#but nothing as important as if Rhea says tut-tut the Emperor cannot be crowned

[randomnameless]

Hello! I hope that you are doing well!

I just wanted to send you a question regarding the amount of power Rhea has in Fódlan since something came to my mind. You know how during Edelgard's coronation, she said to her father that, "The Archbishop of the Church of Seiros would normally act as witness, but my professor will fill that role instead"?

Unless I missed something [or am overthinking], do you believe that Rhea was even there to witness Ionius' coronation?

We were told in the game that it had been ages since a member of House Hresvelg enrolled into the Officers Academy as well as that there had recently been a rift between the Adrestian Empire and the Church of Seiros.

Therefore, to me at least, that implied that said rift had been going on for a while. And I do not see why they would allow her there if such a thing was going on. Yet, Rhea does not retaliate against this as far as I know. Then there is the fact that Edelgard is allowed to be coronated without Byleth's presence. The Southern Church was dismantled, too, so…I think it is safe to say that there was not an official to witness her from there as well. lol

To put it simply, it feels very contradictory to me and adds a crack into the "Rhea controls Fódlan" perspective.

Hi!

I agree, that NPC going all "the empire and hthe church cut ties eons agao that's why supreme leader is the first imperial heir to attend since ages" suggests Rhea wasn't very welcomed in Enbarr.

FWIW the Nopes book about the Southern Church incident reveals the Emperor of that time already wanted to cut ties with the Central Church - and used this rebellion (which was more or less a Varley daughter wanting to have a role instead of letting her bother inherit everything?) as an excuse to finally give them the boot.

In a nutshell, I heavily doubt Rhea was around when Ionius was coronated, if her Church was already "not welcomed" by the time the Southern Church was disbanded.

The Archbishop acting as witness might be just some sort of old ceremonial thing, just like the "covenant of the red blood and the white sword", maybe all coronations try to renact the "oath" Wilhelm took/swore to Seiros when she presumably made him Emperor of Adrestia? And the Archbishop acts as a stand in for Seiros (even if we know better!) when the oath is sworn again by Willy's descendants?

As you pointed out, the Archbishop being present or not is merely decorum, since nowhere the game suggests that in the non-CF routes, Supreme Leader's coup coronation isn't regular or anything.

Rhea controlling Fodlan isn't backed up by canon, Adrestia has been doing its own thing for several centuries, the CoS only provides help (the game doesn't tell us what it is!) to Faerghus : Dimitri becomes King not because Rhea crowns or splashes oil on him, but because he is the Crown Prince and the last heir of the previous King. As for the Alliance, it does its own thing without her input!

#dovehearts-blog #replies #FE16 #Rhea/the CoS controls Fodlan is a take sponsorised by NoA and Treehouse #even in the european websites we didn't get that shit to describe Fodlan #on that regard we're closer to the jp description of the continent than to the US one for once #I'd say Rhea has a complicated relationship with Adrestian Emperors #she can't help but be disappointed because they're not Wilhelm and will never equal him #only he has the 'great' title lol #and they don't follow the CoS and its principles like remember when they tried to invade Brigid/Dagda? Or fed northeners to beasts for fun? #and yet they're the scions of Wilhelm so maybe she can call them her allies? If she needs help they will provide? (we know how it ends lol) #in the half lizard lycaon AU she has even more conflicted feelings bcs #those people aren't willy nor lycaon when it was him who was supposed to be there #everytime she witnesses a new coronation she remembers this coronation happens #because her kid was torn apart by the very people she's crowning #children aren't their parents she knows it and yet there's still that small heartache #bcs Ionius 1 to Ionius 9 aren't Lycaon #back to canon i guess the CoS's presence in Adrestia is mostly ceremonial #to replay the willy'n'seiros alliance #but nothing as important as if Rhea says tut-tut the Emperor cannot be crowned #rhea stuff