Is anyone else dying to get to Garlemald?

[EdwinLi]

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I suspect it is because they lack knowledge about how far the Ascian influence reach because in official History the Ascian do not exist in records. To the majority and Scions the events of the war was all done through natural conflict and personal interests without some magical ghost whispering devilish words into their ears.

It also would be very far fetched if some person just showed up and said "Hey recorded history is wrong! The ones responsible for all the world's chaos and destruction throughout the eras are a bunch of Evil Ghost Cult called Ascians who worship this God called Zodiark."

[Matriqona]

Having a Garlean commander whom wasn't a totally incompetent crazy person wouldn't hurt either. I get it needs to be done to 'nerf' Garleans but still.

Poor Regula, only sensible fellow in the whole military. Too bad he was lost to saving a whinge midget Ascian from slap attack of a mutant Satan.

[YianKutku]

A lot of stories especially sci-fi ones cover themes like this, ever since the atomic bomb people assume technological progress will be humanities downfall.

Pre-dates WW2: R.U.R., the first robot rebellion story (and which gave us the term "robot" to mean automatons; these first "robots" were biological, however), was written in 1920. I'm sure there are even earlier examples; if you squint a bit, the biblical Tower of Babel (and whatever myths inspired it) might count.

There are most likely a lot of good Garleans within Garlemald but can not escape nor defect from Garlemald because they have no means of leaving Garlemald or they believe they can change things from within their government system.

I'd be satisfied with examples of Garleans who may not be considered wholly "good", but at least are not completely terrible. Maybe they have flaws, maybe they have the arrogant dismissal of Eorzeans as savages, but they don't execute their subordinates on the spot for the slightest mistakes or rule through fear or are just insufferably evil for the sake of being evil.

I'd actually like to see a "good Garlean", honourable and kind and cares for their underlings and peers, who is nevertheless still an enemy, and who believes deeply in the Empire of Garlemald. As mentioned many times, Regula would fit, but he got killed off, so it's something of a waste. Rhitatyn didn't even get any characterization before he got dogpiled in Cape Westwind.

It's kind of tiring to see the usual cliche of having all the morally righteous characters be either on our side or working with us, and all the opponents be horrible people for no reason other than that they're on the other side.

I'm also surprised that nobody in the main cast stops to consider that maybe the Ascians are behind all of the conflict. Especially since that is correct. Elidibus first manipulated the Warriors of Darkness and then gave the Eyes of Nidhogg to Ilberd. Did the Scions even work out how he got them? He was holding them in the final cutscene of Baelsar's Wall, if I recall correctly. The Griffin's actions brought forth Shinryu which Zenos then exploited as a consequence. Then, of course, there's Omega.

As far as I can tell, the Scions still have no idea how the Ascians got the Eyes. All the Ishgardians (Hilda, Aymeric) say that they didn't think anything could survive down in the abyss, and Alphinaud notes that "no mortal could endure such conditions". Then they decide that it doesn't matter, and the important thing is to deal with the present situation rather than speculate on the past. (Aymeric does apologize for telling you to toss the Eyes off the bridge.)

Even stranger is how the game implies that it wasn't Elidibus who retrieved the Eyes personally, but that he was given them by the Warriors of Darkness. Which I suppose technically still fits the "no mortal" bit, but I'm not sure how the Warriors of Darkness actually managed that feat.

In any case, I think the Scions are well aware that behind every major crisis to Hydaelyn, there's an Ascian (or more) behind it. They just can't really do anything about it at the moment, since the Ascians can come and go as they please, and it requires a lot of preparation just to track one down, much less defeat them.

And when it comes to the Garlean Empire, a lot of their evil deeds can be easily explained as general imperial terrible-ness, without need for Ascian conspiracies.

As for the antagonists, Gaius may have known, but was desperate for a way to contain Primals. Thordan definitely knew, but didn't care (and managed to successfully betray the Ascians anyway). The Warriors of Darkness knew, and were deliberately counting on it. Ilberd may or may not have known, but was obsessed enough not to care either. Varis probably also knew, but I don't think he cares.

All of them seem to have the usual villainous arrogance of believing that surely even the Warrior of Light cannot stop them this time.

[Alleo]

Oh there was another honorable Garlean higher up. The one at the beginning when they talked about the Roe that again got defeated by us. He stood up for his underling and paid the deathly price for this. I hope that this does not happen in all legions..otherwise Garlemald surely will kill itself from the inside.

About the WoD and the eyes: Well they are kinda already death so maybe the situation down there could not hurt them thanks to that. (Or just plot commands it)

[Eyvhokan]

Oh there was another honorable Garlean higher up. The one at the beginning when they talked about the Roe that again got defeated by us. He stood up for his underling and paid the deathly price for this. I hope that this does not happen in all legions..otherwise Garlemald surely will kill itself from the inside.

I think it's to show what Zenos is like to his underlings compared to the other generals we've had. The XIV soldiers loved Gaius; Regula wasn't liked by the VI because people thought he earned his rank via nepotism rather than cruelty like Zenos, but they respected him in the end.

[EdwinLi]

Oh there was another honorable Garlean higher up. The one at the beginning when they talked about the Roe that again got defeated by us. He stood up for his underling and paid the deathly price for this. I hope that this does not happen in all legions..otherwise Garlemald surely will kill itself from the inside.

About the WoD and the eyes: Well they are kinda already death so maybe the situation down there could not hurt them thanks to that. (Or just plot commands it)

I'm surprised that Garlean Empire has not imploded already considering they my be strong on the outside but inside they are suffering from internal conflicts mostly for position of power.

[Alleo]

I think it's to show what Zenos is like to his underlings compared to the other generals we've had. The XIV soldiers loved Gaius; Regula wasn't liked by the VI because people thought he earned his rank via nepotism rather than cruelty like Zenos, but they respected him in the end.

But I do question why Varis does nothing in a situation like that. (Putting his son, that he himself sees as a monster, on a throne in any country is simply bad...sent him to the battle fields all over the world where he can fight, but dont let him lead stuff) If the soldiers see that their leader gives the higher ups a free hand in these things they might lose their respect in him. And I do believe that this might be one of the points which will lead to their downfall.

[Kallera]

....We do not know when Varis put Zenos under the knife, or if Zenos' psychopathy was something he had before the experiment.

Also, Zenos is, on paper, a powerhouse of a soldier, perhaps it wasn't feasible to remove him without political fallout until he proved an impediment to military success( iirc, military connections were the deciding factor in Varis getting the throne.)

[Cilia]

The reading I got from the cutscene with Varis and Elidibus is that Varis knew about all of Zenos' experiments and activities. Frumentarium sees all, and if you don't want to believe that Elidibus could have very easily told him. When Elidibus referred to Zenos as a "valuable test subject," I don't think he was referring to something prior to 4.0 - I figured he was talking about the Resonant Echo and, well... for lack of a better term, magitek infusion.

Zenos is freakishly powerful even before he becomes a Resonant, but I'm not inclined to believe it was thanks to some secret procedure.

[Alleo]

But if he is such a powerhouse why not sent him out to do some suicide like missions? Varis himself said that Zenos was not fit to sit on the throne yet he gave him such a position. And since he was able to take out all the samurai in the rebellion in Doma in the past, he was already a strong fighter.

So if you want to conquer Eorzea or other continents why not just sent him and some other fight loving soldiers there to cause some unrest. If the people are too weak, Zenos might have claimed some land and if not you would have only lost a "monster" anyway. Yet he let him lead Ala Mhigo and Doma with a very bloody hand which will surely cause destabilization and unrest in these countries and maybe even among their own soldiers.