[SPOILERS]

[NarhiFaunlha]

The alliance raid storyline was the nail in the coffin for me. Just another thing to cross off the 1.0/2.0 list and remove yet another core aspect of the game's worldbuilding and story. The worst part is that it amounts to nothing, since only a handful of people witnessed their death and decide "Maybe we shouldn't tell the world about this." I would've much preferred a group of mortals taking their place or the Twelve actively revealing themselves to Eorzeans. The entire last raid reinforced the idea of: "The gods love you." only for them to get killed off via player-assisted suicide next raid.

I went into this series expecting something akin to a Greek epic, something lighthearted and serving as a palette cleanser after the despair/depression-heavy storyline of Endwalker. In the end, all I got was yet another attempt by SE to sanitize and explain away every fantasy-centric element of their game.

[Volgia]

I felt like the gods were so colorful and fun, and the story was so bland. No stakes, nothing interesting to say but what we already suspected.

[Raikai]

I think I saw a thread somewhere else with a person pointing out something like "It was a good story, but an unecessary one", and that comment stuck with me, because it's quite spot on.

It added nothing to the world building in the end, because... Even the Archons swore to keep the events in secrecy, and effectively nothing will change, so other than the WoL's personal story journey, what that was for? Unless of course, this is some kind of prep for some future narrative thread, much like the Ivalice Raids set up something for the Bozja's storyline (albeit in a small scale).

[Eisi]

I think I saw a thread somewhere else with a person pointing out something like "It was a good story, but an unecessary one", and that comment stuck with me, because it's quite spot on.

I think intimate stories on a smaller scale can be quite meaningful and good even if they are not world-changing. The Myths of the Realm storyline was not that. What it did is it shrunk the world down by making something intangible tangible without cashing in on the possibilities that would offer.

So for me the statement "it was a good story, but an unneccessary one" is a paradoxical statement. If it were a good story, it wouldn't be unneccessary. If it feels unneccessary, that's a hint that you didn't actually care about it.

[Oizen]

The inclusion of G'raha Tia and the Roe woman made it feel like joke content, I stopped caring around Euphorosyne and was not engaged for the rest of it. Kinda wish they'd keep comic relief gag characters to Hildibrand really.

There weren't really any stakes, or any real narrative line to follow. Felt like a waste of time, gave neat glamour I guess.

[NarhiFaunlha]

The inclusion of G'raha Tia and the Roe woman made it feel like joke content, I stopped caring around Euphorosyne and was not engaged for the rest of it. Kinda wish they'd keep comic relief gag characters to Hildibrand really.

There weren't really any stakes, or any real narrative line to follow. Felt like a waste of time, gave neat glamour I guess.

I think it could have been fine without world-ending stakes. The Gods have chosen to reveal themselves since Hydaelyn is gone- and the Twelve will now become the will of the star and its people. Perhaps they seek to test your character and will- and reveal themselves to the rest of Eorzea. I would've enjoyed something far closer to that than "We're going to take over the world...just kidding we love you. Please kill us." In my naive heart I was really hoping for an ending where the Heavens would open up to mortals who would choose to abide with the Twelve in their final days or perhaps as an alternative to reincarnation.

[twixelstix]

I feel like the Twelve should've stayed in some form? I was hoping this raid series would expound more on why we choose a patron deity at character creation - and now it's left me being like "...Okay bye I guess?".
Was not a fan of that ending.

[Iscah]

Firstly, simply titling a thread "spoilers" does nothing to warn people of what specific spoilers lie within. You need to give the subject in a non-spoilery form, and "spoilers" is a warning tag that you're going into spoilery aspects of that subject within.

Secondly, I think you're getting hung up on a misinterpretation.

Things that were pretty important like the whole Bahamut Calamity situation were literally written off with the Deryk saying "we were busy with our duties" but we know that's not true because the scions were literally praying to the twelve for power so Louisoix could make like a spirit bomb cage to reseal bahamut.

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[...] but what Deryk said literally insinuates that they could have done something.......but they were busy.........

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And in case people forget the context he just mentioned it when he saw Gods Grip for the first time since before the calamity. It wasn't like he was saying "that wasn't our duty".

But like okay "occupied with our respective duties", well wouldn't a world ending event be a respective duty!? And if not why not? I want to be told why, not just hand woven. And in that what about the other calamities!? Like this all just makes my point for me.

Go back and read the whole quote you're complaining about.

DERYK
Such a great wave that was that ripped the Gods' Grip from the mainland...
In the wake of the Calamity, my brethren and I were all occupied with our respective duties. This is my very first time seeing the bridge.

"We were busy with important duties after the Calamity, so this is my first chance to be a tourist and go look at a bridge they named after me."

That's what he says. Nothing about being too busy to help with the Calamity, but implying that the aftermath of the Calamity has kept him particularly busy for the past five years. Their power is not about intervening but stabilising the natural world and encouraging the hearts of men.


On a side note, I recall reading elsewhere that Louisoix was actually essentially summoning a primal of "the power of the Twelve" – an abstract form that would not become sentient and temper people – and the actual Twelve (who were not confirmed to be more than folklore at the time) had nothing to do with it.

[Iscah]

I think I saw a thread somewhere else with a person pointing out something like "It was a good story, but an unecessary one", and that comment stuck with me, because it's quite spot on.

It added nothing to the world building in the end, because... Even the Archons swore to keep the events in secrecy, and effectively nothing will change, so other than the WoL's personal story journey, what that was for? Unless of course, this is some kind of prep for some future narrative thread, much like the Ivalice Raids set up something for the Bozja's storyline (albeit in a small scale).

I think you're thinking of my post from the Lore forum patch discussion thread.

My overall feeling is that this is a reasonably nicely told story that shouldn't have existed.

Up until this point, the Twelve's existence was ambiguous. They were the gods that the population of Eorzea believed in, with no tangible proof and plenty of past implication and speculation that they might not be real at all. It could have been left at that, especially once we had already found the real gods (or closest thing to it) that had physical influence over the planet.

Are we now going to have to confirm and deal with the existence of the kami, Azim and Nhaama, the Mol tribe's elder gods, the real Mriga and Manusya and whatever gods we find out there too? I assume and hope not. And if those can all remain ambiguous, then why did the Eorzean pantheon need resolution?

On a separate note, the ultimate irrelevance of the Watcher feels odd. His entire involvement in the story and addition to the list of the Twelve seems to have been to act as a red herring for what we expected as the final boss.

Also, as a few others have similarly commented, I didn't really like the "here are the true mortal identities of the Twelve" thing but did appreciate learning that Hythlodaeus had a competent second-in-command running the show, because of course he did.

But anyway. Godsspeed, Deryk; may the eternal wind carry you onward, and may we meet you on the road. Maybe hanging out with a yellow bird and a little robot.

TL;DR there was no need to "deal with" the gods to wipe the slate clean from ARR. They could have just remained as unconfirmed folkloric beings with no proof of existence.

Furthermore, as I've been replaying the section of the story between Euphrosyne and Thaleia to get a few alts into the raid, it really feels like the writers were trying to make the Twelve too many things at once and it just makes them feel insipid. They're the Greek pantheon but also a "God loves you all" relationship with mortals. They hear all prayers but don't have the power to fulfil them. They are the subject of men's worship but also a result. They rule over the world's most basic physical systems like seasons, tides and the turning of day and night, yet are unnecessary enough to excuse themselves and leave it to its own devices.

If a floating mechanical orb can replace them, then why were the sentient beings ever necessary?