As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
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Trailers
- Na'el's introduction in the trailer is spliced with a scene of her holding onto someone as they explode into golden motes. It's bad enough, but one of the Xenoblade Japan's Twitter posts
shows Na'el with a bunch of children, and the blonde girl in particular is the one who dies."With or without Moebius, nothing will change... in the end, people always kill people..."
Main Game
- At the first camp, Matthew remembers the destruction of the first City, with Matthew witnessing N kill his grandfather:
- It's revealed Matthew's grandfather is in fact N and M's son, and it at first appears that N personally murdered his own child, and in front of his great-grandchildren as well, all for the sake of bringing M back (without her consent in the matter).
- The actual context of the scene reveals it to be much more nuanced and equally tragic; the whole reason N was even in the City was to lure out Alpha, who was planning to transport the people of the City to a new world while erasing the rest of Aionios. N's primary target was Alpha, who was using the body of his great-granddaughter as a vessel, and only ended up killing his own son because Ghondor jumped in front of N to protect Na'el. Ghondor's death then resulted in his Ouroboros power being released all at once, destroying the City and leaving it in the state it was in when M confronted N after both were resurrected.
- The look of horror in Ghondor's eyes when he realizes that his father has become a Moebius and how he desperately tries to reach out to his father. It is as if he has become a young child again, desperately reminding N how he told him to make friends, and pleading for an explanation for why the father he so loved has come to tear it all apart. When N actually kills him, he doesn't even show any resentment at all, just sadly asking about his mother and begging his father with his last wishes not to choose this path before sacrificing himself.
- While N may have ignored Ghondor's horrified questions about what happened, it's clear he never intended to kill his own son, as shown by his clear surprise and hesitation when his sword ends up impaling Ghondor. Note that he could have easily pushed his son aside and left him to die while killing Na'el still, but instead he just stares, mutely stunned. When Ghondor tells him not to choose this path, he doesn't rebuff him, but softly mutters his son's name. For all of his previous claims that he saw the lives he took in the original city as "mere chaff", it's clear that it's just a desperate lie to avoid confronting his guilt over the death of his own son.
- N's response when Ghondor sadly asks if his mother wanted this too is also tragic. He softly states that the burden was his alone to bear, and his voice even wavers as he says it, as if to comfort his son in the only way he could have in this situation. It's clear that we're not facing the ruthless and utterly delusional N in 3, but an N who is still aware of the faults of what he had done.
- At the very end of the flashback, we now once again see N standing in the midst of the destroyed City as he was shown in 3, but now we see him from the front, his expression blank at what he had just committed and witnessed - and then M appears for the only time in Future Redeemed, speaking no words but with eyes full of grief and horror, drawing the wrong conclusion entirely of the situation.
- N's guilt is only made more evident for the result of all this; When he mentions about how he killed his son, he can't even look at Matthew in the eye, simply staring at the sky solemnly, and when Matthew punches him in the face on Prison Island after learning the whole truth, N doesn't try to stop the punch or even defend himself.
- The next morning, Matthew and A finally find a City signal and run to find a refugee... who Disappears into Light right before their eyes. They were minutes too late.A: Are you all right?
Matthew: Yeah. Well, no. - In a flashback, Na'el goes on a grief fueled rant towards Matthew as the two siblings have a clash of ideals after one of the City children (who Na'el was supposed to look after) dies at the hands of a Kevesi squad. Matthew knows how messed up the world is and still fights to make it better, while Na'el can't stand everything that plagues Aionios, be it Moebius or constant warfare. It has such a toll on her, and her performance also really sells just how broken Na'el feels about it all.Na'el: You can't keep every bloody person happy! How can you not understand it's impossible?!
Matthew: The only true end is the moment you give up. Isn't that what Grandad taught us?
Na'el: Then show me already! This world of peace... where no one has to die... Make it come true! You think you can do that, do you?! You think you've got what it takes?!
Matthew: I, I... (resigned sigh)
Na'el: Well I don't... I'm barely holding on! You hear me! - There are multiple scenes where Rex is obviously trying to hold his tongue regarding the truth of his relationship with Glimmer and (in one scene) Nia (notably giving an angry grunt when its mentioned how Nia has had to live in hiding). It clearly wears on him, and Shulk repeatedly notices with a sympathetic "Oh Rex..." as he watches him. Linka is also aware and for her part expresses frustration at how distant he is trying to be to cope.
- The way Glimmer frames her despair at not getting her Homecoming indicates just how hard a life she has led in Aionios, and perhaps even implies some subconscious desire for the home and family she was torn from due to the Intersection. That is rather than simply referring to it as a ceremony or by the name "Homecoming," she instead, near tears, repeatedly refers to how much she wanted to finally "go home." Keep in mind in this time period Homecoming was an execution via beheading (and unknown to the soldiers simply put you back into the cycle), something she plainly knows as she states how she was going to offer up her life to the Consul, yet Glimmer was looking forward to it if it meant an escape from her life as a soldier of Agnus.Glimmer: I was so close to finally coming Home!
- Rex's chewing her out for her actions, and then apparent lack of sympathy at her world being turned upside down becomes depressing when you consider that this talk of, to any non-Kevesi/Agnian, pretty much death like it was a good thing is probably bringing up bad memories in Rex of Pyra and Mythra's desire to die for some nebulous idea of good he doesn't agree with. Now his daughter with Pyra is saying similar stuff.
- The ending, where in Alpha's place, Shulk, Rex, and A choose to become Origin's new battery, giving it the capacity to function and eventually remake the worlds, bringing everyone back to life. This is a good thing eventually, however, in the mean time this allows Z to gain full control over Origin, resulting in the status quo we see in the main game. Additionally, this action results in Origin crashing into Aionios, destroying the last remnants of Colony 9 (though the Liberators evacuate in time). Even the destruction of Prison Island feels somewhat sad after one remembers its significance in the first game.
- The Foregone Conclusion to Matthew's story. After rescuing Na'el and passing the leadership reigns to her, he goes on a journey through Aionios and never sees her or his other comrades again. This is after he spent so much time trying to rescue her from Alpha's grip.
- If Nikol or Glimmer specifically end up knocked out during battle, Shulk and Rex respectively will shout to them in disbelief and horror - likely not wanting to lose their children again after having lost them for so long.
