The atrocity that was the "In from the Cold" quest ending - *STORY RANT*

[Kaurhz]

I'm always conflicted with this one...

On one hand, they absolutely nailed the sense of danger from it, and it actually felt like somewhat of an adventure, so it would be nice if they did more with this open element. But it was a mistake for a duty like this to come at the expense of effectively removing the player.

On the other hand, they did absolutely nothing with it afterward, and everything they could have done with it would've just felt very cheap, IMO.

[Vyrerus]

Yeah, it was ultimately a disappointing quest with no stakes. He didn't have to kill anyone. He would have just hit any of the Scions while in our body, and that would have at least induced some sort of trauma springboard that could have been played off of.

Keep in mind, too, that the way the quest ended, Zero was being extended out of the WoL's body and very much attacking, and the WoL stopped Zero by using the rest of the strength in that Garlean's corpse to throw his sword through Zero.

People are right to think that the quest is ultimately toothless. The villains both suddenly stopped to monologue and threaten with sadistic glee, and even Alisaie says something to the effect of, "How many more pointless tricks will they play?"

[NekoMataMata]

To set it up so well and instill such a powerful sense of tension only to have it end in such a dull, deflated sort of way was so disappointing and just... nonsensical, really. Even having a single Scion sustain a moderate injury through the pretext of Zenos "testing the body out" would have made a lot more sense from a narrative perspective, while still managing to resolve that tension in a satisfying way and leave a significant impression on the characters/ story with the emotional turmoil and feeling of uncertainty/ insecurity it would create. You don't need to drown the scenario in abject misery to make it impactful.

This would actually be amazing.

I mean when you think about it our companions are so close knit. It's very rare that there's harsh disagreements between our main group of scions. It's just really well set up for a sort of trust broken, trust rebuilding arc.

[Eisi]

Again: He's not above killing. He just doesn't care about it. Mass murder already failed to do what he wanted, so more would be a waste of effort.

Are you retroactively just characterizing Zenos as "Whatever he did made sense for him, else he wouldn't have done it"?

[DiaDeem]

Meanwhile in Doma

[TowaIsBestGirl]

relevant post I

relevant post II

I wish they'd have done something with it, something. The Scions hardly had to die, but for crying out loud we got a two-minute long at most cutscene about the Warrior of Light having their body jacked! We didn't even know that could happen! Especially for those who characterize their Warriors of Light as having some sort of trauma response due to this, what we got just feels... lacking. In so many respects.

[Lunaxia]

This would actually be amazing.

I mean when you think about it our companions are so close knit. It's very rare that there's harsh disagreements between our main group of scions. It's just really well set up for a sort of trust broken, trust rebuilding arc.

They frequently ignore opportunities to develop dynamics/ relationships between the main cast and examine the characters on a deeper/ more introspective level in favour of keeping the peace, despite it being overwhelmingly popular when they do (see: the DRK quests, ShB.) It's unfortunate, really.

The biggest miss for me was never bothering to explore the impact of the Amaurot reveal/ finishing off the Ascians and what it might mean for the WoL versus the rest of the Scions, but as they continue to show, we just take everything in our stride, apparently!

[VeyaAkemi]

Frankly the entire thing has an issue of "Why didn't ya just shoot him?" to me.

Put it another way, Fandaniel wanted the WoL dead, once he became decided to become Zodiark's core cuz Zenos wasn't going to do it anymore, he explicitly drags things out because he wanted to kill the WoL before axing himself, that's something that he spells out before going under... then, if he could've, at any point, effortlessly captured the WoL and put them in a helpless, powerless body, why didn't he just do that like much earlier? like maybe when we were fighting the Lunar Primals or some such? the only thing he seemly needed was Aulus' research, which I am sure he got on his own, hell, he could've gone a step further, and picked off the Scions and the WoL one by one, and exterminate all the people who could possibly put a stop to the Final Days, and he would've won.

In general this is an issue the Ascians have through out the entire story, they are depicted as untouchable and infallible until we are supposed to fight them, at which point their seemly endless ability to evade attacks is gone.

[Absimiliard]

Frankly the entire thing has an issue of "Why didn't ya just shoot him?" to me.

Put it another way, Fandaniel wanted the WoL dead, once he became decided to become Zodiark's core cuz Zenos wasn't going to do it anymore, he explicitly drags things out because he wanted to kill the WoL before axing himself, that's something that he spells out before going under... then, if he could've, at any point, effortlessly captured the WoL and put them in a helpless, powerless body, why didn't he just do that like much earlier? like maybe when we were fighting the Lunar Primals or some such? the only thing he seemly needed was Aulus' research, which I am sure he got on his own, hell, he could've gone a step further, and picked off the Scions and the WoL one by one, and exterminate all the people who could possibly put a stop to the Final Days, and he would've won.

Or, you know, he could've done more with Zodiark than flail around like a helpless child. Even sundered, that primal definitely had enough power to end the world if purposed for such. That kind of power could most definitely have been used to turn the WoL's insides into outsides prior to the end. Fandaniel had that opportunity, and he did not take it. Fandaniel aside, I always did dislike the fact Zenos did absolutely nothing with the WoL's body when he had the opportunity. There were so many options open, many of which would've spiced the story up nicely, but not a one of them came to pass.

The reason isn't as simple as plot armor alone. If you look at the MSQ as a whole, you will quickly realize the game's villains tend to succumb villain decay and/or Bond villain stupidity whenever they're in a position to actually do something. All of the Scions having enough plot armor to turn a red shirt immortal is just the icing on the cake.

[TheMightyMollusk]

Fandaniel's whole plan was to get Zodiark destroyed to restart the Final Days and end everything, while leaving the WoL to suffer through it. He outright says so. He just does it as theatrically as possible because he's a drama queen.