Wow, Wuk Lamat is really single-handedly ruining the DT story...

[Carin-Eri]

This thread started moving fast again. I feel behind...


For more than a decade (our time), the New World has been this far away, mysterious, nearly unknown place that could only be reached by a weeks-long journey across a treacherous, mostly uncharted sea. Imagine my surprise when Koana is able to send an envoy to Radz-at-Han (an island on the wrong side of Eorzea from Tural), negotiate and sign a trade/mutual defense pact, and get Vrtra to show up with all his homies that we've never known to be on the island in the nick of time, all in the span of, what, a couple of days?

I'll bet a dollar to a donut that that UI element was part of a trading minigame that got scrapped at the eleventh hour.

To be honest, this isn't completely unreasonable.

- If Koana sent someone who is able to travel the Aetheryte network there is barely any travel time at all.
- We know Dragons can fly pretty fast - and high. In fact Midgarsormr flew through space to get to the Source, so fair to assume Vrtra could've flown across from a very high altitude.
- Vrtra owed us one after all that business in the 13th

[nephilimmg]

To be honest, this isn't completely unreasonable.

- If Koana sent someone who is able to travel the Aetheryte network there is barely any travel time at all.
- We know Dragons can fly pretty fast - and high. In fact Midgarsormr flew through space to get to the Source, so fair to assume Vrtra could've flown across from a very high altitude.
- Vrtra owed us one after all that business in the 13th

For me the real problem was that someone as wise as Vrtra would just sign a military alliance with nation he so far had no contact with and also does not know who the rulers are. That is not something a wise/good leader would ever do.
Thavnair was hit by far the hardest the Final Days and suffered a lot. After all that he would just willy-nilly sign a military alliance that could plunge his people into a brutal war and bring even more suffering?
Vrtra coming over to help out because he owes the WoL and the Scions would have been more than enough.

[Carin-Eri]

For me the real problem was that someone as wise as Vrtra would just sign a military alliance with nation he so far had no contact with and also does not know who the rulers are. That is not something a wise/good leader would ever do.
Thavnair was hit by far the hardest the Final Days and suffered a lot. After all that he would just willy-nilly sign a military alliance that could plunge his people into a brutal war and bring even more suffering?
Vrtra coming over to help out because he owes the WoL and the Scions would have been more than enough.

Well, I guess there is also the (admittedly somewhat less convincing*) issue of Zoraal Ja turning his attention to Eorzea if he had been successful in Tural.

*from what we saw of the attack on Tuliyollal I think it's pretty safe to say that his forces would've fared rather badly Vs Eorzea!

[nephilimmg]

Well, I guess there is also the (admittedly somewhat less convincing*) issue of Zoraal Ja turning his attention to Eorzea if he had been successful in Tural.

*from what we saw of the attack on Tuliyollal I think it's pretty safe to say that his forces would've fared rather badly Vs Eorzea!

Has there ever been an explanation on why electrope works outside of the lightning dome? It is fueled by lightning right? Even if they can store it to some degree it still should not be possible for them to go on a long winded campaign.

[arstoka]

For me the real problem was that someone as wise as Vrtra would just sign a military alliance with nation he so far had no contact with and also does not know who the rulers are. That is not something a wise/good leader would ever do.
Thavnair was hit by far the hardest the Final Days and suffered a lot. After all that he would just willy-nilly sign a military alliance that could plunge his people into a brutal war and bring even more suffering?
Vrtra coming over to help out because he owes the WoL and the Scions would have been more than enough.

This, so much.

The whole premise and set up is an absolute farce. It shows that Tural really isn't capable of protecting itself and its leaders are fairly incompetent when the threat is easily defeated once the deus ex machina show up.

To me it also screams that Vrtra shouldn't be in charge either because of how (apparently) quickly he signed on to the agreement.

Dawntrail is just "rule of cool" and "play sad song to cause an artificial emotional reaction" the expansion.

I stand by, Vrtra shouldn't have been involved at all, but it is what it is.

[Kennar]

To be honest, this isn't completely unreasonable.

- If Koana sent someone who is able to travel the Aetheryte network there is barely any travel time at all.
- We know Dragons can fly pretty fast - and high. In fact Midgarsormr flew through space to get to the Source, so fair to assume Vrtra could've flown across from a very high altitude.
- Vrtra owed us one after all that business in the 13th

Full disclosure, I was pretty well checked out by that point and I don't recall if it was ever said who negotiated the alliance with Vrta. Could have been Alphinaud, maybe? Was he not with us? I can't think of too many other people who would be able to teleport between Tural and Radz-at-Han. Estinien would have been an excellent choice, but he was away on vacation.

Still though, I found the scene just as cheap and contrived as when the Domans showed up at exactly the right time to help the Ala Mhigans at the end of SB. It would would have worked better if there was some leadup to it. Perhaps we should have seen Koana sending representatives to all the major nations to petition them for help; watched him anxiously waiting for news, and when when all hope seemed lost, Vrtra arrives. It's an old story, but it works.

[TaleraRistain]

Full disclosure, I was pretty well checked out by that point and I don't recall if it was ever said who negotiated the alliance with Vrta. Could have been Alphinaud, maybe? Was he not with us? I can't think of too many other people who would be able to teleport between Tural and Radz-at-Han. Estinien would have been an excellent choice, but he was away on vacation.

He was there, though, so I would have been happy with a "Meanwhile..." type scene that had Koana, Thancred, and Urianger discussing what to do and then you see a boot and a familiar voice go "I may be able to assist with that" cause you know Estinien would be like "Hey little bestie, can you come help" and Vrtra would take off immediately. So they wouldn't even need an alliance.