This story is really underwhelming - it's opened to mixed reviews.

[Kiarin]

Okay, so what the heck is this writing. 92-94 MSQ spoilers.

First Bakool releases the scary bird and totally gets away with that. We are told in length how harmful this serpent is. In real life his crime is comparable to sabotaging a major nuclear plant. Not only should he have been disqualified immediately as a claimant, he should be detained and imprisoned as Tural citizen. We don't recall the king giving claimants indulgence to perform any crime they wish during the rite. But nothing of it happens, and when we meet him again, he admits his deed nonchalantly, Wuk Lamat scolds him briefly, and that's it. After that the bird is never mentioned and completely forgot. Everyone is okay. No one seems to go tell the king that his kingdom barely evaded a huge disaster due to obviously dangerous and evil deed of one of the claimants.

Second, Bakool kindaps one of the electors, drags him somewhere, threatens him harm, issues a kill order on him, and actually inflicts at least minor physical harm to him, as in the cutscene we see how his goons throw the elector onto his knees. Wasn't it explicitly told that attempting to harm electors results in disqualification? But once again, no one ever tells anything to Bakool or to the king. While a bit later first Promise is disqualified exactly for this, and I presume for much even less than Bakool did.

We may assume that Bakool was acting dumb and desperate, not thinking of consequences of his actions. So be it. But why everyone around acted the same? Why no one calmly told him that what he does will simply grant him disqualification, if not criminal trial on top of that, instead of whatever he wanted to achieve? Why no one informed the king about all that, isn't that electors' direct job?

[Voidmage]

Okay, so what the heck is this writing. 92-94 MSQ spoilers.

First Bakool releases the scary bird and totally gets away with that. We are told in length how harmful this serpent is. In real life his crime is comparable to sabotaging a major nuclear plant. Not only should he have been disqualified immediately as a claimant, he should be detained and imprisoned as Tural citizen. We don't recall the king giving claimants indulgence to perform any crime they wish during the rite. But nothing of it happens, and when we meet him again, he admits his deed nonchalantly, Wuk Lamat scolds him briefly, and that's it. After that the bird is never mentioned and completely forgot. Everyone is okay. No one seems to go tell the king that his kingdom barely evaded a huge disaster due to obviously dangerous and evil deed of one of the claimants.

Second, Bakool kindaps one of the electors, drags him somewhere, threatens him harm, issues a kill order on him, and actually inflicts at least minor physical harm to him, as in the cutscene we see how his goons throw the elector onto his knees. Wasn't it explicitly told that attempting to harm electors results in disqualification? But once again, no one ever tells anything to Bakool or to the king. While a bit later first Promise is disqualified exactly for this, and I presume for much even less than Bakool did.

We may assume that Bakool was acting dumb and desperate, not thinking of consequences of his actions. So be it. But why everyone around acted the same? Why no one calmly told him that what he does will simply grant him disqualification, if not criminal trial on top of that, instead of whatever he wanted to achieve? Why no one informed the king about all that, isn't that electors' direct job?

As someone who liked Bakool JaJa I agree.
The problem was not his behaviour (it is great to have someone like this from time to time) nor his heel-face turn (even though it was to quick). It was the world and reactions around him.

The giant that was supposed to be guarding that thing just stood there.
No one really called Bakool out on anything but treat him like a lowly school bully when he clearly overstepped the boundarys.

I get that he was really desperate and all and that is actually the ground for a real interesting plot right there with him slowly coming to terms and changing for the better with all the failures and a disqualification but even that falls flat because all the problems he wanted to resolve? We do that in a matter of a few quests because the Mamool Ja apparently were to "stupid" to just plant other things despite having some people there that were to Eorzea and back.

Zoral Ja also. He could have had such a deep story with the whole expansion exploring the darker and deeper sites of charakters. Him descenting into darkness and Bakool rising out from it, maybe stand with us against him in the end but nothing.

In the end, Wuk Lamat was always the favoured child of the father and was always meant to be the victor. He talked to us to help her and said that none of the other candidates had anyone giving them a push. Hello? I guess Thancred and Urianger are not even important enough for that despite them doing more mentoring then we are.

Thats my biggest pet peave. Wuk Lamat not only stole spotlight from us but from the other candidates as well. She was just so perfect. Even when another candidate resolved a trial better or different then her (Zoral Ja defeating the giant before us, the Miqo boy finding a craftsman with no problems because he had the approval of them before or resolving the harvest of the birds quickly) Wuk Lamat always got an extra pat on the back.