Quote Originally Posted by jadeharley View Post
I find this to be a well thought-out consideration of the challenges in the writing process. While I definitely hoped for more from Erenville and Krile, it's incredibly difficult to write punchy stories with characters that were historically written to play a supportive or subdued role without completely changing their characters. In this way it very much makes sense that they exist in Wuk Lamat's metaphorical orbit, as she is a much stronger character unburdened by previous expectations.
It's a problem that the game's grappled with before, too, in different forms; I think the main reason Yda became Lyse is because she was a character conceived of for a role that couldn't plausibly take center-stage. But Lyse also shows the issues with essentially overhauling a character to take a lead role, which is something you'd have to do to give Krile or (especially) Erenville an even temporary lead role. I honestly don't think most of the people who hate Lyse are genuinely coming from this angle, although it certainly turns up in their complaints, but it really is pretty hard to suddenly buy that the ditzy comic relief character is now a serious lead in a story about fighting an oppressive government, and I can't say the attempt was an unmitigated success.

In thinking about it, I also wonder if it might explain some of the other gaps in character development across the game. Like, Y'shtola's in the same box as Krile in being a character designed for a subdued supportive role, but unlike Krile she doesn't have any lingering mysteries in her past to build a story around. So maybe that's why Y'shtola's appeared to never have any character development; because writing 'a Y'shtola character development story' is somehow even more impossible than Krile, who at least has some plot hooks that are well-suited for the sort of story she can participate in.