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Hey guys, tired of the constant Edelgard, Rhea, Dimitri, Claude arguments about X and Y? Good, so am I. So let's talk about something that I think is WAY more fun, or rather, present a theory of mine that I started to make about Fodlan that ISN'T about the story and who's right and wrong. Namely, in regards to magic. How does magic in Fódlan work? Unlike most FE games, where magic is from tomes and staves, Fódlan forgoes the use of such things, and can cast them on their own. So does magic in Fodlan simply work differently? In a Fire Emblem interview, Kaga actually explains exactly how magic works in Archanea, and it's very interesting. Now, the part where I bolded is where I think holds the key to the question. I believe that the principles of magic in Fódlan works the same way as it does in Archanea, but simply done differently. Or perhaps is more advanced than Arcahnea's. In every FE game, magic at times tends to always form glyphs and magic circles at times when being used. With tomes and staves, the energy is stored inside them, and thus the chants and such releases the magic. And the energy is overall diminished from its storage, hence how tomes and staves "break" in games. I won't go into how Fates doesn't do that, cause that's something different I can explain another way. But there's also Gaiden/Echoes, which actually has similar functions to 3H's magic, which does not use tomes or staves. Instead, use of magic consumes HP, which I theorize is harnessing the energy within one's own body rather than the natural energy that surrounds them. I think Fódlan's magic is a more step up from that. I want to point people to an aesthetic that has always appeared in Fire Emblem. Whenever mages cast spells, there's generally a a circle of glyphs and symbols that surround them, or appear as magic circles in front of or underneath them. My belief is that these glyphs represent are the very thing that is storing the energy of the magic and you are now releasing that energy. So these glyphs and symbols also appear in Three Houses, and actually seem a lot more intricate and complex when you look at them. With that, I wish to point to something in Annette and Sylvain's support that caught my eye: What's interesting here is how Annette and Sylvain are talking about magic "formulas" which is very interesting. If you watch how whenever people try to explain magic, they try to "explain" it by making the magic be something that is similar to things like computer programs and such, like they do in the Dr. Strange movie. Well, this is the similar case. A formula basically means that the the symbols and characters are formed to allow the spell to do what it is meant to do. Now things start to become a bit clearer. Basically, Fódlan's magic is based on memorizing and utilizing magical formulas that for what tomes and staves do. It's more intricate and difficult overall because it's more advanced. This is because Fódlan's magical formulas has you immediately have the natural energy be drawn into the magical seal, and then immediately discharged, without the need tomes to act as the storage. However, I also theorize that the drawback is that magic formulas act as a way of limited use, because of the intricate design of the formulas. So that is why units cannot use spells only a limited amount of times per battle, unlike tomes, which can store a lot more energy. And only more advanced classes are able to attain abilities to use spells more, since the class is meant to represent that you have attained a level of knowledge that lets you adjust the formulas that allow you to use a bit more often. And Crests that let you save spell from being consumed is basically the Crests providing the energy for the magic formula that basically acts as a variable that can avoid disrupting the formula. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And that has been my theory on how magic in Fódlan works. Do you have any ideas on how it could work? Obviously I may very well be overthinking this, but it's interesting to consider how things work at times, and at least this is one of those discussions about 3H that won't have to get into the the typical kinds of arguments, so it should be more enjoyable. Hope to have a discussion that could be momentarily enjoyable if anyone is interested.