Jade Shadows Constellations Spoilers below
Gonna be honest... I didn't like that quest. I really wanted to, but I didn't.
Firstly, the pacing. Warframe has a lot of issues with pacing, and this quest is no different. Story beats were given no room to breathe, and thus had little to no impact. There was something good here, but nothing had the appropriate time to sink in. Stalker recruits Umbra, but Umbra is quickly cast aside on the basis of being the designated babysitter. You play him for a whole 20 seconds to soothe the baby and then he's done. You go attack the mentors in order to lure Sirius and Orion out, but you learn nothing as to how the two got into those scenarios. Hunhow sacrifices himself to bring the peace, but no time is given to make that decision hold any weight.
And Jade... Jade, my beloved. They continue to use you for shock factor and nothing else. To have her be a Void manifestation attempting to lure Stalker in, and having to kill said manifestation without even a moment of doubt is just... Wow. And the final nail in the fucking coffin? Having her show up in person at the end of the quest, right after Hunhow sacrifices himself to reunite the family... And having her be nothing more than another manifestation. A voice in Stalker's head, a fleeting mote of light. Reuniting the family, but once again, Jade isn't worth saving.
Jade, the woman so deadset on having her son that she went against every law to have him, who got turned into a Warframe for her insubordination, who kept herself sane whilst being forced to murder for the Orokin by thinking about her child and all the time she'll get to spend with him... Doesn't deserve to be saved? Doesn't deserve to see her children grow up? Are you fucking shitting me? In this new, tenuous peace... There is no place for Jade. It's so fucking upsetting to me, genuinely.
Now, I admit my bias: I love Jade. She is by far my favourite Warframe. I have, however, been incredibly uncomfortable with how they have handled her. She exists basically to drive the character development of the men around her. The original quest has her lying there, actively dying, whilst her husband refuses to give her the proper medical care she needs. She is so deadset on having children that she kills herself in order to make it happen. Her story, however unintentionally, falls into the very same sentiment that they attempted to use Parvos to critique: A woman's purpose is to provide a child, and once that is done, there is no use for her. It's so fucking baffling, considering DE's generally progressive stances.
It hits very close to home in certain ways for some female players (myself included, although I have seen other AFAB players echoing this sentiment). I want better for this character, and she's just... been reduced to a lobotomised copy of the woman piloted by a superpowered teen. Motherhood is clearly meant to be a huge part of her character, but she is denied even that. Stalker, someone who actively contributed to her death, gets a happier ending than Jade. Not a *happy* ending, this is Warframe we're talking about, but it feels incredibly wrong to have Hunhow throw his memories away in order to create a peace so that Stalker can break the cycle and give his children what they deserve... Only to leave their mother out of the picture. It should have a lot of weight, but it feels hollow when Jade is excluded from that peace. Stalker is getting a good ending here, with the sons at peace and never having to chose between either. Why must Jade continue to be robbed of her peace?
It's just... so frustrating. Sorry for the rant.
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