#and Rhea does it for Cyril

[randomnameless]

Seiros the Warrior needs ketchup?

it's from the last fodlan nonsense where all rheas + billy (from swimsuit!Rhea) didn't like Seteth's veggies

Seiros the Warrior is younger and more of a brat to her big bro but also more spontaneous, this is Cichol, he deserves to be picked on, he keeps on telling her the outfit she picked is lame, Willy is not trustworthy and stupid, and her swordswomanship is ridiculous.

As she grew older, Rhea acquired a taste for more refined dishes, and doesn't need ketchup anymore.

It's just a coincidence Cyril wants some - even if he is too shy to ask for it!

[asterouslyaesthetic]

CYRIL IS IN FEH

I REPEAT CYRIL IS IN FEH

now all we need is sitri for the entire family to be together!!

[deathbirby]

What sucks about the fandom is that everybody usually defaults to make post-Crimson Flower fanfictions 'and they all lived happily ever after :)' which... sucks because CF is the most flawed ending out of all of the routes (Duscur is still believed to have killed the King, TWSITD are lurking around as seen in Edel's mural, sovereign nations were forcibly assimilated against their will into Adrestia, etc). All of these issues are ignored to default to a happy ending which is such a let down since all of these issues are SO interesting and genuinely could make really engaging post-CF fanfiction delving into them. That's not even going into how Edel's meritocracy is deeply flawed on further thought as it assumes equal opportunity (despite the nobility and the inter-generational wealth of said nobles), and an equal society where everyone is seen and treated as equals (the people of Duscur who are seen as traitors, Almyrans such as Cyril who were enslaved and forced to work, Nabataens and Edel's blatant racism towards them, etc). Let me make this clear; a meritocracy is better than feudalism or a monarchy outright. The issue isn't inherently with meritocracies, nor is it to dissuade changing the current system of Fodlan. The problems I have with Edel's meritocracy is the total lack of foresight and the refusal to engage with Edel's actions that brought in the system. Meritocracies can work but considering the broader context and political landscape of Fodlan: Edel's meritocracy was a system founded after violently conquering two sovereign nations against the leaders and the civilians wills. Many of these civilians do harbour resentment towards the government (as seen in Hubert/Shamir's ending where they act as secret cops 🤢), how Edelgard only really gives resources to people she knows aka nepotism (especially to Caspar and Bernie who are woefully not well suited for the roles the get). There's also the ugly turd by removing the corrupt nobles who kept her in check, there are no safeguards against Edelgard or future successors abusing their power (which Edel's use of her power is pretty questionable seen in Hubert/Dorothea gathering intelligence for the empire and Hubert/Shamir with being cops). ======== (1/2)

2/2 ==== I wanna bring up how Petra was treated; poor girl was kidnapped from her home, tossed into a hostile foreign land where she didn't speak the language and received no support at all from her peers. Going so far as Hubert calling her an animal (we love microaggresions if not outright aggresions to poc). Edelgard assumes her and Petra to be equals, that Petra is completely fine but Edel is oblivious or callous towards the gross power imbalance between the two. Petra is constantly trying to appease society by learning the local tongue, constantly trying to appease Edelgard and prove her own independence to ensure Brigid doesn't appear weak. Edel does show concern, I'll give her that, but she really doesn't do anything to truly help Petra. Iirc, Petra had to learn the entire language by herself without ANY help from anyone, not even Edel nor Hubert stepped in (tho Hubert can gawk at Petra like shes an animal). How is it unfair to assume that if Edel can't even address blatant inequality and oppression towards Petra, something that was in her face, how can she ensure that her meritocracy won't perpetuate further inequality and oppression on a wider scale? I really wish the fandom weren't so scared nor so adverse to exploring these issues in a post-CF fan fiction and really take a deep dive into Edelgard's rule outside of 'Fodlan was super corrupt, Rhea is the absolute fucking worst and Dimitri was just a Rhea Stan, Claude was aaaaalmost cool but he didn't want to work with Edelgard which sucks because they would SO be besties (even tho Claude experienced violent racism and would not tolerate Edel's pasty ass spewing vitriol how Nabataens are inhuman beasts) but its soooooo sad he didn't see Edelgard's goals, BTW CRESTS ARE THE FUCKING WORST :3'. Like, the only thing I have ever read to addressing the flaws Edelgard's rule was To Those Who Are Never Going Home by MadameHyde (but stiiiill doesn't hit the spot for me since its more focused on Garreg Mach than the wider society of Fodlan on itself). I believe in women's wrongs and Edelgard did SO MUCH shit wrong, let👏Edelgard👏be👏pointed👏out👏in👏the👏wrong👏. It sucks that nobody wants to engage or even play with that side of Edelgard, so I'm now stuck developing my own post-CF fanfiction/AU exploring an Adrestian-Garreg Mach and the world of Fodlan moulded by Edelgard's rule lmfao. I really want to explore a politically unstable and balkanized Fodlan, and it's so sad that nobody else sees the vision 😔 Thanks for reading my entire infodump about Edelgard and sitting through this entire essay lmfao. — 🍑 Anon

Oh dear goddess have mercy on me

CF's ending makes no sense when you realize that TWSITD can just nuke Fhirdiad right then and there and win. Thales can also just... brainwash Edelgard and turn her into a puppet according to hopes. It's the least logical ending.

Edelgard's system ultimately would only benefit the strong. The 'weak' (sick, elderly, poor, disabled, etc.) just have to pull themselves up by their bootstraps according to our emperor, but we all know how well that will work.

And yep, the nepotism runs strong with her. Caspar and Bernadetta are NOT fit to rule. We know from one of the endings that Caspar acts recklessly and dangerous on military campaigns but people just ignore it. That is a very bad look for Edelgard who just tolerates it.

Petra's whole situation deserves her own post tbh. She's a political hostage who gets treated like dirt. Edelgard couldn't even help her learn the language despite the fact that she has all of the resources to do so.

let👏Edelgard👏be👏pointed👏out👏in👏the👏wrong👏

write this on my gravestone lol

[raxistaicho]

I don't get why the anti-Edelgard crowd keep using her supports with Ferdinand regarding education reforms as a "gotcha" moment to show she's "terrible".

The Church actively suppresses information and doesn't make it a point to teach their orphan charges how to read, as evidenced by Cyril, who would arguably benefit the most from learning to read so he can more effectively serve Rhea.

And in Dimitri and Yuri's supports in Hopes, Yuri points out the exact same thing to Dimitri about the need to reform education to the masses, and he has the exact same reaction Edelgard does to Ferdinand's suggestion.

Is it just because one is Edelgard and the other is Dimitri? And how come no one calls out the Church about their lack of educating the common people?

Is it just because one is Edelgard and the other is Dimitri?

Yes. Because she started the war, they expect her to have all the potential problems with her reforms worked out from the start, which is not at all realistic.

And I've said this a few times, but Ferdie coming up with public education, which would be incredibly groundbreaking and unheard of in Fodlan, says more about him than it does about Edelgard for not thinking about it.

[butwhatifidothis]

Do people really not see the inherent disconnect of the claim that Houses Claude is genuinely an amoral opportunist when his dream is to break down barriers to foster unity and peace? Like, is there not a fundamental incompatibility in having a desire for everyone to get along yet being a backstabber that throws people under the bus for their own benefit? From a personality/character standpoint, all that does is make Claude look like a ginormous ignorant hypocrite, and an idiot even though he's supposed to be smart. Because if his end goal is to create a diverse and harmonious community, how is he going to bring people together if he constantly betrays every side? And from a writing perspective, it makes no sense to have a character's actions and goals be completely contradictory and never address it.

Also for someone who is amoral, it sure is interesting in Balthus' Classroom QA Part 2 that Claude likes "ensure the fewest casualties" and dislikes "do anything to eradicate the enemy" when the question was "the war has been dragging for long so let's end it quickly". It's kinda like he has some principles or something.

Like, the idea of Claude being an untrustworthy backstabber who opportunistically takes advantage of everyone without ever growing close to them is just Hubert minus Lady Edelgard could be an interpretation of his character that aligns with at least his initial showing, or a surface level understanding of him. He calls himself the embodiment of distrust, he never fully opens up to anyone, he can in fact be fairly manipulative and callous; the crumbs are there, for sure.

But it also has to ignore how far he's willing to go to protect his people (putting himself in high danger when he is not sacrificial like, say, Dimitri is), or how he supports others having dreams for themselves (Goddess Tower), or how open he is to criticisms against what he thought (Cyril's support), or how he tries to be there for his friends (Marianne's support), or how he's open-minded enough to listen to people he initially thought needed to be his enemy (Rhea), or how violence is not just not something he considers but is something he actively rejects as a means of getting what he wants (The Alliance Leader's Ambitions, near the end), or how putting the people's lives in danger is something he is adamantly against (as you point out, Balthus' classroom question). A staggering amount of Claude's character has to be deliberately ignored in order to come to the conclusion that he's just a backstabbing opportunist who does anything to get what he wants (who magically gets fixed by Byleth's mere presence), because a backstabbing opportunist who does anything to get what he wants who magically gets fixed by Byleth's mere presence does not describe Claude.

Even if one were to take the game's writing failure of properly presenting Claude tackling racial issues (like never addressing Petra's situation despite having supports with her) you can't really deny that Claude is, in fact, a caring person after taking everything in his character into account. For all his flaws, he never abuses the trust people have in him to the extent that they are actively put in danger, nor is it ever the case that the "doesn't truly tackle racial issues" ever translate to anything so drastic as "which means he'll actively worsen relations between two countries." And, well, yes; you still do have to take into account that his dreams are of bringing people together and disregarding past bad blood. He never stops trying to achieve this dream, and he wants it to come true so badly that he is willing to let other people that he trusts rule Fodlan to work together with him to achieve it, shown in VW and even AM. That means a lot for someone like Claude, who is otherwise pretty slow to trust other people so deeply.

That's not someone who would use Leicester's bad history with Faerghus as fuel to violently invade it. That's not someone who would use Almyra's navy to make it look to Sreng like Faerghus tried to invade it. That's not someone who wants to conquer other nations and make his own come out on top. Those things describe Hopes!Claude, which 3H!Claude is not.

It's like. You know how some 3H's fans see 3H as "Edelgard, Dimitri, and the third guy that justifies my fave"? How a lot of people in 3H's fandom don't really see Claude as his own character with his own perspective and ideals and beliefs and morals that are unique to him, and only see him as a battering ram to try and knock down one of the other two lords? And so don't really care how he's characterized in other things (like fanfiction, fanart, meta, or in this case spinoff media) because they never really cared about him as his own character? But then get really, really, really defensive when you point out the flaws in their perception of him, saying that you're the one who never understood or liked Claude, because if you did you'd "realize" that he was always [insert vague, bland description that happens to prop up the lord they actually like]?

Yeah that's basically what's going on here. Most people who prefer Claude as their fave lord do not like Hopes!Claude, some of the loudest voices in the JPN Amazon reviews were of people who hated Hopes!Claude and were literally trying to warn Claude/GD fans away from Hopes as a game because of how awful their writing is, while nearly every Hopes!Claude fan that I've seen vastly prefers Edelgard as their fave lord and are - you guessed it! - very defensive when it comes to Claude fans venting their frustrations over Claude's shit-end-of-the-stick treatment he got in Hopes.

So like, yeah. It's less that people aren't directly computing that Claude's ambitions and character don't match how he's depicted in Hopes, but that they just don't care that it doesn't since 1) it justifies their fave and 2) they never really gave a shit about Claude anyway

[usaigi]

FE3h Fruits Basket AU in collaboration with @yellowocaballero ^-^

Basically. Byleth is Tohru and she was camping out in the woods with a high fever when Edelgard and Hubert ran into her. They accidently transform but Byleth is so sick she thinks it's a fever dream. They, however, think they just spilled their greatest secret.

Rhea, aka the head of the house, offers to lets Byleth stay with them/go to their school in exchange for her silence. Byleth, who does not understand reading between the lines, thinks the school some sort of gay conversion camp.

Who's who

Rat - Yuri. 30s Left the compound forever ago and is living on his own. El's icon

Ox- Edelgard. Complicated relationship with Rhea because of how controlling she can be. Tries to bomb the school

Tiger - Lysithea. She's actually in her 20s but for some reason when she transform, she's a little cub. Gets annoyed when they call her a baby

Rabbit - Flayn! She's always running into Byleth so she'll pet her

Dragon - Seteth lol He and Hubert are the only ones that don't understand the Byleth obsession. It's cuz they can't be pet :/

Snake - Hubert

Horse - Petraaaa. She's a little baby. Instead of attracting horses, she attracts horse girls. So Marianne, Ferdinand, Ingrid, and Leonie all adore her and are always baby wearing her. The most spoiled little baby ever

Goat - Cyril. Also 20ish

Monkey - Claude

Rooster - Hilda. When she's a human she fucking loves chicken nuggets

Dog - Sylvain

Boar - Dima :3c When he mets Byleth, he tells her he's cursed and a boar and Byleth thinks it's his bad self esteem talking. Byleth goes out hunting and accidently almost stabs piggy-dima. He transform back into a human just in time.

Cat - Felix. The family doesn't shun him for being a cat, he just kinda shuns himself for being a emo boy

[quillfulwriter]

Look, Rhea is a tragic figure. I feel for her. Her trauma at the hands of Nemesis and the Agarthans is vast, and the slaughter in Zanado is completely unforgivable.

But until she's healed from that trauma and doesn't blame all of humanity for that nightmare, there's absolutely no reason she should be in charge of anything. Much less the very people she resents.

The Empire was created when the Church named Wilhelm its emperor, and the Kingdom is literally called the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus because it was founded by the Church as well. It's only by looking at the Alliance where you can see how the commoners especially feel about the Church's practices when they haven't been indoctrinated.

When the priest from The Eastern Church is trying to stress how they're different from the Central Church, he says:

Their church doesn't have an order of knights.

They don't believe in using force to chastise believers.

A noble house keeps order in their territory, and they have forbidden the use of any soldiers, even for self-defense.

You can reverse engineer these to describe how they see the Central Church in Leicester: Militant, violent towards its followers, and deceitful (claiming self-defense as a shield for its violent ways).

This is correct. The Church has a standing army and a school used to train child soldiers. It punishes criminals with execution more often than not. And it actively warps major events to make people see them in a certain light.

Yes, Rhea chose to keep the peace rather than openly hating humanity. That's not exactly a kindness when she 1) makes sure most people are reliant on the church for basic needs 2) restricts access to education based on who she can control (nobles vs. commoners) 3) bans advances in technology like the printing press so she can more easily prohibit the spread of knowledge and 4) creates clones and experiments on babies.

I understand she is traumatized. I understand she is in pain and trying to protect her people from another slaughter. But the simple fact is she's not even doing that well, because she's refused to heal. Everything she does against the Agarthans is basically whack-a-mole, and she only ever punishes who they manipulated.

Hubert found TWSD in 10 years! She's had centuries! I can't even say he's healed from his trauma to make that happen, but at least he directed it to something practical that got results. So no one would suffer like he had.

But Rhea? She's content to punish and oppress humanity for being manipulated by the Agarthans. Meanwhile, TWSD experiments on children too and the Church does nothing. When Lysithea and Edelgard are the sole survivors of murky circumstances, one would think that the Church would get involved. Even for aid. But no. They had their chance to make this right, and they chose to turn a blind eye.

I cannot rightly believe that she really cares about human beings when she treats the people most loyal to her so horribly. Even Seteth! She's telling Catherine to burn down a city with people inside in the Black Eagles route, she's never once tried to get anyone to teach Cyril to read and write (Seteth was the only one interested in doing that for him), and she hid all of her atrocities from Seteth because she knew that what she was doing was wrong.

Her compassion as the archbishop ultimately comes from a place of indoctrination and control. Understandable though it may be because of what she experienced, it's still wrong. And she shouldn't be in charge of anything because of that.

[fireemblems24]

Golden Wildfire Ch 15 (Final)

Guys, I think this is finally it, the last chapter

MAIN STORY

We're . . . not going to get an answer about Shez, are we? Would I if I recruited Byleth?

Which, now that I think about it, that was really anticlimatic death.

Also, Claude wants Dimitri and Faerghus to survive, but Rhea to die. Edelgard doesn't want Dimitri and Faerghus to survive, but also wants Rhea to die. So why the hell is Claude letting Edelgard right Dimitri while he fights Rhea? What's stopping Edelgard from killing Dimitri and taking all the Faerghus land she desperately wants? He knows Rhea was only an excuse for her.

I guess just another "Claude is an idiot" point or the writers not giving a single shit about him or this route and only caring about Dimitri and Edelgard.

Claude is suddenly reading Dimitri's mind. He thinks Dimitri wants him to dissolve the central church. This is . . . beyond stupid. Claude is literally imagining the enemy wants he wishes the enemy would want. This is such a stupid thing to do in war. Dimitri has never showed signs of wanting the church dissolved.

Also, blaming all of Fodlan's problems on Rhea is so dumb and such childish thinking too.

They really were like, go Claude, we'll give you nothing! in the writer's room.

If I cared about Claude, I'd be livid. I doubt many Dimitri or Edelgard fans are upset though.

Man, the character list is so much smaller in this route.

MAP/SIDE BATTLES

So annoyed this one has a bunch of side quests. I'm sooooo close to finishing this game.

Aww, an Alliance NPC talked about how much she likes Seteth and hopes he survives.

Ouch! Yuri! When he questions the validity of Claude's plans, Shez assures him it's the only way to pave the future, and he has the audacity to say "I guess now isn't the time to be wondering who exactly is included in this future we're dreaming about." He's calling Claude out on his shit big time. Yuri just does not fit here.

Ashe keeps talking about Dimitri. He's miserable.

Hapi doesn't want to kill Rhea :(

Ohhh, interesting, so Raphael doesn't like how we've been fighting. Shez can agree or disagree. I agreed in both SB and GW. In GW, she says their actions are too haphazard, but in SB, she says they're being too brutal and not letting anyone surrender. Curious differences (ofc Raphael just wants to eat and party, that's what he disagrees with, it's Shez's perceptions that made me interested).

Gilbert and Dimitri talking. Dimitri arriving has boosted moral. But it's the same for his enemies.

Dimitri's concerned about Rhea and learns that they're prepared for battle. Dimitri can't help them :(

Dimitri ordered his citizens to evacuate because he's worried about what the Alliance will do, but isn't convinced Claude wants to destroy his Kingdom.

I love Dimitri doubling down on protecting his people above all else here. Gustave is upset about abandoning Rhea. Dimitri is too, but he's willing to be the bad guy if it saves a single life in Faerghus.

A side mission involved defeating Cyril :( And now Flayn :(

SHEZ & RAPHAEL A

Soldiers are happier. Shez can guess war turning in our favor or pay raise.

If you ever needed proof that Raphael is an idiot, he argues that wouldn't make sense because not everyone is motivated by money. Like, seriously, tell me a single soldier there who gives a flying shit about what some king says. The only route this wouldn't be true in is AG since they're fighting for their lives.

Anyways, it's actually the food.

Shez talks about how a good meal rather than scapes is a good motivator. And honestly, good point.

Raphael talks about being an innkeeper. Honestly, he'd be such a fun boss to have, but he'll need to hire someone to handle the logistics lol.

Raphael asks Shez to tag along. I can either be nice and agree or not make promises. Being mean to Raphael is basically bullying.

Shez either way still considers being a mercenary, but I love the idea of Shez and Raphael running an inn together.

LYSITHEA & RAPHAEL A

Wonder why they choose Lysithea of all people to reach A with Raphael.

She studied too long and is out after dark, so obviously scared. She tries to convince herself the weird noises is Raphael.

But it's not this time, bc he shows up and asks what's the creepy noise lol. Poor Lysithea.

Now she's properly freaked out. Poor girl.

It's probably just a cat, but she thinks it's a ghost.

Lysithea goes to investigate too or else she'll be alone.

I guessed wrong. It's a puppy, not a cat. Poor doggy is hungry, and Raphael knows the dog.

Lysithea is like, if you knew the dog, how come you didn't know that? lol.

HILDA & DOROTHEA B

A fan gave Dorothea a bracelet, and she appreciates the support. Hilda wishes she had one too.

Dorothea tells Hilda no one is better in the whole army at makeup and accessories.

The support addresses how Hilda makes her own accessories.

Dorothea talks about plant design trends. So like real life lol.

Hilda asks Dorothea about her makeup. She tries to stick for ones that are actually good for the body. Which, is really good considering what they used to use for makeup.

They want to keep chatting over tea.

Honestly, I love seeing two girls just chat about girly things without anyone putting it down.

It's nice, in general, how the Fodlan games don't put down the women who are really into fashion and the ones who don't care. Everyone is allowed to just exist, and it's great.

LYSITHEA PARALOGUE

Does she get her own because her paired up one is in SB?

She apologizes to Count Glouster for all the chaos Ordelia causes, but he apologizes for not taking care of it. She understands how important it is for him to protect the bridge.

Her father is buddies with Lorenz's father.

Shez comes with news about Ordelia under attack.

No one else can help. Lysithea says she didn't realize how Claude could be so cruel. Shez tries to defend him by saying she's all the way out here, and Lysithea claps back. Team Lysithea here.

Shez thought Count Glouster would we dead weight. She was right. Idiot almost died. Shez and Lysithea were fine.

He looks forward to the day both aren't leaders anymore so they can just be friends and thinks Lysithea would be a worthy heir :( Poor Lysithea, she faltered at that.

Glouster did nothing to help Lysithea's father because he led the pro-Empire nobles.

MARIANNE & YURI A

Yuri sees Marianne out late and worried that she was going to leave like she thought about, but she was just walking her horse.

Then we get the classic "..." and "..." response. Since the ye ole days characters have done that in FE supports.

Marianne is like, why were you worried, then goes off how she's just a burden, and Yuri is like stop that, now.

Yuri is allergic to horses and cats? :((( Poor guy. That would suck.

That's why he was always giving Marianne funny looks, because he was about to sneeze and she's always around horses, lamo.

It's nice seeing Yuri be nice. But if he was mean to Marianne, like how can you be mean to Marianne?

Yuri dreams of being able to spent time with the animals he's allergic too, so he accepts Marianne's offer to use magic to try to help. I hope it works.

HILDA & DOROTHEA A

Hilda is trying to figure out what's wrong with one of her accessories. She thinks it's missing something.

Dorothea offers to help out, and is really impressed with Hilda's craftsmanship. And honestly, there's a picture and it looks pretty.

Hilda likes Dorothea's suggestion.

Dorothea also offers to buy the accessories for the opera, and use that to advertise them too.

Hilda is more than happy with that suggestion.

Hilda actually wants to open her own school to teach people craftsmanship, and thinks she can partner with Dorothea on that too.

MARIANNE & IGNATZ A

A pegasus that Ignatz was helping said "bring me more hay, four eyes." to Ignatz, Marianne interpreted. She rightly called it rude lamo.

Ignatz used to ride pegasus with his mother, she used to be a pegasus knight. I wonder if that's why he wants to be a knight.

He was really impressed with the view, understandably.

It made him want to become a pegasus knight, but they're sexist lol. Women only.

That's why he wants to help with the pegasi so much, it's the closest he can get.

Marianne is like "I can feel your feelings in the paintings" and Ignatz freaks out until she keeps going and saying she can tell how much he loves pegasi. I wonder what he was so worried about . . .hmm . . . Liking Marianne just proves taste though.

Marianne thinks that maybe the pegasus will accept Ignatz. But I don't think it went well lol. She grabbed his clothing with her teeth, not on her back. OMG, poor Ignatz.

It ends with Ignatz begging for Marianne's help lamo.

MAIN (& FINAL) BATTLE

Alright, guys, this is it. 2/3 done once this battle is over. Sadly, I'll probably have to kill Rhea though. But who knows, she got to be the hero of SB in the end, maybe GW too, or is that asking too much?

Rhea's like I should've killed these bitches years ago (rather than protecting them after turning her genocided family into weapons, poor woman has seen some shit).

Rhea thinks she'll have the goddesses' protection. Too bad Sothis is dead :(

It seems like Rhea is expecting to die. She's telling Seteth and Flayn to run. And saying her time is at an end.

It's funny that Rhea also thinks she's fighting for the future and humanity because she thinks she knows what's best. She and Edelgard (and Claude in this route) are really the same. Then there's Dimitri, the only sane one who doesn't have a bloated ego that thinks he knows best for every living soul in Fodlan, in some case, without ever even talking to some people from a particular country (looking at you, Edelgard, ding dong thinks she can rule Faerghus better than Dimitri without ever even having bothered to TALK to someone from Faerghus).

OK, so why did Edelgard only get 40 points, but Claude gets 70?

OMG, one of Claude's tactics is to burn the enemies alive (elite archers turn enemies into ash, not sure how else to see that).

I don't want to kill Cyril two times in one night :( Thankfully, he retreated.

Great, now Alois is here, claiming he'll fight to the death, which seems major OOC even with Rhea under attack. This game really forgot that he had a family, didn't it? I think he, Claude, and Caspar got the biggest downgrades in writing.

Oh, shit, he died for real. And he mentioned his family this time.

I had to fight Seteth too, but he retreated, thankfully.

DON'T MAKE ME KILL MERCEDES!!!!

Oh, fuck, Cyril died :((( God.

Jeritza came to save his sister :(((( So he turned against the Empire in GW. That's kinda touching, much better than in Houses. Seems Mercedes is now flipping, better than having to kill her like poor Cyril and Alois.

Now I have to fight Flayn :( Thankfully, she withdrew.

Now I have to fight Seteth and Flayn again, but on the upside, Rhea did badass magic and took away my captured strongholds.

I'm not clear if Flayn died or retreated, but Seteth is pissed off at me.

Oh, thank God, they're both running away.

Time to kill Rhea :(

Cut scene time. Wow, Claude, that's rich. He's telling Rhea to go walk away. But, to like where? The guy's been hell bent on killing her and blaming her for everything from racism to arranged marriage this entire game?

Why the random flower getting crushed? Usually that's a sign of crushed renewal, not a brand new world like Claude's been blowing smoke about this whole route.

Lololol Idiot just realized Rhea's the Immaculate One.

Lamo, even in the final battle Marianne's not convinced Claude not coo coo for coco puffs.

More cut scene. Shez and Claude killing Rhea. Shez turned into Arval. Wonder what happens if you recruit Byleth.

This was such a watered-down version of SB's final battle. They both had Rhea as a final boss, but SB got Thales too and it was A LOT harder because of that. Either that or Lorenz is really that silly stupid good.

Another abrupt, non-ending.

Claude wanted the war to end, and shock of all shock, killing Rhea didn't work!!! The idiot. All those people died, for nothing. I also predict greedy assholes will still enforce hierarchies and be racist, even without Rhea.

This ending may have been even worse than SB's? Because at least Edelgard still has a goal she's working towards, it just cut off mid-way. Claude accomplished his and nothing changed - he only made the world worse.

Are either GW or SB better endings if you get Byleth? I'm betting that's what happens. Because that can't be the real ending, lol.

MVP time. Wonder when it'll turn into the Lorenz show. As soon as Ch 5, pretty much no one but Lorenz got MVP. He's just absurd, but in a boring way. He's invulnerable to damage, but doesn't play very fun. If I ever did GW again, I'd main Lysithea. She's a unit type I like way more, hella strong and fast, but low defense. Lorenz made GW super boring to play since I didn't have to think at all. He's that good of a unit.

It's funny seeing nothing but Lorenz's face on an endless scroll (except paralogues or like, women units only battles)

I can't believe I'm getting a letter from Lorenz. If I knew I'd get a letter, I would've picked a character I actually liked, like Marianne. Hubert's letter was better. Lorenz's was really generic.

Still pissed there's no paired endings.

And these endings are so bad, wtf. I'm glad I did this twice so I know AG is also just going to randomly end.

xxx

[unsuspecting-person]

y'know, writing a reply to the ask for Bernadetta got me wondering--so what are your thoughts on Cyril, if you still want to do the character breakdown?

How I feel about this character

Admittedly out of the LM three he's the one I'm the least familiar with, because in both Fòdlan games he always feels shoved off to the side. He's not even playable in Hopes for fuck's sake

But despite that, he's really neat! I like his personality, he's fun to play with and his bluntness and kindness really make him endearing and, I dunno. I guess he suffers from lack of spotlight even among the church units and it makes me wish we got... more out of him.

Doesn't help his most important relationship is 99% told and not shown because Rhea was contractually forbid from having supports with anyone but Byleth. I love Fòdlan writing. /s

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Lysithea! Their support together was so cute :D

My non-romantic OTP for this character

With Rhea, of course! It suffers a LOT from being almost entirely offscreen, but even then their whole dynamic is just. So great.

I mean, you have a head of a religion whose figure of worship is her own mother making her a demigoddess and a foreign child who explicitly does not believe in said religion, yet they love each other so much. But they still can't admit they view each other as mother as son. It's both so sweet and so funny.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I really don't get the hate? I don't know if it got better now, but I remember when 3H released that people absolutely hated this kid and wanted him dead because... he's occasionally rude and often talks about Rhea.

You know, considering he's POC and views Rhea in such a high regard, there was little hope of him getting a good reception to begin with. Fandom, amirite?

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

He and Rhea really needed that support together. It would have done wonders for the both of them and maybe people wouldn't have misinterpreted their relationship that much.

[lumeha]

It does feel wild to me that people insist that Rhea shows no compassion to other in her pursuit of resurrecting Sothis when it is shown time and time again that she does care for people and actively puts herself in danger of revealing her secret (of her being a Nabatean) to save people !

She opens Garreg Mach's doors to refugees, has personally saved multiple named characters including Jeralt (by giving him her blood !!), and transforms into a dragon to protect Garreg Mach and its people when the Empire attacks it before the time skip, what do you mean she doesn't care about people ?? She does !!

And I'm not talking about things that are hidden in the advice box (her wanting to mingle with people more) or tea time (how she doesn't feel like she can open up to people), or supports that aren't involving her (Seteth and Cyril), I'm talking about... Plot stuff that most people will see when they play the game

Like she's the High Priestess for a reason. Yes she hides secrets about some of the truths of Fodlan's history. It doesn't mean she doesn't care. She is shown caring for people more times than not.

[thehumanistcrusader]

I don't think we realize just dangerous Silver Snow could be for Byleth as a character.

(EDIT: Changed the title to reflect the headcanon-esque nature of this post.)

In the other three routes, Byleth has the house leaders to anchor themselves down when they receive their divine powers. In Azure Moon and especially Verdant Wind, they are able to maintain their humanity despite their rise to godhood because they have those bonds, and in Crimson Flower, they end up losing their powers altogether. But Silver Snow? Oh, Silver Snow is a whole other ball game.

In Silver Snow, Edelgard, who in another timeline would have been the one to relieve Byleth of their divinity and perhaps even fill their life with love and compassion, instead turns on them, leaving to fulfill her own ideals. Dimitri ends up going insane from his own demons and dies at Gronder, likely not in a very nice way, too. Claude is forced to leave Fodlan for Almyra in order to save himself. Worse yet, all the other students who weren't lucky enough to join Byleth are likely dead as well.

And Rhea, the one person they've been holding out for this whole time, the one person that they had hoped would be able to turn things around, is either dead, or has retired to Zanado. Byleth was just beginning to show their humanity, to warm their stone cold heart, and what did they get for it? Nothing. Their home is ravaged by war, so many of their students, their friends are dead, and the ones that did make it out will never get to see their dear Professor grow old alongside them. Even Cyril, the youngest voiced character in the entire game, will be nothing but a blink to the immortal Byleth. Sure, Seteth and Flayn are still there, and maybe Macuil and Indech could be convinced to come hang out at Gareg Mach, but even these 4 are nothing compared to the 40+ friends that Byleth has lost.

A major part of Byleth's story is the relationship between their humanity and their divinity. Azure Moon and Verdant Wind manage to strike a balance, albeit leaning towards human and divine respectively. The Black Eagle routes, then, are the extremes. In Crimson Flower, Byleth sacrifices their divinity to embrace their humanity, finding themselves in the loving arms of close friends, and perhaps eventually, family. In Silver Snow, what does Byleth do when almost everyone they know is dead, and they must now shoulder the responsibility of leading Fodlan for all eternity? Simple. They reject their humanity, and with it the memories of happier days, and embrace their divine nature wholeheartedly. There is no longer Byleth, there is only The Enlightened One.

Fodlan is transformed into a theocracy, ruled eternally by The Enlightened One, who rules with daft precision and perfection. Thanks to the technology from Shambala, Fodlan is transformed into a technological paradise. Every building is self-powered, all foods is grown in buildings with perfect conditions, all jobs are handled by machines. There is no disease, because The Enlightened One heals all the sick. There is no crime, because The Enlightened One rains divine judgement on those who sin. There is no war, because The Enlightened One destroys all who threaten Fodlan.

However, just as The Enlightened One guards those under the wings, so too do they strike down any from outside. Under their rule, Fodlan becomes even more isolationist, to the point where had folks like Petra or Claude tried to enter Fodlan, they would have been chased off like savage bears outside of one's house, because to The Enlightened One, that is essentially what they are: savage beasts threatening their precious home.

Fodlan becomes a perfect world, and yet, because of this, there is no growth, no change, no evolution. The Enlightened One has become a cold, apathetic, and pragmatic ruler in their rejection of humanity. Fodlan becomes cold, stale, emotionless, blanketed forever...

...in silver snow.

[randomnameless]

How do you think Cyril's negative character development would have been like if his being recruitable to CF hadn't been cut from the game?

Ouch!

Even for non recruitable to the BESF characters, we still see some negative character development (Seteth putting his daughter's safety over Fodlan's and the world when he accepts to fight for Fodlan in the other routes even if it might cost him Flayn, Catherine's reaction to Rhea wanting a Bernie Charcoal Grill in Firdhiad - Of course she has reservations and that's a good thing! But SS Catherine knows what to use her sword for, if crazed!Rhea wants (?) to demolish Garreg Mach, Catherine will stop her suffering instead of helping the white Beasts doing what they do! The end of CF Rhea isn't the Rhea Catherine knew, followed and loved - sure I wouldn't want her to betray Rhea at this point because Rhea lost everything (even herself!), but Catherine doubting her (when she put her full trust in her because she knew Rhea is a kind and caring person!) feels imo like negative character development - and yet, given how Tru Piss plays, is there any solution or alternative? Maybe Catherine could have sort of disobeyed, like she wouldn't have torched the city, but let civilians evacuate (only to end up like the ones who ran away from Garreg Mach lel) because making innocent people suffer to protect her isn't a thing the Lady Rhea she knows would have done, but she will still protect her until the end?) so in a way, Catherine's negative character development could be listening to a Rhea who lost her way, even if she doubts her - but yeah under no circumstances I could see her pack her things away and leave (as Seteth planned to do if he survived) or straight up ditching her.

As for Cyril...

Well, we don't see him that much in Tru Piss, but even if it's a bit of a stretch, I can think his death quote would be one?

Cyril thanks her - for everything she's done for him, but his character development, in FE16, is all about him moving forward and wanting to live for himself, do the things he wants beside repaying his debt and remaining by her side, aka, Rhea wants him to live and do things he wants, even if it means leaving the Monastery (Nopes added that Rhea also doesn't want him to die!) - and Cyril's development finally kicks in reading his ending cards, he leaves the Monastery (even if he often still affiliated to the church!) and either becomes an advisor (who can advise a Count!), a Knight or a Priest/Ambassador!

So in a way, Cyril's negative character growth on CF is him dying before reaching his full potential and aspirations!

Now, if both were somehow able to ditch Rhea to join the BESF...

Cyril canon thinks leaving Rhea and doing more than repaying her - even if it's to live somewhere else - would be akin to betraying her (Seteth assures him it's not the case lol) - and we know Cyril really adopted the definitely non almyran (at least non dagdan?) value of gratitude, so if by some weirdness he had to ditch Rhea, I'll see him feeling as well as Ashe in Supreme Bullshit, or being really despondent and not valuing his life anymore, maybe comparing his situation with the BESF to the one he had in Goneril (without the food shortages!) or before, in Almyra.

Catherine?

Wow, that's hard to even imagine, but I'd guess a Catherine who takes the same route as Felix, who only wants to fight strong people, and die.

(they'd totally pull a Jill and join the other side if they are talked to/talk to Rhea or the other members of the CoS, or basically are fielded against them lol)

[randomkposts]

FE3H and Mothers

One of the biggest glaring narrative flaws in FE3H, is the lack of Mother characters. Its lack removes a lot of potential nuance from a game that is intended to explore divided loyalties amongst many characters as one of the features of the game is the sheer number of recruitable characters for your personal faction. 

Yes we get Father and brother and uncles, but of named mother female characters I can recall three off the top of my head, and two are dead, one is DLC dropped and the last is Rhea. Yes, Patricia, Sitri, and Rhea. And this makes the game rather empty in ways. Where is the family Drama? Shouldn't recruiting Lorenz, a noble of the Alliance, to black eagle strike force, put him in conflict with both noble parents' lineages? Caspar can potentially come into conflict with his Step-Uncle, but not anyone from his mothers side of the family? And Crucially, does no one from Dimitri's mothers family care that he is crown prince? Does it never occur to them to be in his life? Does that fact really not matter to them even when the country is at war!? The fact that the named mothers can be counted on one hand is particularly rude, when it wouldn't even cost much to give a name. Caspars grandfather's second but favored Wife, can now become Daria. The late Queen Bláthnat, can be Dimitris' mother. Just giving them a name is less awkward than talking around one. 

*this was mostly written pre Hopes, and therefore I need to add that Claude's mother is named Tiana, and Felix has a mother and Siblings. Absolute What!

**I have been informed, that as of Hopes, Sylvains mother is confirmed alive. Still far more baffled by Felix, as that really seems like it should have been relevent for Rodrigue to bring up. Then again, the second part of houses is set in the future, things could have changed in between verses.

***Linhardt's mother is alive, as found in a note to confessional where he worries about his parents reactions.

So I'm going to sort the Character's by Mother aliveness going from known alive, presumably alive, presumably dead, confirmed dead, and adopted Orphan. Also going to make a sibling mention. 

*Presumably* means I could not find the information on initial search, and /or its a spoiler I haven't heard from Hopes. Huberts living fam, was a support mention to Lysithea. Some have more supporting base then others, such as Mercedes mother who is described as too old to have more kids, but Mercy has an adopted father. 

Known Living

 Annette

Bernadetta

Claude

**Felix

Hubert

Ignatz

***Linhardt

Lorenz

Lysithea

**Sylvain

*Yuri (who I'm told has both a living mother and is adopted)

Presumed Living

Balthus

Catherine

Caspar

Ingrid

Manuela

Mercedes

Petra

Presumed dead

**Felix

Ferdinand

Hanneman

Hilda

Leonie

Shamir

Confirmed dead

Byleth

Constance

Dedue

Dimitri

Dorothea

Edelgard

Raphael

Orphan (who is/was adopted)

Ashe

Cyril

Marianne

Mercedes

Yuri

Who has/had siblings 

Annette *(I was mistaken, she has cousin/'s)

Ashe

Caspar

Balthus

Claude (Half siblings)

Dedue (*dead)

Edelgard*(dead stepsibs/ half sibs)

*Felix (1 dead, 1 alive)

Hanneman

Herbert

Hilda

Ignatz

Ingrid

Lysithea (*dead)

Mercedes (*half)

Raphael

Sylvain (*dead)

---

Thank you everyone who has helped out, by nicely pointing out things I missed writing this post. You guys are fantastic

[deathbirby]

K here are some terrible takes I have collected. Short thoughts for each one.

"Rhea intentionally caused famine by not sharing knowledge with Faerghus"

We have no idea what kind of knowledge she shared. And pick a side! Rhea has to stay out of human affairs because she's not human, OR she has to involve herself with human affairs because otherwise she's bad?

"The Church is homophobic"

Nowhere is it even implied that same-sex relationships are frowned upon in Fodlan. Hell, the archbishop, goddess, and many devout characters are queer, and nobody raises a fuss about their love lives in their endings.

Their holy book also says that the goddess does not deny love.

The whole crest stuff is not the church's fault. They tell you not to abuse crests, and had no hand in the creation of them. Humans did. And speaking of humans, Edelgard says that the people are the ones who elevate crest bearers, not the church.

The Church also has no control over the nobles, who would be the homophobic ones in this scenario??

"Cyril is Rhea's slave"

Cyril was an actual slave at House Goneril until Rhea saved him, something he is expresses his gratitude for by doing chores. He wants to feel useful in some capacity. This is a child who wants to feel useful and takes on extra chores because of that. He's a stubborn little lad, and we love him for it.

"Rhea keeps Cyril uneducated on purpose"

Cyril says in his and Lysithea's support that he keeps his illiteracy a secret because he doesn't anybody to feel like he's not up to a task because of it. AKA: He wants to help out!

"Seteth is doing propaganda"

I'm guessing this refers to the Shadow Library. Seteth removes books there that are either inappropiate or have information that's extremely dangerous if it got out. Some books talk about bans, but since those books are in the shadow library, that likely means they're outdated.

Or this refers to him calling Edelgard mean things?? She declared war against them; of course he's not happy.

"Byleth regains their humanity in CF"

Byleth was never human. Their mother is VERY much implied to have been a Nabatean, and their heart belongs to their (likely Nabatean) mother and the goddess.

Byleth also embraces their Nabatean heritage. Remember that Silver Snow is called Byleth's Route.

Byleth's Legendary Alt in FEH is their Enlightened One version.

Byleth's Brave Alt in Feh is Sothis's regalia, and they sing the Song of the Nabateans.

Byleth's Halloween Alt is a Duo with Sothis.

Byleth's Summer Alt is a Duo with Rhea.

Byleth's Khadein Alt talks about the Goddess's hand in events.

Byleth's Fallen Alt's Forging Bonds has Sothis taking over their body to protect them.

This argument also implies that it's bad for someone to be Nabatean, which is like... yikes.

"Seteth kills the western church members cuz theyre heretics"

"Indeed. The Western Church is attempting to seize sacred ground by force."

- They explain it to you in the exact same paralogue!

"The Nabateans benefit the most from the current state of events" / "The Nabateans are the ruling/top class in Fodlan"

How does the nearly extinct group benefit most from a system where their people's bones are used as WMDs?

They are walking on glass, y'all. If the truth (or even a lie) got out, they would get hunted down.

"Lonato is a good man"

He incited an armed rebellion against a church and would've mowed down villages to get there. He also goes around the knights to attack the students. No, he is not a good man.

"Nabateans ruled over humans in the past and their rule was bad" / "Nemesis did the right thing by taking out the Nabateans"

The word the devs use for the Nabatean rule is apparently something like "cure."

It is also NEVER stated that their rule was bad? Just that the Agarthans hated it (because they hate everyone).

Even the Agarthans talk shit about Nemesis. Nobody liked him.

And you can't... justify genocide? What?

"Sothis and her kids are colonizers and the Agarthans are the natives who got wiped out"

Fun fact! Despite all my theories, it is never made clear whether or not humans already lived on Fodlan when Sothis got there! The beginning cutscene flashes (Sothis's memories) show us a gorilla first, which implies that either life was not advanced, or humans did not exist by then.

Let's say humans did exist then. Sothis landed there and just started her own family. She never took any land by force? She shared knowledge with the humans which allowed them to build modern cities. That's not colonization. Please look up cases of actual colonization; I beg of you.

Sothis is more accurately an immigrant who shares her own culture with others.

"Sothis is not a god but a space alien"

It's never confirmed if Sothis is a space alien so that's actually just theory/headcanon.

Even if, all of her feats (and the dev's words) say that she's a god.

There are many more takes like these, but these are the ones I remember from the top of my head.

[raxistaicho]

I love Cyril in concept, but I feel conflicted. On the one hand, he's probably one of the more interesting characters available to you, considering his past with House Goneril and how he joined the church. But on the other hand, some of his supports leave me feeling very sad and uncomfortable, (particularly his S support), because he doesn't really seem to have any wants or desires beyond "stay at Garreg Mach and/or with Rhea". And when playing the Hilda-Cyril paralogue, it felt almost like he just dropped his concern about the Almyran children he was supposed to be checking on midway through it, focusing how much he hated Almyra instead.

I wish we could have had an option for Cyril to join the Black Eagle house and how a story for him in Crimson Flower would have evolved. I think it would have been more interesting (and to be quite frank, more respectful of his character), if he were allowed to have wants and desires outside the church, and be recognized as an equal on the battlefield, rather than "you're pretty cool for an Almyran" and "it's so nice to have you around to do the chores".

I think a cool story for him would be to actually end the enslavement of Almyran children in the Alliance, and providing education to the children that he was kept from himself (seriously, does no one find it concerning that Rhea didn't ensure he knew how to read and it was Lysithea who ended up teaching him and not anyone allied with the church?). And for a paired ending, maybe he and Ferdinand work together on creating good public education, and from which Cyril eventually becomes the Minister of Education.

There's so much they could have done.

Cyril is a character who suffers from a lot of lost potential.

Agreed. It truly is sad how thoroughly Cyril's allowed himself to get trapped in a box by his loyalty for Rhea :/

[fantasyinvader]

So, this kinda hit me after last night's post. There might be more to the Claude's relation to Nemesis than just "Claude learns the truth and fights the guy his ancestors backed," or "Claude could have been like the Agarthans and let his hatred towards the Church ruin him, but he didn't and now fights their former champion."

Think about what we know about Almyra for a second. They like to raid other countries, and call the people of Fodlan cowards because they built a wall to keep Almyra out. They also like to plunder their targets according to Hopes, and according to Cyril they don't look after the orphans of those who die in these raids. These kids are left to fend for themselves before being sent out in future raids. Despite calling the people of Fodlan cowards, they value their own lives to the point that they'll flee to survive rather than fight to the bitter end. They also like to party after the raids.

According to the History of Fodlan, quote:

"Under the tyranny of ruthless disorder, the people endured a long period of suffering. The vile Nemesis, who proclaimed himself the King of Liberation, delighted in war and bloodshed. Rather than rebelling against his persecution, the people of Fódlan fell to his depths in a mad scramble to attain power through murder and theft."

Murder and theft stands out here. Almyra is a kingdom that attacks those in borders, not out of need but simply for kicks. People die in these attacks, and then the Almyrans go on to pillage. Almyra murders and steals from people, yet Claude acts like they have a good name. But think about this, who would they have a good name with? From what we know of the World of Three Houses, Almyra is east of Fodlan and the furthest place away from Dagda in the South-west (though Dagda stretches to the North enough that it has a polar region) according to Shamir's support with Claude. The only other place East of Fodlan we know about is the city of Morfis south of Almyra and possibly on an island.

What other places does Almyra, who go around trying to conquer their neighbors for the thrill of battle, have a good name in? Hilda flat out says that Almyra will "attack without reason," "break treaties" and "tell lies." As @randomnameless pointed out in a post, Claude does all of these things in Hopes. Cut and Paste:Break treaties : plans on breaking his treaty with Supreme Leader if Billy joins him in Supreme Bullshit, or doesn't offer assistance to the Imperial Forces in Golden Shower Attack without reason : borrows Daddy's naval forces to attack Sreng, not because he has something against Sreng, but to create chaoes in the Kingdom Tell lies : all the schitck about Claude being the embodiement of distrust - or how he backstabs Supreme Leader, if Billy joins in, in Supreme Bullshit.

Then we take the context of Claude saying they have a good name, supposed pirates posing as the Almyran navy. Meanwhile, if Claude joins Cyril/Hilda's paralogue, one native to his route, he says nothing about fighting Almyrans.

Adding onto that is how Edelgard says that Claude's ideals aren't that removed from her own. Edelgard, who says she's fighting for humanity while at the same time treating Nemesis as a hero and wants to put the world back to what it was before the Church. Aka, she views the rule of Nemesis as a good thing, in part because of Agarthan manipulation. The Agarthans also left texts for Claude to see in an attempt to turn him against Rhea, texts Seteth took away from him. Edelgard is also meant to represent the moral decline of the Empire, Hadou, and she wants to implement a meritocracy where the strong rise up when they don't have the safety net to supposedly keep them weak.

Goes back to Cyril here, how Almyra doesn't look after it's kids. We know that Edelgard sets up her own Church after Flower due to Hanneman/Manuela and Bernie/Lin endings, but despite that Mercedes doesn't join it like she does the Church in other routes. Azure Gleam made it out that she disagreed with Edelgard's Southern Church, a church that appeals to those who don't like what the Church of Seiros teaches. Mercedes ends up looking after orphans after Flower seemingly going against Edelgard's doctrine.

Also, with the lies thing. Edelgard tells lies so often it's mentioned in the main theme of the game, Edge of Dawn. Nemesis was also said to have rallied support under a "pretense," meaning he kept his real agenda a secret. As pointed out, Claude lies in Hopes to gain support as well and even when Edelgard lies to his face about the attack, he accepts it.

Then we go with the meritocracy. Claude notes that Almyra values strength, much like Edelgard and Nemesis do, hence why he has to play smart (though he would like to get his hands on the Sword of the Creator). The prince that gets the throne is chosen, with Shadid attempting an invasion to prove his worthiness and Claude gets it post-Wind due to his accomplishments in Fodlan. Military seems to be the best way to get promoted, and when you consider Caspar's Flower endings in the Japanese…

English text: In recognition of his achievements during the war, Caspar was given the title of Minister of Military Affairs in the new Adrestian Empire. Though his command developed a reputation for occasional recklessness, he proved an able leader, guiding his troops to overcome countless obstacles. Long after his career had ended, tall tales of the glory and good cheer that he brought to his army endured.

Japanese text through Chrome's translation: Caspar is recognized for his achievements in the war and becomes Minister of War in the new Adrestian Empire. When he was entrusted with full powers of the military, he led many difficult situations to solution, often out of control. As most of his surviving anecdotes are jokes, he was always smiling wherever he went.

His ending with Dorothea mentions expeditions, meaning he's going into other countries. The Empire is invading other countries, it's army "often out of control" and it's treated like a joke while Caspar has given into, as Hopes put it, bloodlust. It's sounding more and more like Almyra in the Japanese version, isn't it?

Fuck, no wonder Cyril likes the Church. Their teachings go against everything Almyra seems to value, all the problematic elements he hated. Not to lie or kill without reason (in the Japanese, English changed this to "unless by the will of the Goddess"), not to abuse their power, and even looks after the poor and weak.

If you put all of this together, Almyra isn't too different from the Empire. It's very similar to a country that's supposed to have suffered moral decline, with it's leader hero-worshipping a tyrant. That's tyrant's name is Nemesis, the same person Claude fought at the end of Verdant Wind. Nemesis is, in reality, a reflection of the Almyran ideal. And that ideal is the antithesis of what the Church of Seiros, the same Church Claude hates and wants it's leader to die initially, teaches. By fighting Nemesis, Claude is rejecting his country's toxic culture just like the Eagles do in Silver Snow.

The other route with Byleth's flag, the game's Fire Emblem and an allusion to Buddhism's Banner of Victory symbolizing not being tempted away from the achieving Nirvana…at the end of what is called the Path of Liberation, in contrast to Nemesis being the supposed King of Liberation. Claude follows the path of Liberation and ends up as king when he puts aside his hatred of the Church to work with them rather than just using them. As a result of this, he begins to recognize his own hypocrisy because how can he make a world where differences are meant to be respected when he's willing to completely wipe out a Church he doesn't like. Link this back to Nemesis, who is said to have persecuted his people, and Edelgard, whose persecution against the Church is the pretense for a continental war. Wind is Claude achieving his own form of Nirvana when he opens himself up to the possibility of gods, and ends with the other Deer helping spread his ideals like a pack of disciples.

Not to say though that this is making one side of Claude's ancestry better than the other. After all, the Alliance only pays lip-service to the Church according to Lorenz, and the nature of it's leadership leads to problems when the nobles are all trying to amass wealth for themselves because wealth = power at the roundtable in the Alliance. They're also willing to screw each other over for this, meanwhile Leonie's village had to shoulder a debt so a noble would endorse her to go to Garreg Mach. It's also the one place we know has slavery. And let's not forget if Claude does turn on Edelgard in Blaze, the Deer will fight and kill him over "betraying" the Alliance while killing their own army, and interviews state that the Alliance idolizes the Empire.

The Alliance…isn't that good overall. It's flawed, just like Almyra. Claude's solution is to give it a king in direct defiance of it's stance on No Kings or Emperors (only men), albeit one with an advisory council. At the same time, Claude has Almyra begins converting Almyra into a trading country much like the Alliance. And even the Church loses power in this due to the false history being revealed. Everyone needs to learn from each other.

Claude is a wyvern lord. He can degrade into a snake if he lets his hatred wash over him, making him more akin to Nemesis and the Agarthans. He can stay a wyvern, as he does in most routes, letting his judgement be clouded but not to the same degree. Or he became a dragon, symbolic of Enlightenment, as he lets go of his hatred and realizes that the person he hated had legit reasons for doing what she did. That she's not too different from himself, while at the same time discovering there's lines he doesn't want to cross.

I feel like with Hopes, Claude makes a lot more sense. He's more linked to the game's symbolism, and his route feels less like "Silver Snow guest starring Claude." But at the same time, it kinda shows how his story is reliant on it's symbolism much like the Black Eagles route. We all thought Claude's problem was his ignorance, not his hatred, and lines like Edelgard calling out his not knowing Fodlan's history only served to create that misunderstanding. His supports also emphasize him realizing he was wrong, and you need to play as girl Byleth and S support him to find him saying Rhea was a positive influence of Fodlan and her work needs to be continued. Much like how you need to pay attention to the details to confirm Edelgard is lying to you, you need the details to fully realize Claude's growth. The fact that some information was only available in Hopes, such as his real freaking name, because the developers forgot to bring it up also adds to the problem. Claude was a character we were missing pieces of, and those missing pieces led us to the wrong conclusion, so I can't really fault Hopes for giving us a more complete picture. We've seen Claude at his best, his worst, and in-between and because of that we can argue more for his route being the best ending. After all, it also reforms a neighbouring country not dissimilar to the Empire, and that nation is shown to have a powerful navy and are the only ones with cannons.

But, really, those missing pieces should have been in Houses.

Anyway, thanks for listening guys to me talking about my favorite of the three lords. Fear the Deer. Peace