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People keep going "oh part 2, part 2 will save it!!" but my complete schizo take is that it's only going to get worse.
Go back to SM, and check out the dialogue from Lillie to Gladion after you rescue her at Aether. She's just demanding, ungrateful for what he's done for her even though she should know how hard it was for him to return there (and in USUM at least Hau points that out, so it's not like they were expecting the player to overlook it). Not a lick of concern for where he's been for apparently multiple years or why he's dressed like a goth hobo. And how does that end? Gladion smiles at us happily because he's still homeless abused and unloved but hey, at least his little sister is happy!! Fucking hell.
I'm unironically half expecting part 2 to end with Kieran's face being ground into the dirt, then Carmine smiles at you like "the evil is defeated!!" while Kieran buys an escape rope and wanders off into the forest to use it. The only upside is that, based on the reaction to part 1 by itself, if GF manages to fuck it up that bad the uproar might be enough for them to finally fire whichever writer it is who keeps doing this shit.
