Revolutions Hype Thread

[YianKutku]

Much like the Roman Empire, there's a lot of bad, yes, but they're hardly irredeemable and one only has to look at how many 'good' countries in the real world get involved in conflicts that they shouldn't but still have their own redeeming qualities.

I'm reminded of the historical tidbit of the Roman historian Livy, who claimed that Rome only responded to provocations, and therefore Rome conquered much of Europe in self-defense. (Yes, I know I'm simplifying.)

The lorebook also states how the cuisine of Garlemald has improved significantly since they started empire-building, with foods from all over their empire. It's not hard to see how the average Garlean citizen benefits from the expansionist policy, and they're not likely to be pleased if they're forced to go back to the old days of boring food.

(Technically they could also have reaped the same benefits through trade (eg Limsa and the Culinarian's Guild) rather than invasion, but that's another topic.)

So that's a case where Garlemald didn't need to conquer the land in order to survive, but it still led to an improvement in lifestyle, and now that they're on this path, they probably don't see the need to change. And if the game's story eventually leads to the Garlean Empire being humbled, that's a lot of people who won't see their sudden downgrade in living quality as fair, even if their current wealth is built on the suffering of the conquered lands.

Plenty of the policies (both official and unspoken) enacted by the Garleans are still evil, of course. And many more might not be as morally repugnant, but they are still unacceptable to us as the Warrior of Light from Eorzea. I'm curious if the alleged sympathetic Garleans we see will be people who have a high enough rank to effect policy changes, or if they'll just be random soldiers or civilians who can't help the world they live in.