The True Tragedy of Three Houses

[Ottservia]

16 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Actually, that's the thing. Byleth is the factor that makes them start to change. Both Edelgard and Claude have serious trust issues, and for good reason. But Byleth helps them learn to open up and trust others more. It's why in CF, Edelgard is able to regain her own humanity and let the little girl that was trapped underneath emerge by the end. And in VW, Claude learned to trust Byleth to the point of calling them a sibling in the JP version, and then actually risk charging into Nemesis to give Byleth a chance to win, when in the beginning, Claude would run off at the first sign of trouble. 

It isn't that they're hypocrites, but their quotes are the manifestation of their change.

I never said their hypocrisy was a bad thing because like you said that hypocrisy is acknowledged by the narrative and corrected which is why they are able to win the day. On the topic of Byleth. Their “arc” fits into this as well because their whole thing is about learning about how to express their emotions properly which they learn to do by the end of white clouds thanks to the bond they have with their students. In a way Byleth uses what they learned through that arc to help their students do the same. They learn to be true to themselves and be open to others

[Axel987]

24 minutes ago, Zeake said:

There's one problem that is quite large with the 3H story... And that is Crimson Flower. 

 

There can be no denying that the story was magnanimously established that the church was not responsible for the evils of the crests. That was brought on by Nemesis and the Ten Elites. Rhea changed history (a nod to Deghinsea) in order to protect possible future bearers of crests from being slaughtered by folks who might seek their destruction just because they were descendents of the Elites. It shows some courage and forthcoming goodness on the part of Rhea... Of which I wouldn't have done myself. Those Who Slither in The Dark have a name: the Agarthans. I will refer to them as their name. They were behind Nemesis and the Elites decision to slaughter Rhea's brethren and make weapons of their bodies and crests of their hearts. 

 

The problem with Crimson Flower is that Edelgard blames the church for the evils of the crests and claims that those "beasts" Dragonkin and children of the goddess, are to blame for all evils. False. It was man who decided to make the crest bearers nobles. Not Rhea or the church. Or her dead mother who made no such decree of anything. Edelgard at first seemed to make her decisions out of ignorance, which could be understood but never excused. However, later on in the story, it is readily revealed that she knew all along who were the real problem. But not to the fullest extent. Instead of confronting Rhea before declaring war, to find the truth, she just sets ablaze a continent claiming: "For the freedom of Fohdland!" Except... She's uniting them under empirical rule... Which from what I remember... Is not freedom. Stupid. She even openly discovers in Arionrhod that the church was not responsible for the pillars of light that rained from the sky, and even knows who is... And she says to us, the protagonist and Hubert: "Let no one know of this." Then she calls a meeting of the strike force to say: "The church did it." Had I been able to make a choice, I would've chose (as Byleth) to kill her where she stood for that damnable lie. 

 

It's humorous, to say the least. Her entire story can be summed up to a modern expression of hatred of God (Christ) because someone told her she had to. I.e. her father. Pathetic. And to me, she has no redeemable qualities after that story. I have my problems with Dimitri acting a fool, and Claude meddling in Fohdland affairs even though he's an almyran, trying to push that ridiculous open boarders agenda politically in a video game. But Edelgard is the worst bad guy in the series in a long time. Crimson Flower tries to make her seem like the good guy, when in reality, that route cements her evil. I will take solace and pleasure in defeating her in all my future runs. Gladly. 

 

3H is a great FE... But it has its problems and they're big ones at that. I'll still play the game... But I am more looking forward to the possible and hopefully inevitable remakes of FE4 and FE5. 

I mean as much as I like Rhea(which I do a fucking lot. She's a great character with so much more potential that goes unexplored because she's a goddamn mcguffin most of the time in part 2);

• She's the one that came up with the mythos with regards to the Crests being blessings from the Goddess. Yes, she is not the one who made these people nobles but their claim to power is inherently steeped in her religion's dogma. As revealed in CS; Rhea only persecuted the 10 Elites themselves, their families were entirely cleared but she hunted the Elites down with unyielding wrath.
• While she herself does not promote Xenophobia and Racism, she's complicit in allowing it to go on instead of cracking down on it. People from Almyra, Dagda etc are treated as demons in Fodlan and people abuse them endlessly.
• She allows the blatant abuse of power done by nobles such as Count Gloucester and others.
• Slows down the progression of human advancement.

And arguably more. Edelgard prosecutes her for THAT, and she's completely right to even if you may not agree with what she does following that.

Also that post is lowkey shit-stirry in a thread that had actual mutual respect and good discussion going on. Why do that. I have my own misgivings about her actions but this certainly isn't the thread to discuss that and shit on her.

Edited February 16, 2020 by Axel987

[Earth Worm Jim]

16 minutes ago, Axel987 said:

I mean as much as I like Rhea(which I do a fucking lot. She's a great character with so much more potential that goes unexplored because she's a goddamn mcguffin most of the time in part 2);

• She's the one that came up with the mythos with regards to the Crests being blessings from the Goddess. Yes, she is not the one who made these people nobles but their claim to power is inherently steeped in her religion's dogma. As revealed in CS; Rhea only persecuted the 10 Elites themselves, their families were entirely cleared but she hunted the Elites down with unyielding wrath.
• While she herself does not promote Xenophobia and Racism, she's complicit in allowing it to go on instead of cracking down on it. People from Almyra, Dagda etc are treated as demons in Fodlan and people abuse them endlessly.
• She allows the blatant abuse of power done by nobles such as Count Gloucester and others.
• Slows down the progression of human advancement.

And arguably more. Edelgard prosecutes her for THAT, and she's completely right to even if you may not agree with what she does following that.

Also that post is lowkey shit-stirry in a thread that had actual mutual respect and good discussion going on. Why do that. I have my own misgivings about her actions but this certainly isn't the thread to discuss that and shit on her.

I've often seen people use this reasoning but it always falls flat when you actually consider the characters responses in the game.

• The nobles don't care about the mythos about the crests or the religious dogma. In fact, many of the nobles with crests got their position through actual military prowess or by assisting their state in some form.  They're not attached to crests because of religion, rather they value them because they are useful. It's much easier to think of crests as like family talent or specialty. Some people have it and some don't, but the ones that do are valuable to the family. They are valued because they are useful tools. Dimitri actually brings this up as a point, and it's something that Edelgard doesn't consider. Also Rhea wasn't alone when she hunted down the 10 Elites as Willheim was right their helping her willingly and gaining from it. There's also the fact that Rhea likely hid the truth in order to protect the rest of her family, for fear that they'd be hunted. And it's sad that Edelgard jusitifies her fear.
• Rhea is just one person. She doesn't rule over the church with an iron fist, ironically enough. She can't force people to change their minds about their neighbors, especially when those opinions come from their negative experiences. Cyril actually points this out to Claude, that part of the reason why Fodlani people don't trust Almyrans is because the Almyrans attack them for fun.
• Rhea has no control over the nobles, the most she can do is take away their relics when they lose their crests but that's it. She doesn't and can't control them, instead it's the other way around, they control the church through money. The church relies on donations survive and to help continue it's charity work. It's actually the leaders who control the nobles not the church. The empire nobles running wild is the fault of Inoius and his predecessors.  Especially, Ionius because his tyranny is what caused the insurrection of Seven.
• And this is something that is debunked, since Manuela performs an autopsy on Jeralt,  Slyvain talks bout book publishing, and Edelgard brings up the astronomers.  Heck the church funds Hanneman's research that will make crests and relics obsolete so that alone, destroys the argument.

Edelgard doesn't persecute Rhea for things that she does, but rather for things that she perceives as wrong. She persecutes Rhea without applying objectivity and pragmatism to her reasoning. The criticism that she lobs at Rhea is criticism that she should be lobbing at her own ancestors. But she doesn't do so, she doesn't acknowledge that humans are already in control of their own destinies.

[omegaxis1]

4 minutes ago, Earth Worm Jim said:

I've often seen people use this reasoning but it always falls flat when you actually consider the characters responses in the game.

• The nobles don't care about the mythos about the crests or the religious dogma. In fact, many of the nobles with crests got their position through actual military prowess or by assisting their state in some form.  They're not attached to crests because of religion, rather they value them because they are useful. It's much easier to think of crests as like family talent or specialty. Some people have it and some don't, but the ones that do are valuable to the family. They are valued because they are useful tools. Dimitri actually brings this up as a point, and it's something that Edelgard doesn't consider. Also Rhea wasn't alone when she hunted down the 10 Elites as Willheim was right their helping her willingly and gaining from it. There's also the fact that Rhea likely hid the truth in order to protect the rest of her family, for fear that they'd be hunted. And it's sad that Edelgard jusitifies her fear.
• Rhea is just one person. She doesn't rule over the church with an iron fist, ironically enough. She can't force people to change their minds about their neighbors, especially when those opinions come from their negative experiences. Cyril actually points this out to Claude, that part of the reason why Fodlani people don't trust Almyrans is because the Almyrans attack them for fun.
• Rhea has no control over the nobles, the most she can do is take away their relics when they lose their crests but that's it. She doesn't and can't control them, instead it's the other way around, they control the church through money. The church relies on donations survive and to help continue it's charity work. It's actually the leaders who control the nobles not the church. The empire nobles running wild is the fault of Inoius and his predecessors.  Especially, Ionius because his tyranny is what caused the insurrection of Seven.
• And this is something that is debunked, since Manuela performs an autopsy on Jeralt,  Slyvain talks bout book publishing, and Edelgard brings up the astronomers.  Heck the church funds Hanneman's research that will make crests and relics obsolete so that alone, destroys the argument.

Edelgard doesn't persecute Rhea for things that she does, but rather for things that she perceives as wrong. She persecutes Rhea without applying objectivity and pragmatism to her reasoning. The criticism that she lobs at Rhea is criticism that she should be lobbing at her own ancestors. But she doesn't do so, she doesn't acknowledge that humans are already in control of their own destinies.

I'd rather this not go into another discussion about whether Edelgard was objectively in the right or not. I LOVE Edelgard, and I would argue with you and explain things, but I want this thread to be impartial more or less. So if you guys want to really debate this, including you, @Zeake, do so in the PMs.

Or you guys can PM me and I can dissect the issues and we can discuss it there. But let's not have that kind of conversation here in this thread, at least.

[Etrurian emperor]

49 minutes ago, Earth Worm Jim said:

The criticism that she lobs at Rhea is criticism that she should be lobbing at her own ancestors. But she doesn't do so, she doesn't acknowledge that humans are already in control of their own destinies.

Actually I do recall her holding the first Adrestian Emperor in contempt. She says something about him having ''sold out humanity'' when explaining her reasoning to Byleth.

[Axel987]

3 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Actually I do recall her holding the first Adrestian Emperor in contempt. She says something about him having ''sold out humanity'' when explaining her reasoning to Byleth.

Yep that is indeed a thing.

Back to the main topic; I found it really neat how each ending cutscene has some real nice thematic imagery calling back to the characters and their growth. Claude risks his neck for someone else so that they can win, Edelgard fully opens herself up to another person and genuinely cries for them. Dimitri's final scene with Edelgard directly harkens back to the first scene of part 2. I'm not quite sure if I can find one for Silver Snow's however.

[omegaxis1]

2 minutes ago, Axel987 said:

Yep that is indeed a thing.

Back to the main topic; I found it really neat how each ending cutscene has some real nice thematic imagery calling back to the characters and their growth. Claude risks his neck for someone else so that they can win, Edelgard fully opens herself up to another person and genuinely cries for them. Dimitri's final scene with Edelgard directly harkens back to the first scene of part 2. I'm not quite sure if I can find one for Silver Snow's however.

You could take the very ending scenes of each route to the first route, apart from Azure Moon.

Crimson Flower: The story starts with Rhea killing Nemesis. And the story ends with her being killed. 

Verdant Moon: Nemesis is defeated yet again, but instead of single combat, it's teamwork.

Silver Snow: Beginning scene has it end with Rhea holding the Sword of the Creator and calling it mother, and then ending scene of her being held by Byleth and calling them "mother".

[Darkmoon6789]

22 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

You could take the very ending scenes of each route to the first route, apart from Azure Moon.

Crimson Flower: The story starts with Rhea killing Nemesis. And the story ends with her being killed. 

Verdant Moon: Nemesis is defeated yet again, but instead of single combat, it's teamwork.

Silver Snow: Beginning scene has it end with Rhea holding the Sword of the Creator and calling it mother, and then ending scene of her being held by Byleth and calling them "mother".

Yet more reason this game is so beautiful. It is like poetry

[omegaxis1]

2 minutes ago, Darkmoon6789 said:

Yet more reason this game is so beautiful. It is like poetry

Only Azure Moon is disconnected from the opening scene, because Azure Moon denies all lore. It's almost sad how they made Hapi's endings to be specifically designed to indicate that the Agarthans are fought off, which has been the biggest and most massive plothole in that route.

[Axel987]

4 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Only Azure Moon is disconnected from the opening scene, because Azure Moon denies all lore. It's almost sad how they made Hapi's endings to be specifically designed to indicate that the Agarthans are fought off, which has been the biggest and most massive plothole in that route.

Honestly with how similar they are I feel like originally each route was meant to focus on something different? But dev time ended up making 3 of them a bit too similar with CF being the only vastly different one since you're on the side of the aggressor for once. What -unfortunately- ended up happening is that AM focuses a lot on Dimitri as a character and the things surrounding the war going on, but ends up not really going into the lore at all, in part because TWSITD are horrendously inconsistently written. Like, was the Pillars of Light thing added later into development? Was Thales the only one that could use them? I could go on about how much I dislike them honestly.

As a big Blue Lions fan it's a flaw I've largely come to terms with and while I like her a lot as a character, Hapi's stuff(and honestly Cindered Shadows as a whole feels like a genuine band aid for most routes.)feels kinda bittersweet.

[omegaxis1]

4 minutes ago, Axel987 said:

Honestly with how similar they are I feel like originally each route was meant to focus on something different? But dev time ended up making 3 of them a bit too similar with CF being the only vastly different one since you're on the side of the aggressor for once. What -unfortunately- ended up happening is that AM focuses a lot on Dimitri as a character and the things surrounding the war going on, but ends up not really going into the lore at all, in part because TWSITD are horrendously inconsistently written. Like, was the Pillars of Light thing added later into development? Was Thales the only one that could use them? I could go on about how much I dislike them honestly.

As a big Blue Lions fan it's a flaw I've largely come to terms with and while I like her a lot as a character, Hapi's stuff(and honestly Cindered Shadows as a whole feels like a genuine band aid for most routes.)feels kinda bittersweet.

3H is DEFINITELY a seriously ambitious game. I mean, there seems to be indication that every route had split routes. Like there seems to be a darker DImitri path where Felix and Annette join Cornelia.

[AbsoluteZer0Nova]

To what @Zeake stated earlier Crimson Flower definitely failed at putting Edelgard in a better light, it just made her actions to an extent understandable and nothing, but that. Edelgard just works so much better as an antagonist than a protagonist as sorry to say, but she isn't the best written morally gray person of 3H. That title I can say without question belongs to Rhea. 

 

[AbsoluteZer0Nova]

Also yes Edelgard gets accused by Dimitri of being the one who caused Duscur, but there is one problem with how she deals with the accusation. "I had nothing to do with that." Which to that I say okay, so how about you explain yourself? She doesn't do much to defend herself especially when she's paired up with those that slither who definitely hurt her character both figuratively and literally. It's why Jeralt calls her out in insisting the Flame Emperor comes with them for questioning, but she never does explain herself to not only Dimitri when he accuses her, but Claude too when he receives that letter from Hubert in how all of this bloodshed could have been avoided. Lack of communication kills is what Edelgard ends up doing throughout the story. The only time when Edelgard does explain her actions to Dimitri was in their debate during Azure Moon and that conversation between the two of them is what sold her better as antagonist as Dimitri himself said "I finally understand, what you believe to be is right" as she is believably written, but just because she is doesn't mean what she's doing is right as a Freudian Excuse only gets you so much of an... well excuse.

Edited February 16, 2020 by AbsoluteZer0Nova

[omegaxis1]

1 minute ago, AbsoluteZer0Nova said:

To what @Zeake stated earlier Crimson Flower definitely failed at putting Edelgard in a better light, it just made her actions to an extent understandable and nothing, but that. Edelgard just works so much better as an antagonist than a protagonist as sorry to say, but she isn't the best written morally gray person of 3H. That title I can say without question belongs to Rhea. 

 

Please do not use that video as an argument especially since it is so biased that it's just trying to justify every bit of Rhea's actions. The title itself is proof that it's trying to justify her by an extensive amount. I've seen it, and my god is it bad. 

1 minute ago, AbsoluteZer0Nova said:

Also yes Edelgard gets accused by Dimitri of being the one who caused Duscur, but there is one problem with how she deals with the accusation. "I had nothing to do with that." Which to that I say okay, so how about you explain yourself? She doesn't do much to defend herself especially when she's paired up with those that slither who definately hurt her character both figurtively and literally. It's why Jeralt calls her out in insiting the Flame Emperor comes with them for questioning, but she never does explain herself to not only Dimitri when he accuses her, but Claude too when he receives that letter from Hubert in how all of this bloodshed could have been avoided. Lack of communication kills is what Edelgard ends up doing throughout the story. The only time when Edelgard does explain her actions to Dimitri was in their debate during Azure Moon and that conversation between the two of them is what sold her better as antagonist as Dimitri himself said "I finally understand, what you believe to be is right" as she is believability written, but just because she is doesn't mean what she's doing is right as a Freudian Excuse only gets you so much of an... well excuse.

Okay, dude, I don't wanna argue this here, because this is once more going back to the good old fashion "X or Y character did everything right/wrong". This is NOT the thread for that. Either cease and desist or I will be forced to report you to mods. 

[Axel987]

3 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

3H is DEFINITELY a seriously ambitious game. I mean, there seems to be indication that every route had split routes. Like there seems to be a darker DImitri path where Felix and Annette join Cornelia.

Yeah I've seen that. Would've been genuinely cool to see them not side with Dimitri and how the betrayal of his childhood best friend affects him. Similarly there's a ton of cool politicking(Claude's ACTUAL thing, not tactics) that Claude is said to do but the game always cuts to black right as it happens.

 

[eclipse]

. . .are we arguing Edelgard again?

[omegaxis1]

1 minute ago, eclipse said:

. . .are we arguing Edelgard again?

Sadly, this seems to be happening. And this thread is supposed to be anything but that. 😭

[AbsoluteZer0Nova]

5 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Sadly, this seems to be happening. And this thread is supposed to be anything but that. 😭

Don't see the problem is with me mentioning character flaws like lack of communication kills as I'm proving onto your point on how 3H is a tragedy. Edelgard's not the only one who embodies that very notion. Rhea herself is also in the same boat as it's no wonder she's the final boss for Crimson Flower as both Rhea and Edelgard are foils as are both Dimitri and Edelgard in Azure Moon. Rhea's lack of communication is what leads to a lot of the misunderstandings especially with what Cindered Shadows adds onto to its own Orson like character.

[eclipse]

8 minutes ago, AbsoluteZer0Nova said:

Edelgard's not the only one who embodies that very notion.

So who else does this, in your opinion?  Preferably someone that isn't Edelgard/Rhea.

[omegaxis1]

10 minutes ago, AbsoluteZer0Nova said:

Don't see the problem is with me mentioning character flaws like lack of communication kills as I'm proving onto your point on how 3H is a tragedy. Edelgard's not the only one who embodies that very notion. Rhea herself is also in the same boat as it's no wonder she's the final boss for Crimson Flower as both Rhea and Edelgard are foils as are both Dimitri and Edelgard in Azure Moon. Rhea's lack of communication is what leads to a lot of the misunderstandings especially with what Cindered Shadows adds onto to its own Orson like character.

It isn't just one or the other. It's EVERYONE. 

NO ONE is willing to talk to one another. 

Not just Edelgard or just Rhea. Dimitri and Claude also refuse to talk to anyone. 

Dimitri even outright states that he won't talk to Edelgard or try to reconnect with her because he feels they have changed so much and neither are the same person. He's not wrong, as they are different, with Edelgard seeking to start a war for her ideals, and Dimitri driven to obsess over revenge. But him not approaching her this made him just be the crown prince of Faerghus, a nation that fervently followed the Church and thus has no reason to be trustworthy. 

In regards to how Edelgard doesn't explain herself, you have to consider the circumstances. When she first tells Dimitri she did not have anything to do with Duscur, they are fighting, so not much chance to explain. Then after being beaten, Dimitri is quick to snap and call her a liar after she says again that she had nothing to do with it. Dimitri wasn't showing any willingness to actually listen to anything other than a confession.

And it makes sense. By that point, all that pent up madness that we've seen glimpses throughout the story of Part 1 has FINALLY surfaced. Now we have Dimitri showing how he perceives reality.

 

[Quillmonger]

The Edelgard hatred on Reddit strikes me as...kind of sexist and in certain circles even pairing her with someone seems to get you hated on 

[omegaxis1]

4 minutes ago, Quillmonger said:

The Edelgard hatred on Reddit strikes me as...kind of sexist and in certain circles even pairing her with someone seems to get you hated on 

Reddit is bad. Also, the thing I find hysterical about that is that if anyone asks how people would perceive Edelgard or the others if they were genderswapped, the ironic thing is that people will insist that they hate Edelgard for her actions, not for her gender, or that nothing changes depending on the gender.

The thing is, though, such a topic is never going to work because it's asking people to admit if they are sexist or not. 

I'm simply honest and say that there's definitely been proof that FE fanbase has been extremely critical and hostile toward female lords in FE and take many shots at them, so yes, sexism does play some role, whether consciously or subconsciously. 

Cause a male version of Edelgard exists, and his name is Lelouch. XD

[Axel987]

13 minutes ago, Quillmonger said:

The Edelgard hatred on Reddit strikes me as...kind of sexist and in certain circles even pairing her with someone seems to get you hated on 

Honestly I didn't think it was sexist but I recently saw a thread that straight up said that they'd like her more if she was a male and I finally understood why people said that.

 

14 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

It isn't just one or the other. It's EVERYONE. 

NO ONE is willing to talk to one another. 

Not just Edelgard or just Rhea. Dimitri and Claude also refuse to talk to anyone. 

Dimitri even outright states that he won't talk to Edelgard or try to reconnect with her because he feels they have changed so much and neither are the same person. He's not wrong, as they are different, with Edelgard seeking to start a war for her ideals, and Dimitri driven to obsess over revenge. But him not approaching her this made him just be the crown prince of Faerghus, a nation that fervently followed the Church and thus has no reason to be trustworthy. 

In regards to how Edelgard doesn't explain herself, you have to consider the circumstances. When she first tells Dimitri she did not have anything to do with Duscur, they are fighting, so not much chance to explain. Then after being beaten, Dimitri is quick to snap and call her a liar after she says again that she had nothing to do with it. Dimitri wasn't showing any willingness to actually listen to anything other than a confession.

And it makes sense. By that point, all that pent up madness that we've seen glimpses throughout the story of Part 1 has FINALLY surfaced. Now we have Dimitri showing how he perceives reality.

 

Perspective really does make you see things in a different light. From Edelgard's perspective he was refusing to listen to her -actually- telling the truth in that she had nothing to do with it, no matter how many times she said it. From his, a good few bits of circumstantial(Good bit of dramatic irony in that the player definitely would think it wasn't her despite the characters pointing towards it) evidence had piled up, between Thales saying it was all done for her, her continued allegiance with them in the holy tomb despite disowning TWSITD's actions and saying she would've stopped them if she knew what kind of depravity they were up to, her being directly related to one of his own prime suspects in Lord Arundel.

He just doesn't see any reason to believe her because of those things, especially with how much of a dark, self harming, place his mind is at that moment in time, looping back to the whole point of terrible communication from everyone's side.

Edited February 16, 2020 by Axel987

[Etrurian emperor]

4 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Cause a male version of Edelgard exists, and his name is Lelouch. XD

I thought her male version was named Arvis. 

[Darkmoon6789]

14 minutes ago, AbsoluteZer0Nova said:

Don't see the problem is with me mentioning character flaws like lack of communication kills as I'm proving onto your point on how 3H is a tragedy. Edelgard's not the only one who embodies that very notion. Rhea herself is also in the same boat as it's no wonder she's the final boss for Crimson Flower as both Rhea and Edelgard are foils as are both Dimitri and Edelgard in Azure Moon. Rhea's lack of communication is what leads to a lot of the misunderstandings especially with what Cindered Shadows adds onto to its own Orson like character.

Even a massive Edelgard fan like me admits that lack of communication is a weakness of Edelgard. But being flawed doesnt make her a monster, she just is capable of making mistakes

I also think Rhea is a great character, even I often consider some of her actions and attitude. Especially stamping out technological progress and believing opposing the church is worthy of death. But I know why she thinks this and her grief makes you feel sorry for her. 

I have came to the conclusion that Rhea and Edelgard are lawful good and chaotic good respectively, both have good intentions, but one values order and the other freedom. Often extreme lawful or chaotic do consider eachother to be evil