All spoilers are left unmarked.
- Why did Dagran become the last boss? The main villain of the game that had the evil counterpart to Zael's magic was already dead, the evil human king (who forgot he was evil for 90% of the game and just behaved like a proper ruling authority) was also offed, and the team was good friends with the heir to the throne! Dagran kept saying he always wanted to get out of the mercenary life, and how serving royalty would be their ticket to a proper life, and now that they have the perfect opportunity to do just that, having won a war alongside the rightful princess, he decides the best thing to do is erase everything and start anew!?
- Dagran's motive for revenge has always been ingrained to him since childhood, much earlier than the first time he met his mercenaries. Upon acquiring knowledge throughout who did what, Dagran's motives have changed for the darker, including Asthar's responsibility of the knights that killed his family and the power of the outsider that was known before the first chapter. Dagran made 2 major miscues throughout the process: Zael accidentally getting the outsider's power and Therius not buying Jirall killing Asthar which Dagran confessed later to Zael in private. To minimize the miscues, Dagran continuously made smokescreens such as being in cahoots with Zangurak to plan a war against the empire while gaining the tools Dagran needs for revenge at extreme measures. Even if the mercenaries were able to defeat Zangurak and so-called live a proper life, Dagran would still be exposed by Therius for killing Asthar and instigating the war, thus making the mercenaries being associated with Dagran's crimes look worse to the public.
- At that point in the game it's obvious that Dagran had become as power hungry as the leaders of both sides, so he may very well think that the power of the Outsider is the only way to stop the war by conquering the Gurak, or that he will need such power to make sure the nobles would do as he say since he obviously have a very dim view of them. It's intentionally left ambiguous just how much he did was for himself and how much of it was for the team.
- There are multiple other instances of poorly written characters and plot points like that, such as the Ancients Mirania claims she was raised by. All the proof we have of their existence is one giant pile of bones in a very greeny area, but presumably their deaths mean the nature is dying. We never see the "nature dying", as we spend most of the game's playtime in war zones, in underground caves, the sea and human built ruins, castles and cities. Those bones could have been from any other creature in the world, and Mirania could just be delusional, given all the evidence we have (not) been provided with.
- while you make a good point about how the game doesn't really show much about the destruction of nature for it to be keenly felt, I think you're forgetting that (1) the fallen white dust all over the island that's causing illness, with the medicinal herb being once common and cheap but now rare and expensive (2)General Asthar spend sometime working with Mirania before his death, which means he definitely see some merits in her theories
- Count Arganan is so evil, he forgets to do evil stuff for 90% of the game. He gives a band of mercenaries a job to guard the royalty, enough pay to let them stay at an inn in the city, and later on travels with the group during the attack on the royal city. Sure, we're told he's evil and responsible for killing everyone who stood on his way to the throne, plus he wants to send Calista off to a political marriage, but just like the Ancients from Mirania's story, we're never given proof of that. Dude's been nothing but a good ruler and employer for Zael's group, and the asshole repays him by running away with the heir to the throne DURING HIS KNIGHTHOOD CEREMONY! What a dick!
- On most of the points listed here, Arganan obtained far too much of the outsider's power. While keeping on track with the revenge plot, Dagran knew how to greatly manipulate Arganan's naivety. Dagran was able to persuade Arganan to cut off marriage with Jirall and instead convince Arganan to get a Calista-Zael marriage instead and give Zael the knighthood he wanted. Zael only refused the knighthood at the time due to knowledge of the Gurak in distress, something Arganan was too blind to see or was too far off due to the Outsider's power.
- I think you have a very simplistic view of evil where a person is either an irredeemable villain or a heroic figure; while the Count isn't a total monster, he is power hungry enough to perpetrate a war at the expense of civilian lives, which makes him not so different from the enemies he claims to have the moral high ground over. And again, you also seem to have forgotten all the people in the dungeon talking about how the island had take a turn for the worse since the Count take over.
