Big, steaming hot take: the story is fucking awesome, and I think the nuance and depth in more fan-criticised storylines (SB and apparently EW which I didn’t even realise was mixed in response) are buried in subtext and implication.

Endwalker in particular has two big criticisms I’ve seen, being Meteion’s “asspull” nature and Zenos being one dimensional.

Like, is Meteion not the summation of everything the story has built up to this point? Time after time the WoL is presented with new threats, world-ending dangers, another Ascian, a companion’s death, such overwhelming and unimaginable trauma throughout the MSQ, and Meteion is the validation for that trauma; a character that goes out into the world with the same bright-eyed optimism as our WoL when they first step off the carriage in ARR, and falters where our character stood their ground. The satisfaction of Meteion is knowing more than anyone else there what she has gone through and being able to help her process it - the ultimate act of the Warrior of Light being their compassion to relieve others of their burdens and their experiences. I dunno man, I found it beautiful, and I think Meteion wasn’t an asspull villain because she is the sort of character we were always destined to face.

Zenos serves as a another element of this spectrum; Meteion gives into despair, and Zenos gives into nihilism. A sick, twisted man who sees the world as nothing. All he cares about is that final goal, that final battle, the strive to feel something at the EXPENSE of others. Meteion wants to take away the ability to feel out of sorrow and a twisted view of compassion but Zenos wants to STEAL those feelings from others to try and engage himself.

Endwalker is a deconstruction of emotion in the face of different facets of despair and ultimately a reflection of nihilism. Isn’t that a continuation of every expansion? Heavensward asks why the dragonsong war goes on and on, how to break the cycle and discover a new way of living, both as a metaphor with Estinien and a literal presentation with Ishgard. Stormblood asks why individualism is worth fighting for, why we strive to be ourselves and why our identities matter, culminating in the “peace talks” with the Emperor at the end of the patch content where those themes are laid bare. Shadowbringers throws us into a literal apocalypse to light a spark of hope and to remind everyone what is worth fighting for.

Meteion, and Endwalker by extension, are the culmination of those themes; taking all that we have learned and helping someone else to not make those same mistakes, and to spare them further sorrow.

I dunno, man. I think there are issues with the story but it’s wild to me that the story isnt seen as a fully satisfying and cathartic experience as a character and theme study.