#it's an injustice only dwarfed by the injustice that is there are dozens of dogs and cats all over the place in this game

[sage-nebula]

HOO boy, major Fire Emblem: Three Houses spoilers (at least for the Black Eagles route) ahead. If you haven’t played past chapter eleven of part one, you don’t want to read anything beneath the cut.

But if you have, OH BOY.

So, as is obvious by what I typed above, I’m playing the Black Eagles route. And oh boy. I’d heard rumblings of Edelgard being a “traitor” (and other unfavorable words) around the internet, but I tried to avoid the spoilers as much as I could, especially because I wanted to marry her at the first opportunity and thus did not want to hear a word against my beautiful future wife. Nevertheless, it became apparent to me a decent amount of time before the reveal that Edelgard was the Flame Emperor, and thus was the one who was working with Solon and Kronya (“Monica”) and therefore in league with the ones who murdered my (well, Byleth’s, but still) father. This, even more than Edelgard telling Dorothea that there was nothing resembling romance in her life despite the fact that I spent seven straight months showering her in flowers (WHICH SHE KEPT IN HER ROOM!), taking her on tea dates, and eating almost every meal with her, put a strain on our potential relationship. I was angry with her. To be honest, I’m still kind of angry with her. I was super angry that she offered no emotional support or condolences whatsoever after Jeralt died. I was angry that she never once showed anger toward Monica/Kronya for her actions. I’m still angry that after all is said and done and I’ve chosen to defend her anyway she still hasn’t apologized for the part she played in Jeralt’s death (guilty by association, maybe, but still), because I just feel like that’s really fucking rude and not how a supportive partner should act.

But I suppose I should back up a bit.

As is obvious by both this post and other posts I’ve made, I’ve really been enjoying Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I’m pretty much addicted to it. It’s world’s better than Fates (which isn’t hard to do, but still), and to be honest I think it’s better than Awakening, too, though I haven’t beaten it and so I suppose I should reserve judgment until then. But on top of the fact that it feels like it’ll have far more replayability than Awakening (since I imagine the story will change pretty dramatically depending on which House you choose, not to mention which branches you take within the House paths, provided Blue Lions and Golden Deer have splits like Black Eagles do), but more of the characters have central plot relevance than in Awakening, and the story itself has more depth, I feel. In Awakening, at most you’d get a scene or two with recruitable characters before they faded into the background, just units and nothing more. The same was true in Fates. Sure, there were a handful that were important (if that), but usually not more than that. But in Three Houses, the students in your House (at least the ones that were originally there) show up in all the cutscenes before and after major missions. They’re important. And while you can recruit characters from other Houses that feel more like your standard units, you don’t have to, which means you’re given an opportunity to really grow attached to all the characters in your squad outside of what you make up about them in your head. This is further enhanced by the fact that you don’t only get to talk to them in supports anymore. Supports still exist, but you can also talk to them around the school, have tea parties with them, attend activities with them, have them ask you questions, and so on and so forth. You really have a chance to get to know them, which makes them feel so much more like actual characters versus pawns that you use in battle.

So in this respect Three Houses feels deeper than Awakening or Fates, but I think the plot also feels more intricate. There are so many different threads and intrigues going on to think about, and I remember at one point I was practically going crazy theorizing about what was going on (and I still have some questions, like whether or not Edelgard could also wield the Sword of the Creator since she, too, has the Crest of Flames). So far most of my theories and predictions have turned out to be accurate, though to be fair most of them have been pretty obvious if you’re paying attention. But that’s not a criticism, or a bad thing. It’s not obvious in the sense that “this feels like they wrote the story for preschool students,” it’s obvious in a way that, again, if you pay attention, the writing leads to its natural conclusion. Intelligent Systems didn’t set out to bamboozle the audience with something that came out of nowhere. So far everything has led to its logical conclusion, and I really like that, particularly in today’s storytelling climate. So as a brief rundown of predictions I had that were proven right some time after I made them:

Prediction: Rhea is unhinged / malevolent / evil, the Church of Seiros is corrupt Reasoning: Early on in the story, when it’s revealed that Lord Lonato is raising a rebellion against the Church of Seiros, Rhea sends the Black Eagles (or I suppose whatever the player decides Byleth’s House is) to go take him out. When she’s giving the mission to Byleth, she says something to the effect of, “This will be a good way to show your students what happens to those who decide to raise their blades against the church.” This is a HUGE, MASSIVE, ALARMING RED FLAG, because it demonstrated that Rhea would never, under any circumstances, even consider giving a fair trial to those who seemed to be in opposition to the church, and since the Church of Seiros holds so much power and say over all three political powers in play (and sort of over Brigid, since the Empire has Petra), that’s a huge problem. Rhea continued with this trend, stating again that she hoped the students learned their lesson once the mission was over, and similarly saying that heretics couldn’t be allowed to live when that incident with Sylvain’s brother happened. So when she revealed her true colors in the tomb and wanted Edelgard killed without even thinking to ask Edelgard why she was doing what she was doing, I wasn’t surprised at all. (Plus there’s all that business with her having something to do with Byleth’s birth and lack of a beating heart, and so on. Aside from turning into a giant beast, Rhea is just bad news.)

Prediction: Flayn is Seteth’s daughter, not his sister. Reasoning: When Flayn goes missing, Rhea stumbles over calling Flayn Seteth’s sister. Her line is something like, “We will find your . . . sister.” If Flayn was actually Seteth’s sister, she wouldn’t have hesitated, almost as if about to slip up. Flayn was too young to be his girlfriend (and it’d be weird they’d be claiming to be family anyway, if that were the case), so it became pretty obvious pretty quickly that she was actually his daughter.

Prediction: Sothis was actually the goddess the entire time. Reasoning: The crown that Sothis wears is the exact same one that Rhea, who is the archbishop of the Church of Seiros, wears. Sothis’ hair and eyes are green, which is something only the upper tiers of the Church of Seiros have in common. And lastly, everyone mysteriously avoided ever saying the goddess’ name, which they’d have no reason at all to do if it wasn’t relevant to a particular character. Therefore, when Rhea revealed that the goddess was named Sothis, it was not a surprise at all.

Prediction: Jeralt was going to die. Reasoning: Come on . . . when does the cool dad ever get to survive until the end of the story? That aside, the second he told Byleth that he had ~something important to tell her~ and that “if I die, search every inch of this room,” I knew he was going to kick the bucket. I’m way too genre savvy for that. It was still really sad, though. Sadder than Emmeryn’s death in Awakening, imo, although it didn’t feel as powerful as hers since there was no emotional battle that followed it (and we didn’t get a track for him that was nearly as emotional and beautiful as “Don’t Speak Her Name”). Also, side note, when I first started playing I was calling Rhea “Green Emmeryn,” and continued right up until she gave her “show your students what happens to those who oppose the church” line. At that point I was like, WELP, Emmeryn never would have pulled this nonsense, never mind.

Prediction: “Monica” was evil. Reasoning: A student who was kidnapped a year ago just so happens to be perfectly fine a year later? And she isn’t a playable unit? And she’s always talking secretively to Edelgard, who she’s on personal terms with for some reason without Hubert kicking up a fuss, despite having only just surfaced? Mmhm, okay. Especially since I was already starting to get suspicious of Edelgard by that point, I guessed “Monica’s” true intentions pretty quickly.

Prediction: Edelgard was the Flame Emperor. Reasoning: This one took me a little while, to be fair, but what first tipped me off about it is that when I told Edelgard that the Flame Emperor had wanted Byleth to join them, Edelgard wasn’t bothered at all by this fact. Rather than expressing relief that Byleth had said no, Edelgard instead went on about how it must be hard to trust someone who wears a mask, but that perhaps one day the Flame Emperor would reveal their true identity and Byleth would change her mind then. That made me start thinking about how Edelgard was always conveniently never around when the Flame Emperor showed up, as well as how Hubert was the one to cause a distraction that allowed the Flame Emperor to escape after the proposition. Then there was the fact that Edelgard grew upset if you said that you thought that the Flame Emperor had the same goals as Solon and the rest (EVEN THOUGH SHE ADMITS THAT’S THE LOGICAL CONCLUSION), and that she was so cozy with Monica, not sympathetic about Jeralt’s death (at least in a way that mattered), and so on and so forth. So when the time came for her announcement, unlike the rest of my students, I wasn’t shocked. I been knew. I was just mad.

That said, I do still have a couple predictions that I haven’t received answers on:

Prediction: Flayn is Saint Cethleann, and Seteth is Saint Cichol, and thus they’re both actually super, super old. Reasoning: To be honest I’m pretty positive on this one, but since it hasn’t been confirmed I can’t put it in the confirmed category yet. If you read the statue descriptions for these saints in the chapel, they sound very, very much like Flayn and Seteth, right down to being father and daughter. Flayn has Saint Cethleann’s Crest, her blood was needed for what Solon was doing, they both have a special connection to Rhea and a deep loyalty to the church, Flayn has a very archaic way of speaking, refuses to divulge her age, gets cagey whenever Cethleann is brought up, and insists that she’s older than she looks. It’s far more obvious with Flayn than it is with Seteth, but I think it’s all pretty clear. They’re the Saints, and given what Rhea’s true identity is, they might not even be human.

Prediction: Byleth is Rhea’s niece (or nephew if you’re playing as the boy Byleth---Boyleth).  Reasoning: This one I’m shakier on, because I think my original prediction (that Byleth was a reincarnation of Seiros, or maybe Nemesis, but probably Serios) has been debunked by now. But every time Rhea starts to talk about Byleth’s mother’s relation to her, or Byleth’s relation to her, she’s interrupted. “Your mother was my . . .” is pretty suspicious. The fact that, after fusing with Sothis, Byleth’s hair and eyes turned green is suspicious. (But in that case, why were they blue in the first place? Jeralt’s hair and eyes certainly weren’t blue. Ah well, anime genetics.) Of course, there’s Rhea’s whole speech about how Byleth was “just another failure” and how she was going to tear out Byleth’s heart after Byleth sided with Edelgard (if the player chose that), buuuuuut I’m still going with the theory that Byleth’s mother was Rhea’s sister for the time being.

In any case, as you can see there’s a lot going on, and I think still so much more plot to go, since I haven’t even hit the timeskip yet. I’m really excited to see where the plot goes, but I think that I should explain my reasoning for why I chose to side with Edelgard first, particularly given that my feelings on the whole issue are actually rather complicated, and much more so than the game would make it seem. (Though make no mistake, I have a duplicate save file created so that when I want to play the other path I don’t have to play through all of Black Eagles up to that point again. I was smart about it lol. Also I did look up a tiny spoiler for the split and, upon learning Flayn would leave, hastily shoved as many gifts at Mercedes as possible to recruit her so that I can still have two healers lmao. GOTTA PLAN AHEAD. That said, I recruited Mercedes, my sweet sunshine son Ashe, and Sylvain all in the last month, and they were all Blue Lions, so djkslfdsfsd sorry for poaching three members of your House, Dimitri. But it had to be done, because I needed a healer, I REFUSE to let Ashe die, and Sylvain was free because I’m a woman and he reminds me of Zelos so why not. But still, sorry Dimitri, lmao.)

ANYWAY, to get back on topic . . . I was honestly pretty torn right up until the second choice came. The first choice, where Edelgard asks you to accompany her to the Empire and the game tells you that a drastic change will take place depending on your choice---that was the reason I saw that tiny spoiler about Flayn leaving, because I looked up why choosing to go on a small journey with Edelgard was so goddamn important. But even though I chose to go with her to keep the option open (because if you don’t choose to go with her then, you’re locked into siding with the church), I was still somewhat torn. I was still pretty upset that she offered no words of comfort or understanding after Jeralt’s death, that she never once apologized for trusting Monica so implicitly and always going off with her. Even if she didn’t want to reveal she knew the truth, she could have lied about that and apologized for not seeing the truth sooner. Even a sweet lie would have been better than the zero amount of warmth I received in my time of grief. Aside from that, because Edelgard was the Flame Emperor and was friends with Monica, she indirectly played a part in Jeralt’s death. All the other things that came about as a result of those machinations---Lonato’s death and how that affected Ashe, what happened to Sylvain’s brother, et cetera---that I could get past if I thought it was for a good cause, but such a personal betrayal by one I held such feelings for? I was still so very, very upset. (Also, Solon almost locked Byleth in a void forever, which led to Sothis kind of sacrificing herself, and since Sothis DID offer compassion to Byleth when Edelgard didn’t . . . hhhhh, that also made me feel frosty toward Edelgard.)

But then the moment came. The instant that the Imperial army stormed in and Edelgard ordered them to take the Crest stones (and also said to kill anyone who opposed her, like? You’re really okay with killing all of us, Edelgard? REALLY?), Rhea’s switch flipped and she started barking orders and essentially calling for Edelgard’s head on a stick. And then the battle ended, and she DID call for Edelgard’s head on the end of Byleth’s sword, talking about how she would never stand for the Empire to oppose the chuch, and so on. And in the end, that was what made me make my choice.

Because the truth is, no matter how angry I was with Edelgard, obviously I still care for her. In-game, we spent eleven months together. Yes, the past couple were a bit tense and strained, but that doesn’t change the fact that I spent eleven months---nearly a full year!---bonding with Edelgard, fighting alongside her, finding companionship with her. Byleth’s actual heart might not beat, but unlike SOME people, she still has a metaphorical one that does (or at least, I do, lmao). Maybe Edelgard didn’t have compassion for me, but that doesn’t mean I have none for her. It doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to hear an explanation, from her, for why she did all these things. It also doesn’t mean that it would be easy for me to just cut down someone who I grew so close to and cared so much about, simply because I was given an order. Like, honestly, what the fuck. Who could do that? How could Rhea ever expect me to do that?

But even setting that aside, I was opposed to Rhea’s methods from day one. I’m a big fan of due process. In Rhea’s world, anyone who opposes her should be cut down. (Apparently Edelgard also feels this way, even toward her own friends, but I feel like I can probably more easily reason with her than Rhea, and in any case, the remaining Black Eagles slaughtered her army, so whatever.) She didn’t give Edelgard a chance to explain, she wasn’t calling for an arrest, there wouldn’t be a trial. She just wanted Edelgard murdered, on the spot. And I can’t stand for that. I’m don’t really like organized religion anyway, but I’m definitely not going to stand for one that ruthlessly murders any who even breathe a word of opposition to it while also holding the most political power in the world. All the Church of Seiros is is religious fascism. That’s it. Her facade of being caring and compassionate is just that---a facade. She turned on Byleth immediately when I had Byleth side with Edelgard, saying that Byleth was “just another failure” (which raises even more questions all its own) and so on and so forth. She’s a tyrant, and I’m not going to follow the orders of a tyrant and kill someone without giving them a chance to defend themselves, and this goes doubly if they’re someone I care about.

That said, I do wish there was an option to give some more nuance, because if I had my way I would have made it clear that while I was going to oppose the church, that doesn’t mean I’m siding with Edelgard, either. Rather, I just want to hear what Edelgard has to say for herself, and all that she’s done. But of course that’s not an option, and anyway at this point she’s won me over again and I’m once again considering marrying her (and if not her then I’m marrying Dorothea, but we’ll see), though I still wish she’d apologize for Jeralt’s death and her callous behavior from before. I wish we’d get an on-screen explanation.

In any event, right now I’m at the part before we storm the monastary to take it down (and therefore right at the end of part one, I think). Obviously, I don’t regret my choice at all given that Edelgard has won me over again, and to be honest I’m not entirely surprised she has given that in many ways she reminds me of Lotor (before he had his character assassinated, ofc). It’s very cool to have a female character like her. I only hope her character continues to be done justice through to the end.

(And if the rumors are true and her S-Rank is No Homo’d I’m going to burn everything to the ground istfg.) 

TL;DR: I’m still kind of mad at Edelgard, but I can let it go for now, especially since my ire with Edelgard in no way means I’m going to side with that unhinged monster running that wretched church, dear god.