When you realize that Edelgard is the only female lord not to make the cut.

[Rose482]

 It's just a little thing that I realized while I was thinking of all the lords that for all we know might not be in this game. I understand why they chose Byleth, but it does make it a bit sad how that means Edelgard is the only female lord (Not counting the avatars) that didn't make the cut, haha V_V 

[Fabulously Olivier]

Just saying that I'd gladly trade Edelgard over Byleth for Ephraim over Eirika.

[Rose482]

5 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Just saying that I'd gladly trade Edelgard over Byleth for Ephraim over Eirika.

Had they done that, we would have had two less sword users and both one more axe and lance user, which would had been nice from a weapon diversity stand point I guess. 

[B.Leu]

Micaiah is fine, but not Edelgard.

We live in a society.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

I suppose the Heroes of Fire Emblem Heroes explicitly lack free will, but if that's not the case here I would NOT want to be a Divine dragon summoning Edelgard. I can't even convince Corrin to put on a pair of shoes, you think I'm prepared to prevent a coup?

Come to think of it, the villains might be in for a big betrayal if they summon Zephiel in their war against the dragons.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Zapp Branniglenn

[Azz]

I'm personally happy none of the three lords made the cut, at least based on the mural thus far. I feel like that would cause more discourse around the game than we need lol. Also Byleth is realistically the main character of TH according to IS, even if the other three, especially Edelgard, feel more deserving of that title (Byleth was legit the only TH rep in the 'Lead' summoning banner in FEH...)

Also, Eirika>Ephraim. Give me Eliwood or Hector instead of Lyn

Edited September 15, 2022 by Azz

[ciphertul]

1 hour ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Just saying that I'd gladly trade Edelgard over Byleth for Ephraim over Eirika.

I would rather you not get rid of the emblem I plan to use the most.

[DefyingFates]

1 hour ago, Rose482 said:

Had they done that, we would have had two less sword users and both one more axe and lance user, which would had been nice from a weapon diversity stand point I guess. 

As Azz said, I think it was a necessary evil so we didn't get even more people getting mad about the whole "Edelgard vs Dimitri" thing (and both sides would have been angry if Claude made the cut). That said, the TH Lords are probably the prime candidates for DLC or "Secret" Rings - along with M!Corrin and F!Byleth, of course.

23 minutes ago, ciphertul said:

I would rather you not get rid of the emblem I plan to use the most.

While I know Ephraim was the more diverse option... this too 😛

That said, Sigurd uses both a Ridersbane and Tyrfing in the trailer, so maybe all of our Lords will have multiple weapons too? We've already seen Engage use FEH as inspiration, and it gave Heroes all sorts of weapon types they've never wielded canonically!

[vanguard333]

Seriously? Edelgard didn't make the cut but Byleth did? This is Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC all over again.

Seriously, regardless of debates about the house leaders, Edelgard isn't just a house leader: she is the true mascot of Three Houses, not Byleth. Edelgard is the one that the advertising focused on, Edelgard is the one who drove the plot, and Edelgard is the one who the theme song is about. Byleth is just a witness to the plot in every route except Silver Snow.

[Sasori]

Such a brutal and irrational world we live in.

But anyway I'd have taken Edelgard over Byleth any time of the day. They might have gone with Byleth because otherwise they felt Dimitri and Claude would be undermined a bit. I can't say I agree with that logic, but still.

[Heir of Dragons and Beasts]

I'm actually glad we got the female counterparts for Ephraim, Hector/Eliwood, Chrom, and Alm over them because it allows for more diversity among the lords themselves. Female lords before Edelgard had always been seen as second to their male counterpart and never got to shine, this game could be their chance to do so. 

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

Perhaps they figured that four female Lords in a row (Micaiah, Lucina, F!Corrin, and Edelgard) would've just looked off? At that point, the "most recent" male Lord would be Ike from Path of Radiance, just shy of two decades ago.

1 hour ago, vanguard333 said:

Seriously, regardless of debates about the house leaders, Edelgard isn't just a house leader: she is the true mascot of Three Houses, not Byleth. Edelgard is the one that the advertising focused on, Edelgard is the one who drove the plot, and Edelgard is the one who the theme song is about. Byleth is just a witness to the plot in every route except Silver Snow.

And to make Edelgard the rep in Engage would be to continue this favoritism. I'm no fan of Byleth, but at least their inclusion doesn't make me feel wrong for choosing to Fear the Deer.

3 hours ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

Come to think of it, the villains might be in for a big betrayal if they summon Zephiel in their war against the dragons.

Inb4 Zephiel is actually available to the player, while Roy "Kill All Dragons" shows up as an enemy Emblem.

[EricaofRenais]

Honestly I am fine with 3 Houses being only Byleth because otherwise it could get heated because as a Dimitri fan if the rep was Edelgard I would be very mad at the playing favorites and if they put Dimitri and Edelgard but no Claude I would again be very mad.  As it stands the games each get only one rep and I am perfectly fine with the choices since it seems they are going with the first "lord" character the player interacts with in each game, for the most part other then Lucina. 

[Nym]

I think people are forgetting that if they include only Edelgard into the game, Dimitri and Claude fans would be very upset.

You either include all of them in or you don't at all.

[Florete]

The current lack of house leaders is the main thing making me think the 12 we see won't be the only emblems. That and the game was/is meant as a 30th anniversary celebration, so taking just one character from all the games wouldn't be very...celebratory.

[IonicAmalgam]

iirc the game was in development prior to 3H release so they may not have had the characters planned

[JimmyBeans]

Me and a friend talked about how funny it would be there was an evil ring to summon a villain from every game, and we joked about what an outrage people would have if Edelgard was on the villains side as the 3H rep. Could you imagine that? It honestly would be cool imo, but people would be so mad about that haha.

[Ziegenpeter]

12 minutes ago, JimmyBeans said:

Me and a friend talked about how funny it would be there was an evil ring to summon a villain from every game, and we joked about what an outrage people would have if Edelgard was on the villains side as the 3H rep. Could you imagine that? It honestly would be cool imo, but people would be so mad about that haha.

Edelgard is my favorite of the 3 lords, but I would be sooo on board with that lmao.

[Etrurian emperor]

21 minutes ago, EricaofRenais said:

Honestly I am fine with 3 Houses being only Byleth because otherwise it could get heated because as a Dimitri fan if the rep was Edelgard I would be very mad at the playing favorites and if they put Dimitri and Edelgard but no Claude I would again be very mad.  As it stands the games each get only one rep and I am perfectly fine with the choices since it seems they are going with the first "lord" character the player interacts with in each game, for the most part other then Lucina. 

I have a difference stance on that. I think Byleth is such an obvious compromise candidate that the TH's representation becomes as unexiting and unappealing as possible. In their strive to ensure no fans of Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude lose out they instead all lose out.

I might have my preferences between the three lords but all three of them are vastly more exiting than Byleth could ever be. I'd root for Edelgard but I'd be completely fine with Dimitri, and if Byleth were to block Dimitri I'd say that's a gigantic downgrade.

And I suspect this is actually the most common sentiment. That Edelgard fans probably like Dimitri a whole lot more than Byleth, that Claude fans like Edelgard more than Byleth, and that Edelgard fans like Claude more than Byleth. Perhaps they'd be bummed out if their preferred lordling got edged out by one of the others, but most would likely want their non prefered lord over Byleth. And even if I preferred Byleth over Claude then objectively Claude would still be the better candidate because as a real character he has more to offer than a blank slate. 

I think in these situation some artistic gut should be demanded of the devs. Just cut the knot, deal with the small backlash and put in the most worthwhile candidate rather than take such a milquetoast direction. I respect Smash's approach with Arms a lot more than I do their approach with Three Houses. With Arms Springman would be the obvious compromise candidate but because he's dreadfully dull Sakurai took the risk and instead added the slightly more divisive but far more promising Min Min. Meanwhile with Three Houses Edelgard, Claude and Dimitri all had great potential for unique moveset but instead the boring compromise candidate deprived Smash of things like an armored Axe fighter with Hegemon shape shifting, a flying archer with wind attacks, or a Berserker lancer like Dimitri.

As far as Engage goes I think a ''Persona'' Edelgard would be far more interesting than Byleth, since it creates the interesting situation of a lord presumably defending the status quo having to team up with a Persona who topples her status quo. Claude meanwhile would have the charm Byleth doesn't and Dimitri can advice on character growth in ways Byleth can't. By taking the compromise candidate everyone and everything eventually loses out, while taking the risky option opens up a lot of chances the game can make use off. 

[King Marth 64]

4 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Just saying that I'd gladly trade Edelgard over Byleth for Ephraim over Eirika.

First off, Byleth is the overall protagonist in all the routes in Three Houses while Edelgard is the secondary protagonist in Crimson Route while she is an antagonist in the other routes.

Second, it wouldn't make sense just to slap Edelgard without Dimitri nor Claude in it since Three Houses players do play Dimitri's and Claude's route as well. Sakurai did choose Byleth over the House Leaders in Three Houses due to other players who aren't into replaying Three Houses merely just play one route and just done with it. Byleth makes a lot more sense to pick since Three Houses plays Byleth a lot.

Third, I do think there could be more Emblems possibly be added to Engage other than just the twelve that was shown in the Mural. I do think there could be chances of adding more legacy protagonists that wasn't shown in the Mural.

Edited September 15, 2022 by King Marth 64

[Hrothgar777]

I think that, if they want to celebrate the franchise as a whole but have a limited number of units that they're going to squeeze into this metaphorical box, then frankly it's too soon to put anybody from Three Houses in there, much less all three house leaders. And it wouldn't make sense to put in just Edelgard and not the rest. If they wanted some representation from the game, for example if there's somebody from every title, then Byleth was the safe choice.

[Jotari]

5 hours ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

I suppose the Heroes of Fire Emblem Heroes explicitly lack free will, but if that's not the case here I would NOT want to be a Divine dragon summoning Edelgard. I can't even convince Corrin to put on a pair of shoes, you think I'm prepared to prevent a coup?

Come to think of it, the villains might be in for a big betrayal if they summon Zephiel in their war against the dragons.

That's the kind of stuff I wish we were seeing in Heroes and what makes me a bit hopeful about Engage. Classic Fire Emblem characters actually having agency and motivation and, well, plot presence. Summoning Edelgard only to have her betray you and go on some kind of crusade recruiting the likes of Nergal and Zelgius would be epic.

On topic title, all three of the Three Houses lords deserved to get in over Byleth, by virtue of all of them forgoing swords for more interesting weapons (and honestly I'd be kind of interested to see what sub weapons they give the Three Houses characters in a game with more traditional weapon ranks).

4 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

As Azz said, I think it was a necessary evil so we didn't get even more people getting mad about the whole "Edelgard vs Dimitri" thing (and both sides would have been angry if Claude made the cut). That said, the TH Lords are probably the prime candidates for DLC or "Secret" Rings - along with M!Corrin and F!Byleth, of course.

While I know Ephraim was the more diverse option... this too 😛

That said, Sigurd uses both a Ridersbane and Tyrfing in the trailer, so maybe all of our Lords will have multiple weapons too? We've already seen Engage use FEH as inspiration, and it gave Heroes all sorts of weapon types they've never wielded canonically!

Sigurd can use Risdersbane in Genealogy of the Holy War. He has lances from base. He even got a lance named after him in Awakening.

2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Inb4 Zephiel is actually available to the player, while Roy "Kill All Dragons" shows up as an enemy Emblem.

As funny as I find it to recast Roy as some kind of dragon racist based on his legendary's C skill in Heroes, that really isn't his character in Binding Blade. He meets on good terms with the dragons of arcadia, spares Idunn and isn't even all that eager to fight Yahn. How he deals with Yahn and also the venture to the western isles also shows he's not easily mislead, with a keen desire to understand his enemy and a refusal to fight for a conflict he doesn't believe in. If Roy were to turn up as an enemy he'd be an Olwen type who is quickly discovering the truth and joining the player (and getting most of his gameplay milage out of a prf weapon!).

1 hour ago, Hrothgar777 said:

I think that, if they want to celebrate the franchise as a whole but have a limited number of units that they're going to squeeze into this metaphorical box, then frankly it's too soon to put anybody from Three Houses in there, much less all three house leaders. And it wouldn't make sense to put in just Edelgard and not the rest. If they wanted some representation from the game, for example if there's somebody from every title, then Byleth was the safe choice.

The balanced but not safe choice would have been to go Sothis. That, I would have been entirely on board with. Especially since we never got to play as her in Three Houses (though we can with Three Hopes, not that there's much special about that as she lacks a prf class).

Edited September 15, 2022 by Jotari

[vanguard333]

2 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

And to make Edelgard the rep in Engage would be to continue this favoritism. I'm no fan of Byleth, but at least their inclusion doesn't make me feel wrong for choosing to Fear the Deer.

Favouritism? It's not favouritism to say that Edelgard was the mascot of Three Houses. She isn't just one of the house leaders; she's the character that drives the plot. That's not favouritism; that's just how the plot of the game was made.

And how would Engage including Edelgard have made made you "feel wrong for choosing to fear the deer"? Including Edelgard would not have been picking one house leader over the others or playing favourites; it would've been FE Engage picking the character that actually represents Three Houses.

 

Besides; at least it would be better than Byleth: the choice that pleases no one and does not really represent Three Houses.

[Azz]

I highly disagree with the idea Edie is the most suitable character from TH. She is the protagonist of one route. Byleth is present and a main protagonist of all four. Regardless of her arguably being the main mascot of the TH, Byleth makes the most sense, because of their role in the story and more than likely they will be written in a way that makes what route or who they join in TH will be as ambiguous as possible.

IS likes ambiguity and dislikes making anything seem canon when there is no canon option. It's why the Awakening trio in Fates have their hairs dyed their default colours so there was no debate over their parentage, it's why only Lucina and Owain were the only children present in Warriors so they could avoid tackling the same conversation. While it might not be the favoured choice, I do think it makes the most sense when we look at IS' past and how it tackles what is 'canon'. I think the only time where something in one game is canon that can potentially not be in another is Ced's parentage in FE4 versus FE5.

I love how even now that we are moving on to a new game, we still cannot escape the never ending Three Houses discourse sigh

Edited September 15, 2022 by Azz

[Jotari]

13 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

Favouritism? It's not favouritism to say that Edelgard was the mascot of Three Houses. She isn't just one of the house leaders; she's the character that drives the plot. That's not favouritism; that's just how the plot of the game was made.

A character who drives the plot? Yes (like most villains). A mascot? No. Pretty much objectively no. This is the box art of Three Houses.

Spoiler

She gets a dedicated printable box art from Nintendo's website. But so too do Claude and Dimitri

Spoiler

And again, in Three Hopes, she's standing alongside Claude and Dimitri.

Spoiler

In Heroes it is not Edelgard's face who represents Fodlan, it is Sothis's. So again, no mascot status. In no promotional material does Edelgard get a positioned that outstrips Byleth, she doesn't even get a position that outstrips Claude or Dimitri. You might claim she's the most interesting lead in Three Houses, or even the most liked, or with the most gameplay potential, those things are pretty subjective. But she's pretty objectively not the mascot of Three Houses. The marketing of the game is consistent in how it depicts the House Leaders.

3 minutes ago, Azz said:

I highly disagree with the idea Edie is the most suitable character from TH. She is the protagonist of one route. Byleth is present and a main protagonist of all three. Regardless of her arguably being the main mascot of the TH, Byleth makes the most sense, because of their role in the story and more than likely they will be written in a way that makes what route or who they join in TH will be as ambiguous as possible.

IS likes ambiguity and dislikes making anything seem canon when there is no canon option. It's why the Awakening trio in Fates have their hairs dyed their default colours so there was no debate over their parentage, it's why only Lucina and Owain were the only children present in Warriors so they could avoid tackling the same conversation. While it might not be the favoured choice, I do think it makes the most sense when we look at IS' past and how it tackles what is 'canon'. I think the only time where something in one game is canon that can potentially not be in another is Ced's parentage in FE4 versus FE5.

Well Nana and their respective siblings too. And even then they didn't get Ced Forseti in Heroes (though hopefully we'll get some kind of Legendary Thracia version of Ced some day for that).

Edited September 15, 2022 by Jotari