Times like these I am reminded of how Archades was wrapped up in the aftermath of FFXII. Larsa, who unlike Alphinaud didn't regress in terms of his characterization and was less preachy besides, ended up becoming Emperor. With the senate and their political machinations out of the way and under control, a new positive future awaited them without completely uprooting their political system.

What an intriguing concept. If only such care was given to FFXIV's Garlean Empire, instead the writers choosing to exclude Gaius from its narrative in Endwalker, refuse to flesh out characters like Nerva, and leave the Leveilleur family to set up a samey republican provisional government as has been done many times in the past. This song and dance has gotten too old and it needs to be called out at every available juncture so that the message is made clear that this cannot be repeated again and that it has thoroughly disappointed those of us who are fans of the Empire. We exist.

I hope that in the future and for the sake of this game's longevity that Alphinaud and the remaining scions are permanently benched in favor of a more interesting party. The route of having immortal forever characters (who also happen to all look the same) does not make for anything good outside preserving the feelings of the twitter community, who would be quick to attach themselves to the latest new posterboy regardless.

6.2, from both a gameplay and story perspective, represents a make or break moment for the game. I do hope that they restore people's confidence in both, but after all that has happened since the launch of Endwalker a lot of confidence and goodwill has been lost.