I have not seen many people discussing the true implications of what Wuk Lamat has done by the end of the MSQ: Wuk Lamat effectively committed a genocide on the Endless (the Alexandrian ruling class), and then installed a puppet proxy king in the form of Gulool Ja (a non-native). They even emphasize this by stating Wuk Lamat will be there to "guide" the literal baby in his role as king. Wuk Lamat killed the leaders of Alexandria and is now in control of it, she conquered them.
Not a SINGLE Alexandrian pushes back against this, for some reason. Their beloved-beyond-all-words queen Sphene, whom has been their ruler for hundreds or thousands of years, and led them in a peaceful and happy existence was overtly killed by Wuk Lamat. The ONLY reaction to this is a small blurb of dialogue about how they "mourned their queen". Not only that, but many of them feared and disliked Zarool Ja, and would be unlikely to support his wishes for succession. This is honestly a disgrace of writing and the only way things end up like this are purely due to the writers making it that way.
Not only all that, but Dawntrail's entire final plot arc is totally antithetical to everything done in Endwalker and even to Final Fantasy IX. The MSQ almost feels intentionally spiteful to anyone who resonated with the messages in those other stories. Endwalker's ultimate plot was set in motion by Hermes who became distressed at the callous mistreatment of "lesser souls" and Creations (whom were living and experienced feelings) by the Ancients, who did not acknowledge their sentience, and his questioning the purpose of life which led to him creating the Meteia and forming nihilistic ideas. FFIX's many themes revolve around life and death, and the sanctity of all forms of life, no matter how they are created or born. By the end of FFIX, Kuja himself comes to terms with being able to make his life what he wants it to be, and Vivi's whole personal arc centers on him coming to terms with being an artificial creation without a soul and understanding that even if he was created he is still a valuable living person that should live life to the fullest. In Dawntrail, we are made to erase the Endless from existence because they are a "facsimile", a claim by Cahciua (who is not a member of the Alexandrian society), while the Endless are clearly sentient people that practice a different way of life and afterlife that's more similar to the Ancients. Cahciua herself should know that, as she lives both inside and outside Living Memory to the extent she managed to form a resistance organization, she is very clearly self-aware, has feelings, desires, needs, etc. The Endless are living things. All of the logic for why it was "okay" to erase the Endless is reductive at best and downright malicious at worst, and is completely derogatory to the lessons on the sanctity of life in Endwalker and in FFIX. And it never needed to be like that, had the writers had any amount of competency.
After finishing the Dawntrail MSQ, I felt gross and disappointed, to be honest. This story made me feel genuinely disgusted in what I was forced to take part in by Wuk Lamat. Wuk Lamat herself is a nearly sociopathic character for a variety of reasons, and her goofy incompetence quickly devolved into causing genuine harm and destruction to an entire civilization and way of life because she, for once, couldn't understand it.
I see no way that this can be repaired aside from introducing some sort of restoration project for Living Memory, which is now a literal PHYSICAL SCAR within the game of what we were made to do. Wuk Lamat needs to be narratively confined to her palace and phased out of the story, while the Scions and WoL deal with setting things right for her with the Alexandrians, and working towards getting them a fairly chosen ruler of actual Alexandrian heritage.
I understand many people will probably not fully agree with everything I've said, but the main thing stands that the writers did an UNFORGIVABLE disservice to the Alexandrian people and their entire arc. They existed to be conquered and be a vehicle for Wuk Lamat's ambitions and "growth"(non-existent). More could be said about how Krile was backseated when this should have absolutely been her expansion too, but there's enough as it is, one thing at a time.
Continue reading...
Not a SINGLE Alexandrian pushes back against this, for some reason. Their beloved-beyond-all-words queen Sphene, whom has been their ruler for hundreds or thousands of years, and led them in a peaceful and happy existence was overtly killed by Wuk Lamat. The ONLY reaction to this is a small blurb of dialogue about how they "mourned their queen". Not only that, but many of them feared and disliked Zarool Ja, and would be unlikely to support his wishes for succession. This is honestly a disgrace of writing and the only way things end up like this are purely due to the writers making it that way.
Not only all that, but Dawntrail's entire final plot arc is totally antithetical to everything done in Endwalker and even to Final Fantasy IX. The MSQ almost feels intentionally spiteful to anyone who resonated with the messages in those other stories. Endwalker's ultimate plot was set in motion by Hermes who became distressed at the callous mistreatment of "lesser souls" and Creations (whom were living and experienced feelings) by the Ancients, who did not acknowledge their sentience, and his questioning the purpose of life which led to him creating the Meteia and forming nihilistic ideas. FFIX's many themes revolve around life and death, and the sanctity of all forms of life, no matter how they are created or born. By the end of FFIX, Kuja himself comes to terms with being able to make his life what he wants it to be, and Vivi's whole personal arc centers on him coming to terms with being an artificial creation without a soul and understanding that even if he was created he is still a valuable living person that should live life to the fullest. In Dawntrail, we are made to erase the Endless from existence because they are a "facsimile", a claim by Cahciua (who is not a member of the Alexandrian society), while the Endless are clearly sentient people that practice a different way of life and afterlife that's more similar to the Ancients. Cahciua herself should know that, as she lives both inside and outside Living Memory to the extent she managed to form a resistance organization, she is very clearly self-aware, has feelings, desires, needs, etc. The Endless are living things. All of the logic for why it was "okay" to erase the Endless is reductive at best and downright malicious at worst, and is completely derogatory to the lessons on the sanctity of life in Endwalker and in FFIX. And it never needed to be like that, had the writers had any amount of competency.
After finishing the Dawntrail MSQ, I felt gross and disappointed, to be honest. This story made me feel genuinely disgusted in what I was forced to take part in by Wuk Lamat. Wuk Lamat herself is a nearly sociopathic character for a variety of reasons, and her goofy incompetence quickly devolved into causing genuine harm and destruction to an entire civilization and way of life because she, for once, couldn't understand it.
I see no way that this can be repaired aside from introducing some sort of restoration project for Living Memory, which is now a literal PHYSICAL SCAR within the game of what we were made to do. Wuk Lamat needs to be narratively confined to her palace and phased out of the story, while the Scions and WoL deal with setting things right for her with the Alexandrians, and working towards getting them a fairly chosen ruler of actual Alexandrian heritage.
I understand many people will probably not fully agree with everything I've said, but the main thing stands that the writers did an UNFORGIVABLE disservice to the Alexandrian people and their entire arc. They existed to be conquered and be a vehicle for Wuk Lamat's ambitions and "growth"(non-existent). More could be said about how Krile was backseated when this should have absolutely been her expansion too, but there's enough as it is, one thing at a time.
Continue reading...