#and Billy needed Sothis to become green

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Adrestia :

I will defeat the false goddess. I will save this world from those creatures and give humanity its freedom back!

Should the one leading the people of the world be someone with humanity or a creature that can merely masquerade as a human at will?

The children of the goddess have been defeated at last. The shape of the world will be forever changed. Humanity is free now. The world is ours once again.

You are a child of the goddess. You must not be allowed power over the people!

Brigid :

The Demon's hair exhibits new color. It is like something from one of Brigid's old stories. "One will be chosen by the spirits and granted their protection. And with that protection, great power."

In Brigid, we have legends. Stories containing people who have a spirit living inside of them. Those spirit people have much strength. They are maybe able to fly in the air or race across the ocean. Hair that shines and eyes that glow... They have qualities that are not unlike what you are looking like, Professor. Do not have doubt, Professor. The powers you have are like the powers of the legends.

Silly Petra, hopefully in Tru Piss and Supreme Bullshit, she's fully Adrestianised and understands her foolish savage folklore were only lies and deceit spread by those vile creatures masquerading as humans to keep control over Fodlan, but savage and ignorant as her people are, they prefered to buy those lies instead of "defeating" them all to free the world for humanity.

And people say Imperialism BaD, go figure!

But if Petra remains uncivilised and ditches Adrestia's warm embrace, she allows those creatures to rule over humanity again, propagating her foolish and ridiculous tales :(

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Looking at some stuff for a plotbunny of mine, I incidently noticed this 

and in the jp version

With the expected differences in delivery and tones but bar that -

Rhea here is acting as if she knew what Jerry wrote in his diary, and is surprised her bro found out !

(Did she read it already, or knows what it’s about?)

I’ve already supposed during WC, in general (and after her Seiros the Warrior stunt), Rhea ultimately thinks the world needs Sothis, because she cannot guide it to prosperity like the Goddess most likely would.

Still, because Rhea hasn’t completely given up on Fodlan yet, unlike Lehran, she still cares and offers her help to everyone around.

Rhea felt “safe” enough, at one point, to abandon her hair dye and use her real hair colour (maybe her real name too?), even if that used to spell certain doom a thousand years ago.

And then, she read Jerry’s diary.

And learnt why Jerry ran away, because bby!Billy isn’t “natural” and how it made him afraid. Especially afraid of her, someone who saved his life, someone he knew and worked with and apparently had a good relationship with for at least 300 years.

Of course the game follows this course, the second Billy becomes green Rhea is more and more insistent on making them sit to bring Sothis, because red herring and all -

But what if Jerry’s reveal also participated in her general feeling of hopelessness and resignation, at how only Sothis can save the world now?

People might be seeking Nabatean parts for power (breaking in to steal Seiros’s bones and actually the SoC?), people knowing they can find “power” in Nabatean blood, people knowing her niece has “special blood”, gross experiments using Nabatean parts (demonic beasts, even if they are using artificial crest stones), old enemies resurfacing in her own home (Solon) and now, that.

It’s not the final nail in the coffin (i suppose kind of similarly to Dimitri, Rhea’s final moment of despair is the Holy Tomb, aka humans really seeking Nabateans parts for power + a Hresvelg!) but she grows more and more desperate, the probability of another Red Canyon happening grows higher with each passing month -

The world is going to fall, someone she thought she could call an ally died, and lo, that someone had never been her ally (at least not for the last 21 years) - she needs Sothis more than ever now and oopsies, her brother finally catches on her plans -

Imo she’s less pissed (lol) than surprised, but ignores him because from the moment Billy started to show signs of Sothis awakening, Rhea became an ostrich, putting all of hopes for a good resolution of the situation on what Billy represents - people know Flayn is a Nabatean and are hunting her for her blood? Seteth’s first reaction is of course to gtfo away, and hide again, because he knows what will happen if she stays, Rhea most likely knows it too - but it’s alright, because Billy is here.

Billy, who might or not be Sothis at this point (for her) is here so there’s no need to panic !

And yet, the world really start to spiral in a narrative she knows too well, a narrative she cannot stop (but doesn’t try to stop either?) and so she fuels all of hopes on Billy and the chapter 11 revelation.

With the added twist that unlike last time - when Nabateans were alone against Nemesis’n’pals - now she has allies, so maybe Zanado won’t happen and they have more “time” than what they thought...

But no, imo Jerry’s diary really hurts Rhea because it’s not like his death deprives her of an ally, but it’s more like Jerry’s diary reveals he has never been an ally to start with -

(add CS to give her another blow with Aelfric, her child, who tries to kill her)

I know Rhea already knew Jerry found her “frightening”, but I don’t think it’s because he knew she was a Nabatean, more like she knew he thought she was stupidly strong, and sometimes has to act stern’n’scary befitting her role

Jerry finding bby!Billy not “natural” and running away from Rhea could only mean, imo, to her, that Jerry found out his baby wasn’t human and ran away from her, who isn’t human either. Unlike Willy and the Adrestians of back then, the second Jerry finds out she’s not “natural” like his baby, he bails out on her.

In other words, a person she thought highly of and respected/loved/called an ally/friend would have left her in a heartbeat (lol) if he ever knew the truth about her.

Ultimately, Jerry’s diary to Rhea, in the course of the game, cements the “we cannot trust humans because they will turn on us the second they know who they are” feeling she had 1k years ago - then dropped - then believed in again - then re-dropped.

Humans are out for their parts, Nabateans cannot trust humans -> only Billy as Sothis can save them now. 

That could explain why she hyperfocuses on Billy - beyond a mere wish to see her mother again - Billy/Sothis is the only person able to thwart a cycle that starts to replay itself and ended, last time, with the Red Canyon.

As for Seteth’s reaction...

He came to trust Billy, but wonders what they are, and asks Rhea what she did to Billy, unaware - at that point, that Billy is supposed to be Sothis.

When he finds out (after Supreme Leader’s stunt) he has his anwers, as expected, Rhea really tried to rez Sothis he is annoyed, but what is done is done but moreover...

Now understands what has been going on in her head, and how desperate she is (something she later confirms) and what she wished for, Sothis to bring order back to the “wayward land”.

Seteth accepts to help Billy - and it is revealed, given how deferent he is to them in SS and follows their choices, that he actually shares Rhea’s wish, maybe not to see Sothis return, but Billy, her avatar, to guide the land. Imo, given some of his own lines, Seteth too believes in a better world guided by Sothis, but unlike Rhea, even if he despairs at the current state of Fodlan with wars and what not, he isn’t yet at that point where he gave up on humans and Nabateans and a world where Sothis isn’t here - the second she appears (or her avatar) he undestands and follows her lead, but if she’s not here? He’ll try to manage and do his best for Fodlan...

Something Rhea did, but then stopped believing (or not? 12 vessels in 1100 years isn’t the sign of her being completely desperate, despite what we’re told) and believes again.

It’s kind of fitting with the Nin dev interview from 2020, Sothis is the Progenitor God to Nabateans, and they believe she can make the world go back on the right rails again.

However, Seteth still thinks/hopes/believes that even without her, Fodlan can go round, something Rhea doesn’t anymore, at least during that specific moment the game is set in, and before Billy receives their “revelation”.

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Something you’ll find interesting: if permadeath is enabled and a recruited jeralt dies, byleth says they’re sad they lost him, but at the same time say that now that he’s gone, they’re going to seek out rhea themselves because they want to know why jeralt was avoiding her, they want to find out the truth. So azure gleam does have that even if it’s a crumb at least, and sothis was still fucked writing wise. But it does give weight to the fact that byleth has a stronger family with the church than they did with jeralt. Who knows? Rhea obviously recognised them as Sitri’s (in golden piss but still) so she’ll likely take them in and tell them the truth they want to hear.

This also made me like Byleth more (i didn’t hate them in houses, but i was more indifferent) and it makes me mad that they have a genuinely interesting character aside from backstory that houses shafted for whatever reason. Because we get information like them being curious about the world, getting along with rhea and liking her (she’s the only character to have a pre time skip a support), and even being quite soft spoken and gentle instead of the energetic protagonist types. I’m just disappointed that was only shown in three holes and feh instead of their actual debut game. Is Koei to blame to try to force us as players to want to woo edelgard or why did they make them mute? I would’ve loved to hear them voiced talking to rhea about sitri and the nabateans and having tea and fishing with Seteth and flayn.

Oh really???

AG can possibly still end with Billy at the monastery, becoming a teacher, and maybe Worst Mom having to interact with her children (lel) - it really is the best route lol

Pretty sure Rhea knows who they are, and if Billy's already green, she might even think they're Sothis and come to the realisation that they're 2 different persons earlier than in FE16 too!

I think @renisfan pointed it out earlier, but JP!F!Billy is also more soft-spoken and gentle than what is the "western depiction" that tried to maker her appear more "Badass".

But yeah, as I suspect, the reason why Billy couldn't be more "themselves" or "interesting" in FE16 was because Billy must be able to woo Supreme Leader - thus they cannot really get to know their lizard fam - and also because both games are allergic to Nabatean content - bcs Hresvelg Tea - so Billy being a half-nabatean like being cannot be under the spotlight.

I know I joke a lot about poor Jerry, but the fact that FE16 really tried to hammer the "best dad uwu feel sad for him uwu look we made two mouthpieces to tell you how awesome he was" angle when it also didn't erase the dramatic implications that Jerry effectively ran away with his kid because the kid was "abnormal" - as a result of the heart transplant Sitri asked Rhea to perform/or because Billy is biracial - but never developed about it, bar some half-assed reheated ravioli can "maybe it was a mistake to leave the monastery" before his death...

Only for Nopes to add more on the "deadbeat dad" angle and highly suggesting Jerry, as much as the crest stone, is the reason why Billy was so emotionally stunted...

But we couldn't have a resolution with Rhea and Jerry and Billy, where it would be more or less revealed that Jerry loves Billy and ran away to protect them from Rhea, even if what Jerry feared was only a result of Billy, just like Sitri and Rhea herself, not being human.

And we of course couldn't have Jerry, after learning the truth, feeling like a watermelon because even if Sitri wasn't a human, he still loved/s her, ultimately apologising to Billy and to Sitri to have shat on her last choice - with Billy telling him that he doesn't need to apologise, but maybe from now on they can all live together and be a real family, regardless of their race because they love each other, and sit on warm rocks together -

Why?

Because the game dgaf about nabateans, and coexistence between humans and nabateans directly contradicts Supreme Leader's motto, and Supreme Leader can never look bad or be contradicted, because everyone has to learn to love her, so even if she says Nabateans are incapable of human feelings, shouldn't rule over the people because they are nabateans, have no regard for human life or are cruel beasts - we can't have anyone's arc go frontally against her mindset and say that despite the shape of their ears, Nabateans and Humans aren't so different, they have the same feelings and can ultimately live together, hell, through Billy, love each other.

Now, I'm going to drink a cup of Earl Grey.

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But Byleth is a human. CF is the route where they become human anew, it's the route where they make the choice to remain human instead of becoming a god. Someone made an article about non-binary Byleth and how his choice to be a human was the lynchpin of CF.

And this is where I disagree anon.

I have read that article, but it started with a wrong premise, Byleth is never asked by Sothis in the beginning if they’re human, they’re asked if they are mortal :

Which is funny in-game, because Sothis can literally be all of the three above, she’s a ghost here since she died, the Agarthans see her as a demon but above else, Sothis died so that means she is mortal (in a way).

Also, in CF, Billy only becomes human (well) after the crest stone poofs out of existence, so for a lynchpin, the goal is only met at the end and given how Billy uses the spinal cord of the dead lizard goddess thanks to their lizard blood it makes the entire thing kind of weird ?

The reason why you’re set on CF instead of going to the SS default narrative is if you want to side with Edelgard, or want to protect her but given how you never question her you effectively side with her (just like Billy does if they pick another house).

Ultimately, the game spells that Byleth isn’t a regular human through their mother, Sitri.

In SS’s finale, it is revealed Rhea created Sitri.

In CS, it is revealed Sitri was not a human, she loved others “as a human would” but she didn’t decay like a human and Aelfric fusing with her and the blood of other Nabateans results in a creature that looks like a Nabatean and not a grotesque Demonic beast.

CS gives us strong clues to believe Sitri wasn’t a human, she was a homonculi, but even more, she was a Nabatean-inspired (?) homonculi. We don’t see her ears for confirmation, but I suppose Rhea must have wanted something close to Sothis’s OG body, Sitri has green hair (like Ignatz though), Sitri doesn’t decay like Nabateans when they’re resting or their bones used as weapons.

So this means Byleth is at least 50% pseudo-Nabatean, through Sitri.

What does “reclaiming your humanity” means then? 

Even in SS, where Byleth becomes King in the end, the characted is asked to wait 1 month to give their decision, meaning, if Byleth was some kind of irresponsible dude who might have wanted to resume his mercenary life instead of trying to rebuild the land since everyone’s dead, they could have said so. Byleth become a god/king is their own choice (in SS), something they were expected to choose but nonetheless not forced to. 

CF is interesting in defining what it means to be “human”, is Rhea lacking humanity because she is a giant lizard and if she does, then Billy and Edel, who are humans biologically wise, have some sort of moral or just higher ground? Are they humans? Can humans and Nabateans co-exist? 

CF is clear that nope, they cannot. The other routes ? They say something different. I don’t know if it was intended or not, but both Dimitri and Claude can end up with Flayn, a Nabatean. Seteth can marry a human woman in their routes. They don’t need to hide or are prevented from having “power over the people” because they are Nabateans.

Ultimately, back to your assumption about CF, what does it mean for Byleth to become human? Is it to get rid of their nabatean DNA, save for the crests because damn if those things are useful, to get a correct hair color or to get rid of Nabateans in Fodlan, to get rid of Sothis’s presence aka the one thing that saved Byleth when they were fighting against Solon ?

The lynchpin of CF is Edel. CF is Edel’s route. 

And as much as I hated it when I discovered it, SS is Byleth’s route.

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I know it’s a general consensus that CF did Edel dirty when the reason why the Empire was in a stalemate during the 5 years gap was because “Sensei is missing :’( “

But can we also talk about Seteth - who has to wait for Judith (or Rodrigue) to give him the “Rhea was caught by Imperial soldiers maybe you should start looking in the Empire to find her” despite everything in the game pointing at the obvious “the empire caught her”?

In SS, when he finds Rhea he’s all :

Seteth: Rhea... I am overjoyed that you are unharmed. I could not stand losing another of our kind.

Well, as overjoyed as static models can be.

Seteth loves his daughter and (loves?) cares about his sister, because he doesn’t want to lose another Nabatean. But the flimsy “i’ve been looking everywhere for 5 years to find her but our church spies couldn’t find her” kind of sucks.

Like, not that complicated but :

Dubious people steal Flayn’s blood knowing she’s part lizard --> Dubious people work with/for the Flame Emperor

Dubious people experiment on humans using crest stones to turn them into monsters --> they work with/for the Flame Emperor

The douchebag who captured Flayn because she has lizard blood and helped Solon’s science project in Remire works for/with the Flame Emperor

Same Douchebag helped zealots to steal Sothis’ bones and/or pillage Rhea’s tomb --> something something Flame Emperor

Flame Emperor is revealed to be Edelgard --> something fishy is happening in the Empire

Edelgard becomes Emperor and declares war on the Church

Edelgard uses Beasts, Emile, and regular Imperial Soldiers in the Battle of Garreg Mach

Rhea turns in her alternate form to fend off invaders and buy time for the church people to escape

Rhea goes missing

Where could she be? Where should we start looking?

She was totally chilling in Dagda?

If only the answer was not “the imperial palace”!

Like, this is the number 1 location anyone would suppose she’d be kept in! Or Enbarr/getting intel from the Empire should be the first priority!

But no, Seteth needs Judith, 5 years later, to know where Rhea is or that “Rhea was dragged off by Imperial soldiers” and maybe it’s time to storm Enbarr?

Wow, dude. So yep, Macuil was the strategist.

If this is not a contrived as fuck reason not to have sent a stealth squad to infiltrate the castle, rescue Rhea before Billy wakes up, I don’t know what it is.

I know Seteth and the remaining Church peeps don’t have the manpower to tackle on Edel and her Army head-on.

But, idk, Leif didn’t have manpower to rescue Nanna and Mareeta in FE5 and yet he still tried. Or how Roy rescued Lilina without the army he has at the end of FE6, before going against Zephiel.

We could had a Billy-less route, or even Gaiden if you still want Billy to be important to the greater plot, where Seteth, Flayn, Catherine, Shamir, Alois, and, idk, Cyril infiltrate the palace, discover a secret lopto temple and after crossing a fow room with craptons of warp tiles find Rhea’s cell, but they can’t force it, they need Sothis’ power to do so so they vow to return with the professor and then the game resumes.

(you could even get a glimpse at the 11 deadlords in the sleeping pods, each one guarding a room, and the Nemesis one is positioned just in front of Rhea’s cell but their sprite is a bit green-ish)

We could even had the Church stealth squad receive help from Manu and her Mittelfrank friends showing that not everyone in the Empire was “make Adrestia Great Again and Down with Religion!” instead of telling us through a NPC. (make Manu have a pass white magic spell, idk, something echoing her “talent and beauty isn’t enough to be a diva” and her alternate Assassin!Manu we see in AM if she wasn’t recruited)

Idk, anything but “well i tried to look for you in Remire, Rhodos and even Zanado but I totally didn’t think the guys who attacked us and know about our secret could have caught you! sry”

“Adrestia also invaded Briggid, you know? I’ve spent 3 years looking for you there”

But of course, if the only source of intel were the local church branches, knowing how Adrestia ejected its own a few centuries earlier wasn’t helping!