It appears that Nahmi stabs Brice? And this is very jarring. My question is is she dead? Is that what happened? What is the 'promise' she has to keep? I accidentally skipped the credits trying to save, so maybe there is a post credits that I missed.

I really disliked that Brice was not available for the last mission. I love missions where you have to improvise in games, but this is the final battle and it felt very wrong to not play the team I had fell in love with the entire game. Esp since my strategy revolved around using Nahmi and Xero as walls while Brice dealt massive damage. Devour is bonkers.

Anyways... if it is the case that she killed Brice... why didn't Xero reject her for defying her mission/code? Why would she think killing her friend Brice to save Xero was a good trade? I just am really bothered by it. I didn't feel that the story was the strongest part of the game (I actually rarely care about stories in games) and liked the trivial/simple story. I did not like losing a game element in the way it was lost especially since it didn't seem logical to me.

If anyone has thoughts on this please let me know maybe I'm way off here.

Just finished the game and 4 years late.

Yes, Brice is dead. The credits show Nahmi and Xero traveling to the west to the coastal town Brice and Nahmi were discussing in the moment of quiet a few missions ago. That's the promise she kept to Brice - to leave Torus and be free from its society, inequality, and conflicts.

Xero is programmed to defend the children. I think an earlier optional dialogue had Brice criticizing Xero for having no free will to make its own decisions, possibly reminding Brice of her own helplessness. That is probably why it didn't stop Nahmi from killing Brice like stopping Nahmi from killing Pester. It has two possible meanings: (1) Brice was right about Xero being a slave having no free will or (2) Xero is still human deep down and was ethically conflicted with having to choose between saving Brice or self-sacrifice.

As we saw in the dialogue before the final mission, Xero feels guilty and tries to sneak off to turn itself in to the cult. But it's stopped by Nahmi, thereby proving Nahmi correct about it being human.

---

You can do a whole literary analysis on these characters and their tragedies caused by the zodiarcs, an euphemism for impulsive emotion.

Nahmi is a victim of both the system, her emotions, and her faith in Zirchoff's family like the other two main characters. Later, she comes to realize her faith is wrong and carves her own path by rejecting the family and Torus. She can't trust Zirchoff because he manipulated and sacrificed lives for a personal vendetta against Zulta (implied father). And if she stays in Torus, the system of conflict between gangs, cult, and the nobles will still continue (implied when she said smaller gangs will seize power). This is also why she abandons her zodiarc sword seen on the menu screen.

Pester is interested only in surviving and hates nobles, but he soon learns they're not all bad after traveling with Lord Aragon. He is a tragic character because he also came to the same conclusion as Nahmi and Brice to leave Torus together, but is tragically killed because of how Aragon's guards couldn't back down by Nahmi's appearance and her anger over killing Slain.

Brice clings to Nahmi and the family as a support. But her malice and instability never changes. She fails to realize the humanity in Xero and that it's also a victim of the system in favour of surviving. But she doesn't realize she would be just as evil as the nobles or Zirchoff using people as a stepping stone for personal gain. Her failure to realize this leads to her tragic end.