Story 1/5
The Burden of Duty
Star: Yugiri
This story expands on the biography of Yugiri in the EE2, revealing more about the short time she and Hien spent together as kids and how Hien got his facial scars. Looking at the timeline, this is after Gosetsu spent a few years as a Garlean mercenary to earn his freedom, but before Regula van Hydrus became viceroy eight years ago. Gabranth's field notes suggest that it was not the IVth Legion who possessed it, as Gabranth "held Dalmasca and Bozja" for three decades. It seems we still don't know what was going on Imperially within that gap.
That said, I always enjoy seeing Hien presented as someone born and raised to do this one job - that there is no one in the world better suited to it, better prepared for it, or more equipped for it - but from his perspective he has no idea what he's doing and is taking one day at a time. This story even does a little to frame the context of his general aloofness, prone to stealing back little moments of childlike whimsy and wonder he was denied in his youth.
Yugiri sticks to the shadows of even her own story, but we see what we need to know in her actions. Her sympathy for the people of Doma, her draw to Hien's honorable traits, and that she, too - if privately - enjoys stealing away to that childlike place with him.
Story 2/5
Her Father's Daughter
Star: Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn
I love this story; Lominsa, pirates, classic basic city drama. [deep inhale] Eorzea. Simple, grounded, Eorzea.
Y'all keep going on about restoring the void, I just want to restore Silvertear Falls. ANYROAD...
That said, it took me a minute to wrap my head around the lore play involved here.
First the timeline. The EE1 conflates Merlwyb assuming command of the League of Lost Bastards with the day she killed her father; compare her biography to the timeline and this previously suggested 1554. Bloefhis is here alive in 1562, so we're shoving in a previously unknown (I think?) nuance here: Merlwyb assumed the role of captain in 1554, but didn't assume true command until 1562. While the timeline doesn't reflect anything of importance to her at that time, this enables Bloefhis to become the first leader of the Serpent Reavers, which is itself a pretty big lore bomb, so it looks like we're stickin' with it!
Then the summoning. A primal summoning successfully completed by one Sahagin on death's door without the aid of the Key (or anything resembling the later-invented foci of the ARR quests) or even a priest sounds unlikely for the conventions of the time. I'm not sure if constitutes a lore break, though; the lore retreats farther from primal summoning being a difficult feat every year, but it stuck out to me that this was still in '62. (As did calling Leviathan "far larger than any sea serpent" in 1562, since that means we're not even months out from seeing the much larger serpent of Swallowtail Roam! But now I'm just being silly. Rocl points out that the door may be open for talking about Llymlaen and the serpents in Myths of the Realm, though. And now I'll be sad if we don't.)
We also see that for all the rumors of "dark relations" between Mistbeard and Merlwyb back in the day, they weren't very close yet in 1562, and he stopped using that identity after his last big heist in Ul'dah the next year.
And what's this about Lorens... He's a new character as far as I can tell, and while the story reads like he's about to found the Company of Heroes at first, at the end it skips right to him vanishing in the Calamity without mentioning them and then she's still anticipating his return today... 6.0 character?
Story 3/5
Set with the Sun
Star: Fordola
So the death of Fordola's father is 1571. I think that actually about fits this week, right? Six years ago, she's 19 now, 13 then. She could pass for 13 in that cutscene I would think.
The idea of Fordola and Yda together made me extremely nervous out of the gate. Lots of questions. Fordola had to have known who Lyse was, then. And they share the screen many times in many moods; some of them talkative, even. It never came up? As others have said by now, this feels contrived in a "small world" kind of way. If it was an intended-all-along moment, it seems like it would have come up. Out-of-world, we understand that in that case it wouldn't have been written yet, but in-world, I think we might still be due an excuse. Anyroad...
At the same time I was also intrigued; Lyse and Fordola were put forward as foils - they were the same character living different lives: father fallen in the conflict between Ala Mhigo and Garlemald, establishing a place in a found-family, following an irrational dream of Ala Mhigo's freedom through their own strength. Of the two, arguably Lyse had the more warped and unlikely idea of what that meant. Fordola was at least pragmatic about the paths available to her. Who could predict Lyse Hext would end up besties with the World Soul's favorite child and use brute force to make their vision of a Ala Mhigo - a fantasy that never existed and could barely be defended - a reality? The obvious end was that the two would forge a shared idea of what Ala Mhigo should be, a place where they put aside their pasts and make a home for all who wanted Ala Mhigo to thrive regardless of what side they joined in the past. The story never quite got all the way there, explicitly. Then Fordola wandered off with the summoner squad for a bit.
However deep this supposed (addition-)retcon, it feels like we were getting back to that idea: Lyse and Fordola as a narrative sibling rivalry. We knew Yda died saving "a little girl" but I think some corners of the fanbase refused to believe that was the whole story. I thought it'd be nice to have some closure Yda's death, but apparently this story will not be enough for any side to relinquish, lol.
I think one thing stands out to me here that I really like - the story of Fordola's life: good intentions, bad outcomes.
I also think some might read the last few paragraphs as if they're implying it was Yda's death that set her on this path. I still think he was her father's taken in the context of Yda's and what came after. She's realizing that she can't leave her fellow Ala Mhigans behind to suffer, and if she seems in any way disloyal, then the Empire will hurt them next. But also she's realizing that she will never be accepted as she is. The nobles that supported the Empire to keep their standing were hated by the rest, but many Garleans, especially those in the military, who skew towards the Optimates, would never see them as equals. Moreover, the Ala Mhigo that people like Yda fought for was a myth. A hope. It never existed, and there was no reason to think it ever would.
What resources did Fordola have, then? Those of the man her father died professing the honor of. Those of the man who himself professed meritocracy - persistence and resilience until you, with your own power, proved that you could be trusted, proved that you could lead the weak, proved that you were worthy of self-governance, like the core provinces of the Empire. She believed that proving Ala Mhigans were strong and loyal would lead to an Ala Mhigo as a province of the Empire that was more free than it ever was as a kingdom or ever would be as an imaginary republic none had the power to bring about. (...Yet.)
Cue the Crania Lupi - the Skulls of the Wolf.
Gaius was just like her in that way - good intentions, wrong choices, bad outcomes.
The one thing this story lacks is an excuse for why Fordola never brought it up. I'm willing to accept this extremely contrived small-world coincidence if we get that. We know the out-of-world reason - much like why Hydaelyn never brought up half the stuff She should have: Fictional characters can't tell you what their writer doesn't know yet. But I think part of what makes this go down easy for me is that in-world, there's already an opportunity. I already think that Fordola is due a comeback. I already think it's required to have a scene where they realize together, in world, that they've forged a shared vision of an Ala Mhigo worth saving, and that they're fighting together for it, so my mind is just like, "Well, Fordola can explain this when she gets back." lol. Personally I'd guess something tied up with anger and shame; those tend to people stay silent about a lot of things it doesn't make sense to others for them to stay silent about. And she'd definitely have a lot of both either way.
Fordola: "I never knew how to tell you... I was that little girl..."
Everyone: "Wow, they intended it all along..."
Me: <buries head in hands with an exasperated groan that shakes the floorboards>
Story 4/5
True of Heart
Star: Kan-E-Senna
This story started with a pleasant surprise: I've always imagined the Seedseer Council as, on its best day, engaging in a bit of a telephone game. I didn't expect it to be confirmed, ever, lol.
This is our first mention of A-Pitat-Rapa, yes? I suppose this is our post-I-Ohok-Pota pre-Kan-E-Senna guy. I wonder how that works with the E-Sumi stuff.
All seems pretty self-explanatory with this story aside from one thing: Claustrum was seized by Ala Mhigo during the Autumn War in 1468 and we don't hear of it again until it appears in Kan-E's possession if I remember right. It seems odd to me to not mention how it found its way back to the boughs, lol.
Not one of the four languages of this story refer to the moon specific language. Not "the red moon". Not "the lesser moon". Not "Dalamud." That feels like it could possibly be deliberate...
Originally Posted by Mieck
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