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Recruited Characters: Which make most sense story wise?


ck425
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I've completed BE and almost finished GD, having recruited a lot more characters second time round. Certain characters seem to make far more sense being recruited than others. I'd like to compile a list of which characters make the most sense from a story point of view. Here are the ones I've found:

 

Black Eagles:

Lorenz - His family are pro-empire and he loves nobility. It makes sense for him to join the Empire and attempt to finish the war asap to save the peasantry from further suffering. Also his supports with Dorothea and Ferdinand are great.

Felix - With his bitterness towards Dmitri and his Father it makes perfect character sense. It's driven by disgust with chivalry and outdated nobility and meshes nicely with Edels philosophy.

Leonie - I didn't actually recruit her but from the mercenary perspective and promising to look after Byleth it works.

Ashe - Again not someone I actually recruited but after the events with his adopted father I could see him turning against the church.

Lysithea - I didn't  recruit her but given the shared background with Edel and the shared border with the empire, joining up would be a good way to keep her parents and land out of the war and to potentially find someone to take over after she's gone. Also an opportunity to find out more about TWSITD and get revenge or maybe even a solution to staying alive longer.

In my BE run I recruited Ingrid but it didn't make much sense story wise.

 

Golden Eagle:

Felix - Same reasons from above apply, albeit it's a less severe reaction. We helps Byleth because they're strong and he respects them, more than he respects his family/kingdom.

Petra - When I recruited her she mentioned Edel asking her to join her but there are implied consequences if she doesn't. She was kept as a vassal all her life, fighting for her and her kingdoms freedom from the empire makes sense. Also her and Claude are of similar backgrounds and their support is great.

Ferdinand - I failed to recruit him. 😞 But I can imagine him trying to fight back against Edel due to her overthrowing his father and out of envy.

Dorothea - She's an opportunist out of necessity and she has some bitterness towards the nobility of the Empire. Additionally the Alliance seems a lot more egalitarian than other nations, or at least to have a stronger middle class where there would be opportunities for her.

I recruited Linhardt, Ingrid and Sylvain too but tbh it felt odd that they stuck around. It didn't not make sense, but there certainly weren't compelling reasons for them to stay.

 

 

I've not played the Church or Blue Lions yet (I started the first couple of chapter on Maddening but given how much it mixes things up I think I might replay GD or do Church first on maddening).

That said here are some thoughts:

 

Blue Lions

Raphael - Where better to become a knight?

Leonie - Same as above. Tbh both characters would fit nicely with all the routes.

Petra - For the same reason as the Alliance. Another thought that occurs is she wouldn't trust Edel after her sneak attack.

Lysithea - Because screw TWSITD and she's not got much to lose.

 

Church

Any and all the BL characters. They're all anti-empire and quite faithful.

Lorenz - Because the church is an institution required to guide the people (his view not mine)

Ignatz - He's very faithful.

 

 

 

Thoughts?

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Ingrid’s reasons for joining BE strike Force is because of Edelgard’s ideals for Crestless world, which Ingrid has suffered. 

An okay reason, but I really can’t see Ingrid or most of the BLs joining the empire, especially considering Ingrid’s values on chivalry and loyalty. The only two I can see joining BEs are Felix and Ashe, the former to his strained relationship with Dimitri, and the latter for church’s involvement with Lonato.

I can see most of the BLs joining the church or GF, since these factions are anti-empire, and the situation In Faerghus has become un salvageable, in those routes, especially with Dimitri’s madness. Mercedes in particular I can see joining the church/Alliance over the Kingdom due to her religious nature and the fact she shows more concern over Lady Rhea than Fhirdiad in Azure Moon.

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I've recruited Sylvain on my Black Eagles run because I feel his views on Crests line up nicely with what Edelgard has been telling me in her supports. Keep in mind that I'm still in Chapter 1, so maybe something will change about this, but as of now I thought he fit in very nicely.

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2 hours ago, ck425 said:

I've completed BE and almost finished GD, having recruited a lot more characters second time round. Certain characters seem to make far more sense being recruited than others. I'd like to compile a list of which characters make the most sense from a story point of view. Here are the ones I've found:

 

Black Eagles:

Lorenz - His family are pro-empire and he loves nobility. It makes sense for him to join the Empire and attempt to finish the war asap to save the peasantry from further suffering. Also his supports with Dorothea and Ferdinand are great.

Felix - With his bitterness towards Dmitri and his Father it makes perfect character sense. It's driven by disgust with chivalry and outdated nobility and meshes nicely with Edels philosophy.

Leonie - I didn't actually recruit her but from the mercenary perspective and promising to look after Byleth it works.

Ashe - Again not someone I actually recruited but after the events with his adopted father I could see him turning against the church.

Lysithea - I didn't  recruit her but given the shared background with Edel and the shared border with the empire, joining up would be a good way to keep her parents and land out of the war and to potentially find someone to take over after she's gone. Also an opportunity to find out more about TWSITD and get revenge or maybe even a solution to staying alive longer.

In my BE run I recruited Ingrid but it didn't make much sense story wise.

 

Golden Eagle:

Felix - Same reasons from above apply, albeit it's a less severe reaction. We helps Byleth because they're strong and he respects them, more than he respects his family/kingdom.

Petra - When I recruited her she mentioned Edel asking her to join her but there are implied consequences if she doesn't. She was kept as a vassal all her life, fighting for her and her kingdoms freedom from the empire makes sense. Also her and Claude are of similar backgrounds and their support is great.

Ferdinand - I failed to recruit him. 😞 But I can imagine him trying to fight back against Edel due to her overthrowing his father and out of envy.

Dorothea - She's an opportunist out of necessity and she has some bitterness towards the nobility of the Empire. Additionally the Alliance seems a lot more egalitarian than other nations, or at least to have a stronger middle class where there would be opportunities for her.

I recruited Linhardt, Ingrid and Sylvain too but tbh it felt odd that they stuck around. It didn't not make sense, but there certainly weren't compelling reasons for them to stay.

 

 

I've not played the Church or Blue Lions yet (I started the first couple of chapter on Maddening but given how much it mixes things up I think I might replay GD or do Church first on maddening).

That said here are some thoughts:

 

Blue Lions

Raphael - Where better to become a knight?

Leonie - Same as above. Tbh both characters would fit nicely with all the routes.

Petra - For the same reason as the Alliance. Another thought that occurs is she wouldn't trust Edel after her sneak attack.

Lysithea - Because screw TWSITD and she's not got much to lose.

 

Church

Any and all the BL characters. They're all anti-empire and quite faithful.

Lorenz - Because the church is an institution required to guide the people (his view not mine)

Ignatz - He's very faithful.

 

 

 

Thoughts?

Lorenz's motivations contradict Edelgard's. His family may be pro-empire, but if he is aware of her goals, he should be opposed, unless his belief in his family's merits is so strong that he believes himself to be a shoe-in for her new world order regardless. Either way, I think he would be in for a rude awakening if he sides with her, and I say that as someone who actually likes Lorenz.

Edited by Etheus
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They all have some sort of reason to be joining one house or the other. Personally, I start with cross-support compatibility with House Leaders taking priority although this is not a sure-fire method. Sometimes, certain characters just don't make much sense joining another house or the other but that's why we have conflicting views. I have not played all the routes and so some information is still quite spotty so feel free to correct them based on your experiences and opinions.

Pro-Black Eagles

Spoiler

 

Lysithea of the Golden Deer has a very strong connection to Edelgard's ideals so much so that she is one of the more obvious ones here. She very much wants to rid the world of crests. She is almost a free unit for Black Eagles not requiring recruitment in part 1 to sway her over to the Empire. As a result, despite the fact that she does have more supports with Blue Lion characters (Sylvain, Annette and Felix), she is in my opinion, the least likely to join either the Church or Blue Lions. She does not care for Dimitri/Rhea in the same way she does for Claude or Edelgard with certain information outright saying that she doesn't care about the situation in Faerghus. One could even argue that she would very much prefer Black Eagles over Golden Deer. Although she seems loyal to Claude enough to be willing to fight the Empire in both Azure Moon and Crimson Flower (at least until the Alliance's fate is pretty much sealed at Deidru for CF, plus with Claude's prodding.)

Lorenz of the Golden Deer is more or less pro-Black Eagles but not really out of his own choice. The Gloucester family seems to have somesort of vendetta against House Riegan as well as the concern for their survival since their territory is the first affected if the Empire chooses to invade the Alliance. Since Lorenz seems to be more or less following his father's will. It's within reason that he would probably follow the Empire despite the fact that he doesn't really want to. He does also seem the least likely to join Church as he doesn't really seem to care about the Faith or Rhea that much if that was the case while, being more preferable to join Blue Lions in order to free himself from The Empire in that regards. In fact, one could argue that he's also Pro-Blue Lions since he had lived in Faerghus. His cross-house supports seem to be for both with Ferdinand and Dorothea for Black Eagles or Sylvain and Mercedes for Blue Lions.

Before I talk about the most-likely Blue Lion candidate to join Black Eagles, I personally found their house to be full of loyalists at most even Ashe seems to prefer the Blue Lions way despite what the Church did to Lonato. So their reasons are quite shorter. Since I have not played Blue Lions nor am I their biggest fans so their reasons are quite shorter and more superficial. 

Sylvain of the Blue Lions is the member who detest Crests the most. Since he already dislike his father and he isn't as close with most of the other Blue Lions member as much. If he is prodded enough, he could likely agree to overthrow the Church if it stops the curse of the crests that he and his brother suffered so much for. He doesn't seem to care about The Alliance at much so he's the least likely to join Golden Deer or even the Church.

Felix of the Blue Lions is a popular choice, although his motives have been debated. He holds cynical views against Faerghus's ideals, and that does seem like enough reason for him to leave the Kingdom. Plus he also has a lot of special dialogue for joining the Empire, especially against Rodrigue and Dimitri. However, there is also merit to believe that he genuinely cares for the Kingdom a lot despite his insistent so there are also reason to believe that he is also too much of a loyalist for Blue Lions to ever be happy in any other route where he isn't following Dimitri. The same also applies to Sylvain although in my opinion, in a much lesser extent. Likewise, he doesn't care for The Alliance or the Church to really join them for their cause especially with the Golden Deer, since there he express sorrow for not being there for Dimitri.

 

Pro-Blue Lions

Spoiler

 

Marianne of the Golden Deer seems to have somewhat of a kinship with Blue Lions. Although one could definitely argue that she could agree to join Black Eagles in order to get rid of the curse that is her crest, it seems to me that she would be far happier with Blue Lions as they still retain their faith in the Goddess. Her support with Dimitri is what makes me prioritize her with Blue Lions. Again, I have not played Blue Lions yet so I am not aware of her comments just yet.

I apologize since I have not played Azure Moon yet to know which characters prefer this routes. I hope the overwhelming Blue Lions fans can provide more supports. Personally Raphael, Lorenz (as I stated, he could fall here but I kept him in Black Eagles because he has a duty with his family to prioritize joining the Empire until persuaded otherwise.) Ferdinand and Dorothea stands out as the most likely characters to join the Blue Lions but I don't have sufficient knowledge to talk in length.

 

Pro-Golden Deer

Spoiler

 

Petra of the Black Eagles as fellow foreigner, she would emphasize with Claude's ideals enough to defect from the Empire since they are an unwilling vassal state. She will require some slight nudge because she is somewhat loyal to Edelgard as a friend. Brigid would definitely be more than willing to stand against the Empire, and Claude's vision will be the most beneficial to them.

Ingrid of the Blue Lions is more of a personal opinion. She does have a lot of support with Golden Deer members (Claude, Raphael and Ignatz), and one could say that if she is tired of her father's control over her so she strikes out to connect with the Alliance instead. Again, the reasoning here is quite weak I have to admit because most of Blue Lions members don't really have much reasons to leave their own house. House Galatea was once part of House Daphnel before they broke off and so Ingrid joining the Alliance can have somewhat of rekindle for that.

Shamir and Cyril of the Church fall both here as foreigners who would oppose the Empire what but isn't as connected with The Kingdom. Both of them are more comfortable with Golden Deer members since Claude's ideals would resonate with them to a degree.

 

Some Exceptions

Spoiler

Leonie and Alois are more or less Jeralt-centric than anything else. They are more loyal to Jeralt and to an extension Byleth. Plus both of them don't have strong ideals on anything so they definitely wouldn't mind following any other class as long as Byleth is with them.

Hilda is the only "number-two" that can join Blue Lions or the Church but she will never join Black Eagles - CF. Reasons are a bit of a toss-up. Byleth's influence aside, I definitely say that she doesn't care about Faerghus enough to join Blue Lions but the option is there since they never kill Claude who she is probably the most loyal to. Otherwise, I would say that she could be a pro-church but even then, she probably just prefers Golden Deer over any other houses.

 

Edited by TanatatKnight
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I think you can find motivations for basically everyone tbh, probably the topic would be easier to address in the opposite way (who DOESN'T make sense).
But here are the ones I consider more obvious.

Empire: Felix, Lysithea, Marianne are the ones that come to mind immediately. There's a case for Sylvain, but I did recruit him and he wasn't exactly on board with invading Faerghus, I think he loves his home more than he hates his crest. Lorenz as someone else said probably doesn't like her ideals, but he does value bloodline a lot, so I can see him choosing his family's interests over his own.

Lions: Raphael as he really wants to be a knight and doesn't have any more ties to the alliance (outside of his sister, which I assume can be easily moved around).

Deer: Ferdinand as he'd want to enter the noble alliance after being kicked out of the empire. Petra as she'd like to have a relevant position for her nation (though I disagree with a lot of people that say she's "anti empire", she definitely admires Edelgard a lot and wants to be her ally, and Edelgard herself says Brigid will be treated as such under her reign).

Church: Mercedes, Ignatz, Marianne.

Also on every route I'd recruit Leonie. She doesn't have any strong tie to the alliance, but is strongly connected to Jeralt and in turn to Byleth. Get her, she needs to be at your side.
I also think that Dorothea pretty much would join Byleth anywhere, she's tied to the people not to the land.

 

But as I said, it's very easy to find motivations for everyone, so I'd actually rather list the exceptions:

Empire: Ingrid, she hates everything adrestian.

Lions: Ignatz, it's everything he doesn't like in one place. Petra, she doesn't have anything to do with a kingdom, and she'd probably have even less power than with the empire. Lorenz, nobility is a lot different in the kingdom than in the alliance. Hilda, she either is a retainer and can't be recruited, or she can be recruited everywhere. It doesn't make sense that she's route locked (except that they didn't want people to play both her and Edelgard's paralogue and notice they're the same thing). Linhardt/Caspar, don't see how they'd leave the empire.

Deer: Sylvain/Ingrid/Felix (to a lesser extent). No reason to leave the kingdom. Also again Linhardt/Caspar.

Church: Lorenz, he doesn't believe and is affiliated to the empire.

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Ashe makes since in the church run, in my opinion. He seems very focused on becoming a knight, and the best place to do that is with the Knights of Seiros. Plus, he has good connections with Catherine and he seems to follow the Church. Plus his background is very much tied to the church.

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I don’t think are “canon” recruitments per se but I do find it interesting that there is no overlap of the lords’ “outside-house supports”:

Edelgard: Lysithea/Hanneman/Manuela

Dimitri: Raphael/Marianne/Catherine/Alois/Gilbert

Claude: Petra/Annette/Ingrid/Shamir/Cyril

Shamir does support Hubert and Dedue as well, but still I thought it was a nice touch if intentional.

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I think most Blue Lion makes no sense joining empire except maybe Ashe and Sylvain, but even these two have strong case against defection

- Felix: on appearance he was disatisfied with Dimitri or his father, but deeper into their support and endings reveals he has deep respect and love to Dimitri even he speaks harshly on him. His harsh words were more like due to their close bond

- Ingrid: already mentioned by the others, kingdom loyalist hold chivalry at highest.

- Mercedes: Extremely devoted to the church and goddess at the point want to be a nun or joins Knights of Seiros. Her mother and her were taken in by the church when they were kicked out from the family.

- Annette: her whole life goal was to reunited with her father. She went to mage academy and became top student just so she could get scholarship into Officer Academy to meet her father. There is no way she's convinced to fight, even kill her father

- Ashe: again on the surface you would think he hates church for killing Christophe and Lornato. But after his paralogue with Rhea he clearly lays blame on West Church (and later TWSITD) rather than on Church or religion in general. He also only gets one unique ending in Empire.

- Sylvain: He's on the edge. On one hand he could hate crest as a system due to his brother, but later he also justified the system as necessary to defend Fodlan from invasions.

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Ooh, love this. This heavily influenced who I chose to recruit/not recruit after my first playthorugh. This is based on actual story and not exactly what I did. 

Black Eagles: 
Lysithea (cause of her support with Edelgard)
Sylvain (he hates Crests so much)
Felix (his hatred of nobility, plus his love/hate with Dimitri)

Ashe - less likely, but I do think it's easy to see a way where the Lonato thing really turned him against the Church in general. And when you recruit him to the Empire side, he even mentions the entire Lonato thing made him unable to trust the church again.

Golden Deer:
Petra (foreigner, being held hostage in the Empire, also doesn't believe in the Goddess, neither does Claude)
Dorothea (hates fighting/bloodshed, I can see her wanted the more peaceful solution Claude attempted)

Blue Lions:
Lorenz - I just feel his ideals of nobility and whatever mesh well with the Kingdom because they're all such true believers.
Ferdinand - Same thing of Lorenz. They're both obsessed with their nobility in a way that Claude isn't and in a way that fits the Blue Lions.
Marianne - So devoted to the Goddess and what not.

Honestly I wish there were more defections in your own team. Like honestly I don't feel like Lorenz would have stayed in Golden Deer. And I don't think Ferdinand/Petra was gonna stay in Black Eagles. And in Blue Lions, I really think both Sylvain and Felix could have reasonable defected to the Empire, based on their supports. 

I have Mercedes/Marianne/Annette in my Black Eagles run and they definitely feel out of place but I just couldn't stomach killing them, tbh. Ingrid I left in the Blue Lions because there is NO way she would have left. I can at least head cannon that Marianne joins the Black Eagles to get rid of her crest and that Mercedes while believing in the Goddess, doesn't necessarily see the Church as the best way (plus she definitely has some things against Crests as well). Annette I can't justify, but I needed her peppy/cheery personality, and I don't regret it. Haha.
 

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I generally see Felix's turn towards the Empire as a very specific circumstance, one where he becomes not unlike Punished!Dimitri in that he's absolutely lost nearly all of his humanity, its telling that his endings all have him either finding a reason to live beyond killing or end up abandoning everything, even dear friends (Sylvain paired ending) Felix is harsh and caustic but its all defense and lashing out while he's desperately afraid of losing anyone else, even his supports with Dimitri are filled with a sense of betrayal and hurt on his part with what he perceives his dear friend had become. Something would have had to happen between Felix and Dimitri that would have him completely cut ties and the constant fighting against his own people has changed/hardened him greatly where he's as close to the outward persona he puts off as he can get. For Felix's transformation to go the way it had, for him to reach the point of murdering his childhood friends, his father, I don't see it existing in any situation where a single one of his classmates are on his side, the isolation and war trauma bringing him to this breaking point. His fight with Ingrid puts all his doubts and regrets on the table, Rodrigue shows his love turned to hatred, and Sylvain shows how far gone Felix really is. By the time he reaches Dimitri, he really is little more than an animal needing to be put down, exactly the same as the boar. I can certainly see Felix joining the empire, but the reality of that action is that he doesn't cope with it well, at all. He's desperate for evidence that he made the right choice, to have some meaning for betraying himself.

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25 minutes ago, CyberNinja said:

I generally see Felix's turn towards the Empire as a very specific circumstance, one where he becomes not unlike Punished!Dimitri in that he's absolutely lost nearly all of his humanity, its telling that his endings all have him either finding a reason to live beyond killing or end up abandoning everything, even dear friends (Sylvain paired ending) Felix is harsh and caustic but its all defense and lashing out while he's desperately afraid of losing anyone else, even his supports with Dimitri are filled with a sense of betrayal and hurt on his part with what he perceives his dear friend had become. Something would have had to happen between Felix and Dimitri that would have him completely cut ties and the constant fighting against his own people has changed/hardened him greatly where he's as close to the outward persona he puts off as he can get. For Felix's transformation to go the way it had, for him to reach the point of murdering his childhood friends, his father, I don't see it existing in any situation where a single one of his classmates are on his side, the isolation and war trauma bringing him to this breaking point. His fight with Ingrid puts all his doubts and regrets on the table, Rodrigue shows his love turned to hatred, and Sylvain shows how far gone Felix really is. By the time he reaches Dimitri, he really is little more than an animal needing to be put down, exactly the same as the boar. I can certainly see Felix joining the empire, but the reality of that action is that he doesn't cope with it well, at all. He's desperate for evidence that he made the right choice, to have some meaning for betraying himself.

Damn, this is fanfic-worthy.

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I feel like none of the BL makes sense in joining BE. Just because someone doesn’t like crests or nobility doesn’t mean they’re willing to watch their childhood friends die over it (which is also why I think Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix would never join another house). It’s more realistic for Felix and Sylvain to work within the system to decrease the importance of crests and nobility instead of defecting and killing people over it. 

Some of the BE also doesn’t make sense for sticking with BE post skip (not necessarily defecting but I don’t see them joining the fight realistically). Dorothea and Linhardt doesn’t even like to see bloodshed and the fact that the empire launched a full scale war wouldn’t sit right with them. Caspar is all about justice and I don’t see him agreeing with Edelgard’s methods in attaining that. Petra has reasons to ditch the Empire but I think she might have Stockholm syndrome. 

Edited by zuibangde
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speaking to who I recruited in my GD run and now my BL run, and whether I think they fit well...

in GD I recruited Caspar and Linhardt so they could be together. I also recruited them in my BL run. SO far I've felt that this pair fit better with the GD? Linhardt is interesting with some of his monastery dialogue, about how he feels like the others don't trust him because he's from the Empire. Caspar's personality isn't all that different btw GD and BL? Plus having Caspar in BL means who get his Paralougue with Mercedes. I also didn;t wanna have to kill them in my BL run 😞

I've also recruited both Pertra and Dorothea. I've found they are both about equal for both GD and BL in terms of fitting in well? I also did Petra and Claude's paired ending in my GD run. I thought they made a really good couple, much more so over Claude and Hilda imo. Dorothea gets along so well with everyone no mater what house she is in it seems.

Recruited Sylvain for my GD run. He gets really morose and almost depressed post time skip in GD run. Made me feel bad for him. I did pair him but with Dorothea though. their support and paired ending was pretty good. Recruited Ashe to GD so I didn't have to kill the poor boy in ch.16. Other than enjoining his supports with Caspar and Cyril, I didn't feel like Ashe added too much story-wise to GD

I recruited Bernadetta and Ferdinand in my BL run, didn't in my GD run and they had to die :c. Ferdinand becoming very anti Empire in BL makes a lot of sense. Bernadetta is worth recruiting to BL because of her support with Felix. Otherwise she doesn't add much outside of her other supports.

from for my BL l run I recruited Marianne, Lsyithea and Raphael. I've found they don't add tooooo much to the story-feel of BL? All the supports they have with the BL characters are pretty good though, Like Dimitri x Marianne, Dimitri and Raphael is amusing, Felix and Lsyithea is funny and sweet. Raphael x Ingrid is another amusing one.

I also recruited Lorenz into my BL run. He fits in pretty well with the BL? I never felt like he was super duper loyal to the Alliance? With Claude, it's not until the very end of the game or if you do his A support with Claude that he shows true genuine benevolence that he is happy being with the GD? It kinda feels more like he was just going with the flow, idk. His father becomes pro-Empire after the time skip in GD, but that's quick resolved. It kinda happens the same way in BL. Lorenz appears as an enemy in ch.16, but if you spare with with Byleth, Lorenz's father defects from the Empire as he did in GD. SO I think he could go either way in GD or BL.  Haven't played either of the BE routes, but I do agree that hardly any of the BL crew joining makes sense. I  think it would only make sense if you recruited Sylvain, Felix, and Ingrid all to the BE-E route. Breaking any of them apart would just feel so wrong haha.

Edited by xchickengirlx
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I recruited Felix into Black Eagles and he's suffering at the start of post time skip. Says he had to kill a lot of people for the empire and that he's starting to lose faith in Edelgard's ambitions. Any more failures and he'll turn his sword on you next. I haven't played BL yet but I really get the impression he's not supposed to be here.

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On 9/16/2019 at 9:57 PM, Glennstavos said:

I recruited Felix into Black Eagles and he's suffering at the start of post time skip. Says he had to kill a lot of people for the empire and that he's starting to lose faith in Edelgard's ambitions. Any more failures and he'll turn his sword on you next. I haven't played BL yet but I really get the impression he's not supposed to be here.

Great topic.

I remember Felix suffering and being war weary, but damn, I don't remember him specifically saying that he's losing faith in Edelgard. Will have to look for that again.

Regarding Lorenz joining the Black Eagles, I think that actually makes even more canonical sense than him staying with the Golden Deer out of loyalty to his family. Playing on the Crimson Flower path, for the assault on the bridge penetrating Gloucester territory, Lorenz never appears to fight against the Adrestian army. Off the top of my head, Lorenz is the only guy who does not fight you that comes to mind, if you don't recruit him or play his native route.

As a testament to the game writers, while there are characters that at the outset would not make sense on a given route, the game generally does a decent job justifying it over ensuing post time-skip monastery dialog, which is pretty efficient. When I recruited most of the BL characters on my first Crimson Flower playthrough, the way I justified it was that they also entered the Holy Tomb to observe Byleth's ceremony, and then ultimately fled in a panic when Seiros became the Immaculate One and were jolted onto their future life trajectories with the Black Eagles by the shock of that event.

Edited by pekingduck
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41 minutes ago, pekingduck said:

the way I justified it was that they also entered the Holy Tomb to observe Byleth's ceremony, and then ultimately fled in a panic when Seiros became the Immaculate One and were jolted onto their future life trajectories with the Black Eagles by the shock of that event.

Man, that's such an important thing that people seem to magically forget whenever CF in general is brought up (and especially for recruitments). It's not just a matter of following Edelgard or Byleth just because crests are bad, the people you recruited have literally seen Rhea flip into an insane giant lizard, what more do you need to choose your side?

I still can see the point (that I make myself too) of people like Ingrid or Annette struggling to find a place in CF, but there's still a reason, and that's what they've seen (and knowing that their Kingdom is supporting THAT).

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2 hours ago, Sid Starkiller said:

I don't think that excuse would work for Ingrid, though.

Ingrid got lost on the way to the Faerghus recruitment center and joined the Imperial army by mistake, she didn't figure it out until her third foray into Faerghus territory and tenth skirmish with church soldiers. Afterwards she was too embarrassed to admit her mistake and hastily came up with an excuse to save face.

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2 hours ago, Sid Starkiller said:

I like to think that Annette was just following Mercedes. They are BFFs after all.

I don't think that excuse would work for Ingrid, though.

With Ingrid, I think she also possibly swooned under the spell of Sensei Magic, which is a major point of suspense of disbelief throughout the entire game. (Catherine humorously comments on the Sensei Magic by asking what could possibly be so cool about Byleth since he is bland and average-looking). Ingrid also makes a little more sense if Felix and Sylvain also join the Eagles, as then, she's also following her friends to protect them. I'm glad the game didn't do it as that would have made it even longer to play, but requiring a couple rounds of actions and a couple mutual supports may have made recruits feel more "earned" and story-justified. As is, I think the game writing nicely leaves a lot to the imagination.

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50 minutes ago, pekingduck said:

Catherine humorously comments on the Sensei Magic by asking what could possibly be so cool about Byleth since he is bland and average-looking

Minutes after saying the opposite. Seriously, her C support she says you're ugly, and her recruitment line she says you're good-looking. Make up your mind Catherine!

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I feel it’s not a stretch that most Blue Lion people that believe Dimitri is dead would end up finding their way towards the Golden Deer as they’re likely the best shot of taking down the Empire which I feel most of them would be disliking generally after the invasion. 

I feel like I remember Ingrid mentioning that if she knew Dimitri was alive she would have been there for him in GD but says she can’t back out of her choices now. 

Also Dimitri got shafted unbelievably hard in GD/Church routes and is honestly one of my largest gripes in the game’s story. 

Edited by SubwayBossEmmett
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2 hours ago, Sid Starkiller said:

Minutes after saying the opposite. Seriously, her C support she says you're ugly, and her recruitment line she says you're good-looking. Make up your mind Catherine!

Ah yeah, just remembered that. Now, that is something a script supervisor should have caught!

@SubwayBossEmmett, completely agree with you about Dimitri. It really feels like a case where the writers got stuck, some other problems happened in the background, and they ran out of time. Unbelievably bad for them to do Dimitri like that off-screen. Bad writing in any medium.

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On 9/16/2019 at 6:44 PM, Escape the Fate said:

I don’t think are “canon” recruitments per se but I do find it interesting that there is no overlap of the lords’ “outside-house supports”:

Edelgard: Lysithea/Hanneman/Manuela

Dimitri: Raphael/Marianne/Catherine/Alois/Gilbert

Claude: Petra/Annette/Ingrid/Shamir/Cyril

Shamir does support Hubert and Dedue as well, but still I thought it was a nice touch if intentional.

Hanneman and Manuela also stay with Edelgard if you don't recruit them, so I think this list makes a lot of sense as to some biases the creators had. Shamir is a mercenary at heart, so it makes sense that she'd join either of them depending on where Byleth goes.

On 9/16/2019 at 2:24 PM, ck425 said:

I've completed BE and almost finished GD, having recruited a lot more characters second time round. Certain characters seem to make far more sense being recruited than others. I'd like to compile a list of which characters make the most sense from a story point of view. Here are the ones I've found:

 

Black Eagles:

Lorenz - His family are pro-empire and he loves nobility. It makes sense for him to join the Empire and attempt to finish the war asap to save the peasantry from further suffering. Also his supports with Dorothea and Ferdinand are great.

Blue Lions

Petra - For the same reason as the Alliance. Another thought that occurs is she wouldn't trust Edel after her sneak attack.

See, you lost me on your first reasoning. How is loving nobility a good reason for joining the Empire? Edelgard especially detests incompetent nobles and believes the world should be run by the people who are most qualified for the job, regardless of their social status. I'd definitely say it's just a family reason.

Also regarding Petra's reasoning, she specifically remarks about loving surprise attacks multiple times throughout the game (as it is akin to hunting), so even if she were to join the other houses, I doubt that'd be her reasoning.

Edited by Eltoshen
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