Naïve Queen ; Lost Canary

He allowed this, but by now knew the effort would be wasted. No matter how powerful the spell, it could only temporarily calm the pains. Whatever it was that caused it seemed to keep coming back, growing back to the dull burning sensation that it previously was.

"…It’s alright. I don’t need anymore."

With that said, the carver stood, barely even glancing back at the woman. He didn’t know her well enough to understand why she would be so stubborn. But perhaps telling her would do some good…

"It’s always been like this. Sometimes it only hurts a little, other times a lot. So I take herbs and medicines to keep it down. People call it ‘chronic pain’…" 

       At first, she was speechless, taking in his words. Then, her expression fell a bit. Her voice was soft, as if she was speaking to herself. "Chronic pain..?" Chestnut colored eyes rose to meet with Merun's. In them was sympathy, distress, and if one looked hard enough, even anger. That anger was reserved for the events of the past, reserved for the knowledge that there was nothing she could do to change the fate of black mages. Like Vivi...

I need to comment on the “Garnet is a useless character through disk 3” train of thought.

Garnet experiences, in very rapid procession, the discovery that she was not who she thought she was, her mother’s death, coming to terms with her approaching role as queen, and the destruction of her home and kingdom.

She has every right to suffer.

The game presents this suffering in the form of mute shock, which manifests in Dagger being unable to use her abilities from time to time due to an inability to concentrate.  This tends to annoy players, because it means she’s unreliable as a party member - you can’t guarantee she’ll be able to heal when you need it, for example.

But guys, think about it from a story perspective.

She would have had every right to stay in Lindblum and wallow in pain.  If you don’t think she’s earned that right by that point, what the hell is wrong with you?  But she doesn’t.  She insists on going with the party.  She wants justice for her kingdom, so she’s trying to be strong even when she’d have every right to be weak, even when she’s goddamn broken inside.

Garnet is a fantastic character.