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As many people have stated, Fates in general has had weak writing overall, with a plurality of the ire directed at Conquests. I've had my complaints as well, but I figured I'd offer a solution, rather than just retread old ground. Without further ado, my changes... (Note, I'll use female Corrin in this case, because that's what's on the box.) My first change would be right at the branch of fates. I think the story would be better served by Nohr outright conquering Hoshido right at the beginning. Really, after assassinating the queen, why does Nohr's army just leave? This is never really addressed very well. It would have been the perfect time to strike, since the army was temporarily leaderless. It also fits the traditional Fire Emblem story of one nation invading another, but this time, we see it from the other side. It also helps remove the gripe many people have where Corrin is bringing peace by invading a peaceful nation. In this scenario, the deed is already done, and Corrin tries to help change Nohr from the inside, like they advertised. The reason could also be painted as more gray. Garon could paint it as conquering Hoshido for their resources to feed their starving masses. At least that way, it would make more sense to Xander and others to follow. Even if Garon is an omnicidal slime monster, he could at least pretend not to be. Ryoma and the other royal siblings escape at this point, and begin to build their resistance force. There could be a map or two where you mop up the remaining Hoshido soldiers and some much needed world building. They could comment on how merciful Corrin is, taking prisoners before Hans gets to them. One of these prisoners early on could be Azura, abandoned by the Hoshidans after the invasion. She could get a special release, being a former Nohr princess and all. Azura can let Corrin know Garon's slime nature, and this can be a plot point that is the driving force going forward. At this point, Corrin can confide in Leo about her misgivings and Leo can give her his prep speech about appearing to be evil. Now, Corrin has been given a command, maybe a base. Now Corrin can use this chance to change things from the inside. Think Oskar Schindler during World War 2. Corrin gathers prisoners and puts them to work in her base. Outwardly, she can say they are her slaves, and they are digging ore and working the fields for the good of Nohr back home, but in reality, she's keeping them safe from the likes of Garon and Hans. Slavery is a terrible thing, but we're supposed to be dealing with gray morality here. Once we're past the initial phase of the game, we can move onto the next stage. Corrin has made a very efficient base of slave labor and has been appointed ambassador to the neutral countries for a PR campaign, basically to keep them from aiding the Hoshidan resistance. She could visit the Wind/Fire Tribes, Nestra, Izana, etc. One scenario could be visiting with the leaders, then getting attacked by the Hoshidan resistance, led by Takumi and Hinoka. Corrin uses this to say "We came in peace, and now these barbarians are attacking both of us, putting your leaders in danger!" Izana's map could be doing some favor for him to get a magic orb to reveal Garon's true nature. Each map could have some different fluff to it, but that's the basic idea of this arc. Also, around here, Hinoka is taken captive. It's okay for a boss to escape occasionally, but it's silly to happen every time. Garon of course, continues to commit atrocities. Your base continues to collect slave labor and be highly efficient, but Corrin does her best to keep her prisoners alive. Hinoka is now her prisoner, and she confides her plans in her. Around this time, Azura has gathered her magic reagents and shows Corrin and Leo slime Garon. Elise and Camilla join in, because they trust Corrin, but Xander is not let in on the plan yet, since he's too loyal to Garon still. Now, Iago comes snooping around our castle and sees our evilness quota isn't high enough, but we kill him right here and now, making sure to hide his body. The next arc of the game is eliminating the Hoshido resistance, capturing Sakura. Takumi goes down fighting, refusing to let himself be taken prisoner. Following this victory, Garon orders the death of Sakura. Hans takes her away, with Corrin powerless to help her. This is the point where Xander is ready to believe the slime allegations of his father and joins Corrin. At this point it's civil war, unfortunately, before Corrin can move her army into the open, Ryoma attacks, blaming Corrin for Sakura's death "She trusted you, and you let her die!". After defeating Ryoma, he believes you and forgives you. At this time, Garon's forces attack. His cover has been blown after losing Xander's support, and he's ready to kill Corrin. Ryoma takes a fatal blow, protecting Corrin. Now, we simply have a map or two where we take out Hans and the few elite soldiers loyal to Slime Garon before defeating the Slime King. We can now have our happy ending with Queen Hinoka and King Xander forging a peace to last the ages. tl;dr Make Corrin resist from the inside by trying to take prisoners and run a Schindler castle. The Castle could be integrated into the My Castle feature. I don't think my proposal is perfect, but I feel this would be an improvement.