FFXIV Writing- Everybody Loves the Dark Knight Quests 

I love the whole drk story but i have a special fondness for the 30-50 quests. The WoL during ARR was a glorified errand boy/girl. They quickly become this accomplished warrior and people acknowledge that but still send you on mundane tasks constantly, that frustrated me. So the fact that the WOL was canonically frustrated with all that bs made me very happy.

Fray: "I should have let Leviathan drown you all! At least then I wouldn't have to listen to your incessant whining!" Me: Wait a minute...

"“To walk the path is to suffer. To sacrifice. Justice demands no less. But we must never lose sight of why we chose to walk it. …Gods help me, those moogles were onto something, weren’t they?” -Sidurgu Orl

I came to the conclusion that one of my favorite things about the dark knight of FFXIV is that for a job whose aesthetic is about bloody sacrifice, vigilante justice, and armor made and named from forces of dark forces, is a lesson that learning to love and forgive yourself can give you the greatest power protect the people and things important to you.

"We are the stories we tell ourselves. The brave hero, the tortured soul, the altruist, the pragmatist. They will tell you who they see, but you and you alone know who you are. For I speak only for myself. If you find comfort in my words, they are yours for the taking, but that is your choice. Now and ever after, as it has always been." "I love you more than you'll ever know. Be well." -Fray, a loving brother.

My favourite element was Sid being effortlessly cool and ruthless in cutscenes and then harangued to the end of his tether by Rielle. The duality of man.

the 30-50 dark knight hits especially hard if you play it immediately after the sultanas "asassination" in realm reborn when you start havensword. we played the role of the perfect hero throughout realm reborn, and our reward at the end, for all of the monotony, all of our work and sacrifice. many of our comrades' in the crystal braves betrayed us, the people we saved, framed us for a crime we didn't commit, and those who didn't were either lost, absent, or were responsible for using us as little more than a glorified weapon. at the start of havensword it could be argued that the wol has very little true friends left. in fact hauchefant may well be the only true friend we have at the start of havensword. at this point in the story esteems demeanor and beliefs echo how the player feels and by extent how the wol likely feels deep down, at that point in the story.

“Serve, Save, Slave, Slay.”

You didn't talk about it directly here, but Our Closure (the level 80 quest) does such an amazing job of, well, giving closure, both to Fray's arc and to the WoL's own. Our Answer (the level 50 quest) ends with the WoL fighting to re-shackle our "Fray" and "Fray" grudgingly stepping back until we need them. But by the end of Our Closure, the relationship is completely different. Consider what the WoL has (canonically, based on the unlock criteria) just seen: In the tank role quest, we saw Branden helplessly watch as his enemy took the person dearest to him in the world. We saw Branden despair and let his vengeful rage consume his entire being but, at the very last moment, pull back just a little rather than lose himself forever. But he didn't leash his rage the way we had done. Instead, he did what the Moogles of all people already told us we needed to do: reunite our dark side with the *reason* for its rage. Rather than embrace empty, selfish, numbing rage, he (and we) needed to combine that rage with the love whose loss created in the first place. And so we saw Branden's hesitate as his love for Sauldia rushed back and made doing the right thing agonizing when, with his rage let loose to do it for him, it must have seemed so easy just moments ago. And then we saw him do it anyway, because accepting that part of himself rather than submerging himself in it gave him the strength he needed to act *without* the risk that some day he would lose himself. And then in Our Closure, the WoL and "Fray" travel back through our shared past together. The WoL sees the people they could not have saved without "Fray"'s darkness and anger, and "Fray" sees the people who would never have changed for the better if not for the WoL's compassion. And with Branden still fresh in our mind, this is *finally* enough to let what the Moogles told us click into place for us both. The WoL finally understands that, rather than protect ourself from pain by keeping our love and compassion entirely in ourself and making a dark avatar separate from us, always at risk of breaking its leash, onto whom we can foist all the anger, we need to keep them all together in our heart. To feel that anger and pain right alongside the love and joy so that the two could act in harmony rather than conflict or domination and subservience. And "Fray" finally understands that not only is the WoL not alone, our compassion and selflessness that "Fray" derided as self-destructive altruism are exactly *why* we have those connections "Fray" thought were impossible. They realize that, rather than put a shield of rage between us and the world, we need to live in and feel the pain of that world and use that same shield to protect the better world we are struggling to build. So both come to the same conclusion: if we bring both versions of ourself together inside us as equals, with the lines between them ever-fuzzier, then when the one falters the other would always be there with an arm to help it up and a sword to protect it held by a hand it trusted rather than feared. We don't need to become one again, exactly, but rather than two versions of us, we need two reflections of each other: our compassion wielding our shield of rage and then its mirror image, *not its opposite*: our shield of rage wielded by our compassion. So when we call out to "Fray" at the end of Our Closure, our other self is silent because they aren't "Fray" anymore, they're *us*. We place a flower at the edge of the snowy abyss to remember what "Fray", our dark avatar, did for us when we had forgotten how to do it for ourself. And then, having let go of "Fray" and said our goodbye, the other us who once was "Fray" but is no longer is there in the snow with us. They reflect on who we have chosen to become, this selfless, tireless warrior for the weak and voiceless, and ask whether it was ever really their choice. And then they smile ever so slightly, and then there is only one dark knight standing there in the snow, because both know the answer: of course it was, how could it not be? "They" aren't somebody else, somebody separate, "they" are just one half of *us*. Neither reflection can ever choose without the other making the same choice in the very same instant, because each has already chosen without reservation to be the other's perfect reflection. We rejected the dichotomy the first entry in the quest's journal says others give us ("They will tell you you are one and you are two. You can choose.") and together we made our own choice instead: two-as-one, always both bearing the burden together in such harmony that nobody but us could ever even tell there *are* two of us, except in those brief moments where they could almost swear they saw *two* swords swinging in the dark, side by side.

Another part that hits home about Myste being the WoL's regrets? He looks like the love child of Ysayle and Haurchefant

What I like as well with the DRK story, is how Frey and Mist, in turn, do what the Final Days did, but more personal in a way, it manifested Dynamis, the power of emotions into literal beings, driven by these specific emotions.

The level 80 quest after Shadowbringers hurt me in a good way. A walk back down the path, one final farewell to your other self.

The Dark Knight quest for me arrived the moment I entered Ishgard, when the WoL was at his lowest. It simply "clicked". Now, I'm starting END and my WoL is STILL a Dark Knight

The Dark Knight quest line to me is proof that the WoL would benefit from being a little less open ended character wise.

i feel like the timing of these quest lines was important as well. when do we meet Fray? not long after we are framed for regicide. when do we meet Myst? not long after the events of the Dragon Song War and Baelsars Wall. IE the two points in the story where the WoL would probably the most frustrated with their own inability to as many people as they probably thought they could, or the most enraged with 'supposed allies' and feeling the most isolated, and would likely need some one to talk to, to sort how their feeling about things out. This is why, as far as my head cannon for my character goes, Dark Knight is one of the two job crystals she has, (the other being Red Mage.) She never wanted to be some great hero, she just wanted to wander around, see things, and poke around the odd ruin or cave. Which is why she ended up joining the Scions, they sounded like they where offering what she wanted, just on a bit grander scale, and things kinda just spiraled from there ... and she wasn't really mentally prepared for it. Becoming a Dark Knight ultimately gave her the tools she needed to cope with her new life. As she is now. she's much less reserved then she was at the beginning, she will 100% drop all expression from her face in a 'really ....' look, if you hit her with a request to do something inane and she not buttering up the locals to get information out of them, and she has at no point ever forgiven the Monitarists of Uldah for what amounts to betrayal in her mind. She tolerates them at best, and probably isn't gonna let go of that grudge anytime soon.

Worth to mention that myste looks like the combination of haurchefant and ysayle, which is perfect representation for the wol’s regrets and fears

Gods, revisiting the dark knight quest chain after endwalker makes it hit soo much harder too! Fray flat out telling the wol they can't handle all of this mounting pressure long term, and then having shadowbringer and endwalker happen.. It truly hit it home for me I'm astonished there aren't more quests that explore the wol's character, like I would've loved if stormblood bard had Jehantel help the wol deal with their doubts and fears, just like how they helped him in ARR! Or hell, why can't warrior actually have cutscenes with the inner beast threatening to take over the WoL or something? ;;

I remember how many in the FFXIV subreddit wanted Ishikawa to be promoted to lead writer when they read an interview that credited her as the writer for the DRK, ROG and ALC questlines along with the Azim Steppes part of 4.0's MSQ. She even had influence in how Zenos was written during the climax of 4.0 which helped endear the character to players who previously found him boring Suffice to say, the devs listened

Equating Fray to the Warrior of Light's Ego makes the entire Level 50 fight a literal Ego Death. It is the moment when the Warrior of Light undergoes a transformation, and acceptance, of their self. They reconcile the disparate parts of themselves, and are reborn, so they can move forward.

I played paladin all through ARR, trying to be a perfect, selfless hero. I went into the game almost blind, and took my time with ARR and really enjoyed it. so at the end of the ARR patches, the betrayal of the crystal braves, the destruction of the scions, and the accusations of regicide hit me HARD. I felt so hurt and betrayed. I was furious at the people who would cast me aside so callously after all I had done for them, after I tried so hard to be kind and selfless. It especially hurt that I was a paladin. I started my journey in Ul’dah, saved Nanamo from a voidsent underneath the Sultantree, and pledged my paladin oaths with the Sultansworn. And still I was accused of regicide! So when I got to Ishgard, after meeting Edmont and touring the city, I discarded my paladin shield and oaths to become a dark knight. I leveled dark knight from 30 to 50 before doing any of the HW MSQ outside of the city of Ishgard, so the anger and frustration was very fresh in my mind for the 30 to 50 dark knight quests. Fray really spoke to everything I felt but was too afraid to say. As someone who struggles with self-esteem issues IRL, and has often felt like I need be selfless and suppress my feelings to be worth the air I breathe, the 30-50 storyline hit really close to home. It was so refreshing to see in an rpg and absolutely sold me on dark knight. I played dark knight for all MSQ through all 4 expansions (excluding EW patches, I haven’t started those yet) and never regretted it for a second. There’s so many moments across the dark knight questline I absolutely love. Fray telling the ungrateful merchant to f*** off. Sidurgu getting bullied by moogles until he finally stopped being so edgy and mean. Myste resembling a child Haurchefaunt (light blue haired elezen). The confrontation with Myste, him barraging you with guilt for everyone who you’ve killed and couldn’t save, and getting to let Fray out and say “I tire of this charade”. And god at the end of the level 80 quest “Our closure” I was in tears. Everything about the dark knight story and lore-wise is just perfect to me. Learning to accept and forgive yourself, to embrace your negative emotions, to stand up for yourself, to be a healthy amount of selfish, to not be held back by unjust leaders and laws. But also to always let love guide and fuel you, and to never let the abyss consume you. The dark knight storyline isn’t so much about a job, but about the burdens on your soul and emotional growth and healing. The class started out as an edgy outlet for my frustration, but it grew into so much more. I started playing dark knight thinking it was just an edgelord class but was so impressed and moved by its honesty and love. Anyways, tldr I really love dark knight, easily my favorite class/job in any rpg I’ve ever played.

"...comforted by the knowledge that the WoL isn't as alone as he thought..." Or more correctly, as alone as the WoL probably thought, even if subconciously. I feel that the Dark Knight story also helps set up the WoL mentally for what they encounter in Shadowbringers and Endwalker.

I love the dark knight questline so so so much. It completely put into words most of the things I hate about ARR, tho it unfortunately persists into the rest of the game but it's less bad. Just the anger of going back and fourth over and over again. Being told stories that I dont care about. Characters that I care even less about. Then fray just comes in and goes "arent you tired of being nice? Dont you wanna go apeshit?" Love that for them. Though the anger is so satisfying, the parts that hit the hardest are the quiet parts. "I forgive you. I forgive you. I forgive you" "for who else could I love but you". THIS QUESTLINE DOESNT NEED TO GO THIS HARD DAMNIT!!!!!! Its LITERALLY the best job questline, the story is so good.

I avoided the Dark Knight questline for a long time thinking it was going to be some cheesy edgy fanfic - and what wound up happening was me adopting it into my WoL's own story, to the point even though I don't normally tank, I still consider Dark Knight one of my core classes. My cute little Au Ra never asked to be a hero to start with, never asked to be famous, never asked to be Eorzea's errand girl; they just wanted to travel and maybe set up a shop to hear of everyone else's travels. The Dark Knight questline gives such a great way to show the weight and toil those expectations take, and I'm truly happy I played it.

I can just imagine Fray screaming in annoyance and rage the entire time during the Hildibrand quests. *Especially* since even at times the WoL is outwardly annoyed by the people that surround them in the quests.

"Do not seek forgiveness, for it will not ease the burden. It weighs as it should." The simple reasons that the DRK questline is a fan favorite is because of what I believe to be the following: 1. Actual character development for your WOL without affecting head canon (generally) or the MSQ in any major way. By allowing the WoL to push through feelings of regret and the pressures/frustrations of being a selfless hero. 2. Connected to the guilt we would feel having two major lore characters sacrifice themselves to save us so that we can soldier on and complete our objective. An objective they both would have supported us on if they were still with us. 3. The path is to enforce justice by the sword regardless of societal constraints. Some would consider it cathartic to engage in a fantasy vigilantism where life and decency were upheld by force when necessary. Obviously this is a problem when translated to real life but instead in a simple fantasy setting where good and evil are a little more clearly defined.

Mega spoilers incoming! When it comes to Myste, many people speculate that he's a simulacra of both Ysayle and Haurchefant, the two people who's passing supposedly impacted the WoL the most throughout the events of the Dragonsong War. The shock of losing such a warm and kind-hearted companion, who put his own status and even life on the line multiple times for the WoL's sake without asking anything in return, until it ultimately claimed his life. The tragedy of iceheart, with a pure and fervent desire for true and long-lasting peace between Ishgardians and dragons, yet chose to sacrifice herself to help mend the suffering that her misguided beliefs and actions had wrought. That depth of personal loss for the greater good was the first and greatest we had seen up until that point, so it's no wonder that after everything was over and said that the WoL's Dark Knight soulstone had split in two.

I loved the Dark Knight story questline. From start to finish. However a favorite part will always be when Sidurgu tells the moogles to Piss off. Dark Knights aside, however many don't find it interesting, the Scholar Questine will always hold a special place in my heart. Be it that Scholar for the longest time was my main job I can't say but the whole story about the Scholars of Nym, Tonberries and also gives a reason to why The Wanderers Palace changes from Normal to Hard difficulty and you still don't fight the Tonberries.

Me and my boyfriend love the Dark Knight quests so much that we named our kitten Fray

If the wol ever gave into Fray, they’d likely end up like Zenos; a character who only lives for themselves and looks down on everyone else for their banality and weakness

For me, it's that it matches my character's fiction almost to a T. So much so that I decided to merge it with my head canon for my character. Fray & Myst are summonings / creations of a broken mind (Myst consumes the aether of a soul crystal, breaking it, when summoned), born from the struggles that years of combat, loss, responsibilities, hopes & fears have created. Through these quasi-primals the WoL comes to terms with certain aspects of themself & their life. I legitimately had an "oh my god" moment when I realized how on-point the entire quest line was, right down to writing messages to yourself in the quest log. The WoL is an entity with PTSD & a broken mind, and they know it. With hallucinations, and they know it. Yet they also know that they live in a world where belief and aether are the only things necessary to summon things, and what does the WoL have? A surfeit of aether. They live in a world where their fears haunt them, the shadowy forms of their hallucinations take form and hunt them and play with them - and they play with them right back. The WoL knows what they are, but they're not whole things, just broken things. Like them.

yeah, DRK questline is top quality. I love all the follow up quest you can do once you complete certain MSQ quest.

Half the reason why I even leveled Dark Knight was for the quest line.

The level 80 capstone quest was my absolute favorite, i'm surprised you didn't mention it.

Apart from my love of the Edgelord style & characters, the Dark Knight storyline is engraved deep into my WoL... Mine became one after the Ul'dah incident... What would have been shady business I'd have to resolve a bit later, it got mega-personal mega-fast, with the perceived death of first-friend Nanamo (I started in Ul'dah), being blamed for it the moment she collapsed, and then immediately my Scion friends being scattered to the winds, and all so soon after dealing with the XIVth Legion, risking my life for this foreign world (my WoL's an Isekai Protagonist), gave me the feeling of being used and discarded... Until the power of Darkness woke the beast within... Thoughts like "Maybe Gaius was right, and I should become a ruler, that way this won't ever happen again!" and "we will find those responsible and rend them into as many pieces as there are seconds since Nanamo has been dead!" were what roiled in my mind, and now, with the power of Darkness and a **Berserk CLANG** sword, I could have my revengance! And even though Nanamo was revealed alive, and our names cleared, the scars remain, and the Darkness will ensure it doesn't happen again...

I love the 30-50 DRK story. After everything that happened with Ilberd and the Sultana, it felt as though the DRK story was addressing the WoL's thoughts, and it helped them work thorough the emotions and move on. It's my headcanon as to why my WoL will pick the funny, jokey options more often now.

You forgot the best part where it’s a nihilist edgy quest line to a “My Two Dads” quest line

I absolutely love how Natsuko Ishikawa writes your character, or more accurately, doesn't write you. When you look at just what your character specifically does in game, it's basically nothing aside from fight, but there's a lot of room to interpret your own emotions and motivations there. The Darkness within that is Fray could be slight doubts that you overwhelm with your desire to help, or a desperate plea from your subconscious to start fighting for yourself rather that others. How you interpret your player's actions is entirely up to you as the Warrior of Light, and as such, you can get more drawn in to the story by bridging the gaps yourself, and making your character truly your own.

The lv 50 quest immediately made me think about Persona 4. Part of the reason I vibed with it so much. Not to mention I found out later about the notes within your journal being written by Fray. Really nice touch

"It weighs as it should." is such a nice, simple, short quip for simply accepting your sins, rather than overblowing them to make yourself feel more guilty or more persecuted, or underselling them to assuage yourself of your sins. Your sins happened. They weigh as they should.

Also they get to beat up Moogles.

Fray: Aren’t you tired of being nice? Don’t you wanna just go apeshit? WoL: *Y E S*

Thank you so much for this video! I just finished the DRK quest line and was so confused on what was going on exactly. I feel like im too dumb for this game's writing sometimes haha

I mean, not to mention the fact that grimm dark tank job gets it's power from love, kupo

Knowing what we know now, an arguement could be made that without fray and especially upon becoming aware and excepting him, that was the point we were first ready to deal with meteion, fray as our ego actually disassociates the WoLs negative emotions by giving a form that is separate from themselves to help brunt those emotions. And assuming fray is canonically existing given dark knight is one of the canon WoLs jobs, I wonder had thancred not been the one standing, if fray wouldn't have been the one to act, especially if you consider as clearly a being of dynamis, he wouldn't have been subject to being drowned out.

Frey is to the Warrior of Light what Zangetsu (both White and OMZ) is to Ichigo.

in war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice. Dark knights in a nutshell.

These were exactly my thoughts when first playing dark knight. I started the game as arcanist. At 30 I switched to scholar for queue times. The whole way through ARR I was honestly miserable, forced to play the errand girl for everyone when I was meant to be THE warrior of light! I can kill primals why am I doing a 12 part fetch quest for some asshole lalafell in Costa del Sol? I was also disillusioned with playing Scholar. All solo content was miserable I have one button to press on repeat for dps and a dot to upkeep. As soon as I reached heavensward I immediately jumped at the chance to play dark knight. Im a bit of an edgelord and id heard tank queues were almost as good as healer queues so I decided to give it a try. I fell in love immediately. The very first job quest I immediately felt like I was doing something important, I was starting something that had meaning (a wonderful change from the lalafell drama of Scholar). A story where my mindset towards the NPCs who make me a postman was reflected on my character! Since i completed the lv30-50 DRK job quest I have always called DRK my favourite class in the game even though I admittedly dont main the job. One of my favourite moments in this game was going back and speaking to Sidurgu after finishing Endwalker. He gives you some wonderful advice that I actually quoted down because it spoke to me on a personal level.

I finished up the ShB tank rolequests as a DRK (and subsequently the DRK quest you unlock after doing the rolequest) while procrastinating on EW MSQ. HW music transitioning to ShB music felt a lot like EW scene direction. It was glorious! I can tell Ishikawa writing and title scheme from a mile away... That aside, I can't tell which bits are my favorite about the quests because I do admit it's so godsdamned profound and symbolic that my brain can't comprehend... though the jist I got is that 1. Give time for thineself-it's ok to be selfish sometimes, for your own sanity, 2. Forgive thineself-for whatever mistakes, shortcomings and flaws you might have had. And 3. Negative feelings directed at self and some, born out of love for others, can be used to achieve great things, do good things. 4. Ultimately self acceptance. Kinda reminded me of Advent Children Cloud tbh.

Id, Ego, Superego. Fray, You, and Myste.

When asked what her inspirations were, Natsuko Ishikawa admitted that if she answered, she would give away the sources of her ideas. If Ishikawa was inspired by Persona 4, I am 100% and a half happy that she did. The Shadows are the story's strenght of Persona 4 and she knows that. The WoL faces his Shadow, fights it and accepts it, making him stronger in the process.

The fangirling I did when I saw I could pick the line " I tire of this charade... "

If you haven't read the drk quest log in the journal. Then do so asap. You'll love the extra commentary from Fray.

I am so glad that they tapped the writer for the Dark Knight storyline to be the main writer for Shadowbringers and Endwalker. I absolutely love the complexity and depth of the Dark Knight ethos, how there are layers to the job and how it dovetails so well with the Echo and the effect such a power would have on a person. How it speaks to the strain that being the Champion of Eorzea would be and also to the strength needed to rise above it, to transcend anger and resentment to use even death as a tool of compassion, and in the end to accept even yourself in all your flaws and complexities.

I'll come back for this after I do the Darknight questline I swear it.

Dark Knight is my least favorite tank but it's by far my favorite tank storyline.

I loved the class quest since, to me, it felt like it fit so well into the story itself with what happened to lead up to heavensward

I think the most succinct way of putting it is simply: All other job quests are how the world relates to you. DRK is about how YOU relate to the WORLD. In other words, Because it's PERSONAL.

During that instance where you fight with Myste I only truly wanted to kill one of the embodiments. And that’s Zephryn. My WOL regrets not taking the spear that day and because of that the man she loves died right in front of her.

As a Tank class, DRK is a class I've done little with. That said, from Post-2.3 to pre-StB, I ran with a dedicated partner who crossed to DRK when we got to HW and was thrilled with it. They told me a lot of it. While I do try to move on through it, tank classes just can't keep my interest.

Lets see from the tone, to the pyschology, to the tears/feels and bruh dont get me started the lvl 80 quest line will bring some damn feels to you. It clearly one of the better quest lines also explains why 1 of the choices you make tend to be mean. Your literally speaking your mind. I once rejected alphaniud plee to help someone. He told me "Thats not like you to ever reject someone in need." Me thinking "Maybe I had a change of heart was finally able to come to answer to myself and to another."

I'm reminded of one of the role quests in ShB where we can tell someone to piss off. It is still my favourite dialogue option in the whole game!

I already had a lot of the is in mind for my character but this really helped me revise and solidify her. In her background she has already fallen into depression and despair and had mostly come through them by ARR.

I find it kind of ironic how Fray is an "NPC" when in fact he/she is the least NPC by Lore standards.

I actually more drawn to the WAR quests, it's themes of masculinity and letting rage control you. Not to mention how few roegadyn main characters there are in the game WAR quests have so many broes in it.

"We are the stories we tell ourselves. The brave hero, the tortured soul, the altruist, the pragmatist. They will tell you who they see, but you and you alone know who you are."

Wonderful summary. Great job!

I've recently picked back up Dark Knight and have managed to complete the 35-50 quests and am still lvling it in my free time, this job is fun.

It weighs as it should.

I'm still curious as to what it is that creates Fray and Myst. Because going from interactions with Sid, this ain't normal. (Maybe a bit of that ol ancient magic waking up?)

I really enjoyed the DRK quests but they're ultimately OOC for my WoL. I appreciated the writing but my WoL doesn't think that way.

I did the 30 - 50 DRK quest line after beating Stormblood. To me, it felt like Fray represented the part of my WoL that could have been like Zenos. Strong to the point you may as well be a god to common folk. But, while the WoL wants to help and feels a connection to the common folk. Zenos never found that outlet. Fray almost seemed to be the version of the WoL that no longer cared. The weakness in everyone else bored and angered them. The version of the WoL that truly only cares for themselves and to hell with anyone else who couldn't keep up.

DRK is my main Job. Sch Heals and SMN DPS ... HeavensWard Was my first major expansion. I played it hard at launch. and loved every second of it. the DRK's main quest felt personal. a tribute to awesome writing ... I've held on to my Dark Knight's Claymore ever since ... I'd replace it ... ONLY if SE answers my Prayers for a Book Knight ... that uses a Tome and Sword (or other) ... ehhehehehe ..... thanks for these awesome videos King >.

You discussed two aspects here. I do think you leave something out when you don't discuss the 50-60 quests. They take a different path than the other two, but they also demonstrate why Fray failed in the 30-50 quests. Ultimately, the Dark Knight, despite all of the frightening aspects to it, is a protector. Sidurgu himself learns lessons, as does Rielle. It's honestly Aldo probably one of the most tragic tales in the game, a mother losing herself to her own cognitive dissonance and falling back into blank, empty fanaticism.

Considering how very milquetoast good guy the WoL is portrayed in majority of FFXIV, having anything that questions that is a huge deal. The more my companions and the world gush over me, the more I want to return to just being respected for who I am, not what I represent. No wonder Fray wants to break free of these expectations and upholding the image ideal, to just be a person flawed and emotional.

Another questline that shows the damage to the WOL would be the Eden questline which shows the strain on them from fighting these god-like entities with the more horrifying appearances. The WOL has seen some shit and no one no matter how strong has to be affected by it.

Oh-kay! I'm back, Scribe. Apologies for the wait, it may have been a rush-job but I still wanted it to look presentable... I have just finished uploading a video of the 30-50 DRK questline, edited in the style of a project I've been working on for some time. The flashbacks are a feature I haven't used before in the series, thought I'd try something new for this special video. Anyway, each clip is from a completed episode of the series and most were selected to contradict certain statements from Fray/"The Voice". Feel free to take a look, hopefully you'll see the questline from a different perspective.

The writing and the intent were all very good, and I quite liked moments of it, but for me, personally, I disliked Frey's outlook so much that I actually resented the implication that they were in any way, shape, or form a representation of any part of my WoL, however buried or internalized it may be. It's just the downside of the story taking the reins of characterization: no matter how broadly applicable or sensible you make it, it'll be hit or miss for some. Still loved the parts with Sid and Rielle though. As an aside, there's a small bonus detail which I can only assume was intentional: if you do the Alchemist quests, you find out that the WoL's aether is blue in color. Frey and Myste fade into blue sparks at the end.

In my mind the DRK quest that connected most was Our Closure. And it's in the name. One last conversation. Now comes your part. To cloak yourself in fiction, to breathe life into the dead, to give voice to the voiceless.

2Myste: summons all then people i killed Me: "AW HELL YEAH ILL GET TO FUCKEN DO IT AGANE lEsgO!"

If I may be a bit personal in my comment I’d appreciate you allowing me the moment. So on top of your excellent analysis for Frey and Myste and their relationship to our WoLs they also relate to us, the players, as humans. I personally live in the US and I’m a white gay guy who’s doing what little he can to take care of my friends and myself. Frey specifically spoke to me bc of the incandescent rage that boils over from him watching more and more people take advantage of the WoL bc as a renowned hero and good guy tm we are “just supposed to” help. Which was very similar (to me) in the way that as a gay guy I can be married now and I’m “just supposed to” be kind and patient to idiots pushing laws to hurt me or people who put their emotional baggage on me bc I’m good at listening and my issues aren’t real. Which is a fucking trip that’s spiraled so far out of control I finally pulled on my rage to confront my family as I made myself clear that I’m out and it’s not going to change despite how dangerous my situation becomes. Again the self esteem/Frey directing righteous anger to finally get me to keep myself safe for once in my miserable life. It’s cathartic you know, when you finally wield the anger inside you to set boundaries and to remove toxic people. People don’t like to mention it bc it’s not pretty but neither was Frey willing to murder for our behalf. The sense of self preservation is strong. And Myste is our regret and our fears, our sorrows about what could have been and our trepidation at what tomorrow brings. Meteion could never defeat us personally as dark knights have had to face their own despair hand in hand with their selfish rage. That’s an idea in my head from comparing the situations anyways. No Myste made me cry bc I’ve always done my best to care for my friends and my family. I’ve taken a fair many beatings to protect my brother when we were younger and then he decided to turn his own ire on me. I was a lynchpin in pain and tragedy as I was constantly reminded. I despised myself for every little thing I thought I should have done to make things better. These hateful emotions were obviously misplaced but it was only years afterwards that I was finally out from the worst of the situation that I could see that yes sometimes I was a butt head but I was also a fucking child. And I actually wasn’t as terrible as I thought bc again I was a kid or immediately out of school a teenager with no life lessons and a morality scaling pulled desperately out of books. And when we face Myste I wasn’t mad at him. I didn’t believe in what he was saying but if anything I was mad at the shade of Rielles mother bc I didn’t like her from last time. It clicks the Myste is our sorrow and despair and regrets, that he’s the louder voice I listened to regularly as I chipped away at my self esteem before. I remember I cried at the moment Frey pulled Myste around and they forgave each other bc I’d been letting my personal Myste hurt me for awhile bc I thought I deserved it. I’d weathered so much before what was a bit more regret for someone like me? But Myste was proven wrong, by the manifestation of ourself our self esteem, Frey. Proven wrong and forgiven for trying to do the right thing the only way they knew how, and at the end it’s stated blatantly that despite everything who else could we love but ourselves? I’d warrant that’s what ends up breaking a lot of people. Nowadays more and more of our politicians, parents, managers, and just assholes with power over us hurt us and do so while blaming us. They insinuate that there’s something inherently wrong that we could’ve fixed if we had been different on another level. A lot of us will never get the catharsis of having calm conversations with understanding people who hurt us, instead our rage and indignant sense of self and our despair and regret grow until they get out of hand. Like Frey and Myste we can end up letting them get away from us and it can actually hurt people. But we don’t have to let it. We can take a moment and agree that we deserve to be seen as humans and to no longer ignore our own emotions in the face of hardship to a toxic amount. We can take a moment to face our regrets wracked by tears and acknowledge that while this pain and regret is real, we don’t deserve this emotional torture. Not from anyone but especially not from ourselves, even if we mean well and want to use our regrets as a way to keep us safe. We do not get these moments of clarity and emotional honesty from ourselves very often. Considering how the world is I’m not surprised. But when given a medium with which we can see facsimiles of our own pain make peace with ourselves, that WE can choose to make peace with them (we are finishing these quests after all) it resonates with us as an audience and as individuals. And of course I was going through some shit tm and everyone will have different emotional attachments to the situation, so it may be very different for the next person. But I just needed a catalyst to start healing at the time and power leveling dark knight really paid off. Okay emotional tidbit over sorry for the length😅

I've finally finished Dark Knights quest line. Time to watch this.

(warning spoilers and a bit of a rant) I took this job right when I was able to start it as a lvl 50 palidain who gave everything to protect the place he called home and even make it a bit brighter then the "bloody banquet" happens and I lose a small portion of my group and the respect and admiration of Ul'dal which rp wise was my 2nd home due to deeper rp lore reasons tired cold and broken questioning why I carry this sword shield and crystal I see a man slumped over

Love these analysis. I love the lore videos too buy this is great. Thank you.

there's a continuous theme found amongst the tank jobs stories, a lot of life is going to make it not easy but we cannot stop to consider what could be. PLD taught me that if we do not fight for the weak and innocent, then who will? GNB taught me that even if we struggle with right and wrong, it takes those around you to remind you of what it is we do. DRK taught me that the night is most dark before the dawn, and even if we are consumed by our negative emotions, we look ahead for those we shepherd unto dawn. (i havent done warrior im sorry!) something i really enjoy about all the job quests is how they can shape different aspects of both you the player and you the character, the lessons we learn or don't learn and their effects on those around us. thats why having just very recently beat endwalker and hearing the (spoiler lady) asking why we don't give into despair... well, i know a few people who would be upset if i were to given in so easily.

So, how does Fray feel about a certain Mandeville Man?

When I played through the quests, I found them... I dunno, pretentious? Its hard to write a story for the inner spirit of your own character, because if the player's projection onto the character doesn't match Fray's interpretation, it falls flat.

Fray would have so much to tell after ShB and EW events

Legit I loved the Myst story not just for who Myst is based off. However Myst's choices to summon against me made no sense. Maybe cause I ended up hating many of those choices and had no guilt cutting them down. They should have summoned people we got killed by mistake. Not Illbert who back stabbed us then did well all that murder to summon Shinryu. I felt Elidubus did it better having us fight false Scions during the lead up to his big fight.

One thing to note is the difference between the JP and the EN versions of the DRK quests. The dialogue, particularly around Frey, is quite different. I think both work well, but the EN seems to just... lose something in translation.

I had this theory that Fray and Myste were the sins of the Warrior of Light. Specifically, his Wrath and Pride.

I personally feel like you miss the mark slightly, what your saying is true but it's at least not the main reason i love the dark knight questline. In a game with excellent writing all around good character development, and good world building there is one flaw i felt basically the entire game "Alphinaud". You as the character from the moment he is introduce feel like his baseball bat he swing at every problem. Threw out the story he is the one people turn to he is the one who decides on a plan of action we are often site in a corner while he speaks with leaders of nations like the muscle he brought for protection. i just finished heavens ward so i don't know if they address this in future expansions but it gets really bad, at one point we meet a witch who is the teacher of a particularly beloved scion and we are told to go clear a dungeon while they sit safety. I don't even remember the witch ever speaking with us directly, everything the warrior of light is told is threw another character. It is bad story telling especially in a video game such as this one were the whole point of the game is to make you feel like an evil conquering champion. which leads me to why i truly love the dark knights questline(30-50 especially) even though this questline is written just as on rails as everything else in the game this questline makes me feel like i am at the center of it. I am the hero not the hired meat head with a big sword hitting things until they stop moving. Were as in the main story you are a savior like figure the "warrior of light" and your job is to do exactly what this teenage elf brat tells you. The game even taunts the player threw the crystal braves leader saying we are a puppet that just does what we are told. This shows someone in charge knows this problem exists but no one is willing to deal with it. I am sorry for such a long post but after just finishing heavens ward i needed to get this off my chest.

Why is it only clicking with me now why the version of Fray that you summon whenever you use Living Shadow is called Esteem...

Lived all of the DRK quests but I did the lvl 80 quest after I finished 5.3. I just need something nice to wind down to. I ended up staring at myself sobbing and yelling ‘ITS NOT DONE WITH ME’ 😭😭😭🤣

Man..... Yes. I love the dark knight quest line so much.

I just finished the questline today, and for my contribution to the discussion I will put forth my favorite part, a single dialogue choice. After the first round of the fight against Myst before Fray appears there are two possible lines. "...Justice demands no less." or "I tire of this charade." Going back a bit. The Stormblood line begins with a mysterious young boy Myst taking half your soul crystal and insisting on using it to "help" people. As it continues on, he only marginally helps people with illusionary memories and more often than not makes things harder for his companions through naivety. Sidurgu is immediately annoyed with him and as the quests seem to get more and more pointless, so too does the player. Until Myst implodes, takes a bunch of aether and immediately starts talking about ending the world and casting judgement on you, declaring "murder is murder" without any sense of nuance or context. By then I was throughly fed up with his tantrum, for lack of a better word. Who is this little twerp to judge me for not being perfect while saving the world? His memory constructs fall in three gcds, he is no threat. I wasn't going to choose "Justice demands no less." he didn't deserve it, this wasn't me righting an injustice, this was me squashing a particularly annoying bug. So I chose the more fitting line. "I tire of this charade." I can't think of a line more fitting of Fray. It sunk in over the next hour. This part of the questline was thematically the ARR questline _from Fray's perspective_ . In going through it I now empathized with him, I had _become_ Fray. And after that Fray _does_ show up, but he feels like early Fray, ruthless and deadly, but not quite angry or manic as in the later parts. It felt as if we met in the middle by the end. My WoL more assertive in themselves and a bit more ruthless. And Fray a bit more noble. I think this was deliberate. Fray doesn’t appear again between 50 and 70 despite explicitly being able to at any time. If he did the reaction I had wouldn’t have been as genuine, they wait for _you_ to take that step instead of reminding you. And finally, the story doesn’t parade what it did or try to reassure you more directly. It trusts you to unravel what just happened on your own. And it plays into the WoL “freeing” themselves from these elements of their psyche and integrating them in a healthier way free of judgement, because who can hope to judge you but yourself? In this case, defining aspects of a player character was 100% the right decision and this questline was unequivocally the best in the game for me. (Also while I know Shadowbringers wasn't out yet. With the way it ended, they could've really made it stick with that quest unlocking "Living Shadow" unfortunate missed opportunity)

Love the lore videos and the details you put into them. If you could, can you do a gunbreaker lore video too?

I love the DRK quest. It's one on the only times the game's writing didn't completely bore me and I actually enjoyed reading every single one of the quests. The other instance where I actually read almost everything was Shadowbringers. Makes sense, given that the same woman who wrote the DRK quest lines was largely responsable for Shadowbringers. She's an absolute genius.

I've come to notice that you did not mention the "Our Closure" Quest in the video, which is kind of sad as it still is the best quest out of them all, and give additional information regarding the original questline (Lvl30 to 50) In case you simply never found it, you merely need to finish the Tank Role questline you get in the Crystarium, and if you finished Shadowbringers as well then the quest should be available to you by talking to Sidurgu again in Ishgard

ME AND ME GONNA GO SAVE EORZEA LADS LETS GOOOOO

Myst is also a hybrid of Ysayle and Harshefan