Endwalker shows the limits of a nation built on conquest
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker transports the player to the Garlean Empire, a country that has been involved in the main storyline from the start. This is a country that has raised most of its opponents in the game and is a bully to other nations. For decades, the Empire has sought to conquer, exploit the resources of other countries for certificates to give them power. magitek machinery. The Empire pushed the Garleans agenda to be more progressive than other races to rule.
Endwalker has shown that Garlean’s colonialist and militaristic agendas are not only morally repugnant, but also strategically failing. In a situation where conquest cannot solve their problems, Garleans and their entire power structure break. The story expertly shows the limits and consequences of nationalism, colonialism, and other practical problems that many nations have to endure.
Final Fantasy 14’s Conquest History
The Empire’s drive to conquer coincided with its technological revolution, requiring ceruleum for their magitek in order for them to remain in power. It’s basically Final Fantasy 14version of an oil war, real-world conflict over the production and use of petroleum fuels. In Endwalker, players can see the ruins of Garlemald and see that their technology is very similar to the real world with cars, subway systems, train stations, and streets. It takes a lot of ceruleum to power everything.
Due to the need for this certificate, the country benefits from instilling nationalism and xenophobia in its people. Believing that non-Garleans are lower is what makes soldiers conquering hearts. They believe that the weak must be led by the strong, and the strong must be Garleans. All this fostering of a nationalist culture is aimed at promoting becoming a more powerful nation. However, Endwalker shows his players how such arrogance can fall.
Consequences of Conquest
When some conquered countries were liberated and the emperor had his untimely death, the Garlean Empire withdrew itself. As a country that only understood how to solve its problems through conquest, it broke out into a civil war. The history, experience, and teachings of expansionism and military might make it difficult to find common ground.
When the Grand Company of Eorzea came to Garlemald In order to provide aid, xenophobia is clearly ingrained. Some choose to die accepting help from outsiders because they expect to be treated the same way they have treated others; to be conquered, although that was a far cry from what the Great Eorzea Corporation had planned.
The Garleans sought leadership from military figures, and that was also a mistake. Leaders like Quintus van Cinna put whatever metal pellets were found in magitek weapons rather than to keep the people warm. He wants to gain resources through combat, not through the kindness of outsiders. He refuses aid, but at the same time tries to obtain any supply by force so that he can have it the way his nation has taught him.
The most revealing is a quote by Quintus. When Alisae and Alphinaud Trying to convince him that they wanted peace, Quintus replied by asking why other nations wouldn’t let themselves be conquered if they really cared about peace. He shows a window into a twisted ideology, that the oppressor wants peace and that the oppressed should stay in their place to keep the peace. The scary part is that this ideology doesn’t just exist in Final Fantasy, but reflects real sentiments on today’s political issues.
The end of Quintus’ life in Endwalker is also quite revealing. Once he knew that he could not get what he wanted through military might and would have to accept aid from foreign, he committed suicide. His fate is a microcosm of what happens to the entire Garlean Empire, suggesting that conquest, nationalism, and colonialism should not be the blood and blood of a nation if it is not. That family wants a really strong future.
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker currently available for PC, PS4 and PS5.
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