Final Fantasy 14's newest patch has reawakened an age-old conversation about Y'sthola's eyes. The fan-favorite miqo'te character has been blind since the Heavensward expansion, but the game does not leave that impression on players. In fact, most fans may not realize she is blind until way later on, and then forget about this due to the way Y'sthola is able to still see nearly everything.
The truth of the matter is that Y'shtola can see with magic. However, the type of magic she uses is not consistent with what she is actually able to see at various points in Final Fantasy 14. The inconsistency around Y'shtola's eyesight has made it one of the games' most contentious issues with fans.
How Y'shtola Can Still See
Before Heavensward, Y'shtola casts a spell called Flow to put her and Thancred in the Lifesteam, hoping to avoid a ceiling collapse. Thancred gets out okay, but Y'shtola is in the Lifestream much longer and has to get help to escape. This experience is what renders her physically blind, which had made her eyes cloud over. However, with aether she can still see using magic as a supplement.
Aether is the source of life and magic in Final Fantasy 14, so being able to see aether means being able to see all things - people, plants, and animals. Y'shtola can likely tell more about a living thing as well, such as how old or young they are based on how much aether they have in their being. Aether is also constantly moving, and magic users can take advantage of that. Y'shtola is likely able to see any kind of magic with this ability, such as carbuncles and spell-based attacks.
Other aetheric materials that Y'shtola can likely see include ghosts, apparitions, and possibly even aether that leaves a dead body to join the aetherial sea. She may be able tell whether aether has an Astral or Umbral aspect, so she can tell the difference between sin eaters and voidsent. Aether is also aspected to six elements, including water, fire, and earth, which could help her see what kind of aether is being used by spellcasters, as well or whether someone is enthralled by a primal.
Inconsistencies in Final Fantasy 14's Narrative
Using aether makes for a pretty specific way to see the world, yet Y'shtola's blindness still seems to be overlooked by developers for more simple things like reading the ink in books. Some would answer that ink is a type of aether, but this may only be true for specific books - particularly ones written by alchemists that use crystals. Books that use regular materials would not have any aether.
In Shadowbringers, Y'shtola mentions not being able to see the stars, and fans believe that could be because the aether is too far away. She also recognizes people, but is unable to detect Ardbert's presence in the campaign. When the murals of Hydaelyn and Zodiark are discussed, she can recognize paintings and decipher them without help. There are also more pressing issues with this conceit, with Matoya saying the magic Y'shtola uses to see aether is shortening her life, a fact that is never mentioned again.
A lot of fans find out about her blindness only very late after she returns from the Lifestream. It makes some wonder why it was decided for Y'shtola to go blind in the first place. She could have been a like Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender, whose blindness is relevant in the story at many points despite her being able to "see" in alternative ways. Instead, this part of her character seems to only be dragged along, only relevant at plot-convenient points. It is a loss for Y'shtola's character, but there is always hope that the developers pick up on what Matoya once said about Y'shtola's magic shortening her life.
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.