@Luphrecio:
I remember when these guys first showed up and facepalmed at how cliche these guys all are and that it wasn't going to work. . .
and I got flamed. . .
but now you guys are seeing that I was . . .right?
oh internet.
So I'm saying again. The whole "evil organization trying to do xxxxx" thing is a lame fucking cliche. We were supposed to see Aladin and Alibaba travel throuh different dungeons together, Morgana go back to her homeland and answer the "mysteries" of the dark continent, maybe a little Morgiana x Alibaba action, Alibaba becoming the next sinbad, and eventually fighting the kou empire as the "big bads" to the story including all their family issues, answer questions like: why are the dungeons are appearing on earth in the first place, more shit about who the hell ugo is, why the hell was alladin wiped of his memory and locked in a freaking dungeon, who are these Magi anyway? why do they die? etc etc etc etc. . . + a whole bunch of shit addressed before which is infinately more interesting than "Akatsuki 2 :Electronic boogaloo"
fucking A.
But ok, flame me, then watch as I'm right again a year later.
While their aims, thus far, seem cliche, the characters within, and surrounding, the organization are dynamic and diverse.
- Back then we didn't know (as much) about Alma Toran.
- We didn't know Kou was split between Kouen and Gyokuen factions - we assumed Kouen was an evil emperor who sided with evil instead of the history otaku he truly is
- We didn't know Gyokuen's role as Solomon's Magi
- We didn't know the significance behind Ithnan's role - we wrote him off in Balbadd without knowing the true consequences of his actions in Magnostadt
There's more to Al-Thamen than a generic goal - we've just yet to see it. We still don't know why Gyokuen went through all that she did; I severly doubt that, based on the narrative thus far, a magi would go and betray Solomon on a whim. From Judar's character alone we know some fucked up shit has to go down in order for a magi to embrace the dark rukh. Alma Toran was Utopia, so what was so bad about the most perfect place in the world for her and her contemporaries to go a fuck it all up? Why did they also manifest themselves in Solomon's fantasy world? Who is their "father" (other than some evil god) and why did they choose to ally with him? Are there even "gods" in the magi universe?
After this battle, Aladdin and Ali Baba can go dungeon diving if that's required. Right now it's not because Ali Baba can only handle one djinn. He's also not meant to be another Sinbad because Sinbad is a "miracle" of Solomon - no other regular human can touch him, not Mogamet, not Kouen, not the king of Reim, etc.
There is no story "we were supposed to see". The story is whatever she chooses to write - it's her fucking story. You might not agree with how she goes about it, but it is alas her story. Morgianna going back to her homeland is only important if it benefits the plot in some way. If going there after this clusterfuck of a war is imperative to the plot (say, gathering forces against Gyokuen) then it'll happen. The Kou arcs and all the other things you mentioned will happen to.
THIS IS A FUCKING ARC IN THE STORY! THAT GIANT MOGAMET IS A FUCKING POKEBALL FOR AL-THAMEN! THE STORY ISN'T OVER YET! It's like the Marineford War Arc in OP; just because there's a giant clusterfuck battle, it doesn't mean the story will be ending any time soon.
People wrote the same shit you did/are about the Chimera Ant arc in Hunter x Hunter and it turned out to be the best shit Togashi wrote in decades. Leave it to the authors. Let them write what they want.
Criticize it once it's over, not while it's still going on.