#or both and Seteth is a demote again

[wall-maria-around-ba-sing-se]

I don’t wanna be getting peoples hopes up unnecessarily, but I will point out that Sothis and Rhea both have Halloween alts, and now Flayn… who’s the most likely next related character in line….?

MY

BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Thinking about muhritocracy again or as our Supreme Leader puts it, "rising and falling by your own merit" -

Isn't Cyril basically the poster child of this ideal sucking?

Both in Almyra and during his spiritual retreat in House Goneril, Cyril mentions that he had to "work hard", it's implied he had to work hard to earn whatever keep he could have (food, but even then that was not common).

Cyril embracing muhritocracy also wants to work "real hard" to repay Rhea, otherwise he feels like he cannot remain in Garreg Mach.

We know the Nabs would never kick him out for this reason (hell Hilda was enrolled and Manu is still a teacher) and both Seteth and Rhea (the latter only did so off-screen and it's basically mentionned in his S support with Billy bcs Rhea can't have screentime I guess) tell him that while repaying a debt is admirable, he needs to start on living now.

Aka, Cyril is allowed to "exist" and "live" even without overworking himself to the bone to have the "right to exist".

Now, FE Fodlan being what it is, the angle of GM being a safehaven/place where old people, children and basically people who cannot "rise due to their own merits" live is completely ignored bar that off-handed comment in Cyril's support with Claude that Rhea basically wants to make a place for people without status/who are vulnerable.

And that place is Garreg Mach.

CS introduces the Abyss that is basically GM+Asylum for people seeking it, even if Aelfric paints it with a Rhea BaD veneer, it's here to offer a shelter to those who are "persecuted" on the "surface" like Dagdans and Almyrans, the poor, the sick, etc etc - basically a "place for those who have nowhere to go".

Constance's family was demoted to nothing by Ionius because they failed to defend Adrestia against Dagda? Her house "fell" by its own "lack of muhrit"... so GM offers her a place to be, even if she (her house, but Adrestia always deals with Houses and not with people!) failed once.

Tldr : GM is the place that completely pissed on Muhritocracy, and where people who have no "muhrit"/status are supported/receive help by the Church.

Cyril works very hard to "earn" the right to remain in GM, but he has yet to understand (only with his supports with the Nabateans!) that he doesn't need to "earn" any right to be and live in Garreg Mach, it's just that kind of place.

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^^^^

This!

Some part of the fandom either see Cyril as a token Almyran and project a lot of, uh, their own thoughts about racial inequality on Fodlan, usually ending up with "Cyril must love Almyra and Almyrans because he is Almyran himself" which is, imo, pretty racist in itself, or is used again in projected takes about the Church somehow it apparently hating foreigners and non-believers, even if the Pope who is secretly Jesus and her brother second spell out the inverse :/

"But Claude said-"

Claude is the one who says this :

Don't change the subject, Claude. To the people of the Alliance, the Almyrans are— It's true that there's a history of hostility, but why should that mean we're doomed to remain hostile forever?

When Hilda's paralogue could have been played a chapter ago, where we basically have Almyrans attacking the locket and creating casualties like :

That's you, Professor. Please help us save our allies and protect Fódlan's Locket. We must defend here, or else... Our house... The Alliance... All our allied troops were wiped out. We won't be able to defend this place.

But sure Claude, that's just "history of hostility" and not, something that happens everyday because it's some sort of glorified dick measuring contest, that somehow involves people dying on both sides but at least they have fun.

So who cares about Cyril when he can be tokenised as an Almyran who can validate Claude's point of view about the world and his own ideals ?

Canon!Cyril is the one who tells Claude that maybe if the people in charge in Almyra would look after orphans like him that place would be better - in that sense, he is his kryptonite : Cyril is an Almyran who doesn't like Almyra not because he's been raised as a Fodlanese, but because Almyra sucks on its own.

And... bar platitudes "sure I'll tell dad about it later", there's nothing Claude can say because he is still the person who would rather blame the Church rather than self-reflect, like Cyril forces him to in their support, and realise that, maybe, maybe, almyrans attacking the border every monday to measure the size of their dicks might be part of the reason why the Alliance doesn't really like people from Almyra.

So for Claude to be "right" and Rhea to be BaD (so he's doubly right!!), Cyril's canon character is thrown away, and swapped, for some fans, by a random almyran boy who's somehow manipulated and groomed and idk what else because "Churches are BaD irl" and "Claude fights against racism, so Rhea must be racist".

For what it's worth, IS through FEH and KT through Nopes really cemented Cyril, despite outcries from some fans who wanted him to join the deers or even the eagles because what is even characterisation, as a member of the Church of Seiros faction, and even more than that, Cyril is always by Rhea's side.

It first started in FEH's Gatekeeper animation : basically several people from Garreg Mach are summoned on screen, Cyril is summoned with Rhea, Flayn and Seteth.

FEH's 4 koma gag has Cyril hang out with Flayn, Cyril's unit - despite being from the post TS - mentions Shamir as his archery instructor, and obviously, Rhea.

Hell, Archbishop!Rhea's title refering to her being a mother/matriarch is, imo, a call back to Cyril saying she's like a mom to the believers.

As for Hopes... even with Cyril's demote to being non-playable (not even in the post game!) there have some interactions, with, basically Rhea being worried about his safety (even during her various final stands), or taking him along in what was intended as a familial outing (aka an outing with her, Seteth and Flayn only), culminating with Cyril explaining that he cannot join the war effort because Rhea told him she'd be "mighty upset" if he was killed.

(@themoomoorn Cyril talks to her every day which would have made their relationship more obvious in FE16 if Rhea wasn't locked behind a "alone b4 u" shit of a player pandering support thus cannot meaningfully interact with the people she is clearly close to!)

Tl ; Dr : this take was born out of some people not really liking canon!Cyril and instead wanting to have an almyran character who would check all of their biases about the church (but ultimately Rhea) being BaD and/or validate Claude's character and goals.

So about Rhea and Cyril’s relationship

Is there a scene I just didn’t find where Rhea is abusing Cyril or is that just a fandom headcanon? I’m being genuine btw I wanna know where Rhea hating minorities came from, (if she dislikes one race and that’s the human race y’all 😭)