Why are alisaie and alphinaud in Dawntrail?

[Wayfinder3]

Trust system is the reason they drag these guys along i guess

[genuine_stranger]

Like ok no problem, i get the devs want us to see familiar faces... but why?

You could extend the question to 'Why are any of the scions in DT?'

The two biggest reasons, imo, are:

1. Marketing
2. Trust system

The arcs of the scions are done. They can rest for one or two expansions and follow their own interests while we go on an adventure and seek their counsel if needed.

At this point, CBU3 is willing to put them in expansions in hopes of higher sales numbers by playing the nostalgia tunes of most players in favor of introducing a new cast.

[hydralus]

Y'shtola is a walking solution to everything with no downsides to her blindness, in fact it made her even stronger. She's plot-cat. Whenever they aren't ruining her character by trying to force some cringe anime cuteness onto her

God the forced clumsy cringe idiot moments are so stupid. Books falling on head? Sure, whatever. Saying her stupid anime girl incantation in front of everyone for absolutely 0 reason? It's a floating creature that can move on its own, just summon it before you walk into the room if you're so embarrassed by it. They could have even still showed the summoning to have the same effect, just not have it be in front of everyone. I hate that moment so much because it's like they want to retcon her into having a personality but they just don't know how to do it.

[Mnemy]

Like ok no problem, i get the devs want us to see familiar faces... but why?

They need more people for the WukLaharem

[Wolf_Necros]

I've never liked them they have always been dead weight and honestly I don't like their voice actors I cringe every time they are on my screen. No I'm not praising Wuk but at least she doesn't make my ears bleed.

[Aldath]

Most of who we consider to be the core Scions were no more than set dressing in nearly every stage of the story before Shadowbringers (except arguably post-HW). If anything, this is a return to form lol.

Honestly, most of the Scion's fanbase seems to like them because "lol hot". Seriously, tell me something interesting about them pre Shadowbringers that isn't "quirky".

[Endy_Sinkai]

Tbh idk why any of the scions are there. Preach points out in his video they walk off and do nothing more than they help like and absurd amount of times.

I can only assume the PR team told the devs early on that they had to incorporate the scions early on so they could promote the game to the widest audience.

Because honestly if you removed the scions completely. DTs writing and character development would have had to change alot to compensate for their expertise being missing.

They are literally crutches in this expansion for the writers.

Oh magic issue make Y'shtola do it. Diplomatic issue Blue Ali is here to save the day.

Need a espionage section dadcred is here to help.

Like there is really no reason for any new character to develop or shine. Quite frankly its a serious issue.

[Shibi]

Trust system is the reason they drag these guys along i guess

Playing as a SGE, it was weird to see Alphi as a RED icon SGE and master-sniper.
Four man dungeons don't need 2 healers.

[GalahGriff]

I was really let down by the inclusion of all the scions too. Some, I suppose are better justified than others: Krile with her "lets figure out what peepaw was getting up to overseas" B-plot, G'raha coming along & adventuring with you (though, annoyingly, he was benched until the second half), Urianger & Thancred being Koana's chosen allies, & even Y'shtola showing up at the end to help out with the spooky dome/portal/interdimensional whatever business. I think that the best scion inclusion of this expansion was Estinien because he's off doing his own thing & we hardly see him-- & I still got sick of him.

I feel that the scions have become a crutch that is holding back FFXIV's story post-Hyd-VS-Zod-arc. They could have written a whole new cast of interesting characters that could have perhaps become our companions in the next arc: new, non-scion, Sharlayan characters to support Koana, Turali-native warriors/hunters that Wuk Lamat recruits during the rites, an Alexandian rebel or two that isn't just cannon-fodder to push the plot forward or part of Gulool Ja's cast of baby sitters...

I don't know, I feel like there was so much potential in a new arc about the Warrior of Light's new adventures for new companions & stories. I feel like I'm falling out of love with FFXIV in that regard. Wuk Lamat, Erenville, the rites, Alexandria, etc. are perfectly fine additions to the story (which may be an unpopular opinion on these forums...), but the writers' fixation on including every single scion for little to no rhyme or reason has turned a great story into a mediocre one.

I feel like they substituted a strong supporting cast for the scions because they didn't have faith in their player base being interested in any other characters. This may be the case for some [scion character]-obsessed fans, but the Haurchefant/Aymeric/Lyse/Emet-Selch/etc.-superfans are still playing the game, aren't they? Just because the scions are the most popular NPCs doesn't mean that their inclusion automatically makes a story good.

Just imagine how much more impactful all of MSQ would have been if we had a cast made up of Turali & Alexandian (post 97 msq) natives.

[chizLemons]

It really makes me sad that because of the abysmally poor character writing in Dawntrail, people get to the conclusion that the "Scions' arcs are over", that "they have nothing else to offer to the story", and that's enough of them.

It's simply not true. They had no reason to be in Dawntrail, and were actually detrimental to the situation...because they were badly written there. There was SO MUCH potential, if you get the concepts of the situations, and had written them in there with care. They all had past experiences and thoughts and feelings to add to many of the themes of the expansion, if only the writing wasn't so amateurish. Instead, we just got cardboard cutouts that sounded all the same, talked about the same things and reacted the same way to everything, and immediately left us alone with Wuk Lamat.

In Shadowbringers, no one thought any of the Scions didn't have to be there. But most of them had already gone through previous, resolved arcs in the past and that wasn't a problem. They had new things going on, and they felt important and relevant. Even in Endwalker, even if they didn't have anything major going on, their contribution to the story and the moments they were there felt right, in character, and relevant.
If you or the current writer can't think of good ways to use those beloved characters that still have so much to offer, that doesn't mean it's impossible, that's just means we need someone else writing the story.

I agree though that there isn't a need to force ALL of them to be there all the time for no reason. I'd rather not have them there than to have them not behaving like themselves and acting off, because it's just sad to watch our favorite characters get butchered by the writing.

Also the Trust excuse doesn't cut it. In ARR, they included random NPCs for story, and sometimes they can add other important NPCs as companions during the story for dungeons when it's relevant. It's not a technical limitation.