What I really appreciate about Shadowbringers is that right from the start, we get transported to this new world and with that it can tell a fairly isolated story, without needing to consider the Source much. While it does connect to the Source later on, it works really well to establish this world and focus on what's important to the people living here. With that we get our recurring cast that has already been living there for a while due to time shenanigans, allowing us to be clued in on the world as they know it through the eyes of characters we know and care about. I kind of love how every Scion ended up in an area that really fit their capabilities and personality.
The return of Ardbert was something I kind of knew would happen, but not in what kind of fashion and I love how he was incorporated into the story. A wandering spirited, forced to roam the lands, kind of tied to the WoL because they're the only ones who can see him. And through the WoL he learns about things like Seto's sentimentality towards Ardbert. Especially his journey through Shadowbringers, coming to terms with the role he has to play as a spectator up until the very end as the second half of the WoL is not only incredibly satisfying to see, it's also a beautiful development of his character. He finally came to understand that there was still something good he was able to do, despite everything.
G'raha... The man that you are. Completely shrouded in mystery through most of the story, he tries to be a comforting presence and help out everyone as much as he can, ultimately planning to take all the Light within himself and dying with it. He had such a great planned out character arc, I couldn't help but cry when he was about to die. His 'end' having a similar line to Zenos's 'end' hurt so bad, because it shows a sense of satisfaction with his end. An appreciation for all the WoL has done. The parallels were so good.
Every Scion has been really good in this expansion, particularly Thancred and Urianger are incredibly strong characters. Thancred has been struggling with the loss of Minfilia and now finding her again in a little girl who he chooses to protect, you can tell how desperately he wants to protect her so the 'real' Minfilia can come back. But over the course of the expansion he learns, he becomes more protective of who Ryne really is. She's fragile and insecure, she doesn't believe that Thancred would truly want Ryne to choose for herself. She wants to do what would be the best outcome for Thancred, but she doesn't realize that along the story, what became more important to him was that she felt like she could make her own choices and be whoever she wants. Thancred would die for her without a second thought. And he almost did. That fight with Ran'jit and the cutscenes after were some of the best stuff I've seen in this game yet. I'm glad he survived so he could give Ryne her real name after. The bond those two share is so touching. And Urianger being there to support Ryne when Thancred felt like he couldn't, he's like the sweetest uncle figure ever. Shadowbringers brought a new emotional side to Urianger that we never saw before. Especially when it came to G'raha, yelling at the Scions to not interfere while G'raha was lying about using the WoL all this time. He took his secrets and protected them, for the sake of their two worlds and for the sake of G'raha. Just beautiful.
And Emet... Emet... I didn't think he would die in Shadowbringers. I have a suspicion his story isn't quite done yet, but I don't know if he ever comes back. From the start, he's been shown to have a clear self-interest, slowly revealing more, bit by bit. He tells us early on that he wants to bring the worlds back together as they once were, but he hides and suppresses that emotionality of it. He's closed off to the WoL to the very end, only clueing us in at times that theres more to him than he's saying. He shows us his world, a replica, yet empty shell of it once was. Empty souls wandering around in Amaurot, telling us of the past and what had happened to it and the people living in it. Hythlodaeus especially was so interesting. Claiming that they and Emet were close friends in the distant past. I really hope to learn more about them. I wonder what made them say that they and Emet were close friends. If something happened between the two. Because Hythlodaeous seems to understand the conflict between Zodiark and Hydaelyn, I think, talking about the half of Ascians that gave their lives. And there's so much more to Emet that made him such a strong character and the decision to have him walk amongst you instead of form an antagonistic relationship with you, until the end, allowed the story to tell us so much about him. He truly cares and loves the people that he lost all that time ago. And as stated before, a lifetime alone, living the way he did can only turn out badly. I feel so bad for Emet, even if it's wrong to erase the lives of everyone who lives in the now so he can have what he lost, I do understand why he would do that. He's a very tragic character and I can only hope his end brought him some solace. Right before he disappears, he says to remember his people. That they once lived. And with the impact he had on the WoL and all the Scions, he will be remembered for as long as they are alive. A beautiful end to a beautifully tragic character.
Overall Shadowbringers has been a tight expansion with lots of amazing characters, with its new environment telling a whole new side of the story that we already know. Even when the story felt slow, it was consistently engaging and the slow parts in retrospect work really well as a reprieve from the constant peaks. I thorougly enjoyed myself all the way through. The visuals, the music, the environmental storytelling and especially the characters were all a huge step up from the previous expansions. Stormblood was my favorite prior to this, with some really fantastic characters that I adored, but Shadowbringers had a dozen characters that were that same quality or even better and as someone who values character work the most in stories, that was the biggest hook for me and I can safely say that Shadowbringers is now my favorite expansion.
I'm very excited to see what post-Shadowbringers is going to do with characters like Zenos and Elidibus especially. Hopefully I'll get more insight into Emet, particularly his past, as well to really complete that character arc of his. Because I feel like there's still pieces of him that could be told, but maybe I'm just coping because I want more of him.

Throughout Post-Shadowbringers the objective is to bring back the Scions to the Source, because their link between soul and body is weakening. This already is an interesting set-up and gives a sense of urgency to the quests. While I found 5.1 a bit weak at the start with Beq Lugg, everything was efficient enough. From the start they start cooking with Zenos and his return to Garlemald, killing Varis right after returning to his body. If anything, 5.1 made me very excited for what was to come after. It was interesting that they never did much with Black Rose, but it doesn't bother me since we got a sidestory with Estinien and Gaius out of that and a really fun duty from Estinien. In 5.2, the story really starts setting up some amazing stuff. Ardbert's return, inspiring the people of the First to become Warriors of Light was incredibly interesting and finding out Elidibus took host of his body only made me more interested in what his plan was and how he would even act it out with the people wanting to be heroes. While not too much happened in 5.2, it continuously builds up content for 5.3 and Endwalker, making it a job to experience, even giving some extra content and characterization to characters that have already been gone like Emet-Selch.
But 5.3 ruined my life. This has got to be some of the best content in the game, alongside the ending stretch of 5.0. Learning about Elidibus was not only enlightening but extremely emotional. As a primal, Elidibus lost himself, not even sure why he's doing the things he does. He only has sight for his duty and nothing else. To bring back the old world. Going through history, learning how Hydaelyn and her supporters acted through Venat and learning more about Zodiark and why Elidibus became its heart was just incredible storytelling. The reveal that Elidibus became its heart when he was a child, for me it clarifies so many of his actions and why he cast aside, even if unintentional, his sense of self. Like the kid he is, he only ever wanted to become a hero. 5.3 completely elevated Elidibus and made him one of the best characters in this game and I couldn't be sadder about the way it all ended for him. His journey is incredibly tragic. I'm really happy with the way 5.3 ended for Elidibus, but also for G'raha. Even though he comes back through his own memories, G'raha turning himself as one with the Crystal Tower and essentially sacrificing his being in the First, was an incredible character moment. There's still a lot to be said about the fight against Elidibus, but I feel or hope, more about that will be revealed in Endwalker.
5.4 and 5.5 were obviously not as good as 5.3, but it was still really great content all the same. We've had Fandaniel and Zenos building up their plans in the background, while the Scions try to help those in the Source afflicted with the primal diseases. 5.4 was about making allies and curing people which I found really enjoyable, even if some particular quests were a bit weaker, I feel like this is only because 5.3 came prior to that. In 5.5, I truly felt like we finally got some real set-up for Endwalker. Towers sprout across the lands, summoning primals for Fandaniel and Zenos's plans, to bring back the Final Days. Fandaniel seems to only want to bring chaos and destruction to the world so he and everyone else around him can die, while Zenos knows this will lure the Warrior of Light so they can fight once more, the one thing he only truly wants, the one thing that brought him true satisfaction. There also seem to be some seeds planted for Ascian lore as well as the twins's family, but I will wait until Endwalker to properly judge those. All I can say is that it all makes me very excited for what Endwalker has in store.