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raxistaicho · 7 months

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Something I feel is key to any discussion about why Jeralt might have acted so severely when it comes to Rhea is his personal experience with the woman, what he thinks of her, what he feels he owes her, and what she did for him that she didn't do for others, including Sitri.

In the first support with Rhea we learn from her personally that Jeralt would likely describe her as "frightening" and that she sincerely doubts Jeralt would ever call her "incredible." She's also hurt by the truth that he never mentioned her. Jeralt himself wrote that he thought the world of Rhea, but there is also significant evidence to suggest that Rhea is not close with anyone but Byleth. Catherine's jealousy of Byleth, Rhea's admission of lonliness, and Archbishop Rhea's event in Fire Emblem Heroes all speak to intentional personal isolation. Jeralt was probably about as close to Rhea as Catherine was. They don't actually know her, just her authority, strength, and how she saved them. (Faerghus born. You do as your leader tells you and dedicate yourself to them fully.)

300+ years by Rhea's side. Garreg Mach has existed for nearly 1000 years. Sitri is attempt 11 at creating a vessel for the Goddess. (12 is a significant number in this game, as it also relates to the Nemesis having 11 Elites, 10 known and 1 secret, Edelgard having 11 siblings, 10 known and 1 step sibling, and putting Byleth at 13th for the vessels, which breaks the trend, but still maintains associations with the Olympians, bad luck, betrayal, and the Death tarot card indicating a need for change just like with Sylvain.) Thematic trivia aside, even at 1 vessel every 100 years, Jeralt was witness to 3 attempts, possibly 4 (Sitri) at using Sothis' Crest Stone to create a vessel.

We don't know too much about the others, whether their lives were akin to Sitri's or if they died at birth, or even if they lived full lives. Two of those options, and assuming Rhea got better at making vessels over time, means Jeralt likely met some of them. This was, as stated by Rhea, her mission after all. That and keeping Fodlan at peace so she could bring Sothis back to it.

Jeralt doesn't seem the kind to really give a shit about the arcane or experimentation in general. I doubt he knows what the hell has been happening the whole time he's been alongside Rhea. He just knows that she is something very powerful. He warns Byleth not to trust her, and granted this is right after returning to Garreg Mach after running away because he doesn't trust her, it's equally important to recognise why Jeralt went back after all this time. He knows he doesn't have a choice. Alois found him and clocked that he has a child. That guy has a big mouth and Rhea would absolutely find out. Refusing her isn't something within his power to do or he wouldn't have stolen away into the night in the first place.

He doesn't really object to what the Church is doing, he did it for long enough, but he knows that he's outclassed by Rhea and doesn't have the power to refuse her. That's why he faked Byleth's death and informed Rhea before leaving instead of just taking the kid and running. (We know Jeralt doesn't leave until after the fire has been quelled because he is the one to tell her the news of Byleth's death.) She would have stopped them.

So what DOES Jeralt know about Rhea and her experimentation?

Well, a big thing is that Jeralt is very aware that he should be dead. That he died in a battle as a young man saving Rhea from death.

Rhea says that Jeralt was mortally wounded, and we don't know enough about what (pure) Nabatean blood can actually do to a person to say either way if a person needs to be alive for the resurrection to work, but the Elites and Nemesis were definitely dead if that helps confuse matters. (I mention pure Nabatean blood to disqualify Seteth, Flayn, and Seteth's brothers. We know for a fact that Rhea is directly related to Sothis, but neither Seteth, his brothers, or Flayn state a definite relationship to Rhea like they do with each other, or state a direct relationship to Sothis as Rhea does.)

Jeralt feels like he owes his life to Rhea right up until the events with Sitri and Byleth. She did save him after all and Faerghus goes a long way to instill ideas of eternal loyalty to a ruler/leader.

He knows, personally and for a fact that Rhea can bring people back from near death. Mortally wounded. Something seen as beyond exceptional in a world where 1hp is fixed up with healing magic no problem and Miracle exists. It also gave him a Major Crest. Something Jeralt doesn't seem as very keen on mentioning and definitely didn't make him start acting like one of the Goddess' chosen. He likely knew something was up even then, but not what it was.

Coupled with 300 years of working alongside a woman who also doesn't age, perpetuates a history of Crests being granted by the Goddess, which contradicts his lived experience, and the knowledge that Rhea is essentially an arbiter on who lives and who dies even from wounds so fatal that Faith magic was a lacking intervention. He's probably asking himself...

Why is Sitri dead?

What the hell could have happened in there that the Archbishop of over 300 years, the Goddess' most dedicated servant couldn't use Faith magic to prevent? What happened in there that was so severe the method Rhea used to save him all those years ago wasn't viable? Why didn't Rhea save his wife? He's been her Captain for several centuries! Sitri was akin to a daughter to Rhea! (Something very uncommon.) What profane thing could have stopped *her* from getting her way?

Then there's the matter of Byleth's heartbeat, how they don't cry, how they don't emote or fuss, or anything at all. Not to mention the fact that Byleth might possibly have a scar over their chest.

What does "traded her life for" *actually* mean? He doesn't know about the Crest Stone, but he knows Rhea can do *something* to save a life. But why would that be necessary? The line sounds like the death in childbirth was the exchange, but that shouldn't have killed someone in Rhea's care. Not according to all the information he has.

She has to have done something. He doesn't know what it is, but Rhea made the choice to exchange Sitri's life for Byleth's and now she's covetous of the child, telling Jeralt not to worry and having them watched.

Jeralt mentioning how Rhea reacted to Byleth's death is also telling.

"Lady Rhea was in a state over the news."

Lady Rhea wasn't in a state over Aelfric's death, or Jeralt's. I expect she wasn't in a state over Sitri's not because she doesn't care about her as much as she does Byleth, but due to the circumstances of Sitri's death, it was a request out of love.

So if Rhea is known to be hard to crack, and Jeralt believes her to be terrifying, and Rhea believes Jeralt should think she's terrifying, what other "states" does Rhea have? It must have been significant for Jeralt to be shaken and Rhea to understand that reaction even from someone who thought the world of her. It's probably nothing as severe as turning into the Immaculate One. But Rhea just lost access to her mother's Crest Stone. *The* thing she needs to bring Sothis back. The reason she's doing all of this! Echoes of "give it back" ring in my mind. She definitely did well to not degenerate right then. Possibly because Byleth's body would still be in Garreg Mach, and then later when she realised the deception, out there in the world guarded by the man who kept her safe for 300 years and loved his child enough to fake their death. The same man who cared for Sitri. Rhea would have needed to wait for Byleth to grow up anyway, and she, Jeralt and Byleth have nothing but time.

Back to Jeralt specifically. The veritable necromancer in his life didn't save his wife during a childbirth, seems to want to keep Byleth close, which can't be because they're Sitri's child otherwise, why not just save Sitri, y'know? So Sitri needed to die and Byleth is even stranger than their mother was.

Sitri also didn't emote to anyone but Jeralt (Crest of Seiros), but Byleth isn't emoting even for him. (*Heavy bias* but the trigger for Byleth was probably the proximity of another Crest of Flames.) So his child is even stranger than their mother, maybe even in the same way as the other vessels he incidentally met over the years.

Really the only conclusion Jeralt can draw is that Rhea did something to Byleth and Sitri. Traded their lives. Something beyond healing magic or whatever thing Rhea did to him. Something immense, beyond even the baseline be already has for her capable of granting an extended life and Crest. Something that might have been the reason Sitri could never leave the monastery. She was unwell, but Jeralt is a very capable man. Byleth seemed healthy, but the Church didn't seem willing to let them go.

It's not at all a stretch, even with the little Jeralt actually knows, to assume Rhea did something profound.

Not divine. At least not in any way she advertises.

Did she swap their souls? Something like that?

Did he find it strange later in life that Byleth didn't manifest his Crest of Seiros? Even if he didn't buy into the Goddess blessing, he must know through sheer exposure that Crests are inherited and that the further the bloodlines get from those originally "blessed" the likelihood goes down. As someone personally "blessed" with a Major Crest, Byleth not having one is an oddity itself.

Maybe that's what kept him away.

Jeralt didn't just leave. He stayed away. He stayed away for two decades, making the choice not to return every time he thought about it.

This wasn't just about whatever Rhea did, it was also about what Rhea might have done to Byleth, trapping them in Garreg Mach like she did to their mother, his wife.

And he was right. He saw the writing on the wall perfectly. Rhea actually giving such a shit about Byleth's "death" confirmed it in his mind. Rhea did something forbidden (confirmed by Seteth in FEH) and his child was the subject. He's even still fearful and that's why he lies to Rhea at first. "This is not Sitri's child. I know you care about them being Sitri's child. This isn't about me." Is basically what he's saying.

Make whatever excuses you will, but Rhea wasn't not going to try and have Sothis brought out in Byleth just because they stayed at the Monastery.

Imagine if Rhea had been the one to hear Byleth was dreaming of the war with Nemesis?

That kid is never ever leaving those halls. Jeralt be damned.

I think Rhea is a fantastic character, she's amazing, third only to Byleth and Edelgard in my mind. But don't for one second think her intention isn't Sothis first, Byleth second. That's why we went to the Holy Tomb.

Jeralt wasn't irrational. Rhea isn't suddenly "right" because the ritual with the throne didn't work. We actually don't even know if that's the case or if Sothis just beat Rhea to the punch and gave herself up to Byleth before the reverse was made to happen.

Her intention to have Sothis overtake Byleth was the thing Jeralt was detecting. The feasibility of that act is secondary to Rhea's sudden possible human sacrifice of the woman he loved. If someone looks like they're going to murder you, you don't say "let's see how this plays out." You take precautions, and his theory was validated enough by Rhea's reaction to Byleth's faked death and was enough to keep him away every day afterwards.

If the ritual at the Holy Tomb had worked, killing Jeralt might have been the Slither's most colossal fuck up, because he might have been the only person besides Edelgard to have enough knowledge to even think about intervening.

Bonus Jeralt theory. Jeralt doesn't align with any nation anymore. He doesn't wear any of their colours. However, the closest match is the Alliance. Why? Well, Jeralt was born over 300 years ago and served the Faerghus military, however, his homeland very well might have been one of the ones that broke off into the Alliance after he had already joined Rhea.

Since he then goes on to live in Remire, Jeralt could be one of the only characters to have relevant ties to all three nations.

The separation of his homeland from the Kingdom might also has served to make him disinterested in the idea of sovereignty or the idea that Fodlan even has nations worth mentioning since they can just *change* whenever. Again, something we see happen in the game itself as Fodlan reunifies in what would have been his lifespan had Kronya not cut it... long? Either way, it explains why he does not care where he was from or bother to explain anything to Byleth, it's all immaterial if you live long enough. (Which also reflects Rhea's view of Fodlan.)

(Apologies for writing you another novel. I hope you don't mind, I'm incapable of brevity. I just think the idea Jeralt overreacted with the amount of context he had about Rhea's abilities, especially since he was 100% correct, is silly. Also the Crest of Seiros is The High Priestess and that's all about trusting your intuition, which is what he did, and he dies soon after he second-guesses his decision. Theming!)

Nah, don't worry, that was all very interesting! :) Thanks for sharing your thoughts and analysis!

#fire emblem three houses #edelgard discourse #edelgard positive #jeralt reus eisner #rhea #byleth eisner #sitri

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