Is Scholarch Montichaigne sus, or is it just me?

[Alleluia]

Warning: long post ahead.

This could just be in my head, but this feeling has been niggling at me since Endwalker. I recently rewatched some EW cutscenes (A Guide of Sorts #2 and Sound the Bell, School’s In) and i STILL feel it. So I figured, why not share?

So: does anyone else think Scholarch Montichaigne is suspicious and will be potentially nefarious in the future?

The first thing that raised my hackles about him was his introduction. I’ve tried to identify why and I think it comes down to two things: the timing of his interruption, and the cinematic direction of the scene.

The cinematic direction is the simplest: when he cuts in and speaks the music suddenly cuts out. On it’s own, that’s just a device to snap the tension and make the viewer take notice. So it’s not sus on it’s own. But it does make you focus on this man who has suddenly just cut into the scene. It feels akin to hearing glass break all of a sudden in an otherwise quiet room. You aren’t sure whether it’s gonna lead to something good or bad, but it’s startling regardless and spikes your adrenaline and curiosity.

The other red flag in this scene to me is *when* he breaks into the conversation and, secondarily, what he says. Or just the way he says it, really.

Forchenault and Alphinaud are talking and Alphinaud has just expressed his response to his father’s argument from Gridania of having to have faith in himself bc others trust him. We of course now know that this is something that Forchenault himself struggles with. So Dad looks away, and then looks back, and opens his mouth about to respond. And you really get the sense that we may just be getting some kind of breakthrough here between them and he’s going to say something important. Maybe something that will finally bring some clarity to his actions.

And *that’s* when the Scholarch pipes up, derailing the conversation. And he does so by calling it an endless debate, dismissing it as a tangent, essentially saying “hey let’s get back to deciding whether we expel these guys. “

And it just strikes me as so purposefully, perfectly timed on his part. He was waiting in the wings for the right moment to cut in and felt, for some reason, that that was it. It’s calculated. And seems to be designed to avoid Forchenault saying what he was going to say to Al in that moment.

The Scholarch then proceeds to charm the forum in favor of letting us stay by appealing to their curiosity. Which is a good thing for us, yes. But it does also show the man is not above being manipulative.

This is not a bad thing inherently, of course. There’s a fine line between persuasion and manipulation, that line being whether you are honest or not. And I don’t think Montichaigne was acting with integrity here.

I think, given what he later tells us in the studium, the Scholarch stopped Forchenault from talking b/c he wanted to help us himself instead. If he let Forchenault break in that moment and give hints (“hints” cus he was magically prevented from spilling the beans) to the kids during the forum session, then the Scholarch couldn’t do it. So instead, he cuts him off and then, secretly, undermines him later by feeding us information. And conveniently makes himself our important ally who shares information no one else will.

And he also doesn’t actively dissuade the kids of the notion that their father is doing something nefarious, even though he could. Forchenault has been an inexplicable douche to this point and the Scholarch knows why. Even if he can’t articulate specifics, he doesn’t try to put the minds of his good friend’s grandchildren at ease about their dad’s motives even a little? It’s odd, especially given how kindly he’s coming across.

Speaking of, another thing that bugged me was how quickly the normally more cynical Alisiae trusts the man. It’s b/c he was friends with Louisoix and Galuf, as they point out. This could be innocent enough. But b/c I’m suspicious of him due to the above, I do wonder if this wasn’t just another bit of convenience for him that, combined with his cooperation, let him earn the twins and krile’s trust instantly. And ours’ by extension. And that that is just too convenient.

There’s more:

like the fact he’s willing to undermine the forum in the first place given that, unlike us, he actually does know what they’re doing and why. He never makes any mention of a motive for helping us. And at that point it was just some vague telophoroi threat we were dealing with, not the existential end of days the forum was preparing for. Arguably, helping us meddle would actually hurt that prep. His friendship with the galuf and Louisoix is mentioned so you can infer he wants to help the outside world, but he never actually explains. Just says he feels “curiosity should be nurtured, not stifled”. which just tells us that he supports us looking into the forum, not WHY he does.

Or how he claims the forum’s enchantment is akin to memory manipulation, but the guy who tried to talk in the forum scene seemed to literally choke on his words, not forget them. So was he lying? But this could just be a more meta thing at play to just use the scholarch to give us aether lore, so I dunno.

(Also what kind of secrecy charm lets you TELL people you are under a secrecy charm? But this isn’t Wolf Among Us so ok fine.)

Having written it out, I know it could just be what it seems: an introduction of an ally to us while the forum and Forchenault are being stubborn. And a way to introduce memory related lore for Elpis and the finale later.

I guess what I’m saying is Montichainge’s readiness to go behind the forum’s back and his specific interference with Forchenault raised my eyebrows. lol also the fact that the scholarch gives us memory lore and we are now dealing with memories seemingly powering memoria somehow on the 13th. And the studium prophecy about the lifestream, which deals a lot with memory aether. And who’s in charge of the studium? Yup.

In short, Montichainge seems sus. Discuss.

[Cleretic]

He's not evil, he's just a politician. One of the first things they learn is how to master the art of effectively breaking the rules without actually breaking any of them. And right up in that same range is the skill of 'fight for what you want while making it plausibly deniable that you did'. Yeah, a lot of politicians are crap about what they do with those skills, but even the ones you're most in the corner of learn how to play the game well.

One of the many things I like about Endwalker is learning that despite the dire circumstances and weird contexts, there wasn't anything especially malevolent or high-fantasy about the Forum. Even at the end of the world, the people standing in your way are still just conservative politicians.

[Seraphor]

In other words: Yes

Like every politician, he is super sus.

[Zero-ELEC]

I hate to be dismissive, but I think you might just be reading a bit too much into it. It seemed to me that we're meant to read him at face value, didn't get any suspicious vibes off him. But maybe it's just me being obtuse.

[SannaR]

I was suspicious of him at first cause he does come off as the nice and well meaning politician that'll rub your back if you rub his. Then the more I think of it I kind of see him as that really old person who is apart of high society and toes the line when it comes to following said rules, but is always on the look out for promising new blood that is able to challenge and maybe change the stuffy status quo and bring in a newer way to approach things. That and you need an authority figure that has a different view from the twins father as that's covered by Forchenault and the majority of the Forum.

[KageTokage]

Given that XIV is about as unsubtle as it gets when it comes pushing characters who have hidden agendas, I really don't think he's suspicious.

[Alleluia]

Just to add on to this, with the ending of Pandemonium, the Scholarch is apparently very interested in Claudien's continued research of auricite. My suspicion continues to persist. lol

[SilversLyu]

I am part of the people that thought a part of Sharlayan would be evil and working with Fandaniel. I was surprised with the direction they took with them in a positive way. With that being said, your reading of the forum scene is interesting altho on thin ice, haven't heard that one before. What catched my attention of being more to him was also his introduction but for different reasons.. his character design looks like a villain that comes straight up from another game, if you know you know. More so later on in the Endwalker patch story he is very interested in aquiring more knowledge, about the void in that case. I actually dont believe he is evil, but I feel why one might think he acts a bit special. To me he is a more open male version of the old witch Matoya, changing Sharlayan from the inside out with forming the generation in the academy for example, much like Louisoix did by reaching out to other nations etc. He is also just very curious and shares the essencial Sharlayan duty of being thirsty for knowledge, just being way more open minded.

[Alleluia]

You mentioned character design and I wanted to add something. I didn't mention it before cus its not evidence of anything, but I have listened to his Japanese VA and I could easily hear that voice doing villain lines in my head. lol I did this after I finished Endwalker in English so that completely subjective impression didn't create my suspicion or anything, but it hasn't hurt it.

And, while I stand by my read on his character as manipulative, I recognize that being manipulative doesn't have to mean villainous. I'm just keeping an eye on him, at this point, is all.

[Vyrerus]

Alisaie trusts him because he was hers and Alphinaud's instructor at the Studium. He broke in on Fourchenault's argument with Alphinaud because he knew Fourchenault wasn't going to budge. Especially not in front of the entire forum. Also it's been a minute, but I'm pretty sure he reminded both the twins that their father cares for them deeply or at least mentions it to the WoL.

Also the entire Sharlayan Forum is always butting heads with one another. They hardly ever vote unanimously, so he doesn't need a big reason to go against them. He likely has often, like Louisoix before him. He's literally just the plot wanting to have Louisoix there, but they can't, so we get Bargain Louisoix.

Obviously, it's not impossible for him to become a villain in a setting that's prominently featured brainwashing/ mind control/erasure, but it'd really be a swing out of left field for FFXIV.