Garlemald's situation. (Spoilers 6.55)

[Vallavia]

The problem with that is that it was already stated that Varis rid Garlemald of the Populares off-screen. When the other political party is given the KGB treatment or outright gassed with Black Rose, the remaining citizens aren't necessarily going to suddenly flip to support that purged side overnight because they got conquered themselves.

I should state for clarity I'm not disputing that any of this actually happened (though I do still find it unlikely that all support for provincial reform and a distaste for the monarchy would just completely evaporate among the general public), just that I find it unsatisfying storytelling to have all of Garlemald's internal politics teased and then resolved offscreen an expansion later with little ceremony.

The Populares lost the first Garlean civil war when the movement's leader Titus failed to take the throne and Varis purged them later on despite them being around and prominent in politics at the beginning of his reign. Maxima took all the remaining Populares and defected to Ala Mhigo with them. So there wouldn't be any Populares left in Garlemald for there to be a whole thing since they would've been with the Ilsabard Contingent.

I suppose I may have a flawed recollection, but my understanding was that the Populares still managed to hold on to relevance prior to Maxima and the lot defecting to the Alliance. Was it that they were only allowed to exist to facilitate Elidizenos's gambit to further damage relations between Doma and the Empire?

Maxima mentioned it in passing but I think it would be interesting when Garlemald inevitably comes back up if the Populares coming back as conquerors has any repercussions.

This is ultimately what I was hoping for but in the short term, the implications of the Populares seeking foreign aid to wrest control of Garlemald would surely be cause for alarm. But, as you said, it may be yet more interesting to see what the perception is now that they've come returned as a hostile foreign power themselves.

eta: I also wanted to clarify that I wasn't stating that the Populares should have been present in Endwalker as a significant military entity or distinct faction, just that their ideology was widespread enough to be represented among Garlean citizens that we would have seen in Endwalker.