Final Fantasy XIV’s latest expansion takes a one-dimensional villain in Zenos and gives him the PERFECT send-off. Here’s Part 2 to the lore behind Zenos and how Endwalker wraps up his part of the story in a very satisfying way.
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Final Fantasy XIV’s latest expansion takes a one-dimensional villain in Zenos and gives him the PERFECT send-off. Here’s Part 2 to the lore behind Zenos and how Endwalker wraps up his part of the story in a very satisfying way.
source
"Surely you are above something as benaaaaal as despaaiirrrrrr"
that was the moment i knew, I needed more Zenos. I still don't entirely like what they did with him, and that 100% has to do with that fact that he got so little screen time to develop and by the time he shows true character growth its already over.
Is it over for him? Personally, I don't think we've seen the last of him. because lets face it, having a hype man at the end of the universe question why you haven't slain the pure embodiment of hopelessness and despair is awww inspiring
This video has only further convinced me that zenos is the other shards of azem and we will be seeing him again in one form or another in the future.
I just think zenos is kinda like goku so I like him
One thing to notice about the meal with Zenos, its the same meal as we had with Aymeric in Heavensward. Thought that was a bit creepy in a sense.
Personally, I want Zenos to return as one of the WoLs new group– he seems to finally get that he doesn't need to be evil to get what he wants, and could stick around for more fights.
I really hope he comes back and joins you on journeys with the sole reason being that he loves a challenge and wants to study what makes you so strong
Nearing the end, I've been wondering how Zenos will factor in the overall story.
He did not disappoint! And that quip about "Why does it still live…?" made me chuckle and realize how much respect for our power Zenos has that it surprised the latter that the Endsinger still lives.
honestly, having roleplayed as my own character who happen to be literally the same person as my WoW main 2011-2020, when i was in the 4.0 patch and zenos did his speech before transforming into shinryu… i already connected with him. my character knew EXACTLY how zenos felt, and so i accepted him already back then. finally, the post-endsinger fate was gonna start, and i was both in character, and irl ecstatic that my character and i get to finally do what we wanted… without the script getting in the way!
After playing through Endwalker in my second account I only then realized how terrible the towers and what Zenos did truly is in detail… he killed his father.. hacked him into pieces and put parts of his dads body in these towers all over the world… that beyond sickening. Just making him a false god the people of his land (and those enslaved) would pray to.. something his dad despised and fought against was bad enough but this… is so sickening..
As a passionate Zenos Hater, I watched this video hoping to have my eyes opened, because I see so many others who agree with this take, that Zenos is a worthy villain. Alas, my opinion hasn’t been changed. I understand everything you’re saying and what others in the comments are saying, I even totally agree with the opinion our relationship can be seen as a black romance; none of that makes it good to me, however. As much as I adore the writing in ShB and EW, I don’t think Zenos’s story was told well AT ALL, especially for how much he’s hyped up over time and in the trailers. He’s no more than an afterthought, he’s not fleshed out at all in the story itself. It was incredibly disappointing to me; I wanted to find a way to care about Zenos, but instead I just ended up disliking him even more. 😕
Somehow, someday, I hope to read the words "For this duty, you will be playing as Zenos." across my screen.
It'd be interesting if they made mini retro-scenarios that put us in the shoes of some of the antagonists or other various characters. Kinda like what FarCry 6 is doing with its DLCs.
I just finished endwalker and ngl, when Zenos busted in as shinryu I thought it was midgardsormr for a second and got really hype
As someone that only started 14 after 5.5 was out and I could sprint to prep for EW I loved Zenos for the most part from the start, he stuck out as a one dimensional character but not in a bad way, you don't have to make an incredibly deep character to make them be considered well-written. He had one goal and I actually appreciated his dedication to that goal. I also loved his arrival at the end of the game even summing it up to a friend as "My enemy with benefits I gorged on the sloppy seconds of the Mother Crystal to catch up to you. Oh is this your foe? The literal manifestation of despair….. why isn't it dead yet? I thought you weren't a punk ass bitch… well either way I'll help you kill it so we can finally fu….. I mean fight! 1v1 me bro!"
This is a great video, I agree with this interpretation of Zenos' journey.
The only problem I had was that when he showed up as Shinryu it felt like a Deus Ex Machina that had not been justified. There was perhaps a scene missing that could have connected the dots just a little bit more.
Great video! I thought Zenos was a really interesting villain. Endwalker really elevated his character. I'll kinda miss him!
TL;DW Alisae said, "Zenos dude if you keep being toxic WoL-chan won't fuck you." and the man started malding until he accepted it.
Zenos technically isnt the only villain that got what they wanted in FF. Technically Emet got what he wanted aswell, he just didnt know it at that time cause he forget due to the events in Ktsis Hypoborea.
Zenos is Sephiroth 2.0 😆
What's always interested me about Zenos is that he's never been just a bloodthirsty brute. For all his complete boredom at the world and bloodlust, back in SB what got me was when we first got his interest in Doma, he suddenly switched to talking in downright poetic terms. "For the time between the seconds, for the sole pleasure left to me in this empty, ephemeral world." And it's a trend he continued, when he talks about drinking a sea of souls while looking at the moon in the last patch before Endwalker, he speaks in iambic pentameter.
Zenos has always been portrayed as extremely intelligent, but not in the usual strategic villain intelligence. He's always indicated this philosophical side to him, and while in SB and ShB it was easy to just say he's wrong, actually putting his nihilistic philosophies to the test in EW actually proves them right. His counter to Jullus is honestly spot on and even when Allisae fires back, she doesn't poke holes in his beliefs, she just calls him a dick and points out that he could be spot on but nobody will care if he keeps being a dick. Similarly, his philosophy perfectly contrasts Meteion's, and actively argues for life despite his destructive tendencies. His final words are, again, really poetic but also surprisingly poignant.
"In these fleeting moments, there is a spark. Blinding, brilliant… gone too soon."
Zenos is straight up depressed when we first meet him, much like Hermes and Meteion. But while their beliefs translate into not thinking life has a point so we shouldn't bother, Zenos believes that even in the darkest despair, there is a spark that can be found, and that devoting oneself to that spark is how we rise out of despair and make life worth it. By the end, he actively champions the idea that this spark can be anything for anyone, for us it's the heroic cause, for him it's the thrill of his life hanging in the balance. Such things don't need artificial justification like mortality or justice, that's the mistake the empire made. The desire alone is what justifies action, individual self-actualisation. We don't save Ethyris because it's moral, we save Ethyris because we want to, that's enough. That's our spark.
Stormblood zenos is excruciatingly boring to me. He felt like a one dimensional madman who just thirsted for blood for the sake of alleviating his boredom. What he turned into in endwalker fixed my major issue with him. Sure he still was bloodthirsty to the end but it felt fitting that he waited his turn and even if selfishly, helped save everyone, even as a means to his own end, because he learned over the course of endwalkers storyline because we just ignored him because he was quire literally unimportant in the grand scheme and realized that
Needed a good laugh. Thanks comment section.
Im gonna lie, my hate towards Zenos was more "goddamnit you loreal endorsing, Zoro wanna be Triclops dick, i have more important things to do and your concentravity is bullshit" but down the line being able to finally put an end to our self proclaim "best friend" was way more satisfying than it should have
I think it is worth noting that in replays… that the questions Zenos asks ALMOST the EXACT same as thing Venat!
Venat asks "Has your journey been good? Has it been worthwhile?" and the answer is interrupted.
Zenos asks "what of you adventurer?… was this life a gift or a burden?… did you find fulfillment?"
And when Zenos goes to continue he just… "I…" and dies.
The parallel is UNMISTAKABLE. imho
(and a little meta… as it always feels like YoshiP asking. ;P )
Zenos should have remained dead. He added nothing to endwalker. Every time I saw him I rolled my eyes.
I thought the Garlemald scene was literary perfection not only because of the scene itself but because of the timing it happens in the story. You have roughly just left Elpis, with Hermes posing a question to Meteion of finding the answer to the question " What is life" or "What does it mean to live". While ultimately she came up with the answer being "Death", the purpose of Hermes's question was to hopefully deter his people from ridiculing life and death with their overzealous creationalism. He was trying to help his people learn their faults.
Fast forward to the scene with Zenos, a man who he has rarely (if ever) helped anyone and has murdered countless people even those of his own nation. This is where I believe you see the first contrast with Meteion and a clear take that Zenos is a foil for her as well.
After Jullus confronts him with "what was the meaning of all this? Zenos a few seconds later states "What meaning there is to be found in the petty vicissitudes of your existence must be gleaned by you and you alone."
The character that uptil they fought you, had essentially no reason to their life, has come to discover the answer to Hermes's question. Someone who didn't care about the destruction of his people has answered the question of the person who cared about his people and creations.
That is literary genius in spades.
Zenos was a man driven by one thing: to find a fight he could relish. He ultimately got that in his final confrontation with the Warrior of Light. He's not complicated or has other motives, he didn't need them. From the onset, he was singularly driven, but in his pursuit he grew bored and uncaring to everything around him. You can see a glint of life in his eyes when he takes Fordola under his wing, sensing a familiar drive in her.
Zenos isn't a master schemer like Emet-Selch. He isn't a master diplomat like Elidibus. He isn't a cunning strategist like Gaius. He isn't a leader like Solas or Varis. He didn't need to be, nor should he have been. Some of the greatest characters in fiction have been driven by a single urge.
In the end, he ultimately became what the Meteia never could be: lost in despair then find a purpose to life. We meet him and he's essentially the Endsinger; bored and full of apathy. We, directly and indirectly, gave him a purpose to live. It's what makes him an intriguing character.
I'd like to say that regardless of what people say, the guy has so much power that no matter what they do say, he can do whatever he wants. Who's going to stop him? There's only 1 person who can. Someone can always potentially die when he's on screen. Hope he does come back somehow though, will miss him.
I absolutely enjoyed Zenos throughout Endwalker. My only disappointment is that I felt he deserved a trial instead of just a solo battle. I know there are hints by the devs that there might be more Zenos but that last battle would have been amazing if they did a trial instead
He ain't dead.
It is interesting how in the end to defeat Endsinger(nothingness) we WoL(altruistic) work together with Zenos(selfish). It is a good tell to tell- we need to work together even with the opposite people so we all can move on past our differences and face the most dangerous thing in this world. In the end we are just "you" to him as he is to us – mirrors
And to me when Zenos fight WoL he wants to end his story, knowing that he will never find redemption for the things he did in the past, but even in losing he's staying true to himself. In that moment he is not fighting so much against us as he is fighting with us -his best friend. What a better way to end your story if not with the people you cherish?
It will be interesting to see what the FFXIV dev team will do with Zenos going in the future. Truly as you say one of the best villain in the game.
Wish you all a good day
I couldn't disagree more. Zenos was crap back in Stormblood. He was crap during the sparse times he was there in early EW, and the end of EW did nothing to change that. Good riddance to the worst written, more one-dimensional dimwit in gaming existence.
they didnt fix him, they just added plottwists.
sadly, a character is not the sum of his plottwists.
Hero: Facing down the ultimate threat to the universe, the emodiment of despair, that even the ancients couldn't overcome.
Zenos: "Why haven't you un-alived them yet? they can't even hold your jock homie."