[SPOILERS]

[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?