Wow, this chapter goes really hard on the bleakness and misery of the Bearers, supported by some good sidequests. Compared to FFXV where there's a war and invasion going on and nobody's lives really seem interrupted, this game is great at the worldbuilding and to show who it is that is really suffering when the High Lords play their Game of Thrones.

Cid of course had a hundred death flags on him but still a shame to see the old rogue go. I had a feeling Ultima would be involved based on the artwork, but uh, huh. Wasn't expecting them to be... that. The story pacing is frantic, Joshua remerges and "dies" (NO CHANCE) again, then hideaway gets smashed by Titan and we timeskip 5 years. Jeez. Again, thinking of FFXV and the current post-EW content in FFXIV, this feels crazy fast.