#Thales

[kropotkindersurprise]

August 20, 2024 - If you want to help out the activists who have been physically interrupting the flow of weapons to the fascist Israeli state by attacking and occupying arms factories and businesses linked to them, you can donate to Palestine Action's Legal Defence Fund here: https://palestineaction.org/defence-fund/

[icarus-mp3]

[whimsycottt]

Pokemon the first movie went hard with the dialogue

[azelfandquilava]

"My Ex-Wife still misses me... but her aim is getting better!"

The idea of Thales and Cleobulus being toxic exes is infinitely amusing to me.

YCH Art by anasamen_ (NSFW warning)

Cleobulus design by @sageofanys

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

I know a lot of people have issues with Edelgard's alliance with those who slither in the dark, but after playing Scarlet Blaze, Golden Wildfire, and Azure Gleam, I realized the biggest thing people forget is just how much power and control Thales and his followers actually have over her, and how little resources she actually has in terms of escaping their control despite Byleth being around in Three Houses. Byleth is under the thumb of the Church, and in most timelines sides with either the Church, the Churches allies, or in the case of Three Hopes, whoever pays the most. Edelgard is forced to work with the people who hurt her the most because she doesn't have better options as things are presented. Thales could easily have her disposed of at any point if she's not careful. So she has to proceed with the war with all that in mind. Its only when something or someone gets thrown in that both she and her abusers doesn't anticipate (Shez and Arval) that she can try and actually fully break free from Thales's control. When you consider all that on top of the fact that she's only 17 when we're introduced to her in both games, she should be commended for how strong she was to make these harsh decisions. She's not an evil dictator. She's a traumatized teenager making hard choices to try and make things better to make sure no one suffers like she has suffered.

.

[theblindarcher]

Those Who Slither in the Dark

GBA style portraits of Thales, Kronya, and Solon from Fire Emblem Three Houses. Made for the Night in the Abyss.

[ym-loreposting]

The Enbarr Conspiracy

Previously I wrote about Agarthan influence in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance from Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. To round that out, here I want to discuss the nation they had probably the biggest and most overt influence on: the Adrestian Empire. Spoilers for both games under the cut.

The Hrym Rebellion and Insurrection of the Seven

Like the Tragedy of Duscur, the roots of the Agarthan presence in Adrestia have a longer history. In the Empire's case, this starts with a rebellion in the Hrym territory in its far east. In the Imperial Year 1167, thirteen years before the start of both Three Houses and Three Hopes, the incumbent Emperor Ionius IX tried to concentrate power into the hands of the imperial throne. In Hanneman and Hubert's C Support, it is explained this would take power away from Seven Great Houses in the Empire. Six of these provide minister positions in the court of the emperor: House Aegir providing prime ministers, House Vestra providing Ministers of the Imperial Household, House Hevring providing the Ministers of the Interior, House Bergliez providing the Ministers of Military Affairs, House Varley providing the Ministers of Religious Affairs and House Gerth providing the Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

Hrym, a house of more ordinary Imperial Viscounts is counted as the seventh of these houses due to its involvement in subsequent events, as explained in the Three Houses Paralogue Retribution:

"It was the six great noble families, plus Hrym."

In response to the planned reforms of Ionius IX, House Hrym rebelled and tried to join the Leicester Alliance, which it is separated from by the Airmid River. In this rebellion, House Hrym was aided by House Ordelia of the Alliance and so they mounted a rebellion. The rebellion was subsequently crushed by the Empire and the line of House Hrym wiped out. A puppet ruler was installed while the actual governance of the region was left to Duke Ludwig von Aegir.

Credit to @cartographers-office for removing the names from the Fódlan map used in the above picture.

In response to these events, the Six Great Houses grew fearful of Ionius's rule and what he might do against them. They banded together with House Hrym to strip power away from the Emperor in the Imperial Year 1171 in the so-called Insurrection of the Seven.

It is hard to say how much of these events happened naturally and how much, if anything, was an Agarthan conspiracy. No direct hints of foul play are given, but there are a few notable things. Around the same time as Hrym's subjugation, the Empire gained sway over Ordelia territory as well. Some of their officials were replaced with Empire officials, among whom were Agarthans. Furthermore, Shambhala, the city where the Agarthans live, is located in Hrym territory as well.

It is possible the Agarthans had nothing to do with the initial rebellion and took advantage of the Empire troops going to Ordelia, repurposing the occupation for their own ends. However, in the chapter Darkness Attacks (Chapter 13) of Golden Wildfire, the Agarthans cause major revolts in both Hrym and Ordelia territories by stirring up bandits. Ignatz compares these revolts to the initial Hrym Rebellion at the military camp:

"The bandits have spread as far as Hrym territory, right? There’s never been rioting on both sides of the Airmid River simultaneously. Oh, but if I recall, House Ordelia and House Hrym have suffered through a disturbance like this once before. At the time, Viscount Hrym staged an uprising, and Count Ordelia joined her. I can’t imagine that bears any relation to our current crisis, but it does give me pause."

This parallel is noteworthy and may imply the Agarthans had a hand in stirring up the initial Hrym Rebellion, but Ignatz also says he can't imagine any relation between the incidents. At the very least, the Agarthans took advantage of the situation to further their own ends in Ordelia.

Agartha takes root in Adrestia

In the Insurrection of the Seven, House Arundel sided with the insurrectionists to strip the Emperor of his power according to the Register of Empire Nobles, Part I. It was the political unrest caused by the Insurrection of the Seven that forced Anselma von Arundel/Patricia, Volkhard von Arundel and Edelgard to seek asylum in Faerghus.

This was arranged by the Agarthan Cleobulus, who had taken up the identity of the mage Cornelia, and it was this that allowed the Agarthans to take control over the Empire. It is mentioned in Chapter 6 of Azure Moon that in the Imperial Year 1174, Volkhard stopped donating to the Church of Seiros. This marks the year that Volkhard was replaced by Thales, the leader of the Agarthans, and also the year that he and Edelgard returned to Adrestia.

Thales would go on to become the regent of Adrestia, likely because of Ionius's political impotence and likely because none of his children were of age yet. It might also have been a reward for House Arundel's support in the Insurrection of the Seven. Contrast this to House Nuvelle, which had sided with Emperor Ionius. As a result, when the foreign nations of Dagda and Brigid attacked in the Imperial Year 1175, House Nuvelle was not given support. Its town was destroyed in the war by Dagda and Brigid and dissolved after the war's conclusion, as explained in the Constance/Byleth B Support from Three Houses. House Nuvelle's territory would end up being given to House Gerth.

Likely as a result of Thales now having control over the Empire, the Agarthans began to infiltrate Adrestia en-masse. As said by Edelgard in her Supports with Hubert in Three Hopes:

"Our hidden foe [the Agarthans] was deeply entrenched in almost every facet of Adrestian society. The two were almost inseparable."

So after the Tragedy of Duscur was orchestrated by Cleobulus in Faerghus in the Imperial Year 1176, the imperial nobles rewarded those involved with large sums of money and resourced. This was likely done by Thales and the other Agarthans in the Empire to strengthen the allies of Cleobulus in Faerghus.

The Enbarr Experiments

Gaining rulership of the Empire was one goal of the Agarthans with taking advantage of its political unrest. However, they also had a second goal and that goes back to the initial Hrym Rebellion. In its aftermath, as mentioned before, the Empire gained sway over Ordelia region and Agarthans managed to infiltrate the Empire officials stationed there.

As explained in the Lysithea/Byleth A Support in Three Houses, the Agarthans performed blood reconstruction surgeries on the children of House Ordelia and killed them one by one. Lysithea was the only one who survived the Agarthan experiments and received two Crests, one of Gloucester and one of Charon, from them. She also lost all pigment in her hair and her lifespan was greatly reduced. The Agarthans considered this a success and left Ordelia territory shortly after.

These experiments were a test run for what the Agarthans went on to do in Enbarr, the capital of Adrestia, after they had seized control of the Empire and with the aid of the Empire's noble houses. As explained in the Edelgard/Byleth Support line in Three Houses, Emperor Ionius IX had 11 children, including Edelgard, and they were all imprisoned in dungeons under the Imperial palace. There the Agarthans performed a second round of blood reconstruction surgeries, leaving most of Ionius's children either dead, crippled by disease or not sound of mind. The goal of the Agarthans was to implant the Crest of Flames in one of these children, as that Crest is the most powerful of all according to Rhea in Chapter 21 of Verdant Wind:

"An incredible power that we children cannot hope to match dwells within the blood of the progenitor god."

Edelgard was the only one to make it out of the experiments relatively unscathed, as she successfully received the Crest of Flames in addition to her minor Crest of Seiros. According to Edelgard, the Agarthans did all of this to create a peerless emperor to rule Fódlan. In the words of Three Houses director Toshiyuki Kusakihara, Edelgard is Agartha's "masterwork."

Thales also makes all of this explicit in Chapter 10 of Three Houses:

"You [Flame Emperor/Edelgard] are our greatest creation. We used the defiled beast's blood as the fuel to your flame, that you may burn even the gods. Now is the time to cleanse Fódlan of that power, and bring forth our salvation."

And that is about everything the Agarthans have orchestrated in Agartha prior to the start of Three Houses and Three Hopes, but their greater purpose and plan remains a bit enigmatic, even though Thales hints at it in the quote above. But what that is perhaps a story for another time.

[heseipikmin]

[themoonsbeloved]

Fellow Glaswegians and Scots, share and spread the awareness please.

If you are unable to show up in person or don't live in Scotland, again share whats happening with everyone and consider donating too if you can.

[existentialcomicsfeed]

The Riddle of the Sphinx

[md-cube]

I like how Thales just throws nukes when he's defeated. He's like : "If I can't win all shall lose" but like, the nukes have failed to destroy their intended targets every single time they were used. You threw me off a cliff and it was pretty much just a nap. One of your operatives tried to banish me TO THE SHADOW REALM and I came back like 2 minutes later, all it made me was angry and more powerful. Why do you think the nukes will do ANYTHING?

[malsfefanfics]

Made this for fun and the lols. I'm sure you can figure out the theme of the video.

This is a Part 1.

Original audio from Cosplayfiend on tiktok, with edits by me.

[mystxmomo]

We can't rely on magic all of the time

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

Actually yknow what. Following up on the follow up ask to the follow up ask, that stupid mole wizard man keeps showing up in my dreams. Someone brought up how Sigurd shows up in their dreams and that makes him their government assigned FE husband and I was just thinking "for the love of god please help me". I don't wanna be queen of the mole people I'm about as intimidating as Flayn. Though I should admit this has happened before with another evil wizard from another fandom so I might just be cursed

Sorry anon but you're the Fodlan equivalent of Princess Peach now.

[android-turret]

Teeth

[ym-loreposting]

The Duscur Conspiracy

The Tragedy of Duscur is an event that is particularly relevant to the Faerghus centered story lines in Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. It occurred 4 years before the start of both games and led to the assassination of Faerghus's king Lambert and the subsequent subjugation of Duscur. However, the exact events are mired in multiple layers of conspiracy from multiple factions within and outside Faerghus. For a while, I was confused as to what exactly happened and this is more or less my attempt to get it straight and to see who was involved. Spoilers for both games under the cut.

The surface of the Tragedy

Credit to @cartographers-office for removing the names from the Fódlan map used in the above picture.

The Tragedy of Duscur is about the peninsula of Duscur, pictured above. It sits roughly northwest of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and was separated from it by the Sacred Gwenhwyvar mountains. According to the Dedue/Sylvain C Support and the Byleth/Dedue B Support in Three Houses, the two regions used to be friendly with each other for a long time and they were even allies.

This was to change in the Imperial Year 1176, when king Lambert, his son Dimitri, his second wife Patricia and some knights from Faerghus were visiting Duscur, were attacked. All of them were killed, except for Dimitri, who was saved by Gustave, a knight who had stayed behind in Faerghus. Among those killed was the knight Glenn, the older brother of Felix and fiancé of Ingrid.

In the aftermath, Lambert's older brother Rufus became regent of Faerghus and the people of Duscur were blamed for the assassination. As a result, the Duscur region was violently destroyed by the Kingdom as retribution. The land was burnt and many of the people were slaughtered. House Kleiman, a very minor noble house of Faerghus, played a large role in this subjugation according to the Register of Kingdom Nobles and was rewarded with the entire Duscur region as its feudal estate.

In the year these events took place, together known as the Tragedy of Duscur, Lambert was also planning major political reforms in Faerghus. This is explained by Catherine in Chapter 3 of Three Houses on the Blue Lions route, as well as that this caused Lambert to gain enemies. Cristophe of House Gaspard, a minor noble house of Faerghus, was accused of being involved with the Tragedy and subsequently executed by the Church of Seiros.

Roots of the Tragedy

That is the story of the Tragedy on the surface, but there is more to it and its roots run very deep. The earliest ones go back to the coronation of Lambert. As mentioned above, Lambert had an older brother named Rufus and in Chapter 3 of Azure Gleam, a Scholar speaks of the rocky relationship between the two. Rufus is said to be smart and unrivaled in politics, with Lambert being the polar opposite although he had a gift in tactics. Rufus did not have a Crest of Blaiddyd, while Lambert did, which is why Lambert became king despite being the younger brother. Rufus meanwhile became the Grand Duke of Itha, a small territory northeast of the central Blaiddyd territory, and may not have been necessarily happy with that arrangement.

The roots of the Tragedy of Duscur continue around the Imperial Year 1160, when Faerghus was beset by a plague. As explained by Sylvain during the exploration section of Chapter 8 of Three Houses:

"It wouldn't be unheard of. Almost 20 years ago, a terrible plague blazed through Faerghus. It even hit the capital city, taking the queen consort's life…or so I heard. The whole Kingdom was in an uproar over that loss."

A Kingdom Knight in Chapter 18 of Azure Moon explains that the source of this plague was the poorly constructed water system in cities like the capital Fhirdiad. Cornelia, a scholar from the Adrestian Empire, advised that top priority should be given to improving the city's infrastructure. This made the diseases go away and in return, she was given a position in the royal court of Faerghus. In Chapter 19 of Azure Moon, Dimitri also says that before she was given this position, her personality entirely changed.

In the Imperial Year 1171, as explained in Chapter 8 of Azure Gleam and the Dimitri/Hapi support line from Three Houses, Adrestia grew politically unstable and Cornelia requested that her old friend Lady Anselma be rescued. Anselma was a consort of Emperor Ionius IX and the mother of princess Edelgard. She was banished from the court due to a political dispute and was rescued by Lambert. Around the same time, Edelgard and Anselma's brother Volkhard von Arundel also sought asylum in Faerghus and Cornelia arranged this. Eventually, Anselma and Lambert developed feelings for each other and got married, though Anselma went under the name Patricia.

The fact that Patricia was from Adrestia and her very existence were kept obscure from the public, with Cornelia regulating the few visits she and Lambert were allowed to make with each other. The fact that Edelgard was kept in the Kingdom was kept a secret as well as to avoid the Empire demanding her extradition. Cornelia meanwhile told Patricia that Lambert kept Edelgard away from her, until Edelgard and Volkhard returned to the Empire in the Imperial Year 1774.

Two years later, Lambert set out to perform his aforementioned political reforms. This made nobles in the west of Faerghus, specifically Viscount Mateus, Viscount Elidure, Viscount Gideon and the lord of Kleiman (who at the time ruled over a single castle) unhappy, but they did not wish to talk with the king about their concerns. This is because they were sure that they would be drowned out by the king's supporters in the east, such as Rodrigue, the Duke of Fraldarius, and Matthias, the Margrave of Gautier.

Truth of the Tragedy

Due to all the existing tensions within the Kingdom, Cornelia was able to manipulate those unhappy with Lambert's reign into assassinating him. The western lords because they did not agree with his political reforms, while Rufus seemed to have desired the throne. She was also able to get Patricia to join in because she promised her that she would be able to see Edelgard again.

The conspirators arranged some Duscur guides, as explained in the Three Hopes Paralogue Wildflowers for the Future. When the attack happened, one of these guides was responsible for the death of Glenn according to Ingrid:

"That man played a key role in the Tragedy of Duscur. And he's responsible for Glenn's death."

Meanwhile, Rufus claims responsibility for killing Lambert in Chapter 3 of Azure Gleam:

"Every night since I killed my brother, I dream a lion is ripping out my throat."

The conspirators however were ordered to keep Patricia's carriage unharmed and Patricia herself was kidnapped, though Thales claims that she was killed at some point afterwards during Chapter 17 of Azure Gleam:

"A foolish question. She burned to ashes on the pyre of our ambitions long ago."

Dimitri was the only one to survive the Tragedy and saw his attackers, knowing they were not of Duscur and thus did not believe the official story behind the tragedy (as explained in his B Support with Dedue from Three Houses). He would ultimately be saved by Gustave, while Rufus was rewarded by becoming regent of Faerghus and the lord of Kleiman gained the land of Duscur and the title of Viscount. Everyone involved also received money and supplies from Adrestia as recompense according to Rodrigue in Chapter 3 of Azure Gleam:

Which leaves the lords Elidure, Mateus, and Kleiman. We believe they—as well as many powerful western lords—were accomplices in the assassination of the late king. Along with the grand duke, they seem to have received large sums of money and supplies from the Imperial nobility. Thinking this to be recompense for the assassination in Duscur, we investigated the link further.

This implicates the Empire as well, but explaining its role is perhaps best left for another time.

Those slithering behind the Tragedy

All of this does not yet explain why Cornelia masterminded the Tragedy, why her personality suddenly changed and why she made life so awful for Patricia that she was convinced to kill her husband and stepson. This is because Cornelia was replaced by the Agarthan Cleobulus, who is the true mastermind behind the Tragedy of Duscur.

As for why Cleobulus did all of this, the answer is possibly found in the non-Crimson Flower routes of Three Houses. During the time skip in those routes, Cleobulus murders Rufus and frames Dimitri for it. This allows Cleobulus to take control of the Kingdom and to transform it into the Faerghus Dukedom, with it allying with the Adrestian Empire in the war in the second half of Three Houses.

In Three Hopes, Cleobulus seemingly attempts to set these events into motion early by manipulating Rufus into staging a coup against the major noble House Fraldarius. The claim is that House Fraldarius is trying to control Faerghus by eventually installing Dimitri as a puppet ruler, with Rufus attempting to gain the aid of the western lords again. If this were to succeed, Cleobulus could rule through Rufus without opposition, but the gambit doesn't pay off in the end as Rufus is killed and Cleobulus has to go on the run.