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okkefac · 1 year

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FE Engage: Alfred Support Analysis [Spoilers]

On twitter I asked if I should really make an analysis and tier list of every Alfred support in Fire Emblem Engage, because the briainrot is real. Well, I was encouraged for some reason, so thought I may as well post it to tumblr as well.

I’ll be analysing them from the bottom up, but I do genuinely like every Alfred support!

WARNING: SPOILERS. For playable cast, as well as end cards.

Alfred/Amber

I’d say this is probably Alfred’s weakest support, which is to say it’s still good, but has nothing really going for it in particular. It’s what you’d expect - two fairly dumb characters going on a fairly dumb adventure together. It’s very straight forward, to the point, and sweet. It’s full of typical Alfred optimism - it’s a great support to help solidify his character, but doesn’t really do much more than that other than comic relief.

Alfred/Boucheron

Another support that is mostly surface level without much more going on. Surprisingly my two favourite characters, but still ranked this low. It’s very predictable, and the C and B supports are basically identical to Boucheron/Etie’s C and B supports. The A support ends sweetly but in a predictable manner. I’d again say this is a good support to learn of both Alfred’s and Boucheron’s characters, but is mostly just surface level and comic relief.

Alfred/Bunet

This support is basically the same as the other two in that it’s surface level and mostly there for comic relief - the only reason it rates higher is because Bunet is such a force for chaos that the comic relief is incredibly hilarious. The support literally starts with this banger of a line:

Bunet: Prince Alfred. Might I ask you for a quick lick?

And then contains these beauties:

Alfred: Speaking of which, Bunet, you’re looking pretty beefy.

Bunet: Beefy, you say. Do you mean you would like to have a quick lick yourself?

Alfred: Uh, no, I’m good. I was just paying you a compliment.

The A support ends weird, which is to be expected of Bunet, and is surprisingly gay for a non Alear support. Again very surface level, but its humour puts it above the other two for me personally.

Alfred/Veyle

An Alfred support where he “breaks character” so to say is always going to rate highly for me, as I’m a sucker for typically happy characters showing their true colours and thoughts. This support starts very generic, and the C support is hilarious, but has some really good points throughout it. Generally Alfred’s A supports are his strongest point, and this one holds up to that. You go into the C and B thinking it will be another surface level Alfred support where he’s going on about exercise, and Veyle is going on about spicy food and feeling insecure, but then the A support has a few little gems in it. In particular this line really struck me when reading it for the first time.

Veyle: Oh, Alfred. I don’t think my problems can be solved by push-ups...or crunches.

Alfred: Of course. You know that, and I know that.

His soft voice and change of tone when he says that - that’s his happy self taking a step back to let Veyle know that her problems are valid, he is taking her concerns seriously, this is just how he does so.

Alfred: If you don’t set your troubles down every now and then, they’ll crush you.

This line also sticks out once you think about Alfred’s backstory a little bit more, and read a certain support that I’ll get to.

Alfred: I’d be happy to push you so hard, you can’t think of anything else. It’s what I do best!

This line summing up his beautiful character is honestly so touching. This support really pleasantly surprised me once I got to the A rank. Really lovely.

Alfred/Diamant

So I want to love this support, I really do. Once I saw these two could support, and then that all the main royals supported each other, I was so excited because Diamant is one of my favourite characters, and his personality is very different from Alfred’s.

And for the most part, this support is as great as I’d hoped it would be. The C support fascinates me, I remember thinking how strange Alfred was acting during it - we usually see him as the cheery muscle guy, so seeing him actually act princely was a real surprise, and I’m really a sucker for characters acting parts and changing their personality to do so.

I’m even more of a fan when this breaks down, like Alfred so beautifully does so here.

Alfred: I was trying so hard to keep up the act, but I guess I blew it with that question.

Seeing him play the formal part and then break down and B support and upwards act like his normal self was such a refreshing change of pace from his other supports. It made me super excited to read this. The B support continues much on in the same manner, and these two are simply just cute together. It’s great seeing them bond, and Alfred being adorable and saying how close they are. It’s all so wonderful.

Shoutout as well to the beginning of the C support basically being that meme where the early risers and night owls meet up because they’re both awake. Love that for them.

But then we get to the A support, and I have to be honest this A support kind of frustrates me. At the same time of grinding this support out, I was also grinding and achieving the Diamant/Ivy support line, and got their A support shortly before Diamant and Alfred’s - and the Alfred/Diamant A support really confused me because it goes against not only Diamant/Ivy but several other Diamant supports. Diamant is always adamant that he will change Brodia’s ways, that he wishes for no wars, and he will deal with the political outfall to do so (Citrinne/Diamant support goes into this as well) - and yet suddenly in his A support with Alfred he can’t commit to not invading Firene? It reeks of forced drama because these two were too wholesome together. It’s wild that Diamant will go fight nobles to not invade Elusia, but will tell Alfred to his face that his people might make him invade Firene. Of course Alfred is wonderful about this, but this detail just struck me as so weird on Diamant’s part - and brings the whole support down for me, which otherwise was one of my favourite Alfred support lines.

Alfred/Etie

This was actually the final support chain I got for Alfred, and it started similarly predictable and disappointing as Boucheron’s. There’s nothing really to say about the C and B supports for me, it’s Alfred and Etie being muscle heads. It’s good generic character build up.

Then you get the A support, and it takes a wild left turn that genuinely I’ve been thinking about for around a day now, because I am incredibly pathetic. In Engage most supports are almost passionately platonic, characters do not even mention romance. Some supports are flirty, but again, genuine joining of relationships is rarely mentioned - and as I said this was my final Alfred support, so I can confirm outside of his S rank, Alfred is nowhere near the realm of even mentioning romance.

So when he casually mentions his queen, and his mother thinking he’d marry Etie, I was actually gobsmacked. That’s a surprisingly serious topic for Alfred to talk about, especially in a support that I was expecting to be generic from the C and B ranks. It gives some much needed personality to Éve that I wish we had more of, some backstory for Alfred and Etie’s relationship. I was worried, because my biased shipping heart can’t take it, that it would go a romantic route between Alfred and Etie, but I loved that both of them very sincerely seemed to find the idea completely ridiculous.

I am a sucker for a gay romance including inheritance drama if one of them is a noble, and knowing that Alfred’s queen has been a talking point gives me some damn good ammo for some family drama. Basically this support gave a different side to Alfred’s relationships, even if someone isn’t an Alfred/Alear (especially Alfred/M!Alear) shipper, or especially if they are an Alfred/Etie shipper (and you interpret this differently to me), this support gives a totally different side to his relationships that I find really fun to think about.

Alfred/Timerra

Funny enough, despite this being higher ranked than the others, I have less to say on it to be honest. This support is fairly simple and nice, but just felt more fulfilling than the supports I listed initially. I always find Alfred in new situations interesting, and I liked how he wanted to pick Timerra’s brain over dinner. The B support is basically nothing, and the A support is sweet enough. Sharing culture and learning more about each other is a very Alfred way to do things, and makes sense considering he has said before how he knows very little of Solm due to distance, so it’s nice seeing that referenced in this chain.

Shoutout to Alfred being the only royal who doesn’t sing in their Timerra support chain though, very sad. I guess Timerra knew he’d be too supportive. What a good boy.

Alfred/Vander

This was one of the last Alfred supports I got, and my opinion on Vander wasn’t stellar beforehand, but this support very pleasantly surprised me. Much like Timerra’s, this support doesn’t have loads going for it, but is just of a consistent quality and very nice for both characters. Alfred is rarely self conscious, and again this is a sort of bias that I have in that I love the happy go lucky characters going through mild angst, so starting with Alfred’s guilt did immediately draw me in. I did love getting a support that talks a bit more about Lumera, and Firene’s close relationship with her. Knowing Lumera gave Alfred flowers for his birthday is honestly such a damn cute mental image, especially since Alfred presumably would have been quite sickly at the time, so probably saw great treasure in it.

This support is overall just adorable, and these two play off of each other very well. A very subdued Alfred support, but a really good point.

Alfred/Ivy

So when I got this support, it was mostly because I had suddenly decided to use Ivy and needed everyone in my army to support Alfred as soon as possible. This support very pleasantly surprised me, and made me love Ivy especially. Again like the two before, it’s just an overall great support with nothing much surprising going on Alfred is of course very trusting and kind, as he always is, and I love Ivy’s teasing. These two play off of each other very well. The B support is a change of pace from most Alfred supports, where Alfred sort of has the upper hand, which is rarely the case for him, and he gets to tease Ivy in turn.

The A support is predictable, but has a great line from Ivy.

Ivy: This is unacceptable. I demand that you be troubled immediately!

This support chain highlights both of their characters in really great ways, and I adore the dynamic these two have together, which is not something I expected!

Alfred/Yunaka

I think this was my first Alfred support that I got to A rank, so revisiting it for this write up was so much fun, and reminded me how much I loved it at the time. This support shows Alfred at his best, a genuinely lovely and friendly person, who is willing to trust and support whoever needs it. The C support starts in a way that makes you think the whole chain will be obvious, Yunaka is sneaky, Alfred trusts, he slowly over time pries info out of her, they get closer, bla bla - but then the B support completely subverts that. Where most characters, honestly understandably so, would question Yunaka’s motives and not like that she is openly willing to lie, Alfred takes her completely at face value and doesn’t even try to pry - when he accidentally asks too deep a question he backs up and lets Yunaka take the reigns of their friendship. Rereading this I was reminded why I love Alfred so much.

Their A support continues and again I was expecting to gain some info on Yunaka, but Alfred respects her boundaries, something more people should do in general, and it just ends with Yunaka genuinely in awe of this - and you can tell she appreciates it.

Alfred: From one weird bird to another, I hope we stay friends for a long time.

What a fitting end to such a lovely conversation. This was such a different support than I expected these two to have, and I loved every moment of it.

Alfred/Alear

Okay and here is where my obvious biases come in. The main reason this support is so highly rated is because of the S rank, not just because I ship these two like mad, but because I appreciate learning of a character’s romantic side. The topic of romance is also why I loved Etie’s A support so much.

This chain is again for the most part fairly formulaic - but does have that added twist that I said before where Alfred is surprisingly out of character, he’s incredibly self conscious in a way that is only seen in a handful of other conversations of his, and this stays throughout the whole support conversation. The C support reads very much of “and they were roommates”, and the B support is probably their weakest one where it just reads as wacky things Alfred does to show his support. Since at this time I was also getting the Clanne and Framme Alear supports, it wasn’t super exciting to read at the time.

The A support is for the most part a logical conclusion to the B and C supports, but does have an extra bit of information that I think about a lot. Alfred mentioned how he visited Alear a lot as a child during his slumber, and saw Alear as a friend during that time, and how that explains his clingy behaviour. This again can read as just Alfred being Alfred, but once you learn more of his backstory and think more on his person and history, actually becomes incredibly touching if not quite sad. Alfred grew up very sickly, we can probably conclude from this that he didn’t have many friends as he was likely in recovery a lot, I can only imagine what kind of friendship he might have imagined with his deity - someone he probably prayed to to fix his condition, and to now be able to have a real genuine friendship with, is so interesting.

Now, their S support is absolutely everything I wanted it to be. If I’m going to romance someone, I want romance dammit! And boy does this deliver. If anyone wants a non-platonic Alear S rank, please look no further than Alfred. This again is a natural conclusion, and makes reference to their old supports, whilst being very explicitly romantic. The exchange of gifts is touching, and Alfred dares to use the word love. His confidence gained from this and his S rank wake up convos are such a delight, he’s honestly quite flirty and I gotta say I adore it. These two are just so cute together, that I might scream just thinking about it.

Alfred/Céline

Oh boy. Okay, let’s get into it.

My initial tier list calls this required reading, and to be honest it really is. This support underpins basically Alfred’s entire character, and in retrospect makes every other support of his so much better. If you don’t romance Alfred yourself, his ending is basically so incredibly left field unless you do the Céline support - and if you do the Céline support, it’s just mind shatteringly depressing. I would be as bold as to say this is one of the most important support chains in the whole entire game - especially considering how major a character Alfred is to the plot at large.

Alfred/Céline’s support chain starts innocently, as many of Alfred’s otherwise do. His C and B supports are him digging and Céline essentially calling him a himbo. It’s really funny, and it’s nice to see Céline teasing him, as it was difficult to gauge what their relationship was like just from the main story alone, since Céline doesn’t appear in it for long.

Then you get to their A support. I didn’t count but this support seems to be much longer than any other Alfred support that there is, and for a very good reason.

There is often a saying of if something is too good to be true, it probably is, right? Alfred is such a lovely person, he’s always so happy, so carefree, he was sickly as a child but worked through it, he’s doing amazing now! This A support takes all that and tears it to the frigging ground. Alfred’s illness has returned. Now, if you had only done Alfred’s supports, you probably know that he was ill as a child, but it’s not really brought up, been there done that y’know? But it’s a common theme in Céline’s supports, and she mentions it so much, and it’s obvious she has a lot of trauma and anxiety from genuinely fearing for her brother’s life for so long. For Céline to find him like this is literally one of her biggest fears come true.

And you have to wonder, if this was such an important part of Céline’s life, and if Alfred was truly *that* sick, wouldn’t we have heard about it? Well, I think this line that he says to try and stop Céline getting him medical help explains it well.

"As far as they’re concerned, I want to be the spirited prince who loves working out."

And this is where my heart sank. God am I a sucker for tropes like this, but it genuinely hurt because Alfred doesn’t deserve this. It’s an act, of course it is. Of course he can’t be this airheaded wonderful man who’s just undeniably sweet - of course he’s actually aware of what’s going on. Of course he’s putting on a brave front so others don’t worry about him. Of course! Because he’s a goddamn amazing character, and I love him.

This broke me, this truly broke me, because when I think of how he must be feeling, how Céline must be feeling, how his whole dumb muscle shtick started just to save his damn life, I get depressed knowing that it’s returned and that his arguably-more-canon ending has him frigging dying from it. It’s not enough. All the work he did is not enough. I don’t think I have the heart to not S rank him, because that ending just hurts so much man.

These lines later on in the A rank, because this A rank is long, also made me sad in that it shows a mindset that to my knowledge is quite common amongst those with chronic conditions.

Alfred: Well, what about you, then? What brings you true happiness?

Céline: Nothing.

Alfred: Really? You’ve got good friends, you got your health─none of that does it?

“You got your health” - Céline has all that Alfred could want, all that he needs. Most people don’t value health as a baseline form of happiness, most people take it for granted. But it’s been this big part of Alfred’s life looming over him. Something that, unless you S rank him, he never gets to truly understand.

And because this support keeps on giving, Alfred then goes back to his cheery self, saying how happy talking to Céline makes him, and points out a four-leaf clover. They talk about how they always used to look for happy little things as children, and Céline used to be better, but at one point Alfred got better. Céline’s mental health struggles are honestly another talking point I could go into massively, but the idea that the person who has suffered, the kind older brother, is so selflessly looking out for joys to make his worrying sister feel better, and has done so since childhood, is just so beautiful.

One more line that sticks out, knowing how Alfred’s solo ending goes.

Alfred: Hey... I’m not gonna die, OK? I’ll be fine if I stick with my training.

This pair of siblings honestly has such a tragic story and end. This support chain is so stunningly beautiful, again pretty much entirely in the A support. It ends with Alfred later saying he can’t guarantee anything, but that they must work together for Firene. It’s bittersweet, and how bitter or sweet it really is depends on if you S rank Alfred, but even with his health improving, his history has had such a profound effect on both of them, and is truly explored in this support.

This support reveals information that underpins both characters core personalities, and makes both of their other supports so incredibly better. It’s honestly one of my favourite supports not only in the game, but in the Fire Emblem series as a whole.

Absolutely beautiful.

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