Quote Originally Posted by Theodric View Post
No, not at all. I very much enjoy it when overconfident, hypocritical protagonists are humbled by nuanced antagonists. Lyse lied about her identity and is now pushing a very powerful individual to commit to a brutal war that is inevitably going to lead to an immense amount of suffering and death on both sides. The least that can happen to Lyse is being pushed around a bit by someone who just happens to be a better or more aggressive fighter than she is.
... or it could just be that, you know, trying to fight someone armed with a sword and shield while unarmed is a reeeeeeeeeally bad idea. (Also implying that Zenos would not have jumped at the first opportunity to go to war with Eorzea that presented itself, which based on what we know of his character seems extremely unlikely.)

Anyway, there are a number of reasons for Fordola being able to go one-on-one with Lyse. The former is armed, the latter is not; Fordola could be a match for Lyse in terms of skill; the villains need to be competent to pose a threat, especially since we're going into this one with our blessing still intact; and I do believe that, given they're seen clashing twice, Fordola is going to be Lyse's rival character, so they need to be about even in skill and power. Lyse could hold her own against Livia because that was a straight fight - against Fordola, she's at a rather significant range disadvantage.

P.S. Zenos is Yoshi-P's answer to people liking and agreeing with Gaius and the Garleans in general. Don't forget that.