Thread: Revelations from Patch 3.5

More Triad stuff:

In my case whilst I'm disappointed that Regula died and would prefer him to stick around or show up again in the future I'll be fine with it if and only if his death isn't meaningless in the long term. If word spreads to Varis that his best friend was willing to work alongside the Warrior of Light/Scions then that could very well allow us to compromise with him in the future. Given that we're now seeing the Scions work directly with a servant of Elidibus I think we can safely state that them working with the Emperor of Garlemald isn't really that far-fetched.

We also know that Varis genuinely believes in merit and pragmatism. This suggests to me that Regula won't be the only heroic Garlean working closely with the Emperor. Or at least I'd hope not. Regula showing immense concern for the well-being of his troops was very refreshing - as was his desire to turn his back upon Allagan technology that was proven to be flawed. I'm very pleased that he wasn't Tempered or corrupted and that the FF6 references were less about Kefka and more about 'General Leo'. I do agree with Fenral, though, about 'sacrifices' as a trope.

I guess some other character will have to fill the niche of someone who is fiercely loyal to Garlemald but willing to work alongside the Scions/Warriors of Light when it becomes a necessity or the more pragmatic and efficient approach.

MSQ:

It's not surprising to me that Ilberd was behind the mask. Despite how unhinged he turned out to be I have to give him credit for a rather cunning plan on his part. It's interesting that if a fresh war breaks out with Garlemald it won't be because Garlemald is the 'big evil aggressor' but rather because they will literally be on the defensive and working with misinformation after Ilberd's stunt. That he was willing to sacrifice his own people and his own life makes it clear that he was too far gone though after everything he did so far that was already rather apparent. We still have his two lackeys to deal with though.

The stakes are pretty high. It's clear that things will escalate further than they already have and that a lot of lives will be lost. Papalymo may be dead, or he may go the way of Nanamo. We'll have to wait and see. Yda may do something very reckless. Omega and Nero will play into it all somehow though we don't know the circumstances surrounding that as of yet. Zenos will factor into it all and we're told that we will be unlikely to sympathise with him...so he's probably not going to be similar to Regula. If Zenos is more the sort to cause or exploit turmoil than this may pit Varis against him as well as various other Garleans.

We know that the good Garleans have deep respect for their fallen the lives of their people. The events of 3.5 and the lore book's description of the meaning behind the Garlean flag support this. Perhaps there will be a 'power shift' between Garleans loyal to the Emperor and measured, cautious pragmatism combined with a desire to see the Primals/Eikons destroyed and then there will be opportunists/outright bad guys who simply want to throw lives away in favour of exploring Allagan's secrets recklessly? Something like that gives us a more plausible reason to head deeper into Garlean territory without reducing them to 'generic villains' and it also allows the plot/setting to continue to embrace the whole 'morally complicated' nuances that are pretty much expected at this point.

@Cyril:

If you happen to be lurking, I'd love to read your reaction to the revelations in the Triad storyline. I've missed reading your posts.