ARVAL: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS into Fodlan's NEW Character. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes.

upon seeing arvel for the first time intrigue immediately came over enthusiastic fodlin fans as this being clad in white was meant to be the counterpart to sothis upon realizing their garments looked very similar to cronia the possibility that arvel was a garthan spurred curiosity even more turns out it's a little more complicated than just sothus's opposite arval isn't a god to rival sothis no they are a creation by someone else entirely who wasn't even a god himself but certainly had a bone to pick with sothus and the nepatians by the way if you didn't pick up on it yet we're going into late game spoiler territory right off the bat to set this video up this video makes a chronological account of the life in wartime of epimenides and how this ordinary man came to master incredible magic and science during the war of heroes and how such research and discoveries created the snarky travel companion arval after we lay the groundwork for who epimenides is what he accomplished and how arval was made this video will explore arvald themselves what sort of being they are and how they develop over the course of the main campaigns who is epimenides epimenides is an ancient agarthin leader and scientist who hijacked his own body to become powerful all for the sake of aiding his people against the children of the goddess his existence was maybe even implied in three houses by solon as he's the only being the slitherers knew of who had survived and escaped the darkness of zaharas before bilath in three houses later added themselves to the list he is also allied with talis as he mentions him by name during a battle in the war of heroes similar to other agarthins he is very cold and calculating calling nemesis a worthless beast but at the same time he deeply cares for his own people swearing to protect them all in his own way and like his fellow agarthins he hates sothis and the nebotains he was very interested in mastering the secret behind rehousing souls as a way to save his kin and thus allowed them to cheat death as long as they could get themselves a new body for this reason epimenides began the experiments by using his own soul first as he wanted to master the process before technology could be used on others in case something went very wrong the end result of his work was arval an artificial soul who looked like epimenides and carried his powers but had none of his memories that they could recall which arvald themselves describes as some kind of amnesia sharing only with their creator his feelings towards sothis and a belief in destiny both which they cannot explain with this success at hand it's possible that epimenides later hosted his own soul on a core an object that seems to house special agarthing powers and evidently is used to sustain the lives of the ugarthins long past their expiration date within his body in spite of his success epimenides ended up losing arvel in an accident and was convinced his creation had been lost for good he later participated in the war of heroes and aided nemesis's fight against cerros and the adrestian empire at some point in the war he and his troops were confronted by cerros and as seen in the first movie of three hopes was destroyed completely by her dragon form's breath and this is where his story would have ended if it wasn't for arval it's revealed in one of the secret chapters of the game that unbeknownst to epimenides himself a vestige of his soul was carried out within arval unintentionally making his creation his backup and as arval explains they started as nothing surrounded by water and bubbles eventually something gave way pale figures surrounded them and arvel quote-unquote walked perhaps non-literally towards the light whereupon as far as we know nothing would happen to them up until chez and bilath's first fight awakens them and while it might seem we know all there is to know about epimenides and his experiments there are still lingering questions within the base game that are not answered like how did epimenides lose arvol the conversation in which it's mentioned epimenides lost arval is not clear how it happened beyond the fact that it was an accident from arval's point of view they seemingly were in a tube and fully submerged in water for a time when one day some shadows freed them and that this somehow led to them being lost to the waters which may or may not be literal why does noah garthan know who arval is every important agarthin chez fights in three hopes is visibly confused over how they can use epimenides's powers but not only that micen himself in azerglim suspects chez might have epimenides as core in their body and later suspects that they might have switched sides but given the guy was completely vaporized by cerros this implies that almost no one from the slitherers besides epimenides himself knew areval existed the only one who seems to notice something is up is talus as he notices chez's strange powers early in scarlet blaze by the end game though he's very clear he no longer cares about who chez actually is and that they need to be killed how did arval end up in chez's body we know for a fact that arvel is in shez as one of the first cutscenes of the game shows that their core circuitry being activated to empower sheds when they fight against bileth shez does think in their a support with happy that one of their dreams might have to do with experiments and solon suspects shez somehow came from shambhala but as far as clues go we don't get much beyond this and that's without even mentioning if chez's adoptive mother played a part at all given everything surrounding her in the base game is a mystery probably for dlc if i had to guess arval the travel companion upon arval's awakening in chez's conscience they literally don't know what they are or what their purpose is what they do know is that they dwell within a realm bordering on dreams and reality and that shez as the youngster repeats throughout the story is their partner in destiny they don't know why this is important it just is and as their partner in destiny arval serves a similar role as sothus once did for bileth rescuing them from their own certain demise over and over again as arval states annoyed they already saved shez from certain doom many many times during their journey to surpass bileth and avenge their fallen comrades of the burling mercenaries as epimenides was a brilliant mage and scientist arval possesses the same analytical mind and as epimenides was a high ranking leader in the war of heroes arval themselves is a very intelligent being who is easily able to come up with a good battle strategy like coming up with the idea to invade the kingdom by sea he often quizzes or outright tells chez an idea and chez is the one who announces the plan to their comrades they literally call themselves the brains of the duo like when they plainly tell shez what the right move is when the alliance is responding to ferdinand's force with a strike at berkeley's territory they're also capable of understanding complex scenarios with ease like breaking down the consequences of dimitri's actions by not surrendering himself to cornelia and to fight for his life instead and despite not being a natural living thing they are capable of understanding emotions and they are empathic arval looks out for shez not only because they're basically obligated to since if the purple person dies so will they and arvel will chastise shez upon them saying or doing something reckless so there's definitely a sense of self-preservation that arvel has over shez but the presence also wants to encourage and motivate shez to keep going arval is chaz's partner in destiny but they're also a nice kid and can often view things from a more constructive perspective than chez can when shez fails to defeat the ashen demon and realizes how outclassed they still are and believes that they've failed in every possible way arval views the mission differently in scarlet blaze for example they succeeded in their assigned job for the empire to rescue lenato and drive off geralt's mercenaries but even though they didn't beat byla they learned a lot from their fight that they can use for next time they want to keep chez's spirits up when things get difficult another example would be upon randolphs rodrigues or judith's deaths in their particular roots arval tells chez that avenging them makes the need to defeat byleth even more important personally i like this the most in azer gleam i like how arvald himself acknowledges that rodrigue is a man of character and it makes their encouraging words to sheds more memorable when they say that this pain will make them stronger to defeat the ash and demon for good but also they tell the mercenary to cheer up because their sadness is making them tight in the chest an expression that otherwise means feelings of anxiety and stress it makes you what yes it makes me very [Music] something tight in the chest anyway stop frowning at me i don't like it [Music] the interesting thing is that arvel doesn't even really understand these feelings there are several times in the story where their own feelings get explored but we're left to infer why they're actually feeling happiness sadness emptiness stress and so on because these emotions are foreign to them this is most prevalent when it comes to defeating bilith you have the partner and destiny feeling that arvel has all the time even when they're becoming insistent on defeating the ashen demon and implies that that's more important than fighting for dimitri for example arval is just unsure why it matters so much hey arval yes don't you think you're getting a bit too obsessed with this little grudge match [Music] maybe so though i don't believe that's all there is to it [Music] and my purpose why can't we just say it's fighting for dimitri and call it a day right now that's just as important to me as surpassing the ashen demon even more so hmm arval out with it i suppose it just feels like our destiny like it's something we're meant to do when the deed is actually done and bileth is killed arval gets filled with a bunch of emotions that they don't really understand they're free but empty and regretful all at once arval's literally moved to tears but can't understand why they feel these seemingly opposite feelings at the same time sorry i shouldn't be dumping all this on you there's nothing to apologize for you're processing a lot right now i'm not sure what it means to feel happy and empty and regretful all at the same time but i think i'm going through it myself too though i wouldn't call it happy per se more like free like i finally finished a quest i thought would never end the relief could practically move me to tears i [Music] hey are you crying the same can be said when chez chooses to ally with bileth arval is visibly confused and even disappointed at first arguing at the danger and silliness of attempting to cozy up to their mortal enemy who is responsible for plenty of deaths on their side but when chez straight up asks why bilas needs to die arvel can't actually come up with an answer they say because they care about them they think eventually of course arval warms up to the idea supports it and even re-establishes the meaning of partners and destiny into simply surpassing their new comrade in arms but throughout the campaign especially when biloth and chez are talking arval is depicted with ellipses points basically saying that they're uncomfortable or at the very least that something is up with them i personally think this is supposed to be foreshadowing to ep amenities hijacking chez's body in arvel's mind arval also realizes their role as chez's partner in destiny is less important and symbolic now that the two are friends so even without the foreshadowing of ep amenities arval still has some feelings to work through to say the least if nothing else i'll be a lot less busy as your partner in destiny going forward [Music] what a thing to imagine these confusing emotions arval feels reach its conclusion when shez fights and defeats epimenides in zaharas whereupon arval looks at chess one last time before vanishing forever why must you resist me so you know my reason but tomorrow we're fighting for it's incredible just how strong you've become our fall you have grown more than i ever thought possible and yet i've never felt more alone [Music] it might seem like a silly question at first but why or how does arvel feel these specific things emptiness loneliness anxiety happiness and so on the answer is a bit more interesting than because it's arval's personality arval is quite literally a backup of epimenides's soul and as such they kind of are amenities to an extent arval has extremely vague memories and inexplicable feelings that belong to him we see this with arval's inexplicable need to bring salvation to the world through shez arvald doesn't understand their own abilities and combat prowess but more explicitly they have incredibly vague memories almost like amnesia of people and things this is evident from their battle lines if they're deployed in new game plus at the record keeper when they say things like this i don't recall any fighting experience so how do i command such power what's this anguish i feel do i know you all to protect the cycle of the world for what it's worth even though these are only triggerable at the record keeper this amnesia-like feeling is present for arval there are parts of epimenides's memory that make up arvel's own it's interesting arval is their own person and has unique memories from their journey with shez that are exclusive to them arvel is the one who got to see chez mature and grow from a lost and wandering mercenary into a general with a purpose in life in fact this was so moving for arval that they get emotional at just how much chez has grown that's music to my ears it's incredible to see just how fast you've matured makes me proud to call you my partner in destiny is this what being a parent feels like [Music] uh yeah i guess anyway this war will be over soon so let's do what we've got to do to see it through together i'll be counting on you arvil bringing it back to when they defeat bileth the freedom arvel feels is theirs they may be free from their destiny but the sense of emptiness may come from the fact that this was never really arval's own motivation it was epimenides's goal to destroy sothis and the nebateans and now arval might be coming to grips with that in a very loose way since they don't know what they truly are they may feel a shared regret with shez that maybe there was another solution to bileth although this may also just be a nod to the alternative route of recruiting them if you ask me all of these inexplicable shared memories with ep amenities while living and existing as themselves means that arvel is living their own life with someone else's inhibitions so to speak and so when arvald dies upon taking back their body from the now slain ep amenities you can sort of understand where they are coming from they genuinely care for chez and genuinely sees them as a friend but arval is about to leave forever and now separate from them entirely for these fleeting moments they have nothing and no one left it's not that they no longer have their partner in destiny it's that they no longer have their closest friend who they looked out for for years and will pass away to whatever or wherever if anything is next for them entirely by themselves in my opinion it's a bittersweet ending i wonder what manner of beings they are [Music] that beats me and it's not like i can just go and ask them now honestly i kind of wish i talked to arval more now that i can't that's how these things work sadly when you're ready to talk the person you want to talk to is no longer there observing their relationship that arval and epmenties have with one another is also significant both when they're sharing screen time and when arval talks about him for the prior setting it's interesting to think about how epimenides views his creation a fleeting dream is the cut scene where the two interact we've already discussed how epimenides created arval but something worth digging into is how arvol sees epimenides and how they simply accept their fate i am to become you that's why i'm here that's why i've been compelled to remove any obstacle in your way only by destroying the abomination inside the ash and demon can we bring salvation to the world so you understand then return that body you two share to me it pains me to do this to you but alas all was written from the beginning the scene ends here and arval forfeits their remaining agency to epimenides altogether but it's a bit odd isn't it epimenides hijacked arvel's consciousness and their best friend's body to slay sothus and yet here arval is simply acknowledging their purpose in their existence without any hesitation at all it can make one wonder whether their quick concession without any objections was something the writers didn't think about but not assuming that it can be a reminder of what arval is they were created to serve a purpose and for the longest time they didn't know what it was besides that chez was a part of it in addition our fall is a fragment or fittingly to the name the larval unawakened state of amenities so perhaps the realization of their purpose being finally fulfilled and the answer of who am i was achieved and what stood next was serving that purpose as if their time with shez had finished and the next step to arvel's existence was to bring epimenides truly back to the world destroy the abomination inside the ashen demon sothis and save the world epimenides acknowledges that arval correctly understands the reason behind their existence but can sympathize with arval he knows he's about to effectively rob arval of what agency they had left but nonetheless it's something that they both agree must be done it was arval's destiny to bring ep amenities back to the world it's admittedly difficult to concede that after all of what arval and chez had gone through arvel just accepts their fate without hesitation epimenides had been completely hostile to sheds and their allies before the two beings even have this conversation it makes one wonder why arval views their purpose as basically a benefactor for someone else than protecting their partner and destiny and actual friend who saw them mature and grow forfeiting agency notwithstanding fortunately in my opinion there actually is more to it than that i did notice one thing what's that it was when we were fighting and you were being manipulated it seemed like arvel was trying to keep your body from getting hurt they could have fought more recklessly i don't see why it would have made a difference to them but they were making sure you weren't harmed [Music] come on that's not protecting me that's protecting the body they went through all that trouble to get maybe maybe not i guess arvol's the only one who knows the truth or as the ceres folks say only the goddess knows right but hey thanks for telling me that really it does make me feel better i've got no choice now but to keep moving forward live out the destiny the two of us once shared funny i came here to apologize but you ended up cheering me up instead catch you later okay only the goddess knows well the goddess may have been the one telling you that as seen in the bilas and chez a support sothis herself understands that during the fight between chez and bileth arval was trying to protect sheds from being hurt not out of a need of self-preservation for chez as the vessel to house epimenides in the real world but because they are friends so in the end perhaps protecting shez from being killed or severely injured was about the most they could have done in spite of accepting and fulfilling their own purpose and if arval's final fleeting moments are any indication they're happy that shaz will break free from zaharas mustering the last of their power into their sword giving them a chance to break free of the collapsing realm i would imagine the conclusion of arvel's character arc in the byleth recruited endings are the most contentious i suppose you could wait if dlc were to be announced for the game though personally i think there's a lot to consider usually when destiny or fate is a theme in fire emblem the heroes are the ones who challenge what is predetermined lucina and crom come to mind leon from sacred stones trying to stop his country from being destroyed by an earthquake i think it's something to think about for arval who subverts the expectation they finally come to understand their purpose and fulfill it maybe arval never had a choice but to allow their creator to overtake them what were they supposed to do anyway if you ask me it's nice to have solas in knowing that in their final moments the young traveling companion made one final act for their friend in the non-bileth recruitment endings the most the two learn about epimenides are through mycen and solon questioning how chez came to acquire his core and the paralog cycles of nostalgia in which both ches and arval experience a battle during the war of heroes through epimenides's perspective neither of the cutscenes do more but to put a face and a name as clues as to where shez's power comes from and what arval is with bileth remaining an enemy the mystery of their origins will remain unknown they still won't even know what partner and destiny will ever mean sheds will not know why they have their power and arval will never learn the truth of their existence but what is certain is that throughout the years of being together facing hardships such as losing close allies their partners no matter what happens to them it doesn't matter who they really are it's the actions they've done together and for one another that defines them now now that we've fought mycen again i think i get it in this power it's the same one they have you felt it too right the guy he mentioned before ep amenities he's me at least all signs point to that say do you detest me detest the fact that i share their power how could i after all you've done for me it doesn't matter who you are you'll always be my partner in destiny arville whatever the truth is about us i'm me and you're you nothing's ever gonna change that [Music] and what if you lose control and have to be slain by the very friends you hold dear we can cross that bridge when we come to it but if that's what they've got to do so be it [Music] until then i'm gonna keep doing everything i can to help i'll defeat that demon and protect my friends people and priorities change of course the two would want to learn more about their origins but they won't let the unknown define them and neither will they fear it whatever their destiny actually was as far as they're concerned it's up to them to forge their own this video gave a breakdown of the history of amenities and an explanation of who arval is and how they came to be i can personally see how some players could come across epimenides and zaharas and find this to be quite a random twist of events that end as abruptly as they start so hopefully this video not only made sense of it all but also gave context to appreciate those scenes a little better it's a pretty big wtf just happened moment so yeah with all this being said i am quite a fan of arval i do wish they or epp amenities had more time with bileth and or sothis as while i do appreciate the character i really hope we see arvel and sothis interact somehow it's a long shot but hopefully dlc at least attempts to do something about it i'm not holding my breath though you can't really tell with this company literally ever i suppose now the question is what happens next for chez there is a lot of room for background information behind how they were given arval's powers the game is teasing a possibility of dlc that resolves this much like how cindered shadows gave us information about citri who was bileth's mom maybe chezz's mom will be introduced in a similar way then again maybe not maybe this will never be answered at all thanks for watching deuces [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Faerghast

Views: 60,351

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Id: GfXlPMJ-GPE

Length: 27min 5sec (1625 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 11 2022

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[u/MEGANINJA21]

Yesss fr 😁