From the very moment of her introduction, the Lominsan admiral comes across as very strict, stoic, and a politically savvy pirate. She commands the respect of every citizen in Limsa Lominsa, and during the course of Final Fantasy XIV’s narrative, you will be hard-pressed to find anyone who would go against her direct orders.
However, at the end of the Seventh Umbral Calamity, Merlwyb would have lost her life if her right-hand man, Eynzahr, had decided to follow her orders.
When Dalamud broke, and Bahamut was set free from five millennia of captivity, the Admiral thought all was lost. She saw a final glimpse of Archon Louisoix raising his hands in a rite of summoning in order to seal the elder primal once more.
It was then that she ordered all Maelstrom units to fall back and specifically asked Eynzahr to give the foreign levy priority while the main host, which was her, covered their retreat and brought up the rare.
Merlwyb then speeds off on her chocobo to do just that, and joins up with Rhoswen to fight the remaining Garleans and buy as much time as possible.
However, she was shot down by a Magitek cannon, and the admiral loses consciousness as she falls from her Chocobo. She wakes up a few days later in her quarters on the Triumph.
Merlwy returns from the Carteneau Flats
The first person she sees is Eynzahr, from whom she gets an update. Eynzahr says that they are two days and eight knots away from Limsa, and the Alliance had regrouped in Thanalan, where they were meaning to keep Merlwyb in Ul’dah, but Eynzahr argued otherwise, as he thought it would not be necessary. It was the Bloody Executioners who hauled her out of her predicament, while it was the Kraken’s Arm and Carvallian who had to drag Captain Rhoswen away.
And this is where the Admiral said that she had ordered a unit to be given priority when retreating from the Carteneau Flats, and if Eynzahr was able to get them to safety. However, the Admiral’s right-hand man denied ever having received such orders and said that he was instead asked to bring up the rear as the main host retreated. She did not order any to be given priority over the other.
Merlwyb considered this to be a lapse in her memory because of the blow she received to her head. And in the coming days, many have also stated that Carteneau has somewhat changed the Admiral; she no longer gave false comfort, nor was she as hard as she used to be. She now spoke of hope, courage, and the lost warriors who stood with the Archon on the Carteneau Flats.
So if not for the insubordination of some of her crew members, it’s likely that the Warrior of Light would have never met the Lominsan Admiral nor the pirate captain of the Sanguine Sirens once they made their way to Limsa Lominsa.
