[Spoilers] I dont understand the end of the Paladin storyline...

[Phileas]

I dont know if I missed something along the way but...

I dont understand how what Solkazgyl did led to the shine being restored to Oathkeeper. Nor do I really understand why he had to fake his death and lead Constaint on a path of vengeance against the baddies who supposedly killed Solkazgyl.

I dont understand how fighting eachother led to the warrior of light restoring oathkeepers glow...I just saw lots of soulstones glowing and I just felt so confused.

Anybody understand what was going on? Its the first job quest ending where i felt there were far more questions than answers...

[Arannon]

You really didn't miss anything. The whole thing is a convoluted mess.

Solkazgyl concocted an overly elaborate scheme to mold Constaint into a paladin worthy of bringing the light back to Oathkeeper, by filling him with conviction and determination through faking his death and having Constaint "avenge him". Only it was a big stupid plan that immediately fell apart because "You" showed up. Thats it, you showed up and the whole plan went to beans because you did all the stuff Constaint was supposed to do.

The only interesting part of the whole quest was it basically turns Paladin's into the Highlander...there can be only one...in charge. For whatever reasons, paladins at odds have to fight to assert dominance...and maybe that was the final step Solkazgyl had for Constaint. Fight Jenlyns for right to wield the sword...except "you" were there to be the monkey wrench in the whole thing.

Constaint sums it up nicely, its the stupidest thing he's ever heard.

In the future, I think they should run with this "highlander" thing, I mean, we're "Free Paladins" after all...We're effectively the Knights Errant, so having us come across OTHER Errant Knights traveling to distant lands and having to test ourselves and our convictions against theirs as a way to progress in our neverending quest for adventure and showing off how our chivalric virtue is better than that other guys chivalric virtue.

[Phileas]

That all seems rather primal...for a job that is meant to protect the weak?

I saw them talk extensively about oaths...but I'm not sure they know exactly what to swear an oath really means?

Why Solkazgyl couldnt mentor Constaint without killing himself I will never know why...Trauma is meant to guide someone? Instead the WoL did all the stuff Solkazgyl should have been doing for Constaint.

It seemed to go okay right up until Solkazgyl was alive all along...then you feel cheated and wondering if Solkazgyl is mentally unwell..

[Belhi]

PLD is by far the worse of the job quest. Honestly it just felt like a really weird idea they had. It all seemed rather of point, particularly after the 'PLD is all about conviction, doing what is right and keeping your oaths' thing we had in ARR.

[WhiteArchmage]

I also disliked the quest but now that Arannon mentioned it, it DOES draw a lot from chivalric times and literature: Every knight wants to be the very best in the world; by their deeds, by their power, by their fame at jousting or with ladies, it's all about who has the biggest, best sword or lance.

i.e. Lancelot and Tristam are thought of as their generation's best knights and they fight each other to a draw, I'm currently reading "Yvain the Lion Knight" and the only reason any knight in that book does anything is to prove himself better than the other (the first thing Yvain learns is that pouring water from a certain fountain on some steps summons a huge storm and later knight will challenge whoever brought the storm to his castle, so Yvain goes and does just that). In fact, Charlemagne's knights were explicitly called Paladins and Curtana is attributed to Ogier the Dane, one of the Paladins (other sources put it as Tristam's sword, though).

So, yeah, it's a very dumb plot by today's standards (and they even tell Solkzagyl that) but it was trying to send up a literary genre that doesn't QUITE mesh well with today's audience.

[Morningstar1337]

So, yeah, it's a very dumb plot by today's standards (and they even tell Solkzagyl that) but it was trying to send up a literary genre that doesn't QUITE mesh well with today's audience.

The Solution? Don Quixote Paladin!

[Khalithar]

Snip

The whole Paladin asserting dominance thing certainly put the Paladin achievement mount (the lion) in a new context for me!

[Theodric]

It left me feeling rather sad when I compare the quality of the PLD story to some of the more elaborate class/job quests. I actually cheered at first when I found out that the Roegadyn had 'died' because he bored me to tears...and out of all the playable races I find them to be the worst.

Then we met that awfully designed baby faced Elezen with what I refer to as the 'Vaan Face'. I lost what little interest I had left at that point. I recall being sent from one place to another with a vague sense of a murder mystery...and then it turned out that the 'slain' guy had been alive all along for...dubious reasons.

I feel like it was a huge waste of potential. We went to Ishgard - the nation renowned for chivalry! Why couldn't we align ourselves with a seasoned Temple Knight and learn a few tricks along the way? It would have tied into the expansion very well - because it feels like they sent us to Coerthas because the expansion was set there without much thought as to why we were there in the first place.

[Fenral]

I rather liked it, but I have questionable taste.

The basic point is that true paladins are made, not born, but you can't make someone into a true paladin just by following a checklist. I had long dreamed of laying the smacketh-down on Solkzagyl, though, so it was all wish fulfillment for me.

[Ashkendor]

I felt really bad beating up that baby-faced Elezen. Solkazgyl, on the other hand... >.>