Why Edelgard von Hresvelg is the most hated girl?

[omegaxis1]

Just now, JubileePhoenix said:

I don't like dictators. 

Great, you get one in all the routes.

[Hilda]

I am not an Edelgard fan. i dont hate her at all.

While her actions seem to be too drastic for most people, i think they are rational and very carefully selected for what she is trying to accomplish. She is in a delicate Situation where she is trying to overthrow a long lasting monarchy like repression and gain intel on a secret society that might eradicate what she is trying to accomplish: Freedom by work and ones "own choice" instead of birthright. To accomplish such a feat she has to navigate very carefully and be very mindfull with whom she shares what information, because it would end her path (and herself) very quickly, naturally in such a situation you dont trust almost anyone at all.

She is a depicted strong woman with a clear vision of a future, not many can handle this. Some call her a dictator, i would call her a Liberator and Revolutionizer.

Meanwhile Dimitri is (no offense) a washed up dude that cant keep his s*** together, very very very unfit to rule in my eyes. I dont hate him, i just done see the glorification of him at all. He didnt manage anything on his own, his leadership is questionable, his intel is blinded by hatred and emotions thus leading to wrong decisions. He only manages to accomplish anything and pull himself BARELY together with Byleth as help. Unfit to rule in my eyes. I give him credit for trying to be a noble knight. Its this romatnic overdramatic stuff that really has no place when you need to rule a country and make logic based decisions.

Claude on the other hand is fantastic. Gathering intel, trying to navigate himselt through a not so easy task and makeing decisions based on the intel he gathers. Meanwhile still being motivated and makeing the best out of the situation he is presented with.
 

My 2 cents.
Btw: Dimitry was my 1. playthrough pick, Claude my 2. and Edelgard my 3.

[Diovani Bressan]

What can I say about the topic... Hm... I can start saying that I don't like Edelgard... as the protagonist/heroine. I like her in the villain role.

I just don't agree with Edelgard's methods to how reach her ambitions. It's pretty controversial, in my opinion.

Of course, I agree with her about the Crest System having some problems and that it should be fixed, like how it ruined families (Sylvain and Mercedes are good examples of it), but I don't believe her way to deal with it was the right one... especially not working with the ones that did all the bad things to her. Yes, her brothers were all killed because of the Crest System, but it was not the Church that did all those things. I still believe that maybe there was a pacific pacifist solution, by using her position as the emperor to make a reunion with all others leaders plus teh archbishop and discuss about the current situation of Fódlan, but still...

While playing Crimson Flower, I never had a moment when I thought "I am doing the right thing". I had this thought while playing Azure Moon and Verdant Wind, but not with Crimson Flower, because I don't agree with the way she does what she does.

Outside this things, I also don't think she is that likable either... I am not a huge fan of her personality and her behavior. But she is not all about low points for me. Sometimes I saw something nice on her... but not always. With Claude and Dimitri, I liked those characters right away, while with Edelgard... it never happened.

I was between being ok with her and disliking her when I played Crimson Flower... but when she lied about the Church being the responsables for the javelins of light in Arianrhod, that made my mind. I kinda understand why she did that, but still.... made me dislike her even more that I already did.

Maybe if I had played Crimson Flower as my first path, I would have a different opinion about her, because most of the people I know that support and defend her are the people that played Crimson Flower first. Compared to the others paths, I don't thing Crimson Flowers is that interesting... being shorter compared to the others ad not having the part where the Empire fights Those Who Slither in the Dark in screen.

Well, that's my opinion about Edelgard. She is definitely not my favorite Lord in Three Houses... also probably my least favorite lord in all Fire Emblem franchise, from all the games I played... She is not my least favorite student because Hubert exists...  and I don't have any interesting in playing Crimson Flower ever again.

Edelgard... for me, you is a great villain... and that's all.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Diovani Bressan

[omegaxis1]

11 minutes ago, Hilda said:

I am not an Edelgard fan. i dont hate her at all.

While her actions seem to be too drastic for most people, i think they are rational and very carefully selected for what she is trying to accomplish. She is in a delicate Situation where she is trying to overthrow a long lasting monarchy like repression and gain intel on a secret society that might eradicate what she is trying to accomplish: Freedom by work and ones "own choice" instead of birthright. To accomplish such a feat she has to navigate very carefully and be very mindfull with whom she shares what information, because it would end her path (and herself) very quickly, naturally in such a situation you dont trust almost anyone at all.

She is a depicted strong woman with a clear vision of a future, not many can handle this. Some call her a dictator, i would call her a Liberator and Revolutionizer.

Meanwhile Dimitri is (no offense) a washed up dude that cant keep his s*** together, very very very unfit to rule in my eyes. I dont hate him, i just done see the glorification of him at all. He didnt manage anything on his own, his leadership is questionable, his intel is blinded by hatred and emotions thus leading to wrong decisions. He only manages to accomplish anything and pull himself BARELY together with Byleth as help. Unfit to rule in my eyes. I give him credit for trying to be a noble knight. Its this romatnic overdramatic stuff that really has no place when you need to rule a country and make logic based decisions.

Claude on the other hand is fantastic. Gathering intel, trying to navigate himselt through a not so easy task and makeing decisions based on the intel he gathers. Meanwhile still being motivated and makeing the best out of the situation he is presented with.
 

My 2 cents.
Btw: Dimitry was my 1. playthrough pick, Claude my 2. and Edelgard my 3.

Okay, this is possibly THE best thing I've seen from someone write about Edelgard who isn't an Edelgard fan. Like, WOW. I applaud you, seriously.

And thank you for pointing out the thing I had issues with Dimitri. I never felt that he should have been a leader. He never struck as someone that was every really "worthy" of being a leader, especially since half the game. So his ending showing that he was a leader always rubbed of off the wrong way. It's why I like that Edelgard's someone that will abdicate the throne and won't rule over the people indefinitely, or even make her bloodline remain in power. 

And Claude is definitely an opportunist.

[Darkmoon6789]

1 hour ago, JubileePhoenix said:

I don't like dictators. 

Edelgard is no more a dictator than Dimitri, Rhea or any other monarch. 

Edited May 18, 2020 by Darkmoon6789

[omegaxis1]

@Darkmoon6789
I think you mean "is no more".

[Darkmoon6789]

2 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

@Darkmoon6789
I think you mean "is no more".

Of course, fixed my post.

[Troykv]

53 minutes ago, Diovani Bressan said:

What can I say about the topic... Hm... I can start saying that I don't like Edelgard... as the protagonist/heroine. I like her in the villain role.

I just don't agree with Edelgard's methods to how reach her ambitions. It's pretty controversial, in my opinion.

Of course, I agree with her about the Crest System having some problems and that it should be fixed, like how it ruined families (Sylvain and Mercedes are good examples of it), but I don't believe her way to deal with it was the right one... especially not working with the ones that did all the bad things to her. Yes, her brothers were all killed because of the Crest System, but it was not the Church that did all those things. I still believe that maybe there was a pacific solution, by using her position as the emperor to make a reunion with all others leaders plus teh archbishop and discuss about the current situation of Fódlan, but still...

While playing Crimson Flower, I never had a moment when I thought "I am doing the right thing". I had this thought while playing Azure Moon and Verdant Wind, but not with Crimson Flower, because I don't agree with the way she does what she does.

Outside this things, I also don't think she is that likable either... I am not a huge fan of her personality and her behavior. But she is not all about low points for me. Sometimes I saw something nice on her... but not always. With Claude and Dimitri, I liked those characters right away, while with Edelgard... it never happened.

I don't know Dio... Dimitri's behavior kind of disturbs me; and I think the game kind of force you into a position where you need to do a "right thing" (which I can understand, helping people feels nice, but that isn't exclusive to Dimitri), because the alternative is letting this grief-driven duty-obsessed mad dog against the world and killing everything that looks like an enemy until he dies.

At least with Edelgard I know we actually have a plan.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Troykv

[Grimleal Uncle]

54 minutes ago, Hilda said:

I am not an Edelgard fan. i dont hate her at all.

While her actions seem to be too drastic for most people, i think they are rational and very carefully selected for what she is trying to accomplish. She is in a delicate Situation where she is trying to overthrow a long lasting monarchy like repression and gain intel on a secret society that might eradicate what she is trying to accomplish: Freedom by work and ones "own choice" instead of birthright. To accomplish such a feat she has to navigate very carefully and be very mindfull with whom she shares what information, because it would end her path (and herself) very quickly, naturally in such a situation you dont trust almost anyone at all.

She is a depicted strong woman with a clear vision of a future, not many can handle this. Some call her a dictator, i would call her a Liberator and Revolutionizer.

Meanwhile Dimitri is (no offense) a washed up dude that cant keep his s*** together, very very very unfit to rule in my eyes. I dont hate him, i just done see the glorification of him at all. He didnt manage anything on his own, his leadership is questionable, his intel is blinded by hatred and emotions thus leading to wrong decisions. He only manages to accomplish anything and pull himself BARELY together with Byleth as help. Unfit to rule in my eyes. I give him credit for trying to be a noble knight. Its this romatnic overdramatic stuff that really has no place when you need to rule a country and make logic based decisions.

Claude on the other hand is fantastic. Gathering intel, trying to navigate himselt through a not so easy task and makeing decisions based on the intel he gathers. Meanwhile still being motivated and makeing the best out of the situation he is presented with.
 

My 2 cents.
Btw: Dimitry was my 1. playthrough pick, Claude my 2. and Edelgard my 3.

Those are actually really well thought out points! I agree 100%. 

Damn. It's weird to see rational comments like this in the fandom. 

But I'm glad its here! I've typically been enjoying the convos here at a much greater level than say, reddit

[omegaxis1]

2 minutes ago, Grimleal Uncle said:

Those are actually really well thought out points! I agree 100%. 

Damn. It's weird to see rational comments like this in the fandom. 

But I'm glad its here! I've typically been enjoying the convos here at a much greater level than say, reddit

Oh my god, Reddit is by far the WORST. 

Especially cause of the "upvote/downvote" feature, and people think that that gives validation for things. 

[Hilda]

40 minutes ago, Diovani Bressan said:

What can I say about the topic... Hm... I can start saying that I don't like Edelgard... as the protagonist/heroine. I like her in the villain role.

I just don't agree with Edelgard's methods to how reach her ambitions. It's pretty controversial, in my opinion.

Of course, I agree with her about the Crest System having some problems and that it should be fixed, like how it ruined families (Sylvain and Mercedes are good examples of it), but I don't believe her way to deal with it was the right one... especially not working with the ones that did all the bad things to her. Yes, her brothers were all killed because of the Crest System, but it was not the Church that did all those things. I still believe that maybe there was a pacific solution, by using her position as the emperor to make a reunion with all others leaders plus teh archbishop and discuss about the current situation of Fódlan, but still...

In my honest opinion and with my experience as someone in a leading position, you cant allways have a pacific solution. As terrifying as that sounds its the reality and if both sides arent willing to compromise or sacrifice anything on there part, there wont be a pacific solution because someone allways has to pay the price, and most of the time a compromise ends in a loose/loose situation where neither side is satisfied with the consensus they have, thus there is allways the lingering possibility/conflict of one side trying to overthrow the other side later on. If i was in Edelgards shoes I wouldnt trust Rhea either, but i also understand why Rhea wouldnt trust Edelgard. In that regard i believe that Rhea would have not been willing to bulge or move from her position. Of course there needs to be a base of understanding for each others side to even have a chance on a pacific solution.
Edelgard is also not willing to bulge or move from her position, so in that regard this option is from a realistic point of view out of the question.

In my honest opinion Edelgard had no other choice then to work with the "people in the shadows". Yes they did bad and horrible things, but if you think about it from a logic standpoint. The Adrestian Empire was allready infiltrated by the "people in the shadows", which means the Adrestian Imperators power and control was allready compromised (and thus Edelgards power). There was only 2 possible ways:
fight the Shadowpeople head on resulting in a Civil war and by thus weakening the Adrestian Empire significatnly, which would have made it probably impossible to even later tackle on the holy church OR would haven even opened up the possibility of another Country to attack the Adrestian Empire in this weakened state.
work with the Shadowpeople while keeping your own "hidden agenda" in check and accomplish goal number 1: overthrow the holy church, while preparing inside to later eradicate the Shadowpeople inside when the right moment presents himself. This is very delicate to do but doesnt leave much weakness open.
We also dont know what was ordered from the Shadowpeople upon Edelgard as a task/assignment. I mean she prolly had to do things she really didnt want to do, but had to because otherwise her influence and intel gathering would have gone down or her cover would have blown up.

Quote

While playing Crimson Flower, I never had a moment when I thought "I am doing the right thing". I had this thought while playing Azure Moon and Verdant Wind, but not with Crimson Flower, because I don't agree with the way she does what she does.

Outside this things, I also don't think she is that likable either... I am not a huge fan of her personality and her behavior. But she is not all about low points for me. Sometimes I saw something nice on her... but not always. With Claude and Dimitri, I liked those characters right away, while with Edelgard... it never happened.

I was between being ok with her and disliking her when I played Crimson Flower... but when she lied about the Church being the responsables for the javelins of light in Arianrhod, that made my mind. I kinda understand why she did that, but still.... made me dislike her even more that I already did.

Maybe if I had played Crimson Flower as my first path, I would have a different opinion about her, because most of the people I know that support and defend her are the people that played Crimson Flower first. Compared to the others paths, I don't thing Crimson Flowers is that interesting... being shorter compared to the others ad not having the part where the Empire fights Those Who Slither in the Dark in screen.

Well, that's my opinion about Edelgard. She is definitely not my favorite Lord in Three Houses... also probably my least favorite lord in all Fire Emblem franchise, from all the games I played... She is not my least favorite student because Hubert exists...  and I don't have any interesting in playing Crimson Flower ever again.

Edelgard... for me, you is a great villain... and that's all.

Leaders that make decisions based on Intel and a realistic outcome are never liked by all. As a ruler/king/leader you also have to make the unpopular choice which isnt liked by most people but will pave the way for a better and revolutionized future. This is the hardest to do and allways takes a toll on one owns mind, but in the end it has to be done, when there is no solution in near reach. You can allways say later on when all has passed by that there is another solution, but was that solution reachable in an timely manner? Would it have had the desired effect?
You also need to consider that the Time is allways ticking, Edelgard can only keep a charade up for so long before it falters. The shadowpeople also gain more power and control over time in the Empire, the longer she waits, the harder it would be for her to later get rid of them.

[Troykv]

8 minutes ago, Hilda said:

In my honest opinion and with my experience as someone in a leading position, you cant allways have a pacific solution. As terrifying as that sounds its the reality and if both sides arent willing to compromise or sacrifice anything on there part, there wont be a pacific solution because someone allways has to pay the price, and most of the time a compromise ends in a loose/loose situation where neither side is satisfied with the consensus they have, thus there is allways the lingering possibility/conflict of one side trying to overthrow the other side later on. If i was in Edelgards shoes I wouldnt trust Rhea either, but i also understand why Rhea wouldnt trust Edelgard. In that regard i believe that Rhea would have not been willing to bulge or move from her position. Of course there needs to be a base of understanding for each others side to even have a chance on a pacific solution.
Edelgard is also not willing to bulge or move from her position, so in that regard this option is from a realistic point of view out of the question.

In my honest opinion Edelgard had no other choice then to work with the "people in the shadows". Yes they did bad and horrible things, but if you think about it from a logic standpoint. The Adrestian Empire was allready infiltrated by the "people in the shadows", which means the Adrestian Imperators power and control was allready compromised (and thus Edelgards power). There was only 2 possible ways:
fight the Shadowpeople head on resulting in a Civil war and by thus weakening the Adrestian Empire significatnly, which would have made it probably impossible to even later tackle on the holy church OR would haven even opened up the possibility of another Country to attack the Adrestian Empire in this weakened state.
work with the Shadowpeople while keeping your own "hidden agenda" in check and accomplish goal number 1: overthrow the holy church, while preparing inside to later eradicate the Shadowpeople inside when the right moment presents himself. This is very delicate to do but doesnt leave much weakness open.
We also dont know what was ordered from the Shadowpeople upon Edelgard as a task/assignment. I mean she prolly had to do things she really didnt want to do, but had to because otherwise her influence and intel gathering would have gone down or her cover would have blown up.

Leaders that make decisions based on Intel and a realistic outcome are never liked by all. As a ruler/king/leader you also have to make the unpopular choice which isnt liked by most people but will pave the way for a better and revolutionized future. This is the hardest to do and allways takes a toll on one owns mind, but in the end it has to be done, when there is no solution in near reach. You can allways say later on when all has passed by that there is another solution, but was that solution reachable in an timely manner? Would it have had the desired effect?
You also need to consider that the Time is allways ticking, Edelgard can only keep a charade up for so long before it falters. The shadowpeople also gain more power and control over time in the Empire, the longer she waits, the harder it would be for her to later get rid of them.

Even pacific leaders ended up succeeding thanks to violence and other stuff from outside, like what happened with Ghandi, his work only really give him fruits because of the actions that happened in the World Wars, weakining the British Empire, someone like him wouldn't have ever do anything in other circunstances, and India probably would have ended up being decolonized in another way probably with more violence.

There doesn't exist wins without sacrifice, just wins that ended up being white-washed for the sake of propaganda; thinking otherwise is naive.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Troykv

[Diovani Bressan]

13 minutes ago, Troykv said:

I don't know Dio... Dimitri's behavior kind of disturbs me; and I think the game kind of force you into a position where you need to do a "right thing" (which I can understand, helping people feels nice, but that isn't exclusive to Dimitri), because the alternative it letting this grief-driven duty-obsessed mad dog against the world and killing everything that looks like an enemy until he dies.

Well, about Dimitri... I also have some problems with him... His behavior is very questionable.

When I said about liking Dimitri right away, it was more about the academy phase, before the transformation. After the transformation... yeah, I have problems with that Dimitri. Even after beting Azure Moon, what guarantees that he will not become violent again?

[SigurdVII]

4 minutes ago, Hilda said:

In my honest opinion and with my experience as someone in a leading position, you cant allways have a pacific solution. As terrifying as that sounds its the reality and if both sides arent willing to compromise or sacrifice anything on there part, there wont be a pacific solution because someone allways has to pay the price, and most of the time a compromise ends in a loose/loose situation where neither side is satisfied with the consensus they have, thus there is allways the lingering possibility/conflict of one side trying to overthrow the other side later on. If i was in Edelgards shoes I wouldnt trust Rhea either, but i also understand why Rhea wouldnt trust Edelgard. In that regard i believe that Rhea would have not been willing to bulge or move from her position. Of course there needs to be a base of understanding for each others side to even have a chance on a pacific solution.
Edelgard is also not willing to bulge or move from her position, so in that regard this option is from a realistic point of view out of the question.

In my honest opinion Edelgard had no other choice then to work with the "people in the shadows". Yes they did bad and horrible things, but if you think about it from a logic standpoint. The Adrestian Empire was allready infiltrated by the "people in the shadows", which means the Adrestian Imperators power and control was allready compromised (and thus Edelgards power). There was only 2 possible ways:
fight the Shadowpeople head on resulting in a Civil war and by thus weakening the Adrestian Empire significatnly, which would have made it probably impossible to even later tackle on the holy church OR would haven even opened up the possibility of another Country to attack the Adrestian Empire in this weakened state.
work with the Shadowpeople while keeping your own "hidden agenda" in check and accomplish goal number 1: overthrow the holy church, while preparing inside to later eradicate the Shadowpeople inside when the right moment presents himself. This is very delicate to do but doesnt leave much weakness open.
We also dont know what was ordered from the Shadowpeople upon Edelgard as a task/assignment. I mean she prolly had to do things she really didnt want to do, but had to because otherwise her influence and intel gathering would have gone down or her cover would have blown up.

Leaders that make decisions based on Intel and a realistic outcome are never liked by all. As a ruler/king/leader you also have to make the unpopular choice which isnt liked by most people but will pave the way for a better and revolutionized future. This is the hardest to do and allways takes a toll on one owns mind, but in the end it has to be done, when there is no solution in near reach. You can allways say later on when all has passed by that there is another solution, but was that solution reachable in an timely manner? Would it have had the desired effect?
You also need to consider that the Time is allways ticking, Edelgard can only keep a charade up for so long before it falters. The shadowpeople also gain more power and control over time in the Empire, the longer she waits, the harder it would be for her to later get rid of them.

I mean for someone who says they're not an Edelgard fan, I'd say you have a more sober take on her as a character than most of the people I've seen who say they feel that way. But yeah, regardless of how one feels about Edelgard, her objectives are not the same as Rhea's. Her goal demands that the Church has to go and her power as the emperor comes with the price that she work with TWSITD (since Arundel is the Empire regent). Rhea for her part has no reason to give up her own power for Edelgard or disintegrate a system that her own power is based around. For her money, working with the Church and then overthrowing the weaker faction that supplied her with power before they get more. Either way, acknowledging that there's a clock hanging over her puts a lot of her actions in perspective. 

[omegaxis1]

8 minutes ago, Hilda said:

You also need to consider that the Time is allways ticking, Edelgard can only keep a charade up for so long before it falters. The shadowpeople also gain more power and control over time in the Empire, the longer she waits, the harder it would be for her to later get rid of them.

This is a VERY interesting bit, that I feel does't get mentioned as often. 

If Edelgard didn't try and get power as the Emperor of Adrestia, then the Agarthans would only gain more power in the Empire, possibly even assume total control over the nation. Then Edelgard would never be able to oppose them except to destroy her nation to root them out. 

And the only reason she was able to get power and become the Emperor is because of making deals with Bergliez and Hevring and working with the Agarthans. That secured her getting the position of Emperor, but now she had to also get the war going. 

As you said, Edelgard was in a VERY delicate position. She might as well treading a hairline thin ice constantly. 

[Sunwoo]

@Diovani Bressan @Hilda @Troykv It's "pacifist", not "pacific", dammit!

As for the actual topic, I have no opinion on Edelgard. I haven't played the fucking game and she refuses to show up for me in Heroes. I will say this, though. I've talked to a friend who really likes Edelgard to the point of being one of her favorite lords. I have another friend who really hates Edelgard and disliked her path for the same reason as Conquest. I get the feeling that people who like Edelgard for non-waifu reasons generally like characters with complex characters and good motives, whether their actions may be seen as drastic or not, who are actually written well regardless of whether they are on the "right" side or not. People who hate Edelgard seem to either just dislike her personality/character specifically or in general don't like characters who jump to actions like hers.

Either way, I don't think I'll really care about Edelgard either way. Strange as it may seem, she may just end up as a character who's just "there". But, like, it's not wrong for people to dislike or like Edelgard. At the end of the day, she's a fictional character and many different opinions on her could be considered right, as long as they are well thought out and they aren't purposely ignoring things to make their argument sound all right, so like ... if someone hates Edelgard for X reasons, it really shouldn't bother people who like her because not everyone will agree on or like every character. I don't make a big deal because people don't like characters I like.

[Darkmoon6789]

18 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

This is a VERY interesting bit, that I feel does't get mentioned as often. 

If Edelgard didn't try and get power as the Emperor of Adrestia, then the Agarthans would only gain more power in the Empire, possibly even assume total control over the nation. Then Edelgard would never be able to oppose them except to destroy her nation to root them out. 

And the only reason she was able to get power and become the Emperor is because of making deals with Bergliez and Hevring and working with the Agarthans. That secured her getting the position of Emperor, but now she had to also get the war going. 

As you said, Edelgard was in a VERY delicate position. She might as well treading a hairline thin ice constantly. 

That is a very good point.

I think Hilda put everything really well and I agree with pretty much everthinh they are saying.

I am also not sure Dimitri is fit to rule for the same reason I think Azula is not fit to rule. They are way too mentally unstable to handle that much responsibillity.

The funny thing is while some people never felt like they were doing the right thing siding with Edelgard. I never fekt right siding against her, felt like I was doing the wrong thing the entire time

[omegaxis1]

33 minutes ago, Darkmoon6789 said:

I am also not sure Dimitri is fit to rule for the same reason I think Azula is not fit to rule. They are way too mentally unstable to handle that much responsibillity.

The funny thing is while some people never felt like they were doing the right thing siding with Edelgard. I never fekt right siding against her, felt like I was doing the wrong thing the entire time

Yeah, pretty much. Dimitri's route was the route that I felt like I understood the least on what I was fighting for. What was the purpose of the fighting? What cause was I fighting for? 

And siding anyone other than Edelgard had me capitalize on her war, and then take the glory for it. Basically made me feel like a hypocrite. 

[Blackstarskywalker]

I see Azure Moon as a route that deals with self-improvement (Dimitri). I also think that he does not have a profile for a ruler, his ideas are very vague. I believe that a leader must find a balance between the rational and emotional part, which he does not do.

[Crysta]

Can get behind Edelgard > Dimitri when it comes to actually leading, but the game shows us they both fall to their darker impulses without Byleth being there beside them.

That is not a good thing.

[Darkmoon6789]

4 minutes ago, Crysta said:

Can get behind Edelgard > Dimitri when it comes to actually leading, but the game shows us they both fall to their darker impulses without Byleth being there beside them.

That is not a good thing.

Edelgard doesn't display anything I would call a darker impulse. But she is certainly capable of making mistakes without Byleth. For something to be considered a darker impulse in my opinion, most involved enjoying inflicting harm on another.

This matches with Boar Dimitri as he is legitimately sadistic and enjoys inflicting suffering on his enemies. Edelgard has never displayed anything even remotely close to that.

Yet the Dimitri we see at the end of the game, I would say would be an acceptable monarch as long as we can trust that the Boar will never surface again.

[Crysta]

I think the "darker impulse" is not necessarily enjoying it, but considering inflicting harm a necessary evil to achieve whatever her end goal may be. She refrains from doing this in CF.

[Darkmoon6789]

3 minutes ago, Crysta said:

I think the "darker impulse" is not necessarily enjoying it, but considering inflicting harm a necessary evil to achieve whatever her end goal may be. She refrains from doing this in CF.

If a necessary evil is actually necessary, I don't consider it dark at all. Can you think of anything in particular, she does do in the other routes which doesn't happen in CF which fits this category?. Allowing the Agarthans to grow too powerful is the only one I can think of. And I don't think that is a willing choice on her part as much as Byleth's presence is a factor that allows her the luxury of having to rely on them less. 

It isn't like she orders the deaths of civilians anywhere really. I don't even truly view the creation of the Dukedom as her doing. Characters in game might view Cornelia as an agent of the Empire, but I know better. And the truth is much darker.

[Crysta]

Not utilizing Cornelia or the crest beasts to nearly the same extent. There is a reason for it.

[Darkmoon6789]

6 minutes ago, Crysta said:

Not utilizing Cornelia or the crest beasts to nearly the same extent. There is a reason for it.

Or at least not utilising the crest beasts in her personal army, I am uncertain she had enough influence to prevent the Agarthans from doing anything. I view them as an entirely different faction who will often do things whenever Edelgard approves of it or not. They are not under our control and has never been. If anything, she is under their control in non-CF routes. The only time she is relatively free from their shadow is at the very end of AZ after the death of Arundel. And at that point, there is still Myson in a high position within the Imperial court. 

I don't think Cornelia ever worked for Edelgard or followed orders from her. It is just that some characters assume that because they don't know that Cornelia is one of the Agarthans.

The reason she can get away with not using crest beasts to the same extent is because Byleth is quite the power in their own right, so she doesn't really need to. As soon as Edelgard doesn't think a necessary evil is necessary anymore, she usually doesn't do it.