Politics

[Loggos]

To me the perspective, that we only help Wuk Lamat because it is ostensibly our interests that we try to satisfy first and foremost, really doesn't capture the (sub)text of the (short) 6.5.5 quest line.

Imo the story made it clear that it's the compassion for the people in Tural that motivates us (in classic hero/main character fashion - you can say this is cheesy and clichéd and yes, it probably is, but it's most likely our motivation nonetheless) because *they*'d be the ones who suffer first if they were to be dragged into a war.

In my eyes it was Wuk Lamat's strong reaction and her desire to avert the damage *to her own people* that was established as the primary argument by the narrative, which was also underscored by Erenville's supporting statement.

The latter is quite important imo because he serves as a grounded and down-to-earth contrast to Wuk Lamat's hotheadedness. If even someone as calm, smart and cunning as Erenville, who we can assume has the well-being of both the people of his old home Tural and his new home Eorzea on his mind, then it lends a lot more credibility to Wuk Lamat's endeavor.

If we are focusing on the argument of our interests, then it also has to be said that the warmonger is eyeing Garlemald first - a country that for the longest time has been *our* colonizer and brutal antagonist - so (from a purely selfish perspective - which I don't condone, bear with me for a second) the part of Eorzea we have personal ties (and thus a personal attachment) to wouldn't be the one to take the (first) hit of his aggressions. (There would be legitimate concern though that a warmongering nation is encroaching on our boarders and endangering our people, too, if they attack Garlemald.)

At the same time Garlemald is a broken country that has just started to process of rebuilding itself.

Don't get me wrong, I really didn't like how they handled (post-EW) Garlemald but as a matter of fact another war would be devastating for the people there. Protecting them from war is a very legitimate concern. It's not exploitative of Tural, it's literally just the humane act of acknowledging the Garlean common folk's right to safety from an act of aggression that they didn't start and would be *forced onto them*.

Lastly, as others have pointed out, preventing war in Eorzea is a legitimate reason to *support* Wuk Lamat in something she wants to do *for her people* anways.

We are not instrumentalizing her. We are not instigating her to do anything.


I disagree with the premise that "acting in our own interest" is inherently colonialist irrespective of the context.

It's a bit ironic to me that we are supposedly the colonizers when the warmonger's interests...are quite literally...colonization. *He* wants to go to other countries to subjugate them. That is colonization.

Trying to prevent that is again not exploiting Tural in a colonialist way.

If our interest is "not being attacked and forced into a war that would bring lots of suffering for our people" then preventing that war - a war that, again, is also *not* in the interest of the Turali commoners it seems - is a sensible concern.

It's a *reactive* attempt to ensure intercontinental peace by answering the call of *someone from that nation who wants to ensure peace for her people*, not a proactive plan to install a ruler that acts as our proxy or metaphorical arm to enforce a broader official Eorzean geopolitical agenda and establish any kind of Eorzean dominance or hegemony in the region. Nor is there any desire to get access to their resourcers, their land or anything.

It is literally just about peace *in Tural* first and foremost, and about peace in Eorzea as a consequence.

Peace benefits everyone. A senseless war, such as the one the warmonger heir tries to start for his own selfish interests, does the opposite.

Framing the collaborative effort between individuals from Tural and Eorzea to maintain peace for both continents' people as an act of colonization and a one-sided installment of *our* primary interests is something I can't agree with.

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I can agree that the writing is very clumsy though (nuanced political writing isn't exactly FF14's strong suit in my opinion tbh...).

Because yeah, it's very rushed that we decide to go there in such a short period of time and the whole arc of "getting to know each other on a hunt" felt rather random and not really effective (though Erenville vouching for her really does help). I place the blame on the time constraint that came with their poor planning of having to cramp the set-up for Dawntrail into a 0.0.5 sub-patch. I wish they had set up Dawntrail during the entire post EW patch phase but I digress.

And I also agree that it might very well be the case that there is more to the story and that the warmongering sibling is a red herring. So it makes sense that we are cautious and observe first, but we can only observe for ourselves and form our own opinion if we actually go to Tural. Going to Tural in itself seems warranted to me. If there is the risk of war then it makes sense that we take it seriously, try to actually assess the risk and figure out if Wuk Lamat's claims are true to prevent harm in case they are.

So in short, unsatisfying, rushed writing that doesn't capture political nuances? Absolutely. Colonialization? No, I really disagree.