/r/ffxivdiscussion: Has FFXIV had any major retcons or plot holes in the story?

[Turtledeluxe]

I just wanted to say I haven't been responding because half of what you're saying I don't disagree with and the other half, I don't follow. Like I agree it's a closed time loop. I agree it creates a bunch of issues. But I disagree no one has agency. I'd argue that Venat and the WoL are the only people with agency because they are the only ones aware of the loop. Given they know about the loop, either of them should be able to break it by choosing to behave differently than they did in the past. Everyone else is on autopilot because they are doing what they'd do with no knowledge of the future, but both Venat and WoL know what will happen.

Also, I take her "I had no choice" to mean that given he was gonna put salve on own their booboos meaning they'd be too soft and gushy to pass the test, she had no choice but to sunder him, so we could go through our torture training and learn to endure despair. I don't think she meant she literally had no choice.

I am unsure how to respond because I don't understand the rules you're operating with regarding time and causality. For example, how do you know the characters are able to behave differently? If they behave differently, what does that mean for the future(present day MSQ)? Don't you agree that, if Venat did behave differently and did save the star in her own timeline, that it would create some kind of alternate timeline/divergence separate from the MSQ? Maybe I am missing something but I don't see how you're accounting for these questions.

Also regarding the WoL, I don't see how they necessarily have agency but I do agree that they doomed the timeline inadvertently since they are (theoretically) the person who introduced Hydaelyn to the past, like the very idea of it.