visit strange new worlds - and also wander around collecting fire wood for strangers.

As far as time machines go - that was in jest. We all know Urianger is the one secretly from another time (;