#just like never letting said victim confront and/or react to what the villain/antagonist/abuser is saying or their death

[randomnameless]

Everything about Alcina makes the back half of the Elheim arc harder to tolerate. It's amazing how you have to go as far as genuine scumbags like Gieth, Galie, or Baltro to find villains as terrible as her, she's a relentlessly selfish woman who spreads suffering all across Elheim over a man who would doubtlessly hate her after learning what she did.

How fucking ridiculously entitled and selfish do you have to get to steal someone's life to reap the benefits of their lifespan? Full on cartoon villain behavior. At least the Zenoirans didn't have bodies of their own, Alcina just wanted to live forever.

Fuck her and the writers for trying to act like her death was sad.

To be honest,

Her motives being selfish - to the point of letting the world burn to reach them - is echoed through Gary, guy doesn't even have a goal anymore, he just wants to let the world burn because Ilenia is "dead".

What really annoyed me the most is how at the end the elves don't get the final lines with her, or tell her that she's full of shit, and we're left with characters who empathise - because of Yahna's unique bond with Alcina! - with her, Yahna doesn't excuse or tries to justify her actions, but still drops her hat to mourn her death.

Much like a certain manga's writing, we're given more pannels and screentime for the feelings of the ones who murder/kill/attack, and none for the victims.

Hell, Rosalinde's vitriol against Alcina is always tackled through the "I hate myself because I couldn't protect my sister/I should have been the one to suffer to spare her this fate", hell, Eltrinde doesn't join the "possessed by Zenoira club" to share her angst for having, more or less, been in charge when her country was steamrolled and maybe worse, depending on what Alcina did when she was possessing her.

Which is why I really appreciated the contrast with Bastorias afterwards, despite having less screentime than the Elheim arc, we see characters react to the "berserk" illness, and while there was some "we had the same goals if only you accepted to work with us", there's no dout that in the final map, backstory or no backstory, Eligor is going to die because his actions - being part of the Zenoiran forces, supporting and then usurping Reimann to become "king" even if it meant enslaving the remaining bestrals to his will - are unforgiveable.

In the end, it's not much about her motivations that sour me about her character, but the way the game plays out her death - and the second half of the plot - to be about her story, completely eluding the setting and her victims (Elheim, the elves and Eltrinde in general) was really too Kishi-esque.

Gary too, does some shit, but thanks to the map mechanics (keep the fire from spreading!) and the twins' reaction during said map, Gary's feelings are only laid bare at the end, and while he is pitiful the ones who come to talk to him (Joseph, Hodrick and Berenice) pity and are upset at what he became, killed by his own soldiers when he used to be one of their comrades/mentors.

(and I guess it wasn't made on purpose, but just after Gary's death scene with the sad BGM, we have the Elheim theme with Eltrinde being all "yay our sacred tree is safe thanks to you all!", almost as if she doesn't give a fuck about Gary's feelings lol).

Minor tidbit though about Gerard, I'm not sure he would hate her if he popped up in Alain because sure this might kill/hijack the body of his son, but in the end, both Gerard and Alcina were very selfish persons : after all, he dumped his throne and duty to his child!daughter (but she'll be alright, she'll have her grandpa to help her!) to travel around the world and create organisations that would totally not create mayhem in the country he's leaving to said daughter!