Zero, Cyella and Unukalhai

[Iscah]

Remember when we went on a wild goose chase with Illberd to Eastern Thanalan to find some stolen crap or whatever? Me neither. But that's a forced part of the story.

Yes I remember when we went on a raid with Ilberd and he acted suspiciously and one of his men conveniently killed the only witness "in self-defence" before we could go in to speak to them.

That is directly part of the main story building up to the banquet and required no detours to complete side content.

Also, people have bitterly complained about the amount of running about in that part of the story since forever.

In any case, this is not a "Saving the Thirteenth" arc, it is a "Rescuing Azdaja from the Thirteenth" arc. As I said above, saving the Thirteenth could be set up as a multi-prerequisite side story arc that draws in the role quests, Triad and Eden all together and brings together all the characters who have parts of the solution. It's too much sidequesting to put all of it as a roadblock to the MSQ, but it would make sense as a separate story strand once the main plot moves onward to a different setting.

[DiaDeem]

Yes I remember when we went on a raid with Ilberd and he acted suspiciously and one of his men conveniently killed the only witness "in self-defence" before we could go in to speak to them.

That is directly part of the main story building up to the banquet and required no detours to complete side content.

Also, people have bitterly complained about the amount of running about in that part of the story since forever.

In any case, this is not a "Saving the Thirteenth" arc, it is a "Rescuing Azdaja from the Thirteenth" arc. As I said above, saving the Thirteenth could be set up as a multi-prerequisite side story arc that draws in the role quests, Triad and Eden all together and brings together all the characters who have parts of the solution. It's too much sidequesting to put all of it as a roadblock to the MSQ, but it would make sense as a separate story strand once the main plot moves onward to a different setting.

Hard disagree. The whole Illberd thing hardly makes much of a difference and honestly felt like padding to me.

Also, if you're still thinking this is just "Rescuing Azdaja from the Thirteenth" quest after the whole setup we got at the end of the patch, then I don't know what to tell you.

I'll just agree to disagree.

[Espon]

While you're kinda right, Cyella and Unukalhai are sadly kinda like Gaia at the end of Shadowbringers.

There's no reason on Etheirys why Gaia wouldn't be with Ryne when the Scions leave the First. Whatever you wanna call their relationship, there's no way Gaia would leave her alone at such a hard time... but she's side optional content. Someone who hasn't touched Eden would be like... "Who?" and it's pretty much the same for Unukalhai and Cyella.

Solution: Make their quests MSQ mandatory and implement them in the Saving the Thirteenth arc now. There's so much fluff in ARR that making such characters as Unukalhai and Cyella optional and even Gaia (if you ask me) is kinda criminal.
Remember when we went on a wild goose chase with Illberd to Eastern Thanalan to find some stolen crap or whatever? Me neither. But that's a forced part of the story.

They made Crystal Tower mandatory, so here's hoping.
Feel free to disagree.

They've made several cutscenes and dialogue play out differently based on content you have done. A good example is when people are giving you supplies before you travel to Ultima Thule. Certain characters won't show up if you have not done the side quests involving them.

Estinien is another great example. If you've done the ARR Dragoon quests before Heavensward then he's not introduced to you later since you've met. NPCs even treat you as that other Azure Dragoon.

I am a little sadden that they didn't have Gaia show up along with Ryne when you return to the First in Endwalker if you've completed the Eden raids. It would of been an easy opportunity to show they've been hanging out together since the Scions left.