#remina eltfrom yggdmillenia

[intrepid-fictioneer-7]

On Reddit, I’m seeing some comments believing the new character from Fate:Lost Einherjar, Remina Eltfrom Yggdmillenia, is actually Fiore in disguise because she calls Caules her “brother”.

Which is just weird to me? Far be it from me to stop people from making fan theories, but this one seems a bit too facile to me. First off, we know mages adopt all the time, meaning not blood related people still see themselves as part of a family. An easy example would be Reines calling Waver her brother. This was, in fact, the whole point of Yggdmillenia, to the point Fiore herself called Darnic her grandfather and Gordes her uncle, despite neither of them actually being related to her. Remina thinking of Caules, the head of what remains the clan, as her “brother” (and I think she says the same of Goredolf) is perfectly normal without her being Fiore in disguise somehow, especially if she is close enough in age to Caules that calling him anything else would be weird.

Second, this would really undermine Fiore’s character for no reason. I dislike her arc for reasons I won’t elaborate here, but her whole arc in Apo is that the magus lifestyle doesn’t suit her and she should leave it behind, which she does by giving Caules her Crest and leaving at the end. We even know where she went: the side story Side of the Survivor tells us she fled to New York, as North America is both where she does her physical rehabilitation and also out of the reach of European mages:

Of course, it was impossible for her to continue living in Europe. So she came to North America, which was despised by the magus world. The Forvege family must have investigated first and foremost Europe, and then the management of Yggdmillennia (more accurately, the former Yggdmillennia), including in Russia. Fiore speculated that North America, which had nothing to do with Forvedge, should be left to the final investigation. Until now, Fiore has moved twice. And no traces that she moved to the United States can be found.

Which makes sense, seeing the shenanigans Faldeus’ group gets up to in Fate/strange Fake and how the Association has little means to stop them, and how FGO mentions in Salem the Association has a very limited presence there.

But the theory would have people believe Fiore’s entire arc and its conclusion got flushed down the toilet for reasons, so she can come back to Europe and participate in a Grail War again. Why? At least when TM writers write about pre-existing characters, they develop those who were really only brief cameos and didn’t have their own works (Urobutchi for FSN’s Kiritsugu, Sakurai for the Fate/Prototype cast, etc.) or they expand on their arcs (Sanda for Waver, Urobutchi for Saber and Kirei, etc.). This would be both a regression and a repetition of what Fiore went through in Apocrypha. And also, you know, people are looking for her to kill her.

And, since I’m mentioning Side of the Survivor, it also outright tells us Fiore can’t do magecraft anymore. So how would she even be a participant at the most basic level, aka provide energy?

Third, Remina is kind of already a reference in herself? Not just her family name, but the fact that she is Scandinavian at all. From Apo volume 1:

The name of the clan is Yggdmillennia. They were magi who in the past came to Romania from Northern Europe.

Remina is very likely a reference to that forgotten backstory bit, the branch which stayed in Scandinavia which might even have been the former main family before Darnic took over. Why would Sakurai then turn around and say that, no, actually she’s just Fiore again. 

And meta wise. Fiore by this point would be 28. But like, most protagonists of Fate and Nasuverse in general, ignoring Capsule Servants and Prisma Illya, trend towards being teens to young adults (14 to 20). It seems very unlikely to me the main Master is going to be a 28 year-old woman. Even Case Files, despite having nearly 30 Waver as its protagonist, is actually narrated by his two 15 years-old acquaintances. It’s not really ageism, it’s just the target demographic Type-Moon is most going for.

I like Fiore a lot, but I just don’t see what would be the point in bringing her back in this situation (though I do not eliminate the possibility she cameos while Remina is still her own character). Waver made sense, because he had ended his coming-of-age and was basically a different character (in fact, him as “Lord El-Melloi II” precedes his appearance as Waver Velvet in Fate/Zero, believe it or not). Remina as she is at least has the potential to bring Yggdmillenia backstory lore. And I’m sure Sakurai would much prefer write her new OC than borrow a character from Higashide.