Y'shtola is one of the fan-favorite characters in Final Fantasy 14, and one that will play a major role in the upcoming Endwalker expansion. She is a miqo'te that wields powerful magics and has been part of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn since the beginning. Despite being a fan-favorite though, the community has gotten tired of her death fakeouts throughout the game's expansions.

With about one death fakeout per expansion, many fans are wondering what the miqo'te mages' fate will truly be in Endwalker. After so many fakeout deaths, the community have been very skeptical and were especially unresponsive when the game wanted them to think she was dead in Shadowbringers. Due to this, if Y'shtola does actually die in Endwalker, it likely won't hit fans as hard as it should.

RELATED: Final Fantasy 14: Everything To Know About Alisaie and Alphinaud Before Endwalker

Every Fake Death Of Y'shtola

Y'shtola summoned out of the Lifestream.

The very first fake death of Y'shtola takes place from the end of A Realm Reborn to the middle of Heavensward, and it is the one that she escaped at the cost of her natural eyesight. Y'shtola and Thancred stayed behind in a tunnel so that other Scions could escape the Crystal Braves and Brass Blades after they get framed for the death of the Sultana. When they get left behind, Y'shtola causes a cave-in and it is presumed that she and Thancred are dead. However, it is far later revealed that Y'shtola teleported herself and Thancred and that she just needed to be summoned out of the Lifestream.

Y'shtola's second fakeout was in Stormblood in a fight against Zenos at Rhalgr's Reach. It is a bloodbath of Garlean forces cutting down the resistance, and Y'shtola protects Lyse by forming a barrier when Zenos tries to cut her down. Zenos manages to cut through both the barrier and Y'shtola herself. The miqo'te collapses and is covered in blood and there is some tension on whether she will survive. However, she does survive her injury and all ends up being well with her health. Due to how short the Stormblood fakeout death is, fans were not as conversational about this instance as they were with the other two.

The third fakeout in Shadowbringers is what really drove fans to roll their eyes. Y'shtola falls down a cliff and is presumed dead by all companions and her death is deeply mourned. However, just like her first fakeout, it turns out that she once again teleported herself into the Lifestream and reemerged in little time thanks to an act of good faith by Emet-Selch. At this point, very few fans felt sadness and mostly were annoyed that they had to see characters mourn Y'shtola when they themselves rightfully did not believe her death to be true.

Many fans have started to claim that Y'shtola's survival is due to "Marketing Armor." This means that since she is a prominent character in the series and often appears in all trailers, merchandise, and art, Square Enix will not kill her off. What is odd, though, is that the fakeouts are utterly unnecessary in the first place. There are other ways to make audiences feel strong emotions other than the possibility of a character dying. However, looking at Final Fantasy 14 in general, death fakeouts are actually quite common in the story.

Final Fantasy 14's Many Fake Deaths

Nanamo being poisoned.

While fakeout deaths have happened multiple times for Y'shtola, they have also happened to other characters. Thancred was also thought to be dead at the end of A Realm Reborn when the tunnel collapsed, and the game also put him in a heavily implied death situation at the end of his one-on-one fight with Ranjit in Shadowbringers. Another major example was with the Sultana, Nanamo, who had a very convincing cutscene of being poisoned only to reveal later that she is still alive. In Stormblood, Gosetsu and Yotsuyu were believed to be dead from a building that collapsed, but were later revealed to have survived. Recently, one of the biggest death fakeouts was with Zenos. Despite seeing him chop off his own head and get buried into the ground, even he managed to survive.

Having this many death teases is one of the few weaknesses to the writing and story of Final Fantasy 14. Since Endwalker is the last expansion for FF14's current story arc, fans are wondering if major characters will finally die for real this time. Y'shtola is one such character, but after all her fakeout deaths, a real death will not hit the fandom with as much impact as it could have. Players will be spending too much time wondering whether the death is real or not rather than letting themselves feel what the story wants them to feel.

Final Fantasy 14 is available now on PC, PS3, PS4, and PS5.

MORE: Endwalker's Delay Proves How Wholesome The Final Fantasy 14 Community Is