#spoilers but this has nothing to do with claude allying with the empire

[boopasnoops]

Thinking about how fucking messy Golden Wildfire was

[porcelaintoybox23]

I like playing with hornet’s nests apparently and i won’t stop today

The house lords not having supports is the dumbest part about this game. The problem with fe3h is it is a really good game, which makes the areas where it falls short stand out even more. There is no reason why the lords don’t have supports with one another and I honestly think it would knock out a lot of issues people have with the game.

Here lie spoilers for the whole game and opinions based on playing 2.5 routes. This doesn’t include Yuri because I haven’t bought the DLC.

This game gives the player the illusion of choice. Nothing you do has a serious impact in the game barring the choices needed for CF and a few paralogues here and there. I think these supports would greatly help. Edelgard and Dimitri could have supports where they can rekindle their friendship, albeit with Dimitri knowing that they’re step-siblings and El still being in the dark for a time. How far you choose to develop or not develop the relationship can have some interesting effects. If you get them to a high level on AZ, maybe El can figure out what their relationship truly is but keep it hidden for later. Maybe she could have a legitimate claim to the Farghues throne as a step-sister? If it’s not increased, El can figure it out during the pre-Enbarr convo post timeskip. Even if none of that could happen, just imagine how much worse the flame emperor reveal would’ve been with their newly rebuilt friendship.

With El and Claude, these two would wreak absolute havoc. Their goals aren’t misaligned and Claude isn’t religious. Increasing their support could let El tell him what she knows about the church, maybe not TWSITD since you know shapeshifting and nukes. I find it so confusing that CF has us invade the alliance. I don’t even think it’s all that necessary, and I put that on the writers. Maybe El and Claude could have written letters as supports post time skip where they can be allies and we don’t have to invade.

Dimitri and Claude supports could open options of improving relations between Fodlan and the nations outside of it. Maybe Claude could start to trust a little sooner and Dimitri have more of a grounding force in his life. They both live in the library where their research overlaps.

It’s really weird that schemer Claude doesn’t try to create some kind of relationship with two future rulers even if it’s just to gather info. Seriously, Claude wants to “end racism” but doesn’t take the time to connect with two of the most potentially powerful people on the continent? Also, they all go to school together. Why do the not interact?????

Have Dimitri and Claude call out some of Edelgard’s choices, have her point out the faults in their world views.

I think there should’ve have been an option for the lords to team up to bring the truth to light, get Rhea to step down, and takedown TWSITD.

Mind you, I’m not saying this potential route should be the “true ending”, I don’t think there should be a true ending at all. The changes that open up with the increasing or ignoring their relationships are realistic. Just another option. None of the house leaders are dumb, and it’s weird that there was not some other option besides war.

Speaking of forced choice; Byleth is a black hole Mary Sue. I got this term from a comment on YouTube on a video i do not remember. Nothing happens without Byleth and everything they do is amazing and awesome and everyone loves them. (Barring Seteth and Hubert) This is more of my view, but I don’t think the main character needs to be the most important. It feels lazy to have the house leaders depend on Byleth to stay stable, especially when they have house members they make bonds with. It also seems forced to have a five-year time skip in every route. In AZ it works since Dimitri is mentally unstable, the kingdom is in shambles, and the empire has Rhea. In CF, it’s fast-paced nature would lend itself to Byleth being out of commission for a year at most. I love Byleth, as blank a slate as they are, but it’s dumb to have the tide of war automatically change with them. I know this is more gameplay but Byleth isn’t needed.

I know things can get contentious in this fandom, so i only ask that you keep any responses polite. I will do the same

[travelling-on-the-octopath]

Okay, playing through AG with the sis, and can I say? How completely forced the distrust towards Claude feels? "I trust the Alliance allies, but CLAUDE'S a different story!" "Who knows what Claude REALLY wants with us, best to keep an eye on HIM!" "Can never be too cautious with CLAUDE!"

And I'm like... he... hasn't done anything? On AG? To warrant any of this? Like this would be an entirely different story if they were like this after Claude is replaced by Clyde, but like Claude at this point is just, like... not doing anything. It feels weird cuz, like, yes, the Lions are in fact technically correct to distrust Claude because atrocious writing morphs him into an entirely different character, but nothing in the narrative really justifies them thinking SO poorly of Claude’s character in AG yet?

(And given the tiny bit I know of AG, I'm kinda questioning if it's warranted... ever, on specifically this route lmao)

It's like the game trying to ease the player in on how FUCKED over Claude’s character becomes, because while in 3H there was also distrust thrown his way from the Kingom side on AM 1) it wasn't NEARLY this reinforced over and over, and 2) the distrust... was actually wrong? And Claude was genuinely a good dude? Meanwhile here he's the biggest asshole on earth. It's just very off-putting I guess lmao

(I hope to god you're at the point in AG I think you are lfgjdj I don't delve into major spoilers, but there is an itty bitty detail that I mention a couple times so . here's hoping </3)

This is why I say the Lions walked away only mostly unscathed, because this also had me scratching my head. Like. Yeah, okay, Claude is known for his plots and schemes . . . if you've known him long enough.

Which. Which the Lions didn't lol?

This game seems keen on forgetting that these students spent two weeks in each other's company. I suppose you could say Claude revealed his oh-so cunning nature during the mock battle, but . . . but to completely distrust his character based on a mock battle? Where he was all bark and no bite anyway? Come on. Because you're right; people are a little wary of Claude on AM, but they had spent a year together at that point, and I think there's a much different tension to stretching yourselves thin to go help a person who's known for always having something up his sleeve than . . . accepting help from someone who is fighting this fight so damn well he has resources to spare and who gains literally nothing from fucking you over anyway. Like the minimal distrust there was pretty understandable, given what we were exposed to about Claude's character, but here it's very shoehorned in. It's a good example of the story relying on . . . not even emotional payoff from last time, just facts told in the last story that can't remain true here. It's strange.

And it's not like Claude just sends grunts to bolster Faerghus' forces, the way the Empire does to just ~check up on things~ and ~report them to Her Majesty~ in the Federation. No, Claude sends four of his most esteemed and trusted generals. He cut his inner circle by more than half and sent 'em over to Faerghus to help fuck up the Empire. The Lions know who they are, and should, at the very least, know what it means for Claude's own army. And yet . . . Claude is scheming. Plotting. What is Claude planning! (I'll tell you what he's doing he's helping you win this damn war --)

The problem with treating Claude with the same (or worse) skepticism from Houses and non-AG Hopes routes is that all he does on AG is his fucking job. Like setting aside that we, as the player, know that Claude sent over four of his highest ranking generals and friends . . . Claude is . doing what Claude does. Protecting Leicester, keeping causalities to a minimum, working toward peace by helping the Kingdom keep their independence and drive out the Empire. He was winning this war so hard he had four generals to spare. He's like a cat that left not a dead mouse on your doorstep, but four very neatly clipped flowers which also have medicinal uses. Like he's just. I dunno man people were pointing the finger for things he didn't do dklfjdlkjg. This game does not have Houses' continuity no matter how much it wishes it did. Goddamn. Making Claude out to be no worse than he ever was on Azure Moon (in fact, making him damn-near benevolent) and treating him with the same skepticism you would on Golden-fucking-Wildfire is a very poor writing choice.

As someone who's gone through AG already: Claude is a fucking blessing to the Kingdom, through and through. I'll keep the details minimal for you, but . . . yeah Claude's a fucking miracle lol. I actually quite enjoyed him on AG; if I hadn't had GW as context for his character, I would have just waved away some of his lines of nonsense retconning (which it is anyway, but it's relatively easy to ignore on a route that's so thoroughly Dimitri-and-Kingdom-focused).

[airlock]

so, I just finished the Golden Wildfire route in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, and I think I’ll be checking in with my impressions and opinions each time I finish a route. let’s get the critic boat floating, shall we?

first of all, for clarity: there’s a tiny bit of a route split, right. and I’ve been able to gather from every manner of interface spoiler that Byleth is playable, so, I heavily suspect that the thing that sends you off into one route or the other is whether you go out of your way to kill Byleth in that one chapter or not. I did do that, though, and that’s the route I finished; I have not yet played the other version.

anyways:

the first and foremost thing here is that hoo boy, this ain’t no Silver Snow+. this was the story actually centered on Claude that some of us have been longing for. it was a story that showed his hopes and dreams and decisions and actions; a story where we could see him actually act like a cynical schemer, a story where we could see him make mistakes, a story where we could see him change and grow. now, it wasn’t by any means a perfect story -- I have pleeeeenty to drag it for, which I’ll be doing shortly -- but at least, it was a story that made good use of the fantastic character they had helming it up, instead of wasting him as Verdant Wind did.

the top beef that I have with it, though, is that this story seemed hesitant to dive right into all the things that it’s really about. there was supposed to be a powerful arc where we start at Claude’s initial “roundtables are such a total waste of time, I wish I could just do everything around here my way”, but the second that wish comes true, he fucks it up because he tried to make a difficult decision without listening to anyone else, so he has to open up and start seeing the value in the opinions of others. this would have been AMAZING with better execution. as it stands, though, the early of the arc agrees too readily with Claude’s wrong initial opinion, he learns his lesson in less than an episode, and there very little of a sense of him actually really changing all that much. they even throw out one interesting idea with Claude deciding to open the Roundtable to more people than just the Five Great Lords when he does decide to actually run one -- this would have been interesting if it had been a bigger deal, and if it had taken him more thought to arrive at that conclusion. (not helping matters much is that the “mistake” that he made on his own was incredibly pedestrian. sure, Randolph died and it got Fleche to waste everyone’s time, resources, and Judith’s character, but one, nothing in the story really establishes that we should be listening to Shez and everyone else’s “we would’ve been fine if you’d risked our lives out there!!” instead of Claude’s decision to hedge his bets and protect his own first -- and two, Fleche’s outburst aside, that was an entirely favorable outcome for the alliance anyway. it’s crazy that only Petra, who’s not even an originary Golden Deer, was the only one who even noticed it. and that’s because...

... another big thing that this story wasn’t willing to commit to was the cynical terms of the Empire-Federation alliance. like, I LOVED seeing what I was seeing when it first went down; we got that Edelgard-Claude teamup that so many fans have long been speculating about, but in terms that actually make sense for their respective personalities and situations -- ie, they shook hands while holding daggers behind their backs. Claude very openly told all his allies as much: “the Empire is using us, and we’re using them right back”. I also loved his willingness to eat the Kingdom alive just for Leicester’s future, ostensibly justified by historical grudges but really you can tell it’s realpolitik at its finest. a real tragedy that it was only for the span of one start-of-chapter that they were willing to stick with this narrative. the second Randolph is in danger, everyone suddenly starts acting like there’s a real bond of friendship now between themselves and the truculent invaders they’d just finished barely fending off a little while back.

at some unspecified point, too, Claude decides that his Real Objective is to get rid of the Central Church to kill Fódlan’s dogma and make it more pliable to friendly relations with Almyra. that’s all fine and well, perfectly consistent with Claude’s character (the selfsame one who opens Verdant Wind with a “I wonder if it’d actually be a good thing if Rhea actually died back there”), but it comes out of ass nowhere just to set up an endgame.

and speaking of Almyra... yeah, we really have not seen much more of it than in the previous go-around, disappointingly. which is twisted, considering that they went to the trouble of introducing an entire new named character from Almyra! and all we got out of it is “as ruthless as Claude is, he hates killing” (already known) and “Nader and his subordinates care a bizarre amount about Almyra’s image in the eyes of their racist chicken neighbors” (weird).

but that’s enough about Claude; how did our other protagonist here fare? well, his (I played him as male) cheerful and fun personality added a lot of color to scenes where Three Houses would have forced the other characters involved to carry all the weight. and it helps that this protagonist, along with a personality (even if not a suuuuuuper deep or unique one), also actually has a background, connections to this world, views that were shaped by his lifestyle, things to contribute in a conversation. it’s funny that, although he was made a student for his time in the Academy, he would have made a far more believable teacher than Byleth ever did.

that said, he also really was a supporting point of view character. very little really came out of the greatly promised grudge match with Byleth -- and while I suspect I would’ve seen more of both Shez and Byleth if I’d gotten to the other side of the route split, I doubt that the 3-odd chapters I’d be getting differently there would have swung things THAT much. I can’t say that’s necessarily a really bad thing, though; I’d hazard a guess that Shez took a bit of a backseat in this route so that Claude could have the time in the limelight that Three Houses denied him. I’m just a few ways into my next route, but it already feels like that route is going to fuss more over Shez’s individual storyline! (although, if the Shez vs Byleth grudge match really never pans out all that much regardless of route -- well, what can I say, the Gronder Field rematch in Three Houses was supposed to be a big deal if the trailers were to be believed, and we were fooled once there.)

and then we have a third character yet to comment on as a pillar of this route: Holst. getting a character like him right is a massive undertaking -- he was absent in Three Houses but always spoken of, which causes the twin writing complications of having a lot that has already been established (and thus should preferrably not be contradicted) while also having little that was made a meat-and-bones part of the character. Koei pulled it off with remarkable aplomb here, though. the Holst is got is exactly the Holst we could’ve imagined from all the hearsay and then some, and he is a phenomenal character to boot. his antics with Balthus and Hilda are fucking priceless, and his stern-but-amiable demeanor adds another color to the Golden Deer’s rich pallette of distinct personalities. plus, even if everything else failed, you can’t possibly go wrong with ProZD on your voicetrack,

I’m pretty fond of the rest of what I saw in the cast, too. the way this distinct support system works, not having a conversation at every rank, probably made life much more manageable for the folks back at Koei, but it does make me wish some dynamics had had more time to themselves. not to mention all the characters who didn’t get supports with each other at all this swing-around -- I was disappointed to recruit Petra and find that she wasn’t bringing back her delightful supports with Claude, and it was strange to have gotten Shamir for free if she was going to have supports with so few of the deers. still, I can’t dwell overlong on what could have been when I got plenty of good out of what is. to name a few standouts -- it was pretty interesting to see Ignatz in this exact snapshot, where he just finally made his family’s dream come true and must start to contend with where his own dreams stand now (plus, his A conversation with Marianne was fucking hilarious and man alive, Chris La Monte can shout GOOD); Marianne herself also benefitted from this timeframe in that Three Houses’s uncertainity about whether to show her having grown as a person or not actually makes sense here, where she’s had far less time to grow and is still walking the balancing steps between “depressed loner” and “future margrave” -- plus, with all the additional Marihilda and several other fantastic support lines, particularly the new one with Bernadetta, damn, the girl’s unstoppable this time around, just having whoever she wants around here. the same can’t be said of Hilda, who in this runaround is off her game, striking out more often than she’s succeeding at flirting (her supports with Leonie are SO AWKWARD), and not wrapping everyone else around her fingers as much as she’s normally capable of -- and I actually like that, as a fresh take on the character that also perfectly suits the different circumstances at hand (see, she’s unstoppable in the base game because Holst is never around, and she starts off fooling easy marks, then gets 5 years of growths to develop the techniques she’ll use on everyone else. here, though, she hasn’t had as much time to refine her acts before she got thrown into the deep end, and Holst is completely debuffing her on top of it!). and lastly, man, it’s not that Shamir being queer is new, but this title decided it wasn’t going to be even a little bit subtle about that this time, and I love to see it!

also -- YES WORLDBUILDING. Three Houses may have relied on politics only as an aspect of character building, but the cast of Three Hopes has no such a luxury; everything that happens in this game takes into account the small and the great, the unique interests of every faction, the logistics, the skill. the characters in this game absolutely work within the world they live in, and generally not in spite of it.

and the gameplay, hmmmm. well, I’ll say, it’s plenty enjoyable and it got me hooked; there were plenty of times when I decided I wanted to let the Whole Lotta Dialogue & Cutscenes pile up a little so I could further extend out the time for semi-dumb button mashing to the sound of a youtube video in the background. it’s definitely not gameplay I’d recommend for just anyone, least of all people who are more used to the relaxed and controlled flow of gameplay that a Fire Emblem title normally has, but personally, I suppose I dig something about that intersection between time-sensitive action and intellectually demanding decisions. and I don’t always entirely mind all the prep work that there is to be done, too, although some parts of it are an asshassle (managing weapons especially, but I also needed to make myself a goddamn spreadsheet to manage supports and class progress more efficiently, and I despise that the game automatically changes weapons and skills for me when I change a character’s class. motherfucker, no, you’re constantly messing up my carefully laid out order and making me rebuild it!!)

I remember seeing a fair amount of criticism of Golden Wildfire being short and having loose ends, with people often going “wait, that’s it?” when it ended. personally, I can’t say I was surprised when I got to the end of the route -- if anything, I thought it was about to end like two chapters earlier -- but I suppose that hearing that criticism might have tempered my expectations with regards to the route length (plus, well, the fact that this is a Warriors game and not a full-on Fire Emblem title, ie something that can dedicate more time to storytelling -- although funny enough, I feel like Three Hopes actually ends up telling more story by the meter than Three Houses, since it’s not wasting a little over half the playtime on White Clouds). regardless, I do have to agree about the loose ends; this story started a lot of things that it didn’t finish, especially in the last several chapters. at least, I still feel like it got nearly all that it could out of Claude and the other characters -- the plotline unraveled, but the cast and the worldbuilding held fast. that’s more praise than I can give to just about any route from Three Houses, eh?

anyway, for my next sojourn, I’m visiting the lions’ den. my original plan was to fly like an eagle next, for Billy Kametz and because I’m curious about Edelgard and Monica especially -- but eh, Golden Wildfire let me recruit like ten billion Eagles (I didn’t take ‘em all in, but still!) and only one Lion (... who I didn’t take in anyway), so I felt that I had more new things to see if I went to Team Blue now. so, here I am, Holst’s special item in one hand (his unique is a BLAST to use) and Rufus’s head in the other, ready to roll! when I’m done with all that, you’ll be seeing more of my Opinions.

[acitybythelightdivided2006]

on edelgard, and some of the various gotchas people use to discredit her (major spoilers for the whole game):

im gonna keep it real. edelgard was like, 98% in the moral right for her actions.

“she’s a fascist!”

hardly if at all. starting a war doesn’t make you a fascist in the slightest, and her ideology falls far closer to various forms of representative democracy than anything close to fascism. considering various CF endings do corroborate her goals working out, albeit long-term. even before democracy can set into the land, edelgard has the conscience to appoint commoners to positions of power, e.g. manuela becoming prime minister in her and ferdinand’s ending. a power-hungry tyrant probably isn’t going to step down immediately after feeling her work is done, because a tyrant’s only work is maintaining their strength above the people.

"she's an imperialist!”

sure, but her motivations AND end results do not reflect any past real-world imperialism. there is no historical parallel from her to imperialism that relates so much as there is from her to revolutionaries like napoleon (or even lenin), made even clearer by the knowledge that rhea and the church hold a cultural grip over the entire continent and the war is specifically against the church. almyra is never stated to have problems with the leicester alliance so much as they do fodlan as a whole - it just happens that theyre closest to the alliance rather than anyone else. this dichotomy between fodlan and almyra is further acknowledged by a personal problem written by cyril in part 2, where he specifies that people view the two continents separately rather than the alliance versus almyra separately. anyway, regardless of any historical parallels, this is not a retelling of actual history; you can take edelgard’s actions at face value for what they are.

“but this is a narrative written in japan, surely there are sympathies for japan’s imperialist history at play here?”

imperial japan was far from edelgard’s empire. edelgard fights for democracy (or meritocracy, if you prefer) and liberation. imperial japan fought for control and resources. also, do not assume a japanese writer discussing imperialism and war as a theme is automatically drawing parallels to hypothetical sympathies.

"her war is worse than any stagnation rhea was responsible for!"

the crest system suffocated the populace and tortured the nobility alike. any look at the noble students’ supports corroborate this. this stagnation lasted for 1000 years already, and even rhea agrees that her actions over the past millennia were inexcusable in silver snow. this is hardly mentioning the fact that there are various skirmishes and revolts before the war begins, such as lonato’s rebellion. five years of explicit unrest resulting in a golden age taking place (on every route, not just crimson flower) proves that rhea’s rule was stifling the continent.

“edelgard’s actions are overtly violent, disturb the peace, and kill innocent lives!”

while nobody would deny that yes, a warring faction is going to commit atrocities in said war (which is a trait shared by every faction in the game) edelgard nonetheless avoids needless conflict when it is available to do so and vastly prefers to keep civilians out of the picture in said conflicts. by far the best example of this is at the final chapter of crimson flower where she openly gives rhea, her primary enemy in the war, a chance to surrender without any violence required. fighting only begins when rhea sets flame to the city in her violent rage. this is after the fact that edelgard can also spare a vast amount of her former classmates, most notably claude and lysithea. the only reason she kills dimitri in CF outright is because she realizes that dimitri has wasted his life focused on nothing more than revenge, and realizes that he needs to be put out of his misery - the same reason she does not clue him into the truth of the tragedy of duscur, because she realizes that killing him after destroying his entire worldview is needless cruelty. speaking of dimitri, another example of this on a different route is the fact that she is not the aggressor against dimitri in azure moon - he is essentially a wrench in her plan to unify fodlan and establish her goals.

“she starts the war on a false narrative! her understanding of the nemesis/seiros conflict is not true!”

yes, edelgard’s understanding of the conflict is untrue. however, the facts of the matter are known only by rhea, and perhaps seteth and flayn as well. regardless of edelgard’s understanding of the nemesis/seiros conflict being incorrect, that is hardly the reason she starts the war. she starts the war specifically out of a desire to eradicate the corrupt crest system that ruined her and countless other peoples’ lives and gave the agarthans reason to experiment on her, her siblings, and other nobles like lysithea, and to establish the commoners of the continent as independent.

“the adrestian empire’s past actions are unquestionably evil, like their control of brigid as a vassal state!”

yeah, and? edelgard’s actions are not the actions of her predecessors, and she even goes out of her way to rectify these mistakes. on the brigid example, she outright tells petra, who is there as a political prisoner, that brigid can gain independence for itself so long as they assist her in the war effort, which, on CF and routes where petra is not recruited to another faction, seems to happen rather cooperatively.

“she allies herself with the agarthans to further her goals, and if there’s any villainous faction in three houses, it’s TWSITD!”

if edelgard has one fatal flaw, it’s that she’s determined to a fault and needs to get things done quickly lest she dies as a result of her twin crests. while yes, she does indeed ally herself with the agarthans, it is through extremely gritted teeth and with the intent to dispose of them immediately after she is done using their resources. the ending of crimson flower outright says she wages further war specifically on this terrorist group.

“her disdain for rhea is based on a hatred for the nabateans as a whole!”

there are very few nabateans that edelgard ever even knows, and only one of them she ever shows malice towards, that being rhea. both flayn and seteth are able to be spared and edelgard bears no ill will towards them for their race so much as she does their affiliation with the church, and even then, as mentioned, edelgard consistently avoids violence that is unnecessary. as mentioned before, she does attempt to spare rhea’s life at the end of crimson flower, but is met instead with a city on fire.

“she’s responsible for the tragedy of duscur!”

maybe if you listen to dimitri’s entirely false understanding of the situation early in azure moon. she was barely an adolescent and had quite literally zero political power. dimitri needed a scapegoat and realizes the truth (or at least becomes far closer to realizing the truth) with byleth’s influence in azure moon.

“she employed kostas and his gang to kill claude and dimitri in the beginning of the game!”

yeahhh i said 98% for a reason lol

[lewlthea]

The Actual Thing Going On With Edelgard Von Hresvelg.

 Spoilers: It’s not fascism, nor racism (at least not in the way people think). Also, actual spoilers for the game.

If there has been a controversial character in Fire Emblem Three Houses, it’s Edelgard Von Hresvelg, one of the game’s main three lords, the house leader of the Black Eagles, the princess and sole heir of the Adrestian Empire, and an antagonist in every single route but hers. She has been a polarizing figure within the community: Some people think she’s an irredeemable monster, others think she’s a misunderstood leader. When it comes to Edelgard, theres hardly a grey opinion towards her; She’s either black or white. Today, I wanna talk about Edelgard’s actions towards the 4 routes, what they actually portray, and how and why the entire discourse towards her was caused deliberately by Intelligent System’s incredible mishandling and mistreatment of the character.

I remember Nintendo’s 2018 E3 conference quite well. I was at with a group of friends, watching at one of them’s house because he had a bigger TV. I remember making jokes about how “there was going to be a new Fire Emblem” because loving Fire Emblem when Intelligent Systems is Like That is a living nightmare.

And then this happens.

Words could not express the joy I felt when the trailer was over. It wasn’t just a new Fire Emblem game: We were going to have another lady lord, and an axe-wielding one at that - something the fanbase had been desperately craving since the recent surge in Hector’s popularity - and for once, it was like when I first found out that there would be a new female character in Shadows Of Valentia with Faye, and it was the tipping point for me to finally buy a Nintendo Switch.

Of course, just like Faye, things weren’t that simple.

Because some months before E3 2019, which promised to reveal more info on Fire Emblem 3 Houses, Reddit exploded. All because of someone who goes by the username Thanibomb, who claimed to have leaked info on the game, saying a lot of information about all the characters, some of them very questionable (With things such as Lysithea would die due to her crest complications, and it would cause the major 5-year war, and other things like Claude being the one who shot Dimitri’s eye off), while other info being oddly specific. A part of it that made me particularly chuckle was when such user said that Dimitri would have lost an eye, and would cover it with an eyepatch. I found it so silly and, along with some friends, claimed it to be fake and carried on.

And then E3 2019 happened.

And Dimitri had an eyepatch. 

And still, even after Thanibomb, things remained optimistic. All lords looked nice, they seemed to have their own ideals, their own paths, and no fights were breaking out within the fanbase yet. But then early copies were sent to reviewers. And then 4chan got a hold of one of those. And then the main leaks started. And by the time the game got released, it was too late. The amount of hate comments towards the character was so overwhelming; some calling Edelgard a fascist, others claiming that she was racist, others even saying that she gives racist remarks towards Claude ingame (a blatant lie). A personal favorite comment of mine was how Hubert and Edelgard looked like the perfect alt-right couple. 

(Should I remark that these kinds of comments stopped as soon as they found out that Hubert could A-support Ferdinand, and most of them moved on to fetishize the relationship between the two of them instead. Ironically, before that happened people despised Hubert in general solely because of his unusual appearance and shady behavior, but that was soon seen as ‘nuanced’ the moment he could be paired off with another man.)

And so, a fight between the fanbase begun: (Mostly) Blue Lion fans bashing Edelgard’s character, Black Eagle fans defending her vehemently, and Golden Deer fans between either on any of those sides or just making memes for Joe Zieja’s rally campaign for the GD. Mostly the latter. But that’s beside the point.

A (Kinda) Brief Summary of Edelgard’s Presence In Azure Moon, Verdant Wind, And Silver Snow.

Throughout the game’s second part, unless you’re playing the Crimson Flower Route, Edelgard will always be an antagonist who cannot be spared, and she cannot survive unless it’s in her own route. However, the way she is percieved changes depending on each route you are making, with each route leaving small fragments depicting Edelgard’s past and shaping her character in full scale. 

In Verdant Wind/Silver Snow, Edelgard isn’t the final boss. She is one of the bosses before the big fight. (Nemesis in Claude’s case, Rhea in Seteth’s). She’s one of the obstacles, but not the main one, therefore there is not much insight on her character; However, there is still one element present in those routes that is curiously omitted from Azure Moon that is the reason why she doesn’t really have too much focus, that being Hubert’s final letter.

In both routes, Hubert seems to highly respect Seteth/Claude’s prowess in the war and their cunning mind. (Especially Claude; Throughout both Verdant Wind and Crimson Flower, he commends Claude’s tactics and strategies multiple times). In the letter, he gives the location of where Rhea is confined and asks them to eliminate Those Who Slither in the Dark, the game’s true villains and the ones behind most, if not all the game’s tragic events. Even more curiously, though, is the fact that the letter does exist on the Crimson Flower route, and can be seen briefly on Hubert’s B support with Ferdinand, being the reason of their argument throughout the conversation. Not a single mention of the letter exists in the Azure Moon Route. (Of course it would not make sense for it to exist gameplay-wise due to the player having already murdered Arundel/Thales earlier in the game but. It’s still something to be accounted for).

Speaking of Azure Moon, this is a much more trickier route to talk about. Not only due to the fact that Edelgard is this route’s final boss, but also because all of the things we discover about Edelgard within it are never mentioned in any other route, only brief mentions about the time she spent in the Kingdom; nothing more. 

In here, her time spent on the Kingdom is expanded: Both Edelgard, her mom Patricia and Arundel were sent off to Faerghus due to exile, with Patricia being set off to marry King Lambert. There, she meets Dimitri, and they both become fast friends. By the time she has to leave, Dimitri gifts her with a dagger (Which, in Faeghus, are important gifts that mean ‘to cut a path towards a better future’), and she returns to Adrestia. Some time after she leaves the Tragedy of Duscurr happens, caused by Those Who Slither in the Dark. However, due to a misunderstanding caused by eavesdropping on a conversation between Thales and the Flame Emperor, Dimitri mistakenly believes that the Flame Emperor was behind it all, and once the Flame Emperor’s identity is finally revealed to be Edelgard, she is instantly demonized and called a ‘witch’, even though she openly declares how she had nothing to do with it. This goes on until Rodrigue’s death and Cornelia’s reveal that Patricia was the one behind the Duscurr Tragedy so she could return to the Empire and “reunite with her daughter”. (We never find out about what happened to her and she is not mentioned during the Crimson Flower). Dimitri tries to talk Edelgard off their final confrontation, but Edelgard insists that it is far too late for her to back down for their ideals are far too different, and she refuses to live in a world where the Church of Seiros exists. Dimitri then hands back her dagger (Which she accidentally dropped before the timeskip), and they both retreat to prepare for the final battle.

This route’s final boss is an Edelgard who was absorbed direct power from Those Who Slither in the Dark, and adquires a grotesque, corrupted form. No other character in the canon possess such a thing, and only Edelgard can assume such form. Once she is defeated, Dimitri tries once again to spare her, only for Edelgard to stab him with the dagger, making Dimitri realize that she would never give up on her dream, and finally kills her.

An Even More Brief Explanation of What Does All of This Means.

Okay, all of that info was nice, fun, good, yadda yadda. What does this mean and why was it needed.

Well, for starters, let’s ask ourselves a question: After reading the summary, can you say that you know what drives her to seek out the destruction of the church?

What is her reasoning behind the unification of Fodlan?

Do we get anything out of her other than “Scary dictator” or “An obstacle that had to be sadly removed” or “Under better circumstances... We could’ve been Allies (tm)”?

We don’t. Because Intelligent Systems did not bother to show Edelgard’s motivations, despite her being the villain in almost all the routes.

During Verdant Wind and Silver Snow, Edelgard herself does not matter: she’s solely important because she is threatening the church, she is your scary big bad dictator that you have to beat in order to rescue Rhea, only to find out that in reality she was just a stepping stone to the real villains, Those Who Slither in the Dark. (In game it is said that Hubert came up with this name. In my humble opinion Hubert can go fuck himself because this is the shittiest name I have ever seen and I am tired of having to type this five word long thing every paragraph or so). As soon as you read the letter, suddenly Edelgard, the Empire, and all the questions you had as to why she Did It dissappear because now you have another objective, another goal. 

This is even more offensive during Azure Moon because she is the focus, the final boss, but it doesn’t matter why she did all of this nor what her ideals actually are despite them being the reason why she cannot be spared. The game would rather focus on getting reactions out of the player when the intimidating big meanie does something that makes Dimitri go angry than actually focusing on the clashing of Dimitri and Edelgard’s ideals, why they cannot go back to what it once was, what happened to her to change this way, why did ‘El’ actually die. All you have is a dictator in red which does things for no reason other than “I will destroy the Church and unify Fodlan so I can govern over all of it”. Nothing more, nothing less.

....Of course, you do realize that I have avoided to talk about a certain thing.

So, About That Crimson Flower Route...

If there is a way to truly understand a villain, one must walk on such person’s footsteps. Most people criticizing Edelgard were the ones who hadn’t played her route yet, or had only played Azure Moon and was led to believe that all of Edelgard’s actions are unwarranted or pure nonsense. 

There is a reason why people sing their tune differently as soon as they experience the Crimson Flower.

For starters, to be able to fight for Edelgard, you have to first have her support up to C+, go with her to Enbarr once she asks of you, and then defend her from Rhea at the Holy Tomb. The reasoning behind that is so that you fully understand what Edelgard has gone through and the reason why she cannot agree with the existence of the Church.

The Azure Moon route tells you of Edelgard before she returned to the Empire.

It never tells you what caused her to change after she went back.

Edelgard was part of the crest experimentations caused by Those Who Slither in the Dark, alongside all her siblings. Her father, the emperor, was unable to do anything about it, as the real people in control of the Empire were Arundel/Thales and Duke Aegir. Being the sole survivor of such things to return to society and see how everything is defined by whether you have a crest or not and finding out that the Church, who instead of breaking down such system to favor equality would rather turn the creatures who run it into figures to be worshipped is. Something.

There’s another reason for Edelgard’s sudden betrayal, a more sinister one, and why she feels like everything needs to be done in a quick pace. In her C+ you find out she has a second crest, The Crest of Flames, just like the player. People who bear two crests have a shortened lifespam, however.

When Edelgard declares war against the Church, and to unite Fódlan, it’s not solely because ‘Church bad’: She declares war against the unfair crest system, against the hypocrisy of Rhea’s dragon entourage, and of course, to destroy Those Who Slither in the Dark later on the road.

  However.

Just because Edelgard’s behavior is justified, does not mean she is 100% in the right. She herself admits that the path she follows is one drenched in blood. But there are several times in the game that makes you stop and think for a second that she can still make bad decisions, and that sometimes her decisions might have horrible consequences. One of them is for example to never take away Brigid’s status as a vassal to the Empire and return it back to it’s former glory as an actual country, which shows how the entire Brigid kerfuffle is something akin to colonization. We should also point out that when she unifies Fodlan, in some endings she remains the Emperor, completely missing the point of what she fought for.

Another case that shows one of Edelgard’s biggest flaws is with the Silver Maiden incident.

Edelgard had just conquered Arianrhod, the Silver Maiden, and due to murdering Cornelia, enrages Ariandel/Thales, whom causes the situation above out of a show of power. She knows it was Those Who Slither in the Dark, but she needs to give explanations fast and she can’t reveal their identity or else they would slip away and it would be impossible to locate them and destroy them. So what does she do?

She says it was Rhea who did it, actively lying to her closest allies, one of them being the Prime Minister of the Empire.

For Edelgard, the ends justifies the means, and as long as she gets the results she wants, she will do what it takes. Even by alienation. And that’s a dangerous way to go on.

...So, where do I want to go from here? Who is to blame for the hatefest Edelgard is receiving?

Intelligent Systems Kind of Didn’t Know What To Do With Edelgard.

Now hold on. That sounds a bit too harsh, don’t you think? She was the first lord shown in the E3 2018 trailer, they have placed a very big emphasis on Edelgard everywhere hell the game’s main theme is about her, why would you claim that??

Well, first and foremost, I should start by saying that Crimson Flower is the game’s shortest route, with the total of 18 chapters. From those 18 chapters, there is only one cutscene, with most of the route’s major events being shown with either the game’s basic models or still images.

For comparison, Verdant Wind has the total of 8 cutscenes, counting the final one before the timeskip, with 3 of them being unique to its route.

Azure Moon has the total of 5 cutscenes, 3 of them being unique to its route. 

Silver Snow has 4 cutscenes, having 2 unique ones to its route.

The other two main lords have several support options with people outside of their respective houses; Edelgard only has one.

Remember when I said that one of Edelgard’s main enemies are Those Who Slither in the Dark? The game never lets her deal with them personally. You never truly fight them during Crimson Flower.

In a way, the game feels as if while Edelgard is the focus, you shouldn’t side with her. It really makes it feel as if someone at Intelligent Systems just snickered and said ‘Hey wouldn’t it be cool if we could let our players side with/date our villain?’ without even considering or respecting such villain’s motivations, her ideals, and what truly makes a character unique.

In the end, all they truly cared for was if Edelgard was romanceable enough for the player, not if she made sense or was appealing as a character, whether as a villain or a savior.

And considering how the fanbase is behaving towards Edelgard, they succeeded. 

[sharyrazade]

Maybe it’s because I was spoiled by Ashnard (BL/AM spoilers)

Having pre-battle convos with everyone and their grandmother, but as hype as the battle with a certain Lovecraftian Juliette Caesar in Three Houses was, I was a little...disappointed by the lack of pre-battle exchanges with her. I mean, it’s completely justifiable plot-wise to only have Byleth and Dimitri having them, but I was still mildly disappointed by the missed opportunity, so I took the opportunity to correct it myself! This was originally only supposed to be with the other Black Eagles, but you know how things get with me; they snowball.

Okay, I can’t (and won’t) take credit for ALL of these. Just most of them.

HE: So I see you have betrayed the Empire after all, Ferdinand. It seems you truly are so petty to commit treason over an old rivalry. Or perhaps you simply want the throne for yourself...

Ferdinand: I am anything but, Edelgard. This mad dream of yours- it ends today.

HE: You always were an arrogant bastard. Do you truly believe you can match my power?

Ferdinand: I cannot and I accept that fact. But as long as I have the Professor and all of our allies by my side, we cannot- will not lose!

HE: Arrogant insect! I’ll crush you like I should have done ages ago!

Linhardt: So your crests did hide such power after all...fascinating.

HE: Stare all you like, Linhardt. For I will be the last thing you see!

Linhardt: [sighs] It’s a shame. In all of the Empire’s history, perhaps no other ruler has used the talents at her command to the degree you have...But all the same, no other emperor has chosen a path so incredibly stupid. Farewell, Edelgard. I suppose it won’t do anyone any good to let you live in this state.

Caspar: [shocked] Edelgard! W-what the hell happened to you?!

HE: I’ve become more powerful than you could ever dream of, Caspar. You have chosen very poorly to stand against me.

Caspar: I could say the same! I’ve got no interest in gaining power just to trample on the weak like you do! And that you’re ready to become a monster to get it?!

HE: Come, show me how strong you’ve become- let me crush you!

HE: Is that you, Bernadetta? Tell me; what does the little mouse have to say before the eagle swoops in to claim her?

Bernadetta:..I finally understand what it is I wanted. I wanted you to acknowledge me. To accept me as an equal, not a vassal...But that’s not enough. You said to me “can you not live unless you were born for some purpose?” I’m not living for anyone else. There’s no special meaning in living. When I sensed my own death, I wanted to live. I know now. That’s all I needed. So...I don’t need you anymore, Edelgard. It doesn’t matter if you accept me or not. Here I am. Alive! And we will defeat you!

HE: You’ve acquired some impudent wisdom, Bernadetta. Too bad you’ve acquired it too late to do you any good! Die!

HE: [Angry monstrosity noises]

Dorothea: [sadly] Oh, Edie...what’s become of you...? I suppose...it would be the least I could do...

HE: You would dare raise your weapon to me, Petra? Your sister of sorts? After everything the Empire’s done for Brigid?

Petra: Yes, I will. I believe in the Professor. And I will not sacrificing the life of my people for your dreams, Edelgard!

HE: Insolent girl! Once I’m done with you, I’ll raze those damnable islands and salt the earth!

HE: You lowly lapdog! You would dare turn your blade against the savior of your people?! On behalf of the King of Faerghus?!

Dedue: [smug] Yes. Yes, I would. It seems you’ve taken on an appropriately monstrous form to match your soul, Emperor of Adrestia. And THAT is exactly why I believe in His Highness and the Professor- instead of you.

HE: Prepare to justify your poor choices to your butchered kin and people- your reunion with them is imminent!

HE: Grrrah! Fraldarius dog! Had it not been for you and your cursed family-

Felix: Shut up. This will be the greatest fight of my life. I don’t intend to have you ruin it with your babbling. Besides, I’ve got a score to settle with you on behalf of my father and brother anyway.

HE: Discuss it with them in the next life! Die!

Felix: Show me what you can do, Emperor of Adrestia.

Ashe: [disturbed] Waaaah! E-edelgard? Is...that really...you?

HE: You! You are the lowliest scum of them all! Raising your bow against me in favor of the murderers of Lonato and Christophe!

Ashe: Don’t...you dare speak their names, Edelgard! The very last thing they would want is for me to “live” like you- obsessed with revenge!

HE: If you are so confident in their answer, ask them yourself! Die!

Sylvain: Eeesh, I’ve heard of stress aging people, but this is ridiculous.

HE: You insolent fop! You want nothing more than to be liberated from your crest, but turn your blade against your liberator!

Sylvain: Oh, you know what? I changed my mind. That won’t matter after we beat the snot out of you anyway.

HE: Allow me to relieve you from your tortured existence then!

HE: Do you truly seek to meet your goddess so soon, weakling?

Mercedes: [softly] Dear Goddess, please forgive what I’m about to do- please grant this tortured soul the peace she was unable to find in life.

HE: [angry] Don’t you DARE pity me!

Annette: (Alright, Annie, this is it. Just stay calm, and start casting)

HE: You weak-hearted fool. Still content in your servitude for nothing in return. A pathetic old fool of a knight sires a pathetic, foolish daughter- how poetic.

Annette: [angry] Alright, you’ve done it now, Edelgard!

HE: You insignificant gnat! Do you truly love your sorry lot in life so? You hate your station and its burdens, but wish to throw your life away for this rabble?

Ingrid: Maybe I do. But I do know one thing for certain: I hate tyrants like you more!

Lorenz: [shocked] Edelgard?! How ghastly!

HE: This is what true power looks like. Your foolish notions of chivalry and noble obligations have no place in my new world.

Lorenz: [irritated] I might say the same of you and your tyranny. En garde!

HE: You musclebound dolt. What is it you truly hope to gain, standing against me?

Raphael: I made a promise to myself and everyone when you attacked the monastery. No matter who I had to do it from, I’d protect my sis and all of our friends from the Empire- even if I’ve gotta throw down with you, Edelgard!

HE: I assure you, all of them- and your dear sister- are not long for this world!

HE: I’m somewhat impressed that you found the courage to stand against me, worm. Do you truly hate your life so much?

Ignatz: [slightly disturbed] N-not at all. I love my life- I love this world. That’s why...I’m willing to give it to protect the world from you!

HE: The world needs me! It does not need insignificant specks like you!

HE: This is most unfortunate. We are very much the same, Lysithea. And yet you still have chosen poorly- for that, you must pay with your life.

Lysithea: If I had followed your path...would this have happened to me, as well...? As someone who shares your fate...Edelgard! I will destroy you!

Marianne:..

HE: Out of all our school chums, you probably confound me the most. You should be crawling to me, begging to be a part of my new order. To take revenge on those who scorned and mocked you your entire life. Called you a monster.

Marianne: [softly] Monster...

HE: I am Fódlan’s only hope for a future not shrouded in darkness!

Marianne: [angry] Edelgard! Your life ends at my hands!

Hilda:...Yikes! Talk about a bad look on you.

HE: All you EVER had to do was hand over the Hero’s Relic and TRY to convince that scheming bastard to stand down. You could have had a life of comfort, luxury, and more wealth than you could have ever known what to do with!

Hilda: And betray Claude, the Professor, and my brother? Don’t think so!

HE: It seems I misjudged you.

Hilda: Damn right you did, you freak!

HE: My new world has far greater use for your skills than this lot. Why then have you chosen these bluebloods and malcontents?

Leonie: What kind of use? Trampling on the weak? Brutally killing your enemies, real or imagined? No thanks! I’d never be able to look myself- let alone Captain Jeralt- in the eye ever again!

HE: Your reverence for that admittedly-powerful freak of nature shall be your downfall, Leonie.

Leonie: “Freak?!” Oh-ho, that’s it, Edelgard; your freakish ass is mine!

Assuming he’s engaged Myson (because that’s what I did)

Seteth: [shocked] Of course! Those attacks...THAT’S what you needed with Flayn’s blood and Rhea both. You and your friends!

HE: Nosy old fossils such as yourself have no place in my new world- or any world! Do it a favor and die already!

Seteth: [simmering anger] Well said, Edelgard. In the name of Fódlan, your victims, the Goddess, and Nabatea alike, may your tyranny wither and die at my blade!

Flayn: Edelgard please! Cease this madness and release Rhea! For everyone’s sake!

HE: A creature like you is incapable of appreciating the ideal world that I have envisioned.

Flayn: How can your world be ideal when you’ve killed countless innocent people?!

HE: You...beast! Don’t tell me what’s right and wrong!

Hanneman: Edelgard?! Goddess, THIS is the sort of power that lies dormant in crests?! I suppose, given the potential complications with Hero’s Relics and incompatible crests...

HE: I tire of your babbling, old man! Die!

Manuela: [sadly] I always knew you were a little rough around the edges- hell, I was back in my day- still am. But this-

HE: Manuela, you insufferable old hag! You couldn’t have just left the stage gracefully, could you? Allow me to grant you one last curtain call! Die!

Gilbert:..

HE: [smug] Well, well, this pathetic old knight has come to me to seek penance for his failure.

Gilbert: Not quite, lass. In the name of both the daughter and king whom I could not be there for, your tyranny ends here, Emperor of Adrestia!

HE: I shall grant you the death you seek, you pathetic wretch!

Alois: Edelgard! It is high time you answered for your crimes!

HE: What, no stupid jokes or puns?

Alois: No. For Captain Jeralt...I would have followed them to the ends of the earth and into the eternal flames- even if it meant serving you. Boy, that was a close one!

HE: Well, discuss it with him in the afterlife! I shall send your dear wife and daughter there to greet you as well!

HE: [smug] Take a good look, Cassandra. It seems your beloved Lady Rhea’s existence has finally contributed something of value to the world.

Catherine: [furious] EDELGARD! I’ll cut you into a thousand pieces, then grind you into dust!

HE: Show yourself, wretch! Know that I will find you eventually, and when I do...

Shamir: Yep, that definitely settles it. No way am I getting paid anywhere close to enough for this.

HE: What a pest you are!

Cyril: I fight for everything living and breathing and all of your victims. I fight for the Professor and all of our friends. But most of all, I fight for Lady Rhea! And it’s in all their names that I will crush you, Emperor of Adrestia! I won’t let you steal another innocent life!

[boundlesshart]

the edge of twilight

starter for @vonvestra! Verdant Wind spoilers abound, takes place post-Chapter 20

It's just been one thing after the other. 

Five years of living with the flames of war licking at his doorstep. Five years of doing everything he could to keep the Alliance united in spite of the infighting. Perhaps Claude had the audacity to believe that there would be an end to all of this pointless chaos, so that he and his friends could decide where to even begin piecing together what's left of their lives. And still fate punishes him for hoping too hard, as not even an hour of peace passes before yet another threat falls onto Claude's lap: Hubert's final curse to rid the continent of their ruthless allies slithering in the dark.

Intended to be final, really, if Claude had energy left to quibble details with himself. Besides the war against the Empire coming to a close, little good came out of the mess in Enbarr. In times like these Claude clings deeply to his successes, and when the thought of this underground threat threatens to overwhelm his mind with fear and uncertainty, all he has to do is remind himself that the man behind the maps and calculations is alive and bound to a bed in the infirmary, and his heart sets itself at ease again.

These days Claude spends more time in the infirmary than sleeping. It's to keep himself healthy and in top form, of course–it just so happens that these visits give him an excuse to check up on Hubert. While the healer busies herself with searching for a stronger headache remedy, Claude takes a seat at Hubert's bedside, searching his face for any signs of being awake. Capturing a mage of his caliber and with his hostility unharmed proved to be impossible, so Claude settled for "somewhat injured". It frustrates him to no end not being able to talk to Hubert, but there's no sense in rushing Hubert's recovery and risking his health during their hour of greatest need.

Perhaps anything less than death is more than Hubert deserves for standing by and watching Fódlan fall into chaos, but these days no one can afford to be picky. 

Hubert's eyes start to twitch, Claude notices, but that's nothing new. The little noise he makes, though–a low, pained groan accompanied by eyelids straining to open–brings Claude to the edge of his seat. He doesn't know how Hubert would react to being inside the monastery and seeing Claude alive and well, but this a bridge that they would have had to cross eventually. And so Claude stays where he is, watches Hubert carefully, and waits.

[cielleduciel]

okay okay, Black Eagles/Crimson Flower. this is very long and very rambly bc i was mad and i probably repeat myself a lot but whatever

keep in mind going forward that this was my FE3H first route and the only one i've played so far, and it was... disappointing. i really, really want to like Edelgard as a character bc she seems interesting and she has so much potential, but fact is the game never allows her any sort of true depth, and never lets you interact with her in any meaningful way

and i hate to say it bc i ALWAYS go to bat for complex underappreciated female characters, which is what i was expecting out of this, but that's not... even what she is. none of her potential is ever realized. she's one-note and static and the writers seem to think that just throwing in a traumatic backstory (that never gets explored, even as it very obviously relates directly to her worldview) and a few cute/quirky character moments will give her depth, but it doesn't

the game really LOVES to try and play up this special bond between Edelgard and Byleth and how much Byleth means to her, but it never feels earned. she always says that she feels like she can tell Byleth anything and everything, but she doesn't. i have no better understanding about why she felt like she needed to do the things she did than i did at the end of part 1. all she ever says is that she has to do it all in the name of her ideals and a better future and it's the only way, and all i ever wanted throughout the entire route was to ask WHY ? WHY is this the only way ? WHY do you feel like this is the only thing you can do ? WHY are all other options off the table ?

she's cooperating directly with Those Who Slither In The Dark (TWSITD), who not only experimented on and tortured Edelgard herself and killed her siblings, but also killed Byleth's father, but we never explore the implications of that. hell, Edelgard's issues aside, Byleth themself has their own stake in this, their own very good reasons to question Edelgard and the lengths she's willing to go to in order to achieve this future of hers, but they're NEVER given the chance. if you choose her route, the game apparently assumes that you've decided to follow her without question or reserve, regardless of everything that happened, even though it makes no sense in context. at the end of the route, Edelgard even admits that she couldn't understand why Byleth wound up taking her side, and i wanted to SCREAM !!! LIKE YEAH, I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT EITHER ??? i was HOPING we would get to explore that at some point but I GUESS NOT ????

at most, Edelgard offers platitudes by saying that she too hates TWSITD and regrets everything they've done but still maintains that her alliance with them is necessary for the time being, because they are the best allies she has against the church, and she needs their strength. again, my question is: WHY ? because while i can see how they may have been useful to her in part 1, i didn't see them do ANYTHING to help her during the entirety of part 2. they had literally zero presence in any of the battles, were not even shown or mentioned aside from the moments where they were being CLEARLY ANTAGONISTIC towards her, like when they NUKED ARIANRHOD AS A "WARNING" as soon as Edelgard captured the city bc they were mad she killed one of their officers,

and yet she felt like she needed to spin the story to say it was the church's doing so as to like, save face and rally morale while maintaining their alliance, i guess, but why ?** even in the FINAL BATTLE AGAINST RHEA HERSELF, Arundel shows up ONLY to literally say "yeah i'm just here to watch lmao". so like, as far as i know from everything i have physically seen, we defeated the church without their help at all--in SPITE of their "help", even--which does not help me understand why her alliance with TWSITD is so necessary that Edelgard has to just grit her teeth, bear it, and cover for them until the war is over so that she can finally turn on them

(**i get not telling the entire army about Arianrhod to avoid panic and questions, but what was the point of lying to the rest of the Black Eagles ? why is it that Byleth, Edelgard, and Hubert seem to be the only ones allowed to know about the empire's workings with TWSITD ? like what was even the point of Edelgard revealing herself as the Flame Emperor at the end of part 1 ((which was also a totally botched scene but i'm not even gonna get into that here))? i thought the reason for that scene WAS to reveal the truth to everyone that she was working with TWSITD, we even had that whole dramatic battle where Edelgard had to fight her own house and professor bc of it ? but i guess it wasn't, bc none of them ever bring it up again, and the game still treats it like they should all still be in the dark about it, so ???)

on top of that, i still don't understand why she felt like she needed to antagonize the Alliance, or even the Kingdom, when her enemy is the church. like i get it, there’s no negotiating with the church as it is, violent conflict with them is inevitable and i’m not against that, i understand it and i can get behind it. but why didn't she ever try talking to the other two factions or working together w them or FORGING ALLIANCES instead of resorting immediately to violence ?** maybe i can believe that Dimitri and the Kingdom are a lost cause, but for example--and again now i haven't played the GD route, but from what i understand-- Claude's values are fairly similar to Edelgard's, and he does a lot of digging into the church on his own and is able to discover much of the truth. her alliance with TWSITD is apparently "necessary" but it never occurs to her to reach out to GOOD PEOPLE like Claude who would share her interests ? why ? why can’t we even bring it up ?

(**my confusion with this is best summed up by that one interaction she has with Dimitri in part 2, where before they're about to fight, he asks her, "Must you continue to conquer? Continue to kill?" and her response is literally, "Must you continue to reconquer? Continue to kill in retaliation?" like WHAT ? WHAT KIND OF CHILDISH "NO U" NONSENSE IS THAT ? YOU'RE LITERALLY THE AGGRESSOR HERE, ARE YOU REALLY TRYING TO TELL HIM HE SHOULD'VE JUST SAT BACK AND LET YOU TAKE THE KINGDOM WITHOUT EXPLAINING ANYTHING ? HE'S TRYING TO REACH OUT TO YOU, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS REFUSE TO GIVE HIM A STRAIGHT ANSWER. WHY ARE YOU BEING SO OBTUSE ABOUT THIS. WHAT IS THE REASON)

this isn't even getting into the fact that it becomes very obvious that Edelgard does not have the whole story behind the church and TWSITD, but there's no way to call that into question either. from what i understand from a few spoilers i've been given, she even gets some parts of the story flat-out wrong. this is The Story that she uses to justify all her actions, to herself and to others, and yet she's clearly missing key details, but we never get to question it, or investigate it further, or do anything about it

and what makes it suck extra is that, as i said, i really wanted so, so badly to love Edelgard. i wanted that bond between her and Byleth to feel real, and earned, and substantial. i wanted to work together and interact with her, to  understand her, bc i genuinely sympathize with her goals. let’s erase inequality, abolish the nobility, destroy the crest system that sustains it, and tear down an oppressively intolerant religious institution ? hell yes sign me up bitch !!!! i don't like that we can't GUIDE her in her pursuit of that, or at least even try to understand why she's so committed to this horrific warpath she's on. bc why else would i have chosen to join her side and play her route ? why else is Byleth there, as her teacher ?

or maybe i'm not even supposed to sympathize with her or her cause, but they never make that point either ! like let's ignore what i want and entertain the notion that perhaps Edelgard's meant to be seen as clearly, dangerously radical and beyond all reason, that her route is supposed to be as close to a "bad" route as this game gets and you're supposed to feel guilty for helping her. i mean there definitely are points that made me go “uh, hey, what we’re doing here is kind of terrible”. the thing is they could've easily made that point at any time during her route, had moments where they highlighted the destruction left in Edelgard's wake as she "carves a bloody path" to her future with Byleth by her side, had her experience some kind of consequence for her actions or a "falling from grace" moment, exposed all the flawed logic behind her actions and examined how she came to be the way she is--but nothing like that ever happens. it’s just like “hooray we successfully invaded and conquered an independent nation :) on to the next one !” even in the epilogue, there's no downside to helping her win, no sort of realistic consequence like, idk, malcontent spreads, people aren’t happy that Edelgard took over their nation by force despite the reforms, riots flare up, etc etc., nothing that asks the player to stop and think about all this. they play everything straight but then refuse to give it meaning or make sense of any of it

and there's PLENTY of ways to make sense of it. even i can imagine some potential in-universe explanations to a lot of the "why" questions i have about Edelgard--why does she preemptively isolate herself from everyone that hasn't already demonstrated unconditional allegiance to her, why does she refuse to seek other allies or reach out to her peers like Dimitri or Claude for help and yet continue to associate with the dangerous group that is the source of her trauma, why does she rightly question one narrative while she never thinks to question the other, why does she resort to violence so quickly and easily even as she laments it, etc etc. the problem is that *the game itself* doesn't even THINK to try and address any of this, and so it's never able to make a point about any of it

so yeah, the point COULD'VE BEEN that she is too stubborn, too far gone, too caught up in her own narrative to comprehend that her actions are not as necessary as she thinks they are, too self-righteous to see the parallels between herself and Rhea as she needlessly sacrifices countless lives for her cause while she claims that HER life is too important to lose, too stuck in her own head to see the hypocrisy in her denouncement of the nobility and church and their treatment of the masses while SHE, Miss Imperial Royalty herself, throws others' lives away for her war--BUT the point is never made !! there's no statement from that point of view either ! there is literally no message ! Edelgard goes through no character development, positive or negative, despite all the groundwork for it being laid out plainly. she does not get a chance to grow, nor does she ever regress, nor is she ever faced with the consequences of her actions, and so no statement is ever made about her character or anything she represents

all the potential was there for Crimson Flower to have been a really good story, and that's why i'm so frustrated that i'm writing an essay about it. and it didn't HAVE to be a positive one with a happy ending, or even a mixed, bittersweet one, which i think would've been best. it easily could've been a tragic story about like, Byleth witnessing the fall of their misguided student firsthand as they try and fail to reach out to her, powerless to save her from herself as she drifts away from everybody, being forced into a position where her death becomes necessary in order to preserve the lives of others, or something--but it didn't try to do anything like that. it didn't try to do ANYTHING ! in fact, i would say her character is much more compelling in all the other routes where she DIES, if only bc at least then it feels like SOMETHING is being said about her character

the real kicker is that, at the end of Crimson Flower, it's said that Edelgard goes on to abolish the nobility, and yet in the epilogue she remains the emperor, and all your other units of noble birth still...... have noble titles and landholdings. not to mention i can't even be sure if the scene where Byleth's crest disappears is supposed to represent the disappearance of all crests, or just Byleth's ? so like i don't actually know what i'm supposed to think Edelgard accomplished ? what was the point of mindlessly helping her commit war crimes ? if not a character arc, or a plot resolution, or some greater message, or even the world state i was promised to get from siding with her, what exactly am i supposed to get out of this route ???

i keep thinking about how it feels in contrast to her progression in every other route, and to how Dimitri is written. bc when Byleth joins anyone else, Edelgard always dies, as Dimitri does. but unlike with Dimitri, intsys didn't adapt Edelgard's progression to Byleth's presence, beyond the simple facts of whether she wins/loses and lives/dies. what i’ve gathered from the other routes is that they portray her as a senselessly violent, incomprehensible, self-righteous kid with too much power who became consumed by it and then dies/is killed as a natural consequence of her own actions. i was expecting the difference in her route to be that we get to explore her side more and understand her inner workings and what could have led her down this path, and then to either get the chance to make a difference, or to be dragged down with her as a cautionary tale. but she STILL comes across as senselessly violent, incomprehensible, self-righteous and power-trippy, except now i get to enable her, and that’s presented as like, a genuinely wholesome thing ?

my gf has said that it feels like you're not meant to side with Edelgard, just from how poorly written and constructed her entire route is**, and i've been getting the same feeling. having finished it, the whole thing felt hollow. her actions and choices always feel absurd and frustrating because we never get any insight into what she's thinking, there's too much Telling and not enough Showing to back up any of the Telling, there are so many aspects of the route that don't make sense, and there's no ATTEMPT to make them make sense

(**seriously the production value felt so low at times that it got embarrassing to watch. like after part 1, Jeritza just dropped off the face of the planet with no explanation, and no one in the game ever brought him up again or even wondered where he was, not even Edelgard. then the recent game update suddenly added him to my roster right before i was about to finish the route, again with no explanation, and no in-game acknowledgement of this. which can only lead me to believe that Jeritza was actually SUPPOSED to be there the whole time but intsys.... forgot about him ? LIKE... THEY FORGOT TO WRITE THE DEATH KNIGHT INTO EDELGARD'S ROUTE ? WHAT)

in fact, it feels to me a lot like death was always the intended resolution for her character and everything was always written around that, but then they decided that wasn't an appropriate tone/direction to take for a route in which Byleth joins her, but then they weren't even bothered to really revise the route in any meaningful way so they just went "fuck it" and gave us.... whatever this mess is. but if so, if intsys really was so set on having her be this tragic misguided villain, i don't understand why they didn't commit to that narrative in her route as well, instead of just half-assing everything and doing nothing meaningful and wasting my time. hell i don't understand why they even bothered to include an Edelgard route if their hearts clearly weren't in it to begin with. just let her be the villain that you guys obviously wanted her to be and go

but, whatever. at least all the OTHER Black Eagle characters were great

[randomnameless]

Why the Edel bashing? I thought you like morally grey characters!

I haven’t finished the game (at least Edel’s route!) yet but despite the morally wrong things we do if we follow Edel, it’s in the general trend of creating ambiguity when there’s no ambiguity, the character is clearly crossing/jumping over a line that’s not supposed to be crossed.

spoilers under the cut! (wtf i can’t tag answers anymore on laptop?)

Like, i don’t want to hear/understand why a purple giant snaps his fingers and erases half of the population because even if it’s for “the greater good” it’s still erasing 50% of the population who were as clueless about “the greater good” as you and I.

And I don’t want to sympathise with a pretty boy who ascends godhood through the power of friendship but does really good reforms when he’s in charge of a nation i may have started to read Berserk

Edel starts a war, doesn’t bother to seek alliances with other houses (she says she knows they will refuse, but it doesn’t feel as if she even bothered to ask them!), has been hell bent on that path since day 1 where she tried to kill everyone through a random bandit.

And the most disturbing idea is how that war was not necessary - at least from where I am now, but heck, i don’t even know why we’re going to war save that Edel has a beef with Rhea. We’re attacking Claude because he sides with the Church, apparently, but we don’t bother asking him to switch sides because maybe he too doesn’t like monsters/dragons/whatever Rhea is.

If she asked Dimitri and Claude to take care of the Monica gang while she battles Rhea, would they have refused? After she tells them that the Monica gang is conducting gruesome experiments on people? And if they ask about Rhea then, maybe she’d reveal the truth about her other form and somehow they’ll agree that dragons/whatever shouldn’t rule over Fodlan?

well from what i understand elsewhere Edel and Dimitri have some sort of special history going on so maybe an alliance is really out of the question

Ultimately, Edel wants to put a meritocracy in place but she ends up as the Empress?

Is she the most qualified to rule over the Empire, after having started a war that claimed the lives of many (soldiers but also randoms)?

And most problematic - is Edel qualified to rule when she allied herself with people who used her subjects/peasants as mindless beasts? She hates this idea, aye, but then what? When Peasant n°145 is going to see Empress Edel and asks for reparations because his wife turned into a mindless thing and ate their baby and was killed by Rhea forces or whoever tried to defend their country, what is Edel going to do? Apologise? Never. Send Hubert deal with Peasant n°145? Maybe. Tell him that his wife was used by another organisation that wasn’t her and she hated working with them?

If you ally with people who treat your subjects/peasants, not as fodder but as monster/experimentation material, are you really qualified to be their ruler?

I know that in usual war, randoms die too, not only soldiers. That’s why war is ugly. Soldiers have more or less signed up (were they forced or not is another debate!) for taking arms and dying at their commander’s order, let it be fighting against brigands or other armies. A random (peasant) never agreed to it.

I have played to much of the old FE formula where the Mandate of Heaven (we had a discussion about it a long time ago!) qualifies who rules from who doesn’t. Someone who starts a war and uses her people/peasants as war machines doesn’t qualify.

So no matter how sad Edel’s backstory is, or how much she loves Billy and was heart crushed when Billy died, I can’t like her.

She’s a character who has reasons, i can understand, but i can’t understand the angle where she’s painted as a heroine.

There’s no grey with Edel, but I hope there’s more grey in the other routes.

Tldr: There’s nothing wrong with having a MC who isn’t a “good” character, but for the sake of everything holy, don’t try to force the player into believing that MC is grey when MC is obviously not.

Turning to the Monica Gang and not having the guts to face us after the reveal about Jeralt’s death rubs me in a wrong way, on top of those poor peasants turned into monsters

[sacrilegiovs]

(  josefine  frida  pettersen  ,  cisfemale  ,  she  /  her  ,  fire  emblem  :  three  houses  )  *  &.  i  know  it  must  be  scary  for  you  ,  edelgard  von  hresvelg  ,  after  not  surviving  the  takeover  .  to  turn  into  someone  like  edelle  hjördis  ,  a  twenty-four  year-old  code  enforcement  officer  at  city  hall  ,  right  here  in  castle  town  .  just  remember  that  you  are  as  ambitious  as  you  are  relentless  ,  and  to  be  wary  ,  be  safe  ,  be  true  to  who  you  are  :  neutral  through  and  through  .

hi  demons  it  me  ,  a  piece  of  garbage  !  this  is  ,  uh  ,  VERY  spoiler  heavy  so  …  i’m  sorry  ab  that  JSDHFNDJDHC  here’s  a  pinterest  board  for  edelgard  tho  bc  i  luv  my  daughter  !! 

TW.  food  /  drinks  ,  blood  (  pinterest  )  +  child  abuse  &  death ment.  /  trauma  (  intro  )  .

BEFORE  CASTLE  TOWN  .

edelgard  von  hresvelg  .  the  fourth  daughter  of  the  emperor  and  out  of  all  her  siblings  she  was  the  only  one  born  with  a  (  minor  )  crest  of  seiros  .

however  when  she  was  nine  ,  edie  and  her  mother  were  taken  by  her  uncle  to  the  holy  kingdom  of  faerghus  .  unbeknownst  to  her  back  home  ,  the  insurrection  of  the  seven  was  taking  place  —  reducing  her  father  to  nothing  more  than  a  political  puppet  .  her  own  uncle  was  one  of  the  key  conspirators  .  though  her  mother  eventually  married  the  king  of  faerghus  ,  edelgard  continued  to  live  with  her  uncle  .  during  her  time  in  the  kingdom  ,  edelgard  befriended  dimitri  and  the  two  spent  a  lot  of  time  together  ,  unaware  they  were  step-siblings  .  soon  after  she  turned  twelve  ,  edelgard  returned  to  the  empire  …  without  her  mother  .

then  shit  got  real  .

imagine  going  home  after  three  years  only  to  find  that  your  father  has  been  stripped  of  his  power  .  imagine  going  home  after  three  years  only  to  be  subjected  to  painful  experiments  with  your  ten  siblings  .  the  adrestian  nobles  supported  the  crest  experimentation  performed  by  those  who  slither  in  the  dark  ,  no  matter  the  cost  of  it  .  it  wasn’t  them  or  their  heirs  ,  so  why  should  they  have  qualms  ,  right  ?  now  ,  imagine  your  father  ,  who  was  rendered  practically  powerless  ,  objecting  and  trying  to  stop  it  with  all  he  had  left  …  but  ultimately  being  unable  to  do  anything  besides  sit  back  and  watch  this  relentless  torture  of  his  children  .

all  in  the  name  of  crests  .

most  of  her  siblings  were  driven  mad  or  died  from  exhaustion  .  in  the  end  ,  edelgard  was  the  only  one  to  survive  and  retain  the  sanity  that  had  been  lost  by  many  other  hresvelg  siblings  .  because  of  her  success  ,  she  bore  a  second  crest  now  .  the  crest  of  flames  ,  and  a  major  one  at  that  .  due  to  the  stress  that  having  two  crests  brought  ,  her  natural  brown  hair  turned  a  silvery  tone  .

and  her  view  of  crests  ,  the  church  of  seiros  ,  and  the  caste  system  of  fódlan  were  altered  forever  .

she  arrived  at  garreg  mach  monastery  to  complete  her  education  when  she  was  seventeen  ,  and  was  resolved  to  reclaim  what  her  father  had  lost  .  her  admittance  marked  the  first  time  in  ages  since  a  member  of  the  hresvelg  family  sent  a  member  to  the  officer's  academy  .  she  would  soon  become  the  house  leader  of  the  black  eagles  .

sometime  before  meeting  byleth  ,  edelgard  took  on  the  guise  of  the  flame  emperor  ,  and  her  suit  used  agarthan  technology  to  heavily  distort  her  voice  for  protection  purposes  .  believing  that  she  would  have  a  straightforward  time  unifying  fódlan  without  the  future  leaders  of  the  kingdom  and  the  alliance  in  her  way  ,  she  hired  bandits  to  assassinate  dimitri  and  claude  ,  respectively  .

a  quick  deviation  from  background  telling  .  to  be  honest  i  feel  as  if  this  act  in  particular  highlights  just  how  young  and  ,  ultimately  ,  inexperienced  edelgard  really  is  —  because  she’s  so  quick  to  put  an  assassination  attempt  on  the  table  .  how  she  made  a  seemingly  solid  enough  plan  ,  yet  despite  everything  ,  it  still  failed  .  we  have  to  remember  the  fact  she  was  a  teenager  in  the  beginning  .  a  child  .  yes  ,  one  willing  to  commit  murder  because  she  saw  it  as  the  most  viable  option  ,  but  a  child  nonetheless  .  however  ,  it  also  showcased  how  ruthless  she  can  be  .  ruthless  in  the  sense  that  she  won’t  stop  at  anything  to  get  from  point  a  to  point  b  .  in  edelgard’s  case  ,  she  felt  her  goals  were  far  greater  than  her  own  personal  feelings  .  towards  dimitri  ,  towards  claude  ,  towards  …  well  ,  everyone  (  as  we  see  during  the  conflict  of  the  holy  tomb  ,  specifically  during  the  black  eagles  run  .  she  didn’t  want  to  fight  her  friends  ,  but  she  wasn’t  above  giving  the  order  to  kill  anyone  who  tried  to  stop  them  .  she  was  already  resigned  to  the  notion  that  ,  in  order  to  fulfill  her  chosen  path  ,  she  needed  to  do  things  she  didn’t  necessarily  want  to  do  .  )

ok  ,  back  to  your  regularly  scheduled  programming  .

as  mentioned  ,  she  needed  to  strategize  in  ways  that  she  may  not  have  enjoyed  .  teaming  up  with  those  who  slither  in  the  dark  ,  irregardless  of  her  own  hatred  and  disdain  for  them  ,  was  a  huge  one  .  they  had  a  common  enemy  :  the  church  of  seiros  .  and  as  they  say  ,  the  enemy  of  my  enemy  is  my  friend  .  with  full  intention  of  turning  on  them  once  her  war  against  the  church  was  over  ,  edelgard  allied  herself  with  the  very  people  who  were  responsible  for  her  trauma  .  for  the  greater  good  ,  she  undoubtedly  told  herself  .  it  had  to  be  done  .  in  my  own  personal  view  of  edelgard  ,  she’s  pragmatist  .  meaning  the  church  /  crests  /  caste  system  were  the  focal  point  of  her  takedown  ,  and  what  she  may  logically  be  able  to  achieve  .  she  could  only  wage  one  war  at  a  time  .  plus  ,  with  TWSITD  believing  she  is  an  ally  ,  in  theory  it  would  be  much  easier  to  get  to  them  …  opposed  to  if  they  were  still  completely  in  the  shadows  .

equality  through  force  .  it  might  not  be  the  best  choice  ,  but  it  was  a  choice  that  edelgard  considered  long  and  hard  .  it’s  pretty  implied  that  edelgard  believed  in  meritocracy  ;  none  of  that  birthright  bullshit  that  the  caste  system  brought  upon  fódlan  .  and  certainly  no  more  crests  dictating  who  and  who  wasn’t  a  suitable  leader  (  a  prime  example  being  miklan  :  she  outright  expressed  sympathy  towards  him  ,  even  called  him  an  impressive  leader  ,  despite  not  having  a  crest  of  his  own  .  )

now  i  would  like  to  point  something  out  .  actually  ,  a  few  things  .  i  recall  most  clearly  in  silver  snow  ,  it  was  said  that  edelgard  DEMANDED  that  her  father  relinquished  the  emperor  position  to  her  ,  when  in  fact  ,  that  wasn’t  necessarily  correct  .  we  can  see  her  coronation  as  emperor  if  byleth  chose  to  go  with  her  when  they  had  high  enough  support  .  if  anything  ,  her  father  appeared  to  be  understanding  when  she  convinced  him  .  however  despite  the  obvious  antagonistic  viewpoint  characters  had  on  her  in  silver  snow  ,  the  only  route  she  was  clear-cut  painted  as  a  true  villain  …  was  azure  moon  .  the  same  route  it  was  confirmed  she  had  many  long  thoughts  and  presumably  discussions  about  how  to  proceed  with  her  plans  ,  before  she  settled  upon  throwing  the  entirety  of  fódlan  into  a  war  .  her  declaration  of  war  against  the  church  of  seiros  and  all  its  allies  was  not  a  whim  .  does  that  make  it  right  ?  no  ,  i  don’t  believe  she  was  right  for  pulling  everyone  into  that  chaos  .  but  whether  she  was  right  in  the  way  she  went  about  it  or  not  ,  she  wasn’t  entirely  wrong  either  .  the  church  wasn’t  an  innocent  party  !  edelgard  only  had  half  truths  ,  which  can  be  just  as  dangerous  as  knowing  everything  or  nothing  at  all  ,  if  not  more  .

but  that  all  being  said  ,  i  am  pulling  edelgard  from  crimson  flower  .  because  regardless  of  her  actions  ,  i  still  didn’t  feel  it  was  right  to  paint  her  solely  as  the  villain  when  she  wasn’t  the  only  one  who  made  severe  mistakes  .  we  have  seen  she  is  capable  of  expressing  guilt  and  remorse  for  her  actions  .  however  unlike  most  ,  edelgard  knows  she  cannot  waver  from  the  bloody  path  she  picked  .  it  goes  back  to  what  i  said  earlier  ,  of  her  being  resigned  to  the  fact  .  personal  feelings  needed  to  be  pushed  aside  in  matters  of  war  ,  especially  this  far  into  things  .  for  her  to  give  up  would  mean  all  this  bloodshed  was  for  nothing  .  she  couldn’t  do  that  .  not  just  for  her  own  ideals  ,  but  for  fódlan  itself  .  even  speaking  beyond  unification  under  adrestia  rule  ,  it  would  have  been  worse  for  her  to  say  ‘  okay  no  more  war  ’  without  any  resolvement  ,  and  for  things  to  ‘  go  back  to  the  way  they  were  ’  despite  that  not  being  a  logical  reality  ...  it  would  make  everything  cheap  ,  like  it  never  mattered  to  begin  with  .  no  ,  she  intended  to  see  her  plans  out  even  if  it  killed  her  .

she  dug  her  grave  and  she  was  fully  prepared  to  lie  in  it  .

in  crimson  flower  ,  she  was  lucky  to  survive  it  ,  and  i  would  call  the  war  a  pyrrhic  victory  in  any  case  .

after  byleth  abandoned  the  church  to  stay  with  her  ,  edelgard  organized  her  former  classmates  into  an  elite  task  force  that  was  known  as  the  black  eagle  strike  force  (  although  BEST  ,  black  eagle  strike  team  ,  was  right  there  …  an  opportunity  missed  ,  i  suppose  )  .  despite  all  her  efforts  ,  they  spent  the  next  five  years  locked  in  a  bitter  stalemate  with  the  kingdom  and  the  alliance  .  though  with  byleth’s  return  and  aid  ,  she  was  able  to  swiftly  conquer  the  leicester  alliance  .  instead  of  killing  her  old  friend  ,  edelgard  spared  claude  and  forced  him  to  go  into  exile  .

after  beating  back  an  attempt  by  the  church  to  retake  garreg  mach  ,  edelgard  began  military  operations  against  faerghus  in  earnest  .  she  first  conquered  arianrhod  ,  a  fortress  on  the  western  border  between  adrestia  and  faerghus  .  afterwards  ,  she  began  a  direct  march  for  fhirdiad  .  dimitri  and  rhea  moved  to  intercept  her  at  the  tailtean  plains  ,  but  rhea  was  driven  off  and  dimitri  was  slain  in  battle  *  —  an  execution  by  her  own  hands  .

the  group  finally  arrived  in  fhirdiad  ,  and  rhea  ordered  the  city  burned  to  the  ground  in  order  to  slow  them  down  and  transforms  into  her  ultimate  form  ,  the  immaculate  one  .  edelgard  ,  byleth  ,  and  the  black  eagle  strike  force  engaged  her  in  battle  .  ultimately  ,  the  empire  emerged  victorious  and  rhea  was  slain  .  with  all  of  fódlan  under  adrestia's  dominion  ,  edelgard  finally  began  the  reforms  she  always  wanted  to  bring  to  the  nobility  and  the  crest  system  ,  and  began  a  silent  war  against  those  who  slither  in  the  dark  .  *

(  *  -  basically  just  copypasta  from  her  wiki  because  i  didn’t  feel  like  rewriting  it  JDHBSFCBHDHN  )

AFTER  CASTLE  TOWN  .

the  memories  of  edelle  hjördis  are  different  .  edelgard  von  hresvelg  doesn’t  exist  ,  and  there’s  no  reason  for  edelle  to  believe  otherwise  …  right  ?

the  only  child  of  a  well-known  politician  ,  edelle  is  expected  to  follow  his  footsteps  .  and  she  did  ,  sort  of  .  it’s  on  a  smaller  scale  for  now  ,  working  as  a  code  enforcement  officer  at  city  hall  —  she  says  it’s  a  stepping  stone  ,  solidifying  groundwork  for  the  bigger  leagues  .  if  she  ever  gets  there  .  code  enforcement  isn’t  easy  in  any  capacity  ,  and  it  renders  her  particularly  busy  .

everything  is  fine  .

yet  she  can’t  help  feeling  like  there  are  missing  pieces  .  like  maybe  somewhere  ,  somehow  ,  she  has  siblings  in  some  form  .  like  a  hidden  family  that  her  father  keeps  secret  from  her  and  prying  eyes  of  public  media  .  maybe  it’s  all  loneliness  carved  from  parental  absence  .  a  scenario  created  in  her  mind  to  ease  her  from  the  gnawing  feeling  of  solitude  .  that  must  be  it  —  there’s  no  other  explanation  .

everything  is  alright  .

there’s  this  dream  that  haunts  her  so  frequently  .  perhaps  if  she  finds  a  name  to  the  face  ,  she  can  lay  him  to  rest  properly  .  there’s  an  indescribable  sorrow  that  follows  the  execution  of  this  man  —  one  she  doesn’t  understand  ,  one  she  doesn’t  know  if  she  even  wants  to  understand  —  but  it’s  one  she  can’t  seem  to  shake  .  it’s  persistent  and  makes  its  presence  known  in  her  mind  ,  and  all  she  wants  is  for  it  to  vanish  .  farewell  ,  king  of  delusion  .  she  remembers  saying  those  words  (  was  it  truly  her  ?  )  in  this  vision  .  she  doesn’t  know  how  it  can  be  real  ,  it’s  impossible  ,  but  it’s  as  if  her  hands  were  sticky  with  metaphorical  blood  that  never  leaves  .  her  stomach  churns  in  response  if  she  thinks  too  much  of  it  ,  so  she  tries  to  ignore  it  .  it  doesn’t  easily  work  ,  but  she  has  to  try  .

she  remembers  taking  classes  at  castle  town  university  as  a  political  science  major  .  in  rare  moments  ,  she  found  herself  doodling  little  portraits  of  people  —  not  that  they  were  really  any  good  ,  or  that  she  even  showed  anyone  .  but  if  someone  looked  at  the  back  of  her  notebooks  ,  they  can  surely  find  a  badly  drawn  figure  or  two  .

she  doesn’t  know  what  this  weird  crown  is  that  she  randomly  has  ??  unbeknownst  to  her  ,  it  was  her  —  edelgard’s  —  crown  as  adrestia’s  emperor  .  she  just  …  had  it  one  day  ,  and  that  was  that  .  it’s  hidden  in  her  closet  at  home  ,  as  she’s  unsure  of  what  to  do  with  it  .  curiosity  bested  her  a  few  times  and  yes  ,  she  has  tried  it  on  for  size  .  it  fits  almost  too  perfectly  ,  like  it  was  meant  for  her  .  there’s  something  missing  .  there’s  always  something  missing  .  edelle  can  never  figure  out  what  ,  though  .

all  in  all  ,  despite  the  differences  ,  edelle  is  still  as  ambitious  and  relentless  at  achieving  her  goals  as  edelgard  was  .  only  thing  is  ,  she  doesn’t  realize  the  extent  of  it  .  stubborn  until  the  very  end  ,  edelle  can  be  described  as  a  workaholic  for  the  most  part  ,  but  there  are  peaceful  moments  where  she  takes  time  for  herself  and  those  who  manage  to  get  close  to  her  .

uh  idk  what  else  to  write  so  that’s  it  for  now  .  we’ll  see  what  happens  in  the  future  .

FUN  FACTS  .

edelle’s  birthday  is  june  22nd  ,  aka  canonly  edelgard’s  birthday  (  22nd  of  the  garland  moon  )  ,  which  makes  her  a  cancer  sun  .  as  a  cancer  rising  and  water  sign  sun  in  general  ,  myself  ,  i’m  really  not  surprised  .  this  is  kinda  self  drag  lol  but  water  signs  are  notorious  for  being  manipulative  and  knowing  when  to  use  the  cards  to  their  advantage  ,  and  that’s  exactly  what  edelgard  does  .

although  this  being  said  and  being  the  astrology  heaux  i  am  ,  if  i  had  to  assign  her  moon  +  rising  signs  ,  i  would  probably  say  capricorn  moon  (  show  a  lot  of  initiative  ,  in  it  to  win  it  .  do  not  want  to  feed  into  another’s  beliefs  about  victim-hood  .  can  excel  in  things  that  require  cold  blood  and  seriousness  .  )  and  scorpio  rising  (  likely  to  experience  life  as  a  constant  series  of  obstacles  or  crises  .  confronting  darkness  in  the  outside  world  through  facing  extreme  situations  .  others  may  find  you  somewhat  inscrutable  ,  mysterious  or  just  hard  to  read  ;  likely  to  play  your  cards  close  to  your  chest  .  )

she’s  still  5ft  2in  ..  we  love  the  shorties  in  this  house  ,  ok  !

unlike  edelgard  whose  hair  was  originally  brown  ,  edelle  always  had  her  signature  white  hair  .  although  ..  she  does  have  a  slightly  “  goddess  green  ”  tint  if  you  look  at  her  character  portraits  closely  .  personally  i  believe  it’s  due  to  her  crest  of  flames  ,  since  the  color  is  vaguely  reminiscent  of  sothis-byleth  .

the  mention  of  her  drawing  little  pictures  of  people  comes  from  the  fact  she  drew  a  portrait  of  byleth  in  crimson  flower  ,,,

nightmares  by  all  time  low  was  another  song  i  had  in  mind  for  edelgard  ,  i  won’t  even  lie  ...

[semi-imaginary-place]

fe3h blogging 1

spoilers

Sorry blue lions. It was between eagles and deer for me. 

ch3: Well OK. The church is now using me as their personal political assassin are they?  

Fe3h fav characters so far: Tomas: knowledge grandpa! And one of the few I trust  Gatekeeper: my pure boy. On the topic of trust. You know who I don't trust? Claude. He always angling for something. Always digging for secrets never revealing his own

I didn't think I'd like Raphael so much but I do. He's so good natured. He always wants to help and even when the other kids are mean to him. His only response is more kindness. Like oh youre kinda grumpy right now how about a snack. Like a human shaped golden retriever. Full of love and very food motivated. As much as he's a complete musclehead, his emotional/social intelligence is pretty high. He just wants to make friends. Let Raphhael have friends!  

Guess who chose golden deerI was considering black eagle. But everyone did black eagle. I can go on youtube later. I haven't gotten it but on youtube is lorenz and sylvain's c and b supports and they are hilarious

I found japanese audio of fe3h and it just really hit me that Sylvain belongs in an otome game. I mean his character design (hair color, hair style etc.) and the way he acts is already... eh. But then his japanese voice actor... and its giving me this mental dissonance. Especially aince I've seen the character artist doing utapri, samflam, and other stuff.

weeho spoiled myself on supports: Everyday I grow less and less convinced of Sylvain's heterosexuality. Does he even like women?? He's just emotionally manipulating them as a self destructive coping mechanism because he has self worth issues.  So he presents himself as the superficial stuff like social status and then gets insecure and accuses them of only dating him for status. He's setting himself up for failure. And each tine reinforces his belief that he is nothing but his crest and family. Look at this disaster boy 

knowledge grandpa no! I trusted you and I trust so few people. I wonder if it was real Tomas who first joined but an impostor who rejoined a year ago

List of potential immortals: Jeralt, Rhea, Flayn. There are multiple mentions of Jeralt not seeming to age, he looked the same over 30 years ago. Rhea looks suspiciously like Saint Seiros and was archbishop 20 years ago. Flayn act both young and old and won’t give me her age. That said now that its revealed in the paraloge that Seteth is her dad, maybe not secretly an immortal so much as magical bloodline. Also Seiros, Rhea, Sothis, and Flayn are all related somehow. The green hair doesn’t help. And Byleth is somehow involved. I thought byleth might be part of the immortal gang but mom’s grave stone said she died at age 20 so byleth was born at the church like 20-21 years ago

support thoughts: Are all of huberts c supports just him insulting people?? each and every day I fall more in love with Dorothea. her support with Ferdinand where she straight up says she hates him, the voice acting on that! Lorenz and Ferdinand was hilarious. This is why you get bullied. Lorenz and Sylvain was also funny. Not a big fan of Bernadetta. 

Ok so update on the green haired tinfoil hatting: Flayn related to the saint cetholynn????? somehow and definitely real old.

end of part 1

Thinking back the crests and church(seiros/saints) are what turn people into demonic beasts. there are beasts with crest stones in their heads, in Remire villiage they tried to turn people using Flayn’s blood, and later succeeded. Flame emperor is using the church’s abilities against it. Also Rhea’s been seeking to replicate... something Seiros maybe?? (or more someone.. someone who was precious to her) by ripping the hearts out of babies and putting in a special one??? Rhea seem desperate, but I’m not sure what (or whom) she is desperate for. turning Byleth into Seiros??? There is a ... tension is her, like she is on the edge of snapping. And what was she trying to achieve there in the tomb before she was interrupted. For being “holy” relics, they sure are ominous looking. and they turn people into monsters. The whole church is sketch honestly. The propaganda and censorship campaigns. The crushing of any that are a threat under the language of sin and justice.

So Edelgard went full supervillian. Wow. And Rhea was the immaculate one huh (still don’t know what that means), here I was theory crafting that she was a reincarnated Seiros or something. Edelgard is like a worse Alm, she wants to rid humanity of dragons ruling over them and install a meritocracy. Her methods though are !!!!! yikes. I mean any reign that starts with “kill all that resist” can’t lead to anything good. Also out of 10 siblings only 1 didn’t die of illness or go mad. hmmmn where have I heard that before.

That said I do agree with her goal. I love it when I can take down a religious institution in a videogame.

At Garreg Mach her whole plan in to brute force it. Like if we just keep throwing enough lives at it we are bound to win. Admittedly I know nothing of military strategy, but that doesn’t sound like the best plan.

Interesting the differences between routes. In Edelgard’s church allied with feargus, while in Claude’s the Church lost significant power and Edelgard successfully incited a coup, but why did the Empire give up Garreg Mach as a strategic position? 

My baby deer are all grown up. And yup another mark in the Flayn is some immortal being, her sprite didn’t change at all. Totally in favor of stealing everyone from the other houses.

Who wore it better Part 1 or 2

Edelgard: 2. I mean p1 Edelgard was already best dressed but p2 takes it to a new level

Dimitri: 2. I mean p1′s hair is so goofy looking I just have to choose the edgelord

Claude: both. Claude looks fine so matter the time

Hubert: 2. He really did grow into the goth look

Petra: 1. Both are good but I love the huge braid

Lindhart: 1. p2 isn’t bad but I like the two layers look

Dorothea: 2. but both are good

Caspar: 2. Something about p1 always bothered me

Ferdinand: 2. His character model looks better than his sprite, and his hair is so luscious and flowing!

Bernadetta: 2. its just a mess is p1, v cute in p2

Dudue: 2. what is even going on in p1. where as p2 is like... elegant

Sylvain: 1. as much as I teased about him belonging in an otome game, his p2 haircut is just ugly

Ingrid: 1. mmmm its fluffy?

Felix: 1. What is his p2 hair even doing??? it makes me confused

Mercedes: 1. Fluffy.

Annette: 2. never was a fan of the hair loopies

Ashe: both. p1 is cute but p2 is beautiful. both are sooo good

Hilda: 2. p1 pigtails kinda boring

Raphael: 1. though p2 its a shaggy dog

Leonie: 1. another fluffy head, p2′s low pony tail does not give a flattering shape

Ignatz: 2. a bowl cut is an improvment from whatever p1 is

Lysithea: 2. not sue about the veil but it is more intersting than p1

Marianne: 1. I always did prefer thick bangs

Lorenz: 2. its definitely p2. in p1 he looks like such a clown

Cyril: 2. Honestly he kept the baby face so there’s not much difference.

Claude sees that under Rhea the church enforced a doctrine that locked in the status quo of nobles and crests and he wants to chage the church’s influence to promote tolerance, diversity, and open mindedness. but, hey. Hey. What if we got rid of the church all together.

Why can’t I recruit the old general... hey. Hey!

Aww Claude introduced me to his second mom and dad

So the more people you can recruit the less painful things are. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get to kill Dimitri.

In terms of characters, Ferdinand has surprisingly grown on me. As for Caspar I shocks me occasionally how uncaring he is about killing people. He reminds me of a smt chaos hero with the whole might equals right thing. As long as he decides they are evil its ok to kill them. Now all he needs to do is get possessed by a demon. Eating away at him from the inside out. Ashe as always continues to be an absolute angel. I need somewhere to gush about how cool Claude looks in him final class promotion. So I rather like the group of childhood friends dimitri, felix, sylvain, ingrid. And it always trips me uo to remember that sylvain is like 2 years older than the rest because he really doesn't act like it. I'm getting that they are all traumatized from the death of felix's brother. A lot of the characters have had pretty bad childhoods.I was surprised to find out that Lysithea was tortured as a child like ok wow. I need to spend more time with you. Does Dimitri have PTSD? Golden Deer has had quite a few goofy hijinks. Marianne's character growth really has been a a thing of beauty, I’m so proud of her. But I love my oddball bunch of misfits. How did Dedue not get found out??? He’s very noticeable. and Claude, you’re starting to sound like Edelgard. I love Edelgard’s final promotion. Looks so cool. Like a mix or her Lord and Flame Emperor clothes. I wince every time some mentions the free market or the joys of capitalism. I guess adrestia is imperialism, faergus is religion, and leister is capitalism. I didn’t care about Dimriti’s death, but Edelgard’s got me.

damn ok so dubstep cyberpunk dungeon and Rhea took like 15 missile strikes. wow this really is very smt. maybe persona 2. And fighting zombie Nemesis and the 10 was excellent (Nemesis is still a stupid name). I love it when we fight literal embodiments of the past

its hilarious that in Shamir and Claude's paired ending,  he ends up ditching 3 whole times. He turns the opportunity to lead the unified fodland down, then he ditches house reigen, and then he abdicated the throne! I love it! That's so him. And they both wanted to travel the world.  Technically Claude is also a descendant of Loog so he also gave up claim to the Faerghus throne too. I swear. This dude. This dude...  Next its going to be revealed that secretly Claudr is Edelgard's cousin. Or one of her "dead" sibling. Lysithea tell us that blood experiment to force crests leads to physical and mental damage. Does this have anything to do with what happened to Edelgard’s siblings? As far as I can tell every ending has Fodland under a single party state. Crimson flower, azure moon, and verdant wind all end in monarchies, and silver snow a theocracy.

Hold up. Flayn said that Cethaleann never had any children as rational as to why she's not a descendant. But how did Lindhart get the crest then?? And I might be mixing up the 10 and the saints, but then I thought  the crests were designed as tools of war by those who slither in the dark. Thats how the 10 got them, to use as weapons against Sothis. But that then brings the question of why Rhea edited history in favor of them.  This is why the holy relics looked so ominous and creepy. The animations are eeeeeeeeuuuuuugggh. My initial though was that the church is secretly evil and this is foreshadowing. I mean rhea's kinda... viscous? Ruthless? Filled with barely contained hatred? I was thinking maybe she's secretly the evil dragon of the game the way Mila kinda was. 

But then you dont need consent to make a crest. Only blood. Blood could have been stolen from cihol and cethaleann to make their crests. Alternately they could have chosen to give crests to specific people.  The 2 sources of crests is also why there’s multiple weapons for some crests. The crest weapons made by the agartans all have a similar aesthetic, but not all the crest weapons have that aesthetic some look different and probably weren’t made by them. As for why Rhea rewrote the 10 into heroes. It might have been to stop people from questioning the crests and relics and seeking to replicate them. By framing it as sothis's doing, with the power of the church she can control crests, how people view them, and keep a closer eye on the descendants. Its its a gift by the goddess, of course we cant try to replicate them.

Let’s see what Claude achieved before he dipped. anti-discrimination laws (race, religion), and increased foreign relations. Potentially equal treatment under the law.

Edelgard really likes brute forcing solutions

The whole opera thing with Dorothea and Manuela stinks of the idol industry where an idol peaks at like 18. Real opera singers have much longer careers.

Golden Deer is so JRPG in the best way. There’s an evil cult of technologically advanced subterranean people, a zombie army, the power of friendship.

It already caught my attention when  missiles appeared and the evil cult's dungeon belonged is a scifi movie like ghost in the shell and I was thinking to myself "hmmm... this all sounds very smt of you" or maybe Persona 2. I mean with names like Shambala and the whole general aesthetic of that dungeon ... yeah. But then someone points out the UN’s symbol is all over the Agarthan stuff. And wow we really are in an smt timeline aren't we. and I remember seeing the missiles thinking hmmm that looks vaguely familiar. Its the UN symbol. Which means in alternate future Earth Sothis comes, we wage a war against the gods and and then Rhea destroys modern civilization along with the planet. that really does sound like the plot of an SMT game. I did wonder at the inclusion of electronica and dubstep into the soundtrack.

THC (Thinking Hard about Claude). Claude let's everyone know he's up to something, and his self portrayal as a schemer is both deliberate and truthful. He's using it part as social armor and part as an excuse to probe. Claude holds genuine cuiosity, wonder, and passion for the world. He is not always scheming so much as he is one of those people who's brain never turn off. He just wants to explore the world, meet different cultures, and discover all the secrets. Given the environment he grew up in, his natural inclinations angled him to thinking in terms of how to best leverage someone or how to sneak around.

Alright so here’s the lore as I know it. Sothis=Goddess came from another world to Fodlan. Through her blood made the goddess’ children (Nabateans) who are the original magical beasts and can talk, and they resided at Zanado. Rhea=Seiros=The Immaculate One, and the 4 Saints (Cihol=Seteth, Cethaleann=Flayn, Indech=The Indomitable, Macuil=The Wind Caller) are Nabateans. Sothis gave knowledge/interacted with the native humans of Fodlan (Agarthans). Eventually the Agarthans waged war against Sothis killing her and many Nabateans. The Agarthans used their bones to make weapons, their hearts to make crest stones, and their blood to make crests. The above is why magical beasts and demonic beasts are connected to crest stones. The crest stones as the hearts of Nabateans transform humans into a distorted version of their magical beast forms. The Sword of the Creator was made from materials taken from Sothis’ body. Using these weapons the humans attacked Zanado killing everyone except Seiros and the 4 Saints. The 10 Heroes Relics were similarly made from Nabatean bodies. Seiros, already obsessed with Sothis thought only of vengeance and bringing back Sothis. She raised an army, killed Nemesis, and drove the Agarthans underground to become Those who Slither in the Dark. Seiros then took control of the continent under the guise of The Church of Seiros. Seiros and the 4 Saints gave their blood to favored individuals granting them the power of their personal crest as well as potentially extending their lifespan/granting extended youth. This is why the 10 Heroes Relics have a visual aesthetic distinct from that of the weapons of the 4 Saints. The 10 Heroes Relics were made by the Agarthans but the other crest weapons like the other Gloucester crest weapon the Axe of Ukonvasara and the Saint’s weapons were not mad by them. The Church the acted as a tool for Seiros/Rhea to control the continent and its course. She then rewrote that part of history. The goddess was just sleeping, crests were a blessings of the goddess, etc. 

I am unsure as to why she did so, but I believe it served the 2 purposes. First it allowed Rhea to control the narrative and how people thought about the matter. Second it erases the existence of a rebellion against the Goddess. From the Church, Rhea could control the flow of information, censoring anything that threatened her power. Using the language of religion she could also justify using military force to eliminate her political opponents. 

[kendrixtermina]

I haven’t played all four routes yet but from spoilers I do know that Edelgard has some feelings for Byleth regardless of the route. While the shipper in me likes that detail, objectively from what I’ve seen of AM/VW so far I’m not sure why El would feel that way. I don’t want to chalk it up to waifuism right away. Any thoughts on this, since you’ve played all the routes?

Comments on the premise

(Scroll down for an answer to your actual question) 

First of all this “waifuism” thing is exceedingly cynical. 

Male antagonists in huge classical words of art are given a tragic crush or adorable little daughter/sister them all the time so  as to humanize them, give them internal conflict and expose some contradictions about them, and people get how it’s tragic and gives them dimensionality and no one ever says the only reason is so fangirls will think they’re hot. If anyone gets made fun of it’s the fangirls for “not getting the depht” as if that were mutually exclusive. Vulnerability, temptation, struggle for independence... you find that all over the best stories ever told. 

For every damself in distress there’s one dude (her boyfriend) who manages to be a full compelling non-satelite human being despite having romance as a motivator the problem isn’t romance it’s bad writing. There’s certainly a problem if almost every single female character in a setting were entirely by romance but the idea that liking someone is to degrade, flatten and cheapen yourself is just as toxic. It can coexist with other more complex motivations and in fact lampshade them.

You might perhaps call bad writing if it were one of those situations where the villainess has no other motivation than dudes, brings it up constantly or is so defined by it that it keeps her from acting in any self-consistent manner or just isn’t taken seriously as an antagonist.  Not saying she’s a villain at all but you oppose her on the other routes.

I pretty much all the characters like Byleth and express regret when they go up against them... They have a sort of heroic charisma that’s why they’re the main character. (not per se the other way around - you don’t point the camera where nothing interesting/extrordinary is happening. Few stories tell us about a sack of potatoes falling over or people sitting on chairs, and if they did they’d be about pointing out how potatoes or chairs are actually plenty interesting)

They’re described as accepting ppl just as they are with that having been an attitude impressed on them by their father who himself is cool with Byleth’s own oddities, and also described as one hell of a badass field commander.  Also you DO run around all day bringing everyone gifts, their favorite snacks lost possesions and listening to their problems/lifestories. 

It’s not like it’s super over the top in your face it’s like a handful of lines many of which you might not even hear if you’ve recruited certain characters or don#t trigger certain engage quotes, and it ties into her greater characterization as someone with consummate laserfocus dedication who has pretty much given up on anything that doesn’t further her goal even her own feelings.  - having a crush is just one example, she mentions how she’d have preferred a more peaceful life doing idle fun things and did enjoy her time at the monastery where she got to be just another classmate sand fight alongside everybody else as a comrade.

Though she enjoyed her time at the monastery, her resolve doesn’t waver... but now it hurts a bit more to go through with what she had planned all along since it means losing some of the relative normalcy she had not dared to hope for anymore

You actual question (ie what does she like about them)

Crushes, by nature, are just something that randomly shows up and can produce quite a bit of a reaction in a short time. 

Regardless of route you save her from a bandit and there’s all the explore time dialogue and basically lived in close quarters/ saw each other every other day. Even if theyd spend more time with their own class theyd still be around the place doing cool stuff. That would be explanation enough, I mean it doesn’t necessarily mean that something had to come of it, that she wouldn’t get over it or that you’re immediately soulmates or whatever, I mean you can pair her off with plenty of other peeps in her route. 

Which isn’t to say that the whole thing is just any old youthful crush. Crush or no crush she really wants them to be allies. 

First of all Edelgard has been describing as being drawn to/ sorta ‘collecting’ people she views as talented and exceptional so if you are a badass she’s gonna like you (just in general not even romantically), and if you’re a badass who’s also her ‘type’ that might manifest itself as a crush as well. 

She says pretty early on that she thinks they have similar personalities, and she clearly looks for like-mindedness in friends and allies as well, of the ones that she gets semi-friendly with even before the timeskip the only one with a significant different outlook/temperament is Dorothea, and everyone likes Dorothea, since she goes out of her way to befriend anyone who doesn’t resemble an arrogant dunce. 

Also, she probably finds the idea of having an ally who is “like her” very enticing. First because she’s used to being misunderstood and someone who is similar might “get” her and relate to her. (Conversely there’s a lot of dialogue where she’s like “I know you’re lying” or “wow you’re telling the truth”... she doesnt find them that opaque/unreadable compared to the other characters. so this also goes both ways... this occurs regularly enough that its even kinda used to hint at who the flame emperor is (”I can tell you dont actually want to join me”)) 

Byleth is just generally described in a lot of scenes dialogues and supports as someone whos pretty accepting of peolples weirdness and quirks. Leonie thinks they get it from Jeralt. That tends to be a selling point for most of their romantic options especially the house leaders

Likewise, due to various reasons relating to her natural personality, station and backstory she finds it hard to step out of business mode, and ppl tend to sort of flinch away from her because she’s uncommonly powerful and also the princess, and she doesn’t like that/tends to feel somewhat isolated because of it.  Even ppl who know Edelgard well enough to have significant insight into her (like Hubert or Ladislava) still speak of her with a kind of awe.

Due to their upbringing away from mainstream society, sorta unphased slightly flippant personality and their own considerable power/competence Byleth is one of the few who isn’t daunted to approach her like any ol regular person. They’re powerful enough for her to approach them on an even level, or even rely on them/ take pointers from them. 

You also see that to an extent with Lysithea (who is not just a fellow experiment victim but also has a similar ‘serious/focussed’ outlook and love of sugary things) with whom she also gets various “I wish you’d joined me/pity that we must fight” sort of dialogue. She’s Edelgard’s one inter-house support (suggesting a similar “I kinda can’t help wanting to get to know you even though I know we might become enemies” dynamic at play) the “free recruitee” on the CF route (whereas the other cases are in situations where they have incentives to flip - Lorenz is only with the empire out of opportunism so why wouldn’t he join the kingdom if they look to be winning? And Ashe was flat out drafted and is only with the Rowes out of obligation) and if you spare her she’ll say that Claude explicitly told her to waive the white flag if things get tough because he figured that Edelgard would be likely to spare her.