So, back to the arguably dead horse of Ultima Thule. There has been a lot of discussion about how non-existent the stakes there were and there were many debates whether one or more of the scions should’ve died there. But I want to go deeper and delve into the scenes itself and whether they’re are the powerful moments many view them as. A bit of an essay that I’ve done on the topic.

Scions of the Seventh Dawn, along with the Warrior of Light, are the protagonists of Final Fantasy XIV, around whom the story is centered. They are introduced early on in A Realm Reborn, and while their membership has changed over the expansions, the group as a whole remained by the WOL’s side until the very end of Endwalker, where they travel with Ultima Thule with them. They are meant to be seen as the moral compass of the story, as well as an example of people who went through much adversity and prevailed. All in all, examples to follow.

Their trip to Ultima Thule is meant to be seen as a culmination of their story arcs and character growth. During the course of their journey from Ultima Thule, they are unmade one by one until the Warrior of Light is left alone. Most of them, however, are allowed to claim a spotlight in certain areas of the zone. All of those encounters follow a similar structure, as the party encounters an alien race recreated by Meteion and blocks their path towards the nest. After exploring the philosophy that drives each of those races and beings, the scions give their refute before sacrificing themselves in a moment that are supposed to be seen as heroic and uplifting, as is the opinion that is held by many in the community. However, are those scenes actually good rebuttals to the struggles the alien races face?

The first one to get an opportunity to say his speech in a confrontation is Estinien. He gets to encounter one of the dragons from the scorched Dragonstar, who is broken due to the atrocity they had to suffer at the hands of the Omicron invaders, believing that “their pride is crushed” and there is “nothing left for their kind”. To this, Estinien tells him about the journey undertaken by Midgardsormr which eventually brought him to Etheirys. He also has to tell about the Dragonsong war and its ramifications, that further pushes the dragon into his despair and belief that there is nothing left for them. However, the speech Estinien gives afterwards to supposedly ‘inspire’ the dragon and push him out of his despair seems contradictory to the lessons shown by this game before.