#that she was going to abolish the crest system | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

randomnameless · 6 months

Note

I've heard you mention before how bad the Zahras chapter is in terms of characterization for the three lords, especially Dimitri, but can you specify the reasons why?

Thanks to the datamine, I can finally get those lines without having to screencap everything from youtube!

So,

For Dimitri, Claude says this :

I'm just gonna come out and say it: After the war, I'm going to abolish the Central Church and depose the archbishop. The people of Fódlan have been shackled by this decrepit system for too long, and I'm ending it.

So okayyy...

Claude just says he has some beef with the person Dimitri welcomed as a refugee. Why?

That's right. Think about it. Who steals your freedom and gives you an endless list of duties and obligations simply because you have a Crest?

Dimitri's obligations and duties are his, not because he has a crest, but because he is a King - just like King of Almyra would have obligations and duties not to let his own people starve or be used as meatshields in Saturday raids, or letting his spurned son mount the biggest invasion ever because he's too busy mopping about his missing son, but apparently the King of Almyra doesn't give a fuck about his people.

And while yes, Dimitri is a King because he was born with a crest as Lambert's son... The need to have a crested King never came from the Church, and let's be real, Dimitri, as the character we know, feels like he has a duty to people and wishes to help because he is Dimitri, even if he was crestless like Ashe, Dimitri would want to help (just like Ashe!).

Who forces you and your friends into a bunch of unwanted marriages and positions of power?

That's not the Church, for sure, but the feudal notion of nobility - even if, let's be real, it is completely hypocritical for Claude to say this, because the same notion of nobility also exists in places around the continent where the CoS has no sway like... Almyra?

And about the unwanted marriages, again, Claude knows (or should know) Lorenz and his marriage problems, it is not the Church who forces people in unwanted marriages, but the responsibilities that come with being a Noble - Lorenz marrying Marianne means both house Gloucester and House Edmund are strengthened and could work more closely, maybe being able to rival Riegan or even overtake them in an "importance" contest, Lorenz marrying Leonie means... House Gloucester stays House Gloucester.

It's also hilarious because AG has a NPC talking about her marriage to House Gautier (I think?), and she never mentions the Church, rather mentions how she ultimately loves her husband.

The church even forbids any official contact with outside regions!

Source : my chamber pot

Dimitri knows well, after having seen Rhea helping Duscurian refugees, that the Church does not forbid contact with "outside regions", hell, Faerghus and Duscur were on relative good grounds, before the Regicide.

Not exactly great for Faerghus, right? Being as close to Sreng and Albinea as you are.

If Faerghus has sour relationships with Sreng, it's because of border raids, but of course a Prince of Almyra will never talk about this :)

And we know Albinea trades a lot with Fodlan, in general, if their damn fruits being in every region is any indication - or this tidbit from the Book detailing the Royal Territories of Faerghus :

Dominic A small but beautiful barony. Its coastal cities have become a hub of commerce through trade with Albinea.

Too bad Claude speaks, again, with confidence, about something he doesn't know, but can you imagine a micro-second that Dimitri doesn't know who Dominic trades with? Gilbert, a second son of House Dominic, is pious to a fault - but apparently he never bothers telling his brother that trading with Albinea is BaD, so...

Claude, again, is presenting the contents of his chamber pot to Dimitri, asking him to trust him based on those.

Claude continues, after assuring Dimitri that Faerghus isn't his goal !

And really, our enemy isn't the actual church so much as the people at the top who make all the decisions.

Rhea BaD

So it's not even about the Church in General, but apparently, Rhea (as the people at the top) makes the decisions to, uh, prevent the world from interacting with Fodlan (but there are Morfis merchants in Garreg Mach???) - the same woman who, in AG, we hear busies herself helping children and refugees from Duscur after a fire or what not.

(And that's not talking about the kind of official "contact" Adrestia had with Brigid and Sreng...)

I'm sorry Claude, but if the Alliance doesn't want to have any "official" contact with Almyra, it's not because Rhea forbids said contact, but it's because your father, your brother and your retainer (?) Nader apparently do not see anything wrong with a penis measuring contest that consists in raiding, "rampaging" and "bringing souvenirs" from Fodlan for funsies.

So, after playing 12 chapters in AG where Dimitri knows what Rhea does, we could expect some rebuttal, right?

I understand where you're coming from, Claude, and on a personal level I actually agree with you.

Dimi, no :(

But as King, he is opposed, not because a King has to use his head and can't do stupid shit on a whim (like marrying the still current wife of a foreign leader!)

Yes, for three reasons. First, abolishing the church would deny the king's right to rule Faerghus. Without one, the people will descend into chaos and war. Would you be able to take responsibility for such a thing, once it came to pass?

My Bad!

That mention of the King's right to rule Faerghus coming from the Church was nonsensical during the discourse days, and still is, after Nopes.

If the Kingdom's name is "Holy", remember that a name and a history doesn't mean a thing when people don't want to follow it - again, remember what happened with Adrestia? They pissed on the Church, Rhea acting as a witness is a custom you can ignore whenever you want, and they are actually waging a war against the Church of Seiros, when Seiros herself fucking created (together with Willy!) the country who has her own symbol on their flag!

Faerghus won its independence against Adrestia, Church or no Church, Faerghus existed by fucking over the Empire (as it was led by Loog). Without the Church, and faced with a powerful Empire, are we really supposed to think Faerghians won't rally behind Loog's scion to, hm, protect them or at least ensure their continued independence from Adrestia?

Second, recklessly discarding the church will only incite discord among the clergy and its supporters.

This is a somewhat valid reason, as we know, the CoS helped the Kingdom in recent times, especially after the regicide. But they are also currently helping the Kingdom against Supreme Leader's war of conquest, let it be by taking care of randoms or sending its knights to support Faerghus.

Also, the Kingdom operates on "shat upon by this game" notions of gratitude, love and loyalty - unlike Adrestia, if Supreme Leader's stunt of backstabbing the CoS after they helped her get rid of "corruption" in the Empire is any indication. And I doubt the same Kingdom folk would readily accept it if their King suddenly got rid of the organisation/woman who helped them so much during their time of need.

And finally, a revolution of this nature will not only mean casualties among the commonfolk, but will endanger your own life as well.

I will have to check the JP text because this "revolution" word is a bit contrived - there's no revolution if you're just kicking out a religious organisation in YOUR Kingdom - but yes, commonfolk will be pissed (maybe take up weapons?) even if I'm pretty sure some "noblefolk" will also be pissed at this decision.

And because Dimitri worries about everyone - save for Rhea and the church apparently because they BaD - he also worries about Claude's life.

Leaving the first two for a second, I have some serious issues with that last one. I'm glad you're concerned for my safety, but I can take care of myself

Claude really replies with "leaving logic aside" and the commonfolk casualties he doesn't give a fuck about if GW is any indication, uwu don't worry about me I can watch over myself :)

Ah, good ol' Plot Armor :)

But don't you see? The people you wish to depose are human, just as you are.

Hahahan hilarious Dimitri, those people aren't human ! Supreme Leader told me!

No matter what ingenious scheme you come up with or how careful you try to be, they will suffer.

Is he trying to appeal to Claude's compassion and moral fiber? The guy who is, in GW, invading his country for funsies, staging a double invasion with Sreng forces who are just used as decoy/fodder?

And their vengeance will eventually find you, no matter how hard you try to stave it off. I know full well the guilt that accompanies such actions…and the retribution they provoke

Lol, no.

Who can give a fuck about the suffering of Nabateans/Church folk? Being backstabbed by everyone because of propaganda, and needing to die for reasons as consistent as a baby's first purée?

"don't do that Claude, Rhea will be angry and swear vengeance against you, and blablabla cycle of hatred and retributions and blabla"

Everyone has to deal with the consequences of their decisions. If you let it rule you, Fódlan never changes.

Says Mister "I abolished a Republic and created a Kingdom in the land that used to say "we bow to no king and to no emperor" " or "I'm invading your land and killing your people" or even "I'm enrolling Almyrans in my army who will rampage and bring souvenirs and the Leicesterians (?) are totally okay with it!" ?

Claude who never ever faces any consequences for his bonkers decision through the entire game? That guy? Talks about "dealing with the consequences"? Fodlan changing is more important than Fodlan dying?

(at least that's how it was for the Alliance turned Federation...)

But not taking the time to look where you're going will only lead you to stumble and fall. And if there are those who would be hurt by this, I consider it my duty to help them.

Dimitri wants to help... Claude, who would be hurt with this "revolution", but dgaf about getting rid of the Church, aka Rhea/Seteth/the clergy who would also, obviously, be "hurt" by this stupid idea?

Heh. There you go, trying to save everyone again. You really are too good for me!

Not everyone, as we all understood - the Church can burn :)

To be honest, I'm jealous of how you're not burdened with the same restrictions.

"tbh Claude, I'm jealous of how you don't give a fuck about the number of deaths your actions are causing"

Are we... sure that's Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd talking here? Really? Wasn't he body snatched by Chilon?

Forgot OOC, this line wouldn't even be said by this character.

In the world I'm trying to create, you wouldn't be burdened by them either. You could even… No, forget that. I'm serious about what I said, though. And I really do admire how you want to save everyone. Honestly, if you weren't a king, I think we could've been friends.

"In my world, you too wouldn't give a fuck about the deaths/suffering your actions are creating! You're only worried about them because you are king! But if you weren't, you could be an amoral asshole, just like me! Could we be fwends in an AU plz?"

I feel much the same. Had I joined with you, I might have been able to see a different vision of Fódlan.

"yeah!"

Sadly, Dimitri isn't able to throw his compassion and morals to the trashcan, so he cannot join Claude !

And if you consider this line can be said during the GW events (remember, the invasion, killing Matthias, killing his soldiers and his people, etc etc), this is even more insulting.

So, as a good friend said, this Zahrofl convo shits on FE16!Claude (but the games is all about it), but more importantly, it is the only place in the game where Dimitri is Nopes'd, aka, his character does a 180° and/or is butchered because the plot demands so.

Like, anon, can you imagine a second, Dimitri, the Dimitri, wishing he too, couldn't "be burdened"' by the suffering he creates?

Imo, it's on par with Supreme Leader suddenly loving the sun and loving to swim. That character wouldn't be Supreme Leader, just like the person in this convo, isn't Fodlan's Dimitri (tfw Engage's Emblem!Dimitri is more faithful to IS's idea of Dimitri than Nopes lol).

#anon #replies #3 nopes #poor Dimitri #Nopes'd #funny how both claude and clout talk about consequences #when both games off screen said consequences or they just don't exist at all for him #ditto with Supreme Leader but that's another cup of Hresvelg Tea #Faerghus and arguable the Church are the only ones who face 'consequences' for their actions or the actions that are supposedly theirs #and the fact that this game never bothers having anyone or anything contradict both Clout and Supreme Leader on screen when they're saying #oranges are purple is really something #you see in supports and through the lines orange oranges #but no one ever tells them that no purple oranges aren't in this game #bring me more concrecte evidence that the oranges you talk about exist #also note the lack of consideration or even sympathy given to Nabateans/church folks #it's bad to backstab them like dicks because they will come after your ass #not because backstabbing someone who turned to you for help and helped you in return is a dick move #i mean there's a reason why in ASOIAF the Starks are the uncontested good guys/heroes of the series #iirc there was that pretty powerful scene when sansa refuses cersei's mindset #people don't follow you bcs they fear you #they follow and listen to you because they love you #anyways a Dimitri who ditches his allies and wards while not being under duress is imo not Dimitri #but maybe i haven't studied his character enough?

15 notes · View notes

truckreincarnation · 2 months

Text

Salvaging a Tomorrow || Ending

The last spare hours soon draw to a close. Manami departs with the finalized terms to delay her King, and the rest of the negotiators follow. Turns out almost everyone decided that was the right path forward, and it’s a pretty big group.

Luckily, there’s a direct waterway connection between the Great Tree and Last Haven. A few of Sakuramber’s boats carry the negotiation party swiftly south. At some point, a loose escort of swarm soldiers descend from the skies to surround you. While the sight of the humanoid insects might intimidate some, Manami descends soon after to reassure you and bring the Demon King’s response. He’s begrudgingly willing to parley.

Finally, you stand before the man himself. Done up in striking insectile regalia, the Demon King still looks smaller and less intimidating than you might’ve expected. Even those of you that saw a picture of his true appearance before… Aside from the deep lines of anger carved into his weathered brow by time, and the second set of eyes, his face is surprisingly unremarkable.

The Demon King’s deeply furrowed eyebrows lift slightly at the sight of Germain. Ah, right, they’ve met, haven’t they? You wouldn’t know it from looking at Germain, who, aside from a knowing nod on arrival, inspected the Demon King as though he were a stranger. Manami, meanwhile, near-immediately latches onto the Demon King’s arm, face the deepest blue you’ve ever seen and very giggly. The Demon King exhales through his teeth, suddenly looking much more on edge, and politely but firmly requests she let go of him. After she complies, he sits down at the negotiation table and curtly bids you say your piece.

Once you’ve made your case, the Demon King makes it clear that if Last Haven is to be spared, he will not tolerate Calamity continuing as an independent nation. After all, this is still a military victory for him, whatever else happens. He had his sword at Last Haven’s throat, and has lowered it at your entreaty. What you are negotiating for is his mercy. He demands Calamity’s territory be ceded to his country, that the people of Last Haven and the wilderness beyond henceforth be subject to his laws.

While this is initially met with reticence among some of the negotiation party, he calmly goes on to detail what those laws actually are. And they’re not unreasonable. The primary tenets of his nation are the obvious forbiddance of summoning, severe punishment for coercively affecting the mind of another with magic (such as via the use of Control Crests) and explicit provisions for Incarnate and Bound civil rights. Certainly, nothing you had a strong objection to. It takes a couple hours of discussion, but with the Demon King unwilling to budge on that point, you eventually agree.

With that, the discussion turns to what should be done with the Calamitan nobles. The Demon King absolutely insists they all be executed for their role in perpetuating the old system, and you find that’s an easy concession to make. Some of you are even willing to help do the deed yourselves. He wants the same fate for all summoners and their allies, but after some debate he’s talked down to just the crown’s official registry of Incarnate summoners. Any other summoners will instead be exiled from Last Haven and unwelcome in the north, and there won’t be any more executing people who have merely associated with a summoner.

Incarnate summoning knowledge, similarly, has to go if the practice is to be abolished. On that point, you agree with the Demon King. Books on the subject (and on how to create Control Crests) are to be searched for and destroyed. Between the nobles and the Incarnate summoners, most people who’d be able to pass the practice down from their own knowledge alone won’t make it, but the remainder will be firmly encouraged to take the secret to their graves.

Between these concessions and the threat of sealing, the Demon King eventually (if begrudgingly) agrees to spare Last Haven from Abyssal annihilation. But the power vacuum in Last Haven still needs to be addressed. The Demon King himself has no interest in personally governing what used to be Calamity, despite it now being part of his dominion. Hivemount is his home. Last Haven is a place of hate and despair for him. So, the groundwork is laid for a new regional government, one in which Incarnates have a voice and no one person has absolute power. Your proposal meets with the Demon King’s approval, provided you allow a representative of his to supervise and take part in deliberations.

After some more negotiation, you’re also able to prevail on the Demon King to see the wisdom in releasing Felyn from custody. Her desummoning research will do a lot more for the Bound if she’s allowed to actually put it into practice. He casually admits he was planning to execute her once she’d divulged the secrets of her potion, to end the line of Arkanana. But with your plans for the new government, he can ensure she’s never allowed to seize power, and he is satisfied with that.

With a final firm handshake between Frank and the Demon King, a historic moment that will later be depicted by many a Last Haven painter, negotiations are settled. The Demon King and his entourage depart to ensure the nobles and summoners are dealt with, leaving you to your own devices.

Though it’s absolutely not in the way your summoners wanted, you have indeed succeeded in ending the centuries-long war.

You rather think some celebration is in order.

#ending #germain #manami

2 notes · View notes

sideeffx · 2 years

Text

I like Shez’s character in scarlet blaze a lot so far because he serves as someone to hold Edelgard accountable in a way that Byleth couldn’t due to their unique position as well as someone who displays how pragmatic she is. Obnoxious readmore rambling under the cut

Their conversation about Shez’s connection to TWSTD is rather simple but it’s not in an effort to gloss over it so much as it points out that Edelgard already has room to reasonably trust Shez. But there’s also the undercurrent of how she needs him if she’s to make any reasonable progress in the war considering unlike 3h, she’s afforded the ability to deny TWSTD any ability to worm their way into her kingdom and transform her into the monster that’s seen in routes that aren’t Crimson Flower. (I think there’s also a missed opportunity in 3h about how Edelgard has to basically pretend her trauma is nonexistent to meet her goals unlike Dimitri whose afforded the ability to stew in it and consequently move past it even if the big character development moment he has is hamfisted and not realistic in any sense)

This is not to mention Shez has many scattered responses (that interestingly give you affection with Hubert) where he points out the reality of Edelgard’s predicament when it comes to how she has to deal with the nobles she’s allied herself with.

This conversation spawns after you clear the battle where House Gloucester betrays you and you get a pretty interesting choice here that I picked and consequently got the mentioned affection with Hubert where Shez has nothing but pure resentment for how easy a noble house is getting off for turning on them. Say what you want about Shez’s relating everything back to being a mercenary, but I think it’s pretty apt here. Because he points out to her that she looks like a huge hypocrite and to her a mercenary would be more expendable than the nobility because of the very system she’s against.

In my opinion this doesn’t make Edelgard look bad though. Part of CF and Scarlet Blaze by extension is that she’s already had that internal dialogue with herself when it comes to her ideals. She’s accepted that she’s going to look inconsistent if she wants to win this war with 1. As little bloodshed as she could possibly have, hence why she makes it painfully clear that if anybody wishes to surrender she won’t deny them the opportunity. 2. The crest and by extension the nobility system to be abolished in favor of a better long term solution.

But it’s still important for someone that doesn’t know her as well as someone like Hubert or Ferdinand would to question her thought process because she’s still in an objectively privileged position as leader of the Empire. The biggest reason for things not working out would be her failure to consider those who are just trying to get by and thus risking her new system collapsing from under her. Most revolts start from the lower class being unsatisfied after all.

#fire emblem three hopes #fire emblem three hopes spoilers #three hopes #thank you scarlet blaze very cool

9 notes · View notes

houseisekai · 2 years

Text

House Isekai: A Realm Reborn - Part 12, Step Ahead

Act 2 Masterlist

—

Their mission resulting in a half-success, House Isekai returns back to Fhirdiad to recover and prepare to return to Garreg Mach Monastery.

But for now, both staff and students have a chance to relax and bond with one another as a class.

[The Ocular - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

(Edelgard) "So, we were unable to find the Silver Weapon in the end..."

Dimitri and Claude looked concerned but continued to say nothing as Sitri continued her report.

(Sitri) "No. But what's more concerning is the fact that the Church has the Silver Weapon itself while Those Who Slither grabbed the plans for it."

(Dimitri) "I will have my scouts try to find any unusual activity in our borders regarding the Church."

(Claude) "The Alliance still has a few monster problems here and there, but it's nothing we can't handle. I'll look into the Agarthans alongside Edelgard."

(Edelgard) "My Strike Force is already off to hunt down Separatist activity in Adrestia and Faerghus."

(Rean) "About that."

The staff turned to Rean as he crossed his arms.

(Rean) "Edelgard, what exactly caused this Separatist movement to happen?"

(Edelgard) "...I'm afraid I do not have the luxury of time to tell you. But what I can say is that they threaten our very existence. We must spare no effort to quell this rebellion."

(Rean) "...Understood."

Towa, Aigis, and Kazuma looked at each other but decided to say nothing, instead letting the meeting draw to a close.

(Claude) "Then safe travels back to the Monastery. We'll ring you up as soon as we find something, though it might take a few weeks to be honest."

(Dimitri) "Claude's right. I wouldn't expect anything urgent for at least a month or so."

(Edelgard) "Use your time wisely, House Isekai. Farewell."

(Claude) "Later."

Edelgard said nothing more while Claude waved a friendly goodbye, leaving Dimitri and the rest of the staff.

(Dimitri) "...You looked like you wanted to say something else."

(Kazuma) "Obviously she isn't very keen on telling us the details. Know why these Separatists became a thing?"

Dimitri shrugged.

(Dimitri) "Honestly, I couldn't give you an accurate account either. I've only heard rumors how it's started. If you all remember, Edelgard wanted to abolish the Noble and Crest system the church laid out. Obviously, the Nobles in charge took great offense, but could do nothing as her rise to power was so sudden."

(Towa) "So the Separatists are Noble remnants?"

(Dimitri) "Something to that effect. I would imagine a sizable portion are Noble outcasts, but I don't know if they all are. I've had reports from both here in Faeghus and Leicester that some have defected to their cause.

(Kazuma) "How the hell don't you have any rebellion going on? People like Elizabeth and Astrid were really uncomfortable with the idea of fighting any Church forces."

(Aigis) "I think it might have to do with their hostile occupation, when we were still in Fodlan."

Dimitri nodded.

(Dimitri) "We had to follow the rule of the Church and if we stepped out of line, we'd be labeled as heretics and executed."

(Kazuma) "Isn't that how it went during Garreg Mach?"

(Dimitri) "Your group wasn't there during the occupation, but S.E.E.S was. When monsters mockingly called 'Angels' patrol your streets, and your blue skies turn into a endless pale white, you tend to lose faith in the people you believed were protecting you."

(Kazuma) "...Fair enough."

(Aigis) "And another thing, the Adrestian Empire abolished the Noble system, but from what I know of Elizabeth, you haven't?"

(Dimitri) "No. It would be imprudent to rip out a system so integral to our society, but I have taken steps to mitigate the necessity of crests and household name. Albeit, slowly."

(Towa) "Sitri, do you know anything about how the Empire's been doing?"

(Sitri) "I've kept up with current events during the past two years, though it's not as well informed as I'd like. Edelgard reformed the Empire during the two years you left, but as I was rebuilding Garreg Mach, I had precious little time to actually speak to everyone about their countries' state of affair. What Dimitri says is all I know too."

(Dimitri) "Right, we all focused on our own countries after the-"

Dimitri took another look at the staff and chuckled.

(Dimitri) "I apologize, I do not mean to prattle on when you are all battered and bruised."

Kazuma took a sigh of relief knowing that the meeting was about to end.

(Kazuma) "Dude, I am about to literally drop goddamn dead."

(Sothis) "Eloquently put as always."

(Kazuma) "Kiss my ass you green furby I'm entitled to at least a bed right now."

Sothis raised an eyebrow muttering to herself.

(Sothis) "What the hell is a furby?"

(Towa) "Please don't worry, Dimitri. This was important enough to talk about, and it's given us some good insight on current state of affairs."

(Rean) "Would it be possible to ask for a bit more information before we leave?"

(Dimitri) "Of course. I will have Dedue tell you what you need to know when you ask. As for relaxing, might you all come by the castle for breakfast tomorrow? I would like to reward you all with a well earned meal."

(Sitri) "Huh? What for?"

(Dimitri) "Your forces managed to subdue most of the Separatists we captured. Most surrendered without a fuss, and you have my word that they're being treated humanely."

(Aigis) "And the Church forces?"

Dimitri shrugged.

(Dimitri) "I'm afraid we were able to find no survivors. Any we found were already dead."

Everyone looked at each other nervously. It wasn't the Separatists that did the killing, so that only leaves...

Rean cleared his throat which got everyone's attention.

(Rean) "Anyways, we'll be glad to accept your offer, Dimitri."

(Dimitri) "You have done the people of Faerghus a great duty, one we will not forget anytime soon. But for now, I bid you rest. I look forward to our meal tomorrow."

Dimitri smiled and left the room to them.

(Kazuma) "...Shit. We didn't ever tell the soldier guys to shoot to stun on both of them, did we?"

(Aigis) "I'm afraid not. But we also didn't bring up Doctor Valda saving us."

Rean shook his head.

(Rean) "The Separatists need to be stopped, don't get me wrong. But, what is it that made Valda and her group defect from the Empire to begin with? She doesn't seem the type to throw her lot in with Nobles if what Dimitri said was true."

(Towa) "And being fair, it's not like we've always known Edelgard to tell the complete truth to anyone. Especially us."

(Kazuma) "So what, we just gonna wait until they tell us something? Cause we kinda got other shit to do besides twiddle our thumbs and wait."

Sitri furrowed her brow before an idea came to mind.

(Sitri) "We'll discuss it in the morning, but I will say this. From what I know how my son led House Isekai, it was not at the whims of the world leaders. It was a unanimous decision held by everyone in the House, and we'll be no different."

Everyone nodded in firm agreement.

(Rean) "Yeah, House Isekai worked for the better of everyone, not just one country."

(Sothis) "Well said." yawn

Sothis stretched her arms, eyes dropping low.

(Sothis) "Let's get some rest, yeah?"

...

[The Waking Sands - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn OST]

Opening the doors and getting the snow off their boots, the group finally made their way back to the Mcgrath manor.

In the living room sat the ODST's, Raelyn, and Duvalie who all gave them a nod of acknowledgement.

(Kazuma) "I'm going to take a shower then head to bed. I'll catch you guys in the morning for breakfast."

Kazuma said nothing else as he immediately speed walked to the bathrooms.

Towa failed to contain her yawn and smiled at the others.

(Towa) "I think I'll do the same. Goodnight everyone!"

(Aigis) "I must recharge as well. Goodbye."

(Rean) "See you tomorrow."

Sitri and Sothis were the ones left, as everyone else waved goodbye.

At least everyone except Romeo and Duvalie did.

(Sitri) "Are you all not resting yet?"

(Buck) "Cleaning our equipment ma'am, then it's back to our original plan."

(Raelyn) "I will sleep at a later time, I must perform my prayers for the night."

(Duvalie) "Do you even need sleep?"

(Raelyn) "I am human too, Duvalie."

(Dutch) "Heh, could've fooled me big guy."

(Romeo) "More like a gorilla in forty tons of metal."

(Mickey) "Needless to say, you don't need to worry about us."

(Sitri) "Before you leave tomorrow, will you accompany us to the castle for breakfast? I would like to discuss our next plans before we make any decision."

Buck stayed silent for a moment before looking to his squad.

(Buck) "What say you boys?"

(Dutch) "I ain't saying no to free food."

(Romeo) "Sure. Beats going out and freezing our asses any sooner."

(Mickey) "Never hurts to be prepared."

(Raelyn) "Agreed."

(Duvalie) "I guess I can hear you out."

Sitri smiled, as soon as she stepped to go upstairs, she turned around.

(Sitri) "Oh, before I go, Duvalie?"

Duvalie raised her head.

(Sitri) "I heard about the fight with the Separatist machine. Thank you so much for protecting the students, despite your troubles with them."

(Duvalie) "...I-It's no problem, Miss Sitri. It's my duty as a Knight to protect the people."

(Sitri) "Speaking of which, do you happen to know where the students are at right now?"

(Buck) "Think that kid, Recette, took 'em out to eat. Commercial quarter. They'll be back later tonight."

(Sitri) "Thank you. Good night, everyone."

Sitri waved goodbye and went up the stairs.

(Buck) "...What was that stutter? You don't hate her guts too?"

(Duvalie) "Hey, she's done nothing wrong this entire time she's been here."

(Romeo) "Then the hell did we do to you to get all up in our a-?"

(Duvalie) "Shut up and go back to cleaning, soldier boys."

(Dutch) "Heh. Sure thing, miss sunshine."

(Duvalie) "..."

(Raelyn) "Careful there, Duvalie. The vein on your forehead is threatening to burst."

...

[Night in the Brume - Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward OST]

The Garreg Mach students, Class VII, and Knights of Favonius walked together down the streets of Fhirdiad while Elizabeth led the group.

(Elizabeth) "..And this is the street my parents took me most frequently to when I was a child. We bought all manner of things ranging from clothes, food and the most delightful toys!"

(Recette) "Oooh, I wonder what they stock here!"

(Tear) "Some of these items would be great back home."

As Recette and Tear got into a conversation of their own discussing how much they could sell offworld items here, Kairos continued with Elizabeth.

(Kairos) "Let me guess, only the highest quality?"

(Elizabeth) "Of course! The dolls here were made of the finest cloth and looked absolutely adorable! Though I do admit my father spoiled me with dolls in particular."

Kairos rolled his eyes.

(Kairos) "Spoiled more ways than one.-"

Stefan hit Kairos with his elbows, glaring at him.

(Kairos) "Ow! Alright fine, guess I deserved that."

Elizabeth muttered to herself.

(Elizabeth) "Honestly, you deserve a little more than that-"

Helena hit Elizabeth's head with the side of her head.

(Elizabeth) "OW!"

(Helena) "Knock it off you two, you'll annoy the others. And more importantly, me."

(Astrid) "Oh boy here we go…"

The Knights of Favonius and Class VII chuckled seeing their banter.

(Musse) "I wonder if Instructor Rean and Towa had to deal with this kind of thing back then."

(Venti) "If Kazuma and his pals were there, its probably WAY worse than what we have going on."

(Kaeya) "I would have loved to see that."

(Amber) "I'm pretty sure you'd just add more fuel to the fire."

(Jean) "I sincerely doubt- Juna, are you alright?"

Everyone turned to Juna who was rubbing her hands together, trying to stay warm.

(Juna) "Huh? O-Oh, don't worry miss Jean. I'll be fine, I'm just still not used to how cold it is here!"

(Stefan) "Do you need a jacket? I can give you mine."

Juna raised an eyebrow as she eyed Stefan up and down.

He was still walking around in his armor. As far as she knew, no one had seen him without it yet.

At this rate she wasn't convinced Stefan even had a body.

Stefan's cleared his throat awkwardly as panic slowly began to rise.

(Stefan) "O-Oh, was it something I said?"

(Juna) "No, it's sweet of you to ask but…do you even wear anything beside your armor?"

(Diluc) "Come to think of it, I don't think we've ever seen you wear anything else."

(Astrid) "But you guys wear the same thing all the time too."

(Ash) "Well, duh. Not like we got a change of clothes lying around."

(Altina) "And your world does not possess any orbal washing machines to allow us to wear anything different."

(Elizabeth) "What?! You mean to tell me this entire time you've never washed your clothes?!"

Everyone looked at each other awkwardly.

Venti was the first to sniff his shirt.

(Venti) "It...could smell better."

(Elizabeth) "Goddess, how revolting! At least tell me you all have?!"'

She turned back to the Garreg Mach students.

(Kairos) "You realize that not everyone has access to clean water for washing clothes, right?"

(Helena) "I sure didn't when I was with my mercenary company."

(Astrid) "I don't think we did? Iunno."

(Stefan) "We used to but...-"

His face darkened, which led to Elizabeth looking ashamed for her outburst.

Kairos now looked even more annoyed, turning to her and crossing his arms.

(Kairos) "Are you trying to imply something about all of us here, Elizabeth?"

(Elizabeth) "M-My apologies. I did not mean for it that to come across that way. If you had simply asked I would have gathered the necessary funds for getting everyone a new shirt at least."

(Kairos) "...Oh."

Now it was Kairos who felt ashamed.

(Lisa) "Oh I know dear, why don't we all go shopping for new clothes? Everyone could look as elegant as you!"

And now Kairos's annoyance immediately sprung back.

(Kairos) "I refuse to get in some pompous suit that I can barely move in."

(Helena) "Seconded."

Elizabeth's face brightened again as a smug grin began to form.

(Elizabeth) "Don't be so dramatic you two! There are plenty of choice clothes for everyone to be satisfied with!"

(Juna) "Ooooh, I'm down for that! I bet we can get you something super cute, Altina!"

(Altina) "Danger detected. I need an Instructor-"

(Recette) "Don't worry, I AM an Instructor! And we are going to get you guys the best deal!"

Recette jumped back into the group's conversation with newfound determination.

(Recette) "Oh, and I also want candy while we're out too!"

(Musse) "Thank you for the offer Recette, but are you sure? I think we can pay ourselves-"

(Tear) "What currency do your groups use?"

(Ash) "Uh, Mira."

(Venti) "We use Mora."

(Tear) "Both invalid currencies in Fodlan. Worry not, we will be able to cover all expenses, while turning a profit by the end of today."

(Amber) "Wow, I bet they'd terrorize Liyue with confidence like that…"

(Elizabeth) "Then follow me, we're wasting our free time standing around!"

…

Sitri finished writing down what had transpired during their time in Fhirdiad into a notebook, closing it and resting her back against the bed.

(Sothis) "Done recording?"

(Sitri) "Yes, though there are a few things thats bothering me."

Sothis floated towards the bed and sat down in front of Sitri.

(Sitri) "We said we were not to kill anyone if we could, yet when we arrived, most of the Church Forces were killed by our friends downstairs."

(Sothis) "Hm…It's best if we keep that bit of information to ourselves. Your students are finally starting to warm up to everyone, the last thing we need is for them to be alienated further."

Sitri sighed. She couldn't disagree, but it didn't feel right not telling them.

Continuing on, she looked up the ceiling.

(Sitri) "Then there was that powerful Agarthan. You said he felt familiar, do you remember anything?"

(Sothis) "Nothing except the way I felt. It was anger, yet…sadness."

(Sitri) "For yourself?"

(Sothis) "For the Agarthan. I felt the same way about the last one we met too. He seemed familiar to me, yet everytime I try to recall, it's like a fog blocks out the most crucial details…"

Sitri put a finger to her chin.

(Sitri) "And we can't use the Tower to look that far into your memory."

(Sothis) "If we can, I'd like to meet this "C" person again. There's not many in Fodlan who can see me."

(Sitri) "That reminds me, how is it you're visible to the old students of Garreg Mach, yet completely invisible to everyone else?"

(Sothis) "From what I've been able to gather myself, it is directly linked to the Zanado Tower. Those who were most involved with Byleth, or in the case of the original House Isekai more magically attuned, could see me. I guess I should be grateful that those who can doubt I am actually their goddess."

Sothis sprawled out on the bed yawning.

(Sothis) "Count our blessings, for how little they are given the circumstances."

(Sitri) "Right."

Sitri looked at her bandaged arm and realized the blood still hadn't dried up.

(Sitri) "…"

(Sothis) "Sitri?"

Sothis got up and floated over to her arm, examining it.

(Sothis) "…So you have yet to recover again."

(Sitri) "Sothis, I AM alive, right?"

Sothis looked at her, and put her hand to her chest.

(Sothis) "Not in the traditional sense. You've no heartbeat…Exactly like Byleth."

(Sitri) "…I must make a call before we rest."

Getting up from her bed, she went over to the desk and grabbed her communication crystal.

After a few moments of silence, a voice picked up.

(Yuri's Voice) "Headmaster Eisner."

(Sitri) "Yuri."

(Yuri's Voice) "Hah, sorry. Can't resist. What do you need, Sitri?"

(Sitri) "We are about to return to Garreg Mach soon, but I would ask a favor of the Ashen Wolves."

…

[New Morning - The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III OST]

As promised, House Isekai made their way to the castle's dining hall where they enjoyed a hearty meal for their efforts in Fhirdiad the past few days.

And for the first time, the House could all be gathered under one roof just to relax.

(Venti) "Mmmm! This is so good!"

Venti gorged himself wildly on the the roasted boar that sat itself in the middle of the table, with a bottle of wine in one hand.

(Sitri) "Wow, you are very much enjoying the meal."

(Sothis) "A little too much, don't you think?"

(Diluc) "Some table manners wouldn't be remiss, Venti."

(Kaeya) "Oh lighten up. What's wrong with enjoying yourself?"

(Amber) "Honestly, I'm not super used to eating anything fancy."

(Elizabeth) "Should you so wish, I could teach you the proper way we ea-"

(Kazuma) "Bah, who needs it? You're with us, we don't gotta worry about any of that proper etiquette and shit."

Towa pouted as she turned to Kazuma.

(Towa) "Not in front of Recette!"

(Mercedes) "Hah, I'm not sure she's listening."

Recette was too engrossed by her meal as her plate was comically smaller than everyone else's, yet she was just as content.

(Tear) "She's not, thankfully."

(Kazuma) "See, just fine!-"

(Mercedes) "Kazuma?"

The tone she said his name had a chill run down all the staff's spine.

(Mercedes) "While I agree House Isekai does not need to follow protocol like the rest of Fodlan, might I please ask you think of the kids?"

(Rean) "Hah. Reminds me of Sharon."

(Kazuma) "Ugh, don't remind me of that she-devil, Schwarzer."

(Astrid) "Who's Sharon?"

(Altina) "She was a maid who helped out Rean, and from the sounds of it, House Isekai."

(Kurt) "Just how many of Instructor Rean's friends got involved here?"

(Kairos) "This is so confusing..."

(Helena) "So what makes her so terrifying Professor Kazuma is going to piss his pants?"

(Kazuma's Voice) "I HEARD THAT, HELENA!"

(Helena) "I know you did, sir."

The staff and Venti laughed while Kazuma looked angry.

(Musse) "Let's see, how do I put this? She's-"

(Juna) "A super maid who can make the impossible possible."

(Jean) "Hah, sounds like our Noelle."

(Diluc) "She still trying to bend over backwards to join the Knights?"

(Lisa) "Absolutely. Her dedication is very admirable."

(Stefan) "I understand how it feels wanting to become a Knight though. They were like heroes in my eyes as a kid."

(Kairos) "How about now then?"

Stefan, Kairos, Amber got into a conversation about Knights while Duvalie awkwardly moved over to Jean.

(Duvalie) "M-Master Jean, how have you been? Those kids haven't been causing too much headache, have they?"

(Jean) "Hm? Oh, they are not. If anything they remind me of the aspiring trainees back home. And speaking of which, it was very brave of you to block that shot for Kurt. I hope you weren't too hurt."

Duvalie waved her hand dismissively, though her face was getting a bit hot.

(Duvalie) "Weell, I don't want to brag but-"

The ODST's and Raelyn all stared at her with an eyebrow raised as she continued to speak with the Knights of Favonius.

(Buck) "Wow she really has a thing for those guys."

(Dutch) "Maybe cause they're both Knights or something?"

Romeo shrugged.

(Romeo) "Must be some code of chivalry or some bullshit."

(Raelyn) "Perhaps it'd be better if she spent time with them rather than your group."

(Mickey) "How about you then, Amuto? You seem content to just be in a corner all day."

(Raelyn) "When it is not time for my prayers, I believe it best for anyone not to-"

(Buck) "Now that is bullshit. If even Miss Sunshine over here is making friends, maybe you should befriend the kids too. We all saw how you handled those kids back at that fishing town."

Raelyn looked up in curiousity.

(Raelyn) "I do wonder what became of that child...Mila, was her name?"

As the ODST's and Raelyn spoke, Astrid looked at Aigis.

(Astrid) "Are you not eating, professor Aigis? There's nothing on your plate!"

(Aigis) "Oh, I am not hungry."

(Astrid) "What?! But breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"

(Aigis) "Er, allow me to correct myself. I do not eat."

(Astrid) "...B-But how?!"

(Elizabeth) "She means it literally dear. No offense when I say this, but she isn't human."

(Aigis) "None taken. It's true."

(Helena) "You wanna rephrase that?"

(Elizabeth) "Huh?"

Elizabeth's jaw dropped when she finally realized.

(Elizabeth) "Professor! I-I am so dreadfully sorry! I did not mean it-"

(Aigis) "Elizabeth it's fine, really. I am not human in a literal sense, and I know that's what you mean."

(Helena) "I don't know professor. I think she and Kairos still might hold a grud-"

(Elizabeth) "HELENA! STOP YOURSELF THIS INSTANT!"

Lisa pretended to be offended as she gasped dramatically and put a hand to her chest.

(Lisa) "I can't believe you cuties would hate me…"

Kairos was dragged out of the conversation when he heard Lisa.

(Kairos) "W-What?"

(Elizabeth) "Oh no no no! There's just a terrible misunderstanding!"

(Stefan) "Why do you two instantly respond to that name, she could be talking about anyone."

(Musse) "Yeah, especially Instructor R-"

Tear flew over to Musse before hitting her forehead with a spoon.

(Tear) "No teacher student relationships. Just because we operate outside the boundaries of normal schools DOES NOT mean we will degenerate into savages."

(Ash) "Wow, that's harsh."

(Kurt) "But necessary."

(Dutch) "So does she just always hit on him?"

(Juna) "Yup."

(Altina) "It is very disturbing."

(Sothis) "Speaking of operating outside: Sitri?"

Figuring that wasn't the worst segue they could have this morning, Sitri cleared her throat loudly to catch everyone's attention.

(Sitri) "I do not wish to damper the mood, but I wish to discuss our next actions as a group."

Everyone settled down and gave her their undivided attention.

Sothis crossed her arms mildly impressed. It seems she was finally getting used talking as a Headmaster.

(Sitri) "In the past, House Isekai has always acted unanimously, answering to only themselves.The past month, we have been only reacting to what's been happening to us instead of taking action ourselves."

She turned to the Garreg Mach students specifically.

(Sitri) "You five however have a choice."

They looked surprised.

(Sitri) "Though I have chosen you to become part of the House, I didn't consider even once if you wanted to. This is not what you signed up for when you joined the Officer's Academy. While my decisions are final as Headmaster, I am still your teacher first and foremost. Your safety is my upmost concern. If you wish to leave this class, then you are free to do so."

The five looked at each other, Kairos, Elizabeth, and Stefan looked the most nervous.

At first, everything they heard about House Isekai was always negative, thinking them out of touch killing machines who interfered in their world for no reason.

After the past month and seeing them risk life and limb for this world, one that's not even their home.

And this wasn't even the original members, though they knew they were off in other worlds they couldn't begin to comprehend, fighting for the sake of all their friends.

Nothing at all like the rumors and stories described them as.

(Helena) "I'm staying."

Everyone turned to Helena who had a look of indifference.

Though Elizabeth could tell it wasn't indifference by the way her brows were angled. It was determination.

(Helena) "Honestly? I have no idea what's going on and how you know much more about Fodlan than we do, but I want to know the truth. If you guys are saving my home and the place where my friends and family live, I can't turn away."

Astrid nodded and looked back to Sitri.

(Astrid) "My original goal was to become a Knight of Seiros when I wanted to join the Officer's Academy. But seeing the things I have, I'd be a disgrace to what they used to stand for if I shunned you guys and stayed ignorant."

(Kairos) "I admit, it was my ignorance that made me judge this group before even getting to know them. But these past few weeks have been eye opening, to say the least. While I can't deny my bias hasn't gone away entirely, I can see that Fodlan is as much House Isekai's home as it is ours."

(Stefan) "If anyone can bring back stability to Fodlan, heck it'd probably be you guys. Plus, I don't think I could live with myself if I left my friends in danger while I had the chance to protect them."

(Elizabeth) "I am in the same boat as Kairos. My lack of knowledge has been brought to the forefront travelling with you all. I want to know all I can about our world, and if it means going through the most taxing trials of my life? Then so be it."

The staff smiled with both relief and pride seeing the students' decision.

(Recette) "Yay! Then officially, welcome to the House!"

(Rean) "We're honored to have you join us."

(Juna) "Wait, why don't we get a choice?"

(Kazuma) "Yeah, those of you who travelled to this world are screwed. You're stuck with us."

(Duvalie) "I did NOT consent to being made a student."

(Buck) "Relax, he means for them."

(Jean) "We'd gladly welcome your groups to be with us as well."

(Duvalie) "Well, since you're inviting us-"

(Venti) "Wow, talk about a mood shift!"

(Sitri) "Welcome aboard. And now, as for our next decision…"

Everyone quieted down and listened to her once again.

(Sitri) "We have our allies investigating the Zanado Tower, and the Separatists. So that leaves us with Those Who Slither and the Church. Throughout our time, we have yet to actually investigate the Leicester Alliance and their supposed monster problem."

(Towa) "Do you think they're behind it?"

(Sitri) "We can't rule out the possibility. And if said monsters resembled the ones from the Knights of Favonius' world, we're the only ones who can take it down."

Everyone nodded.

(Sitri) "I propose instead of waiting around, we head there as soon as possible. It would give us time to investigate Separatists presence there as well. Does anyone oppose this plan?"

No one said anything.

(Sitri) "Then we have our next course of plan. We depart tonight at Nine."

Finishing their breakfast, everyone departed for the Manor to begin packing for the train ride there.

Sitri walked outside and took a deep breath of relief.

(Sitri) "That was nervewracking…"

(Sothis) "Hey, I think you killed it out there, miss headmaster."

(Sitri) "I sure hope I did. And I'm glad the students decided to stay."

(Sothis) "I feel like they'd be mad not to. Now come on, let's get the other staff so we can speak to Dedue."

...

[Where the Heart is - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn OST]

The next morning, everyone had gathered their belongings and prepared to set off.

Dimitri went to the station personally to see House Isekai off, along with Dedue and Annette.

(Dimitri) "Once again, I must thank you all for the much needed assistance you have brought us."

(Sitri) "Of course."

(Rean) "We'll always be glad to help out."

(Aigis) "I hope we can meet again under better circumstances."

(Kazuma) "Oh quit being so damn dramatic. We'll see him soon with all this bullshit goin' on."

(Annette) "Jeez, you still haven't changed have you?"

(Mercedes) "Don't worry, Annie. I'll make sure he's on his best behavior."

(Kazuma) "Yeah yeah, whatever."

As the staff continued speaking with Dimitri and Annette, Dedue looked over to the students.

(Dedue) "And you all have our gratitude for risking your lives for Faerghus."

(Elizabeth) "Anything for the nation, milord!"

Elizabeth properly bowed to him with all the grace of a noble.

Meanwhile, Kairos and Stefan gave a half bow, Astrid didn't get the memo until a few seconds later hastily bowing, while Helena just nodded.

(Kurt) "All in a day's work, honestly."

(Amber) "Huh, that reminds me. I wonder what Aether is doing..."

(Recette) "Hey guys, the train is ready to go!"

Everyone nodded and finally went into the train, waving goodbye to the three.

Dedue and Dimitri saluted while Annette excitedly waved goodbye.

The wheels began to move, shooting steam off into the air and shifting snow to the sides as it drove out of Faerghus.

...

Stefan stared at his communication crystal, debating whether or not to make another report to Valda.

Knock Knock Knock!

(Kairos' Voice) "Stefan? You coming out to eat?"

(Stefan) "Be out there in a minute!"

Sighing, he stuffed it under his pillow while he took off his armor and put it to the side.

Looking out the window as the snow rushed past, he had no idea what to think now.

House Isekai was not nearly as bad as the stories made them out to be.

In fact, he genuinely liked them, and his fellow Garreg Mach students.

And yet...

(Stefan) "..."

He walked away from his bed and followed Kairos to the next train car.

PART 12: ENDED

#House Isekai #House Isekai ARR #crossover #fanfic

3 notes · View notes

regrrex · 3 years

Text

allow me to preface this little post by saying that I will write a proper meta about the Edelgard vs. Doro’s Opera thing one day because there is a LOT to unpack here but in the spirit of my last ask reply I figured I might as well lay the groundwork. Allow me thus to... ramble a little.

Edelgard not wanting to hear anything about Dorothea’s Opera is a matter that pops up in their support chain & in their paired ending as well. Given how much emphasis is put on it & the fact that Edelgard did not allow Doro to stage her opera until deep into the post war era has various reasons, one of which I want to touch on in this little post (the rest will be explained in aforementioned, proper meta).

As minuscule as the whole Opera thing seems to be, it reveals a lot about Edelgard’s self-perception; she cannot, for the life of her, see herself or what she did as a truly good or pure thing even when she succeeds / manages to abolish the church, crest & nobility system. Until she abdicates, Edelgard is convinced that her achievements should not be praised; to El, what she did (read: the war & killing Rhea + Thales) was necessary, yes & she would do it time & time again as often as she has to because in the end, she paved the way for something glorious & great. That is the thing; SHE “ONLY” PAVED THE WAY. Edelgard never did anything she did for glory or because she wanted to go down in history as a revolutionary leader. No, she did all of this because she considered it her job, an obligation, almost. After all, she survived whereas all of her siblings died & that survival obviously was supposed to mean something; in fact, we see the exact same mindset represented by another character. Like Lysithea, Edelgard suffers from intense survivor’s guilt, like Lysithea she dedicated her life to something meaningful with no regard to how people or history would come to perceive her in the long run because... it simply did not matter to either (another future meta topic).

Even in Azure Moon & Silver Snow, where Edelgard fails her actions still lead to some form of gradual change; arguably not as “good” or definite as she wanted but she alters Fodlan’s structure nonetheless. && in a way, that is why Edelgard is content upon dying in either of those routes because at least she did “something” & did not waste her existence (which is also why she a) asks for execution in Silver Snow or b) provokes execution in Azure Moon; I will meta about this eventually). Her initial survival meant something. It achieved something. It is honestly tragic, really.

With that out of the way; to this end, because she knew she would potentially die / go down in history as a tyrant, Edelgard demonized herself. She painted herself as a villain from the moment she was coerced to masquerade as the Flame Emperor & never considered herself anything but. Her isolation & behavior in White Clouds is an example of her self-obloquy; she does not once consider that anyone would ever willingly side with someone as heinous as her & she has made her peace with it, too; she probably wrote farewell letters to her classmates & practiced parting speeches. In fact, Edelgard was visibly reserved, cold & aloof until she suddenly wasn’t anymore. Until she realized that suddenly people begun to care, begun to reach out their hands with two of the most striking being Dorothea & Byleth. She is visibly baffled by acts of kindness or genuine declarations of care & friendship because she never considered herself deserving or worthy of such.

“EDGE OF DAWN” (alt. Girl of Hresvelg) is LITERALLY a song about her realizing how much she loves living in Garreg Mach among those she learns to cherish & care for, while also knowing that all of this will collapse the second she reveals what she has done so far & what more she is about to do because who in their right mind would follow her into this hell?

Now, imagine having spent half your life demonizing yourself to such a massive degree, deliberately reminding yourself time & time again of every heinous thing you are doing / what you are about to do, knowing far too well how much death / destruction you will bring & that you will literally plunge an entire continent with hundreds of people into chaos. Imagine being more than self-aware of all the horrors you will inflict upon the very people you want to protect so desperately because there is no other way around this whole thing (the war cannot be averted, Thales has already told you that much; why, you have literally been “created” to wage war on your abuser’s behalf).

Now imagine someone approaching you during the timeskip & being like "hey I wanna glorify your harrowing & horrendous story of violence & bloodshed in a heroic, war/ all-romanticizing opera".

As much as she loves Dorothea, Edelgard is 100% self-aware of what she has done & feels guilt because of it; she did what she did so whoever comes after her does not have to & she will never consider herself a hero in any shape or form; it is why Dorothea’s opera causes her so much distress & why it will take her a long, long time to eventually accept it / see it in person.

#.character: edelgard #status: unpublished

149 notes · View notes

kisant · 2 years

Text

So, I’m planning on doing a simultaneous Crimson Flower / Silver Snow split route in which I’m going to divide the recruits between the two routes. Aka, I’m not going to recruit a character for CF if I plan on recruiting them on SS and vice versa.

I’ve divided them according to personal headcanon reasons, what I think would be thematically interesting/fitting, and what I think would make playing through the routes more fun. This is not meant to be a “THIS CHARACTER WOULD ALWAYS CHOOSE EDELGARD AND NEVER CHOOSE RHEA” or vice versa.

I’m also going to be playing M!Byleth for the empire route, because my first CF was with female Byleth, and F!Byleth for Silver Snow, in order to really go for the “reincarnation/second coming of Sothis” angle. And regarding my Byleths’ potential S-Supports, I think for CF it’s going to be a battle between Edelgard (whom I already romanced as F!Byleth in my original CF run, and I’m weak to OTPs), Dorothea and Jeritza. While my main options for the SS route would be Seteth, Rhea or Yuri.

So these are my picks

So Blue Lions:

For the Empire, I’m picking Mercedes for the Jeritza supports, Ashe so that he can avenge his adoptive family and village, and Sylvain because he’s already very anti-crest system.

And I’m going with Felix, Ingrid and Annette for the Church. Felix, because CF flower Dimitri is the one I can see him tolerating best, Ingrid so that she can live her perfect knighthood dreams, and Annette so that she can reconnect with her father.

The Deer:

For the empire, Lysithea and Lorenz were obvious pick. And I chose Empire Marianne because her relationship with religion is INCREDIBLY UNHEALTHY and choosing Edelgard’s side at the Holy Tomb is a good way for her to start realizing that she isn’t actually cursed at all, that the church has been lying to her, and that the “goddess” isn’t actually compelling her to die.

For the Church, Hilda for obvious reasons, Leonie because she always saw Byleth as a rival and she’d be angry at them apparently “siding” with Jeralt’s killers, Ignatz because he’s both religious and pretty unaffected by the crest system, and Raphael would simply follow Ignatz and and defend the Alliance.

The Garreg Mach characters:

For the Empire, I like Empire Shamir escaping Rhea’s attempt to indebt her to the Church for life, Alois sides with Empire!Byleth for Jeralt, Hanneman wants to abolish crests and help those who have been hurt by them, and Manuela fits better in this group than with the ones that I left for SS. She also gives a very interesting perspective when recruited for CF and has supports with Edelgard.

For the Church, Seteth, Flayn and Catherine are SS only, and Gilbert is an obvious pick for silver snow due to his issues and the fact that I’ve already decided to place Annette in this route.

And finally, the wolves. Hapi was obviously going to be Empire (she is very anti-church) and Balthus was just as obviously going to be church (pro church and pro Alliance). Constance fits better in Empire, to restore her House and because she has supports with Edelgard. And I actually think Yuri could have worked really well for CF thematically speaking (because it’s all about uplifting the commoners and taking down the nobles, the church and the crest system), but I didn’t want Balthus to be all alone in SS. So now Yuri gets to try to reform the system from the inside instead of tearing it down alongside Edelgard. Sorry, Yuri.

#fire emblem three houses #crimson flower #silver snow #kisant liveblogs three houses #crimson vs silver playthrough

8 notes · View notes

fuwametal-writes · 3 years

Text

Edelgard Working Together with TWSITD Makes Zero Sense

I wouldn't qualify people suffering because of their Crests under the Crest system of nobility as the same thing as suffering under the rule of the Church of Seiros. This is the very reason why I honestly believe that none of Edelgard's actions in terms of conspiring together with TWSITD make sense.

She suffered under the Crest system of nobility and was experimented upon by Those Who Slither in the Dark because the Crest system of nobility allowed cracks and gaps to manifest within Fodlan society where TWSITD were able to thrive, but she never came into contact with the Central Church which Rhea leads until she entered into the Officer's Academy.

For a majority of her life, Rhea and the Church of Seiros were non-entities that were not responsible for any of the tragedies that befell her, and while, through logical thought, one might be able to identify the Church's maintenance of its doctrines as the force responsible for keeping the Crest system alive as the status quo, which in turn created the cracks in society where TWSITD were able to thrive and gain influence from, that still does not mean that they were the parties directly responsible for the suffering that Edelgard has experienced. It thus seems strange for the Adrestian Princess to pin the Church as the party ultimately responsible for her suffering and come to the conclusion that she must first defeat the Church working together with TWSITD, or in other words, her oppressors before dispatching of her oppressors... somehow... later on.

Even if the actions of the Church were responsible for creating the butterfly effect that would eventually lead to her torture, her siblings' deaths, and the downfall of her father's dynasty, it's just strange that even when those who are directly responsible for these atrocities are staring her straight in the face, she still seems to believe that all of these are the ultimate responsibility of the Church, and not as the further result of an even longer-standing conflict caused by none other than those who seem to have no trouble hiding their millennia-old vendetta against the Church.

It is so incongruous for Edelgard to not see how it would be much easier and much more sensible to purge those who slither from the cracks of Fodlan society with the help of the Church and then fill in those cracks with reform so that they can no longer resurface when we know how meticulous and brilliant she is, and especially when we know that she is a mere few steps away from unlocking the truth that Thales and his dead-eyed cronies are pulling a fast one on her. We'll discuss more of that later.

We see over and over again over the course of the story without it ever being shown to us or told explicitly that TWSITD were pulling the strings behind all of the conspiratorial happenings in Fodlan through the underbelly of corruption that has festered over the course of centuries of the Crest system of nobility being in place. This system was created through the influence of the Church in order to establish order following the War of Heroes, but by and large, a lot of the suffering caused by the Crest system is not caused or meted out by the Church, but by those who hold positions of power within the system - people like the nobles of the Insurrection of the Seven who were seduced by the wiles of TWSITD who promised them greater power within the system through their strange means. When we consider this angle, we see that really, Edelgard's anger at the Crest system of nobility is justified, but that her anger at the Church is (and this is important) not wrong, but misguided. I'll explain why.

Rhea formally instituted the Crest system as a way to fill the power vacuum in Fodlan and prevent the continent from falling into chaos again following her victory against Nemesis and the Ten Elites, but remember that the system of ruling over the masses with the power of Crests was not created by Rhea, but by the Agarthans who used Nemesis as a tool to enact genocide upon the Nabateans.

Remember that it was the Agarthans who guided Nemesis and his band of bandits to pillage Sothis's body for the purpose of obtaining the Crest of Flames and the Sword of the Creator, which they then used to wipe out the Nabateans, drink their blood and take their bones, from which they obtained more Crests and Relics with which they could rule tyrannically over the people of Fodlan. With the end of the War of Heroes, Seiros had the opportunity to reveal the truth and abolish the Crest system of power that existed within Fodlan entirely, but she was not in a state of mind to do so, grief-stricken by the death of her mother and the genocide of her kin.

In a cruel, twisted kind of way, the blood running through the veins of her kin's killers and the weapons they fashioned out of the bones of the people that she loved were the only reminders of her family that existed. Therefore, I believe that her decision to instate the Crest system of nobility as the official system of governance in Adrestia through her influence as the head of the Church was motivated by her desire to preserve the vestiges of her kin's memory. To ensure that they don't simply fade into obscurity, and to be able to keep them close to her in a way - even if it is twisted.

I don't know what kind of manipulation Edelgard had to have gone through for her to come to the conclusion that the most effective way to topple TWSITD and their influence over Fodlan was to first eliminate the Church rather than work with them to topple TWSITD and then work with them to enact systemic changes to the way that Church and State interact within the continent to ensure that no one suffers under the dated Crest system (and also possibly go through dialogue to slowly bring to light Fodlan's true history - because obviously, none of that surfaces in the ending of Crimson Flower either).

Edelgard had part of the real history, but clearly, TWSITD cherry-picked the most convenient parts of that history to show Edelgard while obscuring the most inconvenient parts to her such that she would cultivate a vendetta against the Church as the perpetrator behind all suffering in Fodlan when TWSITD are the ones who are truly causing suffering by manipulating local nobles and satellite Church leaders to cause unrest and instability.

Does that justify Rhea's swift execution of heretics? No, of course not, but if Edelgard weren't already so set on her ways in the beginning of the game, she might have been able to gauge by Rhea's reaction to the appearance of the strange mages that she conspired with as the Flame Emperor in the Monastery that the Church was diametrically opposed to the very people that she was conspiring with in the first place for reasons incongruous with what Thales has led her to believe, and that maybe, her anger was misguided... and that she was taking a very, very roundabout way to achieving her goals that would not bear her the full truth of the matter... and maybe even that the Church would gladly help in the purge of TWSITD.

Not that that matters because she wrongly believes that she already has all the answers in her hands, which we know is untrue when we learn the whole truth from Rhea's own mouth in Verdant Wind. TWSITD played Edelgard like a fiddle. They had two main goals, 1) to destroy the Church to exact revenge on Seiros, and 2) to rule the world, and they were able to exploit Edelgard's anger and her ideals as a means to the first one.

This all makes even less sense when you consider that in order for all of this to have come to pass, Edelgard would have had to trust the words of her abusers fully and take their word for what the true history of Fodlan really is... What reason would she have to believe everything that TWSITD had to say about Fodlan's history is true when 1) they were the ones who experimented on her and implanted the Fire Emblem into her, 2) are not working with her in good faith, and 3) it is clear that they are also in the business of hiding even more information from her?

In fact, what reason would she even have to believe everything she said in her speech, particularly these two lines: "The leaders of the church have misused its creed to fulfill their true desire - to rule the world," and "They gathered gold and lived in extravagance," when it would have been plain to her from her months in the Monastery that 1) the Church is largely uninterested in interfering with Empire, Kingdom or Alliance politics except when heresy against the Church is directly involved or in preserving peace from petty bandits where nobles request their aid, 2) she would have seen how far removed from extravagance lifestyle at the Monastery was, and most importantly, 3) she came into contact and interacted with so many students and just... people in general who would have challenged and even shaken those beliefs?

Let's not even stray from point 1 in the previous question that I posed. As I've already said before, her suffering was never directly at the hands of the Central Church because as we see in the game, the Central Church has little influence over the Empire where the Western Church has more influence and because the Empire, unlike the Kingdom and the Alliance, has its very own Ministry of Religion. Even the game's narrative betrays any reason that Edelgard might have had to bear a grudge against the Church in particular and work with the very clearly evil group of shadowy figures because the game goes out of its way to remind us over and over again that the Church has had very little influence over the Empire's religious affairs in recent years - which has led to the rise of heresy within the Western Church, which, since Edelgard was working as the Flame Emperor, she should have known was also the handiwork of TWSITD.

She should have known from spending time in the Monastery that Rhea was less concerned about the loss of influence in the Empire preventing her from levying Church taxes on the Empire and more concerned about the actual heresy against their doctrines that they were committing. More damningly, she should have known that this concern of Rhea to protect the doctrine of the Church was not about maintaining the status quo of the Crest system because what the Western Church was preaching did not undermine the doctrine that Crests and Relics were Sothis's blessings and thus did not jeopardize the Crest system that revered Sothis as Goddess, but rather about maintaining her legitimacy as Archbishop of the Church such that Fodlan could have a unified faith among other reasons that she may have but is not forthright about, as she may have learned if she had taken the time to earn Rhea's trust and learn layers deeper into the truth.

As players, we do know that beyond maintaining her legitimacy as Archbishop, Rhea wanted the people to have a common faith in Sothis because she is still grieving the death of her mother, and that over the centuries, she has almost somehow deluded herself into believing the faith of her own making.

So then, was she fighting for religious freedom? No, because she didn't give a damn about the Western Church either, and because what the Western Church was teaching wasn't reflective of the true history that she apparently wants to bring to light... but never does in the end.

And now, the final nail in the coffin.

The people that Edelgard came into contact with in the Monastery. Let us talk about Marianne and Lysithea, yes?

Marianne bears the Crest of the Beast, and because of that, is visibly disturbed by any discussion of Crests. She has suffered much because of the Crest system and the prying eyes that look on at her and cast suspicion on her. While Edelgard and Marianne do not have supports, surely, she would have seen how Marianne would have reacted to the mere mention of a Crest, and yet all the same, she would have seen how she chooses to believe in the Goddess anyway, and how she did not begrudge the Church, even when it would be very easy to do so as the Church is, after all, responsible for teaching the doctrines that uphold the Crest system. Would this not have cast doubts on the beliefs that she held about the supposed injustice of the Church?

But I concede that Edelgard may not have been paying much attention to Marianne. They barely know each other, after all. It's a shame we don't have someone who experienced basically the exact same thing as her yet didn't begrudge the Church as the reason for her suff-

Wait a minute.

Lysithea von Ordelia. Here is a student that she knows was also experimented upon in the same manner as she was, and yet, she does not begrudge the Church in the same way that she does. Their support conversations are quite heavy, Edelgard trying to reach out to Lysithea as kindred spirits who know exactly how the other feels, and we learn that Lysithea does believe the Crest system and the obsession with the power of the Crests to have been responsible for her and her parents' suffering, but she doesn't speak a lick about the Church. Not to Edelgard, not to Claude, not to Byleth. Why? Because Lysithea has elected that the Church itself was not responsible for her suffering. Plain and simple. It would have been just as easy for Lysithea to also believe that because the Church was the entity responsible for putting the Crest system into place, that they are also ultimately the ones responsible for her suffering just as Edelgard believes... but she doesn't. Would this not have at least made Edelgard question her beliefs even just a bit? Seriously.

And to speak of commonfolk around the Monastery, what does she make of the orphans that the Church takes in? And all of the devotees that the Church extends its mercy and aid to? What did she make of the fact that following Remire, the Monastery took in its orphans and its survivors? Seriously.

What of the Almyran boy that Rhea treats equitably just like any Fodlani person that she holds audience for? What of Cyril? Does she see Rhea's kindness to the boy and how this boy is grateful for saving her from a life of indentured servitude and think that it is insincere?

Would any of these encounters with the people in the Monastery not have allowed her even a little leeway to question her alliance with TWSITD?

Don't you think that it would make more sense for Edelgard to also be mistrustful of TWSITD enough to want to learn more about the Church and the history that underlies them to verify the veracity of her cause before deciding who to confide her motivations in fully, acting as a double agent with the side that wins her over with the truth to win peace and carve out her destiny in her own terms, free from the shackles of those who would keep her in line for their own ends?

It just seems so asinine to me to see Edelgard playing right into TWSITD's hands and it frustrates me to no end seeing how IntSys made such a chump of Edelgard when she's such a good character. I will never let IntSys live this down. Edelgard working with TWSITD makes zero sense. Try as you might to change my mind as to why Edelgard siding with TWSITD and declaring war on the Church was necessary, but know that if you do, I have barely even scratched the surface and I will have an answer ready for you. It's sloppy writing on IntSys's part and Edelgard deserves better.

#fe3h #fe16 #fe3h edelgard #edelgard deserves better #fe3h rhea #rhea also deserves better #why do the lords of fe3h have so many trust issues #this could have all been avoided if they had just sat down to talk #edelgard critical #edelgard discourse

51 notes · View notes

gascon-en-exil · 4 years

Note

I suppose you can call me "villain Dimitri anon" now, but I actively dislike Azure Moon for the narrative perks that you and other fans insist it has, but I can't see. What back and forth does Dimitri have with his retainers that aren't confined to supports? There's just Gilbert, Rodrigue, and Byleth ignoring the one-eyed elephant in the room.(1/2)

What support network does Dimitri have? A bunch of badly abused subjects at the end of their rope who don't have the guts to abandon him or give him a wake up call. Dimitri's redemption in the rain makes zero sense as the scene progresses, and outside of some lip service in a support, he's so cured of any trauma that not even getting the truth about Duscur fazes him. What's worse, this redemption is the main idea of the route. (2/3 now)

The back and forth is in reference to how the army in AM feels directionless and disagrees on whether they should liberate the Kingdom or rescue Rhea first. This gets references both in story cutscenes and in the exploration of dialogue of numerous characters, heavily reinforced by many of these same characters remarking on how off-putting Dimitri’s behavior is. This stands in contrast to CF never questioning Edelgard’s actions even as they’re far more systemically terrible with the work of Hubert and the Agarthans behind the scenes; even VW offers a number of scenes and exploration content of characters questioning and critiquing Claude’s actions. Felix’s mini-arc outside his support line with Dimitri is the clearest example, because he’s the loudest voice of opposition and because if you trigger their supports some of the dialogue changes to reflect that, while Rodrigue plays a predictable but workable role as the doomed mentor figure whose death forces Dimitri to confront how his obsession with revenge is hurting the people he loves. This is all unfortunately somewhat undermined by Byleth’s presence and the need for self-insert romance, with them supplanting Dimitri’s established support network and worst of all leading to Dedue being killed off by default and then never re-integrated properly into the story lest his intimacy with Dimitri pose an obstacle to the expected lord/Avatar romance (that can’t even be pushed in the same way that Edeleth can in all routes, incidentally, because Dimitri can’t S rank m!Byleth). This is a genuine problem in AM, but curiously it’s one that I see brought up almost exclusively by fans of Dimitri and his route rather than those who hate AM and/or rail against Dimidue as an allegedly racist pairing.

None of the other Blue Lions gets a single meaningful word in in the main story cutscenes. You can get some character development for Ingrid, Sylvain, and Felix in monastery dialogue and DImitri's supports and that's it. Not to mention, gameplay-wise, dealing with Dimitri is just no fun, and there's no choice to get fed up and leave. With all of Crimson Flower's problems, at least you had to actively choose to go on that route. (3/4 now)

I wouldn’t say that’s all that different from how the other routes handle their chorus of minor characters, especially CF which again minimizes any sort of friction the Eagles might have with Edelgard even when she’s outright lying to them. There’s a reason that SS is sometimes cited as a better characterization showcase for the Eagles other than Edelgard and Hubert, particularly for Ferdinand who actually gets to be the contrarian #3 on that route. Gameplay is more subjective, although I’d rank being unable to instruct Dimitri or have him engage in monastery activities for four calendar months is more than offset by CF being exactly that many months shorter than AM or VW. Also, in terms of building characters Gilbert is far, far less of a pain in the ass than Jeritza, and I say that as someone who’s painstakingly gotten every character in the game to all ranks at S+ and all classes mastered over many NG+ runs. Having to pick CF is also an inconvenience that screws with the flow of Chapter 11 since you need to waste a battle weekend going to Edelgard’s coronation lest you miss out on instruction weeks or later weekends doing it at the start of the month. It’s kind of a moot point to argue about this anyway as the Deer have it the best when it comes to unit development, with neither of these restrictions as well as the longest route and no Part 2 exclusive to worry over.

Crimson Flower had a "big picture" war story, Verdant Wind had good character balance and exposed the truth about the player character. Azure Moon was just all DImitri. Not to mention, my own political philosophy and real-world history interests make me biased against Dimiri and his stance. (And no, I'm no fan of dictators, just not of a fan of Fearghus-style feudalism) (4/5)

I do like redemption stories. But I've seen them done better elsewhere. Dimitri's character is interesting, but his route isn't. All routes on Three Houses have problems that I nitpick about, but as thing stand, I can support Claude and Edelgard in achieving their ideals, i cannot in good conscience support Dimitri as king. Nurse him back to sanity, maybe, but put him in charge of other people's lives? No. (end)

Eh, SS is the route you’re looking for if you want the full story of Byleth’s origins and their connection to Rhea; VW’s endgame exposition dump is more about the true origin of Crests and Relics and general worldbuilding which is why I’d call it the big picture route over CF which kicks one of its major antagonists to an offscreen postgame. I also question why you single out the quasi-feudalism of Faerghus when that’s the established standard for all of FE and for most of the fantasy genre overall. Fire Emblem is notoriously reactionary when it comes to its politics, such that Dimitri’s solo ending suggesting the beginning of a participatory government might be the single most concrete move toward democracy of any lord in the series. Even as tiny a step as that is it’s more than can be said for Edelgard not delivering on her rhetoric of abolishing the nobility and...whatever she plans for the church (since she vacillates on whether she’s fine with the Seiros faith but only takes issue with the church or whether she thinks humanity has no need for gods, and the only CF ending that re-establishes the church has it run by the state which is some prime dystopian stuff). Claude similarly suffers in that his plans remain ongoing at the end of VW and lack any concrete shape beyond opening the borders and forcing people of different nations and cultures to interact and get along - a well-intended idea, but not one that will lead to serious change without a lot of work and oversight.

Dimitri lacks such grandiose ambitions, and once he’s moved beyond his need for revenge his goals center around alleviating the suffering of the Kingdom and of his loved ones, but on a meta level that’s kind of all he needs to do. One of the reasons that AM’s story structure is more coherent and well-paced than that of the other routes is that it’s extremely well-trod ground for IS: “blue lord takes back invaded homeland from red emperor with the Power of Friendship” is the standard FE plot going back all the way to Marth, and Dimitri’s biggest deviation from that model is the somewhat realistic depiction of his struggles with mental illness. That’s probably why many longtime veterans of the series favor AM, because we know it’s the type of narrative IS excels at and we’re not expecting anything more politically revolutionary. Hell, the proto-democratic ending was as unexpected to me as Dimitri’s strong queer notes...which is why I prefer him over the other two incidentally, not because of his politics which are just fantasy boilerplate of a good king being restored to his throne, and there was much rejoicing, etc. There are gender-based readings of AM that I and others have made, not to mention people who enjoy the homoromantic push and pull of Dedue and Felix on Dimitri and how those relationships develop against one another, and I think it’s telling that those unconventional analyses of Three Houses’s most typical lord and most typical route are still more plausible than all the additional motivation and setup you’d have to throw in to make Dimitri a proper villain, or even just an antagonist for the length of more than one chapter.

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd #Azure Moon

65 notes · View notes

arkus-rhapsode · 5 years

Text

My Thoughts on Edelgard and FE3H’s portrayal of perception vs previous installments

So this is a post I wanted to write after seeing FE3H to the end in all forms (and fair warning it may be a bit rambley). In short, FE3H is one of, if not, the best FE game in my opinion. And something that it delivered in spades was three-dimensional characters. No one is perfect and all have another side to them that greatly adds depth beyond that of previous games.

Now, that said, there has been some discourse regarding the character of Edelgard. I’m writing this under the assumption that those have actually played the game, but for all those who haven’t played this game SPOILERS.

I’ve wanted to talk about Edelgard for awhile after watching her in each route. And the more I saw of the bigger picture, the more nuanced and poetic her character seemed. However it also tied in with something that I also found needed to be discussed and that is how FE’s perspective of reforming social systems around religion have changed

If you want me to be up front with my personal feelings of Edelgard, she is fantastic. She is one of the most complex characters the series has turned out and truly can make a case for her goals, antagonistic as they may seem. We understand the why to Edelgard more than any other antagonistic force in the series. That she is a person who made decision that brought her to this point. Unlike say, Hardin who had the Dark Orb that just amplified his negative emotions or Validar who believes in predestination, we see the logic behind every step she’s taken. In fact I found myself seeing her as similar to Alexander the Great to an extent.

Now, that said, I do not agree to answer to peace. I firmly reject the concept of unification through conquest. To me that is not true peace, and violated other beliefs and lifestyles to enforce your reform. In all honesty, I embrace Claude’s answer of free thought. The people of Fodlan should have the true history and then make their decision based on that. But, I see where Edelgard comes from in thinking that is the right steps to take.

She wants to drastically reform society and free it from all the horrible things crests have done and what the Church of Seiros has done to further that. And when that ideology encompasses all of Fodlan, war was her answer to solving it.

I found it interesting that this is the direction the story of Three Houses decided to take. As before this was FE Echoes, where the journey of Alm and Celica ultimately involves them liberating the world from the influences of gods. Unfying their land in a shared idea of humans realizing their best.

However, that story is much more easier than FE3H. In Echoes, Duma and Mila took active roles in influencing humanity. Duma’s teaching’s resulted in humans in humans losing a sense of empathy while Mila’s influence led to them inhibiting themselves and the privileged to grow greedier.

So when and Alm and Celica are smashing down those ideologies, it feels less like a battle of belief and the rejection of some greater force’s influence. But Sothis doesn’t take and active role. Seiros/Rhea is not a god (though she does possess immense power) rather they instead create a church around her beliefs that were meant to quell human impulses like that of the Agarthan.

And while the church is guilty of distorting history it is not fully absolute. Things like mercenaries are capable of existing with Jeralt only being reinstated due to previous connections. As well as people like Archenon, who clearly are using their wealth for petty reasons. It is only those who challenge the beliefs of Seiros are seen a swift end. Gerrag Mach highlights this as it has brought together many people from all across Fodlan. Even in an era where the church encompasses the entire continent, people are still capable of, well being people and not spouting theocratic rhetoric that’s been beaten into them. Unlike Rigel, a nation that thanks to Duma seems to lack the basic emotion of empathy. The church is not clean though, as it’s most damning things done by the church is elevating crests as seen as goddess blessings to the point people will do awful things for them or are obsessed with having them for themselves and the alteration of history.

The game of FE3H brings up a lot things like perception. Going back to my comparison of Alm, Echoes from his perspective makes it seem like this growing influence and reform is a good thing. The hero is bringing liberation to Valentia. But now compare that to Alm’s descendant Walhart and how his reform of Valm is portrayed.

We see this from the perspective of those being conquered like Say’ri. and those of Ylisse who are trying to avoid invasion. Walhart is seen as a dangerous force, even though in his great grandfather’s time, it was considered heroic. That is because in Awakening, gods like Naga are more distinctly benevolent. And someone who seeks to rid Ylisse of them, would clearly enter villainous as we know all the good godly influence like Naga and the Exalt has brought.

Why did that change? And what does it have to do with Edelgard? Well perspective matters when dealing with Edelgard. When you side with her, you are helping her make a new world. In a sense it feels like what you did with Alm, that this peace is for the greater good even if we must kill to achieve it.

But if you side against her, (and also somewhat depending on the route) she is seen as a conquering force that is forcibly trying to unify the continent. And unlike Echoes or Awakening, there is no higher power in this one that you can point and say is calling the shots.

This war is one of ideology and the winner gets to claim what is right. It’s not a battle of gods, but people. Those who slither in dark definitely have incited certain events, but at the end each route, Edelgard does not regress and say “I was being manipulated!” No she owns it. Everything she did was because she believed it was right and we understood it. Even if some of her own perception such as who’s more to blame for the experiments she suffered, the Church for altering history and glorifying something awful like crests or those who slither in the dark who’s ancestor’s are responsible for them in the first place.

No matter what route, Edelgard as a narrative force is flawed. Not flawed as poor writing like Garon, but as a person she has flaws. Its easy to see her point while rejecting it.

Its easy to see what crests do with people like Miklan, rejected because he lacks a crest, to Ingrid’s suitor who sees a crest as more important than the person its bound to. Its easy to see this and say there needs to be a factory reset. But then you see people like Sylvain and Lysithea (assuming Byleth didn’t recruit them), who has suffered because of crests and their intents on fixing the injustices are smaller and not nearly turbulent as causing a war.

Its also easy to hear the true history and see how maybe if Edelgard abolishes the crest system would lead to a better tomorrow, but that denial of what Seiros taught could give rise to another Agartha. But one could say that human progress is natural and that we must be able to progress for both the good and bad that comes with it.

So maybe Edelgard’s peace is only temporary and it lasts a few ages before New Adrestia divides into more smaller countries, but so what? That’s the cycle of progress. Oceans rise and empires fall.

But then you turn around and say “but she still wants Byleth by her side, which is basically the reincarnated goddess, to guide her. Isn’t that basically having holier than thou influence except you don’t call it god, you call it professor?” And to that I say look at her best possible ending.

Factoring in the best possible ending for Edelgard and where she wins and then waits for abolishment to happen and for tensions to cool, she also chooses to leave the throne while appointing someone who will carry on her idea of peace for the next age. She is not bent on being a monarch. She doesn’t want to be like Walhart who conquered with the intend of ruling. It shows that even if she wins, she is more deep than just conquest.

As said previously, I reject Edelgard’s answer to reform. Seiros is not perfect, but the cost of Edelgrd’s reform is not worth it. But I understand her. I understand her more than just being an evil ruler who conquers for the sake of godhood or dragons or some shit. Edelgard’s story is human, tragic, and a matter of perspective.

Well hope you enjoyed this long winded rambling fest.

733 notes · View notes

narutsuart · 5 years

Text

Edelgard’s backstory and why she blames Crests/Church(Spoilers Obviously):

So I’ve noticed that some people were a bit confused about El’s backstory and why she’d ultimately blame the church for her tragedy and the state of the world. Understandably so, because as much as I love this game they don’t do a great job in explaining it outright. That being said there is enough lore and suplimentary lore, to read in between the lines.

Note: this is NOT a write up on whether she’s right or wrong, it’s purpose is simply to clear up some muddy details in the lore and help explain Edelgard’s motivation and perspective.

Ok so here’s where actual spoilers roll in...

Insurrection of the Seven and the Tragedy of Enbarr:

Those who have played Black Eagles route will know that Edelgard’s tragic past involved the experimentation of her and her 10 siblings. In her C+ support with Byleth she says that the one responsible was the prime minister Duke Aegir, (Ferdinand’s father). Now anyone that was paying attention will know that Thales and those who slither in the dark were the ones that performed the experimentation on Edelgard. When we see the Flame Emperor(later revealed as Edelgard), and Thales speaking, he calls the Flame Emperor “their greatest weapon” and mentions imbuing the Flame Emperor with the blood of the “defiled beast” aka the goddess. Then we get confirmation in the part two: Crimson Flower from Hubert they are indeed responsible for the expiramentation. So did she lie about the prime minister?

Well no, not quite, you see in part one of Black Eagles Edelgard hints her true intentions several times in the story because more than anything she wants her allies and professor to walk her path with her. Of course she has to worry about blowing her cover so she did have to resort to half truths throughout part one. While it’s true that she and her family were experimented on by Thales(the leader of those who slither in the dark), in order to endow them with the Crest of Flames and in-turn become a powerful weapon. It’s exactly as Edelgard says it was ultimately the “prime minister and his gaggle of nobles” that allowed for her to do so. When Thales conducted the expiraments on Edelgard it was when he was under the guise of Volkhard von Arundel, brother of Edelgard’s mother Patricia von Arundel. Due to Patricia being wed to Emperor Ionius IX( Edelgard’s father) Volkhard was granted power as well as the title of lord. He comes to simply be known as “Lord Arundel”. With Volkhard’s new station and power he was able to play a big role in instigating an event known as the “lnsurrection of the Seven”. A soft coup that occurred within the Adrestian Empire in Imperial Year 1171. Duke Aegir, backed by a cadre of other corrupt imperial nobles. The nobles being: Count Bergliez, Duke Girth, Count Hevring, Count Varley, Marquise Vestra, and of course Volkhard von Arundel. They in-turned stripped Emperor Ionius IX of much of his power, relegating him to a mere figurehead while Duke Aegir became the true authority behind the throne. Remember that Thales under the guise of Volkhard von Arundel and used his position to manipulate the prime minister and the other nobles into the experimentation on the Hresevelg royal family as well as various other unsuspecting victims( Lysithea and her family) in order create “a powerful heir for the Empire” (while Thales real objective is to make a champion to destroy the church and children of the goddess.) All of the expiramentation was conducted in secret, implied to be imprisoned underneath the castle grounds of the Adrestian Empire.

Important Note: I want to clarify the expiramentation does not take place in Shambhala it’s heavily implied Edelgard has never been to Shambhala and seen those who slither in the dark at large. We know this because in Hubert’s posthumous note sharing the directions to Shambhala, says he was only able to detect it’s location due the Javelins of Light. The reason why those who slither in the dark use them sparingly is because they can be traced back to their domain.

The reasons why this all comes back to Rhea/Seiros and the church is because had she not lied about the true nature of the Crests, Saints and Elites and created an elitist nobility system where those without crests are screwed, and those with them rise to power, then Fodlan wouldn’t be led by a bunch of corrupt power hungry nobles who seek to further their power by any means necessary. You see regardless of intentions Seiros essentially creates a rift in society, by saying the Crests are a gift of the goddess passed down through nobility she allows the nobility of Fódlan to develop an abnormal sense entitlement as they believe their Crests are blessings from goddess herself. This system is what allowed corrupt nobles like Duke Aegir to rise to power, and ultimately diminish Ionius’s power making him helpless to stop the experimentation and consequential murder of his children. It also allowed Volkhard aka Thales to slip into the Imperial nobility and keep the empire under his thumb and gain influence over a decent portion of the Adrestian Empire. Thales would’ve never been able to accomplish all he did if the nobility system wasn’t so corrupt. The issue of corrupt nobility becomes even worse in the current era as it’s noted that Crests are starting to diminish and noble houses are desperately trying to keep their power. Even still despite the current system failing its still perpetuated by Rhea and the church’s teachings and due to the vast influence the church has it keeps things the way they are, as nobles can justify their rise to power as simply fullfilling the goddess will.

Fódlan’s History:

Now one of the biggest criticism towards Edelgard is her lack of understanding of Fódlan’s true history, but to be fair though it’s not like it’s her fault. Throughout her life she’s had a far more accurate understanding of Fódlan’s history than most characters in the game. I think it’s important to see this from her perspective. Ever since she was young she had been privy to important knowledge that had been intentionally hidden for thousands of years by Seiros and the church. Some things that were hidden like how the Ten Elites created the Heroes Relics, that the story about Nemesis Seiros was heavily altered, and more importantly that Fódlan had been secretly been led by The Immaculate One and her fellow children of the goddess. All that she knows is this monstrous creature in human skin had secretly been leading the world, altering history and stagnating humanity for over a thousand years with the Crest and nobility system and using the church as a front to do so. While Edelgard’s suspicions of why Rhea uses the church are wrong she is ultimately correct that Rhea was using the church as a front(she admits to such in her S support). Even as her time as Seiros she was trying to facilitate the rebirth of the Sothis which led her to conduct her “questionable” experiments to do so. I digress, a misconception is that Edelgard’s understanding of the history of Fodlan came from those who slither in the dark or that she was flat out lying to Byleth. It’s not either of those, Edelgard isn’t dumb enough to simply believe those who slither in the dark after all once she no longer needs their power she seeks to crush them, and after choosing Edelgard she’s always sincere about everything to Byleth. The real reason she is missing details is because her ancestor Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Paul Hresvelg) who had been allied with Seiros in the War of Heroes, passed down the true history of Fodlan to his successor and it went from emperor to emperor, so all sorts of details became lost due to practically being a huge game of telephone. Due to it being passed emperor to emperor it can be assumed that she received her information from her father. Considering her love for her father it’s no surprise she’d believe him and have no reason not to. Edelgard thinks she knows the true story of Fódlan already so it at least makes sense that she wouldn’t risk asking Rhea for the truth, considering she’s been hiding the truth for over a thousand years. Regardless of whether Edelgard is getting an A+ in history class, the thing she seeks to change is the Crest and nobility system as well as take down the corrupt Church of Seiros. By the end of every route these are all things that either get completely abolished, or revised in some way or form.

(I don’t imagine a hypothetical scenario where Edelgard confronts Rhea about the truth going well, Rhea always waited to the last possible moment to give the lore dump and in Golden Deer she’s rather hesitant to tell the truth despite the danger knocking on Fódlan’s door. I would not be suprised if she branded Edelgard a heretic)

Hopes for the world and Views on the Faith of the Goddess:

Edelgard wants to create a world of opportunity. One where people can rise to their position because they are best person for the job. One where all aspects of a person is taken into account instead of simply their status or whether they have a crest. As she says a world where people can rise, and fall by their own merits. A lot of character’s problems in the game has to do with their status as nobility, their crest and the misfortune it brings or the struggles they endure due to a lack of a crest. In Edelgard’s Fódlan people are free to pick their lot in life, if settle mediocrity so be it, and if they aim high they must be prepared to work tirelessly to achieve it. Edelgard simply believes in power of humanity. A lot of the characters in the game have this misconception that Edelgard seeks to create a world where only the strong survive, and a world without faith in the goddess. They have this believe that just because Edelgard seeks to crush the Church of Seiros, that she also seeks to get rid of the faith the goddess as well. That some people need their faith in of the goddess in order to get by and she’s essentially trampling over all those people. While it’s not exactly clear how she’d handle the faith in other routes as she ultimately is unsuccessful, in Edelgard’s route she makes it abundantly clear that she’s simply an enemy of the current church and not the faith. She even says this practically word for word against Rhea in Chapter 11 of Black Eagles.

Edelgard is what we call a Nay-theist. A fictional character in a fictional setting that has real gods and simply doesn’t believe that they need them. Edelgard is well aware that the goddess and children of the goddess existed and that she essentially established Fódlan, but she also believes that people shouldn’t put blind faith in that the goddess will take care of them. She thinks that people should take charge of their own lives. That being said she doesn’t seek to enforce this on people as recruited characters of devout faith like Mercedes and Marianne will comment on how Edelgard doesn’t discourage the prayer to the goddess. Her support with Manuela also shows that she is not above understanding the perspective of those who believe in the goddess.

Alliance with Thales:

(Check my reblog pls!!)

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #edelgard

369 notes · View notes