[Spoilers] The Patch 4.2 Discussion and Speculation Thread!

[Belhi]

Asahi is likely to be an antagonist, I feel. He's the cousin of Yotsuyu and we know that her family turned a blind eye to her torment. I'll be disappointed if Doma's sins end up being linked to Garlemald itself as that would be quite a cheap cop out - though I'd prefer Asahi to be an antagonist over a protagonist as I want the 'Larsa' figure to be a Pureblood Garlean.

I have my doubts that Asahi is the same individual shown clenching their fist in Garlemald's palace. Could that individual show up and expose Asahi as a fraud?

I think that would be a long shot, particularly since he does have a pureblood Garlean with him and it would be pretty easy to check his credentials at the Garlean Embassy. More to the point, since Asahi is almost certainly going to be representing Garlemald in the next patch, even if he isn't a pureblood, if he is an antagonist it will make Garlemald the bad guy again. Plus, why would he even be turning up if he is a fraud? What is he going to get out of it? I seriously doubt he has the manpower to take over Doma and as a Garlean representative I doubt he can sway the people away from Hein.

Plus even if he is a 'Larsa' figure, that doesn't mean we won't be dealing with friendly purebloods eventually.

[VargasVermillion]

I think from varis's pov using asahi as a representative makes more sense than using a pureblood garlean who would be distrusted even more so. The emperor going to meet personally would be a dangerous idea as there would be plenty of people who'd like the idea of him being assassinated and again he'd just be generally distrusted anyway since he's not as relatable as a non-garlean who earned a powerful position.

[Alleo]

Asahi is likely to be an antagonist, I feel. He's the cousin of Yotsuyu and we know that her family turned a blind eye to her torment. I'll be disappointed if Doma's sins end up being linked to Garlemald itself as that would be quite a cheap cop out - though I'd prefer Asahi to be an antagonist over a protagonist as I want the 'Larsa' figure to be a Pureblood Garlean.

I have my doubts that Asahi is the same individual shown clenching their fist in Garlemald's palace. Could that individual show up and expose Asahi as a fraud?

Honestly it should be a family sin or maybe a neighbor sin but its not the fault of the whole Doma that someone is abused. Even in our world people are having bad experiences and I am quite sure that one should not accuse a whole nation for that. Yes there might be a bit of a "family stuff remains with the family" mentality but this is still no reason to blame all Domans for that. They might learn from this by trying to stop such things happening but it truly would be utopia to have a country free of that stuff. And lets not forget that they were under the rule of Garlemald at that time so who knows how far that influenced the people. (And no I am not saying that Garlemald should be blamed for that, its still the family that threated her that way.)

[Belhi]

Honestly it should be a family sin or maybe a neighbor sin but its not the fault of the whole Doma that someone is abused. Even in our world people are having bad experiences and I am quite sure that one should not accuse a whole nation for that. Yes there might be a bit of a "family stuff remains with the family" mentality but this is still no reason to blame all Domans for that. They might learn from this by trying to stop such things happening but it truly would be utopia to have a country free of that stuff. And lets not forget that they were under the rule of Garlemald at that time so who knows how far that influenced the people. (And no I am not saying that Garlemald should be blamed for that, its still the family that threated her that way.)

You are right that in Yotsuyu's specific case each individual Doman shouldn't be considered guilty as such. However there are two important points regarding Yotsuyu's story.

The first is that what happened to Yotsuyu was legally done. Those with power allowed it. She was sold at a young age as a bride to an abusive man and when he died sold again to a brothel. Regardless of the reasons of why it was done, it was allowed. At the very least that makes Hein's father partially culpable. Add to that that assuming her comments are right, her pleas for help were met with people telling her to put up with it. That suggests a culture that looks the other way. This isn't that far fetched considering how we see the Domans and even the Ala Mhigans acting under Garlean rule. However remember the first time we see Yotsuyu? She gives a man a gun and tells him to kill his neighbours and then his parents. I think that was intentional. Its easy to accept what is necessary to survive when it is someone else having to pay the price. Its much harder when its things you care about.

The Second, and this is connected to the first, is that Yotsuyu is almost certainly not a unique case. She was just placed in a position where her story came to light. In a society where a woman can be forced into prostitution or sold off like a slave you honestly think she was the only person it happened to? If she hadn't been given soldiers we probably would have never found out. Yotsuyu is a indicator of potentially the true sin of Doma, the willingness to accept injustice for the sake of peace and safety.

Part of the reason I suspect this is the direction it is going is Goesetsu. We know he did slaughtered people for the Garleans at the orders of his Lord. Doing so placated the Garleans and helped keep Doma safe but if you came at this whole situation from the direction of Goesetsu's victims you would probably see the samurai in a very different light right now.

[LineageRazor]

On the topic of whether Varis's overtures are trustworthy, I don't feel like the Emperor should be expected to personally appeal his case. That's what ambassadors are FOR. For the Emperor to make a personal appearance is a ridiculous and unnecessary risk. He's an INCREDIBLE target of opportunity. I still feel that his personal appearance in the Sea of Clouds was kind of silly, and barely justified by the fact that it was unexpected and in a place where foes were sparse (Ishgard was, at that point, neutral as far as Garlean relations went). For Varis himself to personally meet with an enemy with whom his nation is at open war, he'd need to bring a ridiculously large force of guards - and at that point, it'd be foolishly dangerous for us to meet with them. No, sending an ambassador is not an indication that Varis is taking the alliance lightly.

However, I do think that the possibility is still strong that Varis is setting a trap. While Zenos might have been a "failed experiment", it's uncertain that the Resonance was. If Aulus's findings were shared with the Empire, Varis might well consider us to now be expendable. Even if Resonance has side effects, it still produced individuals like Fordola, who was extremely formidable. The Empire almost certainly doesn't know about her "forced Echo" fits - and even if they did, I'm sure they could dredge up soldiers with a lot less empathy than she has. After all, she's only suffering because she feels guilty about the atrocities she perpetrated and was now forced to relive from the perspective of her victims; a sociopath wouldn't have that weakness.

Basically, Varis might consider the Resonance to be "good enough", and is now set to take out his most formidable enemy: the Warrior of Light.

On the topic of Yotsuyu, I don't think we have enough information to place the blame for her situation at the feet of Doman law, or even of Doman custom. We don't really know how legal or customary her treatment was. Certainly it's the case that even in real-world, civilized nations, some families will sell their children into prostitution even though it's far from legal or customary. The fact that Yotsuyu DID decide to enact vengeance on Domans in general hints that it's a known and tolerated phenomenon - but it could just as easily be the case that there's little logic in how she chose to lash out. She wanted to see people suffer, just as she had suffered, and Domans were a convenient target.

Honestly, though, that Yotsuyu is dead, so the debate is of little importance. As for Yotsuyu now, I doubt that she's faking her amnesia, and I'm interested to see what interactions she'll have with Asahi, a ghost from her past, when most of her past is now gone. If she's regressed to childhood, was she on good terms with her cousin before she was sold off for his benefit? And on Asahi's part, does he feel any guilt for the way that his high position was gained by trampling on his cousin? If he does feel guilty, and comes face to face with Yotsuyu when she was still young and trusting, it could be interesting indeed...

[Guiballad]

I like the theory that Yotsuyu's amnesia probably isn't gonna be "cured" with friendship or love, but through sheer hatred. That's a nice twist

But onto more serious matters:

Asahi is likely to be an antagonist, I feel. He's the cousin of Yotsuyu and we know that her family turned a blind eye to her torment. I'll be disappointed if Doma's sins end up being linked to Garlemald itself as that would be quite a cheap cop out - though I'd prefer Asahi to be an antagonist over a protagonist as I want the 'Larsa' figure to be a Pureblood Garlean.

I have my doubts that Asahi is the same individual shown clenching their fist in Garlemald's palace. Could that individual show up and expose Asahi as a fraud?

Well the glove of the misterious person seem to match Asahi's gear (saw the stinger again to check). Could always be a fake out, sure, but i don't think it would make for that good of a plot twist. More than one dude in the Garlean Army using the same oufit? AUDIBLE GASP! Our good ambasador with a suspicious surname being more than he seems could definetely make for an interesting plot however.

Now onto the juicy part. I think somebody on this thread mentioned that the smoke that comes out of Byakko when he transitions from tiger to man-tiger bears some resemblance to the visual effects associated with Ame-no-Habakiri. While that by itself doesn't say that much, the lore fluff released about the trial mentions a "peerless samurai" named Tezen, which apparently is a reference to FFXI, where, as far as i could understand based on secondary sources, he was a samurai that housed the spirit of Phoenix on his katana. Seems like a great candidate to be the original wielder of the sword.

What if the Ame-no-Habakiri is deeply related to the Four Lords? Maybe it's used to contain them, maybe it was made by them and gifted to Tezen and for some reason Zenos using it awakens them. The reason i'm bringing this up is... the sword seems to be a perfectly exploitable plot point/mcguffin yet seemed to be discarted so fast. I'm sure it'll make a comeback and this seems to be a nice way to integrate it.

[Kusanagi7]

correct me if im wrong but is Asahi a doman native cuz if so be interesting what the other domans from yanxia think about him and i hope he is good garlean cuz we need more of em.

[Rocl]

Didn't Asahi himself make the suggestion to sell/marry off Yotsuyu too?

My parents thought me no better. They worked me from dawn to dusk, like an ox or an ass or some other beast of burden. Until, that is, my brother spied a chance to transform the family fortunes. And so I was married to a vicious old drunk who beat me as he pleased, and when I pleaded for help, I was told to grin and bear it. For the family. For him. For everyone's sake. They pretended not to notice, but they knew.

The closer we get to patch the more I begin to think he may not be the great guy he appears in the trailer as.
Maybe Yotsuyu's mistaken, maybe he was unaware.
Maybe Yotsuyu's right, but he didn't know it'd end up that way.
Maybe Asahi will trigger a cure for Yotsuyu's amnesia in true coincidence fashion.

I'm beginning to think the "Brutus" part of his name may have nothing to do with Varis and more to do with Yotsuyu and her brute. After all, wasn't it crazy old Grynewaht who showed Yotsuyu the slightest bit of consideration?
Maybe that wordplay doesn't translate though, and his surname seems to be rather uniform across languages :P

I definitely think Gosetsu's "whose feet do those sins lie" is supposed to be a comparison of old Doma and new Doma. (And the Doma to-be, I guess)

[Belhi]

No. Asahi's mother was the one who sold her off. He wasn't actually in the cutscene. The Imperial officer and Asahi's mother were discussing Asahi's potential in training among the Garleans and the officer spotted Yotsuyu. Asahi might even be younger than Yotsuyu. He certainly looks very young. Since he was the star child though I could easily see her blaming him.

Curious Yotsuyu talks about the woman in the echo vision as her mother. Maybe she was lying about Yotsuyu being her niece.

[Rocl]

Eh? Asahi is right there next to his mother in the cutscene.


He was definitely in the cutscene. Yotsuyu refers to the woman as her mother, the woman considers Asahi her son (and the Imperial officer seems to think Asahi and Yotsuyu are her's). The mother does refer to Yotsuyu as her sister's (therefore making them cousins) but we don't hear anything about a brother, and Yotsuyu definitely mentions a brother selling her. It's possible having never known he real mother (the Doting Mother says Yotsuyu's mother died) she is unaware that they aren't brother and sister, or it could be that her mother hates her and wishes she wasn't her child.

In the cutscene we SEE Yotsuyu being worked as an ox or an ass or some other beast of burden--so we don't have a reason to assume she's lying there. The doting mother only attempts to "come to an understanding" with the Imperial about Yotsuyu not being educated; I don't get the idea that this is when she was sold off. After the Echo the Warrior of Light narrows his eyes at the dead Imperial, then their gaze softens. I don't think we were witnessing the sale of a child.

Fun Fact: the game script refers to "Doting Mother" as YOTSUYUSMOM and the Imperial as HENSO. While not necessarily canon, I thought it was cute.