I know it's taboo within the FFXIV community, but when the director feels the need to "communicate she's not a bad guy" despite the gross amount of gaslighting that occurred and has to explain key character motivations and story elements, then the script didn't go into enough depth and the game didn't depict them sufficiently. I won't go as far as saying it's bad writing/directing, but they did not give these characters and storylines the attention they needed. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised when the Q&A made it clear that they don't consider the finer details of the lore that the fandom pores over excessively.

However, even then, I simply don't understand how Yoshi-P can compare Venat to Emet and Hermes, imply they're basically all the same and this is just an Ancient mentality, but the way Venat is portrayed is as a protagonist, not an antagonist like the others, and that's while being responsible for everything except the cause of the Final Days.

Quote Originally Posted by Teraq View Post
You know, it's always something I've found bizarre... Does any character that isn't on Venat's side ever explicitly say the Convocation was planning more sacrifices after the third one that would bring back the people within Zodiark?
As far as I know, not even people among Venat's group were concerned with 'endless' or 'continuous' sacrifices to Zodiark. It's always been player headcanon that somehow came to be accepted as fact.

I love this, by the way. Azem, who historically refused to side with either Zodiark or Hydaelyn to deal with the Final Days (as far as we can tell, anyway), now having the blessings of both to deal with the Final Days.
This is one of the (many) reasons the WoL being the champion of Hydaelyn irked me. Venat is someone who 1) your OG self didn't join, 2) condemned your two BFFs to fates worse than death, 2) sundered you and then groomed/manipulated your reincarnation. Why in TF would I ever view her favorably? I can concede to having to work with her due to the position she put us all in, essentially having to clean up her and Hermes' mess, but like she's some sort of good guy in all this? No.

Quote Originally Posted by Valkyrie_Lenneth View Post
You seem to be real hung on on Venat being a woman. Like.. You just can't let that one thing go, it comes across are rather crass honestly.
Baseless accusation, but I suppose that's the 2020s. Were roles reversed, I would feel contempt for Elidibus and heartbreak for Venat. It has nothing to do with gender and everything with character.

As for the "crystal mommy" bit, maybe had Hydaelyn ever been a likeable character I could've let it slide, but think of any character in the game you dislike constantly referring to you as their children (or "my" anything) and see if that doesn't start grating on your nerves.