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reunionatdawn · 2 months

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My Analysis of the Best Paired Endings in 3H (Part 17: Annette/Gilbert)

Gilbert: I remembered how happy you would be, as a child, when I handed one of these dolls to you. Annette: I was back then, but I'm not a child anymore. It's too late for this now, Father. It doesn't make me happy anymore. Gilbert: Annette… Annette: I… I was so lonely after you left. I was always, always alone. I didn't know where you were, or who to turn to for comfort. All I could do was look at the dolls you carved for me, and remember you…and weep! Gilbert: If you don't need it, you can throw it away. It is all the same in the end.

Annette was also a victim of Faerghus's patriarchal culture. The tagline for the game was, "Sweet memories twisted by time's cruel hand". Her fondest memories were related to her father. But Gilbert was so devoted to the king that when he failed his duty as a knight, he felt too ashamed to live a happy life and abandoned his wife and daughter. He didn't even think he had the right to smile.

Ashe: Your father gave it to you. I know you said you'd throw it away, but you can't just toss out something so important. Annette: Ashe… Thank you! I'm so happy!

Annette shared her paralogue with her father and many of her Supports ended up being about him in some way or another.

Annette: Then the least you can do is apologize. I'm fine, but Mother deserves as much. I've finished my studies at the school of sorcery and entered the Officers Academy. I have a busy and satisfying life now. But Mother… She's waited for you to return all this time, living under my uncle's roof.

The Crest of Dominic is associated with the Empress arcana. It represents the divine feminine principle, which includes qualities such as abundance, nurturance, motherhood, and love for home and family. And Annette's story arc revolved around her broken family.

Dimitri: Annette… Something's been weighing on me. Something I've done terribly wrong. Your father… He worked tirelessly. I don't know if I ever saw him take a rest. I feel as though, in a way, we stole him from you.

I probably can't talk about pairings without addressing Netteflix, the #1 most popular ship for Annette. The two of them actually had a lot in common. Both of their fathers were so devoted to the dead king that they failed their living children. There was a lot of potential for them to connect on a deeper level because of that. But the whole Support chain revolved around singing. Which actually ended up working out pretty well.

Felix: I want you to sing for me. Your song never leaves me, whether I'm asleep or on the battlefield… I might be a captive of your song. Annette: Captive… Wh-what are you saying?! That's… um, embarrassing! Felix: …I-it can't be helped. I don't even know what I'm saying! Annette: W-wait a minute… Why are you blushing, Felix? Felix: …Mind your own business. Annette: …………….. Felix: …………….. Annette: …I don't really get it, but if you're saying that much, then you can listen to my song again.

I found their A+ Support absolutely hilarious. It seemed like Felix, who was raised in a strict military family, had so few opportunities to experience people expressing themselves, that he became utterly fascinated by singing. It was something foreign and exotic to him. He only showed interest in Dorothea when he learned she could fight, but even MORE when he learned she could sing.

Felix: Alright, then. Sing something for me. Any song you remember. Annette: Leave it to me! Then, I'll sing you my favorite song! Um, um. Burning with fiery life, carrying the blood of flames... Let's get into the bath with our bodies still hot...♪ If we start to feel dizzy, let's take a break...♪ Once we've revived, let's try getting in again...♪ ……………… Felix: ……………… To get in a bath when your body is hot… That's some determination. I should learn from that. Annette: ……………… Felix: However… to rest after getting dizzy and then enter again… You really like baths that much? Annette: ………

In their Hopes Support, the lyrics for Annette's song were slightly more suggestive than they were in the localization, since it alludes to people getting in the bath together. Annette was blushing when she finished singing. I think she assumed Felix asking her to sing was a way of him showing romantic interest and she was attempting to flirt with him by choosing lyrics that were a bit risqué. But Felix just did NOT pick up on it at all. It went straight over his head.

Felix & Annette After the war, Felix inherited the title of Duke Fraldarius from his late father, Rodrigue. Some time later, he married Annette, and the pair earned renown together by working hard at restoring their territory to and beyond its former glory. The people adored the pair: Felix for his fierce determination, and Annette for her boundless cheer. Years later, Annette threw herself into songwriting, and with the support and encouragement of her husband, she produced melodies that remained popular for generations. The lyrics became distorted over time, however, and the original meaning of the music was lost.

They're an inoffensive ship with a pleasant paired ending in AM, although I don't exactly ship them. I thought it was great that she was able to help him find a passion for something unrelated to military or warfare. I always thought that his "passion" for swordsmanship was drilled into him from birth rather than genuine. Still, I think the joke was that he fell in love with singing, not Annette herself. I thought they had deeper relationships with other characters.

Annette: Mercie, we'll stay friends like this forever… Won't we? Mercedes: Is something wrong? You sound worried. Annette: Since our time in the capital, so much has happened. We've had to make new lives for ourselves, and we've seen at least as many hard times as good. If things keep changing like this, I wonder if we'll be able to stay the same people we are now…

Other than her father, Mercedes was the most important person to Annette. In their A-Support they both confessed their love for each other. And while it did seem like the bisexual Mercedes may have loved her beyond friendship (especially in the Japanese), Annette seemed insistent on emphasizing her platonic love.

Annette & Mercedes After the war, Annette and Mercedes lived separate lives: the former as a teacher at the school of sorcery in Fhirdiad, the latter as a cleric at Garreg Mach. Though they lived apart, they exchanged letters so frequently and shared their lives with one another in such detail that it was as though they were side by side. After many decades, they resigned their respective positions and reunited at Garreg Mach. In their final years, they relocated to a modest house in the Fortress City. It is said that they were happy together to the very end.

They will not be life partners even if you go for their paired ending. It's slightly a bittersweet ending, showing how, as friends get older and pursue their own dreams, things don't always stay the same between them. While they do eventually reunite during retirement, I don't consider it to be the most satisfying ending for either of them.

Annette: You know, you might already know, but my uncle is really strict. He always said, "Do everything perfectly on your own, whether it's cooking, studying, cleaning, or laundry." …Otherwise, being a knight's daughter would just mean being bought by a noble for their Crest.

By the end of the game, I did not ship Annette with anyone, nor do I think any of her romantic paired endings offered a truly satisfying conclusion to her storyline. Even at the Goddess Tower, she just wished to stay friends forever with Byleth. Romance and marriage had little to do with her character arc and she expressed more interest in her friends and family compared to her love life.

Annette: My father was so happy to see me using magic… Seeing him happy made me happy too, and that made me want to work even harder. If only things could have stayed like that… Byleth: What do you mean? Annette: When I was about 13, my father left home. He was a devout man, so I figured he'd gone to the monastery. That's why I went to the school of sorcery, so that I could eventually get accepted at the Officers Academy. I studied harder than ever, and sure enough, I finally earned a referral.

Annette joined the Officer's Academy to reunite with her father.

Annette: After the battle at Gronder, some people claim they saw my father. They said he walked off the battlefield clutching… His Highness's dead body… So long as Father's alive, I don't need anything else. I just… I hope to see him again one day…

And her motivation for joining VW is simply to find him. Repairing her relationship with him was absolutely vital to her happiness.

Dimitri: Say, Annette… When this war is over, where will you go? I heard that you were close to Baron Dominic back in the academy days. Annette: That's right… But five years ago, my uncle betrayed the Kingdom and went over to the Empire's side. I reconnected with Father. So I'd like to live with my family again, in the capital. Also, if I'm in the capital, I'll be able to see you from time to time… Right?

In many of Annette's paired endings, she moves away to live with her husband (Claude, Linhardt, Felix, and Ashe). But she wanted to stay in Fhirdiad to live with her family, and so she could stay in touch with her friends such as Dimitri. I was rooting for her to reconcile with her father more than getting a husband. Gustave was clearly the "life partner" she wanted most.

Gilbert: Still, I wonder what path my life should follow once we achieve our goals. Byleth: Aren't you going back to your family? Gilbert: That has been my intent. But surely my daughter, Annette, must have her own path to follow. Perhaps she would be happier if our paths diverged. Of course, if she desires it, I will gladly return.

And that's obviously what he wanted, too. Gilbert prioritized his duty to his dead king over his relationship with his living wife and daughter. Similar to Dimitri, his character arc was about forgiving himself and realizing that he should live for himself and not the dead.

Dimitri & Gilbert Dimitri assumed the throne of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and spent his life ruling justly over Fódlan. At his side was the knight, Gustave, who had discarded the name of Gilbert and reaffirmed his oath of fealty to the royal family. After many more years of service, in which the trust between them grew and never wavered, Gustave finally wished to retire. Though he bristled slightly at Dimitri's request to look after and tutor the young prince, it is said that Gustave took on that duty with due patience and solemnity for the remainder of his life.

Gilbert only has a few paired endings. His ending with Dimitri depicts him becoming a father figure to Dimitri's son, which is the same as his solo ending. And it sounds like he was still bound by duty and guilt, unable to have his own life or even retire.

Annette: I'm not going to cower in safety while they struggle, especially when I'm in the best position to help. Gustave: If you sense any danger at all, child, promise me that you'll run. I couldn't bear to lose you.

For better or worse, Annette was the most important person to Gustave in both Houses and Hopes. His guilt and shame led him to make bad choices. But in Hopes, when it came down to life or death, he was a father first and a knight second. He will let his daughter flee, so that he could die in her place.

Gilbert: Your Highness, may I ask what your next plan of attack is? Should we dispatch our troops to the Kingdom capital or to the Imperial capital? Dimitri: We will take the Imperial capital. There, I will kill her. We end the war and chase away the lingering regrets of the dead. Nothing could be more to the point. Annette: Uh, that may be true, but don't forget that your people need our help right now…

Annette's relationship with her father was interesting due to how inextricably linked it was to Faeghus's toxic culture of chivalry and the overarching themes of AM's story.

Edelgard: But one cannot measure a leader's worth based solely on whether or not they bear a Crest. There are plenty of talented people in this world without one. People believe Crests are blessings from the goddess, that they're necessary to maintain order in Fódlan. But the people are wrong. Crests are to blame for this brutal, irrational world we live in. Their power is granted only to a select few, whom we elevate and allow to rule the world.

One such theme was "blind obedience". Because Dimitri bore a certain Crest and had the "divine right to rule", his attendants were not willing to step in and call out his poor leadership. Without Byleth acting as an authority figure to override Dimitri, everyone in the Kingdom army will be sent to their deaths.

Gilbert: Annette, throw down your arms! Would you really fight your father? Annette: I can't do it, Father. I can't betray Mother and my uncle! If I have to defeat you, then so be it!

There is unused dialogue that was apparently meant to be an alternate scenario based on whether Annette was defeated in Part 1 and was unrecruited in Part 2. Annette sides with the Empire because she has given up on her father and wants to stay loyal to her mother and uncle. And Gilbert is so loyal to the king that he's even willing to kill his own daughter. It was clearly the "bad" ending.

Annette: We thought maybe you hated us, were trying to forget all about us… Gilbert: Never. I swear it on his late majesty, and on my homeland. Annette: I see. All right…then swear. Swear that some day, when this war is over, you'll come back to us. Gilbert: I hear you, Annette. I will return without fail. Annette: No matter what. That's a promise you just made. If you break it, I'll never speak to you again. Gilbert: Yes. I promise.

And it was meant to juxtapose the "good" ending.

Gilbert & Annette Having discarded his false name, Gilbert, now the royal knight Gustave, renewed his loyalty to King Dimitri. Returning to the capital city of Fhirdiad, Gustave reunited with his wife, who had been staying with Baron Dominic, and his beloved daughter Annette, who began working as a teacher at the capital's school of sorcery. Initially, conversations within the family were somewhat awkward, but over time, smiles and warmth returned. In the Kingdom free from the shadows of war, the three of them enjoyed peaceful and happy days, reclaiming the life they once had.

A fulfilling occupation was vital to Annette's happiness. Her strict uncle wanted her to be perfect at everything, so she wouldn't be sold off for her Crest. She worked so hard because she wanted to support herself. Her dream was to become a teacher. When she was younger, she wanted to be a teacher at the school of sorcery, and she achieves that in the ending with her father.

This is the only ending where Gustave completes his character arc and learns to live for himself. Deep down he was not a bad person, and it was rewarding to see him get his priorities straight. He could still serve the royal family, but his focus should be on his own family. He is a father first and a knight second.

#fe3h #fe3h meta #fe3h gilbert #gustave eddie dominic #annette fantine dominic

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