#full game may make me change my mind but I do kinda hope that Arval doesn't really turn evil

[oh-cool-a-burning-sword]

Thoughts on Arval from the demo and trailers

Another supposed Amnesiac God(?)

Unlike Sothis who can give Byleth abilities to manipulate time, Arval gives Shez the power to shape shift and I guess also do that 'turn into a bunch of sparkles and move super fast' ability too.

All but outright stated to have been affiliated with TWS

Said that they felt something upon seeing Kronya, however they don't know it the feeling was positive or negative

Probably wasn't treated well by TWS? More of a theory than anything atm though knowing TWS's track record, wouldn't be surprised.

Another theory is that Arval only woke up because of Byleth and Sothis messing with the flow of time one too many times. Those two messed up while trying to get the golden ending and now have a whole new problem to deal with

50% chance Arval is being genuine with Shez, 50% chance that Arval's using Shez for some ulterior motive

I can imagine Arval being a villain in at least one route? Only saying one because idk if that would work for every route. Though I also really like Arval and Shez' dynamic and don't want to lose that.

Was never shown Gratitude by anyone before Shez

Is literally the guardian of Shez's last braincell

Snarky and overly dramatic, I love them

Remembers the exact number of times they had to save Shez in the span of 6 months, along with remembering HOW they nearly died

One of the things Arval loves about Shez is the fact that the mercenary worries for them

Another is the fact that Shez tends to see the better side of people

Seems to greatly dislike the lack of choice Shez has about going to Garreg Mach and joining one of the three houses, even if Shez themself didn't complain too much about it. Though can't tell if they dislike it because well... Arthgarian or because they genuinely care about Shez, maybe a mix of both?

I do think that Arval cares for Shez to some extent, though hard to tell if it's because if Shez dies they'll die too, they need Shez to do something important or because Arval sees the mercenary as a friend. The trailers kinda make it seem like Arval cares at least.

The only example I have from the demo of Arval caring for Shez is that after Tomas revealed himself to actually be Solon and the mercenary worried that people would start suspecting them due to the similar powers, Arval tried to reassure them.

Both states that they don't know much but also seemingly know more than they let on. (AKA says that they can't remember anything before meeting Shez, yet is somehow aware that they have to guide Shez and that the mercenary in supposedly needed to keep the cycle of the world safe...whatever that means)

Depending on how the story goes, there can be multiple ways for Arval's arc to play out. Maybe their faking their amnesia and are still very well allied with TWS, maybe their amnesia is genuine but upon regaining their memories decide to ally themself with TWS again. Perhaps they never get their memories back and instead sticks with Shez and whatever house they joined, or they still have their memories but decide against betraying who is probably the only friend Arval has.

In the most recent trailer, we can hear Arval saying 'I will protect you all.' THere's currently no way to tell if their saying this to the house Shez joined or TWS tho

I don't think I'm the only one who thinks this but I honestly feel like Arval could possess Shez at one point or another. No real reason for this idea other than I have a feeling Sothis might possess Byleth to speak through them so high chance the same could happen with our new duo

Really, REALLY hope that Arval doesn't disappear halfway through the game like Sothis did in 3 houses.

NGL, if I still like Arval's character in the full 3 hopes game, I'll most likely vote for them during next year's CYL, and I think I'll start saving orbs. I know there's yet to be a warriors character in Feh but seeing 3 houses' popularity... I think it's possible