Fordola

[Theodric]

-snip-

Sadly.

I hope it changes - I want to see some major losses because the stakes don't feel very high when it's obvious which characters are going to prevail time and time again. For all the flaws in regards to WoW's storytelling it is bold enough to allow for major changes to the game world over time. Including major leader figures changing or dying.

Furthermore, although I like Yotsuyu and Fordola quite a bit I do wish they'd just kept Regula around to provide more moral greyness. We came to learn that he was a pretty honourable fellow - he just happened to be fighting for a different side. Having him serve as a contrast to Zenos would have been quite interesting, I believe. Though he was, unfortunately, written out of the plot rather abruptly and never mentioned again. Something that they really need to stop doing...

[Lazaruz]

After all, it took 20 years for them to even consider trying to fight back and retake their own eastern border.

I actually dont think it's as much to do with the Eorzean Alliance lacking the strenght to go toe to toe with the Garlean Empire, because I mean we've techniqly done so already once at Carteneu (although neither side walked away as the winner, and both suffered catastrophic losses in particular thanks to Bahamut. So there's no way of knowing who would've won). But rather it's why would Eorzea spend the manpower assisting what could, in effect, be considered a enemy nation, since Ala Mhigo very much so attempted to invade Gridania in the past (And said attack is what coincidentaly caused the original formation of the alliance in the first place). And this is assuming the alliance even wins to begin with. Because if not, all that would've happened would be Eorzean lives being spilled on foreign soil, trying to help a nation that atleast one member of the alliance is in all likelyhood not exactly on good terms with.

Hell a major part of why we even went to Ala Mhigo is after The Griffin's scheme, we were doomed regardless. No matter what we did, Garlemald was gonna think we'd just given them a declaration of war after what happened on Baelsar's Wall

Seems people pretty severely overestimated the Empire, turns out they're such a minor threat they can't even derail mine and Lyse's far east holiday plans.

If memory serves it's actually somewhat implied the reason the Empire steamrolled their way inside Ala Mhigo, is not as much blatant army superiority, but rather that the Mad King, Ala Mhigo's last ruler prior to the occupation, kindof gutted the capabilities for Ala Mhigo to defend itself, in his quest to en masse find and execute anyone and everyone who might be working to betray him (with theories that it was a garlean agent that "tipped off" the Mad King that people were planning to overthrow his rule.) Plus doesnt the MSQ more or less state that Zenos was holding back intentionally, because he wanted us to survive, but even more importantly, fuel our hatred for him, so that once we get to the palace in Ala Mhigo, he (Zenos) gets to fight someone skilled, and driven, enough so that for once, he might actually feel something?

(TL;DR Zenos was in all likelyhood holding back the garlean army, so that he'd get his "good fight" against the WoL. And Varis didnt interfer because he saw Zenos for the "monster" that he was, and believed such a man unfit to rule)

[Rymm]

I actually dont think it's as much to do with the Eorzean Alliance lacking the strenght to go toe to toe with the Garlean Empire, because I mean we've techniqly done so already once at Carteneu (although neither side walked away as the winner, and both suffered catastrophic losses in particular thanks to Bahamut.

Wasn't Carteneau the entire Eorzean Alliance (sans Ishgard?) verses one Imperial legion? And doesn't Garlemald have at least 12 legions? I'm not saying we wouldn't win if it came down to it (we are the heroes of the story after all, the plot armor is about as thick as it gets) but it makes perfect sense that the Alliance isn't keen on picking a fight with them. If the Empire did decide to commit their entire force to a full-scale invasion of Eorza, we would be severely out-manned, not to mention, likely out-gunned due to their advanced Magitek.

[Lazaruz]

Wasn't Carteneau the entire Eorzean Alliance (sans Ishgard?) verses one Imperial legion? And doesn't Garlemald have at least 12 legions? I'm not saying we wouldn't win if it came down to it (we are the heroes of the story after all, the plot armor is about as thick as it gets) but it makes perfect sense that the Alliance isn't keen on picking a fight with them.

Very true. Didnt quite think of that. Carteneau was just against the 14th legion, not the wider army. My misstake.
Although at the same time that also lends even more credence to the alliance being unwilling to spill lives of their soldiers, trying to retake a nation they're not even on the best of terms to begin with, when also the people you're fighting, is the Garlean Empire, and if you're unlucky, the entire army will come knocking sooner or later as a retaliation for the invasion.

I'm curious though how much of a fight the Eorzean Alliance would be able to put up today though, since the Grand Companies have more combat training, and most importantly Ishgard has ended its isolation, and rejoined

[Enkidoh]

Very true. Didnt quite think of that. Carteneau was just against the 14th legion, not the wider army. My misstake.

Just a small nitpick but it was actually the VIIth Legion (Nael van Darnus's legion) that fought at Carteneau, not the XIVth (Gaius refused to support Project Meteor and simply watched the devastation unfold from his airship). Any remaining troops from the VIIth after the Calamity would have been absorbed into the XIVth though, so from a certain point of view that is still correct though.

[Laerune]

Fordola and Lyse will be BFF by the end of Stormblood. I reckon there will be an redempation story for both her and Yotsuyu. Yotsuyu and Gosetsu will bond, this will make her warm up to Doma.

[Kallera]

For one, she got her own comrades killed because she ordered to fire a cannon at Specula Imperatoris while her men, Garleans and resistance fighters were inside.

and with one shot, killed Conrad, leader of the resistance.

with two or three, she could have decapitated the leadership and crippled the resistance. While Zenos would no doubt squander the oppotunity, she and the skulls could have ended up genuine war heroes from the imperial side...had it worked.

Unfortunately, All 4.0 seemed to prove is that SE cannot make them convincingly threatening, or anything other than cardboard stormtroopers that are mandated to lose every encounter, which is sad, I would haved loved to see Garleans faffing around in Kugane.

[Kallera]

Would this be a bad time to point out that the allaiance mainly worked with Conrad's group and that there are other branches of the Ala Mihgan resistance that may be more inclined towards immoral and dark deeds that loyalysts like Fordola may have had to deal with over the years?

[dinnertime]

In what way was she a traitor?

For one, she got her own comrades killed because she ordered to fire a cannon at Specula Imperatoris while her men, Garleans and resistance fighters were inside.