u/9balls__

Wrote this out as a comment which then turned into an essay so I figured it might as well be a post, because I'm wondering if others agree.

I wish I didn't have critiques on the AQ because all in all I'm happy with where he's ended up, but I do. I'm really disappointed his core didn't come back into play and I feel like his development was wrapped up kind of abruptly. We went from 'I should have had a quiet death long ago' being specifically highlighted->'ah ok I won't sacrifice myself because you said so/I guess I just didn't get the chance.' I'm not even clear on whether he's still semi suicidal or not?

Assuming he is not suicidal anymore, ultimately this is where I wanted him to end up (you know, not trying to 'balance the ledger' at every turn) but his internal conflicts just felt underrepresented and rushed. Almost as if parts were cut up or rewritten, though I don't think they actually were. This was really noticeable in the epilogue to me where basically all we get upon speaking to him and asking how he's doing is 'no, I'm good.' ???After all that you don't have anything else to say??? I know it's the Sumeru Archon Quest and not the Wanderer Quest, but ???

Maybe the exchange between him and the Traveler was the first seed of him starting to move away from that mindset. In which case that's fine, I just wish he had explicitly said more over the course of the whole thing. I don't feel like we get much lead up or reason for why he would suddenly see his life of more value right then with little hesitation.

It bothers me mostly because this felt like the one occasion we were going to get to more directly adress his internal thoughts and feelings, and we didn't, to the point where I find myself asking a little bit, where did they go? I can't see us revisiting them ever again like we had the chance to do here unless they pull something out of left field to make him story-relevant again. That just plain and simple makes me sad, even if I can fill in the gaps with my imagination I guess. I wish he had explicitly said more. Imo, due to the way he was handled, I'd go ss far as to say that he came off as less introspective.

Other than that, in the sense of broad story beats - I am happy with what they laid out. Like I said this is where I wanted him to end up, and I think what happened with Dottore is a good ending. Big fan of Wanderer getting the opportunity to beat the fuck out of him unhindered, and the scene with Dottore rubbing salt in the wound that what's done is done and he can never make up for it absolutely gutted me.

Anyway, now for a hot take, I'm actually satisfied with his past identity of Scaramouche not being revealed to everyone. To me an important aspect of his story is that truly, he can't make up for what he did. He can't make amends. No one remembering him only makes this doubly true - he can't even apologize. He can't absolve himself by dedicating himself to the people he hurt or killing himself or anything else. The 'ledger' is meaningless. There's nothing but acceptance and moving forward as a better person.

I'm writing this at 6am after probably getting 2hr sleep in 24+ hours because I stayed up all night finishing the aq, so please excuse. anything in there I fucked up

Edit coming back again, because the more I think about it the more it twists my brain in a knot, seriously, where the fuck is his core???¿¿¿ Chekov's waterlogged nerf gun

Edit to come back yet again, we didn't even have room in the budget for a comment on Dottore pulling out the Musou no Hitotachi? I'm not trying to sound like a hater because I can't say I disliked it, I really didn't, but ???