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Mark Theory: Bern Tactician.


Samz707
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Mark is pretty much the "blank slate" of the Avatar characters, even their exact dialogue is only implied so they're largely up to the players interpretation quite a lot, when Eliwood does his "My friends are here with me!" speech during Victory or Death, Mark for all the player knows either agrees with it in true anime character fashion....or is rolling their eyes at the corny speech, their exact personality is essentially up to the player.

That said, there are a few hints of Mark potentially having a secret from the rest of the group.

During the ending cutscene of Chapter 22/22X, Eliwood talks to Mark:

“Hello, Mark. So you’re still awake. Mark, do you know Bern well? No, nor do I… Nothing more than I’ve heard at the court. I’m sure that, with all of your travels, you know more than I. By the way, Mark, where were you born? Before you met Lyndis in Sacae, where were you? If it’s difficult to speak about, you needn’t worry. It’s just that we’ve been together for so long, and I really know almost nothing about you. If you don’t mind, won’t you tell me about yourself? I would like to learn more about you and your life.”

While this intentionally cuts off so that it's actually still up to the player about Mark, there is something important here.

"Do you know Bern well? No, Nor do I..."

Mark clearly here states they do not know Bern well.

Yet in chapter 24, while you're fighting outside of the Bern Royal Palace, you can talk to a villager, which results in this conversation:

Woman:“Do you know anyone named Mark? You see, I once helped out a weary traveler… who just so happened to be a brilliant tactician! Cared for the soldiers… Won battle after battle with no casualties… Ah, I wonder if we’ll meet again…”

So this Woman, in the Royal Palace of Bern (Therefore probably deep in Bern Territory if the Map screen before the chapter is anything to by.), knows Mark.

So one of the 3 happened:

A : This Woman originally lived not in Bern but moved.

B : Mark wasn't aware somehow they were actually in Bern when this happened. (such as being foreign to Elibe or just being really, really lost.)

C : Mark is from Bern but wants to hide it.

Mark is a tactician and according to Hector, very young for a Tactician, which at least to me indicates probably having actual proper training to be one, Bern happens to be the largest military force in Elibe and greatly revered for it, so it'd probably make sense if Mark someway ended up being a Tactician in Training in Bern but later ran off/deserted for some reason and if combat was a secondary thing in their training, it would explain their seeming inability to fight as them having fled before receiving any serious training in direct combat. (Especially since Bern's large numbers maybe means anyone in charge of the "thinking" might not have as much emphasis on combat training as they'd possibly have a personal guard of some kind.)

Deserting from Bern isn't exactly an action that seems unreasonable, Heath/Vaida ended up being declared traitors due to a general drumming up a false rebellion so he could advance his military career and due to trying to stop other Bern Units attacking the peasants who were unarmed they were declared traitors.

In addition, a few years later, Rutger's family would be massacred by Bern forces, with him only spared due to looking like he was from Bern, while it's unknown if such an act would be done by FE7-era Bern, it's not impossible as far as I'm aware.

A young Tactician possibly deciding to become a deserter and flee his home country due to getting involved in some Bern military crimes (either to avoid performing the act or afterwards to avoid having to commit further ones.) doesn't seem impossible to me. (Which could also explain why Mark lied to Eliwood due to some mix of shame/guilt and trying to hide their identity, especially if they took part in some fashion, if it turned out Mark say, ordered the poisoning the drinking water of an enemy group before commanding a charge while they were all sick a day afterwards, Lyn would definitely not take that well and Eliwood/Hector would probably have a negative reaction too.)

You could probably also argue this would be part of Mark's somewhat altruistic behavior with helping Lyn/Eliwood, as part of a sense of guilt for actions they performed as part of Bern's military. (or if you want to be more cynical, to essentially have them as an armed guard while they happened to be travelling in the same direction due to their own inability to fight/just for a potential reward of some money since it's probably hard to make money as a traveler if your only skill is Military Tactics.)

As for why Heath/Vaida do not recognize them, Bern has a large military so it's not exactly impossible for them to not know Mark. (Indeed, Mark probably doesn't know them either.)

This would also partly explain why they're so eager to vanish once the fighting's over, Lyn, Hector and Eliwood are all royals, which means they'd probably at some points interact with Bern diplomats/other higher up types on some occasion, all it'd take is for one of them in some way to identify Mark and now the ruse is up and a deserter (who potentially committed atrocities while part of them) Bern Tactician in the employment of Sacae/Pherae would probably not go down well, if Mark's guilty of any Bern massacres/other morally dubious actions, Lyn/Eliwood/Hector would probably not take it well and Bern would probably take action in some fashion, hence why staying on the move and low on the social ladder as a random traveler would be a better way to stay incognito and avoid trouble as soon as there is no big threat that needs dealt with.

As for where they are in FE6, well, it's not exactly impossible for them to be one of the dead FE7 characters (Either hunted down by Bern or say, dying with Lyn and several other FE7 characters trying to lead a defense of Sacae during it's initial invasion by Bern.) or potentially having decided that taking part in a war against such a large military force is suicidal, tried to re-join Bern or simply is hiding out in some village somewhere/a boat sailing away from Elibe waiting for the war to blow over.

TLDR: Mark lies to Eliwood about being from Bern and possibly is a Bern Defector/Deserter due to Bern's not exactly morally good military history.

Edited by Samz707
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It is rather curious that Lyn first saw Mark unconscious near the Bern Mountains south of Sacae. Being a fugitive from Bern does seem to be the most likely explanation, especially since Lyn didn't seem to recognize him as a fellow Sacaean.

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The shoe fits really well. Not much more I can say. Paper Jam brings up a pretty good point too. Where could Mark logically have come from if not Bern in the prologue?

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18 hours ago, Paper Jam said:

It is rather curious that Lyn first saw Mark unconscious near the Bern Mountains south of Sacae. Being a fugitive from Bern does seem to be the most likely explanation, especially since Lyn didn't seem to recognize him as a fellow Sacaean.

I forgot about that bit of information.

Yeah that makes it seen even more likely Mark is from Bern.

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