Ilberd

[Theodric]

Well, to be fair, both Gaius and Nael were acting on their own and received a significant amount of criticism from Garlemald as a whole. It's very likely that Varis and Regula are, again, acting without the full approval of their people. Thus why the succession war was apparently so brutal. If there's another succession war then it's highly likely that a lot of Garleans will want a more moderate approach. I just really don't want to see Garleans as a whole exploited as convenient fodder whenever the WoL needs antagonists that aren't Primals.

[MaikoRaines]

No. I'd rather the Garlemald situation be far more complex than going after the 'bad guys'. Especially when FF games have a long history of making sympathetic/morally grey antagonists.

I'm sure it is more complex. I'm also aware of the General Leo paradigm - Good guy on the wrong side. I do get that and I am sure that not all citizens of Garlemald are evil or have cruel intentions. They might advocate for the poor and have their own code of honor. At the end of the day, they've chosen their side no matter how cruel their Emperor is - they choose to curry favor on the final word of their leader. I would not go out of my way to strike every single Garlean down in vengeance.

With this being said, no matter how honorable or noble their intent is, if they get in my way, I will run them down.

[Enkidoh]

Well, to be fair, both Gaius and Nael were acting on their own and received a significant amount of criticism from Garlemald as a whole. It's very likely that Varis and Regula are, again, acting without the full approval of their people. Thus why the succession war was apparently so brutal. If there's another succession war then it's highly likely that a lot of Garleans will want a more moderate approach. I just really don't want to see Garleans as a whole exploited as convenient fodder whenever the WoL needs antagonists that aren't Primals.

That's not actually correct though - Varius is a dictator who oversees a totalitarian regime and thus the 'will of the people' doesn't even enter into the equation - he simply does whatever he desires and the people have to follow suit or face the consequences. And the War of Succession was because Solus had effectively established this as the normal state of affairs in Garlemald - after all Gaius's weapon Heirsbane was stated as having put down "nine aspirants to the Imperial Crown" - clearly the late Solus was paranoid about his position and purged almost his entire family to ensure his hold on power was total. This meant that when he finally passed away there was no direct successor, thus it became a free for all with high ranking Legatee and those with tenuous family links to the late emperor drawing lines in the sand and fighting each other in an effort to gain control, leading to the War of Succession (by the end of which Varius himself eliminated his own uncle just to gain the crown - by the end there was virtually no one left in Garlemald with the authority or will to oppose him, which is what has made the Eorzean Alliance so worried.)

And, although it's plain to see there are sympathetic Garleans in the game, nearly all of them have long since defected from the Empire and joined the Eorzean Alliance (Cid and members of the Ironworks,

Lucia

, that Juggernaut pilot marooned out in La Noscea) so unless there in an active resistance within Garlemald itself, I doubt we'll see any Garleans within the Empire itself treated as anything other than antagonists, as SE has made quite clear since even before 1.0 launched that the Garlean Empire are nothing but antagonists - a trope well in keeping with FF tradition after all.

[myahele]

I have to agree. The only sympathetic Garleans are the ones that defected and those who still reside Garlemald probably want to make Garlemald back into a republic again (maybe that's that's where the uprising where Lucia and Livia's parents were killed and them sent to be probably re-educated)

Garlemald was a Republic once and 50 years of being an Empire wont erase the history and people who remember that it was once a republic. Most likely the good Garlean's we'll meet (if ever) will be those who tires from the long war and wish to return to a Republic (for the good of all)

[Theodric]

I don't sympathise with Cid or Lucia. Yes, they defected - but that simply makes them cowards. They're selling information to Eorzea that is going to get many innocent Garleans killed. What we need is someone like Drace or Gabranth from FFXII - loyal to their homeland and people above all else without selling out either even if they disagree with the methods used by the Emperor and other influential figures.

Reeve from FF7 is another excellent example. He didn't just up and leave Shinra to throw his might behind Cloud fully. He remained loyal to Midgar, working for the greater good of both Midgar and the rest of the planet. Heck, even Shinra - as morally reprehensible as it was - improved immensely. The idea that anyone remotely evil needs to die just makes for an utterly dull story as far as I'm concerned. That we oppose Varis now doesn't mean he can't have a change of heart later or team up with us against a larger threat later.

That'd they're doing this with an Ascian is hopefully a sign that they're willing to do with with some prominent Garleans too - without the need for the awful 'defector' trope to be brought up. I don't want to align with Garlean traitors. I want to align with Garleans who are loyal to their people and homeland but recognise that some changes need to be made.

[Belhi]

What innocent Garleans? Eorzea hasn't been attacking Garlean lands except for military bases often built on Eorzean land. If your part of an invading army you are by definition, not innocent.

However I agree it would be good to see moderate Garleans who haven't just switched sides. We have heard that there are factions in Garlemald and while Varis holds complete power and the public in Garlemald seems to currently support the expansionist agenda, it doesn't mean that there aren't groups who disagree with Garlemald's current approach.

Still, even if we do meet moderate Garleans in 4.0, I still expect Garlemald as a whole to be the main antagonist in the way Nidhogg currently is.

[Cilia]

Back on the original topic:

Omega is a gigantic war machine created by Allag, currently a scrap heap buried in Cartenau. There is no way it could be excavated and refurbished into a functional state without the Alliance noticing; furthermore, the only people who could do so all (likely) have moral objections to doing so.

So, the chances of Ilberd hijacking it are slim to none.

[Theodric]

Attacking another nation in a war doesn't suddenly make every single member of that nation or army 'evil', though. Especially when the war is caused over a genuine conflict of interests. Yes, Garlemald is the aggressor - but we don't know the full extent of their reasoning and we do know that Eorzea is far from flawless itself.

How many of the Garlean soldiers slain during this war were just following orders, I wonder? How many were killed believing that their cause was righteous? How many of those killed during the assault upon Garlean bases were non-combatants or medics that simply wanted to protect their comrades and friends? Heck, there's a quest in Western Coerthas that shows that even the Dravanians - previously thought to be mindless drones at Nidhogg's command - kept mementos of their fallen in a manner similar to what our side did.

There's a precedent for conflicts in this setting to not be black or white, even if they initially seem that way at first glance. I'd say it's far, far more likely that Garlemald as a whole isn't all that bad - including the invading forces - than Garlemald as a whole being irredeemable. If we're lucky then the developers will choose to explore that more in-depth at some point in the future, especially when Garlean plot points start to gather more momentum.

As an aside, though? War isn't pretty - and it is by no means as simple as the 'aggressor' being the 'bad guys'. That's just something civilians are fed to make them feel better about sending loyal men and women to die on the battlefield and experience the horrors of war themselves. So I'm inclined to drop this particular discussion due to clearly viewing it in a much different light than most people here.

[PArcher]

How many of the Garlean soldiers slain during this war were just following orders, I wonder?

Take a page from real life; how many Nazis that killed millions of people in the death camps were just "following orders"?

No, "following orders" isn't an excuse, and doesn't make you some innocent victim.

[Frederick22]

A
How many of the Garlean soldiers slain during this war were just following orders, I wonder?

This is a war, Thedric. On a war people follow orders from their superiors. This does not change the fact on who is the agressor and who has the blame. The garleans started with full agression and no merci for the conquered people.

When a dictatorship is on the power and wants to start a war of conquer, there isnt so much of what can be done.

Was the Germany different on the 2nd world war?

Despite all, its probable we will sure find our Coronel Staufbenverg, aka garlean version.