#mentioned edelgard von hresvelg

[askhubertvonvestra]

Before Hubert can give Lady Edelgard her morning report, there's a distinct girlish giggling from inside her bedroom door. "Heehee~ Oh you are a feisty one! Such a little rascal~" she chirps with a giggle. The distinct meow of a cat responds back as the comforter rustles, plus the scamper of paws to her amusement. "Now now, we can't be too chatty. If Hubert finds out he'll scold me and I won't be able to kiss your little head or feed you fish anymore!" she's got the feline on her bed, having it chase after one of her old purple ribbons as she drags it back and forth, still in her nightshirt. It rolls over, exposing it's soft belly to her which she gleefully scoops up to her bosom to press kisses to furry cheeks. "H-Hhubert!" she looks at him, eyes wide and face going red. Caught red handed, as the cat bats at her bangs making them swish. "...I-I didn't hear you come in, apologies..."

Your Majesty.

Rather, I imagine you would prefer Lady Edelgard. I see you've made a friend. Of the feline variety, no less. I'm afraid I was unaware that you would have such an esteemed guest in attendance for the morning report. Fortunately, I have quite the experience with contending with rascals.

...Or one's innate desire to feed them fish. Among other such activities. I assure you, Edelgard, it is no business of mine if you have a pet. Unless you require supplies. Other than your ribbon, of course.

Perhaps a hair tie to spare your bangs. A suitably regal bed for Her Majesty's cat. I am the Minister to the Imperial Household, after all. Such services would extend to even the four-legged members of the Hresvelg family.

#yes he is teasing her a little #mentioned edelgard von hresvelg #soft hubert von vestra #hubert von vestra #mentioned edelgard #anon ask #rp anon #rp ask #ask hubert #ask hubert von vestra

[themisteriousentity]

You know, people forget that Soldier, Poet, King is a Christian song depicting different aspects of Jesus, but it sure is interesting to see that the fandom almost universally makes Dimitri the Soldier, Claude the Poet, and Edelgard the King

However, I argue a different order

*le gaspu*

Dimitri is still the soldier, but I think Claude and Edelgard should switch. I think Edelgard is the Poet and Claude is the King

Hear me out

Dimitri, we all know why he's the Soldier. I don't think we need to explain that. I don't need to get into the bible analysis, man LITERALLY tears cities down, oh lei oh lai oh lord

Edelgard is a very well spoken person. When she's actually given room to voice her ideas, despite being wrong because she's got just the tip of the iceberg of the true history, she can managed to convince almost anyone. In both games, she manages to convince most of her empire, which is FULL of very devout followers of Seiros and Sothis, to attack the Central Church and follow her lead. For a person who doesn't know much better, she's very damn convincing. She just doesn't do it very often, and she's terrible at listening when people try to counter her ideas (her argument with Dimitri and Azure Moon really highlights this when he tries to open a dialogue). But the important thing there is also that this is a role she chooses to take on in both games. If you look at the Poet, this easily relates to the start of Jesus's ministry in the bible, taking down establishments left and right on his word alone. Edelgard convinces her country to follow her on her accusations alone (as she was only 18 when she started the war and even as emperor she had to talk many ministers into following her lead or nothing would've happened without ministers like Count Bergliez and Count Hevring that she convinced), slaying the church with her tongue

Meanwhile, the King easily relates far more to Claude than the Poet. Claude doesn't really spend a lot of time convincing people of his ideals or talking them into anything aside from explaining his ambitions to Byleth and Shez, and depending on your supports in some ways to Leonie and Lorenz. Unlike Edelgard, Claude is in a situation he didn't ask for. He has a war thrust upon him and a conflict with a massive religious body that breeds prejudice to contend with. As an outsider who is deeply untrusted, he has to fight tooth and nail just to keep the Alliance whole. All the meanwhile he's constantly having insults thrust upon him by his own people, and in certain routes he's completely abandoned by one of the largest political players in his nation. The crown of thorns was not a burden Jesus chose to accept, like the burden of war Edelgard created and thrust upon the world, but was something thrusted upon him that he then had to deal with. It's easy to see that Claude never wanted to contend with this war and only stays because he HAS to, for the sake of both Almyra and Fódlan, despite knowing all he's doing is keeping things stable while not fixing the situation. But in the end he's still prepared to sacrifice everything to try and make the world better. In Houses, he even plans for his own death to protect the people of the Alliance, the people who fought against him and rejected him the most. In Hopes, he settles on working with people he fundamentally disagrees with and dislikes for the sake of protecting Fódlan. With a character progression like that, it just feels like the ruler who his brow laid in thorn, anointed in oil, that tracks to Claude much better than Edelgard

But hey, that's just my opinion. Wow, who knew being dragged to church kicking and screaming against my will would come in handy for a strategy JRPG

#fire emblem three houses #fire emblem three hopes #fe3h #edelgard fe3h #dimitri fe3h #claude fe3h #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #edelgard von hresvelg #claude von riegan #blue lions #black eagles #golden deer #soldier poet king #religious mentions #christianity #christianity mention

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

Edelgard can have 10 girlfriends if she wants to, as a treat

And yes they smoke weed

.

#edelgard von hresvelg #fe #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fe16 #fe3h #drugs mention

[fieldsofvarley]

i just think. this moment. as edelclaude. her silver hair. his love of stars. please. someone walk with me here

#not to mention #princess mononoke scene™️… #text post #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem three hopes #fe3h #edelgard von hresvelg #claude von riegan #edelclaude #claude x edelgard #howl’s moving castle #studio ghibli #fieldsofvarley

[mittelfrank-divas]

If Edelgard killed herself it wouldn't have done anything but frustrated them and delayed their plans. It also wouldn't have stopped the nobles and the church, but the people who say things like that don't believe in those being wrong, so.

Imagine you're somewhere between 12 and 17 years old. Your memories are fractured and fragmented and your hair is white because you've undergone life-changing medical torture that left all of your siblings dead. You have lived months, years, you don't know how long, in a dungeon. Your captors, one of whom wears the face of the man who raised you, who still insists on you calling him uncle, tells you that he will free you if you do as he says.

Choose your path:

--> You tell him no. So he takes control of your mind, removes your free will, and forces you to become his puppet. He can commit any atrocity he wishes using you, and you will not even be aware of it.

--> You tell him yes. Then you wait until you are alone and you sacrifice yourself so that he can never use you. But your body becomes his puppet anyway, resurrected to fight for him whenever he pleases just as Nemesis was. The research that was perfected on you and your siblings gets replicated again and again on others.

--> You tell him yes. You play along. You do everything you need to do to maintain his confidence that you are obedient, even if it means you must do unsavory things and make horrible sacrifices. And in private, with your best friend, you make a laundry list of goals. Things you can do with your newfound power and knowledge. Ways that you can fix the conditions that led to what happened to you. Ways that you can make what happened to you matter. You string along your false uncle exactly as long as you need to before turning your strength against him. Maybe you will die in the process, but at least you will die with your mind still yours, and maybe you will have made a difference before you died.

What is the morally pure option here? Which of these would make Edelgard a fundamentally good person? What should she do to minimize harm? Certainly, if Edelgard wanted to keep her own hands clean, then the first two options are preferable. Nobody can blame her for the things her body does without her knowledge or consent. She can die powerless, but also blameless.

But there is no timeline in which Edelgard chooses either of those options. Edelgard chooses to dirty her own hands. She chooses to maintain control of her fate as much as possible. She chooses to try to change things despite the cost.

I don't think people who say that Edelgard should never have worked with the Slithers have actually thought about what that would mean. But Hopes has confirmed what we already suspected: that Edelgard never truly had the option to say no to Thales unless she had the power to back it up, and there are so many timelines in which she has no power at all against him.

#suicide mention #death mention #suicide tw #abuse tw #3 hopes spoilers #edelgard von hresvelg

[dragongutsixofficial]

On the topic of Rhea, Byleth, Crimson Flower and abuse

I see a lot of people saying Crimson Flower is a bad route for Byleth, and I'm always a little confused about it, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on the matter. This post isn't at all to invalidate their opinions or how they view the game- this is just offering my perspective on things. Please forgive any possible mistakes, as English isn't my first language. Also, I will be criticizing Rhea's treatment of Byleth, so I'll tag this appropriately of course, but I'm still warning any of her fans beforehand in case you just wanna skip. ^^

For a little bit of context, when i first played the game, Rhea creeped me out THE MOMENT she looked at Byleth from the balcony in the cutscene when they arrive at Garreg Mach monastery. So, I was already wary of her-I dunno, I just had a feeling she wasn't as honest as she was pretending to be.

And I mean, this isn't completely wrong. She desperately wants to be able to relax and be truthful, sure, but she also has a great deal of responsibility in putting in place and maintaining a really unfair theocracy based entirely on lies, because she wants to protect her family, the last of her kind. While her behavior is, of course, understandable given the horrible trauma she went through, it still doesn't sit right with me, but that's not really my point here. The thing is, she has problems with not being in control at all times because of her story. Her despair even pushes her to try and bring back her dead mother by crafting her a vessel- something she fails at several times, including Sitri.

And, then, there's Byleth. Byleth, who disappears for twenty long years, along with all her hopes, and when they reappear Rhea immediately sees the possibility for her to achieve her goal is not totally lost. She was desperate and now that she's found them, she wants to keep them.

That's why she places so much trust in Byleth from the start, but also why she grows cold every time they step out of line- like when they refuse to give her Miklan's spear. She allows them to live their life, but only so long as they do not disappoint her in any way or deviate from her ideas- because for the longest time, she struggles to see them as their own person and puts unreasonable expectations on them.

And that, sadly, is when that becomes psychological abuse on her part. This is really obvious to me when Byleth's hair and eyes turn green after fusing with Sothis, and she sings to them and puts their head in their lap while they're asleep- it just makes me want to run far away in the opposite direction every time, and her giving them the prophet outfit after that makes me so sorry for Byleth because what she's essentially doing here (albeit maybe unvoluntarily) is chipping away at their developing self and bodily autonomy by turning them into literally what she physically wants to see-and that isn't them. She wants them to become what she wants of them.

And then, in the Sacred Mausoleum, Byleth chooses Edelgard. All hell breaks loose because Rhea's hopes are shattered- and she also realizes her affection for Byleth is (partly) unrequited which, to me at least, makes sense- I don't really see how they could care as much for her as they do for their students when they spent every day with them for a year, and their actions seem to be made more out of love for their close ones than anything else. Byleth breaks out of the mold and confronts her directly. They make the clear cut decision to deviate from the path she had laid out for them. From that moment on, Rhea considers that all forms of violence against them is allowed (which, fair, they just declared war on her lol) including taking their heart out by force, which is physical abuse obviously (then again, violence is to be expected in a war but you get the idea). She now hates what she's created and sees it as her duty to destroy it.

Now. Byleth choosing to walk down Edelgard's path does not equate cutting themselves from their divine part, and I think that is a very important point. I see a lot of people make that criticism, especially since Byleth loses Sothis' powers at the end of CF. But to me, it's a totally different phenomena that occurs.

In every route, post-timeskip Byleth embraces their divine side. They use the Creator's sword and they go back in time as they wish to protect and further their and their lords' vision for the future of Fodlan. Heck, their main class is literally "Prophet". But something strange and, I think, beautiful happens in Crimson Flower that always made me feel disappointed in the other routes' plots: Byleth has a chance to stand up to their abuser and cut ties with them explicitely and directly. To fight back against them with all they've got.

Now, don't get me wrong. Rhea apologizing for her wrongdoings and bad treatment of Byleth is good, sure, but it just… doesn't seem like enough to me. Sure, that's a nice thought… but it's not like anything can be done about it now: they're stuck with body modifications and a position as an Archbishop reforming the system she helped put in place that they never really asked for in the first place. But what makes it ok is that they embrace those fully and voluntarily, and that's beautiful on its own- however, that resolution leaves me a bit disappointed and honestly feeling like they let Rhea walk all over them.

The thing is, when you get out of an abusive and toxic relationship, you are left changed from the experience. You lose a lot of things, but you also get some things. It's like you're left with a random object your abuser gave to you once. You can either keep it and give it a new story of its own, or discard it if keeping it just doesn't feel right. But in the end, it is your responsibility, your thing, and you're not a bad person for not using it. The metaphor is broken, I know, but I hope you get my idea. You're not a bad person for moving on for that thing- You don't resent the thing, you can thank it and appreciate it for what it brought you while you used it, you don't hate it, hell you might have even learnt from it.

In the other routes, Byleth chooses to keep everything and use it equally. In Crimson Flower, Byleth "regaining their humanity" doesn't in any way, shape or form mean they reject all that Sothis brought to them or their enlightenement. It's just them choosing that they'd rather not use that from now on, or not engage with it to the same degree. They might go back to it later, might help rebuild the church, I don't know-just not in the same way. On new terms that make them more at ease with who they became following that route.

They're still the same loving and caring person who would do anything for their students. They still go to the ends of the Earth to give someone a random thing they lost. They still spend hundreds of coins on their loved ones' favorite teas. But… they do not have to forgive Rhea. They do not have to accept everything that happened to them because of her actions, even if some of it was good. They've made their peace with it and they've let it go of their own volition.

They do not become a lesser version of themselves because they chose to deal with the abuse they went through in a different way than in the other routes.

And I think a lot of people underestimate how powerful CF!Byleth's narrative can be.

#fe3h #byleth eisner #byleth discourse #lady rhea #seiros #rhea discourse #rhea critical #tw abuse #tw mentions of abuse #tw physical abuse #tw psychological abuse #crimson flower #this is no hate towards rhea's character you love who you want #byleth #fe16 #archbishop rhea #fe3h spoilers #edelgard von hresvelg

[sleepy-bear-tm]

"You may watch the door, I can watch over you."

#edelgard von hresvelg #hubert von vestra #i just think about how closed off edelgard probably was after the crest experiments #i mentioned in my wip post but i really think TWSITD would have cut her hair #hubert must have been livid on her behalf ugh it wounds me #wip #lineart #fanart #fe3h fanart #fe3h #fire emblem three houses #three houses #fire emblem #my art

[thirteendaysintaunton]

“It looks as though my path will end here. My teacher... claim your victory. Strike me down. You must! Even now, across this land, people are killing each other. If you do not act now, this conflict will go on forever. Your path... lies across my grave. It is time for you to find the courage to walk it.”

#edelgard von hresvelg #fire emblem #gamingedit #feedit #fireemblemedit #nintendoedit #edelgardedit #fe3h #dailyemblem #videogamewomen #dailygaming #edelgard #id in alt text #me vs photoshop #death mention #yall ever think abt how el is ready to die on every route #'it doesnt matter how i die only when' #like she knows she's on a suicide mission #but she does it anyways cuz someone has to #and no matter what her war does lead fodlan into a golden age #:') #she's just not always around to see it

[bananabraiined]

One step at a time in winter.

#edelgard von hresvelg #fe edelgard #edelgard fire emblem #fire emblem edelgard #three houses #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem heroes #fire emblem #//feh mention

[hannahbananya]

Probably really late to be speculating about this but in the ending cutscene of Azure Moon after the battle at the imperial palace do you think the reason Dimitri turns around to look at Edelgard is because he heard her voice?

#fire emblem three houses #fire emblem #fe3h #azure moon #fe3h blue lions #fire emblem dimitri #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #game theory #well sorta #fe3h edelgard #i guess #she’s dead #but mentioned so #edelgard von hresvelg

[pulchramusae-archived]

@universalcarnival​ asked //  “ did you do something different with your hair? it looks amazing! “ ~ Claude @ Edelgard

familial/platonic prompts (this time blue threw a wrench into the machine) // accepting.

.. ah. right. her hair...

the golden deer’s housewarden would see clear as day that the adrestian empire’s heiress’s expression faltered at the statement, almost as if trying to think of some form of excuse as to why her hair was as white as freshly fallen snow rather than as as brown as the bark of an oak tree.

and the screams. the screams... the cries for help from the siblings that’d been snatched away from her too soon - part of her wished they were still here, even coming to the officer’s academy with her. part of her wished she joined them.

she snapped out of her thoughts in hopes to deflect the question - or at least give claude a good enough answer.

“it was... just some braids and ribbon, that’s all,” merely a half-truth was brought out, but... truthfully it was the best she could think of. it took so much of her mental strength not to break down.

#BREAKS UR ANKLES WITH SOME ANGST. HEY BESTIE :) #ic // answered. #edelgard von hresvelg // fire emblem: three houses. #connection // claude von riegan; universalcarnival. #subtle death mention /

[askhubertvonvestra]

Boops nose, how have you been?

...I see you missed these antics.

But I have been well. With the support of our allies, progress with the war has been both swift and decisive.

Although I suppose that doesn't quite answer your question. Dorothea and Petra have brought it to my attention that I rarely respond accordingly when questions involve me directly, so. I have been collaborating with Linhardt on his more engaging studies, and Bernadetta has been joining Ferdinand and I for tea as of late. Byleth has gladly roped me into their training sessions with Caspar, claiming that we will be good influences on one another. Begrudgingly, they were not incorrect on that front. Naturally, this has been encouraged by Her Majesty as we both pursue greater independence and free time outside of our duties.

Likewise, it would be excellent news to know that you are doing well. May only the best cross your path.

#hubert von vestra #mentioned black eagles #soft hubert von vestra #socially awkward hubert #rp ask #mentioned edelgard von hresvelg #mentioned edelgard #mentioned bernadetta #mentioned bernadetta von varley #mentioned caspar von bergliez #mentioned caspar #mentioned dorothea #mentioned dorothea arnault #mentioned petra macneary #mentioned petra #mentioned linhardt von hevring #mentioned linhardt #mentioned byleth eisner #mentioned byleth #mentioned ferdinand von aegir #mentioned ferdinand #liam bourgeois #ask hubert #ask hubert von vestra

[writer-of-worlds]

For the blorbo ask game, Fire Emblem Three Houses.

Sis, you know my tastes well LMAO

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): It's a tie between Edelgard and Byleth (either gender!) They're both so good ❤️

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): BERNADETTA! She is my daughter and I will protect her with my life!

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): Alois is such a fun character, IDK why people don't care for him as much.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): Judith! She's so cool!

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): Edelgard again, due to her having a biiiit of discourse around her online, I'd say.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): Male Byleth! In fact, I'm planning a whump fic with him being hurt now!

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): Burn in hell, Count Varley.

#wow answers #fire emblem three houses #bernadetta fire emblem #edelgard von hresvelg #byleth eisner #alois #judith #count varley #fire emblem #m!byleth #whump mention #discourse mention

[chicken-molayme]

I don't usually post much of my writting-- I'm not particularly a writer. Im an artist, i draw lol.

But i liked how i wrote this reply to a roleplay, and thus I'm going to share it. Dont mind if the grammar is poo.

This is an excerpt from an Edelgard x Yandere!Hubert roleplay, so if you do not like such themes, you dont have to read!

《》

The before summary:

Hubert has been making many remarks to ferdinand that he did not want him anywhere near edelgard. Hubert threatened to hurt or even kill ferdinand if he so much as gave a flirtatious look at her. Edelgard told hubert to apologize to ferdinand later that night when she learned of what hubert was going to do. Ferdinand explained to edelgard that even though his life may be at danger, he had to bring edelgard to a place privately to tell her the things hubert said. When he realized hubert overheard them, he asked edelgard to walk him back to his room. When they got to the room edelgard tricked a lurking hubert into showing himself. She made hubert apologize but he refused to apologize without some kind of violence. The two boys agreed if hubert just punched Ferdinand to let his frustration out that he will accept the apology. Not thinking hubert was very physically strong, Ferdie let this happen. Unlike his thoughts, hubert was very strong. He punched ferdinand in the head, making him fall to the ground. Just to add insult to injury, he also kicked ferdinand in the gut as hard as he could. Of course, edelgard wasn't taking ANY of that shit. After she brought ferdinand to Manuela, she dragged hubert to his room and slammed the door shut, leaving him alone in his room. This is where the excerpt starts.

《》

Hubert widened his eyes a bit. He didnt really process what had just happened, but his senses tingled and he knew he did something wrong. He could sense edelgard crying even from in his room. Oddly enough, he knew had he pissed her off at somepoint, that door is locked. Not his, but hers.

He sat on his bed. It was killing him not being next to her. It pulled at his heartstrings. He NEEDED to be next to her.

The emptiness of the room consumed him. As he sat there on his bed, elbows to knees, the dark room ambiance filled his head. He could recall hearing edelgard's concerned voice and the slamming of the door. It played constantly in his mind, reminding him of what he may have done wrong. No, of what he did right. He knew he was in his place to attack ferdinand. He had only a few simple rules and he had broken them. From speaking in private to leading Edelgard to his room. Had he not interviened, who knows what else could have happened? He was so glad that they just so happened to cross his path. Edelgard should be glad to have such a retainer as him. He truely could not understand what had gone wrong. Perhaps it was that he showed a bit of his true nature?

Mayhaps Edelgard did not like what Hubert's true intentions were. He cannot shelter Edelgard from the world, and he understands that. Hubert, perhaps, should give her space. But he couldn't, he wouldn't! He knows its best and yet he cannot give her even the simpilist of necessities! This only pained him more.

#edelgard x hubert #hubert von vestra #edelgard von hresvelg #fe3h #tw yandere #tw death mention #fire emblem

[authordgaster]

I’ve Started A New Fire Emblem Three Houses Story!

It’s gonna be my Hard Mode Playthrough of Crimson Flower!

#Fire Emblem #Three Houses #FE3h #Fe #fe16 #fE3H #byleth eisner #Sothis #jeralt eisner #edelgard von hresvelg #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #claude von reigen #gray Tobin Faye and Kliff are all there or mentioned too #lots of reincarnations will be had in this story #but they’ll all be background characters #walking the path of the vermilion garden #wtpotvg #white clouds arc #chapter 1

[balanceoflightanddark]

As requested by @cobra-diamond. I hope this makes you happy.

If you know me, then you probably know that I have a habit of talking about problematic characters like Azula. You know, the ones who have to have an inordinate amount of hatred attached to them that boggles the mind. It's just Azula is one of the most notorious of this...I guess you can say club.

The thing is...she's not the only one out there.

Spoilers for Fire Emblem: Three Houses below.

This is Edelgard von Hresvelg. Crown Princess to the Adrestrian Empire. Leader of the Black Eagles House in Garreg Mach. And quite possibly the most controversial character in the entire Fire Emblem franchise. She's been called a lot of things over the years. A fascist. A tyrant. The old "worse than Hitler" comparison. Needless to say, she's had it rough.

And to be fair, there is a reason for that. Traditionally, she's the "villain" of the story. She's the face of the enemy faction, the one you encounter the most if you don't side with her, and she ends up the final boss on the most traditional of the Fire Emblem routes. Her design is crimson red with devil horns, and she turns into a literal monster at the end of one of her routes. So by all accounts, she's the bad guy.

Except...she isn't. Not really. Let's back up a bit.

Three Houses takes place on the continent of Fodlan, which is broken up into three distinctive factions. We have the Adrestrian Empire that Edelgard is from who used to rule all of Fodlan. We have the Leicester Alliance which is ruled by a class of nobles who are only loosely united. And then we have Faerghus, a proud people with armies of knights and ruled by a king. Above them all are the Knights of Seiros who basically run things in Fodlan, keeping stability and maintaining the balance of power between all three factions from their monastery of Garreg Mach. Here, noble children from all across the continent are enrolled to learn combat and how to be a faithful servant of the Church and its Archbishop, Rhea.

Fodlan also has a strict caste system dictated by Crests. Think of them as bloodlines that grant users special abilities and the power to wield divine weapons. Those who inherit Crests are practically seen as chosen by the Goddess and enforce her will on the earth and are on top. Everyone else essentially gets trampled on, with families doing pretty underhanded things and constantly squabbling in order to make sure their family has Crests.

Enter a mysterious faction lead by their enigmatic leader, the Flame Emperor. For most of the game's first half, they serve as the ultimate bad guy. They're the face of Those Who Slither In The Dark, (TWSITD), they're the ones who hired the mercenaries who attempted to kill the student heads at the beginning of the game, and their identity is one of the driving questions at the start.

Turns out...the Flame Emperor is actually Edelgard.

Before now, Edelgard had been one of the class leaders and one of your students should you choose to teach the Black Eagles. She's...not exactly the most open person, but she's also dutiful and dedicated to succeeding her elderly father, the Emperor of Adrestria. So it comes off as a shock to many that she's revealed to effectively be the bad guy for the first half of the game. An indeed, there are people in-universe who genuinely want her head and blame her for absolutely everything that TWSITD pulled.

The thing is though...Edelgard's position within TWSITD is less of leadership and more of a weapon. You remember those Crests I mentioned earlier? Well it turns out, Edelgard actually possesses TWO which is unnatural in Fodlan. The reason for that is...well, it was the result of torturous experiments that left her in a disgusting prison and was forced to watch the rest of her siblings die. Leaving her the sole survivor. And going back to my Azula comparison, she too was conditioned to effectively serve TWSITD to bring down the Church and tear Fodlan apart.

AKA: she was set up in-universe to be the villain.

The thing is though at the end of the day...she ultimately isn't.

Her trauma isn't brushed away. It's treated with as much respect as it deserves. And she's not treated as some monster either since all of her traits established before the reveal are still present after the timeskip where the war starts if you decide to defend her from being executed by Archbishop Rhea. Mainly, she cares a lot about her allies and forces. Even giving them an out of what is certain to be a bloody path she embarks on.

And it IS a bloody path. Edelgard's ultimate goal is to dismantle the Church which seems villainous...until you realize that the Church was responsible for the oppressive Crest system that resulted in her experimentation and a ton of backstabbing and suffering in Fodlan. As bad as TWSITD are, they wouldn't have gotten as far if the Knights of Seiros practically didn't create every opportunity for them to cause chaos and destruction. She doesn't even like TWSITD too much, and only allies with them cause they're the lesser evil in the grand scheme of things, and she needs their support to stand a chance against the dominant Church. And she already HAS plans to bring them down the moment the war is over. That seen of her in the of the routes where she turns into a monster? That's her choosing to become a monster when her back is to the wall and her last ditch effort to secure a better future for Fodlan.

What's more, she actually shows more clemency and mercy to her enemies than her rivals. Imperial troops are said to be more accommodating to citizens and captured soldiers than Faerghus who have been known to torture their captives. Edelgard is willing to show mercy and is perfectly willing to let Rhea stand down, showing the same mercy that her enemies don't since Rhea was willing to execute heretics over their rebellious attitudes (practically justifying the war). And the less said about Dimitri, the King of Faerghus, the better...

So while Edelgard is coded as a villain...she doesn't really act too villainous. She shows regret over her actions. She isn't as brutal as a lot of people make her out to be. Hell, her ending where she wins the war is arguably the best for Fodlan since the oppressive Crest system is dismantled with the only resistance coming from nobles who their claims to power are challenged. Not to mention she IS willing to let territories like Brigid peacefully secede and is going to step down from her position as Emperor once things are stabilized and she finds a successor.

Sadly like Azula, because she's seen as the villain in-universe a LOT of people think she's some power-hungry monster. Even when a closer examination of her actions and character show that it is NOT the case. Which...honestly makes her special to me and a lot of people. She's the kind of character who would be demonized elsewhere, but is given a chance to tell her side of the story and NOT be the monster everyone makes her out to be. And ultimately if you play your cards right, she does get that happy ending denied to so many characters like her.

It makes it all the sweeter that after so many years of being conditioned to be the villain, presenting herself as the villain, Edelgard gets recognized as the hero and person she actually is.

#edelgard #edelgard positive #edelgard von hresvelg #fire emblem 3 houses #three houses #crimson flower #black eagles #and now you can expect more 3 houses posts in the future #*evil cackling*