Ardbert's Party vs the Scions Analysis

[CrownySuccubus]

I don't think it's particularly appropriate to try and use potential real world personal losses/trauma as an attempted 'gotcha' moment. Especially not in the defence of...pixels on a screen in a video game of all things. Pretty creepy, actually!

That's a lot of virtue being signaled right now.

Especially for someone who is always complaining about how gross it is that the game promotes "genocide". You can't pick and choose what real virtues to be offended over and be disgusted with other people being offended over.

[aveyond-dreams]

It was a reflection about the true relationship between the two characters, which is plain enough that even the Wikis out there use the term 'sister' for Minfilia's relationship to Thancred. The inability to recognize that relationship (and even the statement about 'tragic lovers') was enough cause for the post.

There was nothing in the english version of the game to suggest this directly, especially given how both their faces look anyone could easily assume they were lovers or something.

[Juyira]

I haven't met anyone who thought they were lovers. And even if someone thought that, Post-HW patch 3.2 has Thancred affirm to Krile that it's not a romantic love at all when she teases him about Minfilia anyway. He states flat out that she's dear to him, though not in the way Krile would think. And explains what happened with her father and how he found fault with himself.

Edit: Poster below me has the exact scene I was talking about.

[MikkoAkure]

There was nothing in the english version of the game to suggest this directly, especially given how both their faces look anyone could easily assume they were lovers or something.

It’s in the English version…. Is it constantly hit over the player’s head in other versions or is “not in English” an excuse for not remembering things?

Minfilia is dear to me, it is true—but not in the way you think. Fifteen years past, when she was still but a child, there was an incident at a parade. A goobbue broke free of its fetters and ran amok through the streets of Ul’dah. Had I been more attentive, I could have prevented it…but I was distracted, and her father was killed.

I feared that she would never recover, but in the years that followed, she showed herself to be more resilient than I ever imagined. And when she learned of her gift, she did not flinch from the responsibility, but sought to guide others on the path.

She touched the hearts of all around her. Mine, Louisoix’s, every Scion’s. In those dark days following the Calamity, she was our guiding light—our hope for a brighter future. She had so many dreams…and I would give anything to make them come true.

[aveyond-dreams]

And? With how young they both look anyone could easily assume they were both kids or teenagers who got caught up in the chaos and then grew closer. They do not look like a father/daughter relationship. After that scene the most they could resemble is older brother/little sister but that isn't the default perception that is created in people's heads.

[Theodric]

As an aside, I miss flirty Thancred. The game has a pretty strange absence of romance in general that doesn't just involve certain NPC's fawning over the player character.

Ah, well. At least ESO has the likes of Jakarn and Darian.

[MikkoAkure]

And? With how young they both look anyone could easily assume they were both kids or teenagers who got caught up in the chaos and then grew closer. They do not look like a father/daughter relationship. After that scene the most they could resemble is older brother/little sister but that isn't the default perception that is created in people's heads.

All the characters look young.

And just because a male character and a female character interact with each other and you skip cutscenes doesn’t mean they’re automatically a couple and it’s the fault of the English version of the game that you didn’t read to know better.

It was pointed out they weren’t like that in all of 1.0, the bit of Heavensward I quoted above, and the Alchemist quests, which follow up on the 1.0 Ul’dah story. I believe someone spilled the beans to Ryne in Shadowbringers as well. I’d like to know where it’s stated more in other languages to show that it’s the English version’s fault that they look like a couple. It could have been mentioned a bit more, but it’s not like it wasn’t said before and if it is there in other languages I wonder when they did it and what the English text in the same passage said.

[Brinne]

I haven't met anyone who thought they were lovers. And even if someone thought that, Post-HW patch 3.2 has Thancred affirm to Krile that it's not a romantic love at all when she teases him about Minfilia anyway. He states flat out that she's dear to him, though not in the way Krile would think. And explains what happened with her father and how he found fault with himself.

Edit: Poster below me has the exact scene I was talking about.

And now you have! Hooray for discussion with other people?

And again, to be fair, what Rulakir said is that it probably would have worked better for her if it had been a lover's relationship due to her personal taste, which is... completely fine and not unreasonable? And that the vibes between them were sometimes strange and not well-defined, which I would agree with for the majority of the period of the where they were both active characters. Her take is certainly more generous than my take at the time, even as of the clarification in HW, which was basically: "Oh, I guess Thancred liked her or something. Eh, whatever. Don't care, lol." Even looking back and inclined to be nicer to Thancred, I still wouldn't call his dry description of his relationship with Minfilia particularly emotionally compelling, because we don't actually meaningfully see the relationship itself - just mourned by Thancred in a sort of general, guilt-ridden after it was already lost, mostly.

[CrownySuccubus]

Yeah, to simplify their relationship to my friends, I referred to Minifilia as "Thancred's lady friend". It didn't seem necessary to explain the full context of the relationship for them to understand what was going on as they watched me play.

[DPZ2]

Yeah, to simplify their relationship to my friends, I referred to Minifilia as "Thancred's lady friend". It didn't seem necessary to explain the full context of the relationship for them to understand what was going on as they watched me play.

Perhaps it is the fact that I have a couple more decades of experiences than many players. I would never have called Minfilia anyone's "lady friend".

"Little Sister", sure. "My boss", definitely. "A friend" was how she appears to be written in relation to the Warrior of Light in English dialogue.

Thancred had way too many "girls in every city-state" to make it feel probable that Minfilia was one of them. Plus, they share the same Father figure (Louisoix) in game.