#Ayxame is Dragan if he had military power and some recognition

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Who do you think is the most misunderstood character in TS?

Most misunderstood means I have the right characterisation in my pocket, which I can't claim I have, even if some things seen on Reddit are really close to the "August 2019" takes about FE16.

But instead of tackling the Behemoth that is Roland, or even Frederica...

Let's talk about the catalyst, Dragan himself.

Guy is presented as this overtly ambitious man, who is used by his older cousin as an excuse to start the war, because older cousin is an ass who always planned to get rid of him, and the younger cousin laughs at his misfortune.

Dragan was also deeply beloved by his father, Svarog, and looked fondly upon by Frederica, his other cousin.

Tragic Dragan? Yes, without a doubt.

However, Dragan, for all of his wishes to "let the young people reform the world" instead of being shackled by old things/people... drowns in his ambition and in Aesfrost's "might makes right" mindset.

When he discovers the salt in the mine, Dragan's first reaction is NOT to contact and tell his Father what he discovered, or share it with the world - nope, Dragan wishes to use this intel to further his own ambition and take Thalas's spot, becoming Aesfrost's Number 2.

However, he makes the grave mistake of threatening Gustadolv, something that, well, you shouldn't do if you value your life.

Worst (?), to "negotiate" with Gustadolv, instead of, just, telling him "hey I found salt here, what if we start pissing on Hyzante because their monopoly is whack" - something that would have, assuredly, made him Chancellor, especially if he said "By the way don't kill me, I am the only one who knows where to dig/how to dig to find those crystals", he would have won his game - he became confrontational - challenging Gustadolv and even, daring to suggest he could betray his very own country, Aesfrost, to Glenbrook. Whether he would have done it or not, Dragan was potentially a traitor to his own country, ready to "sell" it, or at least not give Aesfrost the ultimate ressource on Norzelia, to gain a place in the "nobility" he so deeply desired.

Because Aesfrost's muhritocracy favors the strong, and the strong needs to crush people to show how strong he is - by challenging Gustadolv, instead of just, working with him, Dragan tried to show how "strong" he was...

Too bad he picked Gustadolv.

Dragan's threats only served to lampshade how dangerous he could become - but as dangerous as a mole, ready to do anything to become "strong", pretty much like Silvio who can also betray his country and Lords to sit with the winners - and, just like Silvio, how weak and unprepared he was.

To make those threats against Gustadolv, Dragan needed an army, needed something that would have made him "unkillable" or at least force Gustadolv to negotiate with him. In a way, Dragan followed his country's values "the strong wins" but forgot that following values, in Aesfrost, is worthless, if you do not have the power to back it up.

Might makes Right : Dragan tried to show his Might, and was crushed.

In the end, he can have the last laugh in the Liberty Ending, since his "friendship" with Serenor gave him the book and all the intel needed to use the salt - hijacking Gustadolv's plan to rule over Norzelia (well about that...)

But Dragan didn't want to laugh, he wanted to live and take Thalas's place, so it's not a win for him, he completely and utterly lost.

In the end is Dragan just a loser?

I don't think so. I think he genuinely wanted to help people and ultimately Norzelia, but he is very ambitious. Unlike Silvio, who we see plotting and counterplotting and doing Silvio things, Dragan's only show of shadiness and Liberty (as in Gustadolv's Liberty) to be free to do whatever you want... involved possibly betraying his country, family and people.

Would he have done it? IDK. The sheer fact he even thought about doing it - and wrote it to his cousin - is enough to tell me, though, that Dragan was truly Aesfrostian to the core, and embrassed Gustadolv's values.

Even if it led him to his death.

Which is, BTW, why I really love Aesfrost in this game, because TS finds subtle ways here and there to inform the player that, no, Gustadolv's mentality and Aesfrost really suck, and are destroying the country and its people too.

However, all this subtility went to Aesfrost, when Hyzante was hit with the general "religion BaD Idore BaD Hyzante BaD" which is very striking.

For one Sycras telling goodbye to his family because in True Aesfrostian fashion he buys Gustadolv's propaganda and will fight against people who aren't trying to kill him nor kill the people - we don't have any random hyzantese thanking Layla for her "shiny purple rock", and how, idk, it managed to save their old grandma or their kid, nope.

But that's a topic for another post lol.