Eltoshen

A lot of the discussion recently got me thinking that Edelgard's ideology reminds me of Malcolm X in some aspects. Edelgard is from a more privileged position of power, but the main comparison I'd make is that both believed that no change would ever come about unless people fought back against the violence and discrimination they were experiencing. People are complacent and are more comfortable with what they know and fear change of any sort, even if it's against their best interests. You can just look at the current state of the world. Uh...no she wasn't. Multiple students make remarks about her decision in every route. They were not even given a trial. That scene was literally there to show you that Rhea has a dark side, as cringy as that sounds (the face she makes, the creepy smile - read between the lines dude). Jeralt comments on this the moment you meet her. Like, you have got to be purposefully misunderstanding the source material to say something like this and mean it.

You don't need to say it twice. Anybody who isn't a misogynist would agree. Oops, I went there. Also, people who act like the crest system would just go away, I'd really like to see some examples of this in history. The French Revolution ring a bell to anybody? How peaceful was that?

Hanneman and Manuela also stay with Edelgard if you don't recruit them, so I think this list makes a lot of sense as to some biases the creators had. Shamir is a mercenary at heart, so it makes sense that she'd join either of them depending on where Byleth goes. See, you lost me on your first reasoning. How is loving nobility a good reason for joining the Empire? Edelgard especially detests incompetent nobles and believes the world should be run by the people who are most qualified for the job, regardless of their social status. I'd definitely say it's just a family reason. Also regarding Petra's reasoning, she specifically remarks about loving surprise attacks multiple times throughout the game (as it is akin to hunting), so even if she were to join the other houses, I doubt that'd be her reasoning.

Falcoknight Dorothea and Marianne running around with a Levin Sword and Magic Lance (separate runthroughs). Great Knight Lindhardt - Gets doubled by absolutely everything but doesn't take damage from any enemy without a Silver weapon. Dark/Holy Knight Ferdinand Dancer Felix Gremory Edelgard, Bernadetta and Ingrid, all 3 of them are great, Ingrid and Bernadetta both have Physic and Edelgard is an absolute monster (Hades, Luna and Seraphim aren't even necessary, but great boss killers). I see no point doing the same old builds past your 2nd or 3rd run through. Sounds absolutely boring.

The site has information on recruitment that you can check if you're unsure in the future, btw. Spoilers are marked, but you already completed the game once anyways.

He's a fucking mess for the majority of his own route. This is well established by the man himself. Literally only comes back to his senses when Dedue comes back.

Bro, both of them are and were more sane than Dimitri for a majority of the game, so let's just leave it at that.

I mean...Manuela and Hanneman aren't experts at combat. You can also do seminars during the weekend with various professors. Each house has their own homeroom professor/teacher but they received mentoring from all of them. It's ridiculous to expect 1 professor to be an expert at everything. That's literally not how anything past high school/college works. Besides, people like Hubert actually ask you 'What would you do if you are asked to teach something you're not an expert at?' or something to that affect and one option is 'I would study the topic myself before teaching' which is his preferential line of choice. This game does actually address what you're talking about. Many teachers who teach subjects they're not experts on do the exact same thing, studying the discussion topic beforehand either from their own research or through borrowing a colleague's notes or teaching material. In 3 Houses terms, that involves training Byleth's skills with the other professors during explorations and taking part in seminars.

Because Rhea is an authoritarian and makes the final decisions. That's a main part of the story.

Sylvain doesn't need to be a dark mage to use Physic, IDK why that person thought that was relevant.

Ugh, fuck Australia lol. No offense to Australians. Really though, what was the point?

FE4 is long overdue for being one of the most popular games in the series.

Edelgard lost all 10 of her siblings to crest experimentation also, so don't forget that. She describes watching them all die and yet she's still in touch with humanity. Given, Rhea's so fucking old it might make sense why she doesn't experience emotions the same way humans do but then that begs the question - should the supreme ruler of the Church that governs the entire continent be a person who is out of touch with the reality of human life and their emotions?

This and a lot of other bugs in this thread sound just like loading time issues but idk if they're actually bugs since it doesn't crash the game. I've experienced a few but it just seems like the assets took longer to appear and doesn't happen often.

I'm starting to think it is very likely you missed the ring on your first run through lol.

Well, if we're not going to take the endings for what they're worth, then they were just badly written. You have a point, but if you break it down, if you're operating under a system that focuses on merit rather than inheritance, then that's what you're used to...same goes the other way around. In Edelgard's ending, that change has already taken place. Meanwhile, a church state? No revolution actually occurred so you're still in the status quo where nobles are still in power and the people who inherit that power are other nobles. It's not fair to compare them on equal terms because the path to corruption would be far easier in a system where nobility is still awarded because the inherent privilege of being born to a higher class has never been abolished. However, I'd still choose Edelgard's world of merit > class over Rhea's Church and Nobility trumps all, which is what this topic was discussing anyways.

Power corrupts. Even if we pretend like Ferdinand and Sylvain are perfect angels, what happens after they die? What prevents the corrupt nobles from rising to power again? The status quo won't change if there is no forced incentive for them to do so.

Regardless of the fact that I disagree with you when you said Rhea was just going to step aside, nobody knew what Rhea's objective was because she confided in nobody. You expect the students like Edelgard and Claude to know that she was just going to step aside once she resurrected her mother when nobody knew about their relationship? She lied about the entire history of Fodlan. Claude questioned her multiple times in his route and she only spilled the beans after it was clear that she was literally about to die so she had nothing to lose. Looking at things in hindsight isn't a good way to make an argument regarding these characters. Edelgard had a just purpose (to abolish the injustice of the class system and censorship by the Church) with questionable actions. Rhea's sole purpose was a selfish desire to resurrect her mother to govern all of Fodlan. She literally admits this. People acting like change comes about without opposition haven't studied enough history. There is no such thing as peaceful change. Did Edelgard go overboard with some of her actions? No doubt. However, anybody who pretends like the nobility system was just going to disappear once Byleth became archbishop are fooling themselves. There is no indication in Claude or Dimitri's route that the nobility and Crest system was abolished.

None of them would have even had the opportunity to do so if edelgard didn't start a war to free the continent from the Church's rule. Also, they don't get her to step down. All I remember from the ending is that Rhea is too weak to govern any longer and she chooses to step aside. Doesn't change the fact that the Church still holds power.

I disagree with this statement. Just because she has a grievance with Crests doesn't mean that she isn't fighting the crest system for a reason. But fairly noted that she didn't come out with the truth from the start. Another situation where she's very similar to Rhea. I also just remembered that Edelgard had 10 siblings, 8 older and 2 younger who died due to experimentation with Crests (both of them had their families torn apart). However, I'm pretty sure Edelgard knew from the start that there was no way she was going to be able to get Rhea to just step down and reveal the truth about the Crest system willingly when she's aware of how long Rhea's been in power. We have to remember that Edelgard has the most knowledge about the Church when it comes to the 3 different lords, thanks to Tomas and TWSID, albeit some of it tainted. So if you're going to argue that fighting violence with violence is the answer. Why not fight deception with deception? What right does Rhea have to get mad? Also, in the Ashe/Catherine paralogue, she explicitly is going there to pass judgment, so to not expect the Western Church to respond in kind would make no sense.

Rhea has done some questionable shit, and if you play Edelgard's route, this is highlighted even further prior to the start of the final chapter. Rhea's loyalty is... Her mother >>>>>>>>> Byleth (unless...you know) > Flayn and Seteth >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Everybody else > Church dissidents It's hard to argue that Edelgard took the morally justifiable route by starting a war with an entire continent, but you can see the reasoning behind her actions. Hers seems to more on a grander scale for the betterment of society while Rhea's is purely for selfish reasons. I can understand why Rhea became the way she did, but I personally don't agree with her methods. Censoring the truth and executing anybody who dares question the Church is just barbaric. I see people here making arguments that she did well to promote peace, and I can agree that she has done some amazing things for people worthy of respect, but her primary concern is the resurrection of her mother -- to the point where nothing else matters in the face of a possible reunion with her creator. Catherine and Cyril remark on this plenty of times throughout the game, admitting that Rhea really only cares about Byleth and not them. In her own ending, she steps down from her throne and a suitable ruler takes her place. There's also a difference between a ruling power who doesn't hide the truth and one that purposefully lies to the people to keep peace. Which one you would rather live under is up to the individual. Let's not forget that a huge plot point in this game revolves around the injustice of nobility and the crest system. We learn Rhea is not responsible for the creation of the Crests, but she does take advantage of their existence to maintain power. This, in turn, upholds a world where those without crests or nobility would be seen as lesser than. Obviously, there may be a potential path to corruption in Edelgard's new Adrestian ruled continent, but we don't really have many details to go off of regarding how her new system even works.

You get renown too, actually, which is what most people do that quest for.

ok obviously Lysithea is like a 14 year old kid who is trying to act mature for her age because of valid reasons. it seems really unhealthy to hate her for that, when she's shown that she isn't always like that in every other support. but on the other hand...people who like ignatz just like self inserts, and that's that on that, periodt.

Lorenz post time skip has the most glorious hair.

Who cares? It's not something that will change the story drastically if you were originally a TA . You're meant to be more experienced in battle than the students, growing up as a mercenary. You also are known as the Ashen Demon (though that is hardly brought up) due to your skill on the field. It's pretty much established from the beginning that you're a skilled combatant and were taught by the best knight in Seiros history. You're even acknowledged by Felix (who is pretty much the most skilled student in terms of actual combat skills).