#sorry this is less an essaypost and more just rambling but... i had too much to say to just put it on twitter like i normally would

[the-priestess-of-dawn]

Since I've been thinking about fe12 recently naturally I started thinking about my favorite fe12 character Katarina (she's like... my 4th favorite for fe overall, but since Grima/Robin and Chrom are number 1 and 2 and SO far ahead of everyone else that it's kind of unfair, she's basically second place when it comes to characters who have NOT infected me with constant and irremediable brainrot).

Specifically I'm thinking about how the scene she has with Marth when she joins and how if she had her way she would have had Marth execute her, but...

"You're just running from your sins." MARTH GO OFF!!!

"If you truly regret what you've done, then live. I want you to atone with your life, not your death." YES MARTH DESTROY THE REDEMPTION IN DEATH TROPE!!!

Look, Marth might not be my most beloved fe protagonist of all time, but he gets MAJOR points for this conversation ALONE. And honestly it is all the more tragic how his descendants get so caught up in the cycle of violence and vengeance when Marth already understood that justice does not mean killing everyone who has done you wrong. Oh BOY did the exalted line ever lose the plot there.

I know Lucina is the one who gets compared to Marth most, and Tiki even says that Chrom is more similar to one of Marth's ancestors than Marth himself, but honestly Chrom's "You are yourself, before you are any man's son/daughter." really does echo "You will think for yourself and find your own answer." I think Marth would be really proud of him for that response to finding out his best friend is the child of someone who came to assassinate his sister.

And, haha, speaking of Grima brainrot...

I REALLY WISH CHROM HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO ROBIN, YOU KNOW???

Ugh, Robin my beloved. I want to freeze time, like, right here

Okay, not necessarily here. This is... fair enough for a heroic sacrifice...

Uh-huh, this tracks...

There! Can we freeze right there? Robin what the FUCK are you saying? These two lines why I can never be at peace with the sacrifice ending no matter how you frame the narrative. "It's only right" that Robin dies with Grima??? No. No!

See, if it weren't for that specific line, we could just accept that Robin is doing something they don't really want to do and that they know will hurt people because they truly believe it's the only way to truly protect the future, but... no. When they say "It's only right we meet our end together." it becomes something else. Is this REALLY the only way to protect the people of the future (Chrom doesn't think it is. The rest of the Shepherds don't think it is either, which you can see from their lines if you choose to let Chrom land the final blow) or are you just trying to run from your past life, Robin? To escape the weight of what you've done and what you see now that you're capable of doing all over again? Is there anything heroic or even "sacrificial" if saving the world is just the convenient excuse for getting rid of yourself?

Chrom would agree with Marth's feelings. He would say "If you truly regret what you've done, then live." But he CAN'T because Robin did not reveal this extremely distressing line of thinking until the absolute last second before landing the final blow on Grima and ensuring their own death. Of course Chrom would never speak a word against Robin after that. Frankly, I think he was kind of robbed. (And kind of on purpose... When you think about it, is there really THAT much difference between Grima trying to make Robin look like a tragic hero by offering that yes/no choice to submit to them vs Robin becoming a tragic hero by "sacrificing" themself at the end of a grand final battle?)

Anyway, I would absolutely love to see a Robin/Katarina harmonic in FEH someday... I think if that ever happened, Katarina would probably say something about Robin reminding her of Kris (because Avatars) but really, Robin is so much like her that I'd just love to see them talk to each other about literally anything.

(Also, on a slightly tangential note... I know that in canon, Robin strikes Chrom with Thoron at the Dragon's Table, but I feel like as a fandom we are really missing out by not taking some artistic liberties and making it Katarina's Bolt instead. I mean. The SYMBOLISM. Especially when it comes to good timeline Robin, who might think to bring that tome to the Dragon's Table instead of Thoron because it has lower might.)