It's been so interesting replaying Stormblood because I am remembering how much I actually like Zenos as a character in Stormblood. He's a good villain and in the long run he ends up saying some interesting things about the Garlean Empire. Viewed through the light of Stormblood, as much as I think his death was perfect and he might have been better left dead, I also can appreciate some of his role in Endwalker, as the monster the empire created destroying the empire from within, because in attempting to create the perfect soldier-prince with unparalleled tactical mastery, the empire ended up creating a man with no personal investment in the empire and that is arguably the entire reason why the resistance wins and why Garlemald falls. That's interesting! I like it!
In fact I like Zenos far more in what he says about Garlemald and about empire than in anything he attempts to say about the Warrior of Light, and in fact the places where the story most tries to divorce Zenos from the politics of Garlemald are where I like the character the least. In light of the fact that we first encounter him in Stormblood while aiding resistance forces, the push to draw an equivalency between Zenos and the WoL becomes especially insulting regardless of intent. In that context it comes across as "Have you considered that doing violence in service of liberating an oppressed people from imperialism is actually very much like doing violence in the service of the empire? Really makes you think." Like. No it doesn't. Come on. Krile throwing up her hands and deciding it's worth sending Zenos after the WoL on the off chance that he might help is equally insulting for all the reasons tritoch details here. For the story to justify Zenos following the WoL to the literal end of the universe it also has to memory-hole previous plot points to have another character do something completely ridiculous.
What revisiting Stormblood has reminded me is that what Zenos's existence says about Garlemald is far more compelling to me than anything he has to say about the Warrior of Light as an individual. And looking at his later presence in the game through that lens really helps to highlight where it works for me and where it doesn't. It's a good example of how the game constantly needing to remind us that the player character is the most specialest person to ever exist actively makes other characters, themes, and storylines worse.
