The key to Azys Lla

[Elladie]

After defeating Bismarck, the WoL is ambushed by Igeroyhm and the Archbishop. Igeroyhm then takes the key to Azusa Lla from the WoL who makes no effort to defend themself or stop the key being stolen. A few hours/days later they kill Igeroyhm pretty easily and destroy them utterly. So how come the key is stolen so easily?

According to friends the answer is 'story says so' which is very unsatisfying

[SaberMaxwell]

Everything from "We're fresh from killing a sky whale god" to "we were surprise attacked" could apply here; you said it yourself, we were ambushed.

[Elladie]

Everything from "We're fresh from killing a sky whale god" to "we were surprise attacked" could apply here; you said it yourself, we were ambushed.

The WoL isn't ambushed in the sense that Igeroyhm jumped out and had them in a headlock before they could do anything. If this had been the case, I wouldn't be querying it. If Igeroyhm crept up and tangled the WoL in darkness before they even knew she was there, fine. Not what happens though. They just stand there and get talked at for quite some time without even trying to draw a weapon.

I can kind of swallow the Blessing of Light being missing as a reason for us losing, but not as a reason for us not even trying to fight. It makes no sense. We just found this REALLY IMPORTANT ARTIFACT but we just let the bad guys take it off us.

Don't get me wrong, I love the story and think they've done a fantastic job with most of it. Which is why episodes like this bother me. They make no sense. It feels like the writers just got impatient and wanted to rush to the next bit without bothering to make it internally consistent.

Stuff like this throws me out of the story, breaks my immersion, or however you want to describe it. It was a moment of real dissonance for me (obviously this stands out more on a replay of the game though) akin to the moment in ARR when Iceheart breaks the ward around Ishgard and goes all 'Mwahahaha'. Fine when she's being touted as a villain but completely out of character for Ysayle

Igeyorhm: I see you have regained the blessing of Light- albeit at a fraction of its former strength.

Yeah she caught us off guard though we did some stupid choices but hey we were tired after fighting a primal and unblocking one of the Crystal's of light... so yeah not hard to see that it happened and why.

Sadly I disagree. Not hard to see that we might not prevail, but very hard to see why we don't even attempt to stop it. Us attempting to stop it could have comfortably ended in our 'defeat' allowing the Idyllshire chapter to proceed as planned. The scene as it stands now is very poorly done.

[purgatori]

The WoL never/almost never engages in combat during MSQ cutscenes. I have always presumed that this is due to SE not being able to figure out a feasible way of incorporating animations for all the jobs that a given WoL could be playing as during those cutscenes. It's very disappointing, compared to something like SWtOR, but they have many fewer classes in that game, and many of them use the same/similar weapons.

[Enkidoh]

Something to remember also, Igeroyhm spears the Warrior of Light with dark Ascian magic that practically immobilizes them (notice how after she drops and releases them, the WoL is panting and kneeling in pain on the ground) so little wonder she and Thordan were able to get the key.

It is also justified that at that point the WoL hasn't completely restored the Blessing and the Crystals of Light either so they're not quite up to full strength thus allowing an Ascian to overcome them (Igeroyhm even remarks that the WoL's strength is returning but is still not enough to overcome her power). By the time the WoL reaches the Singularity Reactor in Azys Lla though, it's a different story - the WoL completely trounces both her and Lahabrea and... well.. we know how the rest turns out.

So yeah, although it can be chalked up to "she couldn't be defeated until the plot said she could be defeated", it is fully justified for the aforementioned reason the Warrior of Light's Blessing has not been completely restored with all Crystals relit - once the final Crystal is relit after meeting Tiamat though, they're more than ready and able to curbstomp both Ascians at once even when amalgamated as Ascian Prime.

[Rannie]

Igeyorhm: I see you have regained the blessing of Light- albeit at a fraction of its former strength.

Yeah she caught us off guard though we did some stupid choices but hey we were tired after fighting a primal and unblocking one of the Crystal's of light... so yeah not hard to see that it happened and why.

[TheMightyMollusk]

The real question is why Igeyorhm doesn't just push us off into the Sea of Clouds after taking the key. I guess it's just another "puny mortal isn't worth it" moment.

[Crushnight]

The real question is why Igeyorhm doesn't just push us off into the Sea of Clouds after taking the key. I guess it's just another "puny mortal isn't worth it" moment.

I take it as she won't do anything that could potentially cause another flood, so she will follow orders to the letter.

Really wish was in game that Igyorym caused the flood of darkness on the 13th shard that is major information and gives some reasonings to her actions.

[Edax]

If the WoL is left helpless, instead of stealing the key and monologuing they should have just killed us then and there. That's my problem with those kind of cutscenes. If we're helpless, we should be dead in the face of the enemy.

[Enkidoh]

If the WoL is left helpless, instead of stealing the key and monologuing they should have just killed us then and there. That's my problem with those kind of cutscenes. If we're helpless, we should be dead in the face of the enemy.

I think we get away unscathed simply because the Ascians are just so arrogant and prideful, that we're 'beneath them', as a mortal we're like insects that we're not even worth the effort finishing off. Of course, pride definetely comes before the fall, and thus that means they hold the Idiot Ball well and truely, and are consistantly having their butts kicked accordingly when said 'insects' give them one hell of a nasty venomous sting (Emet all but evokes this with his little racist rant at the end of Amaurot).