#VW resets the counter to the situation where Nabateans and humans were living together

[randomnameless]

In a way I realise the issue with Fodlan is pretty similar to the one found in Tellius regarding Brandeds, but refusing to acknowledge part of the issue, the games pushes for a less than ideal solution, especially with this ending.

You summed up Claude and his routes as fuck the past and the traditions associated with it.

And I'm thinking, with hindsight, about Rhea's words here.

In our absence, future generations are likely to repeat the foolish actions of their ancestor.

And when that happens, who will be left to stop them? This land has suffered enough as it is.

Nabateans are associated in this route, but Rhea and her Church in general, to the "past and traditions".

In VW, Rhea reveals the truth and is put in the fridge (dying off screen).

And who pops up when we're sure Rhea won't return ?

On the one hand, we can see Nemesis's sudden return and ultimately, final death, as the occasion to cleanse Fodlan from all of its past history and secrets, no more Seiros, no more Nemesis, we get a blank canvas to work with.

On the other hand... Even if the canvas is now blank, what is going to happen next ?

As you pointed out in your post :

but now the false history of Fodlan has been corrected. People now know what the past really was, not some glamorized image of it from the Agarthans nor the story told as part of a peace treaty. The Church is still going to be there, helping to rebuild Fodlan after the slate was wiped clean, free to spread it's messages without having to also recite falsehoods that can give people mixed messages

Will the Church really be free to spread its messages without falsehoods ?

And that's where the Tellius parallel comes in, Fodlan refuses to engage with Nabateans.

Will the Church really reveal that Crests come from Nabateans, and the origin of relics ? Will Flayn will free to show her ears to the world and not be afraid for, idk, potential kids she might have being turned in poleaxes ? Or bled, like she was, to get power ?

VW doesn't answer, hell, no Fodlan game gives an answer.

Hell, we can even make a link : the second she reveals the truth about relics and crests, Nemesis and his Elites, living (well) proofs of human greed and lust for power return.

Rhea sealed Nemesis, just like she "sealed" the truth about Fodlan and Nabateans with her lies.

When the jig is up, Nemesis and his allies return-the game reminds us why those lies were created in the first place.

Some people meme'd and called Nemesis the "ceo of racism", but Nemesis is only an example of human greed/lust for power :: we got Supreme Leader and, arguably, Claude in GW and, even if it ends on a positive note because Claude has a treaty in his hands, the ending mural imo still has one party holding weapons when the others aren't.

VW is painfully silent on the aftermath of Rhea's big reveal - no one reacts to it because, well, Fodlan game means we dgaf about Nabateans but hey, Lorenz just learnt that slaughtering people with pointy ears can give him a relic and a super powerup. Lorenz isn't the kind of person to abuse his power (at least not in VW), but if this "truth" is told to Erwin? What if Erwin immediately wants to secure a marriage between Lorenz and Flayn to get future "super human" heirs? Or maybe, use her in, uh, a more "Agarthan" way to get a poleaxe and new crest for a future line?

Are Nabateans really "free" to live and spread their teachings in a world where there are no lies, and the truth is revealed?

Imo, VW doesn't end with the blank and "new" dawn presented by the game, but it's, again, a return to a past state : an era where humans and Nabateans lived together, but humans knew what kind of power they could get from a Nabatean...

And we know how that ended!

Maybe it was just a "skill" issue and like, where Nabateans and Sothis herself failed to curb down human greed and envy - which led to Zanado's party and Nemesis - maybe Billy and Claude will do better...

And yet, it's just some "maybes" and, at the end of the day, sort of headcanons?

"Telling the Truth" and "Smashing the lies" effectively means painting a giant target on every Nabatean's back. From now then, we won't know what will happen - but we know what happened the last time humans got this knowledge.

And the game, this route's lead (bcs let's be honest, Billy is as relevant as a flower pot in this route) doesn't even take this, say, immediate consequence in consideration.

Rhea conveniently dies at the end of VW - while Seteth'n'Flayn are pretty much ignored in this route as Nabateans - but if she didn't and Claude told her he was going to reveal the "Truth" to get rid of Fodlan's past and traditions, to make a world where everyone can live together regardless of race, etc etc.

Wouldn't Rhea just look at Failnaught, and tell him that Sothis/Nabateans already tried to live with humans - without any lies or omissions, but when Humans desired more power, Nabateans ended up as glorified weapons?

What is going to prevent Claude/Billy from making the same mistakes (slaugther Nabateans to get weapons/trust humans with their secret and hope they won't kill the remaining Nabateans?) their ancestors (Riegan, but also, in a way, Sothis/the Nabateans themselves!) made?

Why were those lies built? Is the "truth" and getting a blank canvas - to create a new society - more important than the lives of a few people ?

I agree with you when you say VW doesn't end up with a "traditional jp" ending, because VW (or maybe I was too influenced by discourse) ultimately champions the "Getting to know the Truth/ending lies" is more important than anything else, regardless of the consequences - I know this also parallels a cultural difference between some parts of the world, lying can be seen very negatively but in some other areas giving half-truths and omissions are more "accepted", especially if it's to protect/bury something important.

Is revealing the Truth and ending Rhea's lies going to benefit Fodlan ?

We don't know, but we know why those lies were made, which VW reminds us through its final boss.

Supreme Leader sacrificed people to get power/for her IdEaLS (even if VW still has her line refusing Flayn's place in Fodlan because of her race!), Nemesis massacred people to get power, in an alternate world, Claude will also kill random people for his IdeAlS (and to get more power!)...

Is it the same of VW!Claude? To make a new world with new values, he sacrifices the few remaining Nabateans?

And in a way, it's annoying because Claude, through WC when he realises Tomas was Solon, understands that piercing the church's secret (aka the Immaculate One and her crest stone) is less important than, in this case, refusing to saddle the Church with another problem/issue and taking part in Solon's plans, aka, Claude could determine that there was something else at stake here than "getting to know the truth and ending lies".

But when Rhea gives her infodump? The end of VW? After knowing why those lies were made up?

"Fuck the past, fuck the traditions associated with it, let's end those lies" which, implicitely but ultimately leads to "fuck Nabateans and their survival".

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Much like Tellius who goes "lol" about, arguably, one of the reasons why the Big Bad does Big Bad things - none of Fodlan's endings (bar Tru Piss lol) deal with the crux behind Rhea's lies, which is often cited as one of the reasons why "the war" happened.

Is there a future for Nabateans to live as Nabateans (aka not hide their ears and maybe transform in front of people) in Fodlan?

Sadly... none of the endings (again, save for Tru Piss) give an answer, and VW, in this way, returns to the situation that existed pre Agartha War. Will History repeat itself again, with a new Red Canyon and a new Nemesis later down the years? We won't know.

I know Claude (and Dimi!) can marry Billy and Flayn, thus, technically, it means they could get (through Flayn?) part Nabatean children... and yet, would those children have to hide like Flayn does in the current Fodlan, or free to bare their ears - if everyone, from Bob the Carpenter to Derrick the soldier, that the Queen/Prince/Princess can be turned in a shiny poleaxe and grant them super powers?

I don't think that's what the games wanted to say (especially with Tellius lol), but that's the conclusion they lead to.

VW ends as a new dawn for Fodlan, it's supposed to be full of hope and a joyful ending !

And yet, just like Tellius that ends with Beorcs and Laguz joking and getting alone, there's still the biggest question left hanging : can they really get along if Laguz die when they "get too close" and racial segregation, at least when it comes to breeding, is the only way they can survive?

VW ends with a positive note between Almyran (or Dagdan?) armies and Fodlan signing a peace treaty, and yet we still see the "foreigner" army with weapons when Fodlanese people have none, besides, there's no Nabatean (no Billy) in this scene, so what, for humans to get along, Nabs have to put under the bus? What of Relics and Crests, is that secret out in the wild and the reason we don't see any in that mural, or they still exist but the game pretends no one will ever give a fuck about it?

Granted, unlike Tellius, I can chalk Fodlan's lack of, uh, resolution, to crap writting and the devs prioritising something else than coherency in their world (tfw no continuity guy and the "uh we added things here'n'there to make the world seem bigger and that's why we left some stuff hanging but don't worry we have our 10k years of lore notes somewhere" from the interview...).

With the last few points in mind, we can see how SS, AM and VW are may be somewhat radical from a Japanese POV.

In SS, Byleth's leadership goes against a very common mentality in Japan where it's viewed as wrong to give people money they did not earn, even when that person is in dire straights. In fact, begging for money is actually illegal over there. So with that in mind, Byleth focusing on reconstruction of Fodlan in addition to the Japanese text saying he supported “every soul” in a motherly-fashion, it does point to Byleth's rule being one that looked out for the people.

It also has elements associated with oudou, considering the Sword of the Creator's Japanese name the Sword of the Emperor of Heaven. Emperor of Heaven is term for the Jade Emperor, the deity that oversees Heaven's mandate (Mazu, the Emperess of Heaven, is commonly depicted in red robes... but she's associated with water as a sea goddess, not fire. She's also said to be an incarnation of the Jade Woman of Marvelous Deeds, and associated with a star in the big dipper, who is said to oversee all aspects of life and death and help those who call upon her. So, Edelgard's color scheme itself might be a red herring, as Sothis is the one associated with water). Byleth judged Edelgard as unworthy of following, rejecting her and in turn leading the Black Eagles to do the same. They no longer bend the knee to their emperor simply because she is their emperor, they take a stand against her actions and work to remove her from power. And this is consistent for them regardless of whether Byleth taught their House or recruited them to another House, not joining Edelgard is tied to their character development (see Ferdinand and Caspar's paralogues not being available in Flower).

Dimitri takes Byleth's supporting the poor a few steps further, believing change has to come from the people and giving them a voice in politics while at the same time supporting them. He empowers the masses, and on top of that even has focus on improving relations with foreign nations (whereas the Japanese text indicates Edelgard begins invading other countries). Dimitri is also meant to represent oudou himself, a benevolent ruler justly governing the people.

Claude also identifies Edelgard's rule as oudou, stops her, but then puts Byleth and his version of oudou in charge of Fodlan. I think the best way to put how Claude is radical is, to put it bluntly, fuck the past and fuck the traditions associated with it.

Claude's goal in coming to Fodlan was to learn from it in order to change Almyra, and he got that in Verdant Wind. He begins transforming his homeland into a trading powerhouse, works with the Church in order to bridge the two nations, and can even introduce magic to his country in one ending. On top of that, people have noted that he embodied a very negative stereotype of his people in Hopes, so his character growth proved beneficial. He's no longer the type who will flee to save his own life rather than protecting his people, he stops trying to manipulate everyone and instead work with them as well.

When applied to Fodlan, it's not saying that the Church is bad. It still continues to exist, but now the false history of Fodlan has been corrected. People now know what the past really was, not some glamorized image of it from the Agarthans nor the story told as part of a peace treaty. The Church is still going to be there, helping to rebuild Fodlan after the slate was wiped clean, free to spread it's messages without having to also recite falsehoods that can give people mixed messages. And on top of that, there's also support for other faiths and customs to be brought in, accepted and learned from. The game really drives home it's the dawn of a new era for a reason.

So, we have that. Meanwhile Edelgard trying to set the clock back on Fodlan, spouting ideals informed by Agarthan manipulations, and trying to conquer the world... this is all supposed to be tyranny according to the devs. SS, AM and VW all support some form of progress whereas Flower, once you see through the cracks and get to know Edelgard, is supposed to be regression. To return to old ways, old traditions, that the Church put a stop to for good reason.