I liked Silver Snow more than Crimson Flower. Didnt finish Claude's route tho.
I stan our Emperor Edelgard but one can't ignore that she is an antagonist/villain to anyone that gets in her way.
You have forsaken our Emperor (avatar change)! A prequel or sequel, it would be good to see the other continents focused on.
I haven't played the other routes yet (waiting on the last DLC pack) but I don't see CF as an alternate route. I'd argue the opposite that it's the main route (not necessarily in a canonical way) and that's why other routes fill in the gaps and explain things. It's a game designed to be played more than once, and I don't see how most players wouldn't pick the Black Eagles first because of Edelgard. For better and worse, she's the only woman house leader. Though with that logic, I suppose Silver Snow is more logically the main route since Crimson Flower's flag is easy to miss.In 3H itself, CF is clearly the alternate, not the main story, e.g. the time gap makes no sense in it but still happens, it is all 'rah rah Edelgard' without offering the substance of her story detectable elsewhere, it is shorter than others, etc. It is basically a dumb "what if I hadn't killed her..." instead of actually going into her story (major lost opportunity).
I think it's more Edelgard and the Black Eagles are slightly more emphasized by the game itself, as Edelgard is the one Byleth saves in the beginning which creates more of an initial connection between them and the other house leaders. The main theme "Edge of Dawn" is also about and assumedly sung by Edelgard, as its Japanese name is Hresvelg Girl's Song or something like that. All of that together makes it feel like the game favors Edelgard for at least an initial playthrough, though not overwhelmingly so, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's the most popular initial choice.I haven't played the other routes yet (waiting on the last DLC pack) but I don't see CF as an alternate route. I'd argue the opposite that it's the main route (not necessarily in a canonical way) and that's why other routes fill in the gaps and explain things. It's a game designed to be played more than once, and I don't see how most players wouldn't pick the Black Eagles first because of Edelgard. For better and worse, she's the only woman house leader. Though with that logic, I suppose Silver Snow is more logically the main route since Crimson Flower's flag is easy to miss.
Claude can be spared in Crimson Flower. In fact, he also leaves Fodlan if he survives, which is why he's considered a good candidate for a sequel story as his survival doesn't invalidate any route.Surprised how many people voted Verdant Wind. Imo it's the most complete story with few loose ends.
Azure Moon and Crimson Flower don't deal with Those Who Slither in the Dark, so I'd say one of those. Preferably Azure because Claude doesn't die there.
That's not what happens though. Bernadetta is completely safe at the ballista, the fire is meant to defend her and the ballista. That scene is always taken out of context. It's up to the player to drive her out and kill her.Remember that Edelgard won't hesitate to kill Bernie.
Golden Deer for life.
I think her characterization is consistent.
In other routes, she lacks Byleth's influential presence and acumen, and must consequently rely more heavily on TWSITD. By the end of Azure Moon, where she becomes a monster, she's still doing so in service of creating a united Fodlan, with the knowledge that she doesn't have long to live regardless. Instead of the savior, she willingly assumes the role of the antagonist to unite against, accomplishing (part of) her goal either way (just watch her Dorothea support, where she ponders how history will judge her).
That's part of why she forces Dimitri to kill her. Because if she's to unite Fodlan the opposite way she intended, she needs to die. She wouldn't have long left anyway, so living as a hated and divisive figure would have no benefit on a macro level, and likely undermine faith in Dimitri's own rule. She's a thoughtful pragmatist to the end.
It's because I went with Crimson Flower first and then the DLC details for waves 3 and 4 leaked. I put 140+ hours into one playthrough and I got a huge backlog. I'm going to play the rest once the final wave of DLC is released.
The Knights of Seiros are the weakest military force in Fodlan. They're hyper competent, but their numbers are small and they're easily overwhelmed by the armies of any one of the three nations. They're like the Swiss Guard. You can put a Knight of Seiros against any single knight of equal station in any other nation and odds are very much in the KoS's favor. But there aren't nearly enough of them to match any other nation's military. The Church wields a whole hell of a lot of soft power, but they are not a military juggernaut.The knights of Seiros are the dominant military power of Fodlan, which she uses to keep the other church factions and the nations in thrall.
Because the last people who knew where crests and hero's relics came from committed a genocide on her people.She uses her power to hide the truth about the crests and the artifact weapons from the general population
Directly from the religion that she invented:
"The descendants of the Heroes sought their ancestor's power, and thusly their blood. 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."
Lonato wasn't executed because he learned the truth. He was killed because he was literally leading a war party to directly attack the Church to take revenge for his son being executed. And his son was executed because he was literally a party to an attempt to assassinate Rhea. (Though it's likely he didn't know what the goals of the people he was helping were). It's not kind or gentle, but it's not like any other nation, real or imagined, wouldn't execute someone for trying to assassinate their leader.And when someone comes close to learning the truth, she responds with executing the "heretics", like Lanoto in the early game and his followers.
She is trapped, she either tries to escape and get burned or dies there because she is trapped.That's not what happens though. Bernadetta is completely safe at the ballista, the fire is meant to defend her and the ballista. That scene is always taken out of context. It's up to the player to drive her out and kill her.
She isnt fascist but she is Imperialist (you even compared her to Napoleon), that for me is very sad to see people prasing her actions because Imperialism still sucks even if it sucks much less than Fascism.it's still so weird seeing people equate edelgard with fascism lmao. "fascism" is not "being mean to characters I like." the thing that makes FE3H work so well is that none of the characters represent a modern ideology you can cleanly point to and say "these are my politics." for an anime ass game, the worldbuilding positions all three of the house leaders as having ideologies that make perfect sense for the world they inhabit, rather than just representing different contemporary ideals.
if edelgard is a fascist, then so is dmitri, and so is rhea, and claude skates by as a fellow traveler at best. all of these characters are authoritarians of some stripe, as necessitated by the setting! that's a really boring way to read the story, though. all of these characters more or less represent real political positions held during medieval and classical periods. edelgard is the outlier for being a true revolutionary with no exact medieval/classical european historical analog. she's like somewhere between a hussite and time-traveling napoleon.
ANYway, I think the most interesting direct sequel would be set post-Golden Deer ending with the parliament system in full swing. there's a huge potential there for story parallels with the fallout of the english civil war; the church is still exerting pressure on fodlan, the nobles still firmly have the lower classes under their thumb and wield all the power, etc. perhaps another game with three "routes" - defenders of the parliament, revanchists who want the old system back, and maybe some sort of french revolution type upstart faction.
She'll be back :)You have forsaken our Emperor (avatar change)! A prequel or sequel, it would be good to see the other continents focused on.
They don't have time to entrench outside of Edelgard's route. They're busy providing support fighting a war. In Edelgard's route, once Byleth is back, they're pretty much fighting the war themselves without the Wub Wub Underground.I haven't finished Verdant Wind, but of the three I've done, Crimson Flower seems like it leaves the largest loose end, with a full on war with Those Who Slither in the Dark, although that seems odd since the underworlders were beaten in a single campaign in Silver Snow. Silver Snow and Azure Moon end with everything nearly utopian.
She isnt fascist but she is Imperialist (you even compared her to Napoleon), that for me is very sad to see people prasing her actions because Imperialism still sucks even if it sucks much less than Fascism.
No, they are not. Monarchists, maybe. By the end of the game, Fodlan is unified, but that's a result of the war. Only Edelgard's the only one seizing territory to expand her Empire. Which is a necessary part of imperialism.every single character in the game, and perhaps even the series if we want to go that far, is imperialist
No, they are not. Monarchists, maybe. By the end of the game, Fodlan is unified, but that's a result of the war. Only Edelgard's the only one seizing territory to expand her Empire. Which is a necessary part of imperialism.
They do not. What even indicates anything like that? The Church is strictly isolationist. They want the rest of the world out and Fodlan not to expand beyond its current borders.the church and the archbishop quite clearly wield imperial power, even if rhea eschews the title of emperor.
We do not know what the reason Almyra and Fodlan started fighting for is. We know that Fodlan isn't trying to invade Almyra. They put up Fodlan's locket to keep Almyra out. Defending your territory isn't imperialist. Moreover, Claude has pointed out that Almyra mostly attacks Fodlan for sport these days.fodlan and almyra have been fighting over territory for centuries.
Faerghus isn't a character in this game. Moreover, the people running Faerghus when that happened were TWSitD affiliated. The power behind, ya know, the Empire.
Your words:
You listed one character in the game, and you're flatly incorrect about that character.
They do not. What even indicates anything like that? The Church is strictly isolationist. They want the rest of the world out and Fodlan not to expand beyond its current borders.
We do not know what the reason Almyra and Fodlan started fighting for is. We know that Fodlan isn't trying to invade Almyra. They put up Fodlan's locket to keep Almyra out. Defending your territory isn't imperialist. Moreover, Claude has pointed out that Almyra mostly attacks Fodlan for sport these days.
Faerghus isn't a character in this game. Moreover, the people running Faerghus when that happened were TWSitD affiliated. The power behind, ya know, the Empire.
Your words:
You listed one character in the game, and you're flatly incorrect about that character.
Words have meanings and saying them repeatedly while insisting they mean something else doesn't change what those meanings are. Isolationism isn't imperialism. Monarchism isn't (inherently) imperialism. War for reasons other than seizing territory and expanding physical or political borders is not imperialism. Imperialism is imperialism. This is no more politically coherent than the people who insist that Edelgard is a fascist.my god i'm sorry but this is an absurdly prickly post to make over my assertion that the principal characters in a medieval fantasy series are imperialist.
nearly every character in the game, from edelgard to ingrid to the funny guard standing outside the entrance hall, is imperialist. they believe in empire. they serve empire. an empire is still an empire when it's not in the process of expanding, and an empire defending itself from another empire is still an empire. territory is still gained, and maintained, through the process of imperialism, and there's not a single character (outside of perhaps claude) who can envision a world without imperialism.
It's only natural that Crimson Flower will be biased towards Edelgard's cause. I enjoyed the story but there was a lot of unanswered questions, so I know I don't have a full picture of the machinations of Fodlan. Isn't it fair to say that the other routes are going to have their own biases? My views on Edelgard will probably change to some degree after having more information, but I don't see my like for her as a character changing. She's a flawed character with much blood on her hands, no doubt. I don't think anyone is going to think, I hope not anyway, that Edelgard is 100% right in her ambitions and methods. Also plot contrivances have to be taken into consideration. When you sit down and think about it, it's fucking wild that all three house leaders are young adults and in positions of major power.Way too many people having only played Crimson Flower means there is way too many people convinced that Edelgard was justified.
That route bends over backwards for her, and even so, much of her motivations fall apart when scrutinized using information gained in the other routes.
Anyway, I really wanna see Claudes adventures in Almyra.
Not as much as you'd think, no. CF is def considered the black sheep, as the way that certain key characters act in CF is completely different to how they act in pretty much every other route.It's only natural that Crimson Flower will be biased towards Edelgard's cause. I enjoyed the story but there was a lot of unanswered questions, so I know I don't have a full picture of the machinations of Fodlan. Isn't it fair to say that the other routes are going to have their own biases? My views on Edelgard will probably change to some degree after having more information, but I don't see my like for her as a character changing. She's a flawed character with much blood on her hands, no doubt. I don't think anyone is going to think, I hope not anyway, that Edelgard is 100% right in her ambitions and methods. Also plot contrivances have to be taken into consideration. When you sit down and think about it, it's fucking wild that all three house leaders are young adults and in positions of major power.
every single character in the game, and perhaps even the series if we want to go that far, is imperialist
Dimitri actually remakes the unified Fodlan into a Constitutional Monarchy.
No. People are taking your argument that literally anything that isn't borderless anarchism is Imperialism as wrong.i feel like people are taking this as a criticism of the game or the characters, but i really don't mean it that way. i legitimately think the game would suck if there were characters with 100% "correct" political opinions.
"Unifying" Fodlan is absolutely imperialism. None of the other lords have any legit claims on Adrestria, but they still conquer and absorb it into their "United Fodlan" (or newly expanded Faerghus in the case of AM). They just sack Enbarr, kill Edelgard and are like, guess Adrestria is all mine now. Brigid too, maybe, depending on if Petra survived??No, they are not. Monarchists, maybe. By the end of the game, Fodlan is unified, but that's a result of the war. Only Edelgard's the only one seizing territory to expand her Empire. Which is a necessary part of imperialism.
They sack Enbarr because they're literally being invaded by Enbarr. This is as ridiculous the "if you hate bloodshed so much why do you keep defending yourself when I attack you" nonsense Edelgard fires off at Dimitri in her route. Neither Claude nor Dimitri set out to conquer the Empire, they set out to to end a war that Edelgard started. Hell, Claude doesn't intend to stick around in Fodlan at all. The Empire gets its entire leadership structure decapitated half from Edelgard's own culling of leaders who oppose her and half from the war. Adrestia folds itself into unfied Fodlan because it has nowhere else to go. At no point does any side set out with the intention unify Fodlan at all, let alone take over the Empire. But somebody started a war that left all three nations in tatters and that's how they picked up the pieces."Unifying" Fodlan is absolutely imperialism. None of the other lords have any legit claims on Adrestria, but they still conquer and absorb it into their "United Fodlan". They just sack Enbarr, kill Edelgard and are like, guess Adrestria is all mine now. Brigid too, maybe, depending on if Petra survived??
Firstly: The nobility doesn't exist due to crests. There are noble houses that don't have any. Nobility exists because people with wealth and power tend to form these kinds of systems. The most powerful noble houses have crests because it turns out having super powers tends to make it easier to accrue wealth and power.Edelgard at least has an ideological underpinning to her actions. The borders of the Kingdom, Alliance and even the Empire itself are all just the ways Fodlan has been carved up by nobles to tax as part of the very system of nobility that she aims to tear down. If the church and crests are bullshit, then the right of nobles is also bullshit and their claims to territory is illegitimate.
Don't injure yourself reaching so hard.It's still conquest, but it at least has better ideological and moral groundwork than the writ of "finder's keepers" that everyone else invokes to annex Adrestria.
So not only you are using the both sides argument here, but you are also implying that Edelgard is the only one that is ideological right..."Unifying" Fodlan is absolutely imperialism. None of the other lords have any legit claims on Adrestria, but they still conquer and absorb it into their "United Fodlan" (or newly expanded Faerghus in the case of AM). They just sack Enbarr, kill Edelgard and are like, guess Adrestria is all mine now. Brigid too, maybe, depending on if Petra survived??
Edelgard at least has an ideological underpinning to her actions. The borders of the Kingdom, Alliance and even the Empire itself are all just the ways Fodlan has been carved up by nobles to tax as part of the very system of nobility that she aims to tear down. If the church and crests are bullshit, then the right of nobles is also bullshit and their claims to territory is illegitimate. It's still conquest, but it at least has better ideological and moral groundwork than the writ of "finder's keepers" that everyone else invokes to annex Adrestria.
On original topic, I voted Crimson Flower because while Claude's Almyran adventures could take place in any route, it would be more interesting if it was one where he had to pick himself up against after leaving Fodlan. He also goes back to Almyra in VW, but it would be hard to tell any sort of underdog story if he could call upon hispuppet rulerally Byleth at any time to bring the full might of Fodlan to bare.
Silver Snow yea I fucking said it. I truly believe that's the route you could bullshit all of them staying alive in.
Whatever was the initial intention at the start of the war doesn't matter when it still ends with annexing your opponent. And killing the current leadership of Adrestia doesn't make the entire empire suddenly up for grabs. This would be like if in the wake of WWII, America made Japan its 51st state. The war with Japan might have started defensively, but an opportunistic grab at imperialism is still imperialism. The other lords don't just occupy Adrestria, they take it over. There' no "reaching" involved in this matter.They sack Enbarr because they're literally being invaded by Enbarr. This is as ridiculous the "if you hate bloodshed so much why do you keep defending yourself when I attack you" nonsense Edelgard fires off at Dimitri in her route. Neither Claude nor Dimitri set out to conquer the Empire, they set out to to end a war that Edelgard started. Hell, Claude doesn't intend to stick around in Fodlan at all. The Empire gets its entire leadership structure decapitated half from Edelgard's own culling of leaders who oppose her and half from the war. Adrestia folds itself into unfied Fodlan because it has nowhere else to go. At no point does any side set out with the intention unify Fodlan at all, let alone take over the Empire. But somebody started a war that left all three nations in tatters and that's how they picked up the pieces.
Firstly: The nobility doesn't exist due to crests. There are noble houses that don't have any. Nobility exists because people with wealth and power tend to form these kinds of systems. The most powerful noble houses have crests because it turns out having super powers tends to make it easier to accrue wealth and power.
Secondly: Fodlan is "carved up" because half of the continent got tired of being under the Empire's rule. Then half of the nation that came from that got tired of being under the Kingdom's rule.
Thirdly: Edelgard isn't opposed to the Nobility. She's opposed to Crests and heritage being the basis upon which one's merit is judged. She explicitly leaves the nobility intact in her ending.
Don't injure yourself reaching so hard.
Edelgard - Flame Emperor
As the new Adrestian emperor, Edelgard dedicated her life to reshaping the delicate political structure of FĂłdlan. With tireless work and great sacrifice, she reformed the class system to ensure a free and independent society for all. In her later years, she entrusted her life's work to a worthy successor before finally vanishing from the public eye.
Edelgard and Byleth
Byleth and Edelgard ended the tyranny of a godlike being. Byleth was wounded and lost the power of the progenitor god, but it mattered not, as s/he and Edelgard had each other. To ensure lasting peace, the two fought against those who slither in the dark, and to ensure a society where people can rise and fall by their own merits, they spent their lives reforming the antiquated class system. They achieved much in their time together, and it is said that they were sometimes spotted leaving the palace to privately enjoy the world they created. How they spent those precious moments, none but the two of them will ever know.
Edelgard and Ferdinand
As the Adrestian emperor, Edelgard appointed Ferdinand as her prime minister, and the two devoted themselves to ruling FĂłdlan. Their sharply contrasting views made for frequent and lively debate, but with each enhancing the perspective of the other, FĂłdlan was better for it. As they worked tirelessly to create a better future, they were soon bound together by marriage as well. Their children, born to those who had torn down the old social hierarchy, were encouraged to choose their own paths.
So why is CF the one you feel like retconing into an everyone lives scenario?Crimson Flower with a few changes.
Claude is obviously spared. He leaves Fodlan but returns to help out given you'll need his help against THSITD.
Dimitri doesn't die, he's spared to. Edelgard says he'll return in her thing but there will be a part of the game where Sensei knocks some sense into him forcing him to change so he joins your forces.
Rhea obviously ain't living so that's still good.
Basically it's war against THSITD and those who are causing problems but you've got the other lords behind you this time.
Mostly because of Edelgard's character development in the other paths. I think if we go with Dimitri's path in an everyone lives scenario it would be harder to have Edelgard go back face after how she was in the other paths compared to her own. In hers Claude's good and even though Dimitri's Dimitri I think it would be easier and more believable to have him join compared to her joining you.So why is CF the one you feel like retaining into an everyone lives scenario?
You're handwaving just how hard Dimitri hates Edelgard.Mostly because of Edelgard's character development in the other paths. I think if we go with Dimitri's path in an everyone lives scenario it would be harder to have Edelgard go back face after how she was in the other paths compared to her own. In hers Claude's good and even though Dimitri's Dimitri I think it would be easier and more believable to have him join compared to her joining you.
Basically all because of her. Any of the other paths could work in an everybody lives scenario but for her portion they'd have to dedicate a long time for her face turn to really make sense after how she was in the other paths.
I'm not handwaving it and I know that. In my previous post before the one you quoted I said that there'd have to be a portion that Sensei knocks some sense into him so he'd eventually rejoin. There's going to be time before he'd eventually work with her again after how he feels. What I'm saying is that say there is time for Dimitri, I think there would be even more time for Edelgard to join you guys after what she did in the other paths.
You are bending over backwards hardcore to make CF into some sort of golden route.I'm not handwaving it and I know that. In my previous post before the one you quoted I said that there'd have to be a portion that Sensei knocks some sense into him so he'd eventually rejoin. There's going to be time before he'd eventually work with her again after how he feels. What I'm saying is that say there is time for Dimitri, I think there would be even more time for Edelgard to join you guys after what she did in the other paths.
Basically Dimitri and Edelgard will both need a lot of time before they're cool with the other regardless of what path's chosen. I think Edelgard's going to need more time is all.