Character disconnect and disappointing Player Agency in Dawntrail's MSQ [Spoilers]

[Carin-Eri]

To me the worst offense was Wuk Lamat barging in the final fight, it absolutely ruined the moment. In fact, while I was upset with the MSQ, right at that moment, when Wuk Lamat came in from nowhere to attack Sphene, was when I decided I would leave a bad online review of this expansion. I never felt so much contempt for a character in this game before.

That moment, above all others, annoyed me too and the dialogue didn't help either - it was pretty hypocritical for the dialogue to identify us as "the single greatest threat" only to contradict that by having Wuk Lamat appear and present us with a unnecessary 'here I come to save the day!' moment.

To be honest, it felt like they tried to what they did with Zenos in Ultima Thule (bursting through a barrier to come to our aid in our moment of need) which made sense in that context; we were literally alone and, like it or not, needed Zenos. But the writers missed the point in the Queen Eternal fight; the scenario with Zenos worked exactly because we were alone Vs an overwhelming foe, which simply wasn't the case VS Queen Eternal. Nothing in the scenario suggested we were losing or were overwhelmed and we certainly weren't alone thanks to the awesomeness of Azem's crystal, which means Wuk Lamat's appearance was unnecessary and, sadly, did take the wind out of the sails of the fight.
Personally, I would have preferred something more akin to the Endsinger 'Light the Way' moment, which would've kept Wuk Lamat relevant (and made the others less useless) without having her steal the spotlight.

And it's a pity it played out that way, because it is otherwise a great trial with absolutely epic music.

[Mondschnee]

That moment, above all others, annoyed me too and the dialogue didn't help either - it was pretty hypocritical for the dialogue to identify us as "the single greatest threat" only to contradict that by having Wuk Lamat appear and present us with a unnecessary 'here I come to save the day!' moment.

The writer(s) were trying to reference the moment where Alisaie said to Wuk Lamat: "Don't let her/him bear the burden alone."
Unfortunately, for me this didn't land at all.
I was enjoying the fight so much and then the intermission cutscene happened and I needed to keep telling myself that this is ok. But I was trying really hard not to cringe. And I *like* Wuk Lamat. But she was pushed onto us so much that even for me, she became really annoying at times.

[Carin-Eri]

The writer(s) were trying to reference the moment where Alisaie said to Wuk Lamat: "Don't let her/him bear the burden alone."
Unfortunately, for me this didn't land at all.
I was enjoying the fight so much and then the intermission cutscene happened and I needed to keep telling myself that this is ok. But I was trying really hard not to cringe. And I *like* Wuk Lamat. But she was pushed onto us so much that even for me, she became really annoying at times.

Agreed. Again, it does feel as if they tried to mirror Endwalker in this respect, since Alisaie had a couple of "you shouldn't have to fight alone" moments there.

But as you say, it missed the mark here. Firstly because we weren't alone, and secondly because her appearance implied that we needed her help - and we didn't.

Honestly - the nonsense of her appearing during the fight could be cut out and I don't think it would make much difference - she didn't say anything that she hadn't already said and she didn't change Sphene's mind, which means we could've left her out and had her talk to Sphene afterward, which she did anyway!

[SongOfTheWind]

That moment, above all others, annoyed me too and the dialogue didn't help either - it was pretty hypocritical for the dialogue to identify us as "the single greatest threat" only to contradict that by having Wuk Lamat appear and present us with a unnecessary 'here I come to save the day!' moment.

To be honest, it felt like they tried to what they did with Zenos in Ultima Thule (bursting through a barrier to come to our aid in our moment of need) which made sense in that context; we were literally alone and, like it or not, needed Zenos. But the writers missed the point in the Queen Eternal fight; the scenario with Zenos worked exactly because we were alone Vs an overwhelming foe, which simply wasn't the case VS Queen Eternal. Nothing in the scenario suggested we were losing or were overwhelmed and we certainly weren't alone thanks to the awesomeness of Azem's crystal, which means Wuk Lamat's appearance was unnecessary and, sadly, did take the wind out of the sails of the fight.
Personally, I would have preferred something more akin to the Endsinger 'Light the Way' moment, which would've kept Wuk Lamat relevant (and made the others less useless) without having her steal the spotlight.

And it's a pity it played out that way, because it is otherwise a great trial with absolutely epic music.

I wonder, have you done the ff16 collab event? That fight we had with Clive was the 1st time I got an odd feeling of being a 3rd wheel in a fight. As we are there to support him and make him do the rest of it, so anticlimactic I was kinda baffled. I guess that is where thye tried this new approach of us being just a spectator.