#and in VW if he's not recruited he fights with dimitri there too and dies as well

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

random Dimitri/Sylvain/Felix relationships thoughts (Ingrid isn't part of it for a reason, hear me out, it's part of this whole thing lol) but

it's interesting to think about the differences in his relationships with Sylvain and Felix in Houses and Hopes when in Houses in CF, Sylvain is the one by Dimitri's end until the very end, but they both die. when he's left with just Felix in SB, they both survive.

it's worth noting that Dimitri and Sylvain are both revenge driven and aggressive individuals, so if it's just the two of them, it makes sense that they would support each other's desire to fight until they die.

Felix is dead in CF by the time you reach them if you didn't recruit Felix. that means he's not there to stop them from sacrificing themselves. in SB he is alive but has to retreat, and Sylvain goes out to fight after that. at that point though Ingrid is already dead, and Sylvain wanted revenge. that said, Felix had retreated, so death-wish Sylvain didn't have Felix to stop him from fighting until it killed him.

in CF, Felix and Ingrid were (presumably barring recruitment) dead, so nothing was going to stop him from dying trying to get revenge or dying fighting for Dimitri. in SB too, Ingrid is dead. in both cases he's lost someone dear to him and dies wanting revenge/to protect what he has left.

in CF/SB, Sylvain dies no matter what story-wise (bar Houses recruitment), dying out of his loyalty to his friends and wanting revenge (and likely the grief of any loss spurring him to fight until he dies). while I'm not 100 percent sure on this, I'm pretty sure Sylvain isn't among the pity recruitment cast in Houses, where you defeat them and you get the option for them to join you. I'm pretty sure that's not available for Sylvain if he wasn't recruited in the first place.

if it's Sylvain and Dimitri fighting together they both die... because neither has regard for their own life and because they both believe in fighting until the end. both of them are willing to die for revenge normally, but when they have each other and nobody else (re: Ingrid and Felix and also Rodrigue are dead by this point without recruitment for the former two)? you've got two people with that mindset and nobody to stop them. they will stay and fight together until they fall though. that is, their loyalty will remain between them right to the grave.

Felix hates that and even tells Rodrigue in their A support that he would find a way for himself and Dimitri to get out of the situation alive. he wouldn't even consider dying an option. this is exactly what happens in SB after they've lost all their friends and family, save for Dedue, and Felix retreats because it's better to him than dying. mind you, Dimitri also retreats when defeated in SB in that same chapter - the chapter that Felix is alive.

in VW, Sylvain "jokes" that he'll keep fighting like he wants to die because it's worked up until then. mind you, Dimitri is dead by the point he says that (in SB, Ingrid was dead by the point Sylvain died too). Sylvain is basically New Mystery's Wolf, where he keeps fighting recklessly as if trying to die (which is literally Wolf's ending text). considering Hopes kept the whole "one of my best friends died and I'm extremely suicidal now" deal, I think it's safe to say that losing his closest friends (any of them) will make him spiral.

in CF, he's lost Felix and Ingrid (either to death or betrayal), and is fighting at the last line of defense, having lost two of his dearest friends and knowing their enemies are coming for the last one he has (and it makes sense he'd be okay with dying at that point, because I think it'd be way too much for him to lose all three of his friends and be left alone). in VW, he's lost Dimitri and also his sense of caring about survival. in SB, he's lost Ingrid. in AG/AM, he isn't nearly as suicidal because he hasn't lost any of his most important people.

not sure I'm explaining this well! but! what I'm basically saying is that if Felix is there to stop them from being suicidal (retreating counts as not being present in the moment to be able to prevent it), it works out. he does succeed in his desire to get them out alive rather than anyone having to be sacrificed for any of them to make it out. if he's not there though, if he or Ingrid died, Sylvain will also die. if Dimitri dies but Sylvain is recruited (VW), he'll still keep trying to die.

in a way Felix being alive and present is what holds Dimitri and Sylvain back from throwing their lives away. Sylvain is more like, Felix has to literally be right there though to stop him, or he won't back down even if it kills him. it's like when you tell a kid not to steal a cookie and they won't steal it while you're there... but once you leave the room that kid is gonna steal that cookie. if Felix walks out for five minutes and one of their friends was killed, Sylvain is going to fight in a way that risks him dying.

if Sylvain hasn't lost any of them he's much more okay, but the moment he loses any of them, he's out for blood. he's worse than Dimitri in that way, because if Dimitri is in a healthier mindset he can be helped and stopped. Sylvain will wait until nobody is looking to go run out and fight, and either get revenge or die trying.

since Ingrid is the first to die among the Suicidal Three Musketeers, I can't really delve into how she'd react to it. she dies in CF (if not recruited) before Sylvain or Dimitri are fought in the following chapter, and in SB she's the first to die as well. however, we do know her dying will spur Sylvain into a reckless revenge fest.

when I say Sylvain is just generally bloodthirsty for revenge though, I'm also counting the fact that he wants revenge for his father in GW. it's not in the main story, but if Claude gets close enough to him in battle, it will trigger a dialogue between them and well... suffice to Sylvain is pissed. that man is the biggest revenge driven man in Faerghus, even outdoing Dimitri himself (Dimitri is a lot more calculating and reasoning when he's not at his lowest points. Sylvain just doesn't care and will go right for it).

[fireemblems24]

AM Chapter 19

So happy that AM has detoured from the path VW/SS is following because that means I get to play a different map!

Possible spoilers for all routes up until ch 19 and SS ch 18 below.

Pre-Battle

So excited for this chapter - because two lords are actually going to work together. It's the first time and looking like the only time based on what's happened in other routes.

Hey, Claude, long time, no see.

Yeah, the Kingdom and Alliance Army teaming up! Why didn't this happen any sooner?

JUDITH! Cool to see her here.

Claude is so sure his city won't fall lamo. That's very Claude.

So are those "wounds" from Gondor why I won't get to use Claude AND Dimitri.

Claude believes in Dimitri (and Byleth) 😭

Ingrid's a Judith fangirl. My too, Ingrid.

Wow, Claude set himself up as bait to get the enemy inside all based on how much he trusted Dimitri and Byleth? That's more of a mastermind scheme than he's pulled in his own route.

Ok, guys, I'm seeing why there's a Claude/Dimitri crowd lamo.

OMG it's HILDA! And she'd defending Claude 😭😭😭 How quickly my heart switches from Dimitri/Claude to Hilda/Claude lol.

Battle

Arundel doesn't really add much to the sad state of elder men from the Empire, does he?

By "that idiot," does he mean Cornelia? He can't mean Fleche.

Claude calling us late while Dimitri is all serious. Yeah, I can see the appeal of shipping them together lol.

Dude, Hilda just crit the first (and second) dude who attacked her. What a champ.

If Hilda dies, does she die for good? I don't think I want to test that theory and will just blitz this map. Which is easy with the Blue Lions in part thanks to Dimitri just being absurd. They're also surprisingly critical happy. Not that I'm complaining.

You know, the last time I was here, I was invading and killing Claude and Hilda instead of defending them. This feels so much better.

Arundel's talking mad shit for a man who's army got decimated in like three turns (other than that little corner he's hiding in, but Dimitri's right there so).

Time for Dimitri vs Arundel dialogue.

I forgot that was his uncle. Poor guy can't catch a break (Dimitri, not Arundel, fuck Arundel).

Dimitri telling Arundel he's rather calm for someone in his position (FYI, all his soldiers are dead).

Why does Arundel want him and Edelgard to kill each other? He really didn't answer the question about what happened lol.

Man, this was way too short. The other routes took me like 10-15 rounds. This one got cleared in 5.

I protected Hilda and Judith! So they gave me presents. Feels good. Feels so good compared to slaughtering Judith while she tries to retreat and killing Hilda for protecting Claude.

Post-Battle

This is legit the only route so far were all three lords get to do something after the time skip except die.

It's nice seeing two lords just talk without wanting to kill each other. Makes me wish we got more of this. But, hey, at least it's Dimitri and Claude who got the chance too.

Claude calling Dimitri and Byleth soft-hearted. He's not wrong.

I bet Dimitri's so embarrassed right now, Claude saying he knew Dimitri would set his own goals aside to help Claude and Byleth just agreeing.

Claude really gambled on Dimitri lol.

Oh, we get Claude's weapon! That's pretty cool. He gave us a present. Edelgard didn't get one.

Why is the Alliance gone? Wait, they just decided to join Dimitri? Did Claude just dump the Alliance in Dimitri's lap?

😂😂😂😂😂 Poor Dimitri. All he ever wanted was to be a good king and revenge and now he's the leader of the Alliance too lamo.

I'm know it's not going to happen, but how banger if I now got to use Claude too.

Yeah, that's what I figured. Claude's leaving.

Oh, now we get to go rescue Rhea.

Yessss promise to meet again. Though I'm sure that's after the game is over. Still, feels good knowing Claude and Dimitri parted on such good terms. Seems like it's a good sign for the future. And the Alliance just willingly joined the Kingdom too.

Oh, God, Felix, never change. Demanding Dimitri tell the truth. Oh, about Edelgard being his step-sister. And Dimitri's telling them about it.

Ugh, how can he talk about his step-mother so calmly? Do we know if she caused Duscur? I really don't want her to have done that for Dimitri's sake, but given how he's this game's punching bag . . .

Glad Rodrigue knew about Patricia. That means Lambert really trusted Rodrigue.

Mercedes is always so compassionate. I love her so much.

Annette - "I feel the idea of fighting family is just about the worst thing ever." Also Annette, can get recruited to Crimson Flower (I'm betting she gets to fight Gilbert at least once, right?)

OMG Sylvain remembered that dagger 😂😂😂 I love how casual Dimitri and Sylvain are with each other in general. It's nice since he's got so many strained relationships, but with Sylvain it's always been pretty easy between those two.

I love how Felix is concerned that Dimitri can't bring himself to kill Edelgard. What a far cry from the guy who didn't think Dimitri deserved to walk on two legs.

Oh, great, another lord willing to work with Edelgard. $10 says she refuses to work with Dimitri too.

Ashe talking about killing family 😭

Wait, though, are we actually going to talk with Edelgard? Is this like . . . diplomacy? In my Fire Emblem? Just Dimitri things I guess.

It's a waste of breath though. Edelgard has no interest in working with Claude or Dimitri.

Edelgard really just takes Ls after she wins before the time skip.

Wait, what is Edelgard planning? "There is no other way," um except there is. You could just, not, take over Fodlan and kill everyone who won't let you stomp all over them.

You know what? I noticed something. Edelgard lied to all the Black Eagles (sans Hubert) about that attack from the evil death cult group (I refuse to call them "those who slither in the dark"). Claude got pressured to come clean about his origins to the Golden Deer, but didn't tell them. He didn't lie, but he didn't tell them about him. Dimitri, though, opened right up to the Blue Lions about him and Edelgard. It's funny that all three get scenes like this, where there's pressure on the lord to reveal something and Edelgard lies, Claude withholds, and Dimitri tells everyone the truth. Blue Lions really feel like a family.

New Chapter

This one is still different from VW and SS now.

We get a different picture too!

So now we go kill the Death Knight - again - Mercedes is gonna be big sad though. Maybe I'll tea time her to try and cheer her up.

So everyone is uniting under Dimitri now. Let's go.

So the next chapter is this fort with the Death Knight there?

Poor Mercie is sad though. I don't like her being sad.

[kendrixtermina]

Follow up to the last post about the beauty in the multiple routes storytelling: This is more about the house leaders and retainers than the recruitables, but another thing that I love about it is how the characters can get both canonical good and bad endings. 

Whenever a famous show ends there’s a lot of complaining about both good and bad endings and arguing for the virtues of both, and I think that alone shows that both have their merits and that part of what makes a story or characters compelling is having the capacity for both: Happy stories are satisfying because you see all the things that weigh them down and wish to see them triumph anyway especially if you emphasize with their struggles, and tragedies are supposed to make you wonder what they could have done different, and to cry for the potential for good that was there. Both seeing the characters be happy, and seeing the drama play out to its full, dark explosive conclusion give you different kinds of catharsis. 

There’s a sort of... completeness in seeing how they act like when they win or lose. Or something in between, as Edelgard and Claude can be said to score partial wins in some of the routes.

Claude wants peaceful foreign relations and to keep the Alliance from being destroyed - he gets that in Azure Moon and Crimson Flower. (he can die in the last one, but if he lives it’s arguably a complete victory) Edelgard wants Rhea and the Agarthans neutralized - that happens in Silver Snow and Verdant Wind, it even happens in part because of the intel she and Hubert have collected, though they perish in the process - but it’s precisely because they’re willing to do that and sacrifice their all that it’s so satisfying to “finally” let them survive it in CF and make it so they don’t have to give it all. 

Of course in Dimitri’s case seeing that he is so doomed and always dies so miserably and tragically makes it all the more satisfying when you get to save him for once and make it so all the goodness in his heart doesnt go to waste. 

Likewise, Claude handling himself so well in the other routes adds a lot to his appeal, in fact it was my CF playthrough that really made me like him, in part because his heroism comes out of nowhere if you havent played VW. I found it just as jarring as Dimitri turning up as this grizzled avenger rly, young Claude is a goofy gremlin if you only know him from afar, older Claude is this skilled politician and an absolute hero. 

When they lose it’s distinctly a logical results of their consistent shortcommings:

Claude either has a risky gamble blow up in his face and cost him everything (SS if you assume he’s dead, CF if you kill him) or plays too defensively and ends up bailing (if he lives) because of his cynism and not really thinking he can win, and because the alliance was only ever a sidegig/ means to an end for him, and no one trusts him because they don’t know his deal (the gronder fiasco in AM and Edelgard’s preemptive strike in CF) 

Dimitri is done in by his exaggerated sense of obligation (”The Dead must have their tribute!”) but also his myopic overfocus on the present and his immediate emotions (he’s doesn’t consider if he can win or that he’s dragging the whole Kingdom down with him into his kamikaze stunt, never gets rid of his black and white thinking, which keeps him from trying to compromise but also makes him see himself as irredeemable)

Edelgard squandered her credibility and antagonized even potential allies with her shady alliance and uncompromising methods, no one believes her, everyone assumes she’s evil and bands together to get her, she ends up fighting everyone at once which is impossible even if you're the strongest person with the biggest army.  Since she wants to avoid being helpless at all cost and has basically given up on a normal life outside of The Cause, she chooses to go down fighting to avoid capture, even when Dimitri and Claude both offer quarter. 

But when they win, you really see their soft humanity come to light in beautiful ways, all the stuff that goes to waste and never gets a chance if they lose:

When Dimitri actually considers what he wants to do rather than what he feels obliged to do, all he actually wants to make peace with everyone and help the poor and downtrodden [Mural where he plays with little orphans]

Claude’s secret ambition is something as benign as world peace. Once he becomes less cynical he proves to be a dreamy, contemplative romantic underneath, all poetic and philosophical [Mural of a peace treaty being signed between multiple nations]

Edelgard is atually extremely altruistic, never wanted power for its own sake and actually always wished for an ordinary life. Once society is suitably unfucked she pulls a Cincinnatus. [Mural with rejoicing liberated peasants]

[aethele]

god ur post is so good.... i think the only reason ferdie can leave her in silver snow is bc ss already has so little appeal being an almost vw copy paste that itd be like “and heres THREE characters you lose!” ): sacrifices made i guess

i have a lot of Opinions on silver snow and i personally have a very strong CF / VW lean,   but i definitely feel like from a  “““choice based”””  ( pseudo-choice based ?  as it is none of your choices matter except the easily-missable CF one )  game perspective,   as a professional writer currently working on a choice-based rpg,   i really think you SHOULD have been punished more for abandoning your student. 

just like how lorenz and ashe will ditch ya in other routes,   i really think some beagles kids should have ditched you in silver snow.   like,  ya know,  consequences.   it would have been way more dramatic from a storytelling perspective,   having to live with your choices and fight your former students.   of course some of them have very valid reasons for leaving the empire  ---  petra for example  ---  but there should have been more.

i think ferdinand because:

he loves the empire.   in VW he says there’s a hole in his heart that will never be filled after you sack the empire,   and he’s super depresso in non-CF routes.

adrestia is already on rocky terms with the church,   and ferdinand himself says that religion shouldn’t be forced upon people ever.   so why on earth would he side with a church when he’s prime-minister-to-be of an empire that already thinks it has too much authoritative power ???  especially one set on destroying the empire ????  his home ?????

his dialogue just feels so bizarrely out of place since  in every other route  he is one of the most sympathetic characters to edelgard.   he talks about continuing her legacy after she dies !   he tries to get her to leave in VW so they don’t have to kill her !   but in silver snow every other line from every character is about how she’s just gotta die.   it just doesn’t make sense for him imo. 

he hates corrupt nobles.   that’s like,  the crux of his entire character.   he has some disagreements with edelgard,   but at the end of the day they have very very very similar ideals.   he clearly dislikes the current system and wants reform.   ever read the last line of their paired ending ???  “Their children,  born to those who had torn down the old social hierarchy,  were encouraged to choose their own paths.”   that’s good kush right there

it just would have made sense for edelgard.   she wants to get rid of ludwig,   ferdie wants to get rid of ludwig,   and ferdie becomes duke aegir / head of his house after ludwig is unseated.   house aegir is the most powerful of the great noble houses.   given her character and her hatred of TWS,   you would think she would prefer ferdinand retain his own house than hand it over to arundel  ( and look what happens there ! ).   plus it’s the only house / territory she outright seizes ?   ferdinand himself is the one who explains that she jailed count varley and allowed his wife to take over instead.   why wouldn’t she extend that to ferdinand ?   

ferdinand says he left because he didn’t want to be her puppet but i find it very odd that he would just abandon his own people and territory like that.  he has basically dedicated his life to them and talks nonstop about how true nobles serve their people before themselves.   he also sees it as his entire life’s purpose to guide edelgard and correct her when she is on the wrong course of action.   in every single route he chastises dimitri’s retainers for being poor retainers and not stepping in and correcting dimitri.   but then HE abandons edelgard ???   it makes no sense.  the prime minister’s entire purpose is to act as a balance against the emperor and he tells hubert that’s why he’s always challenging edelgard as her retainer.  and clearly in CF he is able to mitigate a lot of internal damage to the empire bc he prevents an entire rebellion in hrym.   if you don’t recruit him in other routes,   dorothea calls him a dog for staying with edelgard and he replies  “I will not try to explain my duty or hers. You would not understand.”  he clearly sees it as his duty to stay at edelgard’s side and challenge her to make sure she makes the right choices !  AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

anyway that’s why i don’t write him in silver snow.   out of the non-CF routes,  i think he fits best in VW.   the church stuff and lack of sympathy toward edelgard in silver snow just does not mesh with my interpretation of ferdie  ( of course other ppl are welcome to their own interpretations ).  thank u for reading my essay  

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

What I will say about anon's part is that Fleche doesn't disappear in CF after Randolph unceremoniously dies in front of Edelgard after his report. She does go poofie in the other two routes though. In Hopes if you include that, she does have an arc about wanting revenge on Claude (which is technically justified in this route whereas it isn't AM - getting back to that later) and is basically the same Fleche we know from AM.

You're right though that Randolph does whatever he has to for a promotion and it's pretty awful. It's also awful to me how Fleche could've been a better character but she was reduced to "my brother was obsessed with fighting in war for a promotion and got himself killed and now I'm mad at the people who killed him even though he did this to himself in the middle of a war when any random shmuck could've lanced him in the back".

Also, considering they fight for the aggressors in this war, I have no sympathy for people wanting revenge on the Empire's side. Y'all made the decision to people's countries and homes like that. Y'all have no right to talk about revenge from loved ones dying in the war y'all started.

As for Dimitri, that entire storyline is like eh but it makes sense in the context of Dimitri realizing that his desire for revenge could lead to him being killed and that being that. Fleche's arc existed to improve upon a main character's arc. Giving Fleche and Randolph names was also meant to give a bit more significance to their paths leading to nowhere, and thus telling Dimitri his would too at that point (which is why he dies in VW/SS).

The reason I hate when people complain about wah wah Fleche in AM is that... Dimitri never even laid a single fucking hand on Randolph or Fleche. Her anger and rage was misdirected and she just blamed it on the only person she was aware of in the Kingdom army, having hear "monster" in the name and so just assumed it was him. Byleth killed Randolph and Fleche, and Byleth was prompted by Rodrigue, who was already dying. Point being, Fleche's anger got someone who had nothing to do with her problems killed while trying to kill someone who had nothing to do with her problems.

Here's the thing. If Randolph had gotten taken prisoner, he'd still be alive. Dimitri was more likely to take him prisoner than to kill him. Byleth just "couldn't stand watching Dimitri" as he rambled about what he would do to Randolph... which honestly he probably would not have even done. I can guarantee people in his group would talk him out of it.

Considering Dimitri struggles with the idea of killing Ferdinand and Lorenz if they're not recruited, it's a hint that all his words really are just hot air. He tries to convince himself they had to die because he can't cope knowing they/one of them died. He gives a pathetic excuse over it (and remember, anyone could've killed them in battle - he's just trying to reason with their death and convince himself why it had to happen) and tries to drop it quickly.

AM Dimitri, even at his worst, tends to speak his rage more often than actually do anything about it, which imo is attributed to him having friends/family (i.e. Rodrigue, who he literally calls his second father) surrounding him and helping him in a way that doesn't happen in VW/SS (because it can't for story purposes obviously so I have to let that slide lol).

Fleche is an excuse for people to hate Dimitri. He never harmed her, nor did he do more to Randolph than fight him/his invading army. Byleth was the one to kill both siblings, but no no nooooo, the stans can't possibly hate Supreme Leader's obsession and waifu! Better blame it on Dimitri then!

Honestly, Fleche's revenge driven arc fits better in GW because Claude did actually let Randolph die so he could deal with the Church's forces and the Empire's forces all at once (seeing as he expected Edelgard to turn against him after Rhea was dealt with anyway, so he wanted to save as many of his own people as he could while also eliminating any future threats). Technically Fleche's reasons for wanting for revenge are valid.

In AM it's literally just "this is the only guy I'm aware of in this army and they call him a monster in the Empire (surprise surprise, the Empire calling a mentally unwell person a monster) so I'll just assume he killed my brother who left me, who begged for him not to leave, to go to war for his uwu promotion."

@ random it's your turn!

I'd say the reason Edelgard doesn't get backlash and yadda yadda is because we know she doesn't need a wake up call. She knew what she was doing and why, and she was fully capable of making her decisions rationally. Dimitri was in a state where he was hearing voices of loved ones in his head calling him awful things and demeaning him, telling him to kill Edelgard over and over and over... and he heard this for basically five years straight with nobody around to help him believe anything else.

Also, for how lowly Dimitri thinks of himself, it still hurts him to hear those voices saying those things to him. It still stresses him out and he just wants it to stop. That's part of why, outside of his own need for revenge, he's so desperate to kill Edelgard. He believes the voices will stop tormenting him if she dies, i.e. he's literally going insane and has lost his mind at this point. He does need a wake up call and he needs help.

In contrast, Edelgard could, sure, be told what she's fighting for is wrong and that the Agarthans lied to her and such. The thing is though, at this point she firmly believes in what she knows about the Nabateans. There's nothing that would make her stop except killing Rhea (and wiping out all Nabateans, which it's notable that in CF you have to use Byleth to allow Seteth and Flayn to escape or they will die) and achieving conquest (something she's up front about, so she's not unaware that she's wiping out the other territories in the process of her war "against the Church". The Church is her propaganda for her war of conquest, and she's fully aware of that).

Basically, even if someone tried to argue with her, she wouldn't change her stance because she knows exactly what she's doing. Dimitri was delusional and literally thought he could still talk to Glenn. When Edelgard is confronted with her actions by Dimitri in AM, she argues her perspective with full awareness. When Dimitri is confronted about basically anything, his reasoning starts to fall apart and he has to search for reasons why things are happening (ex. Ferdinand and Lorenz).

Only once he's a bit more stable again can he start to think and reason properly and try to ignore what the voices tell him - something he is aware he'll always have to deal with, which he states outright, so the stans' argument of "his relationship with Byleth is just a fix him fantasy" blew up in their faces before it even existed (and in fact is a hugely ablest argument against mentally unwell people, trying to argue that Byleth can just magically fix him when both the writing and character himself are aware that's not how that shit works).

Also, I would like to argue your point about the BL characters being the only ones with any sense of seriousness!!! Lorenz does have a lot of seriousness underneath his ranting. I think you're not very fond of him from what I recall? But he does genuinely take his position seriously - seriously enough that he'll throw himself into a war that could end his life so he can at least protect his people from invasion.

Frankly, I actually think AM Lorenz makes more sense than VW Lorenz, since AM Lorenz is essentially a political prisoner and can't defy Edelgard (and he knew that from the moment she declared war, as he was already dreading that in monastery dialogue). VW Lorenz is a bit too quick to turn against Edelgard, and I guess he's probably hoping his father will understand and keep up the appearance of Gloucester siding with her (which Erwin only did to keep his lands safe, not because he believed in her cause), but it isn't fleshed out enough imo and all I can think of is that maybe they could spin a narrative that Lorenz betrayed his father and that his father is still loyal to Edelgard, so there's no need to invade Gloucester. Unfortunately of course we don't get a conversation like that of them really getting into it, but eh. Story could've been better and all that.

Regardless, Lorenz is definitely one of the only characters in GD who gets a legitimately serious war arc characterization, where he has to balance his position and the lives of his people against his own life. In AM when he ultimately decides to turn on Edelgard, it's because he was there personally to witness another army being able to take out her forces. It gave him hope that he could finally turn on her - something he implies he wanted to do and simply couldn't do prior. In VW he's just going off the speculation that maybe they have a chance now, versus actually seeing with his own eyes that the Empire can be taken down. It also feels a bit more finnicky to me in VW because he clearly still doesn't trust Claude but just... goes with it... anyway?

anyway yeah tl;dr randolph is trash as a person and while fleche is not necessarily, she was ruined the moment the stans user her as a tool in their dimitri hate, because they reach to lengths unheard of to make up shit that never actually happened in game to hate on him. the thing is, they don't hate the character in canon - they love edelgard and must hate anyone that stands against her, and so need to fabricate narratives to circle jerk about so they can hate the characters. considering they also have to warp edelgard's existing narrative to actually like her/to try to make excuses for personally defending imperialism and ableism among other things just to like their pixel waifu, that fact is wholly unsurprising.

It's still wild to me that people will go to bat for the nothing characters that are Randolph and Fleche as proof of Dimitri being bad; we know next to nothing about them, they have miniscule screentime, what little we do know of Randolph paints him as human scum who'd do horrific things if it meant a chance at a promotion, and Fleche illogically only ever holds a grudge against someone for killing her brother if that someone is AM!Dimitri, with her completely vanishing from the game in every other route.

Eh,

I'd say they play the same purpose than this random child in TS in Roland's story - at this point, both lords want vengeance, and they have to face someone who also wants (misdirected!) vengeance at them, smth smthg like war sucks because people die.

But it's completely wasted in FE16, because, as you said, Randy isn't a random or a civilian or a war orphan, he is a general leading an attack on refugees/civilians/randoms to gain more fame, and dies in the process.

Now, can we say Flèche's anger and death are ultimately directed at Randolph, who died for nothing and took his sister down with him in his quest for "muhrit" ? Or are we supposed to think that this scene is important because Dimitri, the Blue Lord, isn't supposed to fall as low as the Imperial Army - something he comes close to (apparently?) ?

And yet again, it completely fails.

Because for one Randolph - who also had a family and loved ones - we have 50 Waldos and Baldis, whose lives aren't given any fuck about.

We don't see a war prisoner, or an Adrestian civilian accusing Supreme Leader of having sent her/his wife/husband/daughter/son to death with a conquest they never asked and trying to off her.

Only Dimitri receives this backlash from - invaders who wanted to invade and suddenly remember they have loved ones so are very sad when their loved ones dies - Flèche, but not Claude nor Billy, as you rightfully pointed out.

And Supreme Leader never receives any backlash - or wake up call - from a real third party/civilian/casualty who could have done the exact same thing.

Emile mentions how, during her attack, the Holy Grounds near Garreg Mach were turned in a slaughterhouse, why don't we have any civilian who survived from that try to take a jab at Supreme Leader? Waldi's best friend? Baldo's mother? A war captive from Leicester/Faerghus or a conscripted Adrestian?

I laughed about it with friends earlier, and again with the teatime paralogue, but it truly feels as if only 1/3rd (since the church doesn't count) of the cast will face consequences for the war and suffers backlash from the constant fighting (they didn't even start!).

Whenever you have to deal with serious stuff in Fodlan, it'll be for the BL members.

The rest? Will sip tea, talk nonsense, try to solve "mysteries" and live as if nothing is happening in the background.

Just imagine how both deer routes could have been much more impactful and interesting - instead of being a recycled Billy route with a different infodump at the end - if Raphael's sister popped up to a War Council, asking Claude to stop coddling the Empire because their lands were invaded, her grandfather put to Aymr and her inn destroyed by the Imperial Army, or how Ignatz's older brother discovers how Adrestia is burning pieces of art and history and every material related to Leicester and Faerghus history because they want to push an "Adrestia Eternal" narrative. Heck, Claude could even discover more "lore" by picking a Leif route, sort of rescuing the people "handpicked" to become new Baldos and Waldis, discovering the secret of the artificial crest stones and maybe having an infiltration map where, lo, instead of receiving an info dump, they maybe witness Rhea being turned in a relic or used to "produce" artificial crest stones.

War BaD, but only when we can make the BL suffer for it, for the rest, it's just a bgm.

And even then, it can't be too critical of Supreme Leader, because she was made to sell alts in FE heroes or dubious Cipher Cards.

"Supreme Leader", "cute girls" and "I want to see how Faerghus and its knights will deal with the aftermath of the Tragedy while defending against the invading forces".

Tl; dr : Flèche and Randolph are named, which is a cheap way to make people care for them despite their role in the plot, but the demonic beasts and the civilians dying aren't mentionned nor talked about.

Hell, why do you think I gave names to the artificial demonic beasts? The game doesn't want you to think too much about them, but if I talk about Baldo and Waldi, maybe the fandom will?

[maid-of-the-golden-deer]

It's 3am but I wanna give yall a quick run down of how I think a "golden" route could happen. It branches off from GD, and this not solely from bias, but rather I think the lack of bias Claude has in regards to the others would make him the most amenable to trying to get everyone to work together peacefully. Like he even says he wants similar things to Edie but her way has too much bloodshed (which he feels the people wouldn't rally behind).

Okay so like the differences would start preskip, sort of like how you have to make a few small different choices to ensure you can go Crimson Flower. There would be several key moments where you would have to ally yourself with one of the other houses (like for example, say Edie or Dimi is getting chastised for smth and you stick up for them vs. not speaking up, just an example). The most radical change would be the battle right after the holy mausoleum. You could chose to have it play out like normal, OR if you did the aforementioned things, it basically becomes a larger scale version of the first map from Revelations, where your aim is to defeat all the boss characters before they fall to the other ai so they don't get killed. You get hurt and fall into your magic sleep like normal, and you wake up to the same scene as in VW.

What changes when you wake up is, 1) if you hadn't recruited them already, a few of the characters it'd make sense to defect from their main factions would have (like Petra, Ashe, Manuela, Hanneman, etc) have joined up, and 2) you do NOT officially ally yourself with the church, 3) the Kingdom isn't QUITE as fucked as it normally is, its still weak but its hanging on better. A lot of the same stuff happens as VW at first, but instead of going right into the Empire you detour into the Kingdom, attempting to seek aide. Dimi is still missing/presumed dead, but you do find Dedue, who tentatively allies with you, as well as any remaining BL kids you don't have.

Now you're heading into the Empire. You fight a few of the same battles. You save Rhea and she tells you the same stuff she does at the end of VW. But oh no! Edelgard is waiting for you! Before you get to duke it out, oops, the remaining Knights of Seiros (Alois, Catherine, Gilbert, Seteth, Flayn Cyril, you know the crew) show up to break Rhea out. There's a big ass fight, and at the end Rheas dies. Some ppl are sad, but still, it looks like the war is over, Edie is on her knees...AND WHAM Those Who Slither in the Dark launch their missile things and basically officially reveal themselves (cause you're all gathered so if they kill y'all no more threats to them)...and who do they have with them? A possessed/controlled/manipulated Dimitri (essentially they're attempting to set him up as another Nemesis)! Seeing as her upper hand is lost, the church is basically destroyed anyhow, and TWSITD are now the main threat, Edie agrees to work with you and Claude to stop them and save Dimitri (and the world, and she's even willing to pay for her crimes after). Obv now is when any BE kids you don't have join up.

You then go to Shambala but before you get there TWSITD sic Nemesis-zed Dimitri on you and you fight a map with him as the boss, and Claude convinces Edie to spare him, and Edie and Dimi agree to have a mediated peace discussion after they whoop the baddies butt. From there you do the last two maps of VW (with one extra thrown in so you have an extra month to get levels and supports for all your new characters lmao).

Once all that is over with, yay happy cheers, the three lords unanimously agree that byleth should lead the newly unified fodlan, with Claude going to Almyra like normal, Edie is absolved of (most) of her crimes when it comes to light what she was trying to stop (though she is forced to step down obv, but its better than death lmao), and Dimi finally gets the help he needed (he also is made to step down). The church sticks around in a diminished state like in VW, just a normal religion instead of a world power. The relics are gathered up and destroyed in a funeral pyre for the Nabateans, crests are removed for who ever wants that, the nobility system as it is is abolished, relations with other nations hardcore improves, the best of all three worlds collide, the end.

This obviously isn't 100% thought out but it feels like a reasonably plausible way for it to happen with what we know imo.

[fireemblems24]

Azure Moon: Chapter 17

I'm an emotional wreck right now.

If you're looking for a coherent review of events - this isn't it. I'm going to need to cry in a corner for a bit first.

Pre Battle:

Oh, right. Now Gilbert and Rodrigue are talking about fog. Did they just forget to make this Fog or War or something? Not that I'm complaining.

Oh, boy, Duscur talk. Poor Rodrigue. He lost a best friend and two sons that day 😭I still hope Felix forgives him. I really don't think Rodrigue did anything wrong.

So I had to look up who Lady Patricia was again, and please, dear God, no. Please tell me Dimitri's step-mother didn't arrange that.

The writers are like - how much trauma can we shove into one character: all of it. Oh, wait, oh wait, let's have his step-mother arrange his brutal death too! Oh, great idea. 😑

HOLY SHIT - DIMITRI ALMOST DIED AT DUSCUR. HE DIDN'T TELL ME THAT. OMG. All this time.

So he spent the whole time talking about how everyone else got hurt and didn't even mention he ALMOST DIED 😭😭😭😭. This character makes my heart hurt.

So are we gonna see Patricia again? Is she part of that evil mage group?? God I hope not.

Oh, no, the messenger to the Alliance got killed. That explains how the game is going to be like - no two lords for you! - even when it makes more sense to team up in AM. Did this happen in VW too? That would explain why Dimitri didn't want to join Claude tbh.

Sounds like a pretty brutal death too. 100% picked it was the Empire. Dimitri's all about it lol.

Oh, "Maiden" Fleche is back.

Good God this feels 100x more epic on AM than VW. I'm honestly starting to feel sorry for Claude. He got done dirty compared to the other two.

And now it's Ferdinand's birthday. Now is not the time, bro.

I'm betting it's the same cut scene? I get to see Dimitri say "Kill every last one of them again" lol.

Edelgard be like - last time we were classmates fighting, this time I'm here to kill all of you and take over your lands.

Battle:

Alright - the battle. Thankfully I have Bernie recruited so no more fires for her, poor thing.

Lysithea and Ignatz are on here though. I'm assuming Claude retreats? Probably not the other two. But I'm trying to stick to the "kill everyone" (or I guess I should say "Kill every last one of them!" lol).

Gotta have Dimitri fight Claude and Edelgard to get that sweet-sweet dialogue.

Dimitri's just going to solo the alliance troops. Batallion Wrath/Vantage/Retribution is one hell of a drug. Just gotta watch out for gambits, but only really worried about Claude tbh.

Claude's range is too big, which is why Dimitri's taking that route. Thematically I'd love to watch him just solo all the Empire troops, but I can't risk Claude flying around if I want that unique battle dialogue.

LAMO - Byleth crit Hubert. Though, interesting note. In VW, Dedue insists he can still fight when he's defeated, and Dimitri tells him to get off the battlefield and live (rudely). Hubert says he needs to retreat, and Edelgard says nothing about his injuries.

Oh, shit, Petra too. Didn't see her there.

And now Leonie and Hilda too. Does Hilda retreat like Hubert and Dedue?

So Leonie, Lysithea, and Ignatz are dead. Hilda, Petra, and Hubert retreated. Hubert really likes to show up, get his ass handed to him, and then retreat. Who do you end up doing this to more, Hubert or the Death Knight?

Guys, I think Dimitri might have an issue with Edelgard. If you let them fight each other in VW, does he say the same thing?

OMG Edelgard philosophizing about death after Dimitri's like - pick a way to die. For some reason this is amusing.

And then he crits. Dimitri likes doing that.

Oh, shocking, she retreats too.

OMG Dimitri was MVP (shocking, I know), but it's so amusing to see "Dimitri's motivation is maxed out" right after criting Edelgard.

Post Battle:

So Dimitri goes to chase after Edelgard, which kills him in VW.

Man he sounds so enraged - like a setback after the progress. And yelling at Rodrigue 😭

Oh, shit, what is Fleche doing here.

Man, this is so much more intense than VW.

Oh shit - Fleche stabbed Dimitri. OMG. Saw that coming. Rodrgue's so worried.

Oh shit. Oh God. Rodrigue just died saving Dimitri, didn't he? Dimitri wasn't even going to fight back, was he?

OMG 😭😭😭😭😭😭

He's really dying guys. Why.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

WHY DID HE DIE THOUGH?

"Live for what you believe in. Your life is your own."

If I ever hear anyone shit-talk Rodrigue, I'm going to have words.

Oh, shit Felix. Felix never made up with his father.

Nevermind, I want VW back. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

(Oh, wait, nevermind, Dimitri just died in VW. I take that back)

Chris Hackey though. (I get the feeling he really liked Dimitri. How could you not, though?)

Oh shit guys, I'm getting watery-eyed.

Rodrigue just fucking died saving Dimitri.

Yo - Lambert is hot though. WHY DO ALL THAT HOT OLDER GUYS DIE? Please someone look out for Seteth.

Oh, shit Lambert should've listened to Rodrigue.

Rodrigue is so loyal and good. Fuck any haters.

On a side note - Byleth pretty badass taking Fleche out.

Ok - here comes the Byleth part.

Dimitri's "I haven't slept in a week" look is gone.

Oh, shit, where is he going? He's going to leave, isn't he?

C'mon, Byleth, don't let him leave. 😭😭😭

Dimitri thinks he'd just too far gone 😭😭😭😭😭😭

There's Survivor's Guilt, and then there's Dimitri, holy shit.

OMG his little voice wavers asking the professor for answers. Dimitri's going to be the end of me.

Also - Chris Hackney is a gem. Like, all the VAs are pretty good with a few exceptions, but Dimitri demands more range than most of them, and he sells all of it. It's what Dimitri deserves though.

I picked "You must forgive yourself," because holy hell 😭😭😭

He really just thinks he has no value, doesn't he. 😭😭😭

"As the sole survivor of that day, do I . . . Do I have the right to live for myself?" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

And Byleth just reaches out her hand again 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"Your hands are so warm . . . have they always ben" 😭😭😭

Shit, man, I don't like Byleth much, but this is good shit. Maybe I like Byleth a little.

Next Chapter title is "The King's Triumphant Return" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Hell yeah, we're going to free the Kingdom!

Does this mean I get Dimitri's supports now?

Oh, boy, Dimitri's here. And Dedue's worried about his wounds. OFC he is.

He sounds so normal now.

Dimitri's apologizing. Is it weird to feel proud of a character? Because I feel proud of a character.

"I wish to do the right thing from now on." 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

OMG, Dimitri, this route is an emotional ride.

Hell yeah, let's go kick the Empire out of the Kingdom!

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

He's finally going to start living for himself, I'm just feel like a proud mom.

OMG FELIX CALLED HIM DIMITRI. WHY IS THIS ROUTE LIKE THIS?😭😭😭

I love all the Blue Lions so much. They're all precious.

[fireemblems24]

AM Chapter 18

Spoilers below for FE:3H Chapter 18.

Pre-Battle:

I checked!! I do have Linhardt recruited!!!! Thank God. I really didn't want to kill him (had to see after realizing he was on the VW map)

I'm excited guys, this is the first time I'll see Dimitri leading the group.

Is AM the only route where it calls Grondor a victory? I know in SS they don't participate, and CF doesn't have it, and even though I just played VW, I can't remember since I did some stat boosting distributing.

AM really just decided to not follow the other routes anymore. Kinda relieved.

Fhirdiad wants Dimitri back (who wouldn't want Cornelia gone). OMG, does this mean I get to kill Cornelia???!!! Finally.

This is so much more hype than the other routes because it's so personal compared to them. Even in SS facing Edelgard is just a giant shrug since the plot doesn't seem to care all that much, but you feel the emotions here after everything.

Fuck Cornelia.

Other routes: we're playing dress up and taking over a fort. AM: Dimitri is returning to his people, who've been suffering under Cornelia's tyranny. That last time he was there, he had to kill his own guards to escape death, believing Dedue died rescuing him from imprisonment and pending execution and sent him even spiraling further into darkness. Like, holy shit, why didn't the other routes get this kind of writing?

They really don't mince here like they do elsewhere. Dimitri talking about stealing weapons from corpses is just . . . time for more Chamomile after all of this.

It's really sad that Dimitri wanting to SURVIVE a battle is an improvement.

It's so nice to see Dimitri leading. I worried he'd just default to Byleth like other routes do, but seeing Dimitri actually get to play his role and Byleth stay in a role that makes sense makes me like her a whole lot more here.

We're really taking back the Kingdom 😭😭😭😭

Fuck Cornelia.

Aw, yeah, the city hates her as much as I do. They know Dimitri's coming.

This fucking jerkass out here killing citizens. Why the fuck did Edelgard give her soldiers?

Not going to lie, hearing Dimitri called "that little princeling" does things to me.

I just love how much Dimitri fucks with her plans though lol.

Battle:

It's nice to actually play a different map and not the same one three times in a row.

Oh, Dimitri's gravely voice is back. And he's calling for smashed heads again. But it's Cornelia's so, who the fuck cares.

This is going to be the best chapter yes. Because I get to kill Cornelia. Tempted to use Dimitri to do it because that's how it should be, but she'd die way too fast almost.

LAMO. So I pulled the lever for the magical items, and Dimitri's like "now we can land a hit on those things!" As if Dedue didn't solo one already.

Dedue is so funny. He punches someone once, and they die. OMG I love having him back and using him.

Cornelia wasn't even worth any real experience points. Seems right though.

Dimitri sounds unhinged talking to her, don't blame him though.

Oh, more Patricia. She caused Duscur and sacrificed Dimitri and everyone else so she could see Edelgard?

It runs in the family. I kid. Slightly.

So did Patricia cause Duscur? Because Cornelia tweaked her?

Poor Dimitri. So his mother figure never really loved him. Can these writers just stop already?

Post-Battle:

Ok, Dimitri sounds all good again.

The Empire really treated Fareghus like shit 😭😭 but their king is back 😭😭😭

We gonna prove Duscur's innocence now 😭😭😭

Dimitri doesn't want to face his people. After Cornelia and the Empire, I'm sure he's (literally) a god-send.

OMG he's King Dimitri now 😭😭😭

And they're all cheering for him 😭😭😭😭😭😭

"Do I really have the right to stand here? Will they accept me as their king?" 😭😭😭😭😭

I got Dimitri to BLUSH - telling him not to cry, that this is a happy time. He's crying, omg. 😭😭😭😭

God this story is so emotional compared to the other ones.

"I am finally home again . . ." 😭😭😭😭😭"Faerghus, how I missed you." They missed either other.

OMG, I'm tearing up right now. They wanted him back so badly.

Dimitri is skipping out on his own party lamo.

Dimitri's afraid of the graveyard 😭 Not because ghosts, but because so many people he loves are there I'll bet.

OMG, lamo, Byleth made a funny. The silly answers she can guess what Dimitri taught him. That was actually some personality from Byleth.

Dimitri's seen VW and SS too lol, knowing he dies there in other routes 😭😭

Dimitri still doesn't think he deserves to be happy 😭😭😭

So Dimitri's bolstering his army AND kicking the Empire to the curb. He's a champ.

Dimitri nailed Edelgard's motivations. Wants to get rid of the church, wants to revolutionize the world, but he thinks the cost is too high (I agree).

"I wish to end this war through acceptance, not annihilation." So . . . is he going to attempt to talk Edelgard out of attacking?

Really curious to see if Dimitri actually attempts to reconcile with Edelgard or not.

Would be really nice if he could talk her down from needing to unite the world and could reach some kind of peace deal (but I seriously doubt they'll let everyone live through a single route, so . . . .)

And what about Claude? He didn't die in Grondor, right?

Ohhhhhh here we go. The Alliance sent someone.

So are we gonna fight Claude now or . . . I hope not. It only barely made sense in Grondor, it would make no sense now.

CLAUDE ASKED FOR OUR HELP!!!!???? ARE WE REALLY GOING TO TEAM UP WITH CLAUDE????!!!

OMG - I didn't think they'd let two lords actually work together, but are we really going to help Claude out? This isn't a trap thing?

OFC the Empire is invading the Alliance. I bet they're freaking out right now with Dimitri taking the Kingdom back under his control and out of theirs.

And Dimitri's not even hesitating to save Claude 😭😭😭

Who's Lord Volkhard von Arunedl?? It's not the Death Knight leading the invasion??

Oh, so he's behind the tragedy too. Is this that dude Dimitri researched in part 1?

LAMO Annette is "devious" for suggesting a "sneak attack."

"far more importantly, they need us. We cannot turn our backs on them." 😭😭😭😭 Just Dimitri things.