"I made this for her myself...she...kept it, all this time..."
- Due to the Foregone Conclusion of the game, several events and pieces of foreshadowing become this.
- Lora talking about what she'll do after the war with Jin and Haze. She wanted to have a family with them and take in war orphans like Mikhail. Minoth ended up taking that dream and fulfilling it for her...
- Lora discovering her mother is dead, the voice acting and music really enhancing the sense of grief (especially considering we don't really know her mother as a character). Jin comforts her in a Cry into Chest moment, which is pictured.
- Hugo, the emperor of Mor Ardain and Addam's best friend, shields Addam from a massive explosion caused by Mythra's final attack. When next we see them, Addam is cradling Hugo's body while sobbing, the black crystals that were once Brighid and Aegaeon lying beside him.
- The game's incredibly bleak Downer Ending. Malos uses an attack that blows up much of the capital city of Auresco, which is where most of the NPC's you've been going on side quests for live, as well the two Tagalong Kids the party left behind for their own protection. This instantly makes Mythra access Pneuma's sword and the true depths of powers, and after a short fight, she enters her artifice for an airborne battle with Malos. But consumed by her pain and grief Mythra is out of control, and ends up killing the Tornan titan with her most powerful attack, while her actual target, Malos, falls into the depths of the Cloud Sea; his body half-melted and Core Crystal damaged, but still very much alive.
- Adding to this is that the game requires you to complete enough side quests to gain a certain Level of Community before you can even attempt to fight Malos. Xenoblade has a reputation for creating interesting sidequests with fleshed out stories, so it's not hard to get attached to some of the NPC's if you bother to listen to their stories. After Torna sinks into the Cloud Sea, you're not given any indication of where all the people in your Community went. You have no idea if they sank with the Titan, got killed in Amalthus's attack on the refugee camp, or escaped to Tantal.
- And just to twist the knife further; Mythra doesn't find out for sure that Milton died from Malos' attack until later. Specifically, when she's on board Hugo's old warship, now housing the few survivors of Torna, watching in horror as the Titan and the country she was trying so hard to save sinks below the Cloud Sea in flames because of her. It's only then that she notices Mikhail on board — cradling Milton's corpse. This last revelation is the final straw that completely breaks poor Mythra, as she screams a Big "NO!" to the sky while radiating power that eventually completely obscures her.
- Making her feel all the worse, before she fully loses her composure, Mythra initially tries to reach out to touch Milton's body, still in disbelief that he is dead, only for Mikhail to angrily shield him from her, reinforcing Mythra's perception that its all her fault.
- In the very next scene, Pyra is there instead of Mythra, implying that moment is when a guilt-ridden Mythra sealed herself away.
- On top of that, Pyra surprisingly doesn't even speak in her only moment of screentime in this DLC, only giving a parting gesture before setting off with Addam. Given that she shares Mythra's memories as the main game shows, this could possibly imply she's still processing everything that just happened.
- Sometimes after winning a battle, Brighid will ask Lora whether she's thought about keeping a diary. She replies that she's happier keeping her memories in her heart...which hits much Harsher in Hindsight when you consider where her heart ends up.
- Poor, poor Mikhail. It’s jarring to see the flamboyant flirtatious Butt-Monkey as an emotionless and despondent child, and even more considering what changes him. He begins as a slave for a village that he was ultimately the sole survivor of when it was attacked and burned to the ground by pillagers. He’s taken in by Jin and Lora, who try their best to help him come out of his shell, and when they later join up with Addam’s team he meets Milton, a Gormotti boy that is determined to befriend him and make him smile. Over the course of the game Milton and Mikhail grow close, with Milton eventually succeeding in getting a small smile out of Mik, becoming arguably close as Shulk and Reyn. And then the final battle comes around, and Mythra convinces them to stay in Auresco, away from the battle and safe. Unfortunately, Malos targets the city, and we see the boys hugging as Malos’ attack surges towards them. When we next see them, Mikhail is cradling Milton's dying body on an Ardanian ship as they evacuate Torna. When the rest of the party meet up with them, Milton is dead and Mikhail simply looks up with Dull Eyes of Unhappiness. The person who cared for him most is dead, and he blames Mythra. What’s worse, when it looks like the worst is over, Amalthus attacks the Tornan survivors, murdering Lora and Haze, and Jin disappearing. He is then kidnapped, experimented on, and then disposed of, only he is once again the sole survivor. 500 years later, when we meet Mikhail again, his actions seem a lot less funny knowing how dramatically he's changed and how much his present behavior is simply a front he puts on.
- Jin burning down Ornelia's house, which survived the destruction of Torna. Inside, he also burns the photo with Ornelia, the diary he wrote in, and the photo with Lora and the party. And throughout this, he laments about how he doesn't want "forever", he just wants to be with Lora again.
