Bringing this up because I was reminded of it recently, I am going to quote Hythlodaeus’s statement from Ultima Thule, which in retrospect seems like such an unbelievable thing to say now:

“Oh, come now. It’s been a gripping tale. Unbreakable bonds and noble sacrifice, sprinkled with moments of levity to counterbalance the pathos. It’s got it all.”
First of all, are you kidding me? Second of all, this statement only makes sense if we ignore the fact that this just didn’t happen in Endwalker. Oh there was “levity” all right, far too much of it for a story set against the backdrop of an apocalypse. Noble sacrifices? That were completely undone not 30 seconds after he says these lines? What in the world is he talking about here besides the sacrifices made by mostly the antagonist factions and Ahewann? The only thing “unbreakable” here is the plot armor surrounding the scions, doesn’t make for a very gripping tale when it’s clear the stakes for the main cast aren’t higher than those in an episode of Blue’s Clues.

His statement can only apply to the expansions previous to this one, back when I wasn't nearly as concerned for this game's direction as I am now.