MSQ
The mysterious figure is quite the turn-up at this stage. Zenos' words hint that they're known to him, but then that may not necessarily mean this is a character we've previously seen before. At least we know now for sure Zenos is going after Zodiark next, likely to try to merge with him. But despite his newfound powers, I'm not entirely sure that even Zenos could overpower Zodiark completely, weakened or not. Hmmm... How interesting would it be if maybe Zodiark was influencing things to allow for Zenos to become a sort of avatar for him in a way Elidibus or the other Ascians could not? Wild speculation, of course, but I wonder...

I am absolutely not convinced that the "Ardbert" we see in the stinger's stinger is our Ardbert. I will say that his appearance, whoever he really is, caught me off guard. Whatever's going on here, I also have strong suspicions that Elidibus is involved. Curious how he didn't make an appearance this patch...

Back to Garlemald, I have to wonder if Varis actually approved the research into Arch Ultima or whether it was a secret Ascian agenda he wasn't aware of. Or perhaps he did disapprove and was aware, but couldn't act against the Ascians. Varis is gone now, so it's kind of moot anyway I suppose. Either way, I suspect the Ascians had a hand in it, given that only they could have provided the requisite data and resources after what happened to the XIVth Legion. It wouldn't surprise me if the Heart of Sabik was indeed involved in this process, and perhaps that was what Gaius sought but it was possibly relocated prior to his infiltration of Garlemald. At any rate, Estinien confirmed that Zenos was apparently able to completely remove Black Rose from the equation (as far as he's aware for now, at least). As a side note, Estinien's LB was pretty rad imo.

Aside from that, the story mostly turned out about as I expected. The Scions on the First work with the Exarch to find a way back to the Source, and we go to Kholusia to help with Eulmore's fallout after Vauthry. The dungeon was quirky and fun for the most part, and the dialogue bits throughout it if you bring the twins as trusts were funny. I've already taken a liking to Beq Lugg as well. It was nice to revisit the storyline with the light-afflicted in Amh Araeng. I liked the little shoutout to Angelo from FFVIII too. Interesting that this may lead to a way to break the conditioning placed on the tempered back on the Source, I hadn't thought of that before but then we didn't really know anything about this soulcrafting until just recently. I do worry about the implications of using Allagan science as a font for the Scions to get back though. The auracite was shady enough as it was for an idea.

Kholusia was a nice little bit of development if nothing else. The Chais are kind of adorable together lol. Dulia was precious as ever, and it does seem like Chai is starting to come into his own a bit. He understands he's not experienced enough in certain fields to handle all the responsibilities of being mayor, and makes it clear he can't do everything on his own. Despite that, he also doesn't want to delegate all the work to someone else without rolling up his sleeves and working himself. Still, there could be a chance for conflict in the future between those who were once in differing social classes during Vauthry's reign, but for now it appears the people are willing to come together to rebuild and survive.


Post MSQ (Mor Dhona):
I thought it was nice of them to devote a side quest devoted to F'lhaminn so she could have a chance to properly find peace with Minfillia's loss and move on. It was a pretty touching bit of story they could have easily just made into a passing bit of NPC dialogue and nothing else, but I'm glad they mad the effort to do it with a full quest instead.


Nier Raid:
Chaotic as it was in certain mechanics, I actually really like the raid itself. We didn't get all that much story about the androids and the machines themselves yet, and the factory itself is still somewhat of a mystery. I do have yet to read over the collection archives from the exploration, so those will probably reveal more things. I do expect there's going to be a significant amount more supporting lore come patch 5.3 when the next alliance raid comes out. After all, there's plenty of questions to be answered. There's the mystery of 2P herself, and her exact relation to 2B. Also, what were all those 2B units doing in that one room, and was it 9S that destroyed them? It seems like the Nines we see here is from post-ending-B in Nier Automata, very probably post-ending-C/D/E, or maybe it's just a version from a totally different timeline altogether. I suppose we'll find out soon enough. I also believe we're bound to run into A2 or a proxy of her along the way, though whether we'll have to fight with or against her is anyone's guess. I'd also love for Devola and Popola to make cameos in the future. I would be absolutely surprised if we don't see Emil down the line, granted he's not an android but still. Anyway, I did like that we could explore the raid dungeon after clearing it and really appreciate all the details and such, though I wish we could use mounts in there to make things go a bit more quickly. That's all I've got for now, I think