I think about this scene from Endwalker a lot, where the Scions confront the Forum about the existence of the Ragnarok and the plan to evacuate the world and flee.
Endwalker, and by extension, XIV, run on hope and doing the impossible. There was no scenario where the Scions would've accepted the Forum's answer of "we can for sure save a small percentage of the population" and barrel forward with the incredible risk of saving everyone or not at all. This isn't really that surprising for RPGs, but like. Man. I really think about Sharlayan being this... rarely questioned bastion of safety and enlightened knowledge and learning, while simultaneously having the arrogance and imperialism on par with Garlemald.
Sharlayan is assimilationist at best and actively harmful to outside cultures at worst - many characters are noted to have come from outside Sharlayan and join their society, only to lose or erase their connections with their heritage. G'raha knows very little about Corvosi culture, Koana and Erenville both adopted Sharlayan names and clothes to further their goals, and while we know very little about how Lyse was raised in Sharlayan (more's the pity) but we know that she knows almost nothing about Ala Mhigo. Lyse is a bit of an odd one out given that she's supposed to be the narrative stand-in of asking questions about the areas you're going to in Stormblood, but the point still stands.
Sharlayan's culture is one of learning but not of application. They take in all this information and records from other places but don't bother to do anything with it, instead sticking it in a case to be admired like a butterfly with pins in its wings. They don't even have a culture of food save for "archon loaf", which is absolutely batshit insane. Yeah, the Last Stand/Archon loaf is sort of meant to be a joke, but also it's. Not?
It's also like. The arrogance that Sharlayan has, to just assume that, by speaking with Hydaelyn, they alone have the right to save the star and decide who gets to come with. Envoys were sent to Thavnair to invite them to join the exodus, but no one else. How can Sharlayan claim to save the world of Hydaelyn if they pick and choose and then do nothing with the samples they have collected? Are they simply going to line up every seed and animal in perfect order and say it's saved, rather than live? Real heirs of Amurot right there.
I do also think, often, about how the second half of Labrynthos deals with fetch quests with the Lopporits, that, while cute, add very little. How interesting would it have been to have the Lopporits realize that their lovely humans they've been communicating with are abandoning the majority of the world? How interesting would it have been to have Sharlayan's arrogance and imperialism called out by their allies, who had only ever known humanity through them? Have the Lopporits realize that there is an entire world beyond just Labrynthos and demand to see it, and be aghast when they're told that their allies aren't going to save it. Puddingway never would get his heart's desire if Sharlayan had had their way, the recepie would've just been saved and stored, not used and lived with.
Anyways. Get his ass Y'shtola.
