Kalken

If you're saying the only thing that stops them from doing the obvious (nuke edelgard when she can't possibly survive) is just so the player can't lose then that's just showing that the Slithers are a poorly designed antagonist. They should have never given them such ridiculous capabilities (shapeshifting, mega tech complete with nukes) if they weren't able to properly write with their implied threat level in mind. Those conspirators didn't have shapeshifting or nukes. I was talking about how CF!Rhea's place as an antagonist is less effective than Edelgard's since the latter actually tries to engage with Dimitri's ideas and shows she does have an argument if a wrong one like the Commies did. I call her "dragon dictator lady" since that's what she's shown as with the route lacking much information to confirm she's indeed more than that. She's the one who calls them beasts in human skin and yaps about muh humanity and yaps about who shouldn't be in fodlan. Plenty of Germans followed Hitler and others didn't oppose him until it became convenient. The empire's human leadership was also complicit if only unintentionally in both the Elites being turned into "heroes" and the Crestville becoming what it did since they spared Nemesis' followers families for submission instead of killing them all sooner or later. One side resorted to legit genocide when given the chance and the other didn't (especially when the dragons were far more advanced than the humans when they first settled and certainly could have performed a culling rather than share their knowledge). Edelgard is surprised when she's told that Nemesis was just a criminal and doesn't ever acknowledge his army's atrocities combined with never showing she knows any of the actual backstory (that isn't from how the Slithers and official propaganda spun it). Throw her in actual words when speaking to or on a dragon and you have a pretty picture, which is that she's another Nemesis as the Slithers made her to be complete with scapegoating the remaining dragons and being ignorant on just what the Slithers are/have done compared with the dragons (like how she never acknowledges it was the Slithers acting through Nemesis who made the Crests making them just as responsible for the Crest System as Rhea).

1. woolseyism since there are no nohrian scum lines in jp text 2. oboro admits her attitude is wrong in supports 3. takumi is the only one among the siblings who expresses a less than family attitude towards azura and he comes around anyway in supports Saying they suffer "prejudice" is like saying Japan suffers prejudice for raping Nanking. Hoshido does not have power and privilege over Nohr, there are no societal assaults on Nohrians (being barred from jobs, being segregated, being forbidden from courting Hoshidan women). When Hoshido fights Nohr, we are not shown the former going out of their way to target the latter's civilians such as marching them to murder camps (indeed, one pro-Hoshido boss even says that he's only targeting Garon). And more importantly we are never shown that Nohrians are persecuted and discriminated against when Hoshido wins or helps kill Anankos (as reflected by every Nohrians being able to marry Hoshidans with no one saying that there opposed).

She accepted the Slither's spin on the dragons since they groomed her to be their tool and the propaganda that Nemesis was a "hero." Her not loudly calling for killing all dragons and "just" yelling human master race rule (or something) doesn't really matter since she's fine with killing all the reptilians anyway. Also, the whole thing with the Slithers infiltrating the empire Seiros helped build really doesn't make her look more credible and once again doesn't fit at all with said slithery men's actual showings. Again, we're supposed to accept that they play 5D chess around Rhea so hard that they can not only infiltrate the empire under her nose but that they can turn a princess into the next Nemesis but yet we're shown they don't stand a chance against Edelgard's forces and didn't actually have a plan to keep her in check when she turns on them (not even trying to replace someone like Hubert) and the nukes miss. Doubly since apparently Cornelia has a line in the JP version where she says Edel was playing them rather than the other way around. They didn't even wait until Edelgard was fighting Rhea in a duel on the battlefield to launch their nukes right at the two's armies to wipe out all their opposition if only when Rhea's weakened if not dead already and just sit back as Fodlan burns down (Edelgard and Rhea dead with inner circles dead, Edel's empire falls apart since Edel had no heirs letting Thales take command if necessary, other leaders dead or ran off). I know that they were trying to recreate the alliance between Arvis and the Loptousians except back then Manfroy and Co. actually had a plan to to keep Arvis in check in case he ever turned on them before the Loptous returned (blackmail him with his bloodline to ensure that if they go down he goes with them as well). Thales and Co. did not have such.

He brought nothing to the plot besides making Celica look even more incapable. That's what happens when you have to force in an Awakening allusion.

Fire Emblem has long been only "Medieval" (and Early Modern considering something like Three Houses) when it comes to aesthetics and symbols. It is otherwise a modern world. Not only from the point that women like Camilla and Hinoka aren't already in arranged marriages, but the very presence of modern nationalism/"nation-states" (that is, places like Nohr are treated as countries in the modern term not just property managed by select men). Like I said, it's just lazy writing so that you can play with Azura in CQ. That's a moment radically out-of-character with how Hoshido is otherwise characterized since they aren't shown as discriminating towards or hostile to foreigners regardless of said foreigner's behavior and we aren't shown that there Ryoma has problems with how he runs his country.

It's the latter. The advantage here is that rather than giving an easy target for someone like Edelgard in the Church, it'd be the empire itself that's the "center of the faith." With a local priesthood I imagine. It's not that the Slithers here are "the intelligence arm of one particular power", it's that from the differing circumstances they were unable to infiltrate the empire as deeply as they did in canon.

I mean sure, I guess more or less pulling the old "haha the side you thought was good was actually bad or at least a bunch of pricks" trick could've worked. The problem is that I doubt the writers would've been able to pull it off well without being too clownish/hamfisted. The whole "Azura was chased out" is silly enough as it is. Looking back at the pre-release stuff, no one official talked about the plot being "grey." It was about choosing between blood in the peace-loving kingdom led by a motherly woman or loyalty in the glory-seeking kingdom led by an undead old man. And the final version didn't even make it about blood for Hoshido since Corrin's not their birth sibling anyway. If anything, much of the plot's problems root in them not committing to the premise and not just making Hoshido defenders who have teeth while Nohr are imperialist but their family too. (also nohr needs to have no ties to anankos in anyway whatsover whether garon is a kitten eating supervillain or not)

It's not about destroying with le meme. It's really just about showing that Rhea can indeed give an argument for what she's doing when asked. It doesn't have to be right. Again I will point to Caesar, no, link him: When you take in all he says, it sounds acceptably put together. Like I said, I can accept that an uneducated man like Caesar living in a world where the apocalypse happened would thinking LARPing as Rome with some Hegel is a good idea. That what's I mean by "glancing over." Claude working to get hostile foreigners in should've been treated with more suspicion. Byleth being Claude/Almyra's puppet ruler doesn't help either. Most of the killing of playable characters is optional. Killing Seteth and Flayn would've been more effective it wasn't optional (especially with Edelgard apparently accepting the Slither's anti-dragon propaganda). They should've also had far stronger limits on recruitment considering how ridiculous it gets in CF. Eh, I say that Rhea could still work fine as GD's finale (a majorly rewritten GD for a majorly rewritten Three Houses of course). The trick is to just go all the way with Claude's ties to Almyra and set it that GD is you selling out Fodlan to Almyra. With the combined might putting an end to the thorn in Almyra's side once and for all. Taking on Da Empire and Church. Rhea would face you at the end since you and your barbarian friends are destroying all that she worked for. The thing is, it's obvious now that they were trying to make one of the most (if not the most) ambitious FEs ever. There's such a thing as doing more with less. Honestly Awakening, Fates, and now Three Houses have the problem where they tried to do too much in one game so the overall game is kinda iffy. Every one of them has multiple tangents within the plot that could've easily been games in themselves (Awakening could've just been about the war against Plegia with no Valm and Children, ANY of the Fates Trio could've been its own game in its own universe, you could've just separated each of Claude's whole backstory and the Byleth/Slithers/Nemesis/Dragon lore away from Dim v. Edel).

>dark side of Hoshido The problem with that option is that as it stands, Corrin siding with Hoshido is strictly morality. Corrin is taking a stand against Nohr ravaging its neighbors even if it makes her an enemy of her beloved siblings in Nohr. It's Bonds against Justice. It needs Hoshido to have the overall moral high-ground since they aren't the imperialist aggressors whether Nohr needs to invade other countries or not (I say "or not" since it's not like they have any real trouble supplying their continent conquering military). Absent of that Corrin has no real grounds to join Hoshido since he wouldn't really know the country even with muh memory loss. As it stands, the plot wouldn't really be improved in a notable way by throwing in random meanie Hoshidan generals or Takumi eating a Nohrian puppy. Even the talk where Azura was allegedly chased out of Hoshido is just a lazy excuse to let you have her in CQ (it's not like Hoshido is shown as building death camps for Nohrians or segregating foreigners like the tribesmen or forbidding their royalty from marrying Nohrians so if that's supposed to be fantasy racism it's a weak effort).

Honestly, the whole issue would've been avoided if they made Conrad the YOUNGer brother (if only by a year) and established succession law in Zofia does not discriminate against women. He wouldn't be king since he had a lesser claim than Celica. Of course I'm sure that they threw in Conrad to begin with to cash in on Lucina from Awakening (secret mask wearing family of lord except brother instead of daughter).

Like I said, it's the Loghain/Caesar Problem where just about everything that makes Rhea/Seiros legit interesting is in the routes where she's not an enemy and/or supplemental material. She doesn't really try to give solid argument for her way of doing things when facing Team Edel herself unlike Edel and Dim towards each-other. How can you settle for less when you can have more? Even accepting her as dragon dictator lady, I am maintaining she still could've been a good one overall if she were handled more effectively. Eh, I don't really find Berkut a well designed villain since he's neither an effective source of opposition from how he's really shown as repeatedly lagging behind Alm (which was kinda inevitable since he was inserted into the plot so he couldn't take part in big scenes like when Alm gets trapped by undead dragons) and he's too big of a prick for most his screentime to make how hard to they try to make him look sympathetic in his finale flow well. The problem with all that is Byleth not actually having a personality and so you have to read into little bits or make headcanon. In the actual game, there's not really much of a "creation turns against muh maker" situation since Byleth is too bland and inoffensive of a character thanks to being a self-insert. To be frank, the game tries too hard to force differences between the routes like when Dimitri shows up to attack you in Golden Deer just so he could be killed off rather than join against the empire. I'd throw in Nemesis being GD's final boss in there too (he'd honestly fit much better in SS with The Immaculate One swapped in for GD). I mean, Medes DID have every Manakete besides like two men and a little girl helping him. To which I say Claude's more or less just delivering Fodlan to Almyra on a silver platter, with the plot kinda glancing over Byleth/him selling out to Fodlan's archenemy next door. Even if that's really the case, taking what we're shown points to Almyrans invading Fodlan since it's there. It's not like any of the Almyrans we meet try to use how Fodlanville denizens act towards as a way to excuse their warmongering. Better go with reparation payments.

https://garms-translations.tumblr.com/post/168328088938/the-three-witches It was this ministory. The exchange is here: “Don’t worry, we will tell you. But before that, we shall first tell you about your future.” “Pardon me, but…future? Sorry, but I must decline. If I knew what the future had in store for me, then life wouldn’t be as interesting anymore, would it?” “Hey, what’s taking you all?” Sigurd asked this time as he entered. “Oh, you must be Lord Sigurd of Chalphy.” “Yes, I am. It’s a pleasure to meet you. By the way, would you happen to know the way out of…” “I believe I’ve already said that I’ll tell you, haven’t I?” “You have my thanks. So, then. In which direction should we head?” “Don’t be in such a hurry. First, let me offer up my congratulations to you, father of the future king of Grannvale,” Elle said, seemingly in a hurry herself. “Don’t be ridiculous. Only those who inherit the blood of Naga can take the Grannvale throne.” “Oh, there’s no mistaking it; this crystal ball sees all. You, Prince of Leonster; your child shall become the king of the united kingdom consisting of Leonster and Thracia. Even the tides can turn on a losing battle. Your child’s children, and their descendants after that, will continue to succeed the throne,” Zylle said. “And last but not least, King of Nordion. Your child shall become the ruler of a united Agustria. How wonderful,” Meiche told Eldigan. The three knights just stared at each other, speechless. Here are the short stories talking about Julius' transformation and his vampire bride: https://garms-translations.tumblr.com/post/168073844388/my-child-loptyr https://garms-translations.tumblr.com/post/179067263658/vampire

As I said, dragon dictator lady. Fem!Medeus with some Sephiran thrown in. In comparison and contrasting, Edel's dynamic with Dimitri is more better designed since among other things the two actually try to engage with each-others ideas but do not accept each-other's ideas. I know Claude acknowledges Almyra's warmongering in supports, but he doesn't really have an actual workable plan for them to them change or for Fodlan to receive restitution (reparation payments, shrinking the military and teaching that warriors shouldn't be as adored, their leadership publicly acknowledging the actions of themselves, their fathers, and their friends made them hated). You cannot force others to accept others. You can only encourage others to gestures of goodwill and a willingness to atone. See again how widely hated Japan is by their neighbors compared with Germany. Eh, it's just animu dictator villain talk except it's coming from a dragon. It's fine if that's your thing.

I'm sure you already know the big book of backstory (dragons or at least Sothis coming from Blue Star, sharing their stuff with humans, some humans possibly reverse engineer it and make empire until Sothis smacks them down with world nuked/flooded for it, Sothis rebuilds world and the dragons lord over humans until the Slithers use Nemesis for some genocide, Seiros did her thing so now there's Church). Well, I'm asking to consider other scenarios. The scenarios I have for consideration are the following: A. Once the dragons are properly settled on Fodlan, they figure to convert it or a at least a decent of it into theirs with no humans allowed (at least not without their numbers kept in check). No sharing knowledge, instead using said knowledge to seize their new country and fortify it once the humans were wiped out (or at least the fighting age ones are exterminated when caught)/expelled. B. Back when Nemesis' army is beaten, rather than making Da Church Rhea just has her new theology centered on the empire with the emperor either the god-king or the high-priest who represents Sothis on earth. Going in line with this, assume that the Slithers succeed in breaking away the Holy Kingdom from the empire and have a much stronger presence there than in canon. For the former, I'm reminded of something like Judge Dredd or Beneath a Steel Sky where tribesmen in the wasteland live alongside a dystopia megacity. For the latter, just think of either post-Augustus Rome or Pre-Islamic Persia.

Outside of the bit where she tells about her mother being murdered by humans (looks like they should've just burned all the humies when they had the chance) and her friendship with a past emperor, she's just another dragon dictator type like Medeus (who also had a sympathetic backstory of humans screwing over his kind) when you're actually facing her in CF. You need to play other routes to learn there's indeed more to her than that and Edelgard is ignorant on many things. In comparison Sephiran was a better designed villain for his screentime (and similarities with Rhea/Seiros) even when he planned to kill just about everybody in Tellius (which would give him one of the highest bodycounts among FE villains) since: A. We are repeatedly shown the scars of the Serenes Massacre no matter what, with characters like Sanaki owing up to the crime. It goes in line with how are told that Tellius won't stop burning itself down with Serenes really just being the last straw for Sephiran. B. He REALLY doesn't want to kill everybody, if only for the sake the remnants of his kind and his little Sanaki. He just sees that Tellius is too far gone to save, that Beorc won't stop being cruel to Laguz (and vice-versa I suppose) so he's just hedging his bets on the goddess just ending the failed experiment that is Tellius. C. Even when you do know all the above, as an enemy he's not really smug or "filled with hate" or only ultimately acting from pettiness since someone he cared about got killed (which would make trying to destroy the world/humanity/whatever that if he was only doing doing it for that) or is being some giant monster who has to be destroyed to save the world/achieve great justice. He's respectful to someone like Ike, recognizes that not only will the Laguz be wiped out but Sanaki and Micaiah as his remaining family will die as well, and makes it certain he's not acting from mere revenge or chauvinism but from fulfilling what he sees as what the world needs. D. He'll back down once you fulfill certain circumstances. E. Perhaps most importantly, there's a vibe among his opposition that they recognized that yes, not only were his kind deeply wronged but humans (including Laguz) are deeply flawed and he isn't wrong to not have a high opinion of them. "We don't want to die though" is their cause against him. He just takes advantage of what the other characters do and makes Byleth a puppet ruler. And his fantasy racism subplot is silly since we are shown that his father's land is a bunch of proud raiders who from all evidence made no non-violent attempts to interact with Fodlan (meaning that they are hated for what they do, not such for what they are like how modern Japan and the British are hated by their neighbors). I mean, in that case they shouldn't have made it that the only option you have to explore the world is with a bad self-insert. Rhea overall has the same problem as Loghain from Dragon Age and Caesar from Fallout: New Vegas in that sure, she overall is a decently characterized character (and frankly, is the only genuinely grey character in the plot insofar there isn't an answer on whether how she handled Fodlan after her mother's murder was the "right" direction) but much of what makes her characterization solid enough is either locked to routes or absent since she's MIA or in supplemental materials. Loghain has great characterization. Issue is all of it is at the very end (seriously becoming available for the player to explore when the point of no return becomes available), all of it missable depending on the player's choices, and most of it in DLC! Many players never get to see Loghain's real character in-game unless they've been spoiled and know exactly what to do to get to see it. Look up a transcript of all of Loghain's dialogue in the game (including the missable stuff at the end), and I'm sure your opinion of him as a man will change. Loghain really could have been a great RPG villain if only he were presented more effectively. Caesar's legion looks like just a bunch of baby punting LARPers, but you can actually sit down and chat with Caesar about his ideology for doing all of this slaughter and slaver where he'll actually give you a detailed, acceptable-sounding answer. Of course it's Hegelian garbage but hey, serious academics swallowed Hegel for decades just as they did for Marx. I totally believe an uneducated person after the apocalypse could stumble upon Hegel's theory of history and take it seriously. The key is that his goal is to build a unified society where everyone serves the Pax Romana in order and glory, but the only man in Da Legion who believed in the Pax Romana was Caesar himself (and it's suggested he realizes this deep down): Everyone under his command really is just a baby punting LARPer who knows that bowing to the Legion is their best chance to get to slake their thirsts. Lanius is the best example of this, though not the only one. If/When Caesar leaves the picture the Legion goes full Banana Republic Civil War. The Legion doesn't work since this conversation is something most players don't see: You can only have it if you join the legion, and it's miss-able even then. Without seeing this conversation all you ever see of the Legion are Caesar's subordinates. It's the Loghain problem all over again. You can throw in the whole backstory with the dragons like with the talk Dictator-chan Edel has about them being beasts in human skin (or whatever). I'd call it the most effective of them all since it's recognized that humans betrayed the dragons and used genocide when given the opportunity even after all they did for them (especially when the dragons could've culled the humans back when they were building their civilization rather than share their knowledge). Doubly since "reptilians" are a common enough anti-Semitic codeword. It's not like the Almyran situation where they waged war on Fodlan whenever they had the chance (again I point to how hated Japan is by their neighbors). Honestly he'd be best suited to his own game/universe where his stuff could bloom properly rather than just be a 5th wheel in the Edel/Rhea/Dimitri/Byleth shtick. Sure it's a good idea. Problem is that they also insisted on making said teacher the self-insert center of all the Lords with Rhea's mental universe and really the only thing that ensures they succeed rather than fail miserably. They should've either just made Byleth an outright "4th House Leader" with limited supports etc. or just made hir a toned down Kris (as in, without being the Lord's most important bestest friend evaaaa).