The atrocity that was the "In from the Cold" quest ending - *STORY RANT*

[Eisi]

It was in Garlemald that it became clear that no regular human hero character that had already gathered any fanbase at all would die.

In from the Cold so obviously set up a character death that Ishikawa literally had to step in, assume Fandaniel's form, clap her hands and deus ex machina in some massive plot armor for everyone involved. "That's it, everyone goes back to their bodies! Nobody dies!"

It would have been so appropriate to absolutely devastate the scions here at the hands of Zenos in the WoL's body while Fandaniel holds us down, laughing and making us watch powerlessly and in horror.

Alphinaud should have been there and just taken out cold with a scythe slice through his chest, bleeding out in the snow with Alisaie desperately trying to heal him, later escaping with his lifeless body as G'raha and Y'shtola try to defeat Zenos and Zero in a last ditch effort.

Y'shtola, unable to teleport out going beyond her limits limits again, drawn aether from her own body to the point of permanently disfiguring her perfect looks, G'raha should have lost an eye and a hand trying to shield his friends, it should have been an absolute bloodbath.

And Zenos should also have killed us in the Legionnaire's body right before we swapped back. Just so we could taste death as well. And for additional impact.

And then we would have the perfect 1-2-3 gutpunch in Garlemald, first the girl and her sister whose names we don't remember, then Quintus, who had some scenes, then Alphinaud who was with us from the start. Rather the lame deflation at the end of In from the Cold, which left us dumbfounded at the near fourth wall break level of plot armor we had just witnessed.

And then a promising youth who we just heard about had a great future as a leader would have been gone. And it would have been unfair and horrible.

And then we would have to go on like that, in spite of it all or sink into despair.

And then I would have taken Zenos seriously when he told us he wanted us to hate him.

And then Fourchenault would have never told his son he loved him. And would have to go on in spite of even himself or sink into despair. And Ameliance could step in and hand him the well deserved bitchslap. And divorced him, just kidding of course she would also see fault with her own lack of action and she would be there as a voice of reason and hope.

And then Alisaie would have told the literal murderer of her brother what she told him - after she had grown beyond desperate revenge and seen Zenos for the pitiful bum he really is.

And then we would have been happy that everyone survives in Ultima Thule at the end, rather than disappointed that everyone had plot armor in the end.

And then Zero would have been much more than a mere slave to Zenos, she would have been involved in the murder of your friend.

And then Y'shtola would be looking like a zombie (they could still make her look cool, kinda like Nero with the darkness patina in WoD except her whole body would be like that and it would be permanent) and have a raspy voice and magic would be the only thing holding her body together and we would cherish her for how badass she is. Even though she escaped death again it came with a cost and one that builds on the loss of her eyesight from prior.

And G'raha would get a cool eyepatch and cyborg hand.

The reason why you liked it is the reason you liked Game of Thrones season 5. You thought it would get better and you just had a bunch of great seasons before. But in retrospect you have to realize, they already showed you their hand. All the horrible stuff that happened in the later seasons, it was only for shock value - oh they would go so far?? But you knew who the main characters were that were carried by the sacrifice of those who the fans didn't appreciate as much. And all the torture porn in Thavnair part II where in Ishikawa's eyes meaningless side characters get slaughtered on the altar of "stakes for the main characters" it was bland and tasteless after this.

Tasteless I say.

You tell me a children's tale where all the main characters magically survive everything and then you treat nameless side characters like that where a father sees his child just stomped in an almost comical fashion, where a mother has to throw her baby into a pond cause that's the biggest chance it might survive and the baby almost dies and loses both it's parent's but hey, it's just side characters, they can die, their friends and family can die, they can lose?

Because you want to tell a tale like that, but you don't dare touch the main cast, because they are your product and you are too afraid to tell your story if that means you have to sacrifice fan favorites, even if it's appropriate for the themes of your story, even if you can use character deaths in a way that can not be substituted and even though you know that.

But look how many other people die! Look how close it is for the main cast!

You couldn't fool us. It wasn't dangerous. We knew. We played In from the Cold.




Hey peepz, enjoy your day! If you like the story, that's awesome and I just want to let you know that there are parts of Endwalker I enjoyed a great deal. I am not looking back trying to find stuff that I could rant about, it's pretty obvious stuff that bothered me while playing it for the first and only time already.

[hunkygladiator]

Then unsubscribe.

It's just another troll topic.

Been seeing this doom and gloom for several Expansions.....

[Eorzean_username]

I've gotta be honest, sometime around "Y'shtola cast Flow again but it's okay, we brought her back 5 minutes later because we couldn't risk you having a panic attack, our lovely little fanchildren UwU" was pretty much the point I realised I could check out and stop expecting any real stakes from the plot.

Then "Thancred just completed his entire character arc in a poignant moment of self-sacrifice... but it's okay, he got better".

Then "Well we polled the audience and G'raha Tia WILL NOT be voted off the island! Let's completely undermine the 5.30 climax and negate his character development in order to give you the tastelessly-bland happy ending that you desire!"

By the time I reached Ultima Thule I was just like "Haha thanks Thancred, see you in an hour".

[Eisi]

It's fun to rant about something you are passionate about! Also I think a lot of people including the writers would agree with me.

[Hurlstone]

Yeah… I kinda disagree with that take. Each to their own and all, but I never see why people want the Scions to die so much. Could they have been fleshed out more and put in more dramatic situations? Sure, and teh faux deaths is one of my biggest issues with EW, but there are more interring ways to get drama out of characters then pure misery porn. I do not think having a story that is more about hope, where our cast do survive and are not forever haunted or scared, is childish. Plus I think the idea that Zero was a slave, one that was violated by Zenos twisting her power, makes him even more of a monster and her more sympathetic.

Personally speaking too I gave up on GoT by Season 3 too.

[Lunaxia]

...I initially came here expecting to agree in some fashion about consequences for protagonists but I'm actually a little concerned for you.

[SannaR]

Wow I guess the twins really are interchangeable. Op can't remember which twin was standing where during that scene.

[Eisi]

Sure, and teh faux deaths is one of my biggest issues with EW, but there are more interring ways to get drama out of characters then pure misery porn.

Then why is there so much misery porn in Endwalker? Did you forget Thavnair II that I just wrote about in the post?

I do not think having a story that is more about hope, where our cast do survive and are not forever haunted or scared, is childish.

But characters die left and right and never come back. And they don't just all get heroic sacrificial moments, that is reserved for the main characters. Some get taken out in cold blood. You see how this stratifies a hierarchy of what characters may experience in the story?

Ishikawa is kind of like Emet Selch, side characters can be tortured and killed, main characters are precious.

Wow I guess the twins really are interchangeable. Op can't remember which twin was standing where during that scene.

That's why said Alphinaud should have been there.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

----:

Not sure what I have to do with this.
That Comment you took isn't even about this

[Jeeqbit]

It would have been so appropriate to absolutely devastate the scions here at the hands of Zenos in the WoL's body while Fandaniel holds us down, laughing and making us watch powerlessly and in horror.

True. Although I appreciated the display of the efforts a hero would go to even in anothers' body to save someone, it did seem unrealistic that in the large amount of time it takes to complete that duty and crawl to Camp Brokenglass, that they wouldn't have had time to at least get one person.

Alphinaud should have been there and just taken out cold with a scythe slice through his chest, bleeding out in the snow

Don't expect blood. They have to comply with laws from around the world. Shadowbringers showed how they had to replace blood with white to get around it, or keep it very minimal when Thancred got hit.