Thank you! The only Halsin thread I could find was overwhelmingly negative, so I thought we could use a space for positivity and such here, because the problems I have with the writing are tiny in comparison to how much I adore this character. He really resonates with me.
One underappreciated part of his character is that he shows, really beautifully, that not everyone should be, wants to be, or is meant to be a leader. He is utterly miserable as Archdruid (which is why he jumps at every chance he gets to do ANYTHING else), he was never taught properly how to lead (which is why he makes so many mistakes), and the entire thing was intimately tied with his traumatic memories of the Shadow Curse, since that's how he became Archdruid to begin with. He sounds downright thrilled when he gets an update from Francesca, stating that the Grove is thriving- because that's the permission he's been looking for. You can almost see the switch flip in his dialogue as he stops planning to return to the Grove, and instead wonders what he'll do after this is all over, with his destiny free, because in that moment, he has made up his mind. He's finally free of that obligation now that a worthy successor has been found and he is free now to do all the things he's been holding back on when the Grove needed him.
THAT is why I will defend his ending all day, with my only complaint being that we need a way for the player to join him. I can't think of a better ending for Halsin than getting to care for helpless orphans who need and love him, free to forge his own way of helping that doesn't involve the entire commune's problems falling squarely on his shoulders and bound by the narrow rules of the Druidic traditions to boot.
