#I'm sorry for flooding the Dedue tag the last day or so i just have a lot of thoughts about him all the time

[isan0rt]

Also tbh like speaking of Dedue and his community, like, there's no way the Duscur soldiers who save him if you do his paralogue in Azure Moon knew he was there alone at the time they saved him. They had no reason to think he was in the dungeon needing rescue. They happened to show up after he had already gotten Dimitri out, but what were they doing there in the first place, unless they were also there to break out Dimitri?

Like, Dimitri's own people left him to rot, his own friends didn't come help Dedue rescue him, the people of Faerghus didn't rise up to save him. People from Duscur did.

The soldiers at the end of Dedue's paralogue think he's naive, but they promise to pay their debts, and they do. Dedue is the reason Dimitri survives when he's been all but abandoned by Faerghus. The fact that Dedue is the one who saves him when everyone else has forsaken him, that his actions to save Dedue's countrymen ultimately save Dedue also, reinforces the themes of healing broken bonds and choosing to build community instead of perpetuating the cycle of revenge. It validates Lambert's whole thesis in even trying to make peace with Duscur that it's better to make a friend than an enemy, and that building bonds will always pay off more than conquest will.

The fact that Azure Moon can't let Dedue coming back be the primary catalyst for Dimitri's healing because of the permadeath mechanic (and, tbh, the need to center the player character) is probably the single weakest aspect of Azure Moon. Thematically, Duscur is crucial to Dimitri succeeding as a king, and of letting go of his need to perpetuate the cycle of bloodshed and vengeance. It shouldn't be possible for Dimitri to have a good ending if the player lets Dedue's countrymen die. That whole situation is just too integral to the setup for his character.

(Three Hopes, it must be said, really gets all this. It's interesting how that game specifically sets up another scenario of needing to rescue Dimitri from being jailed in Fhirdiad by Cornelia, but this time Dimitri's friends back Dedue up, so he comes out of it unscathed. Even so, Felix can't convince Dimitri to stand up and fight and choose to live. Only Dedue can do that.)