This finally arrived today! 😍 Forcing myself to wait till tomorrow to start reading so I can spend the day outside in the sun reading the final chapter to the FFXV journey. I'm both excited and sad. Excited because I'm finally able to read what the DLC was going to be, but sad that it's the last new piece of FFXV stuff to be released (apart from the Ultimania next year).
Thank you for the ask, anon! And thank you for your patience. It’s been too long since I wrote some Noctluna, so I was really excited to write this!
See this post for the full list!
Without further ado, here’s #23, A Kiss in Relief
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Waking up in the middle of the night was hard enough, but waking up ten years in the past was a whole other experience. Noctis shot up in his bed, ignoring the pounding in his skull and the sweat covering his body. The thoughts racing through his mind shouted louder than any pain his nerves were trying to alert him to.
Where am I?
Once his eyes adjusted to the dark, a quick glance around told him he was in the high-end suite of the Leville Hotel in Altissia. It wasn’t flooded and ruined, which meant he’d made it before the Leviathan ceremony.
Umbra nudged his leg from the side of the bed, reassuring him further.
It worked.
I made it back.
But did he remember everything?
“Noctis?” Ignis’ familiar voice spoke softly from another bed. “Are you alright?”
Noctis sat up further, and his friend followed. The sight of Ignis nearly sent the prince into a flurry of tears already.
“Ignis,” Noctis choked, “your eyes.”
Ignis sighed, “Must you make fun of my glasses at every opportunity? I don’t look that strange without them.”
“No, you-” Noctis stopped himself. There was too much going through his head to articulate any important details. “Nevermind.”
All he knew was that it had worked. He’d travelled back in time with Umbra. He quickly scanned his memories from the future, like they were a dream that would slip away within seconds of waking up.
I became the last King of Lucis.
I had to defeat Ardyn and end the Starscourge at a great cost, but it could’ve gone differently.
I can make up for the sins of my forefather, Somnus.
I can prevent Ignis from going blind for me.
I can prevent Luna from-
“Luna!” he shot onto his feet. If the room hadn’t been awake before, it was now.
Prompto startled out of bed and landed on the floor. Gladio was up on his feet in an instant, weapon drawn out of instinct.
Noctis ignored all of their following grumbles and questions. Without a single word, he made his way over to the room’s balcony. From there, the Secretary’s estate was clearly visible in the night air.
If he had truly travelled back in time, then the Empire was keeping her there under watch, and he wanted nothing more than to see for himself if she’d gone back too. He had Umbra, she had Pryna, and she’d wanted to take this second chance with him. He just prayed that it had worked for them both.
Deciding to ask for forgiveness from his friends rather than permission, he summoned the Engine Blade and threw it to the nearest street lamp. He blinked into a streak of blue, and a moment later, he was dangling from the very same lamp. Umbra already sat on the cobble street a few feet away, waiting for him.
As soon as his feet hit the ground, he ran.
He made his way down the dark, empty street. His body felt lighter than he remembered, less strong but also much less broken. He couldn’t remember how to get to the estate, or where Luna was even being kept, but she was finally within reach again. That alone was enough to drive him forward.
Down the street, he thought he spotted a stray dog. That was, until she emerged under a street lamp, and Pryna’s white fur reflected off of the glowing amber light.
She did it, he thought.
Before he could order his legs to move faster towards Umbra’s companion, however, a heavenly voice called out to him amidst the sleeping city.
“Noctis?”
It was her voice, and Noctis’ heart nearly leapt out of his chest. Suddenly, the waterfronts and buildings were flying by him twice as quickly.
“Luna!” he answered in the direction of Pryna.
“Noctis?!” She called back more desperately.
Around the same corner that her dog had run from, she appeared, and their eyes met not a moment later. Her hair was down, and she was dressed in nothing but a tattered sleeping gown. But none of that mattered as the distance between them vanished. He could do nothing but wrap himself around her as tightly as possible and lift her into the air. He cherished every sensation under his hands, memorized the feeling of her own touch all over him, and buried his face into her undone golden hair.
His younger self had missed out on all of this, and he suddenly despised the man for not running to her the moment he’d seen her speaking at the podium.
After a moment, he willed himself to pull back and take in her face. She was just as beautiful as when he’d last seen her.
Relief flooded over him as the realization hit that she was truly here, neither as a ghost nor returned under the strings of The Draconian. He touched her face and combed his fingers through her hair, ignoring the tears and tangles as he leaned in to kiss her. They technically weren’t married yet, but he didn’t care. He cherished their second first kiss all the same. She pulled him closer and kissed him just as deeply until he knew she was drowning just as much in relief.
Gone were the awkward betrothed nobles separated for too much of their lives, replaced by two fate-twisted lovers who knew the truth and were determined to change destiny.
A joyous giggle escaped from her lips while she kissed him. He pulled back and smiled, before realizing they’d yet to share any words besides their own names.
He planted a kiss on her forehead and asked, “What’s so funny, my wife?”
She laughed again and glanced up to meet his eyes. She peppered her own kisses along his cheek, down to his jaw then all the way to his ear. “I was just thinking, husband, about how I missed the tickle of your beard.”
He laughed. “Lucky for you, it should only take ten years or so to grow back in.” He leaned back to take her in again, but couldn’t bring himself to be away from her warmth for long. “We made it.”
“We did,” she muttered into his shirt. “Feels strange to be back so far.”
“Hey,” he pushed away again, “how’d you get out here? Aren’t you supposed to be under watch?”
She giggled lightly. “I may have jumped out a window.”
Noctis’ jaw hung open for a moment. For him, jumping out of a window was as easy as throwing his sword at the right place. For her, she actually had to land on her feet, and he highly doubted they were keeping her in a ground floor room.
She sensed his shock. “Worry not, the hedges broke my fall,” she said as she stroked his cheek. That explained her ruined nightwear. “I just needed to see you.”
He hummed under her touch. “I can’t blame you there.”
The swift footsteps of his brothers approached, then abruptly stopped as soon as they realized what was happening. They probably had many questions. Questions which Noctis would be more than happy to answer fully and truthfully. They could change fate, save lives, prevent a ten-year scourge, and maybe even find Ardyn and convince him to change his plan.
They could do this.
But right now, they just wanted each other.
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A/N: Thank you for reading!
I don’t know about you, but after reading the proposed story of Luna and Noctis’s cancelled DLCs, I couldn’t help but feel like we missed out on a great alternate ending to the game. Alas, it shall never be playable, but the concept art and inspiration are there all the same:) In the original game, the player has the chance to travel back to Altissia with Umbra after the timeskip, and I couldn’t help but imagine how Noctis and Luna would react to being given a second chance to change Fate.
No they’re not, Anon! Pushing this one to the front of the queue to hopefully make some people smile after the November 7 announcement.
As much as I want to see Lunafreya beat a monster upside the head with a stick she found…let’s be realistic here.
She begins to forge covenants right after Insomnia falls. She goes from “physically able” in Kingsglaive to actively dying even without the stab wound by Chapter Nine.
What does this mean for your blog owner who has never made a video game in her life?
Creative. Gameplay.
Episode Luna is split into three chapters. Chapter One: Ramuh, Chapter Two: Titan, and Chapter Three: Sneak to port to get to Altissia.
It’s primarily a puzzle-solving, stealth sort of gameplay to keep things interesting for the player. Luna has to complete tasks to call the two gods*, (think puzzle-solving like some of the tasks in Breath of the Wild). She has to sneak past Imperial troops and sometimes monsters.
But there is still combat. Before each summon (and immediately before making it to port) there is a battle Luna can’t avoid. The first is with daemons, the other two are with the Empire.
Combat is modified, of course!
Luna has magic thanks to her being the Oracle, and so fights like a mage. There are a few provisions, however….
First, she only has enough MP for a certain number of blasts. There are no MP recovery items available, and to show her getting weaker, a magic attack costs more MP each fight. So Chapter One she gets 5, Chapter Two she gets 3, and Chapter Three she gets 2.
The player can accidentally cast a spell while not in combat if they’re not careful, so look out!
Due to her limited attacks, a player must carefully use their surroundings while fighting as Luna. Think stealth, tricks to force enemies to line up, and diversions.
Secondly, Luna has three technique bar attacks. Using one bar summons Umbra and Pryna to deal physical damage to an enemy. After they fight, they demand pets. Two bars allows Luna to heal herself (up to half of her max HP). Three bars will let Shiva aid her. Three bars is an instakill, but Luna has to take a certain amount of damage to even get to that point so…use with caution.
And finally, Luna can only use light magic, no other elemental types. Shiva will deal ice damage (and surviving long enough to summon her might be the key to one of the boss fights, hint hint)
Episode Luna has longer than usual cutscenes. 10 minutes at the beginning are her recounting the events of Kingsglaive and explaining her role in the prophecy. After each boss fight, her dealings with the gods are cutscenes that explain her abilities as Oracle more. And when she finally makes it to port, there is a long ending cutscene that shows her writing goodbye letters to Ravus and Noctis (which are voiced over, of course!) that discuss her duty, her motivations, and her dreams that she knows she won’t see happen. Also, maybe some flashbacks to Tenebrae during Noctis’ visit, showing us Queen Sylvia in action?
Resting in the Episode? At Havens, obviously! With Messenger dogs!
Side quests in the Episode? Optional detours (which require stealth) that let Luna go to outposts/towns and heal those that are beginning to be afflicted by Starscourge. These side quests are the only way to earn Phoenix Downs in the Episode.
Oh, and Luna’s companion? Gentiana will speak to her and be around, but Luna must fight alone.
The Oracle, after all, is a very lonely calling. Taking care of others at the cost of oneself.
*The Tide Mother has a specific altar and trident for her summons, I think her whole stick is “summon me if you dare, mortal peon”
Okay, so most of the ffxv news sucks and I know everybody is really down about that. I’m feeling it too. But question - some people are saying that the content that would have been in the cancelled episodes might be ‘revisited in another format’. Do we have confirmation on that?
Why Lunafreya Can’t Be Fixed (Or... it would be very difficult to actually develop her character properly)
(A/N: Thank you guys so much for liking and reblogging this essay! It took a lot of labor. Please note that I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, before the reveal of the new DLC episodes. Here is a link to a new post that I wrote, where I discuss what I think Episode Luna is going to be about and why this creates new problems in the storytelling sphere. Warning - there be serious retconning ahead!)
Gamers today expect a substantial storytelling experience when playing JRPGs. Aside from immersive world building, a moving soundtrack, and compelling game mechanics, players are expecting a diverse cast and meaningful character development.
This is definitely not the case for Final Fantasy XV‘s Lunafreya Nox Fleuret.
Character development assumes that a lead character, supporting character, and at times, even minor characters will undergo a journey of self-discovery of some level, or of some type. This, normally, should especially be true of a major character. In Luna’s case, she is heavily involved in the game’s advertising campaigns, and is assumed to be in a major romantic role with the main character, who undergoes his own extensive character development. She is therefore a major character, who is designed to forcibly tell us that she is important. So, why does she have no substance to her backstory, her character growth, and to her actual relevance in the story? And can she be fixed? This essay is an analysis on character creation from a writer’s perspective, and why she as a whole was not built for the character development that fans are expecting out of her - it is a perspective I feel is lacking in the all of the debates and discussions that are happening about this character.
(Warning: spoilers for the Final Fantasy series ahead.) (Also warning: long.)
The essential main theme of character development in Final Fantasy XV is ascension. That is, the characters are growing to be better than they started out with, or are growing up in a physical, emotional, and mental way. For the four main Chocobros, this means growing up to be men, or from childhood/adolescence into adulthood (and for Noctis, becoming King).
This is true for three out of the four main characters. The only exception is Gladiolus, who has already achieved manhood at the beginning of the game, and stays the same throughout. However, it can be argued that the Brotherhood anime has introduced some level of character development for him, going from a young teen who at first was displeased with protecting Noctis, into a young man who not only accepts Noctis, but accepts his role as a Crownsguard.
However, the same cannot be said for Luna. In all major aspects of the Final Fantasy XV Universe, Luna has not actually developed, nor was she really fully realized as a human being. What I mean to say is that she is the same in Brotherhood, Kingsglaive, Final Fantasy XV, and Royal Edition. While fans may notice behavioral changes between Luna in the film and in the game (and while many may prefer her in the film), her essential character actually hasn’t changed. Her goals are the same. Her emotions (and subsequent feelings for Noctis) are the same. Her commitment to being formal even in the presence of more intimate interpersonal relationships is the same. Her sense of duty is the same. Her obsession with Noctis is the same. Her lack of personality is arguably the same. The behavioral changes in this sense are mainly surface-level.
This kind of personality quagmire is the same despite age differences throughout the timeline, as well. In other words, Luna is the same at 12 years old, and at 24 years old. She still is only interested in discussing her religious indoctrination, her duty, and her need to guide Noctis. This essentially means that there is no actual character development for a character that the game tries so hard to convince you is important. She is already grown up at 12 years old, and there is nothing left for her to personally explore. In other words, ascending to her role as Oracle is not symbolic of any character development, like ascending to be King is for Noctis.
In the case where people argue she needs more screen time, YouTuber StoryTime** has explained it best: when you see one scene of Luna, you have seen them all. It is not that she needed more screen time - more screen time would just mean reiterations of old material. Case in point: she was given more time and more lines in Royal Edition, only for it to be the same old thing we have heard from her before (and at the cost of breaking one of their established world building rules). Expanding her emotions on the 1.16 update didn’t do anything different for her. It just beat the dead horse on what we already know: that she loves Noctis. What the problem really is is that she should have been planned out differently from the start.
Essentially, the main argument I am trying to make here is that the writers have effectively trapped themselves when it comes to Luna’s development. Let’s discuss the cuts that have been made from her development, and how she is problematically portrayed.
There was a leak from a developer of the game who discussed that her childhood abuse story was cut due to anxiety over public backlash to her character. This backlash was assumed to come from a feminist perspective, being that her character would have endured the abuse for the sake of Noctis. This perspective is legitimate, which is another reason why she is problematic: she can’t be human, and be a full character, because her sole reason is to exist for Noctis. This is not just on an emotional level (where this kind of obsession is honestly incredibly self-sabotaging and unhealthy), but also on a plot development level. She is literally a plot device existing for the sake of Noctis’ development, and because of this her own development doesn’t matter. Her death was also for Noctis’ sake. She did not die out of her own convictions, or because her actions were conflicting with Ardyn’s goals. She died because Ardyn wanted to provoke Noctis. Luna’s death therefore does not hold significance for her development, either. This is largely different from Final Fantasy VII’s Aerith, who was murdered by Sephiroth because she posed a direct threat to his plans. Aerith, by comparison, died because she decided to take the world’s fate, as a normal civilian who wasn’t groomed to carry this burden, taking fate into her own hands, and without any religious brainwashing or indoctrination to tell her that she has to.
We do not know if this leak is true. Let’s assume that it is, especially since this abuse was teased in one of the trailers. Adding her abuse story wouldn’t actually add to her character development in a meaningful way. Why? Because she was already devoted to Noctis and to her duty before the abuse. Enduring the abuse for the sake of Noctis’ safety doesn’t change or enhance this devotion. It wouldn’t really be effective in changing Child Luna into Adult Luna. Also keep in mind that if we are to assume the leaks are true, then her motivation to endure the abuse was also supposed to be completely based on her devotion to Noctis. It was said that it was cut because people were going to argue against the notion of a young girl surviving abuse for the sake of a boy she barely knows, instead of for her own sake, or for the sake of the family she has left, etc. Any development that is meant for her is implied to happen for the purpose of existing for Noctis, just like the rest of her character development.
What this means is that from a writers’ perspective, she was created solely for Noctis’ development. Such characters do exist. They are necessary to develop main characters and to act as catalysts for a more natural plot progression. The problem here is that she is one of these throwaway characters, but fans are expecting more out of her role, or out of her existence - and Square is doing them a huge disfavor by advertising her as more than what she actually is.
All of this is exacerbated by the fact that she doesn’t really behave like a normal human being. If anything, she carries herself like Tolkien’s Galadriel, who is thousands of years old by the time the Lord of the Rings takes place. Her personality quirks are one of the reasons why people would argue against a romantic relationship between her and Noctis, and why she is unrelatable for many. Combining a human-not-human with the lack of character development, and exacerbated with a questionable role in the overall plot development creates a shell or a shadow of a human being that barely exists. I would argue here that if she was removed from the story, it would be incredibly easy to fill her void, being that Noctis can be easily rewritten to go after the Astrals and the Armiger weapons without her assistance.
If we were to compare her to Final Fantasy IX’s Garnet, it is different. Removing Garnet would have a tremendous impact on the story, because suddenly there is no logical explanation for Zidane’s presence in Alexandria, and there would be no reason for him to go to Lindblum, and so forth. Removing her would garner serious rewriting of the entire game. Garnet’s contribution to the game is tied to the world building and politics that take center stage of the conflict, even though she is not the main protagonist. The same cannot be said for Luna. Her role as an Oracle is questionable: she is meant to be the voice between the people and the gods. But this is challenged repeatedly in the game. If she is needed to speak to the gods, then why can Noctis understand Leviathan during their battle? Why can Noctis exchange a conversation with Bahamut? If it is to be argued that he is also chosen by the Crystal, then what is the proper argument for Bahamut coming down and speaking directly to the Glaives in Comrades? Furthermore, as stated before, removing her would not constitute a huge rewrite. Since Noctis has shown to have no problem talking to gods, then it wouldn’t be a big task to write it so that he takes responsibility of waking them up, as well. It’s no wonder then that Luna has become such a contested character to debate over. If anything, it further deteriorates her character development.
I have to add here that proper analysis of literary characters need to use hard evidence from the primary source. Defense of her characterization from most of what I have seen rely on projection, which is not accurate of what is actually seen of her. This makes validation of her character in a meaningful discourse difficult (in other words, projecting ideals onto her character without seeing the forest for the trees will grant you the very least a “D” in your literature class). Furthermore, adding actual romantic messages on the notebook will not fix her either. The romance between her and Noctis, first of all, is flawed in and of itself, and is a different topic, although development here is necessary. Secondly, if you want to tie the romance to her character development, it cannot be argued that it does anything to *her* development. This is because the romance does not help her in any way, does not encourage her personal growth, and as it stands, does nothing to let us know anything different about her or see a another side of her either. Since she is already grown at 12 years old, the romance has nothing to do with her ascension, either. Giving her a scene with Noctis as adults is actually NOT ideal either, because Tabata’s entire goal for her was to achieve her as a trophy after hours of chasing her, only for her to be taken away. Her death is written to be devastating because of the amounts of effort that Noctis (and the player) have put into chasing her. Writing a scene for her and Noctis before her death would cheapen and backstab Tabata’s efforts - not that it would do anything for her anyway.
Considering that Tabata has expressed his commitment to making her “stronger,” his new track record in Royal Edition does not encourage any trust in his goals. Giving her speaking powers in ghost form (which conflicts with her previous appearances, where it seems like she cannot speak - this also conflicts with earlier design choices and artistic goals of creating a sense of permanence in death), and creating a non-problem that has no significance to the actual story which also contradicts Ardyn’s motivations (the wall over the Lucian citadel) for her to “fix” (when Noctis has no problem summoning Astrals), especially when there is no physical cost, danger, or threat to her well-being (since she is already dead), does not really do Tabata’s need to convince players that she is strong any justice.
So how can she be fixed? A realistic answer would be that she can’t. To elaborate on this, I will assume that the three episodic DLC’s were planned ahead, which is why there are major plot holes in the base game. This means that the free additions to the story, and including the Royal Edition, were not originally planned. This includes the 1.16 patch, where she was given a couple of more lines of crying, the Astral backstory (which has been argued to contradict what was previously known about the Astrals) and the Chapter 13, verse 2 patch update. These examples do not excel in the writing department (the latter was very verbose and awkward in dialogue that seemed unnatural to the base game, even for fancy standards - and it did not actually answer any questions about Ravus’ character development - this was clearly planned for Episode Ignis instead). Basically, from the new additions to the story, the designers did not do a stellar job in showing that they can handle the expectations that fans want, nor are the writers confident in bringing in new material, especially in a short amount of time.
A good example of this is her Royal Edition appearance. Many were disappointed that there wasn’t anything meaningful in her only adult interaction between herself and Noctis. Why is this? Why couldn’t they give us something? This is because the writers do not know what they are like as a couple. They never had to write or think realistically about what their dynamic would be like.
The writers are also pressured by the severe time constraints that come with game development. It takes a lot of resources to create such a short scene between the two of them. Good writing isn’t just talent and effort - it is time consuming, which they do not have. Believing that they will create something substantial in such a short time period for previously unplanned story DLC is unrealistic of their abilities. Episode Prompto and Episode Ignis were satisfying because those stories were planned from the beginning, as shown from the deliberate plot holes that they have set up, knowing that they will fill them in. Or, think about it this way: they had an actual story to tell with Prompto and Ignis. This is something that we all knew, being that the base game has given us teases. (Episode Gladio couldn’t be as satisfying because, as stated before, Gladio didn’t have any development in the game.)
What about Episode Ardyn? I do not believe that the designers were anticipating such passionate interest in Ardyn’s development, and have genuinely screwed up in his build-up, too (hence why different language dubs will have contradicting information during his reveal to Noctis). As a writer myself, I do not have the intuitive belief that the writers knew that Ardyn had a brother who betrayed him, or where the name Izunia came from. When developing characters, a rule of thumb that all writers must follow is to know their characters’ backstory. This is why when Ardyn’s new brother was introduced to be named Somnus Lucis Caelum, it comes off as retcon-y. No effort was put into studying more Latin terms, so they went with the first word that came to be associated with Versus XIII, as homage to the origins of this game (since he is Founder King). That may seem pleasant from a symbolical standpoint, although it is sloppy. Consider that all names in this games have symbolic meaning. Somnus (”sleep”) means nothing in the final game, so there is no symbolic significance in naming Ardyn’s brother this way (i.e., it wasn’t planned before).
Let’s take a quick look at Aranea, by comparison. She has far less screen time than Luna, yet 100 times more character development. In her first major appearance, she is an enemy, working for the empire. In her second, you find out she is just a mercenary, and that she questions her commitment to the empire. In her third, she has decided to dump the empire and provide help to the survivors in Tenebrae. Aranea has undergone three stages of character development in her only three scenes. This was planned well. They knew who Aranea was and what she will become.
What this means in the long run for a possible Episode Luna, which is previously unplanned, is that the writers will have A LOT to work with in such a short amount of time. We do not know yet how they will handle such a responsibility, since Episode Ardyn is not out yet. Now, Ardyn is a much easier character to flesh out by comparison. He would have to have been young once, idealistic and willing to help those in need. The descent into hatred and anger is, understandably and expectantly, tragic and dramatic. Writing these themes would be easy for the writers to adapt. In other words, his story is already written by assumption just because he is the antagonist of the story, and because he was previously anointed by the Crystal.
In Luna’s case, however, this is not true. As stated before, Luna is the same at 12 years old, before the Niflheim invasion, as she is as an adult. As stated before, adding her abuse story would not be effective character development because of this. If they add this abuse, they risk drawing the ire of peeved fans who do not want to see her as just a sex dumpster for Noctis. All additions added for her so far was meant to convince us that she loves Noctis, which is already obvious. So what is there to do? I do not have proper advice in this case. She should not have been published in this state. Getting her interested in things that have nothing to do with Noctis would be a decent start, so that she can seem human enough. But here is the new catch-22: changing her too much would then betray our existing knowledge of her.
What this means is that if we witness her acting like a normal human being, they risk undermining our understanding of her. Suddenly, it is not one Luna, but two (or, if you think she is that different in Kingsglaive, it will become three Luna’s). If she is not comfortable behaving less formal in front her brother, in front of Regis, and IN FRONT OF NOCTIS EVEN, then how are we going to accept her behaving differently in front strangers? New friends? Servants? And this is only if they decide to delve into her backstory. This is not guaranteed. The massive survey conducted by Square teased that Luna’s story would not really be childhood backstory. It was framed as seeing her actions during Noctis’ story (in other words, her duty to waking up the Astrals). What this means is that Episode Luna would, therefore, exist for Noctis’ sake, too.
And what kind of story, exactly, are they going to tell in Episode Luna when they have shown repeatedly that they do not have a story to tell? I mean, REALLY, IF THEY HAD MORE CONTENT FOR HER, THEY WOULD HAVE ALREADY SHOWN IT. The reason why we keep getting scenes that do nothing except repeat what we already know is because they don’t have more content. I am trying to express here that a natural character progression or outline for Luna doesn’t really exist. Let’s flesh this out. The only scene we see where she is directly at conflict with her inner goals is when she is at the brink of giving up, and asking Ravus to take the ring. However, we see this scene after her death, when her character progression has effectively ended which is a problem on its own. Furthermore, this scene serves her less than it does for Ravus. This scene was introduced specifically for Ravus’ development, not hers. It is the first time in the base game the audience was even remotely aware that Ravus has mixed goals. On her side, the effectiveness of this scene in making her seem human is questionable. Why?
It is because we know that she is not realistic in her behavioral patterns. She shows no realistic reaction to her duties, which would logically come out in two ways: one, she would be angry at the gods for demanding such sacrifice from her when the entire Starscourge was their fault to begin with; and two, she would (AND SHOULD) be upset that Noctis, someone she supposedly loves, is going to die, too. But, she’s willing to allow him to die. Compare this to Final Fantasy X’s Yuna, who over the course of her journey, goes from a summoner who is willing to die to save the people from Sin, continually struggling to accept her decision to sacrifice herself as she forms a relationship with Tidus, and then becoming a warrior who decides to stop the cycle of abuse that keeps harming her people, while still maintaining traits that keep her familiar to us. In other words, Yuna’s development is about her being involved with religious and political conspiracies which lead her to then question her faith, only for her to stay steadfast in her own self-confidence and then risk her life to find a different method to save the world. Her refusal to sacrifice her friends is proof of this. There is a clear beginning, middle, and end to her development.
Luna, on the other hand, decides to behave in all the ways the gods demand her to, instead of choosing her own fate. This effectively means that all chances the writers take at directly telling us that she “has a mind of her own,” or that her decisions are “her choices” (which is not what she actually says in the Japanese version), are basically smoke and mirrors, completely at odds with normal human behavior and previous world building efforts. She does not have direct will of her actions. Her will to give up temporarily, then, is an inorganic attempt to bring some character development into her, which happens only once, and it happens too late. At best, it is a weak attempt. At worst, it is disingenuous. Either way, this questioning of herself is not a proper method for character development, because her story has no beginning, middle or end. It’s a broken record throughout.
The writers therefore are going to have a difficult time logically creating a character outline for her progression and ascension for a possible Episode Luna. What exactly are we going to get here? What would her journey mean? Are we going to get repeated scenes of her questioning her strength when she wakes up an Astral because she is getting sicker? Rinse and repeat for every Astral she wakes up? What is the point here, when she didn’t even die because of her own pursuits, or because of her own deteriorating health? I would think that her DLC might be useful in learning more about the Astrals, about Tenebrae, or about the Empire. If that is the case, then that has nothing to do with her development, either.
That is not effective character development. There isn’t enough evidence to show any strong sense of optimism in this case. Maybe the writers will have some creative ideas to add to her story that will genuinely be surprising, although having her be a magical badass would then contradict certain elements of the Universe (such as her lack of magic in Kingsglaive). If she is only a healer, then that means that she needs another character to fight for her in her DLC (gee, poor Luna truly can’t do anything for herself). If she fights, then it’s a WONDER WHY SHE NEVER FOUGHT BEFORE, ASIDE FROM HER CONFRONTATION WITH LEVIATHAN. All in all, she’s messed up in general. I suspect that the reason they have not officially announced an Episode Luna yet is because they are struggling to create a proper character outline for her, as well as discussing ways to flesh out game mechanics without making her seem useless or terribly contradictory.
If anything, the writers need to know her well before they can add anything. If they don’t even know how to get her to communicate with Noctis, when they have spent so much effort in building believable and meaningful dialogue and connections between the Chocobros, then I have no confidence in them knowing who she is, and therefore, no confidence that they will provide anything of value to her character in the future.
TL;DR: Luna sucks and may not be fixable. No, I mean, really. I do not know, as a writer, how to fix her while still staying canonical to the published story, maintaining her relevance to the plot, and proving with little challenge that her actions are vital to the story’s development.
**Please check out StoryTime’s video comparing Luna to Princess Zelda from Breath of the Wild. I have also noticed these severe similarities between the two of them. I would add that Breath of the Wild did much better in establishing symbolism in the silent princesses (the flowers). The sylleblossoms by comparison don’t have any significant meaning.
