Aymeric (SPOILERS)

[Lunaxia]

I don't think he's going to turn into a second Haurchefant. However, as I said in the pre-3.2 threads, he's challenging us for our title of purest pure purity in all Eorzea. 3.2 has pushed that even harder and, honestly, I'm starting to find it a bit annoying in how perfect he is portrayed.

Something's going to happen. I don't think he's going to die, but he's going to make a severe mistake at some point, or break down.

It's funny you see it that way. Personally, I think his "purest pure purity", as you call it, has been emphasized as his biggest flaw. In some ways he's the typical perfect hero, yes - selfless, humble, wants to save everyone and change the world for the better, and so on. But at the same time, it's that idealism that has caused him to be very naive, and make a lot of mistakes. He wound up imprisoned in the Vault after expecting the Holy See to reveal the truth of the Dragonsong War, and ended up nearly dead and inciting nation wide rebellion in Ishgard in his rush to push the people and dragons together; even Edmont confronts him about the consequences of looking through rose-tinted glasses and tells him to be careful. He also took a lot of risks in 3.2 concerning the conference and the melee, and it's pointed out how much he's coming to rely on the WoL to carry him through them.

He might come across as the perfect good guy, but he's shown some very flawed judgement that has had serious consequences on those around him.

The Alex quest cements my theory on this. Aymeric makes a big deal about he's focusing only on the future, but then you have Mide saying it was the focus solely on the future that destroyed her life. That parallel must have been intentional.

I think we saw this dealt with in 3.2 - the Ishgardian protesters were bitter that he seemed to have turned his back on what they had suffered in the past and was looking only toward the future, which he then addressed in his speech at the end of the MSQ.

[CyrilLucifer]

See, I wouldn't mind him being a deconstruction of the heroic, idealistic archetype, or even a deconstruction and eventual reconstruction, but that's not really how he's being portrayed.

The issue right now is he's layered in absurd amounts of plot armor. That plot armor needs to be broken for it to be a deconstruction and, so far, it hasn't budged. He's overcoming his problems either by luck, skill, or pure WoL brute force.

So no. I don't see him the same way as you at all. In the future when a problem breaks through the plot armor it might turn into a deconstruction, but now? No way. He's competing with us for top seat in the holiness competition.

Hence why I'm fully expecting a game-changing mistake. We made one in Ul'Dah and our character was pretty messed up for it, given how the DRK quest went. That's honestly how I hope Aymeric will flow. I want him to make those mistakes and I want them to have a permanent effect on Ishgard and his psyche, not because I dislike him, but because it makes for a more fleshed out character than one who is able to overcome everything and always does the right thing.

[Wintersandman]

ARR was all about power plays taking place in Ul'dah. This one is the power struggle in Ishgard. Aymeric is at the top of the pyramid vying to create the nation he desires. Idealism isn't always the best quality and even through history comes with sacrifice.

What is more important to Aymeric? His friends or his nation? Would he forsake his friends in order to achieve his goals?

[Yuyuka3]

Hence why I'm fully expecting a game-changing mistake. We made one in Ul'Dah and our character was pretty messed up for it, given how the DRK quest went. That's honestly how I hope Aymeric will flow. I want him to make those mistakes and I want them to have a permanent effect on Ishgard and his psyche, not because I dislike him, but because it makes for a more fleshed out character than one who is able to overcome everything and always does the right thing.

But the thing is, he doesn't do the right thing. He does what he thinks is the right thing - but so far, everything he did had pretty bad consequences, for him and the people around him. The first time he messed up, when he confronted Thordan, he got tortured and one of his close friends (at least I interpret Haurchefant as such...) even got killed. The second time, by rushing the change in Ishgard, he got knifed and we've seen in 3.2 that the wound still affects him. This also directly led to the blood bath in Falcon's Nest. So, I'm sorry, but I agree with Lunaxia... he is too rash, takes too many unnecessary risks.And, sorry, but I think you can't simply overlook the fact that he clearly got critiziced by Count Edmont...

Also, I don't think the scene were he shoots at Estinihogg means he gave up completely on Estinien... he probably just didn't see another way at the moment, and to be honest, even we don't know how and if it is even possible to do anything for him. Besides, he needed be stopped then and there, and personally I found it a nice touch for him to grab a bow, since we know since the 'Tales from the Dragonsong War'-series that he can use one, but have never seen him do so before.

At the topic at large... I don't know. I didn't trust him back when he was first introduced, but that changed quite a bit in the meantime. In 3.2, I got no strange vibes from him, and I didn't see my character's reaction to him as 'heh, he acts weird'. For example in the scene mentioned before when he asks us out for a drink... I always interpreted it as how it was intended, that my characters were just shaken by the loss of a very close friend. But, yes, he relies on us quite a bit - maybe too much. But I got the feeling that might be because he developed some feelings for us... I don't know.
I can only say I love that the WoL finally shows some emotions, and that the situation gets at them!