The Edelgard Documentary. (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

if you somehow needed more evidence that edelgard is the most polarizing main lord the series has ever seen in all of its 30 years observe my baby edelgard tea time tweet compared to my baby dimitri tweet the latter was showered with wholesome dimitri content whereas the former was pretty jam-packed with not the same amount of wholesomeness [Music] i recently got a comment saying that she's a fascist that thinks she's better than everyone unironically i honestly didn't think the vitriol was still that bad until i tweeted baby guard this isn't to throw shade on anyone i've just never seen this much divisiveness over a character before it's not hard to see why people dislike edelgard not only is her root actually possible to completely miss by not talking to her in chapter 11 in the monastery which switches you into playing silver snow and consequently showcasing edelgard as a villain she's a villain in verdant wind and the villain in azer moon edelgard was cast into the traditional fire emblem villain archetype a red emperor who instigates war on the continent and is only playable in one route that you can miss her opposite while having many demons of his own fits the traditional hero mold the blue lord who believes in peaceful reform the narrative contrast motifs and accessibility just makes it easier to root for dimitri over edelgard and if you've partaken in reddit threads or naga for bid twitter discussions maybe you've had not the greatest experience trying to carry on conversations about dimitri or adelgard without it not devolving into dunk fests or arguments about morality or something this video doesn't argue that one three house's lord is greater than another he doesn't argue that edelgard did nothing wrong like i did with the dimitri support science i want to examine from beginning to end who edelgard is how she became driven to fight so hard for her survival why she became the flame emperor why she betrayed her friends and how she succeeded in her goal the first section of this video goes in detail over her origins and provides context for her actions how her abuse as a child at the hands of her uncle and those who slither in the dark sparked her desire to reform and avenge the crimes done to her and her family the second section discusses her time in the academy as both the idealistic and kind-hearted young eric the throne and the cold and pragmatic flame emperor how does it guard balance between fighting for what she believes in yet fighting with her sworn enemies at the same time then it critically analyzes edelgard and her support conversations exploring how she is multifaceted introspective and well pretty chill the third section as you may expect discusses adelgard's characterization in crimson flower and spotlights her relationship with dimitri connection with rhea and last provides a critique on crimson flower and how it could further improve her character the next section deeply explores her relationship with bilith and discusses how the professor serves as a foil for her the edelgard we see in her supports is nuanced she's a strong woman who shoulders the pain of her tragic past which drives her to create a better future for everyone she is both cold and compassionate self-centered and empathetic unrelenting yet stops to think about what she's doing in addition to this it will remove edelgard from the hands of the player and explore her characterization as a villain as a former ally and student into the opposing emperor in silver snow and from merely a pier to bileth into the hegemon husk in azer moon edelgard is a morally ambiguous character and this support science aims to understand why as well as observe her excellent highs lows and everything else in between origins of a dream part one the crests what are crests where do they come from why does the nobility care about them so much and why does edelgard want to abolish the system altogether by answering these questions we can understand how this system doesn't just impact edelgard herself but the others in the academy and consequently how adelgard's anger is justifiable crests are understood by fodlin to be blessings from the goddess sothis according to the book of seros part 2 so this blessed certain humans the 10 elites to defend fodolin and ward off evil forces coming from the north sothis granted these heroes her power and gave them divine weapons to defeat this force after the battle the power coursing through the elites from the goddess led them to live extremely long lives their bloodlines which would be referred to as crests and their weapons which would be referred to as heroes relics would be passed down generations to come however their descendants sought quantities of this power for themselves and book two ends with this text in time they amassed crests relics land and wealth using all to set the land aflame with war the goddess's power intended to stem the flow of evil became a tool of destruction all because of the greed of humanity the goddess grieved and heartbroken hid herself in the heavens from whence she came it should be noted that the shadow library has an alternate telling of the history of the world which will be brought up later in the video the contention of nobility vying for power through crest inheritance starts here even from before the audrestian empire was established blood feuds were becoming increasingly common fast forward to the current day and we still see the nobility abusing others and marrying individuals with holy blood in hopes to produce an offspring which would grant them higher social status there are several students besides edelgard who are victims of cruel power grabs from nobles no offspring of a parent with a crest is guaranteed to have a crest themselves miklon is the older brother to sylvain but sylvain bears the goche crest and was seen as the golden boy who would be destined to protect his territory from the srang region while miklon was neglected handman's family had a prevalent crest inheritance record except for his own sister but a noble in need of power believed that she could breed a child with the crest anyway because of her siblings and parents she was already suffering from a heart condition and the mistreatment of her failing to bear a child with the crest is what really killed her early according to hannemann mercedes uriza dorothea and ingrid have also been negatively impacted countless lives were ruined because of the obsession to attach wealth fame and status to crests that being said there is no other clearer story of abuse at the hands of nobles than edelgard herself origins of a dream part 2 blackened heart in 1171 duke iyer along with six other high-ranking nobles formed the coup to strip ionias of his power and it worked but in the same year arendelle fled to the kingdom and took edelgard with her apparently this was still normal arendelle before talos took over in 1174 arendelle stopped donating to the church and returned to the empire this is generally understood to be the point where talus killed the real arendelle and took his identity talus posing as arendelle the returned noble teamed up once again with the insurrectionists and abducted ioniza's kids then locked them beneath the castle so those who slither in the dark could try to create the ultimate weapon to combat the church and bring down seros the experimentation went like this take the children who already had saros blood and try to blood transfuse the crest of flames it is assumed that the agarthans would want to create a being that could possess both the blood of seros and the crest of flames in order to be able to wield the strongest weapons to combat reia just like in the war of heroes edelgard was the sole survivor and consequently the only kid who gained the crest of flames not only that she has the major meaning she has the full potential to overthrow the church driven by the fierce and unstoppable motivation to prevent what happened to her from ever happening to anyone edelgard with the advice from hubert dons the mask of the flame emperor and finds allies in her captors her vows are clear destroy the church the entity responsible for this crest system to exist in the first place destroy the nobility as spodlin knows it and rebuild it into a system where crests are irrelevant so that station is earned through hard work and determination rather than a lucky straw that can be grasped eventually at the expense of innocent lives and finally destroy talis and those who slither in the dark the organization responsible for countless crimes against humanity and even her own torture so that they may never hurt anyone or cause another tragedy like duskers or later remire ever again origins of a dream part 3 rise of the flame emperor for the sake of brevity i'm going to refer to those who slither in the dark as simply the agarthins edelgard joins the officers academy in 1180 with the intention to collaborate with the agarthans until they are ready to declare war on the church of seros edelgard's main purpose to be at the monastery is to be able to investigate and keep an eye on what's going on from the inside she can get a feel for the defenses as well as evaluate the potential of her classmates dmitry and claude especially and currently without the means to accomplish her goals on her own she dons the mask as the flame emperor allying herself with her powerful uncle lord arendelle as well as maneuvering behind the scenes with other powerful nobles in the empire kaspar and linhart's fathers to gain control of the empire's military the flame emperor arc comes to a close when she raids the holy tomb and steals its crest stones the hearts of the nabataeans who are at rest this is done for the empire's benefit edelgard wants to harness the power of the stones to create demonic beasts and potentially have the agarthins use them for research purposes the raid of the tomb and the subsequent attack on the church leading to the war phase were the final of the calculated moves for both the empire and the agarthans to declare war at a time where they could afford to do so edelgard is now the emperor she banishes duke iyer makes use of her agreements with the minister of military and foreign affairs respectively and has talis's forces alongside her still the time for espionage and information gathering has ended and the emperor now rises everything edelgard does is calculated and most of the conflicts that occur in white clouds are those she's had a hand in despite her and hubert playing the full in most of the instances in order to hide her true identity as the flame emperor the focus of this section is going to be a dissection of her exploits and service to her ultimate goal of declaring war on the church of seros the flame emperor works alongside the main antagonists of the game while also actively working to undermine their plans behind the scenes i want to focus on edelgard's relationship with the ugarthans what she does to help them and what she does to oppose them in the crimson flower root of white clouds and in doing so discuss what we can make of edelgard's mindset as she manages multiple relationships tallis empire nobilities her classmates professors and the church given that we now understand how arendelle rose to power and how the empire as it is currently is powerless to stop the insurrectionists from basically doing whatever they want it is easy to assume that edelgard herself is being forced to work under tallis but to what extent isn't ever stated not to jump too far ahead but as we see in the cutscene between bileth and hubert in chapter 14 he explains why edelgard is currently working alongside talus and why bileth should do the same for now i assume you recall a certain group scheming from five years ago solon and cronya they both served lord arendelle [Music] professor i understand how you must be feeling considering what they did to your father i know it must be foul to even consider cooperating with their kind however their power is essential for us at present edelgard also strongly opposed the idea at first our enemy is the church of sarros itself it cannot be toppled with the empire's might alone until all of fodland is united it is a necessary evil you should know that in her heart her majesty regards that group as enemies of herself and her family they used her father the former emperor as a puppet and murdered her siblings with their vile experimentation i believe her majesty may have told you some of this herself that is why this was a very painful decision for her to make at first glance this could be interpreted as edelgard opposing the entire idea of working with talus but choosing to go with it after some convincing by hubert all the way back when she was the princess but it's not like edelgard as a weapon created by talus from experimentation would have enough agency or manpower backing her up to openly oppose him that their interests line up to annihilate the church to begin with and the fact that nothing about edelgard's early years or origins leading up to her becoming the flame emperor is mentioned it's difficult to say what could have happened if edelgard pursued her goals but refused the agarthan's help it's hard to say that edelgard was coerced to fulfill requests with talis since their interests already aligned then again she faces zero consequences for her actions that directly meddle with tolus's plans like killing solon or pulling the death knight out of battle to rescue flame who at this point is serving arendelle's mission to extract flane's blood out of battle to rescue her so you can't definitively say that talis had a gun to her head the entire time but what is clear is that over her time in garrick mock as she gains more power herself through her friends and bileth it becomes easier for her to oppose her uncle's plans opposing the church and revolutionizing fodlin will make her enemies with the alliance and the kingdom even if she could freely oppose them without issue not cooperating with talus would severely limit edelgard's strength especially in the academy phase they form a partnership because their interests align they view one another as assets that will be disposed of eventually but outside of this tenuous relationship edelgard also works behind the scenes with empire nobility the most important nobles in the empire are known for taking power from the previous emperor my father included i didn't think it possible that the imperial princess could ascend the throne so easily however it seems that both my father and kaspars are supporting edelgard having both the minister of domestic affairs and minister of military affairs on your side gives you total control over the empire's military and finances he must have been making preparations for quite some time without anyone noticing edelgard doesn't just rely on the agarthans to increase her odds getting the help of linhards and kaspar's fathers getting the empire's military and finances in her control ready to be of use the moment she becomes the emperor with something being done under everyone's noses leading up to her ascension though she works closely with her uncle as the flame emperor she needs to cooperate but she is also doing as much damage control as she can in the remire chapter edelgard makes it very clear that she condemns talis and even though she can't kill him she can foil his plans that put her and bilath's allies in danger as well as innocent bystanders the business partnership between edelgard and talis is very contentious they must use each other but talus views edelgard as an asset for his ambitions where edelgard views tallas as despicable but an important piece to her own goals i am always happy to cooperate with solon leave it to me how annoying flame emperor is she offending you unfortunately we cannot take our eyes off her so there is nothing to be done you are our greatest creation we use the defiled beast's blood as the fuel to your flame that you may burn even the gods now is the time to cleanse foldling with that power and bring forth our salvation there will be no salvation for you and your kind those responsible for such gruesome deeds in dusker and nmr all so that you may acquire the strength you need all for a purpose edelgard intercepts their joint operation to investigate the holy tomb and ultimately place a key in the sword of the creator not falling into his hands edelgard thwarts tallis's plans to kidnap flame by calling off the death knight to keep flain and her classmates alive she tells bileth and gerald that had she known about ramire she would have prevented it she personally confronts solon masked off in remire and in the sealed forest is out for blood against solon and cronia when possible edelgard will minimize oppose and outright foil tolus's schemes while talus may view edelgard as an asset to his own ambition adelgard has her own agency and does what she is capable of without dissolving their alliance now full disclosure there are numerous plot issues with this entire arc with the involvement of talus and the flame emperor but they aren't relevant to this section but i will get to them later on trust me all of these moments between the flame emperor and the agarthins follow a similar pattern go along with talus but protect her allies without anyone else knowing what she's up to because the flame emperor cannot confront talus directly with her own forces or tell her classmates or the professor at the truth she enables the agarthins and bears some guilt by association in order to increase the odds of her ultimate victory the sad reality and a source for the moral ambiguity surrounding edelgard is that her dreams have a price in blood i see that i won't speak of such things again if it's really what you want i'll gladly keep you by my side the path i must walk is soaked in blood it's a path that can lead to madness can snatch away one's future and can even take one's life and the pool of blood at my feet is growing larger those stains can never be washed clean monica's surveillance over crest experimentation on innocent students is something that edelgard must have had a hand in she is the only one who knew that solon was posing as tomas until the rest of them found out the death knight the man who almost killed manuela is her accomplice she is blindsided by geralt's murder like everyone else but were not for her and quote unquote monica's partnership the circumstances around the murder would not have happened were it not for edelgard's interventions against her uncle there's no telling how much more blood could be spilled on the other hand she is an accomplice of talus and is partially morally culpable of the crimes that those who slither in the dark commit but she weighs the value of the alliance to be worth more than the damage they do the red rose support analysis the above section described adelgard's moves as the flame emperor moves to declare war on the church and to maintain multiple partnerships and friendships it's meant to convey that she is indeed investigating and pulling things behind the scenes but that is not to say that she didn't genuinely enjoy her time at the academy and learning under bileth under the face of this pragmatic at times cold and calculating and morally ambiguous young lady lies someone who desires emotional fulfillment a yearning for simpler times and holds a profound self-awareness of her own ambitions in this section i will go back to the beginning and speak of moments where she is characterized in this way from moments in white clouds as well as her support chains in order to illustrate adelgard's nuance as a main character as well as begin to unravel how complicated she really is i believe that this is the first time we have met my name is larislava i have the great honor of leading lady adelgard's personal guard her majesty is as hard on others as she is on herself she may seem composed but that is only because she conceals her more passionate emotions for that reason she is often misunderstood but now she has you by her side i find that most reassuring i look forward to working with you this statement from our painfully unexplored wyvern dame in chapter 11 is an accurate read of the now christened emperor when edelgard is not assuming the duties as emperor or when she isn't spending her time doing activities relating to revolutionizing fodlin is a nostalgic young woman with pretty normal life goals a young woman who while immensely courageous and confident in her ideals to the point of her naysayers calling her pompous or self-righteous is in fact incredibly self-aware and self-evaluating despite her lofty ambitions to revolutionize the world and to stand against the prevailing political and social system of crests she is an immensely grounded character she is keenly aware that what she's doing will draw ire and hatred against her no matter if she fails or succeeds this is seen with her dorothea support the nobility system has only been around for 1200 years the concept didn't exist before that only 1200 years huh you always say such preposterous and extraordinary things eddie yet somehow you actually make it work for you it's like you're a character from an opera a character from an opera if an opera is made about my life someday i wonder how i'll be portrayed the emperor who brought everlasting peace to foldlin or the tyrant who shed the blood of her people whether it's school phase or not there are four different statements that edelgert herself admits to she may be remembered as a revolutionary that brought foldling to a new future or as an emperor that brought everlasting peace to fodling or the opposite which can really apply whether she succeeds or fails a foolish ruler who took a revolution too far or a tyrant who shed the blood of her people this isn't to say that edelgard herself believes she is a tyrant she obviously believes in her own cause and wouldn't call herself a tyrant or a foolish ruler but she understands that she is going to breed resentment and hatred against her and if she fails it makes things worse history will remember her as those things and even if she wins some parts of fodlin will remember her as such despite those deeming her as tyrannical the edelgard we see is actually surprisingly forgiving edelgard would at least entertain the idea of reyes surrender in the time skip during the lectures edelgard can ask this question i know this is highly unlikely but on the off chance that reyes surrenders to my terms what should i do and the correct answer is strip her of her power so she can't interfere in politics also to note is that edelgard ponders the enemy's surrender often questioning the point of the enemy fighting a losing battle only to surrender in the end anyway perhaps it's because of bileth's presence and the unique circumstances of crimson flower war phase but if she can avoid enemy casualties she'll give them the chance to surrender as seen when judith is defeated and while optional claude can also be spared dimitri is a whole other story but we'll get to that later but it's complicated isn't it edelgard does not want needless bloodshed from her enemies but at the same time edelgard often reflects that her path is one of bloodshed as mentioned previously with her support with hubert on one hand edelgard openly admits to bileth that she will be the type of ruler that will risk the lives of her citizens and soldiers in service to a higher cause and that it's not possible to change the world without sacrifice on the other she knows that such willingness can draw ire not only is edelgard self-aware that people will hate her for what she's doing but she's also not naive enough to think that her ideal world will happen overnight once reya keels over demolishing the church is only one step in a decades-long reform that will likely continue to develop even after edelgard retires from being the emperor her support with constance revolves around her hope that edelgard as emperor will restore house nouvelle and while edelgard does swear this constance is still concerned over the implications of her goal to abolish the nobility forgive me your majesty but you promised that house nouvelle would be restored yet you work toward a future with no place for the noble houses of old granted in your unified fodland the acting lord for each territory will come from noble stock but in the long term your system will replace the nobility our role will change significantly that's exactly right there will no longer be lords who inherently rule over a particular territory instead nobles will act as government officials working for the people in exchange for a salary officials will be selected from the general populace as well bringing an end to the very concept of social standing edelgard knows that her ultimate goal of destroying the nobility won't just happen when she unifies fodolin the end goal will take years or even decades for it to come to fruition even more she may not live long enough to even see her perfect world start coming into being due to her lifespan being drastically cut short because of her experimentation which is yet another layer of heroic selflessness displayed by her despite re-centralizing the power upon herself when she becomes the emperor she doesn't plan to keep it hoarded all to herself after the war as emperor she will of course have a lot of power and reach through fodolin but for her future lifetime and for when she passes the torch to another emperor and for generations to come the concept of nobility the concept of having land holding rights by simply having a crest will be more and more worthless until it is meaningless a parody in social standing between crest bearers and common folk will eventually come down to a meritocracy ferdinand for all of his flaws and obsession with surpassing edelgard does bring up constructive feedback over adelgard's new world i have something i would like to say to you too certainly we must recognize the common folk who strive for greatness and attain it but for those of us born into nobility things are more complicated from birth nobles must excel if we do not we will be forced out of our houses this environment breeds superior individuals and they in turn recreate the rigorous environment for their own children without that cycle there would be no political elite guiding the world towards prosperity so you're saying that the kind of world i'm striving to create is wrong i would not go so far as to say your way is wrong just that another way might be better if you insist upon undoing the nobility then we must build something in its place we can provide free education for all and then select the highest performing students for more intensive training and tutoring i truly believe that people are products of their environment finding a way to educate the people interesting essentially proposing public schooling and ap courses for advanced students this is an idea that edelgard is totally on board with and appreciates ferdinand challenging her world view edelgard isn't so full of hot air that she genuinely believes her ideal world is perfect there's a lot to be done upon her victory she can't run the show by herself and she will need people like ferdinand and his good ideas to help her create a society that unlocks human potential to its fullest crest or not noble or commoner she wants everyone to have a chance in her world despite her pragmatism and willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve her aim she is kind and caring at heart she has so much empathy for her allies to the point of having a savior complex a desire to fix or save people from their problems for example she tells casper that he's a victim of fodling's antiquated system of nobility and she doesn't let up in prodding lysitthia until she tells her the truth about her crests i lost all pigment after receiving my two crests idle guard i want a world where people like you and i are no longer victimized i want you to bring that world into being if it's within me to help that come to pass then i'll do whatever it takes understood i promise to do all i can to see this goal to fruition and i want you to promise something in return that you will never stop fighting for your life whatever terrible fate awaits us we can fight it and prevail if edelgard were to hear still veins or mercedes story i'm sure she would take their burdens as her own but besides the ambition to rid the world of the system and hearing the stories of her allies and vowing to help them in whichever way she can she's not just passively listening to her peers and wants to act on their behalf edelgard wants to help her allies reach their potential in an attempt to figure out why edelgard is so powerful bernadetta follows her around hoping to learn something about her but ended up getting intimidated by her in the process [Music] you are fearless i look up to you as an example to follow and that explains it how i decided to watch you from a distance to learn from you but your presence is um intimidating edelgard makes her more comfortable around her by proving that she is not as infallible and perfect and scary as she initially seems by admitting to her own fears eventually their bond culminates in them getting to know each other more and edelgard telling her that she's learned to be more patient from their time spent with one another she ends up finding a way to crack through bernadette's neurotic fearfulness and tendency to assume the worst about herself and others perception of her by opening up and talking about things that help bernie realize that she isn't this infallible frightening emperor she reveals her inability to swim and eventually finds common ground in gardening she also encourages petra and lycithia in similar ways she wants to see others reach their potential and she will even sometimes go above and beyond to see them get there her heart is in the right place though in the cases with linhart and kaspar her help is sometimes more imposing than aiding linhart is a very self-centered and self-motivated guy he wants to be left alone to do his own work most of the time and has an effort problem but beneath all of that is a super genius with a strong passion for crest research but she's frustrated that he's squandering his potential she has faith in his passion for christology but his refusal to actually do anything positive with his findings causes a schism in their friendship so after much thought and a mouthful of sick burns from linhart calling her essentially a helicopter mom she comes up with a perfect plan to create a lead research position for a christology and relic institution within the empire with unlimited breaks and time with the big caveat being that this person must give up land holding rights to be 100 dedicated to the job in other words a perfect position for linhart even the unlimited time off is a rather discourteous perk to offer no one would accept room board and endless time to research no one but me why must you why must i what why must you understand me so well i asked you to consider the feelings of those below you i never expected you to consider mine to this extent i told you i'd figure out a way to make use of your talents that you'd find acceptable her thoughtfulness empathy and self-awareness reaches new levels in her supports with her other professors handman and manuela first of all it's really refreshing to see edelgard not having to play the part of babysitter when she's engaging with her professors handman and manuela are characters with long established backstories and reasons to do what they do handman goes hard on christology with the end goal to create a world where anyone can be given a crest not only to dwindle the relevance of nobility through science but also to honor his late sister who is a victim to pholine's crest system and corrupt nobility here edelgard is concerned that her goals will conflict with his own but he clarifies on his stance perhaps the fate of the nobility is of no consequence to you but what about that of crests you've devoted your life to unraveling their secrets whereas i seek to create a world where crests are no longer valued in fact i would prefer to rid the world of them entirely if at all possible does this not concern you i see uh i think i finally understand why you've always seemed so unsure about me you imagine your ambition might crush my dreams i assure you there is nothing to worry about i support your plans and your ideals wholeheartedly but at the same time i also believe that the influence of crests will not be so easily quelled a world in which anyone can bear a crest that's not so different from a world with no crests at all quite right and that is why i have chosen to fight by your side i cannot say what lies in your past yet i have seen your ideals and witnessed the power of your two crests i feel certain that you too are a victim of this world just like my dear sister crests will still exist after edelgard wins and topples the nobility crests still have their use in fields outside of nobility and like he says their influence will not be so easily quelled adi's concern with manuela is more spiritual though where she is worried over handman's ambitions being tossed aside she worries that she'll trample over everything her friend and associate manuela religiously believes in edelgard grew up with resentment towards the goddess that resentment drive to topple the status quo and to rely only on herself to accomplish these monumental goals gave her a negative bias on those who worship the goddess as well she doesn't hate the followers of saros but she misunderstands the concept of relying on the goddess for strength when manuela tells her that she relies on the goddess spiritually and emotionally but the rest is up to her edelgard is confused but she keeps an open mind and asks manuela to explain did i say that i suppose so from joining the middle frank opera company to becoming a diva of the grand stage i went through so much to achieve what i did looking back i don't know how i made it what happened during that time a lot my divinely gifted voice only got me to the edge of the stage from there i had to work hard to defeat my rivals i did all of this by myself through sheer force of will all so i could stand center stage ah i see i was wrong about something i thought that being a devout believer implied a certain weakness of spirit and inability to survive on your own but you've proven me wrong professor manuela honestly this is a significant moment of characterization for adelgard going your whole life having only yourself to give you strength but also going your whole life resenting the goddess that manuela and the others rely on could naturally cause someone to think negatively of someone who is faithful edelgard isn't contemptuous though she respects manuela very much and doesn't throw her faith to the side because she relies on the goddess in certain aspects it's also relatable people who are ultra independent might hold a bias against those who aren't she reflects on manuela's take very much and in her a support becomes more critical behind the implications of her own church-crushing ambitions still i find it extremely difficult to step back and accept the good overlooking all the rest for the world to start anew it's necessary for the nobility system and the church of saros to both be completely crushed perhaps i suppose that might be the only way for you to achieve your goals i believe so but then i think about people like you who are devoted to the goddess people who are unlike the others who are willing to fight for themselves rather than leaving everything in the hands of a higher power when i achieve my aim i'll be crushing there crushing your emotional and spiritual support yet despite all that you're still here still supporting me don't worry yourself about that edelgard people are always weaker than you think but never as weak as you expect the goddess is our silent foundation she watches over our every step but never gets directly involved you on the other hand want to support us with your own flesh and blood to push us forward toward a better future we often see edelgard reflect on the ramifications of her actions but this is an instance where she compares what she wants with the needs of her friends naturally manuela will support her and justifies adelgard's crushing of the church of ceros with her explanation that the goddess isn't an active guardian but more so a watchful eye that they can confide in whereas edelgard assumes a different role to be a real physical presence pushing her followers and peers to be better by her being her own example and helping them directly edelgard is flustered by manuela's words even though she's kind of right she is everyone's worst enemy but to her allies edelgard has become a symbol for freedom strength and change manuela and hannemann are a foil for edelgard for her to reflect on the effect that destroying the church will have on those she cares for to reflect on what she means to her friends and to reflect on her own biases and learn from them to become a better person and behind the veneer of her imperial crown and the ubermensch persona is a young woman wishing to experience more peaceful and simple things in life love relaxation and well fun this particular side of edelgard contrasts the cold pragmatic persona that she usually has to maintain have you ever felt a sort of longing for the outdoors i have there are times i long for the warmth of the sun for a sweet breeze on my face do you remember what i told you the other night about my past none of my siblings had a chance to lead the sort of life they deserved an ordinary life i'm so sick of it all there is so much to be done yet all i encounter are new problems and pitfalls sometimes i wish i could spend just one day doing absolutely nothing and gorging myself on sweets in comparison to the difficult life adelgard has the things we would take for granted would be gifts to her her life was stolen from her the years where she may be otherwise a retired old woman snatched away from her from her experimentation and she finds herself imagining what the lives of others would be like were not for her in these moments she's also just charming it doesn't come up very often but it's enough to establish that edelgard isn't a one-note humorless character your majesty you must know your supreme talents are needed at present why not gaze at these documents instead of the sky [Music] doesn't it and the worst part is that he's always right so i can't even argue with him but that's enough about hubert for the moment and like most humans she seeks companionship and emotional fulfillment while it's not a high priority for her current goals it is something she thinks about i will tell you as much as i am able from the assassins i've eliminated to the gold i've spent on bribes to the identity of the one i love wait a moment are you saying you have romantic feelings for someone yes that is the one secret i had particularly hoped to keep from you well that's utter nonsense you can't possibly keep something so fascinating from me who is it i guess romance isn't really something you're interested in anyway i'm not completely disinterested oh yeah is there someone you have your eye on hmm to be honest there's nothing resembling romance in my life at present it's not that i'm disinterested i'm simply too busy with other endeavors i have no time to spare for such things that's not surprising you're not just any old noble after all anyone who has feelings for you well they're in for a pretty complicated life true and i can't ignore the possibility that i may have to marry for political purposes i doubt i'll ever have the opportunity for a passionate romance as long as i live of course edelgard must prioritize her empire winning the current war and so forth but these fleeting moments of self-indulgence or at least the wish to self-indulge appeal to the human condition who doesn't take the piss on their colleagues every once in a while they serve as reminders that edelgard isn't just the emperor a main character a leader and so on she's a human being with unsurprisingly relatable needs and desires in general her supports all benefit edelgard's character ferdinand dorothea manuela handman and constance rightfully address edelgard's deeper concerns and future plans of her war path and her new world which is something seriously glossed over in her campaign linhard kaspar and bernadetta characterize her as someone who genuinely wants to lift her allies up and will sometimes go above and beyond to do so even if she ends up looking overbearing and somewhat self-centered doing it and there are also moments in her support conversations that remind us that this seemingly infallible and relentless emperor can have annoying days at work or just a simple desire for the hot goss about who likes who the edelgard we see in her supports is pretty nuanced and not only because she's a massive disrupter in foedland edelgard is a leader who supports people earning their place in the world free from arbitrary restrictions like the circumstances of their birth and needing spirituality as an emotional crutch she does genuinely want what's best for others and to understand the perspectives of her allies she's a super humanly mentally strong woman who shoulders the pain of her tragic past which drives her to create a better world and future for everyone we learn why she pushes so hard what it's all for and how realistic that goal is crimson flower part one dimitri it is no doubt a difficult undertaking to make edelgard a protagonist we'd want to support unless you've played crimson flower first for better or worse worse in my opinion three houses writing implemented biased storytelling say you play as or moon first you cling on to dimitri's fire emblem x hamlet story you see edelgard as purely the red lady who needs to be defeated say you play crimson flower first your perception of dimitri will probably end up being similar to how edelgard herself sees him a guy who wants edelgard's head for something she didn't do these initial perspectives can color gameplay experience and subsequent playthroughs for example easily the most contentious scene for dimitri fans is the king of delusion's cutscene in crimson flower you might come off your azermune playthrough and see how dimitri is killed deem it unceremonious and literally drop the entire game but may forget that edelgard lost her connection to dimitri a long time ago because of her trauma at the same token initial crimson flower players might go into azer moon on their second playthrough and may scoff at the entire plot point that demiju's entire quest for vengeance is based on a ridiculous belief that a 14 year old girl could literally wipe his entire family in the biggest mass murder short of literally a war but may miss on the differences between dimitri in either root we take these biases in our own discourse and when there's an interpretation of a scene that is different from our own sometimes these otherwise harmless opinions erupt into heated toxic debates it's not pleasant for anybody spirited debate is one thing but unless it's done in good faith disagreements can get blown out of proportion three houses stretched itself incredibly thin with four roots four main characters four ish prime antagonists depending on the route an immense amount of vague details behind background events that ask the player to invest themselves in these stories to pick up on them and an affinity for intentionally spreading misinformation about its own story to add mystery you are asking a lot of fans to keep up with it all and not all fans including myself can keep up sometimes being aware of our own biases is a more difficult task than one might think and nowhere is it more prevailing of a discourse issue than with adelgard and dimitri conviction is a huge theme in crimson flower edelgard knows what she has done she started this war she knows how she will be looked at because of this war and there's no turning back anymore whatever happens to her from the point of declaring war against the church it's on her when randolph dies in front of her edelgard once again reflects on the sacrifices made in her name and cause it's not strictly a new development for her but it reminds us that she isn't indifferent to the suffering her war brings when she is forced to kill dimitri and he utters l the nickname reserved for previously only her sisters upon his death her previously blocked out memories of who dmitry was to her comes flooding back in no the edelgard who shed tears died many years ago everything that's happened it's all just part of the ebb and flow of history the tragedy of dusker our days at the academy father's death and the five years you were gone [Music] edelgard has to once again reflect on the lives lost in her war edelgard burdens herself even more than before stealing her emotions not allowing herself to be distracted by regret in order to finish what she started it's one of the strongest moments of characterization she has and reinforces both the theme of conviction and even her dependence on bileth the preceding canonical scene though the king of delusion scene which sees edelgard amor dimitri into the afterlife can draw all kinds of understandable reactions edelgard you i will kill you you will know the regret of my father who was killed for you of my stepmother who was slain by your own daughter you will bow your head before all of the lives you trampled for your ideals before you die in misery your obsession with me is appalling if you were a normal human you would most certainly have died already farewell king of delusion if only we were born in a time of peace you might have lived a joyful life as a benevolent mover [Music] to the fires of eternity with you the circumstances of his discovery of adelgard's quote-unquote involvement in the tragedy are indicated to be the same in crimson flower in azer moon he stumbles upon the flame emperor saying dusker in front of talus then the enemy group catches on to someone eavesdropping and the flame emperor throws a dagger into the bushes the flame emperor is unmasked and dimitri then treats edelgard as responsible for the tragedy it's a huge leap of an assumption but then five years later he's on an unhinged rampage in crimson flower he's still spying on the group but because he isn't speaking to bileth they simply aren't caught this is indicated in non-crimson flower roots after the flame emperor is unmasked and dimitri is still vowing revenge the thirst for revenge that imprisoned him was the result of my uncle's strategy he believed that i was the cause of everything and he lost sight of his path as king there was nothing i could do to save him and so this line completely re-contextualizes our understanding of the tragedy of dusker this is what's meant when she wants to free him from the past he clings to before the battle as well do we get to know the specifics of the deception by uncle arendelle in some ways yes dimitri's survival at the tragedy of dusker was intentional there's no reason he of all people during the tragedy wouldn't also be killed in the academy dimitri admits to bailout that he's in garrick mock to find clues and investigate who was responsible for the tragedy and in multiple instances he expresses suspicion that arendelle was responsible arendelle's donations to the church his pointed question towards him when they meet and their eventual confrontation in deer drew make the point that dimitri's prime suspect was arendelle but as we know dimitri heard adelgard say dusker and then talus say it was all done for her this caused dimitri to lose sight of his investigation from gathering evidence against arendelle to pinning the blame on adelgard because he took those words made a huge logical leap and then the voices took over the original plan the uncle's strategy apparently was so dimitri would eventually find out that it was arendelle himself who was responsible but not even arendelle expected that his blame of edelgard would happen and so arendelle making the best of a situation played into the delusion he didn't change course and tried to create breadcrumbs for dimitri to refocus the tragedy on him why because arendelle was banking on demetrius to instigate a war himself to begin with and how was dimitri crown prince or king of fargus going to gain vengeance against the regent of the empire edelgard was always going to be demetri's enemy that is what arendelle banked on he had always intended to pin them in conflict and cause war to break out in fodlin and be there to pick up the pieces for the agarthans to rule over afterwards that's why he insisted for demetri to keep trying to kill adelgard when he died it was his last chance at exploiting the hatred he had for her and why he didn't tell dimitri anything about his involvement upon his death dimitri pinning blame on edelgard for the tragedy was a wrench in his plans it was supposed to be arendelle but a war is a war and he went with it in crimson flower edelgard somehow knows that arendelle was banking on dmitry's hatred to instigate conflict against him and to involve all of fodlin it's really vague but it seems like edelgard at least knows dmitry's hatred and blame for her for the tragedy is misplaced but is unable to figure out how dimitri is pointing the blame at her when dimitri first appears in crimson flower he seems much more stable than how worse he can be he doesn't wear an eye patch doesn't have bags under his eyes and his cadence is one reflective of a stable and functional person it leaves the impression that this dimitri is a mirror to his redemption arc dmitry in azermune but it's more accurate to say that dimitri is more like the prince we see in the academy phase than anyone else he enrolled at the academy for the specific purpose of investigating who was responsible for the tragedy in order to enact his revenge he concealed his true desires and suppressed the beast within on the surface dimitri presented himself as a nice chivalrous man but hidden beneath is another dimitri who seeks vengeance crimson flower dimitri is the same man but instead of finding the target for his revenge he has one edelgard like i mentioned in my dimitri support science it wasn't the identity of the flame emperor that drove him to madness to become the revenge crazed vagrant it was what happened afterwards he was set up by cornelia as rufus's killer he was to be executed and escaped with the help of his best friend to do who he believed was killed in the process he doesn't have his second father rodrigue nor his advisor gilbert nor his professor dimitri was left with nothing but the voices urging him for adelgard's head in crimson flower he has those networks still rodrigue gilbert and dadoo are supporting him and now he has the church of support as well they helped keep him from totally losing his grip on himself but the beast seeking vengeance was still there just like before but this dimitri does things that his best self wouldn't do dimitri attempts to deceive rhea when they planned their attack he claims that he will deploy his army on the fields and gives the knights of sarros the opportunity for a flank but later dimitri hopes that the empire would attack reya first the reign hindered the night's advance and dimitri ended up in the very position he claimed to be with reya anyway so why would dimitri lie to rhea the arc bishop i can only assume that he wanted the knights targeted first so his own army could have the upper hand with a softened up empire army it was a move done in self-interest one that the other king dimitri wouldn't approve of hubert and edelgard sort of bring this up in their commentary on dimitri not engaging in a quote-unquote fair fight which is a silly assertion to make they are at war laying everything on the line and came up with a strategy but that was dimitri's behavior before the battle what about during it dimitri himself values the lives of his comrades and his battle quotes are reflective of a stable person even when he's fighting edelgard herself the tragedy of dusker and his desire for revenge are sidelined when he's by himself though the tone of his voice is notably more vengeful pointing to what he wants out of this fight he only gets aggressive after all of his friends are dead and he lays bleeding on the ground right before the person who brought on all this bloodshed on his country and friends executes him he's not as her moon levels of insane but he still holds on to the belief that edelgard was the cause of his past and he starts going on and on about edelgard's involvement in the tragedy blaming her for the killing because edelgard already sympathizes with him before the battle it means she's aware of arendelle's plans against dmitry to pin the blame on himself this means that edelgard recognizes dimitri as a fellow victim of talus and those who slither in the dark just like her but dimitri isn't pinning the blame on arendelle it's on edelgard and it's clear she doesn't know why or where this is coming from it seems like the narrative intent of this scene is to draw parallel to azer moon where dimitri reaches out his hand to edelgard as she's on her knees defeated but she pushes through in her convictions and tosses the dagger in his shoulder to get him to kill her in this scene the rules are reversed dimitri doesn't give up on his beliefs over adelgard's responsibility for the tragedy he insists on killing her and she doesn't have the choice but to finish the job no doubt about it the tone of edelgard's voice is a little ambiguous though and in the first line when she calls his obsession appalling she has a sad portrait is she pitying him is she mocking him is it disgust personally i don't think there is a right interpretation maybe these are our biases playing their part but let's entertain some possibilities anyway if she barely knows him but she recognizes his victimhood and that it's essentially also from those who slither in the dark and wants to free him from his past why be so disgusted by his words well perhaps it's simply just a spur-of-the-moment thing they're caught up in this brutal battle and she's starting to get annoyed that he just won't die dimitri isn't owed sympathy as he lashes out at her blaming a would have been adolescent for what happened to his family and people but edelgard's words seem oddly unsympathetic at best given the position that edelgard is in as the invading force on his kingdom edelgard doesn't know dimitri outside their limited interaction in the academy five years ago and couldn't possibly have any idea how his mental state is doing and how it's convincing him that she is to blame after the battle she assumes that he lost his path as king because of his desire for revenge but we never see to what extent he expressed that desire for vengeance over the last five years we don't know if these two ever spoke to each other since she declared her war neither of these characters know each other's perspectives or philosophies we don't get the parley scene in this route because of the circumstances of the war and edelgard may simply assume that his alliance with the church is a means for him to target her down the line it's hard to say what she meant when she said he lost his path as king given that we don't know what happened in the last five years from the last time dimitri was on screen to warn her saying this but it is a line worth exploring dimitri sought out parley in azer moon because he was driven by a desire to end the war peacefully he had to continue the fight because edelgard needed to be stopped not because he wanted to kill her i've read that people think dmitry entered the war for the sole purpose of it giving him the chance to kill edelgard but personally i think that's an oversimplification it's more accurate to say he didn't have a choice but to enter the war and defend his holy kingdom and archbishop from being conquered which is understandable but he never entertained a peaceful solution since the war began this isn't to pin the blame on dimitri for not seeking peace but peace was never ever going to be in the cards this time around i guess arendelle got what he wanted in the end at the end of the day to edelgard she's in the right to dimitri she's in the wrong the rest is up to you but the aftermath is what actually is consistent between perspectives languages and so on hearing l invokes previously blocked out memories and edelgard's regret and sadness over needing to kill dimitri is nearly poured out until she buries it and pushes forward to finish what she started there is something i must give you this is for you use it to cut a path to the future you wish for and i will rise up to meet you there elle i'm afraid it will do no good to reminisce to me tree that girl you knew back then is gone as good as dead but i'll tell you now what i wasn't able to tell you back then thank you my dear forgotten friend because of you i never lost my heart edelgard will never have a chance to thank her forgotten friend she will never be able to express the gratitude she could have in another timeline she can't leave him with a smile and a wish of luck like her counterpart could have done dimitri is a victim just like her and she's going to carry his burdens and finish this war for everyone else who was killed at dusker that day crimson flower part two rhea when edelgard becomes the emperor she declares war on the church of cerros she makes the claim that the leaders of the church have misused their power to fulfill their true desire of ruling the world and the truth was in fact that the church created the empire divided it to create the kingdom and then further divided it to create the alliance all of the instability was resolved in part to the church expanding their power folding's struggles exist because of their tyrannical and deceptive behavior and they must be destroyed so humanity can know true freedom the flaw with edelgard's statement is that what she said about the church's involvement about the formation of the kingdom and the alliance is wrong her speech is only half true the other half is conjecture the history of saros part 2 briefly writes about the creation of fargus and the alliance imperial year 747 the fargus rebellion luge a descendant of one of the houses that first quarreled with the empire raised an army to demand independence pulling the land of fargus into a fierce rebellion this clash came to be known as the war of the eagle and lion imperial year 751 the founding of the holy kingdom of fargas luge and his resistance army were victorious over the imperial forces the holy church of saros mediated between the two and fargus secured its hard-won independence as the holy kingdom of fargus this record is also corroborated by a forbidden text in the shadow library the fargus rebellion i harbor doubts about the army luge has raised how did he recruit soldiers without raising suspicion in the empire how did he acquire those mysterious weapons so like the hero's relics what is the true identity of pan the tactician rumored to have been integral to luke's victories and those who slither in the dark in other words luge really did want to separate from the empire and become independent the agarthans used this to their advantage and supported luke by lending their own forces and replica hero's relics to boost his army and when luge actually won reya in an attempt to bring peace back to fodlin used her status as arc bishop to recognize fargus as independent from the empire and so the holy kingdom of fargus was formed as for the alliance well imperial year 881 the crescent moon war the arc duke ruling over the leicester region of the kingdom succumbed to illness the lords of the lester lands refused to acknowledge the next arc duke in line instead plotting to rule jointly as an alliance imperial year 901 the founding of the leicester alliance the alliance was officially formed after the subjugation of hostile nobles and the removal of all opposing forces in the regions of fargus an influential figure from the outset duke regan was inarguably the heart of the newly formed alliance rhea's involvement is never mentioned because she was likely never involved in anything relating to the formation of the alliance the death of king klaus the alleged fake will to give power to his three princes and splitting the kingdom and then the refusal to acknowledge the next arc duke in line so as to form the alliance to begin with had nothing to do with reia either while the sarro's faith is strong in leicester it is most likely because the lords who created the alliance were still faithful edelgard cannot corroborate her claims over the church's involvement but on the other hand she's right reya lives in extravagance as do many of the worst nobles out there in edelgard's eyes reya is passive to the crimes and mistreatment of the people common or of noble birth under the system she oversees but why does she partially rely on her own conjecture of photolyn's history it's because she refuses to believe anything the church says and they must be hiding the truth she interprets reya's actions in the most bad faith way possible and deems reyes acts to bring peace to folen as sinister and secretive moves to instigate conflict to further the church's nobilities and the status quo's reach she instead believes in the secrets shared only between emperors which are only related to the war of heroes her own claims are unsubstantiable but her bias and hatred to the church and the crest system and rhea make her believe this to be true even if one clings to their faith the goddess will never answer them countless souls will be lost that way living without purpose and i can be counted among those who have died that way as well but that's why i must change this world on behalf of the silent and weak edelgard herself has a contentious history with her own faith edelgard was faithful at one point but her prayers went unanswered when she was being tortured when she saw her brothers and sisters die and lose their minds the goddess never answered her the goddess abandoned her it's all false compound that with the constant corruption of nobles who believe they have some divine right to rule and mistreat others in this crest system designed by the false goddess herself so they can maintain power in adelgard's perspective the entire system is built on lies and so so must its history the nebateans the non-human gods who ruled over humanity they all must go guard please release rhea release vodlin if you strike me down they will return i cannot permit what you desire you are a child of the goddess you must not be allowed power over the people her prejudice towards the nebateans and her feelings of rhea are among the more consistent and unchanging character traits she has in the entire game even in her own root edelgard and hubert are undeployable in the optional paralog legend of the lake before going now i do suggest leaving edelgard and hubert innocent of our quest lake tutates is a place that concerns the saints of the church of saros it may become bothersome should the two of them find out her allies are of course aware of her feelings and after the paralog he asks bileth to inform adelgard as to their expedition when the time is right the distinction worth making here is that in crimson flower edelgard has the potential for her views on the faith to shift we see this with her manuela supports she also respects those who are faithful regardless of her own stance in crimson flower at the very least as for what she deems as true about the church and rhea herself is concerned all that we do learn in the game takes place in the truth about the relics cutscene the relics were created by the hands of mankind seros collected them after killing the ten elites seros manipulated the people of the world and defeated the all-powerful king nemesis that's the history the church of cerros maintains in reality it was little more than a simple dispute should the one leading the people of the world be someone with humanity or a creature that can merely masquerade as a human at will in the end cerros was victorious the immaculate one in her family then took control of fodlin i know this because that knowledge is passed down from emperor to emperor and that is because the first emperor is the human who cooperated with ceres allowing humanity to be controlled in secret this is actually true rhea did conjure up a false history that nemesis was corrupted and turned evil but it was a little more than a simple dispute nemesis was chiefly responsible for the murder and naming of the nabataeans turning their bones into weapons and their hearts into the keys unlocking their potential edelgard trusts this information and none of what the church says themselves combine that with her bias and her own lived experience and edelgard's war on the church and rhea is based on a mix of truth and conjecture rhea herself is a complicated character on one hand she has spent literal centuries on upwards of 12 different vessels to try to bring her mother back to life the circumstances of bilath becoming another experiment of reyes was unintentional citri was going to die from childbirth so she insisted to reya that she give bilath sothus's crest stone so at least they could survive but because of the circumstances behind geralt's donated blood from rhea the archbishop knew that violet was going to be the perfect vessel reya's benevolence and peaceful demeanor is hiding a more calculated person who is so desperate to revive her mother that she's blinded by the selfishness of her deeds reia does want to control fodellin so peace doesn't break away and wants to maintain the impression that the nobility are good authority figures see to it that you keep what transpired at the tower to yourself people would lose face and the nobles should rumors spread of one using a relic and transforming into a monster all regions of fodland would fall into chaos we must avoid that at all costs please ensure the students who accompanied you understand that as well have i made myself clear the officers academy is presented as this social gathering place for mainly the nobility of fodland become proper warriors and live up to their titles and crests but the real intent is to both prevent conflict from rising up in fodland with the future nobility when they do come into power as well as align them with garrick mogg it's meant for damage control the officers academy of the monastery was founded about two centuries ago the eastern region of fodland was being invaded by almira and so the archbishop of the time took measures to prevent the border from being taken in order to ensure fodlin would be safe from potential threats she deemed it necessary to raise a generation of excellence that is how the establishment was founded though its purpose has changed over the years rhea however is a truly caring and compassionate person and does learn to feel immense guilt over her actions the crest system isn't inherently a bad one reya took what was left of the war of heroes a broken world hero's relics crests and created a social system with it she rewrote history in a way that glorifies the wielders of these divine weapons and was only involved in the formation of the kingdom because she needed to bring peace to fodlin fast forward to the present day and you realize that reyes defeat in crimson flower is one of dramatic irony bileth is her creation and eventually this creation leads to her own downfall edelgard is a victim of a system that reya had to create this victim leads to her own downfall when you have the whole picture edelgard is flawed and in roots besides her own she and rhea are both tragic figures rhea always wanted peace but the wars she stopped and the history she distorted and the system she built all had the best intentions in mind but humanity's greed and agarthing vengeance couldn't be sidelined forever and her need to control the narrative and her passivity in an exploitable system that values bloodlines above all else was bound to come back to her edelgard on the other hand for all her virtues and desire to change the world and make fodlin genuinely a better place has an immense bias against everything reya tried to do to the point of in what can only be described as irony distorted history herself it's really really crazy how that works it's a side of edelgard that one can struggle to admit is there we cling to these characters because we value who they are and sometimes our perception and enjoyment of them and what they personally mean to us can make us less willing to admit to their flaws but it's better that we do than don't and in saying this i gotta admit almost 20 years of playing fire emblem and having played every game in this 30 year long franchise i can't help but be impressed that fire emblem managed to write a lord of all characters to have this flaw and in my opinion make it make sense but i digress even with edelgard's flaws she refuses to stand aside and let the passivity of the church and rhea continue controlling fodolin the church and the institution may have made sense back when the war of heroes ended but a lot has changed in fodland it's no longer one giant land controlled by the empire it's three independent nations there are church branches all over fodland but it didn't stop the insurrection it didn't stop the tragedy of dusker humanity is causing fodlin to change rhea won't accept that there are legitimate concerns over reya's influence over fodlin and how she got there rhea actually does propagate misinformation about following's history and has actively suppressed human progress in the form of technology as evidenced in the shadow library reia replaces the numerical calendar system with the moon system as a means to inject faith into the masses as well as preventing things like telescopes the metal printing press oil and medical science from getting into the hands of humans in fear of it weakening the church's reach and being deemed as taboo rhea fears change and disruption she wants stability for fodolin but also a controlled world to continue her pursuit in experimentation to bring sothis back edelgard in contrast is the changer is the disrupter if it is between love and hate then i would choose the latter the goddess failed to properly govern this world that is why it is necessary for lady adelgard to become the supreme leader of fodland those with power must use it wisely is that not a teaching of the church of cerros it's absurd to preach to others what you cannot practice yourself yes it is our humanity that pushes us to step up and take the lead should the need arise that is not the case for inhuman creatures with lifespans well beyond our own we must fight to preserve what makes us human there are legitimate reasons to call rhea and the church into question that could be used as evidence to convince her allies that rhea isn't as perfect as it seems whether or not edelgard is supposed to have access to the shadow library records because of dlc optional reasons hubert has a spy network and they both probably could learn a thing or two from the agarthan records given their affiliation with talus as it stands now though the only way edelgard was able to convince the masses to accept her war on a seemingly peaceful institution was to claim that the church intentionally caused strife having a hand in the kingdom and alliance being formed which is a huge and completely unsubstantiated claim to make given addresses overall relationship with the church were simply left to assume that the contents of edelgard's manifesto expand on her conjecture effectively huber prepares and spreads propaganda i would have really liked to see the contents of this manifesto because as it stands i don't even think edelgard knows definitively what she's talking about i would imagine that the manifesto may reveal more but we don't ever learn what she means when she says this and then the time skip happens effectively wiping away the period of unrest confusion and contention that would be brought up by the people so in other words it's hand waved removing all tension in favor of skipping over it this tendency to skip over important and possibly contentious moments in the story is one that looms over crimson flower often and the source of my criticism for the root as a whole crimson flower part 3 story criticism edelgard is a protagonist that goes to war for what she believes to be the greater good but it's not as though this story is new the key is to put our focus on the leading lady herself can she be justified or can her actions at least be reasonable and what complications does she have to face not just with the villains but her own friends following through on these questions set up for us gets us at least invested in edelgard's story and where it's headed for example it is absolutely clear now to the rest of the black eagles that edelgard was the flame emperor whom they all have had to fight during the white cloud's arc there is natural tension here how will bilath feel about adelgard's role with the agarthins will bailout be suspicious over edelgard's involvement with the organization that killed her father are her allies skeptical of their emperor do they question if she is hiding anything more from them crimson flowers story is a mixed bag of meaningful narrative setups that pay off in invoking positive character development for edelgard like what happened with dimitri another satisfying narrative payoff is her developing friendship with bileth and i will get into their relationship in much more detail later in fact there's a two-part section right after this but on the topic of edelgard's personal growth it is clear that bileth has an immensely positive effect on her her previous trust issues and cold and distant personality get challenged and flipped on her head because of bileth's presence it's set up from as early as part 1 and there are a ton of moments where edelgard tries to ask bileth how they will use their newfound power subtly asking if they'd support her or when she asks bileth if they believed the flame emperor's convictions back in remire or even the choice to join edelgard at the empire to begin with it culminates in incredibly strong trust moments for the two illustrating how much edelgard has grown because of them on the other hand there are many meaningful narrative setups that go unaddressed or are not effective or satisfying which ends up making edelgard underdeveloped or unintentionally bad three houses suffers from structural story issues in part due to its break neck pacing and rushed feeling throughout all four routes of the game verdant wind saves key information in the form of an exposition dump and answers every question claude ever had and suddenly they need to deal with nemesis in azermoon dmitry and edelgard have a parley and with arendelle dead edelgard is the only one left to answer any question he might have regarding the tragedy or his uncle's involvement and gather evidence but he forgets this the conversation ends up being a relatively short philosophical discussion about war and peace and governing and his literal greatest chance to inquire and continue his otherwise halted investigation about the tragedy is just tossed aside so demetri can keep trying to investigate the mystery after the game ends with happy apparently crimson flower's issues are similar yet different edelgard's unique position as a princess emperor accomplice student to bileth all give her a certain agency that dmitry or claude do not have instead of reacting and observing to those who slither in the dark in white clouds from the outside edelgard's position has her having a hand in the background dimitri and claude aren't culpable in the actions of the agarthans but edelgard is uniquely involved in their schemes and because of that unique position things that can afford to be left unaddressed in azermoon or verdant wind should be addressed with her but multiple times in crimson flower this does not happen edelgard's opposition and mask off confrontation against solon in ramayana village goes inexplicably unnoticed by tolus despite months passing between then and the sealed forest chapter which begs the question of whether or not solon told talis about it while it's possible that talis did find out about this and edelgard had to explain herself as needing to maintain her image this is the most charitable interpretation that can be made we still don't know what actually happened similarly talus does not react to solon's death either the spell of zaharas to remove bilath from the equation was something that talus was personally invested in it's reasonable enough to view crony's death as inevitable as she was going to be killed by sullen anyway but sullen himself are we left to assume that talus simply doesn't find out about this is nobody able to report back to talus because all of his underlings are all dead regardless of the justification it goes unexplained i'm not asking for talis to bring down the javelins of light onto the empire or something for her actions but tolus's plans get meddled by edelgard in some capacity most of the time whether she is minimizing damage and remire verbally condemning him at the monastery or completely ruining what seemed to be effortlessly thought out plans like the extraction of flame the only nepatian they can realistically make use of or stopping his plan to delete bileth from the universe a plane which clearly indicates that he views them as a threat to his goals talis is the kind of guy who values an eye for an eye at the very least while yes one could argue that edelgard was never told of what arendelle wanted to do with the death knight when she passed control over to him or what arendelle wanted monica to do in the monastery when she was planted there her awareness of these exchanges is what makes her partially culpable it doesn't exempt her from suspicion and confusion from her allies her allies see the flame emperor speaking to the death knight geralt and bilat see the flame emperor after admire but barely believe what she's telling them and gerald wants to arrest her we observe the game and her actions from the player's perspective but in universe her allies experience and perspective are those of students being threatened by these scary masked individuals and pale-faced assassins the story beats of white clouds with the agarthan's match with azer moon and vernent wind and the writers may want to leave the impression of mystery about the enemy faction edelgard having a unique dialogue moment separate from the other lords could be seen as too revealing before the actual flame emperor reveal but edelgard simply has more agency than her counterparts even a scene that discreetly addresses this would have sufficed maybe during the explore chapter and for these to be treated the exact same and other routes isn't personally satisfying or really that effective to adelgard's growth a pretty relevant example of this would be staying silent about geralt's murder to her own professor on one hand the most obvious fact to point out is that edelgard didn't plan or condone monica's action nor was she aware of it and was blindsided by it like everybody else monica as crania was deceptively planted presumably by the death knight who at that point was operating under tolus in their rescue of flame monica acts suspiciously in the couple months she's at the monastery we're never exactly sure what monica's purpose was at the academy was it to fill in for solon to monitor adelgard in the academy oversee the experimentation of crest stones on students the tone of monica's voice is strategic monica wants to meet with edelgard in the library for something but quickly changes tune edelgard suspiciously dismisses bileth hubert in the chapter afterwards begrudgingly asks vermonica to be more worried about something the sub thing is monica's very obvious strange behavior a random student just re-enrolls constantly taking up edelgard's time and is behaving in ways that the normal monika would not the implication is clear they are aware that monica is an operative for those who slither in the dark and so it goes monica kills geralt out of impulse edelgard is sincere when pledging her support to bileth and wanting to help avenge gerald on the other hand no one brings up how monica was planted into garrick mock via a scheme that edelgard knows about while edelgard does not endorse and isn't even directly involved in the atrocities those who slither in the dark commit she is partially culpable in gerald's death because she knew who monica was if you wanted to get technical she could technically expose monica or kill her but clearly the repercussions are too dire she needs to go along with whatever scheme is going on by virtue of pretending that monica is exactly who she says she is this wouldn't be bad at all if edelgard ended up being confronted by bileth down the line a confrontation or a karmic retribution at edelgard's expense which would demand her to explain herself or to transition into some kind of moment that could address this in other words for the writing to have a narrative payoff to go along with this setup but it doesn't the only sentiments we get from bileth about gerald's death in the time skip is an optional dialogue choice merely expressing their anger over needing to cooperate with arendelle and assigning blame only to him this morally dubious situation does not contribute to adelgard's character growth the writers hand-wave her involvement altogether and this tension is just left up in the air characterization left on the table as the consequences of edelgard as the flame emperor are conveniently forgotten about crimson flower focuses on the other side of our protagonist her reflections on the war and the consequences of her actions upon seeing biloth five years later edelgard weeps in happiness that her professor is alive her admiration and affection for bilath are a part of this as evidenced when she becomes flustered when caspar teases her about bileth the guilt over the thought of losing them is mainly why edelgard reacts so joyously for half a decade edelgard searched for her professor to no avail losing someone so close to her at the war's start forced adelgard to manage the empire on her own with her trusted generals at her side looking back from start to end however the writing's willingness to cut corners and leave narrative setups unanswered and at best resolved off-screen rears its ugly head any time adelgard acts deceptively to her friends in chapter 16 edelgard and hubert and exclusively the black eagle strike force choose to change course to attack aryan road instead of ferdiad the detour was meant to not just gain an advantage over the kingdom by attacking its most secure fortress but was also to kill cornelia a key member of those who slither in the dark if they're successful the kingdom is cornered and those who slur in the dark's power is greatly diminished this is edelgard's move to betray the ugarthans and to directly hit them instead of meddling with their plans and it works it catches everyone off guard including talus but he is very angry and in retaliation blows up aryan road as retribution i will be praying praying that the empire will not become another aryan road another aryan road just what do you mean i must take my leave now farewell lady edelgard there you are we just received some truly shocking news it is said that pillars of light have rained from the heavens and disintegrated aryan road disintegrated edelgard and hubert are shocked at the retaliation but they pin the blame on the church they say this to control the flow of information he pierced the earth and set the forest to blaze creating a land of torment we believed it may have been the work of the goddess but it was actually an attack by those who slither in the dark that sums up all that we know by gifting us that knowledge those who died at aryan world will not have died in vain indeed it would be good to control the flow of this information true we'll conceal this from everyone as best we can i trust you my teacher the secret is therefore kept between edelgard hubert and bileth and in the next war council they conceal the truth by lying to their most trusted allies i'm sure everyone has heard about what transpired at aryan road the church has displayed their cowardice by indiscriminately using forbidden practices to kill the residents there their victims also include members of house rome the imperial army and many many more according to our investigation the forbidden attack that destroyed aryan road cannot be used again so quickly even so we cannot delay our efforts we must put a stop to all of this by the end of next month this is the route where adelgard can be her best self with the help of bileth by her side the route where she doesn't let her heart turn to ice and learns to trust her friends and allies making her lie to the people who have fought and bled for her for six years the very same people who put their trust in her when she looked quite guilty puts her characterization as someone steadily growing into a more trusting person into question all to hide information these closest allies should already be comfortable with knowing instead of criticizing adelgard for the lie let's explore why she would lie here in edelgard and huber's perspective they may want to cover their own butt if they acknowledge that it was the agarthans they may be afraid that their allies will freak out that there's now another force against them edelgard suppresses the flow of information to keep everyone's priorities in check it absolves edelgard and hubert of having to explain anything that could potentially hold him into question by her friends on paper this seems fine unfortunately this lie highlights another problem that surrounds crimson flower that doesn't have anything to do with the themes of conviction or doing things for the greater good edelgard never grows from constantly deceiving her allies if she betrays the trust of her allies at such a critical moment in the story it sets expectations that she will have to deal with the consequences of her classmates eventually learning she deceived them but this never happens and this is a recurring issue that crimson flower has there are so many opportunities for the narrative to develop her in this way but they sidestep it to quickly rush to the next chapter there's retribution that occurs from her enemies that impact her like dimitri and this is incredibly effective for her character but the action taken on her friends that would have negative consequences gets lazily resolved or completely forgotten about i don't think this is what the writers intended for edelgard what edelgard needs is a reversal and recognition a trope in writing that describes a climactic result of obstacles that requires unexpected pushback against a character's action that reverses their momentum towards their conclusion followed by a resolution that is recognized by emotional change within the characters this recognition is achieved as a result of an action but shouldn't be through contravance applying this trope to adelgard we see the setups of reversals solon's death gerald's death edelgard's betrayal and deception the flame emperor's actions and the lie about aryan road edelgard's solution is generally to deceive her way through the story but the deception piles up but we never get to see her confront them we do not see the recognition or we do see the recognition but it's unsatisfyingly contrived previously i said that edelgard ought to be redeemable and honorable in a route that is supposed to redeem her from her other roots of her being the prime antagonist people took this to mean that i wanted adelgard to become the dimitri of crimson flower and dismissed me entirely incidentally not being very nice about it either this isn't what i meant but i don't think it's unreasonable to ask that edelgard have redemptive moments in the form of some kind of comeuppance or retribution just because edelgard's story isn't one of redemption and instead conviction that doesn't give the writers a green light to allow her to get away with these things other than lying she doesn't really ever do anything dubious but she still needs a visible reversal and recognition so she can grow in a way that she did upon killing dimitri for example the dimitri moment was arguably in my opinion the strongest thematic moment in the game the reversal was the twist that he was her close childhood friend the recognition was her suppressing her emotions and vowing to continue forward but disappointingly so much of edelgard's potential as a character in dealing with her own self-imposed retribution is left in the air humor me for a little bit imagine if bilath asked adelgard if she knew monica and edelgard's involvement caught up to her and confront her own accountability imagine if during the apparently cut shambhala chapter kaspar expressed anger and disappointment that edelgard would lie to her friends and edelgard realized that she should have been more trusting and truthful to them in the same way that she is to bileth is this redemption not necessarily getting caught up or punished and feeling remorse isn't indicative of a big redemption moment but the reversals would pay off and the recognition would be her friends disappointed in her but choosing to continue to support her as they understood where her mindset was at the time and that the war is coming to its end felix is a strong foil for dimitri and displays agency in the story cut scenes because he's willing to call out his frustrating and unreasonably antagonistic behavior when nobody else will it leaves the impression that other blue lion members feel similarly and it's one of the more memorable moments in the story at least for me edelgard could have benefited from a character outside of her trusted circle doing something similar in regards to her deception kaspar has a short fuse but a clear moral compass and even in his supports with edelgard he says what's on his mind unaware if it will actually upset her but instead of felix's words falling on deaf ears edelgard could actually reflect on them you can be real critical of yourself and you admit it when you make a mistake that's true i certainly make mistakes but i feel it's important to own up to them i probably make twice as many mistakes as you but i don't notice half of them because realistically there are a ton of reasons for her friends to express disappointment and frustration over edelgard's deception they were the ones who edelgard trusted to attack cornelia and kept this secret for an entire month they've been deceived before by edelgard five years ago when she betrayed them in the holy tomb they may be disturbed that edelgard seemingly still views them as untrustworthy bilath the character who invoked edelgard to have faith in others goes along with adelgard's choice we give so much credit to biloth for humanizing edelgard and helping her begin to resolve her trust issues but they are complacent in actively deceiving her allies maybe her allies would feel the same people behave in seemingly unreasonable ways all the time you could even look at other fire emblem characters in the series but the difference between someone like edelgard and say naisala in the telia saga is that the latter hero's actions will catch up to him nazala's desperate moves to protect kilvis at all costs wouldn't nearly be as memorable if he just got away with everything if he got away with selling raisin to oliver by deceiving him if he just simply lied to debarn and ended up having the blood of hundreds of phoenician soldiers on his hands but nothing came about it if screamer never almost killed him for all the stuff he pulled to his lagoo's brethren he'd just be an irredeemable and conniving villain that happens to have a chip on his shoulder nazala's own journey isn't one of redemption he doesn't even get forgiven in-game but you can still view naysala as a hero who stuck to his convictions and did what he had to do for the greater good of his brethren his redemptive moments are his moments of retribution i don't think it's enough for adelgard to have her comeuppance in the form of reflecting on the victims of her war retribution should come from her allies too and we've seen how effective dramatic irony is for a character like her in a story like this much like many other convenient hand waves off-screen resolutions and outright dismissals of things adelgard does it makes adelgard look worse you can look at the broader picture and point to themes and narrative intent that edelgard does what she needs to do in order to stay the course to win her war but that doesn't give the authors a green light to let edelgard get away with everything from her allies her actions to me are supposed to be considered extreme for the greater good edelgard never gets challenged on this deception they continue pursuing rhea and win the war so edelgard keeps all these secrets destroys the church conquers sovereign nations and somehow motivates everyone to go into another war with a technologically superior secret nation there was an apparently cut shambhala chapter in crimson flower and i find it really unfortunate that it didn't make it in the game but this is the game we got and this goes unaddressed my issue comes from structural issues regardless of narrative intent that must arise in order for crimson flower to function which causes edelgard to look worse without giving her the chance to look better we don't get to see if anyone ever wonders what edelgard's motivations ever were why she involved karana in the academy whether or not edelgard was truly involved in the ramire calamity and if she was actually just faking it when she confronted solon if edelgard had a role to play in flames kidnapping or why edelgard needed the crest stones in the first place all of these questions are hand-waved off-screen and are assumed to have been resolved in the time skip bileth never considers that edelgard may have had a hand in gerald's murder upon her reawakening and instead the tension is hand-waved by hubert insisting that bileth continue working alongside edelgard edelgard was incredibly close to being truly a fantastic lord in my eyes edelgard is in arguably the most unique position ever as a lord in the series and has character flaws that are executed really really well in my opinion the themes of conviction resonate strongly in the root and because of her goals she battles with the guilt that she feels the people she's had to kill and the people who died because they believed in her cause is not fighting against an invading kingdom and defeating the big dragon to save humanity from utter doom she's the invader defeating a big dragon who is holding humanity back but imagine if these reversals actually were recognized imagine if edelgard were explored further in this way it would be such a complete and satisfying journey as it is now though her potential is missing in a disappointingly short six-chapter route that was clearly rushed and had content cut short or cut out completely i've been comparing structural issues three houses has between roots so here's another azure moon and dimitri's story is hilariously basic you can literally summarize what happens in a single sentence a revenge revenge-fueled exiled prince is redeemed after his friends pull him out of the darkness and he retakes his kingdom and kills the red lady also hamlet and even in azer moon a 10 chapter long campaign the root still suffers from pacing issues and cheaply set up plot devices to work and incidentally also how to plan shambhala chapter cut from its own route too compare that to crimson flower a route that demands so much more scrutiny and spotlight of its lord but cut the chapter length by four it's a disappointing route not because it's bad but because of it had more time given to it it really could have made adelgard considerably much better those are my grievances with crimson flower and how they directly pertain to edelgard's growth there's so much of crimson flower left in the dark what were the conditions of burglaries and hovering for their cooperation with edelgard did it have to do with anything about their role in the insurrection would edelgard have invaded the rest of fodlin regardless of their stance with the church what was the content of edelgard's manifesto how did edelgard resolve her actions in white clouds with the other black eagles did edelgard ever do anything to try to get dimitri on her side to convince her that he lost his path as king we don't get the chance to explore these questions deeply based on what little information is out there for them there are some narrative payoffs for sure but there are huge issues that don't get resolved to those who openly disagree with my above criticism or have found no issue with crimson flower then i simply ask that you question whether or not this route could have done better and maybe come up with your own ideas but with all this said i'm of the opinion that you can celebrate the nuances and successes of her character while criticizing her own root for missing out on her potential however through her ups and downs support and story there is one character who consistently strengthens her characterization and pushes her in the right direction bilif part 1 kinship of flame the rapport between bileth and adelgard starts out the same as other lords they recognize barlett's strengths but start out skeptical over their pro-faced personality eventually as time goes on and bylath themself becomes more emotive her opinions of the ash and demon change but edelgard more than her peers starts to rely on bileth more significantly compared to her royal counterparts i can't hide from the truth i can't do all that i must on my own if all i can rely on is my own ambition my path won't be easy is it so risky to reach out my hand father i swear i will not stop until i succeed my regret my grief my whole life i've thrown it all away into the darkness the truth of course being the fact that she can't succeed in her revolution by her power alone this was already conceded when she joined forces with her former captor arendelle but even this isn't enough she needs bileth but as this section will explain she needs them for a lot more than their combat prowess bileth can wield the sword of the creator a weapon which was literally used to try to bring down seros edelgard recognizes the potential they have as an asset but months later after they win the battle of the eagle and lion edelgard has some choice words implying that they're starting to mean much more to her than just the cavalry what's gotten into you today i'm not used to seeing you this excited seeing such a big smile on your face is a rare gift it makes me feel like i can maybe relax a little too until today i thought it would fall to me to command and guide our ranks all by myself [Music] but with you leading us i've gotten to experience what it's like to fight alongside everyone and i've realized how happy it makes me fighting under your command the emperor doesn't take orders from anyone it's their duty to stand alone and lead the entire empire but maybe it's better to have someone to rely on so that you can support and guide each other through the darkness i may be heir to the imperial throne but first and foremost i'm your grateful student that will never change even when i fulfill my destiny and become the emperor i told you long ago that i wish to enlist you in the service of the empire well i take it back now i wish only for your continued guidance during my eventual reign edelgard honestly lives a crappy life pretty much the entirety of her life has been awful and she still has far to go she was captured and tortured as a child saw all of her siblings go crazy and die saw her father get stripped of all his power and watched him helplessly rot away on the throne and the only way she has a snowball's chance in ayle to revolutionize the world is to first ally herself with the people who ruined her life in the first place besides hubert she feels she has nobody else to support her honestly what does she even have to be happy for it must feel incredibly nice to finally have someone that can eclipse her strength a person who has nothing to do with politics or the empire or the establishment that can take her on in battle even surpasser where claude is constantly suspicious of biles origins but warms up to them and dimitri is concerned over their lack of emotion but realizes that he was in the wrong edelgard's judgmental and evaluative behavior gets flipped on her head she doesn't see bileth as strictly an asset to the empire but sees them as a friend and equal this seemingly infallible being that is so powerful as a combatant and so reliable as an outsider unknowingly encourages her to be comfortable enough to be vulnerable to admit that maybe being emperor doesn't have to be a one-woman show the standout characterization moment for edelgard and white clouds in my opinion is her administration of a massive dose of tough love edelgard at this point in the story reveres bileth and is a rock she feels comfortable sharing her past being vulnerable around and is the only person who will willfully and enjoyably take orders from but when geralt dies their personality changes instead of being this immovable object their humanity takes over and they hold themselves up in their room mourning their loss comparatively speaking claude and dimitri's reaction to bileth dealing with their loss are all unique claude remains his inquisitive self and doesn't set out to console violet the real comparison here is with dimitri the two have diametrically opposed ways of contending with grief and project their experience onto what bileth should do no need to put on a brave face no one would blame you for taking time for yourself [Music] i don't believe it's a sign of strength to just keep moving forward no matter what taking the time to grieve for those we've lost there's strength in that too now the burden of the work they left behind falls on me i must ensure they have no regrets that's my duty as the sole survivor of the tragedy it's a heavy burden but accepting it gave me the strength to pick myself up off the ground and start moving again start living again dimitri takes a more passive approach to counseling bileth post-tragedy he was so shocked and traumatized he was lost and needed direction and found soulless and a purpose by ensuring that the dead have no regrets dimitri's way of overcoming grief is to focus on the past edelgard in contrast focuses on the future to do the same thing edelgard has a way more hands-on and urgent approach to dealing with grief because her unique circumstances called for it only you can truly understand your own sadness others can sympathize or even empathize but all anyone else can offer are the tears of an outsider looking in so i have no intention of crying for you or of standing still with you all i can do is promise to reach out my hand when the time comes for me to move forward this is how edelgard handled grief her father couldn't do jack to help her when she was being tortured all he could do was empathize with her and the rest fell to edelgard herself to will herself to live and to will herself to claw out of that crap show and make something out of her objectively freaking horrible life nobody was there to help edelgard and through that experience it made her who she is for better or worse she was stronger for it and while arrogant and seemingly self-centered it's a reality check that sothus isn't terribly shocked by and bilath knows they need to hear the fact of the matter is those who slither in the dark do not care about geralt and the world doesn't just stop because the main character is sad edelgard is on a tight deadline and sullen is already scheming something in the sealed forest are you waiting for time to heal your wounds or have you curled up in a corner and lost the will to carry on it's not like you to speak to me like that you know i'd never ask you a question without purpose her viewpoint is that there's really no way for someone to lift another one out of grief even if she can definitely know the feeling of watching family die rather horribly at that her own experience has differences from violets to move on it's your decision what adelgard is choosing is to move forward herself so that nothing goes wrong in this moment of long pause for bileth professor i'm so happy to see you you're finally returning to your old self to see the light in your eyes again is a gift it inspires me to carry on as well but despite this seemingly selfish gesture edelgard has always cared she may not outright say it but from the very beginning when she very clearly in a concerned tone asks if they've been crying she has always cared it was tough love but love nonetheless bileth part two the ashen connection i've never been sold on bileth's characteristic quietness and lack of emotion even though it's justified in the plot but in edelgard's case spyleth's stoicism and silent demeanor serves as a great foil for her first of all it is indicated very early on that edelgard trusts bileth in their sea support edelgard talks about her recurring nightmares i dream of my older brother paralyzed helpless my older sister crying for help that never came the youngest babbling words beyond meaning i see my family dying slowly waiting in the darkest depths for a glimmer of light i once had ten siblings eight older and two younger such a large family and yet i became the heir to the throne do you know why every last one of them was crippled by disease or lost their mind or died i was the only one left who could inherit the throne things kept getting worse the darkness kept getting darker in the end i was the only one who survived the nightmares are a reminder to never forget to never allow such terrible things to happen again [Music] even now i'm the only one who can carry the weight of the adrestian empire the future of the empire of everything depends on me i shared more than i intended to i suppose there's something in the air tonight i've never told anyone about my past before please forget i said anything sleep well my teacher there's something about bilath's character that edelgard lashed onto early and i believe it has to do with where bileth came from what they are capable of and unironically their lack of personality edelgard is the only emperor apparent slash actual emperor in fodolin and she burdens those responsibilities all on her own she is the only one who until quite early on in the academy phase has dealt with her severely traumatic childhood by herself while hubert knows about her past it's clear that hubert during his time as her advisor and retainer is not here to deal with her emotional burdens not only can nobody possibly understand what she went through or what she's going through presently but nobody can understand the added pressure of being an emperor while preparing to wage a war against the world bilath has no connection to the empire kingdom or political party or establishment bilath wasn't raised to see adelgard as her superior so she never treated her like an untouchable idol despite this they are put in a position of leadership over her being responsible for the education and safety of the emperor is no doubt a massive task that only a few are equipped to handle but bayleth actually kicks butt at this bileth isn't just an authority figure over adelgard they're such a formidable warrior and strategist that even edelgard can't surpass them it's like having an imaginary friend you can divulge all of your deep-seated emotional burdens onto but is actually real and can wield a glowing whip sword that nobody else can there is something i've been meaning to tell you i'm afraid this might sound a bit sentimental however i want to thank you because of you i feel i can walk my fated path without losing myself if i were alone i might have lost perspective and become a harsh leader with a heart of ice but i'm not alone with you by my side i'm somehow free to be not only a leader but simply edelgard [Music] until now no one has been able to surpass me much less command me i have always been seen as an untouchable princess or emperor no one spoke to me as an equal or met my gaze without flinching it was lonely terribly lonely the only person i could rely on as i tried to claw my way out of the darkness was myself but you you have been a brilliant light somehow you have chased the darkness away and for that i will always be grateful they don't treat edelgard with any formality because they aren't predisposed to edelgard was seen as untouchable and uncommandable because literally she wasn't until biloth came around edelgard wants to rebuild the world in her vision and it's a noble and commendable one at that but what she desires in her heart is companionship someone she can trust someone she can look up to in a way edelgard's personality has been set in stone from the game's onset she's been through the ringer as a child and her personality and dreams have been molded before the game even starts she knows what she's setting out to do and has her whole life planned out but nowhere in this life plan was the section for emotional fulfillment but bilath comes along bilath didn't help her realize that she didn't need to be alone it was that bileth showed her what it felt like to not be alone this dependence on bileth really works for edelgard because this is the kind of help she needs she's capable of handling her business and the shadow wars and actual wars and everything like that but beneath the strong-willed emperor is just a person seeking emotional fulfillment like everyone else someone who like most people sometimes just wants to let loose and relax and be themselves without being judged byleth being this powerful nobody in the world allows her to do that is that a fact well if you insist i suppose a flower from another's field is always more beautiful i'll admit i think of you as rather detached so to hear that you have emotions such as jealousy is something of a relief [Music] oh but you are don't even try to argue but i suppose i'm much the same i've also distanced myself from the ordinary world [Music] friends that word somehow doesn't seem adequate besides we've been friends for a long time you and i by now we're so much more than that at least in my mind you know instead of edelgard you can call me just l if you so please that's what my parents and closest sisters used to call me when i was little now there's no one left who calls me l but with you well i think i could allow it in fact it would mean a great deal to me why hmm [Music] well you have stood beside me and shared my burdens as i said you are much more than a friend in truth you were like family to me i suppose that's why i'm not about to try to convince you that it was love at first sight but bileth is a proven strategist and fighter that is the only person she's ever known that humbled her the shared crest of flames connects them spiritually and of course their ability to wield the very sword that was used against seros hundreds of years before brings them together bileth is the perfect match edelgard coming to know them more personally opening up her heart to them allowing them and wanting to be the only other person to call them elle she drew bileth after all after reia is gone from this world i don't know what will become of you but whatever happens i hope you know that you're very special to me you are the one person in this world who can share the heavy burden i must carry someone without equal who i can always speak my mind to it's time let's go professor [Music] but perhaps the strongest evidence to suggest how strong her feeling for them was this whole time would be to discuss what happened when edelgard didn't walk the same path as them when instead of facing their enemies together it was against one another silver snow is a route selected automatically if biles does not speak to edelgard in chapter 12 of crimson flower she heads to anbar on her own time to take the crown as emperor whereupon you fight her as the flame emperor and then continue siding with rhea and the rest of the black eagles in other words edelgard has spent a year fighting alongside taking orders from getting to trust and learning to depend on their professor all for their bond to break into pieces when she betrays everyone all of that progress everything we just talked about collapses in front of their eyes edelgard reached out her hand but bileth wasn't there to reach back this time even though our swords may cross as they do now there's no denying that our chosen paths never will my teacher when next we meet one of us will breathe their last [Music] edelgard regardless of the doubt and defeat heard in her voice appeared in the monastery five years later anyway only to have that last bit of hope that last moment just confirmed what she already expected she assumed bileth was dead and while happy to see them alive she knew they'd be enemies what was in one reality an emotional moment where the emperor broke into tears over her teacher's survival is now a bittersweet reunion edelgard has her closure and this is the end the next time these two come across one another one of them is going to die and eventually it's exactly as she said eventually after months of battles bilath and edelgard cross blades one more time it looks as though my path will end here [Music] my teacher claim your victory strike me down you must even now across this land people are killing each other if you do not act now this conflict will go on forever your path lies across my grave it is time for you to find the courage to walk it if i must fall let it be by your hand [Music] i wanted to walk with you in her final words wishing that things could have been different wishing that their chosen paths would have indeed crossed as they once did wishes for the only person she ever met who she looked up to then staring down upon her now could give her her proper closure not just from the world she fought her whole life to change but from her own unrequited feelings that very regret the bitter sweetness of mulling over those painful what-ifs reflect in azer moon as well sure bilath and edelgard did not get to know one another in the academy phase nor did they ever get to fight together or even learn under but bilath unknowingly helped her in her battle against her uncle fighting his minions in her stead but there's more something that edelgard connects to biloth with on an inexplicable level edelgard even upon her monstrous transformation which darkens her worldview intensifies her motivations and pulls her further away from humanity than ever before it is her crest kinship and feelings for bileth that helps to remind us that her old self is preserved facing you i grow weak for one to undergo a transformation like this and to be so mighty in spirit and relentlessly determined to succeed to not wholly be corrupted by the nature of a demonic beast transformation is a testament to how strong edelgard truly was no the only thing the transformation into the hegemon could do to her person was modify her ideals into something darker and less humane and the only thing that shook her was the thought of having lost and needing to fight the only other person who made her feel like she wasn't truly alone perhaps all edelgard needs to answer whether she would revolutionize or terrorize fodlin is another perspective with bilath outshining her in power and tactics not only does she have someone to confide in but someone to humble her and allow her to realize she is not the one with all the answers and does not need to be it's ironic the woman who seeks to free a continent by toppling a church finds her peace thanks to none other than the goddess's reincarnation themselves this video set out to understand a girl who was broken and the woman she became edelgard's journey started when she was kidnapped and was forced to witness the horrors of the agarthans firsthand it looked deep into her double life as the flame emperor how she cooperated with the agarthins how she deceived her allies and how she mitigated the damage of her uncle while serving his interests in doing so it also explored the ambiguous nature of her dream and how far she was willing to go in service to it it then looked past the calculating young woman and sought to explore who edelgard really was and really at her core edelgard wants to help as many people as she can with her youth stolen away and her older years robbed from what was done to her she doesn't have much time left in this world in a life drastically cut short and a desire for massive sweeping change edelgard chose the warpath the only way she saw that she could lead fold into a future free from the shackles imposed on humanity by the goddess and the system but when does the value of freedom come at too great a cost in most routes of three houses the cost came of the loss of innocent people her empire her life and even her humanity such extreme actions leading to a tragic end certainly leave her with the marks of villainy and where crimson flower enters the scene to explore her place as a hero when she otherwise wouldn't be we see how much conviction she has to her enemies her purpose was misguided but abolishing the nobility and moving away from crust culture wasn't so was the war worth it edelgard believes her cause is just even if her enemies and players may not agree but is she without any empathetic qualities in the beginning of this video i reflected on how divisive of a character edelgard ended up being in the fandom and while i'm not sure how persuasive this project has been to those dead set on either hating or defending edelgard i do hope that this video can narrow the gap through compromise edelgard was handed the short end of the stick in her personal route but to me that doesn't take away from her otherwise strong characterization to me that shouldn't rob her of the nuance and unique perspective as a main character in fire emblem that she provides thanks for watching deuces [Music] how's it going everyone this is gast off script with some closing thoughts first of all thank you everyone so much for your patience on this video i really really hope you enjoyed i understand that given the divisiveness this character tends to attract i hope everyone keeps it civil in the comments section and also on twitter or reddit or anywhere else off platform that this video might get posted to as i'm sure disagreements are bound to rise as they always do with edelgard in any case if you made it to the editor listening to this right now please leave a like and comment your thoughts down below and please consider subscribing if you haven't yet there is about a third of people who watch my videos who haven't subscribed yet and it would really mean a lot if you uh clicked that subscription and hit the bell icon i worked really really really hard for this video for many months and it would mean a lot to me if you showed your support in that way i also want to give a special shout out and thank you to my 25 a month patrons parnholm melissa farmer adelaide artorias and jay brocks and a big thank you to my 40 a month patrons michael taylor steven rupp prime fusion sleepy sky and fur muzzle if you want to support me and the channel please consider taking a look at the patreon it's a fun private place to chat and we always welcome new faces that come through as i'm finishing up the second version of this video and it hit two hours which is crazy for the channel and i think a huge personal accomplishment for me as the definitive version of this video ends i just want to give once again a big thank you to everyone who left positive feedback on the first video it was really nice and refreshing and a nice reminder that uh beneath all of the uh intense discussions that fire emblem 3 houses can have when you see eye to eye and when you engage in good faith conversations it's usually pretty positive yeah so to everyone who commented in the first video and who reached out after the fact and we talked on discord and everything thanks a ton you guys are awesome and it's a nice uh reminder that there's always positive discussion to be had you just got to find it in the right places and twitter's not one of them so anyways guys thank you so much the edelgard support science definitive edition is officially finished thank you so much for your patience thank you everyone who thoughtfully engaged with me and wherever this gets posted to i hope uh you guys enjoyed this version more i certainly did i'm really proud of myself for this one i am looking forward to taking a long nap uh because the edelgard support science is officially done deuces [Music] you

Channel: Faerghast

Views: 297,104

Keywords: edelgard death, edelgard kills dimitri, edelgard s support, edelgard romance, edelgard and byleth, edelgard vs dimitri, edelgard transformation, edelgard feh, three houses ost, three houses trailer, three houses review, three houses gameplay, three houses tier list, three houses cutscenes, fire emblem three houses supports, all fire emblem three houses supports, fire emblem three houses, fire emblem heroes, fire emblem, fire emblem remake, fallen edelgard feh, edelgard

Id: sPT6loNA870

Length: 125min 8sec (7508 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 22 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Dakress23]

Man Ghast wasn't kidding when he said he would listen to criticism.

If you saw his previous video and didn't like it, then this revision is a must watch IMO. It improves so much it's insane.

[u/Shi117]

Significantly better than the previous.

Biggest issue I ran into with this one is the idea that Edelgard’s motivations for her actions is revenge, when Ludwig’s fate pretty clearly shows that her motives are more than that; if she had wanted bloody revenge she could have axed Ludwig (whom she holds as responsible for her suffering as the scalpel-holding Slytherins who actually did the experimentation) right there and no-one would have stopped her, or even spoken up against it. The fact that she has the perfect opportunity for revenge and she turns it down shows that personal satisfaction through revenge is not one of her priorities. She’s acting out of a belief that “the system is abusive and wrong and it should be ended so there are no more victims like me”, not “this group/system hurt me personally so it should burn for hurting me”.

[u/VagueClive]

I didn't have the chance to watch the original video, but I have to say I really respect that you re-did and added so much to your video. It takes humility to be able to take and incorporate feedback for what was clearly such an intensive project.

I'll definitely have to carve out the time to watch it when I can, thanks for putting so much effort into one of FE's most complex characters

[u/AsterBTT]

Well this is a pleasant surprise! I loved the original video, but certainly felt it had some issues. Thanks for putting in the effort to make an updated video like this, Ghast. I can’t wait to watch this updated version!

[u/Jwkaoc]

Why can I only find this post on mobile and not on desktop? This happened when the old version was posted as well.

[u/[deleted]]

I'm a bit late to talk about this here, but I give this 2.0 video a 9.5/10.

Not only that, you took my single least favorite sections, the Dimitri and Rhea ones, and made them into my favorites out of the 2 Hour long video. You really did justice in explaining your point of view and delving into the characters this time around, and not just Edelgard.

I still disagree on some minor points and some of the subjectives, however it's not really important to the video and honestly a -.5 from a perfect 10/10 really doesn't change much.

My only real hopes for the seemingly inevitable Claude video is possible discussion on certain lines from the original translation being very different in intensity.

Honestly, the video gives me very little to really say, and that's honestly good. If I had to point out the most important part though, it would be how you acknowledged the fact of Edelgard's partial knowledge of history. It's something most fans either completely dismiss as false or 100% true and I think that misses the point of even having multiple perspectives in a game. if one side was completely right or wrong, it could completely devalue the other.

Anyway, keep up the good work, write about some Himbos (I think you said that'd be next, not sure though).

[u/TrikKastral]

Awwww yeah here we go again! 😁

[u/GiuseppeF7]

Hype!

[u/WorldlyDear]

I like the video overall. The presentation and pacing were well done. In the couse of two hours I never felt uninterested. Your speaking was athouritative while still holding a fair bit of personality.

However there where things I'd like you opinion on in regards to the Black Eagles. I know it's been two months, but please respond to this comment.

Firstly, while I like your analysis. I found the section betweeen Rhea and Edelgard lacking for one big reason. Edelgard and Rhea are mirrors for one another. Edelgard and her classmates all bear crests of the saints. Ferdinand is Seteth, Linherdt is Flayn, Bernadetta is Indrech, and Constance is Noa. It would have been a tangent but seeing the saints fight people who bear their crests and how that affecs them and how Rhea and Edelgard treat their subordinants in contrast to the other would treat their respective counterpart would make for a very intersting topic given the symbolism of a new gereration of saints killed by the last. This aspect of Crimson flower recontectuaized the entire route giving new dimensions to Edelgard and Rhea, but the theme of Rhea having becoming the villain who must be defeated by the saints is most highlighted here.

While I liked your analysis of Edelgard I felt like the lack of focus on other characters backstories besides the ones in her supports did a disservice in the analysis as it didn't flesh out world of your deconstructing. While Edelgard may not be aware of the individual details of certain characters life stories I feel like the comminality of these practices are things she would be aware of as a matter of living in this world. Like for instace childern (dorothea) being kicked out of there homes for not having a crest, the corruption of the alliance nobles (Glouster), the treatment of women being seen as breading stock (Ingrid), and Faerghus' racism, homophobia, and toxic masculinity all being things you can highlight as it gives better context as to the state of the world and why Edelgard launches her war on the chruch and the nobility.

I would also like to point this out in the JP verson of the game there is a scripture from the book of Serios "The Goddess’ wings guide and save the people. By those wings, your life is saved." It works well with Byleth as they are caled the wings of the Hegemon.

Finally, I like your opinion on the Byleth reganing their hair colour and losing the crest of flames. It's the only route their the hair change happens and to what senifigance that holds in the story. I feel like this is a good book end for crimson flower because the goddess' power awakened to save Edelgard it makes sense at the end of the story for the goddess' power to leave.