A Character Death That Made Endwalker Worse [6.0 Spoilers]

[primalmeridian]

Zenos' death was not only pointless, it shoots Endwalker's central theme in the foot and makes the moral fall flat.

The entire theme and "moral" of Endwalker is that life, despite all its hardships, is still worth living, and even if despair is inevitable, that you should never give in to it, to always have hope and forge ahead to make your own path. This is the lesson that the WoL has learned over the course of the story, and it is the lesson that they teach to Meteion at the end.

Zenos ties into this theme in a really interesting way, because when we meet him again after Elpis, he basically states it word-for-word as his own mindset, that there is no inherent "point" in life and therefore everyone must find their own purpose, as he has. This very mindset is what makes him immune to despair. Of course, Alisaie then rightfully points out that while that may be true, his refusal to listen to anyone else is ultimately going to lead to him never getting what he wants, and dying alone.

And Zenos listens. And that's where it falls apart.

Zenos genuinely takes Alisaie's words to heart, and changes for the better. He approaches Krile in Old Sharlayan and (though we never see the conversation they had) they "strike a bargain," rather than him taking the Mothercrystal by force. He flies to the end of the universe to help the WoL against the Endsinger, saving the universe by their side. And then, after the WoL finishes telling Meteion about how beautiful hope is and how living is important, Zenos has a heart-to-heart to WoL wherein he speaks to them as an equal and even says they can refuse him if they wish (even though the player can't).

And then, after we JUST finished delivering the moral to the sad bird antagonist, telling her that we must never give up on life... Zenos dies, ultimately having realized his life was unfulfilled.

Some might say "but wait, he got what he wanted and died happy," but I would ask them to watch his final scene again. He says that the battle was what he wanted, but that the joy it brought was only fleeting, and not true fulfillment. He asks the WoL if they managed to find fulfillment in their own life, unlike him. In other translations this is even more obvious; in the German dub he even outright says "your life was so much better than mine." He starts to say something else... and then stops breathing. And WoL is whisked away by the teleporter.

So despite listening to Alisaie and changing for the better, Zenos' ultimate reward for his character growth is STILL to die alone at the end of the universe, coming to the realization that his life was empty, AFTER WE JUST GOT FINISHED TELLING METEION THAT LIFE IS WORTHWHILE. And the reason why I keep pointing out that his death happened after the conversation with Meteion is because the timing is what really throws the moral out of whack. By telling Meteion about hope and the necessity to not fall to despair, then killing Zenos minutes later and having him lament the emptiness of his own life despite him being the other person who helped save the universe, after having literally stated the central theme of the story is his own ideology, it's as if the narrative says "everyone needs to find their own purpose in life and forge ahead, to find hope even in their darkest hour, and that's what will make their life worth living... except for this guy, f*ck him."

It would be one thing if Zenos was meant to serve as a cautionary tale in the greater context of Endwalker on how forging true connections with others helps us carry on; for example, if he had been told way earlier in the expac that he needs to change, and he had refused, instead insisting on his own selfish desires above all else and then dying before Ultima Thule, his death would be a fitting warning, especially amidst scenes like the people of Thavnair helping each other and supporting one another, and the Scions sacrificing themselves one-by-one to form a path for the WoL in Ultima Thule. His death would tell us the importance of the relationships the WoL has forged, and where we might be without the friends we made along the way.

Instead, he changes to help us, yet mere minutes after we see Meteion off as she learns not to give in to despair and to love life, Zenos is punished, and for what? Why is only Zenos left out in the cold?

***

Anyway I have many MANY more thoughts about how poorly they've handled Zenos, but this is already too long. Admittedly this also worries me because the devs have said before that they were planning on having a Garlemald expansion pack between ShB and EW, with Anima as the final boss, but decided to skip right to EW. When that is taken into consideration with the timing of Zenos' return at the end of ShB to his role in EW, it becomes clear that Zenos was meant to have a bigger role in the nonexistent Garlemald expac, which is why they never answered any of the questions raised about him in the ShB patches, such as why he has dreams of the Final Days. There's so much about Zenos that remains unanswered, and to completely abandon him as a character and never resolve those plot hooks because YOU CHOSE to cut the expansion pack where he was going to be important...

I don't hate Endwalker, but I think it has some really high highs and some REALLY low lows, mostly due to wonky pacing.

[Kranel_San]

Zenos being Zenos.

I used to dislike him, but nowadays? I miss my PvP partner.

[LilimoLimomo]

Personally, I'm glad Zenos is gone. He was a terrible villain and a terrible foil. All he did was take up space that could have been occupied by a compelling villain.

[Raraka]

Zenos should have been left at Stormblood, or relegated to be the end boss of Bozja since its Garlean related content

I agree with the general sentiment of Op however, the death went against the narrative of Endwalker, and turning over a new leaf by being the "baddie friend" that shows up now and then would have been a better end than killing him off the way they did

While we are at it, at least one of the Scions should have died in Ultima thule to prevent the stakes from falling flat once they pull the "we revive them all!" card

Looking fowards for the change in writters on Dawntrail

[SannaR]

One you can get around the character limit by editing your post. Two yes, our life was better than his. We are to assume the WoL even before the game starts had a warm, loving and joyful childhood. They then continue to be surrounded by people who love and care deeply for them. Meanwhile Zenos is allowed to or even made into a monster by Varis (there's not a whole lot of mentioning about his mother's involvement). He grew up in a family that from what we can tell was fairly cold emotionally. He also from his short story didn't find what other kids his age did for fun well fun. The only thing he found fun was fighting. When you focus on chasing the emotional high you got from fighting to the point where you are trying to also one up on that high it probably isn't going to net you many friends. I don't even think he cared about anyone else being hurt, used or dying if it meant it could lead him to the next worthwhile fight. Just look at how he treated those who served him.

[Lunaxia]

FFXIV has a habit of killing off antagonists who more often than not are the way they are purely due to being isolated and/ or horribly traumatised. They frequently like to bleat about about how "you can overcome any adversity so long as you have friends!", but the darker underside of that is the unspoken implication that life just isn't worth living if you aren't lucky enough to find the right support network, and it winds up with the villains being more or less just a case of "well, sucks to be you lol." It's pretty awful, and why Endwalker's message fell especially flat for me. I don't think SE really thought it through, and I know quite a few people who had suffered with personal issues really plummeted for a spell after finishing the MSQ as a result, which it doesn't surprise me at all.

[Connor]

Bringing Zenos back in Endwalker for me was probably one of the worst parts. It felt like he had no actual reason to continue existing other than to just be annoying lol: The bit at during the finale of Endwalker….

When Zenos flies in as Shinryu having inexplicably and conveniently consumed the mothercrystal, to literally carry us to victory, and the ridiculous fight amongst the stars afterwards. I thought it was really bad tbh lol. The whole thing read and played out like a really badly written fanfic (except in the fanfic Zenos and [Player Character] would be smooching at the end)

God I really hope they don’t bring him back in Dawntrail. Nothing would surprise me now lol

[Cleretic]

Zenos stares a redemption arc in the face and says 'no thanks'. He takes the advice given by Alisaie, gives it a genuine honest try, makes the universe better for it... and then just realizes that's not really for him.

What Zenos wants out of life is to throw down and go down; if the way he dies is in glorious combat with the one person who can challenge him, then that's how he wants to go out. And he doesn't get that anywhere else; telling him to go live a good life just isn't really something he can find any joy or fulfillment in. He knows where his happy place is, and his happy place happens to end with a sword/fist/fireball/Card Game Laser Beam to the face. And he's okay with that--hell, that's debatably one of the highlights for him, given this isn't even the first time he died happy after losing a fight to us.

You forget that, while a core part of Endwalker is 'life is worth living', another core part is 'everything eventually ends, and we have to accept that'. Zenos accepted that, in the same way Hydaelyn accepted that, Emet accepted that, and the Twelve accepted that. So why is Zenos' death somehow different from that in your eyes? Is it because rather than being some ancient super-being, he's just a really jacked dude?

[Lyth]

I think that Zenos found the meaning and purpose that he was looking for all his life in that final battle. It is a complete story arc.

Where the dissatisfaction may arise is because Zenos has become significantly more interesting as a character over time. The Sephiroth expy that we were given back in Stormblood was completely uninteresting, but he grew in leaps and bounds when the writers decided to make him into his own character. The turning point is where he rebukes Elidibus for the Black Rose and challenges him in the body of imperial grunt A before chasing the craven Ascian out with his tail between his legs. Couple that with him clearly outmatching and then sparing Estinien and Gaius in a 2v1. The verbal sparring with Jullus and his involvement in Ultima Thule naturally carved out a fan niche for himself (it also helps that his voice acting is top notch). When a character like this is on the rise, killing them off can be unsatisfying, because it feels like there's a lot more story potential there.

But that comes with the territory of killing characters off. It's not just about creating 'tension'. You have to make a deliberate decision about whether you have any further stories to tell with them. I was personally hoping that they would do something fun with him at the Last Dregs, but I can see why they would want to wrap things up this way. They really do need to release his minion, however.

[Cilia]

Zenos isn't "left in the cold," as you say; he knew what he wanted out of life, got it, and died happy. He lived and died on his own terms, regardless of the opinions of others - which is part of what Endwalker was about. It's not just a "keep moving forward and everything will be OK" story, it's also about deciding right and wrong for yourself; Venat goes against Amaurotine civilization because she doesn't agree with its chosen course, Zenos rejects Garlean supremacy in favor of his own pursuit of combat high, and the PC rejects Meteion's nihilistic ideals in favor of existentialism.

Zenos dying when and where he does isn't a disservice to the character; it's exactly what he wants. He doesn't want to change, he wants to fight an opponent that can push him to and beyond his limits and finds no meaning or purpose in life besides. A lot like Armored Core VI's V.I Freud.

I do agree that Endwalker's pacing really drags down what could have been another outstanding story, but it's still a good story in my opinion.