#because it is a shame that Bernadetta only really has two good endings (Byleth and Raphael)

[noblestofnobles]

How on earth did I forget Caspar and Hubert’s B support?

This is hilarious.

[butwhatifidothis]

Who on your side is going to call you out? Literally every recruitable character except Bernadetta and Lindhardt? And you CAN'T objectively say that the route leaves an objectively worse off Fodlan. A lot of the characters have the exact same single endings they do in other routes. Meaning a lot of their endings are nice and happy and hopeful despite the fact they aided in the conquest of a nation. Hell, some single character endings specific to crimson flower STILL end happily despite this. Alois happily moves to remire and becomes a farmer with his family. Mercedes opens up an orphanage. Also you can't really use Felix' single ending as a mark against Crimson flower, seeing as that's also his ending in all his non blue lions endings.

Those quotes aren't actually addressing Byleth's actions beyond said characters being pissed at Byleth. 

The demonic beasts are never mentioned. The fact that you are aiding in conquest and genocide isn't talked about, just the fact that you are on the opposing side. And some of those characters that are pissed at Byleth and questioning them ALSO *conviently* forget those grievances once they're recruited. Suddenly everybody's all for blindly following byleth in their aiding the conquest of fodlann and the potential genocide of the last few nabateans.

So what, is edelgard "im going to assassinate my classmates and immediately get murdered by bandits in that attempt and nemesis did nothing wrong!" Adrestia suddenly master manipulator? Are all the characters just so blindly loyal to byleth that they're willing to ignore their morals? a

You broke down exactly why, no matter how you look at it, villain route or not, CF falls flat! Because inconsistent writing dictates that 3H can't go all the way with making CF/Edelgard too bad! The full scope of Edelgard's actions never being addressed, even off of CF (the Demonic Beasts are never called out, but the use of them is very clearly villainous given what they are, to use one of your examples)! This is why I have issues with CF - not because oh shit you're the bad guy, but in this regard they don't go far enough! This is exactly why my feelings are mixed towards CF, because of these exact flaws within it.

But even with that, there are still some things of what you said I don't quite agree with?

Like, Edelgard's and Hubert's endings apparently don't point to CF being a villain route, but Alois and Mercedes' do point it to not being one? Why are the latter's endings being given more weight than the former's?

"Those quotes aren't actually addressing Byleth's actions beyond said characters being pissed at Byleth."

...Um... yeah they are? Because they're pissed at Byleth for siding with Edelgard and the Empire? They're not just randomly mad at Byleth for no reason - the characters know what Edelgard and the Empire have done, they don't have to go down the laundry list when they express their anger at Byleth joining her/them. When Ignatz says “We can’t place the future of Fódlan in Edelgard’s hands. If you’re allied with the Empire, I have no choice but to fight you," him not specifically laying out every single crime Edelgard has done does not suddenly mean that those crimes aren't what he's referring to. Shamir saying “You still align yourself with the emperor? What a shame. Let’s make this quick. I don’t want the loser to suffer," doesn't mean that she's just peaved at Byleth for no reason. Ingrid’s quote, “You have chosen to assist the Empire, even while knowing of their deeds. I am truly disappointed in you, Professor. Prepare yourself, heel of the Empire! A wretch like you will never be qualified to rule over Fódlan!” very clearly lays it out that it is all that the Empire has done that is the reason why she’s mad at you and why she thinks you’d be a shitty ruler (and if Byleth is shitty for choosing to side with Edelgard, then that inherently means that Edelgard is also shitty).

Why are they mad at Byleth? Why are they criticizing you specifically joining the Empire? Why are none of them saying “Gee Byleth, it’s pretty ass of you to join Claude’s side, you heartless bitch” on VW? Or similar statement towards Byleth on AM and SS? Why is the Empire unique in being called evil, bloody, savage, etc.? It’s because the action of joining the Empire - joining Edelgard - is a bad one, one that throws away morals to chase the false image of “revolution” Edelgard posits. 

So what, is edelgard "im going to assassinate my classmates and immediately get murdered by bandits in that attempt and nemesis did nothing wrong!" Adrestia suddenly master manipulator? Are all the characters just so blindly loyal to byleth that they're willing to ignore their morals?

The answer? Yes. The same way that Byleth is blindingly loyal to Edelgard and throws away their canonical hatred of TWS to follow her, the other characters throw away themselves to blindingly follow Byleth. Byleth places their trust in Edelgard despite all of the horrible things she’s done, and their character becomes worse for it - the same thing happens to the cast that foolishly decide to continue placing their trust in Byleth despite siding with the villain Edelgard. They either stagnate in their character progression or outright regress, the exact same as Byleth, because CF as a route is all about regression. That’s Edelgard’s whole motivation. It’s not moving forward to a new future, it’s going back to how Fodlan used to be - back under complete Imperial control, with a Hresvelg as the one ruler of Fodlan. 

And Edelgard having one shitty plan and being wrong about history doesn’t mean she doesn’t know how to make others look worse than her, how to prop herself up as the hero of the story - we see this from Ladislava, someone who is genuinely completely loyal to Edelgard specifically, that characters genuinely fall for Edelgard’s words. We see this in how she makes Dimitri and Rhea and Claude into these targets that must be destroyed “for the good of Fodlan,” that she can easily shove any and all responsibility for her actions onto her victims. We see this in how she’s just “taking back humanity’s freedom” when she slaughters a heartbroken and maddened Rhea - maddened due to her actions - only to shove humanity under her actually tyrannical rule. Hell, her being ignorant of history again falls back into how CF is partly about ignorance - you’re always ignorant to the depths of your horrific actions due to blind loyalty, so being wrong about history and never being corrected is par for the course.

Where CF falls short is the following: 

the aforementioned endings that always remain the same even on CF, 

where certain characters aren’t given enough attention despite being on CF (Ingrid definitely needed a Felix treatment for specifically this route, since she’s going after the Kingdom directly, for example), 

where even with the idea of the BE getting influenced by the regression of CF they still way too easily side with Edelgard (Ferdinand is by far the worse victim of this), 

where the end result of Fodlan is unification no matter what route you do (more the game overall that suffers from this tbh), 

where the characters don’t mention the depths of Edelgard’s actions off of CF (which is partly why the BE staying with Edelgard on CF comes across poorly, because they never really delve into her actions so them not doing so on CF doesn’t come across very well) - VW is the worst offender of this, as while it makes some sense to have Edelgard be a sympathetic villain on the other routes, doing the same here makes literally no sense (you only know her as a warmonger trying to murder you).

I know this isn’t like, the most popular opinion, but I don’t find it to be an intrinsically bad idea to have the player initially think that they’re not playing a villain route until they go back over the numerous, frankly loud undertones of villainy and evil you help participate in and realize “oh shit wait a minute.” Dragging down characters with you on your path of ignorance and regression? Sounds cool! Playing the other routes and seeing what you essentially look like to all of the people you fight on CF - a heartless conqueror stamping down on all opposition - as you play from the infinitely more heroic POV of the other two lords (+ Byleth’s independent POV) and see Edelgard in the light of a villain (that light the non-recruited/non-CF characters see you in)? Neat! Realizing that you’ve helped a lying, racist, imperialistic warmonger get exactly what she wants as she drags down Fodlan in darkness and tyranny? Interesting! The water is just muddied by poor writing decisions/oversights, but it is very much still (villainous) water. CF is flawed, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t what it is.

But I will ask you this nonnie, if you don’t mind! If you don’t think CF is a villain route, what is it to you? Genuinely curious! 

[emblem-fire]

Black Eagle!Dedue AU

Dedue starts classes in the Blue Lions House, but he isn’t totally loyal to Dimitri like he is in the canon. In this AU, he is bitter about the Murder of Duscur and about Dimitri’s refusal to do anything in terms of reparations.

Dedue spends two moons in the blue lions and in that time, he is consistently belittled and degraded by Felix and Ingrid for his heritage. He doesn’t get this treatment from his other classmates but they seldom defend him. This refusal to take action leads to a rift between the Dedue and the rest of his class. For a while, he feels totally alone.

One day, Ingrid gets exceptionally racist in the mess hall and it draws attention. Again, none in the Blue Lions stand up for Dedue but to Dedue’s surprise, quite a few Black Eagles come to his defense immediately. This leads to a spat between the the black eagles, Petra, Dorothea and Ferdinand in particular, and Ingrid and Felix. Seteth breaks up the argument but before they leave, the Black Eagles invite Dedue to their table. Dedue thinks on it a minute before he stands with his food and he goes to join them. He starts sitting with and just generally hanging out with the Eagles from then on, but it doesn’t push him to switch classes.

From then, Dedue builds relationships with most of the Eagles.

Petra becomes friends with him first, and they bond over their mutual feelings of homesickness. They become good friends doing cool friend shit like hunting and fishing together and kicking the shit out of racist monks and students. Idk I just want them to be bros, dude.

Dorothea becomes friends with him by asking him about the arts of Duscur. He’s wary of her initially, but he eventually warms up to her and he even sings the songs he remembers for her.

Ferdinand tries to be a protector to Dedue at first but that annoyed Dedue more than anything. Dedue tries to explain that he doesn’t need a defender and that while he appreciates the thought, he would rather not have Ferdinand stick his neck out like that. Ferdinand obliges, albeit a bit confused as to why someone would refuse a noble’s protection.

 Caspar becomes friends with Dedue because of how built he is. They train together all the time, and though Caspar is a bit too rambunctious for Dedue’s tastes, he indulges him anyways and he develops a friendship with him.

What pushes Dedue to leave the Blue Lions is his paralouge. Dimitri refuses to defend the Duscur rebels. He says that there are more important matters at hand, so he turns his back on the people who just want their homes back. Desperate and enraged, Dedue turns to the eagles and begs them for their aid. Without question, Byleth and Edelgard agree to help him and together, they help the Duscari rebels fend off the battalion of Faerghus soldiers. Afterwards, Edelgard offers the rebels a haven in Enbarr, so that they may live in peace. The rebels accept her offer and they go to Enbarr as temporary refugees, but with plans to take their lands back in one way or another.

Dedue is thoroughly shocked that Edelgard was so ready to aid his people who have been seen as lessers for so long and he’s even more shocked when she offers the people of Duscur her protection and a temporary home in Enbarr. It is here where Edelgard confides in Dedue that when she is Emperor, she wants to create a world of equals in terms of rights and protections. It’s vague but it’s enough for him to turn his back on Dimitri all together and join the Eagles because in this one act of aid, she has done more for Duscur than Dimitri has in his entire life.

Ingrid is predictably vindictive about his choice to leave, but everyone else is amicable about it, ranging from sad to indifferent.

When the war rolls around, Dedue doesn’t think twice about siding with the empire.

Dialogue vs former classmates

Dimitri

Dimitri: Dedue!

Dedue: Your Highness.

Dimitri: I don’t understand, how could you side with her? Can you not see the destruction that she has wrought?

Dedue: With her help, Duscur can reclaim what it has lost. She offers a future for my people, whereas Faerghus sees us as little more than a remnant of the past.

Dimitri: Faithless turncoat! Very well, then. If you fight for her despotic visions, then you’ll die too!

Ingrid

Ingrid: Duscari scum! I will rid you from the world for your treachery!

Dedue: No, Ingrid. You will only die trying.

Felix

Felix: Even if you’ve left the boar, you’re still nothing more than a dog. The only thing that’s changed is your master.

Dedue: I have no words for you.

Felix: Good. Come fight me and die.

Sylvain

Sylvain: So, this new world Edelgard wants to build is one where crests are insignificant?

Dedue: Yes. If you lay down your arms, I can promise you that you’ll have a place in it too.

Sylvain: Tempting, but I’m afraid I’ve already found a cause worth fighting for.

Dedue: Your sense of duty will get you killed.

Sylvain: I have the Lance of Ruin on my side, Dedue. I’ll take my chances.

Annette

Annette: I know I should hate you for siding with her…

Dedue: …

Annette: But, I don’t. I really do understand why you did.

Dedue: We don’t need to fight, Annette. Surrender, and I will see that you are treated with fairness and dignity.

Annette: I’m sorry, but I can’t. I will not lose my father again. Prepare yourself, I won’t go easy on you.

Ashe

Ashe: I was hoping we wouldn’t have to fight.

Dedue: As was I. I don’t suppose I can convince you to lay down your bow and surrender?

Ashe: I’m sorry, but no. I have a duty to fulfill. Even if it means I’ll die fulfilling it.

Mercedes

Mercedes: Oh! It really is lovely to see you again. It’s a shame that it’s like this, isn’t it?

Dedue: I don’t want to fight you, Mercedes. Please, stand down.

Mercedes: If only it were so simple, Dedue.

Endings in Crimson Flower route

Solo Ending

After the war finally came to a halt, the people of Duscur were able to reclaim what they had lost and then some. Dedue was widely celebrated as a hero to his people and he became the first leader of Duscur. The people wanted him to rule as a king, but he proposed a more democratic rule. Even so, Dedue was never voted out of office and under his selfless leadership, Duscur was able to bloom into a wealthy nation with rich art and world famous cuisine.

Ending with Ferdinand

After the war had finally came to a halt, the people of Duscur were finally able to reclaim what they lost and then some. Dedue became a hero to his people and together with the aid of Ferdinand von Aegir, Duscur healed from the scars of it’s past and it blossomed into a vibrant nation which was rich in trade and art. Later, after both Dedue and Ferdinand had passed, letters between the two were discovered, the contents of which were described by poets and scholars as the most beautiful and intimate expressions of love and gratitude to ever be written.

Ending with Petra

After the war had come to a close, Petra was finally crowned as the Queen of Brigid. From the very start of her reign, Petra worked hard to establish strong diplomatic relations with not just Fódlan, but with Dagda, Almyra, Morfis and the newly rebuilt Duscur. Dedue, as the new leader of Duscur, would meet with Petra regularly to make sure that their two nations grew strong together, though later, these meetings would become more private affairs. Eventually, Dedue announced that he would not be running for another term and he left Duscur to be with Petra, to whom he was wed almost as soon as he arrived in Brigid. The people were initially skeptical of him but Dedue’s tireless devotion to his new subjects earned him their love and admiration. To this day, Dedue and Petra are revered in both Duscur and Brigid and the two nations enjoy a high degree of camaraderie.

Ending with Dorothea

When the war finally came to a close, Dorothea accompanied her husband, Dedue to Duscur. Together, they got to work rebuilding Duscur, though in two very different ways. Dedue became the first elected leader of Duscur and his policies made sure that the country was built strongly in terms of infrastructure and with its economy. Dorothea, on the other hand, became a patron of the arts and she oversaw the creation of a new Opera company in Duscur which took in talent from all over the world. This diversity of artists effectively revolutionized art itself, and before long, Duscur was known far and wide for it’s wide array of arts. For as busy as the couple was, however, they always made time for one another and it is said that no union was ever as happy and serene as theirs was.

Ending with Caspar

In recognition of his daring deeds during the war, Caspar was offered the position of Minister of Military Affairs, but he declined. Instead, Caspar accompanied Dedue and his people to help rebuild Duscur. Unfortunately, hatred for Duscur persisted in the north of Fódlan. This led to the creation of a military dedicated to the defense of Duscur, helmed jointly by Caspar and Dedue. Thanks to their tireless efforts, Duscur remained safe and in time, the nation was able to heal and bloom into a wondrous country of wealth and formidable military might. To this day, Dedue and Caspar are remembered as the greatest of all of Duscur’s heroes, even being called the sons of the War God by some.

Ending with Bernadetta

After the war had finally come to a close, Bernadetta was granted the Varley territory, but instead of taking over, she chose a more adept successor and relinquished all claims to the territory. From there, she became a traveling artist of great renown. She ventured far and wide, from Brigid to Sreng to Almyra, but eventually, she found herself in Duscur and she fell in love with the culture. Her paintings of Duscur and it’s denizens became beloved by the people to the point were Dedue, the new leader of Duscur, had to beg her to stay. She inevitably stayed and with her help, art museums were established in Duscur. In time, these became among the finest in the world, filled to the brim with the beautiful works of Duscur’s many artists.

This was pretty cool to write haha. If anyone is interested in me writing more endings for this AU or maybe even Dedue’s supports with the Black Eagles and the Golden Deer let me know!

[damoselcastel]

Black Eagles, pt.10 (Silver Snow pt.4)

Okay, I’ve got the end of this route set in my sights, so this’ll be my third to last liveplay post for it (ignoring further META and character analyzation posts). I must admit, if I’d gone into this game totally blind I’d likely be extra disappointed by the handling/writing in this route and maybe the game overall. As it is, apart from taking a shine to some BE students, I’m still unimpressed- let’s get into why.

So after so long Hu and Edel are finally within military sights (since I didn’t see them Gronder SINCE WE WEREN’T THERE) And finally the BE kids start to actually addressing the current situation within the Empire and fighting their former liege. (about time, really felt like we were spinning our wheels for no good reason)

I have no idea if this comes up in any other route, but multiple BE kids were fretting not only over possible citizen casualties but also that the city of Embarr itself rife with historical significance/buildings could be damaged and that’d be A Shame. Linhardt and Ferdinand in particular mentions it (along with NPCs who also mention how it was Serios HQ and full of holy sites) . Oh an because I’ve seen a lot of quibbling over whether or not Edelgard cares about common people getting caught in the middle, multiple BE characters remark that she’s more than willing to mulch any in her way. They seem to be pretty agreed about Edelgard having brutal tactics:

Bernadetta, Caspar, and Ferdinand all comment on how ruthless she is about it and that they don’t expect the Adrestian army to pull punches for the sake of the citizenry in their own home capital. While it’s true there’re many desperate hold-out sieges IRL history, with the way characters across the board (in multiple routes) react with shocked negativity to not evacuating cities, it’s seen as a Bad Thing in Foldan.

Honestly Byleth is the limp-wristed one in terms of reactions, I HATED the two choices for reactions being essentially “nooo I don’t wanna kill her ;A;” and “maybe we can team up?” y’know despite the fact she’s a warmonger with tyrannical dreams. The gang’s reactions are all pretty solidly negative though, Caspard surprisingly pissed over her starting the war while Berndetta wants us to stop her:

Not only Seteth calls for Edel’s death, but also Ferdinand agrees there’s no other way to end the war. FINALLY time to throw down!

Embarr as a map has some really cool backgrounds, they went into the architecture to make it interesting. Not the most complicated map but big with enough monsters to require planning. Death Knight was there, but once again died in one round to a counter from Felix with a rapier...what a joke. Hubert was the unmoving boss for the battle of Embarr and honestly, was no big deal after he blew the two charges for Agnea’s Arrow on two of my strongest units who didn’t even blink. He only had a unique conversation with Ferdinand, which is ironic as in this playthrough Ferdie was the one whose loved ones he’d threatened right before the time skip.

Then Edlegard’s map, which was... a slow grind just cause of the limited room and three giant monsters. I initially worried over Dedue when he showed up, but honestly thing barely scratched him so he just tanked and took care of the right corridor for me. Finally it was just Edel on her throne and poetically, Ferdinand, the man who admitted she had to die before Seteth said it- dealt the final blow.

Despite this route splitting from an entire student phase with Edelgard, she’s barely mentioned during the War portion. The only time she appears on screen after that initial post-time-skip cutscene is on the map in which you defeat her. the map that’s an EXACT copy to Verdant Wind (down to Dedue showing up as an NPC). So there’s not a special opening confrontation between Edel vs anyone else and she ONLY seems to have a boss conversation with Byleth NONE of her former “friends” which considering how the Blue Lions scream at each other as opposite-side enemy units is weak. There was a cutscene between Edelgard demanding Byleth end her... despite in my game it being Wyvernlord Ferdinand who EXTRA finished her with a critical OHKO.

Storywise I feel like I didn’t really get a good look (or rather a show rather than tell) on the flipside of Edelgard despite the BE class directly opposing her, and very few of them directly spoke of her in more general narration. So it felt like while I learned somewhat about Adrestia (and kids worrying over family who didn’t appear on screen) nothing new was learned about Edelgard-as-enemy. Talk about disappointing!

She’s not even the final boss for this route, there’s still two maps to go... I guess the Argathans being the enemies for the Church lot has its own logic, but once again it’s a rip off of other routes. So hard to feel excited about it... I’m more anticipating being done and able to make a NG+ for a different route, this time without Student phase flailing.

[gascon-en-exil]

FE16 Golden Deer Liveblogging

Up through Chapter 5. Part 1 is getting to be routine by now, so it’s just the Deer-specific highlights.

Let’s talk units. Claude’s bow proficiency makes him a little more flexible than Edelgard or Dimitri, but he shares their good growths and boosted EXP. Most of the Deer have obvious counterparts in the other houses who perform the same function with more or less equal skill: Raphael for Dedue/Caspar, Lorenz for Sylvain/Ferdinand, Marianne for Mercedes/Linhardt, Leonie for Ashe/Bernadetta. A few slight quirks here and there, like Lorenz being tailored for dark knight and Marianne having the proficiencies to end as a holy knight, but it’s all similar stuff. Lysithea is a powerhouse as the internet fully knows, but I’m finding her dark spell list marginally less useful overall than Hubert’s because it lacks a 3 range option. Hilda’s in an odd position where she’s naturally suited to end in wyvern lord but will be doing most of her flying training on the side. 

As for Ignatz, I followed his budding talent for reason away from making him the army’s third archer (they’re good in this game, but they can feel redundant), with the ultimate goal of using his sword proficiency to have him end as a mortal savant. I was unexpectedly able to defeat the Death Knight in Chapter 4 with a combination of gambits and Lysithea’s Luna (nerfed in this game by being unable to double, preferable to FE8′s solution of giving it only 50 Hit), so I’ll be sending him through the dark magic classes because why not.

Poking around through menus has led me to discover a few things pertinent to the grinding that awaits me once I’m done with all the story content. The support log automatically registers the pre- and post-timeskip versions of conversations without you needing to get them, although it looks like you do have to obtain them in each route they’re available to fill it up completely. To add to that tedium, only Byleth supports can be purchased with Renown. It also looks like Renown only lets you buy class masteries and not the certifications themselves, so you can’t use it to get around the need for Dark Seals in later playthroughs. It wouldn’t surprise me if DLC makes those easier to get....

Story/Character observations

Token heterosexual or no, Claude’s an interesting figure. He’s already suggesting before the mock battle that he poison the opposition, and his talent for subterfuge only grows from there. His main plot hook appears to be his interest in Relics, both generally and in Byleth’s unique ability to wield the Sword of the Creator. This culminates in the one notable unique scene thus far, where Tomas comes across Claude and Byleth in the library late at night and drops some hints about Nemesis and what the church has been covering up regarding the nature of Relics...and then Edelgard pops in from nowhere to tell us more about Claude’s suspicious family situation. Seeing as the other routes I’ve played have had very little interaction between the house leaders, I wasn’t expecting that at all.

Speaking of Claude’s family, Judith shows up earlier in that chapter to call Claude to an Alliance roundtable meeting. I’m pretty sure she’s his mother? I imagine this will all be explained later in this route, but it’s curious both how she’s affiliated with House Daphnel and how the two of them don’t act like mother and son at all. Unless they’re keeping their relationship a secret for political reasons it comes off very strange.

The third time through I remembered to note Tomas’s remark in an early chapter about the church cardinals. It’s strange how they are never seen or mentioned elsewhere apart from the room where Part 2 training sessions take places being named after them. He claims they’re subordinates to Rhea, which I’m having trouble buying - for those not familiar with Catholicism, cardinals outrank bishops and archbishops.

I got a bunch of C supports and even a few Bs, but I’m having trouble thinking of much to say on them. None of the Deer really grab me on a personal level the way that various Lions and Eagles characters do. Most of them just aren’t very compelling so far: Raphael eats and trains, Ignatz likes painting but is insecure about it, Hilda is Serra (FE7) spliced with Charlotte (FE14), Leonie has a chip on her shoulder and is really into Jeralt, Marianne is unsocial and depressed but likes animals, Lorenz is a politically astute snob who’s admittedly a more subtle womanizer character than usual (see: Sylvain), and Lysithea is a prodigy with a complex about her age. I’m aware that some of these characters have darker backstories, Marianne and Lysithea especially, but even so I’m rather neutral on the whole set. The only one that was even a bit different from what I was expecting was Raphael/Ignatz, which sees Ignatz think that Raphael blames him for his (Raphael’s) parents’ deaths. Could be compelling in a gay way, but Raphael is the epitome of wasted bara potential and I know this support line ends in some solid no homo anyway. Shame.

I don’t know if I mentioned this, but Byleth will be S ranking Alois this playthrough. The Deer is the only route where the Byleth/Alois ending doesn’t entail Byleth marrying someone else, so that’s...something, I suppose.

[anamelessknight]

I could have finished this hours ago but I just wanted to take a break and relax a bit.  Which gave me some insight into something that’s probably true.

Now, on to actual character performances and gameplay thoughts.

Byleth was so disgustingly overpowered.  I made such a concerted effort to avoid overuse but everything died anyway.  I am pretty sure I could have soloed half the game with him.  Almost every stat was best in the unit or close.

Edelgard was also powerful but because I turned her into a dancer she didn’t get as many battles.  It’s actually really hard to get combat support with Byleth because they both kill things so hard.

Hubert, oh Hubert.  He killed anything he touched instantly but he rarely got the chance due to mages lousy movement.

Dorothea was mage supreme but also got shackled with the move range battalion which meant she was always lagging.  Mages rubbish movement didn’t help.  She got used more as a healer in endgame since another Psychic is all good.

Bernadetta ended up on the front line so much because Horse.  Her Crest was the most useful of them all and she probably had the most desperate crit kills that prevented her from dying.

Caspar had a difficult start but once he got rolling he could crush half the map.  Fists are super good.  He was the king of redundant crits since he kept pulling them off on his last hit that killed anyway.  Of course when I actually needed one of those on a boss it was nowhere to be seen.  Go figure.

Ferdinand was my shield.  Wherever he was needed he was taking NO DAMAGE all the time.

Linhardt was my primary healer.  He did healer things and was always underleveled because mage move sucks.  Warp sure saved my bacon a bunch.

Petra early on was my most powerful non-By/El unit.  She basically had iron skin for most pre-timeskip but after she fell off hard.  I don’t think she got any DEF at all.  But she had an insane SPD stat to make up for it.

Flayn I tried to make a Peg but her arms were too thin for that.  So she just sat and did healer things.  

Lysithea was the only poach I got from another House and was well worth it.  She hit things so hard and without Dorothea’s speed problem even if she was made of paper.  Also Warp!

Now to a deeper dive on my precious Eagles and their wonderful plot.  This is going to be filled with all sorts of spoilers and heavy speculation on the other paths and some deep thinking I’ve done during the break.

I’ve personally rattled around more than a fair few fiction ideas with the message of “skill > plot power” and Three Houses has been a welcome treat for that side of my brain.  Edelgard’s insistence on destroying ingrained social classism and crests deciding fate.  You see this with her, and Lysithea’s pasts and that... one guy... who destroyed himself grasping for a lance beyond his station.

It sort of falls apart with Crests honestly not being that powerful.  Their normal effects are mostly equal to a good ability.  Yeah, the weapons rule, but I used a training sword on Byleth for most of the final map anyway and he thrashed Catherine with it.  Hell, for being the ultimate Crest, I’d honestly say Bernie’s was better than Flames.

Compare this to FE4 Holy Blood basically making you god.  Hell, even slightly relevant is that one of those fiction ideas I had was a commoner of FE4 getting sick of holy blood bullshit and moving to wipe it out, but I digress.  Crests power as wanted by the plot is not reflected in gameplay, which is a shame as otherwise the other big gameplay to story convert of Byleth turning the war is damn apt.

Anyway, the Crests and their effect on the world is what drives Edelgard.  She is basically of the most privileged class there is, royalty, heir to the throne, has two crests.  But despite that it all inflames her and she wants that destroyed and to replace the system, where one’s worth is reflected at birth, with one where one’s hard work and skill is for advancement.  Because that same system also made her a victim.  It ruined her family, tortured her and is quickly killing her.  She pushes forward with her war because she doesn’t know how long she has and she must make her bloody stand to stop more victims like her even if she ends up making more victims like her.  The ends justify the means.

And then Byleth shows up in her life.

Let me speculate on what will happen to El in the other routes.  Without Byleth, things go worse for the Empire, so she has to rely more and more on Those That Slighter, whom she utterly despises but as she cannot make headway otherwise.  So she starts falling apart.  Hubert will always blindly support her even as she degenerates further into hypocrisy and ruin.

And it’s Byleth that saves her from that.

Byleth stopping the execution is more than that, it finally cements to her that Byleth is a rock.  He’s Edelgard’s rock.  He is the one person, as Edelgard says, she fells like she can truly be herself around.  She trusts him more than anyone. 

Now, Edelgard obviously trusts Hubert.  With anything.  But El always has authority and power over him and he’d never challenge her.  But with Byleth she lets herself feel vulnerable.  She was vulnerable in the tomb and yet Byleth showed compassion and mercy and understanding instead.  Then before that the last time she felt truly vulnerable was when she was being experimented on.  She doesn’t want to be vulnerable. It influences her entire character to always put a strong front up.  But in Byleth she finally finds the one person she wanted all along, an equal.  Someone to share her life with, her burdens and goals, and her vulnerabilities. 

Her friendships and supports with others there’s still a wall, a barrier, a class difference between everyone that influences them (Hubert especially).  When Lysithea comes to bond over their pasts Edelgard still puts up a wall and deflects.

But she tells Byleth of her Crest of Flames, her past, because in a way Byleth is almost her ideal.  Someone untied to social status but incredibly powerful despite it, who is skilled at everything he does and has everyone’s respect more through merit than family. 

She sees the perfect person for her ideals, and when the time comes to give him command she goes with it, because she believes wholeheartedly in her ideals of merit with Byleth by her side.

Whoops I was a shipping, sorry.

Err, anyway I think that sums up I love my El a pretty lot.

So, as for the rest of my previous babies.

Hubert is incredible since he’s absolutely evil and revels in it but he is absolutely 1000% dedicated to Edelgard no matter what.  I have to repeat that his transition from “I’ll kill you in your sleep if you bother Lady Edelgard” to “You are indispensable to Lady Edelgard please always stay by her side” to “If I had another life I would gladly stand alongside you” is probably the best character arc.  (El doesn’t much change compared to him even if I love her to bits).

Ferdinand is deeper than his pomp and flare exudes.  He is incredibly hard-working, welcome to criticism and talks deeply about what nobility should mean.  He supports El’s plans to dismantle the nobility because he believes the skilled and elite of all classes will now receive proper education and the brilliant that were otherwise passed over will now be given their chance to shine and that delights him.

His support with Dorothea is great too.  She resents him as she does all nobles, but moreso because he’s so boisterous about it.  But he shows he doesn’t just let that define him, he’s hard-working and earnest, and holds no spite towards commoners despite his bravado.  He adores how Dorothea has worked her way up.

Dorothea is just a great character all around.  She’s always decent at needling others no matter what and knows exactly what she wants and how she wants it even if it leads to a bit of self-loathing because she can’t sustain herself by own power alone.  Her battle quote changing from “This rose has thorns” to “This rose only has thorns left” after the timeskip is powerful.

Linhardt is rather simple.  He likes naps and crests and hates violence.  Edelgard basically has to drop his dream job in his lap to get him to commit to helping.  Since he’s usually the calmest and most observant nearly everyone comes to him for advice.  I really hope his research pans out for everyone’s sakes.

Bernadetta oh my poor sweet disaster child I would give you all the head pats if I could.  Bernie’s incredible confidence past the timeskip is wonderful.  “Bernie’s unstoppable” is probably my favorite win quote.  Her past is truly awful.  She has some of the funniest supports.

Petra is... well, I can’t really put into words.  The speech gimmick is close enough to my enoucnter with certain non-native speakers that I could flow with it easy.  She’s always prideful, but never arrogant, wants to learn and wants to better her country’s place.  She’s so well-rounded but not as deep as some of the others.

Caspar wants to hit dudes and train.  That’s it.  He has a wonderful support where his tendency to rush in eventually leads to disaster down the line and it’s left ambiguous whether this was good or not even if Caspar accepts that he made the tough if better choice.  Also he’s nearly as tall as Linhardt post-timeskip so their support being about the advantages of height comes across weird.

Lysithea is my one poach from another house and a damn relevant one, having undergone the same horror as El did.  She herself is a great character, who values hard work over inborn talent because she despises her “talent”.  Then she hates being treated like a kid because she doesn’t have much time left and will be young forever.  She is absolutely going to be a first five wife to relieve some of her burden.

Her support with Linhardt is honestly kind of... bad  “Well, you might not die young with two crests, so you should keep them.”  ugh, why couldn’t you have just removed it?

Where was I?  Oh yeah, lots of word plots.  Plot good.  My biggest beef is home Those That Slither just get beaten in an ending slide.  I know it’s hard to top the Immaculate One fight but Arundel is just responsible for everything and just letting him get offed offscreen is just unsatisfying.

This is some pretty heavy speculation on Seiros and the truth of the church that I want to give a wide berth on since I’m pretty confident in it.

Alright, so, I think the King of Liberation basically exterminated the manakete tribes then used their hearts to form the Crest Stones.  Sothis’s stone replaced Byleth’s heart and activated the Sword, Seiros was fondling the stone and sword and Byleth took “Mother” away.

So in order to prevent their extermination (which I did, whoops) she tried to control humanity.