Is Edelgard EVIL?! Fire Emblem Three Houses Character Analysis

[@LinkKing7]

So, I didn't expect this video to blow up post game release. This is a pre-release analysis and I realize it's outdated, so just so you all know, I WILL be doing a follow up to this video to really parse through all the bit and pieces that make Edelgard the character she is. I just need some time to complete all the paths in the game in order to really sift through all of the things that make up her characters so that it's a complete analysis. At the moment I've completed one path and am partially through the second so it'll come, but probably not for another month or so at the very least. I want this video to be a masterpiece and very thorough! Thanks for everyone who watched this and left a comment! Beyond pleased with the reception on this vid!

[@garrettously3605]

Hey quick question can Rhea be romanced in the Blue Lions route?

[@LinkKing7]

@@garrettously3605 No idea tbh. I've only played through Black Eagles at this point

[@sjk8495]

@@garrettously3605 Nope. She can only be romanced in the Black Eagle route where you side with her. Her S Support is set in the context of the aftermath of that version of the route.

[@elpopman2055]

Keep in mind every character has flaws.. while it true that her intentions are good her methods are not Right.. one of her main flaws is not knowing when to relent.

[@elpopman2055]

@@garrettously3605 spoiler alert.. Rhea Will be Spared if Marry her in the Church Route.. Spoiler Alert: Marrying her though will be bad and icky idea despite Happy ending... 😐😐😐😥

[@Doors067]

when its war every side thinks it is right. this game portrayed that brilliantly

[@monsieurnaggert3134]

This is the truth in real life, too.

[@autumnslifer6655]

You explained that perfectly

[@roaringthunder115]

True

[@mikastella]

I like to think that while the lords probably have good intentions, none of them are completely innocent. Edelgard seems like she’d kill anyone who has different ideals than her own. Dimitri is just broken and now murderous. And Claude is a schemer, using his laidback personality as a facade. And I like this a lot. They’re all morally grey like real humans are.

[@LinkKing7]

As they say "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". And yup, morally grey characters just allow for so much flexibility and development that it makes for a great narrative overall when done right!

[@lolzor96]

I like this approach to a three-pronged story. If done right, no matter who you choose you'll likely end up with a pair of sympathetic villains who you'll probably end up rooting for in some regards

[@theredcomet844]

Yeah, but Claude schemes to save people.

[@mikastella]

The Red Comet Even then, using dirty tactics and schemes is wrong in a sense. It counts as being unfair.

[@theredcomet844]

Mari Lin He’s Joeseph Jostar.

[@CrimsonKnight]

She definitely looks the most evil out of the 3 post-timeskip but something about Claude is fishy. Dimitri just gives off tragic hero vibes.

[@LinkKing7]

I love that none of them are entirely straight arrows, it's more realistic and gives them some exciting potential depth!

[@charleouel9012]

"Kill every single one of theme" is so heroic tho. I get what you mean but still the only one that SEEM to have the moral high ground is Claude but his smile hide something But what?

[@czar17_28]

Charlé Ouel I think Claude is manipulating Edelgard and Dmitri probably for the betterment of the commoners and the Alliance. He’s their friend but as those two mature into more pragmatic leaders he propbably notices how gone Dmitri is going and Edelgard is probably becoming Power hungry.

[@charleouel9012]

@@czar17_28 Yah I got the fealing Claude is hideing something big indeed. Still I wonder what cause Edelgard to become power hungry surely there an even that cause that yah sure she alwas like power (seen she like powerfull ppl) but still I wonder if her dad/mom die to someone may be she saw it and now hide her felling beind that mask of "leadership" to take ravenge on those that hurt her (kinda like Dimitri but I kinda how she doing it it really humain like trying to fake being noble and good but deap down know she in the wrong Well hopefull it something interesting at less and not just am power hungry the end)

[@vazquez2073]

Funny thing: for some reason at first I thought that, for absolutely no reason at all, Claude would be revealed to be the Flame Emperor and fuck our brains with that revelation. While this idea is ridiculous, i cannot help but doubt him: both Dimitri and Edelgard seem to have their flaws in personality and way of thinking, while Claude seems to be the good guy saying "by the power of friendship, we can do anything!". It seems...odd, doesn't it...?

[@oceandragoon3099]

“Brimming with innocence” Wow this part didn’t age well lol

[@derpyderp7444]

Ocean Dragoon “I will cut you down until you have no blood left to bleed... What? I was just trying to motivate you.” -Edelgard

[@whendidiask7991]

Is that some kind of twisted joke?

[@arcanekitsune4202]

"Kill them all, don't let a single one of them escape. Sever their limbs, and crush their wicked skulls!" - Dimitri

[@cameronmcphee8224]

@Derpy Derp When does she say that??

[@XGame80]

Cameron McPhee battle of eagle and lion, attack Edelgard (or she attacks you) with Byleth

[@KingEndymionrose]

My thoughts on edlegard A lot of people hate Edelgard even after seeing her route - they simply just don’t think her actions are justified. People can just dislike a villainous character without it being somehow a fault of their own. Edelgard is divisive - that’s exactly how the developers wanted her to be, they did a great job with her. Her haters don’t claim she’s badly written or anything - they just don’t think her actions justify the means. It’s getting a little tiresome seeing people try to claim others opinions aren’t as valid or whatever. For reference I don’t have an opinion on Edelgard particularly - I can see both sides of why people like or dislike her. And in the Crimson Flower route it's revealed that neither of those things are true. Edelgard and her siblings were forced to go through crest experimentation, which only she lived through, and the Tragedy of Duscur was caused by her Uncle. She had nothing to do with it and in facts, resents her Uncle for causing it.

[@trash1170]

Sleeping Forest So far I’ve played on the side of Edelgard and against Edelgard from the Black Eagles POV and from that experience I get what agenda she’s trying to push like how we should favour humanity not religion and Gods. I also can’t tell if she actually likes her classmates and not just using them as I’ve only seen her in the story really only care for Hubert and Blyeth. Then again it might just be the innocence

[@edelgardvonhresvelg372]

The end result is very similar to what Alm and Celica get, but the journey is very different. In echoes you know well about the gods and they are around when you play, then have to slay Duma. There's a lot errors with Celica because her faith in gods is above those of her friends, and well it's reasonable with how she was raised she's a very sweet girl. As for Alm he just wants to do what's right in his eyes and just get rid of Duma for the better of humanity. Edelgard has some of Alm and Berkut, Berkut's side in her is exposed when you don't side with her and I'm mostly specifically talking about the BL end cut scene I can go in further detail if you'd like that. This game is just great but what really does make me upset is how the church path branches off CF route, it shouldn't even be here, it's basically Claude's route with a BS excuse of a final boss this also probably took content away from El's route because of this hence why it's the shortest route. If they wanted to do a 4th route it had to be something very different probably even DLC but nope they went with Rhea.

[@DarkAdonisVyers]

Hah, it's always fun when Edelgard haters start calling Edelgard supporters fascists. Isn't that a popular word these days?

[@Mojo1356]

Sleeping Forest no. There are many that think Edelgard is badly written. They think she is simply just another villain.

[@KingEndymionrose]

@@Mojo1356 did the obvious haven't played all the routes and don't understand the character.

[@johnmastandrea8535]

I don’t think any of the three will be villainous, but I think they will be “dark”.

[@LinkKing7]

They can be dark with villainous actions too I suppose, rather than completely villainous so you're not wrong...

[@ShaneStapler]

edelgard was mad villainous

[@Mojo1356]

Shane Shrimp I’d say she was more anti villain than villain (unless the word you are looking for is antagonistic. If that’s the case, then I’ll just keep silent). Edit: also, mad she was not (though she certainly was becoming mad without Byleth to keep her in check)

[@fakesmile172]

There was a reddit post tying all three of the lords to FE villain archetypes.

[@LinkKing7]

I can see that being the case as well tbh. Stories where the best of friends grow apart in their ideals and ideologies are a lot of fun and can be a masterpiece if done right, so I hope they do it justice!

[@fakesmile172]

@@LinkKing7 In the reddit post, Edelgard was tied to the Rudolph/Hardin, Dimitri was tied to Camus (idk if I believe that though), and Claude to the Michalis (that sounds iffy too).

[@ramonserna8089]

Sounds interesting.Do you have a link?

[@fakesmile172]

@@ramonserna8089 Found it! www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/cf6l5k/minor_thani_gameplaylord_class_spoilers_theory/?

[@ramonserna8089]

ZXKW.Sweet! Thanks

[@elpopman2055]

Here is MY Stance: Edelgard without Byleth: Anti Villian Edelgard with Byleth: Eventually Anti Hero Dimitri without Byleth: Anti Hero Dimitri: Eventually Becomes Hero Claude without Byleth: Neutral Claude: Eventaully Become Neutal Hero

[@CSquint]

I never even knew there was the term "Anti-Villain" before today, thank you!

[@alexcavazos3341]

Wow you basically got it

[@firebluetoad3990]

Matt Pac Edelgard is more of an Anti-Hero without Byleth and more of an Anti-Villain with them.

[@elpopman2055]

@@firebluetoad3990 not really. She was shown to be more ruthless without byleth guidence. Therefore she is an anti-villain... she even admits to the professor that she would have been worse off without him.. An anti-villain is a villain with Good intentions. But but their methods make everything worse. You have to understand that edelgard in the other three routes is an anti-villain.. however under the professors influence she becomes an anti-hero

[@Mojo1356]

Matt Pac pretty much. Edelgard simply isn’t pure evil, but given what she does in non CF routes, I think anti villain is the right term to use.

[@sunkeyavad6528]

*Thoughts on how to improve Edelgard's route:* 1) *First of all it needs to be completed. Arundel and Slitherers were very much set up as villains after Rhea but then they just die offscreen.* Edel also talk about Nemesis and looking up to him, so it seems obvious she should face him too and probably learn that the history she was taught was partly slitherer propaganda which also gave her a few wrong ideas like Nemesis being a good guy and the church wanting to enrich itself. Arundel too could have a revelation talk with her like Rhea does in the Claude campaign. 2) *Edelgard herself also shouldn't have her supports this rushed.* Her current A support is more like a B or B+ and too much central info is dropped too soon. Compare to how long Lisetheas identical situation was set up. 3) A good point for the church to be more of a threat would be when Randolph dies for them to break through and *Dimitri and/or Rhea doing a big massacre and then have a defending mission.* 4) *Randolph, that other woman and Fleche should be more than the non-entities they currently are.* Maybe also get one of them as a unit. 5) It needs to be mentioned that *Edelgard also has a shortened lifespan like Lysithea and that's also why she has to rush things* all the time. 6) *Edelgard* as a character would also be better imo if she had *more moments like before starting the war, where she regrets what she has to do but knows she has to do it,* shining through the whole time. A bit of *underlying sadness in the background for what she has to do.* The original, softer voice from the trailer also would have been a better choice for her and *she doesn't need extra traits like her injured pride when getting critizised. She's already doing villain stuff. She doesn't need further traits to make her unsympathetic.* Something that would also help understanding her view would be if she would *keep asking you hard choices questions like the trollly problem* during the academy phase. 7) *Some earlier mission or paralogue should also show more clearly how messed up the crest system is. Like some noble doing some messed up stuff in the empire.* We hear alot of stories about this but never really see it.

[@LinkKing7]

This is an excellent comment. I agree that her route just feel empty and short. There’s AT LEAST 5 more chapters worth of content that needed to be added. I’d have even accepted it as DLC and paid for it because it’s so necessary

[@mrcat4508]

I think it also needed a logical explanation for why rhea decided to destroy the kingdoms capital besides for it slightly inconveniences us and why gilbert and the others decided to go along with it especially gilbert he is a citizen of the kingdom because it makes no sense for them to do that I just ignore that part of the story

[@wanderlustwarrior]

This is perfectly stated even for someone like me who hasn't played it, but has seen enough to know some of the pros and cons of her and the stories.

[@Willie_Pete_Was_Here]

On 3, what if there was an extra chapter before the finale, perhaps after the Arianrhod chapter, where Edelgard splits her army to battle TWSITD after Arundel shows up after Cornelia gets defeated. You destroy TWSITD, but the other army gets overrun by the Kingdom army in the process.

[@thenewguyinred]

I definitely got a season 8 Daenerys Targaryen vibe from her, after witnessing the time skipped version.

[@LinkKing7]

Damn, that's actually a really good reference!

[@thenewguyinred]

LinkKing7 gee thanks, I might just make her a wyvern rider just to nail that vibe even further.

[@missfuyutsuki]

Are we going to see another Queen (or should I say, Empress) of the ashes then?

[@megdwyer7571]

This is exactly how I felt when I saw her

[@kittengf]

The first moment I saw Edelgards character design I already thought she wasn't going to be far from what Daenerys is in season 8 and it looks like I was right. Major Daenerys vibes.

[@mikeyastbury5503]

"The lord who will do nothing to accomplish their ideals" *Corrin intensifies*

[@noahnescio1746]

I always found Edelgard to be the definition of Nietzsche's famous quote: "Be weary when doing battle with monsters, lest you become a monster yourself. When you stare into the Abyss, the Abyss stares back." Edelgard takes on a Promethian task and the only thing that keeps her from going over the edge and losing her humanity is Byleth.

[@LinkKing7]

This is nice, I am going to steal that for my analysis

[@noahnescio1746]

@@LinkKing7 Thank you, and feel free. Just give me somekind of credit in the description, please. I would be really interested in seeing your take on it. I'm currently have a side project/ video essay I want to do which takes a look at Edelgard from an existential perspective (more so Camus' Myth of Sisyphus and The Rebel). I want to focus more on the tragedy that is Edelgard's journey beyond good and evil which leaves her burned by the flames she attempted to give humanity. I feel, it leaves the player with this question: If someone were hanging on the precipice of death and cried out for help, with a hand drenched in blood, would it be a sin to take it, or a sin not too? (But, I digress).

[@Mojo1356]

Exactly.

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

That may be true on the surface but if you look more deep into her character, she is more of a hero than we give her credit for. A harsh as ice hero in the other routes but still a hero. Like a wise person said: "One country's terrorists/rebels/freedom fighters are the heroes of another." See William Wallace, hero of Scots.

[@Griswo35]

I think the teacher will help to get edelgard a bit of a new outlook or new crucial information, which makes edelgard on her route less "evil" Anyway i Love pragmatic rulers, so i choose blackeagels either way

[@LinkKing7]

There's definitely a lot we don't know so we'll have to wait and see what the truth behind her personality and ideas is. Also yeah, sometimes a pragmatic ruler is what the situatio requires...

[@jkm6602]

U are so right

[@bxuzabc]

Edelgrad is evil from a certain point of view but so is rhea as well

[@cdwarrior6582]

Everyone but Claude can be viewed as evil in one way or another. Ironically it's the man who brews poisons that isn't a poison.

[@herbsoda7384]

@@cdwarrior6582 or she could be 'bad' evil is quite strong like once your down her path and you hear what she wanted to do I couldn't fault her totally plus the post war world seemed pretty alright.

[@cdwarrior6582]

@@herbsoda7384 I only said she could be viewed as evil. Not that she is. Honestly, I just don't like her way of doing things. Her methods are my problem. I could easily get behind her goals.

[@herbsoda7384]

@@cdwarrior6582 SPOILERS I think the biggest problem people have is she betrays you before you get the option to join and that she would kill you and all the students if you got in her way, I am doing golden deer route atm and yea he seems like a straight arrow can't see him being ambiguous in his methods going forward.

[@alexcavazos3341]

@@herbsoda7384 but that's even her path in black eagles, her justice is always right and never wrong. The strong rule and the weak stagnate she admits it on her dialogue with Dimitri post time skip. She isn't necessarily evil, but she is an anti villain and that ca t be denied. Her side is also one of the muddiest when it comes to lore.

[@zacharyk4511]

Well, this aged well.

[@reneromero9154]

Not really. She seems like the most likeable. Well, maybe other than Claude

[@noe4354]

You guys obviously cant catch sarcasm....

[@Mojo1356]

Rene Romero I think the diversity of the opinions on her say otherwise.

[@powerj1771]

@@Mojo1356 very

[@firenze6478]

I’d say edelgard did the only thing she could do. If she’d have done nothing she’d end up like her father as a puppet emperor who’s forced to watch as her kids are expiremented on and killed. She didn’t know if she could trust Claude and Dimitri was definitely out for the fact of the tragedy of duscur which was caused to make sure she couldn’t find allies in the kingdom. And Rhea would definitely not of helped for risk of exposing the true history of Fodlan ( and I’m sick and tired of people claiming Rhea couldn’t change things if she wanted, she was leader of the knights of serios who were the strongest military force in Fodlan, and leader of a faith that nobles were required to at least make public pittance to, was required to be present during the crowning of new rulers, was required to train new nobles and indoctrinate them with her ways of thinking, and if she wasn’t captured at the battle of the monestary edelgard would definitely be losing the war as seen in crimson flower) She wasn’t involved with a lot of twsitd in school phase as after she witnessed the village full of zombified people she brashly tries to make an alliance with the professor and Geralt because she’s so disgusted by them and has no power over them. Also people don’t realize that twsitd had an iron grip over the empire, if edelgard had turned on them at any point before the war, they would pin the tragedy of duscur on her and she’d be executed for a crime she didn’t commit, and during the war, well she couldn’t fight Rhea, the kingdom and twsitd could she? Now imagine if edelgard didn’t start the war, Rhea wouldn’t have undergone a change of heart ( nor gone crazy) and would probably just see byleth as another failed attempt and keep him at the monestary as a professor to keep an eye on him like she did his mother. Claude would’ve never United Fodlan as Rhea needed Fodlan to be isolated or risk the truth being exposed, ( by the way even edelgard is open to a treaty with Almyra) And Claude would eventually probably give up on Fodlan and become king of almyra like usual only with no hope of reaching out to Fodlan, Edelgard would as stated above get the worst of it as she’d just be a figurehead controlled by twsitd and corrupt nobles. Only the kingdom would get any better because at least they’d have a king, though Dimitri probably wouldn’t be that great as he hasn’t yet overcome his darkness Basically nothing would have changed and people would continue to die and suffer from crests and twsitd.

[@firenze6478]

Thank you for the like, I really enjoy discussion videos like these

[@craigcj5953]

I’d say edelgard did the only thing she could do. THANK you, someone who gets it. Edel really had no real choices, and certainly no real power. a lot of people hate Edel who didnt finish all of the other routes. Or if they did still hate Edle because they werent paying attention at all. I like this game, but I despise the 3H fan community (especially on Reddit and youtube comments) Everyones all like "Edels Muh Methods are wrong" Without realizing that ANY OTHER path would have led IMMEDIATELY to her death, Or things Staying the same and more and more people getting fked over time than otherwise. I don't know why Dimitri thought that Edelgard was the main villain when she would have been like 11 years old when she "ordered" the tragedy of Duscur to happen? that makes no fking sense at all. Of course Edel couldn't go to Dimitri for help. . .the only thing she could have done would be to strip naked in front of Dimitri privately to show all the scars from her years of torture. and even then, who knows if that might of worked? (it would make a good story though maybe)

[@gabbycraft7035]

I know this is old, but more than likely TWSITD would have attacked again. Jeralt would have still been killed, and probably byleth and/or Rhea. More rebellions would happen as well. Fodlan would eventually turn to anarchy because they’d have Dimitri, a leader driven by his emotion, Edelgard, who would regret not taking action quicker, and Claude, who would either leave for almyra, or join in the chaos and attempt to unify Fodlan. They would all be taken out quickly, and TWSITD would have their way with no one stopping them. Either way, a war was bound to happen. What Edelgard did was the best, and quickest choice.

[@firenze6478]

Anthony Johnson wow you sure are offended on my opinion on a video game character, incidently Rhea logically wouldve has to kill anyone who found out the truth of the teeachings of seros to keep it a secret from an entire nation and it’s not like Fodlan wasn’t an extremely oppressed third war country or anything, just you know the entire beginning of the game was talking about how horrible Fodlan was.

[@gabbycraft7035]

Anthony Johnson Remember the fact that Rhea burned down Firdiad before the people had time to evacuate? Even if she beat Edelgard, then who would she have saved? She NEVER said anything about the people during that battle. All she cared about was her mother.

[@Stolanis]

Edie is the classic example of the well-intentioned extremist: ends justifying the means and all that. She has severe doubts that what she is doing is right and says as much to Byleth but is so possessed by the need to remove the threat that ruined her life and killed her siblings that she can't stop herself. Without Byleth, Edie's lust for revenge consumes her and her good intentions lead her down the path to Hell - WITH Byleth, Edie learns to temper her revenge with true compassion that is shown to her. She probably accepts that some will see her as a villain, but as long as she has the support of her friends and allies she feels no need to cede to them, convinced of the righteousness of her cause. She is a heroine who cares not for whether she is seen as one - but doesn't fully qualify as an anti-hero in my mind because she wishes, in the best of worlds, that she can end the slithery threat without resorting to underhanded means. Likely Edie feels that she has been made cruel by a cruel world, but would give her life to remake it into a kinder one.

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

In short, Edie did nothing wrong.

[@abc4781]

Edelgard = Female Ashnard.

[@jackripley3906]

@@abc4781 Yeeaaaah, no. That title would go to Hilda from FE4

[@arcanekitsune4202]

Edelgard did some wrong. She got a good future, but what she did to accomplish it is what she did wrong. I don't think Edelgard is a bad character, I like all of the lords. But the truth is that all of the lords (barely including Claude) have done some wrong and did bad things, real people are very rarely flawless or selfless. That doesn't make them bad characters in my eyes, I don't really hate any playable characters in this game.

[@heroesnation782]

@@arcanekitsune4202 that is true, but unlike claude and demetri, she actually owns up to her faults. You see it quite often when she is in her Fire Emperor disguise

[@thetreasure888]

How I see their timeskip versions Dimitri: Chaotic,Good Edelgard : Lawful,Evil Claude: Neutral

[@LinkKing7]

Seems to be a rather popular opinion circulating around from what I've seen so I guess we've all got our predictions to see whether or not those will come true!

[@thetreasure888]

Yh bruh. Honestly I like Edelgard but just like Rhea I can't help but feel this sort of dark air hidden within those two. Its like they will stop at nothing to get the results they want, which both scares and attracts me.......... But I still wouldn't wanna get close to either of them.Weird right??

[@thetreasure888]

@@usernameusername6600 I know that hence why he's chaotic Good meaning he's very very capable of committing evil but on Edelgard and Rhea's case it's too fishy I mean am I the only one who thinks Rhea is leading the protag to his death. The dad and him/her show up in the monestary and then Jeralt dies.......

[@stormnightmare4378]

Plant Gang Edelgard may not be evil, but she‘ll probably go insane. Disliking “Losing control” is a giant red flag in a war setting, especially for the future empress of the empire that takes up half of the continent already. Dimitri probably isn’t evil tho. He’s troubled & something will happen that makes him some kind of anti-hero/ villain. But all three of the lords are not as nice as they seem apparently. According to some people who have a review copy, all three of them are insane from the beginning & it just starts to show more and more the more you get to know them.

[@randomperson8571]

You can remove "good" and "evil" and it's pretty much accurate.

[@Ultimabuster92]

If Edelgard is evil, so am i, cause i'll fight for her

[@LinkKing7]

You and me both!

[@seanmurrell1926]

I like being evil

[@FieryHellzGaming]

Same lad, its about time for me to choose the side of evil. I hope we get an option if she is evil to bring her back to the right side.

[@derrickhaggard]

I'm willing to aid Dimitri in protecting the innocent from the corrupt church and the nobles allied with them but I'm going to try and advise him to be smart about pulling this rebellion off.

[@thecraz9020]

Same

[@dragonstouch1042]

I’d like to ask how the lord that brews poisons is the least morally gray out of all of them

[@tomasgarcia7499]

Well at least he doesn’t do anything with them lol

[@dragonstouch1042]

@@tomasgarcia7499 my point still stands

[@holve11]

I like how they’ve added a tinge of Darkness to all these characters. I think even Claude, who’s portrayed as happy go lucky, might plot something drastic when he fears he’s country might be in danger of invasion. Like he might find a way to set the other major nations against each other in an attempt to protect his own out of fear. I need this plot to be ballin’ after Fates. Please.

[@LinkKing7]

Yeah, I think I speak on behalf of most of the fanbase when I say we're all salivating fro this game to be a complete slam dunk!

[@cdwarrior6582]

Nah Claude is righteous as hell. He's the only one of the 3 I can't fault.

[@Doors067]

CD Warrior claudes a good dude, wants peace in the middle east

[@megarotom1590]

CLAUDE 2ND BEST BOI (AFTER GATEKEEPER)

[@Mojo1356]

CD Warrior as someone who loves Edelgard, I also agree. Claude is the only leader who doesn’t do something screwed up (including Rhea)

[@rafaelzamudio354]

I knew that Edelgard was going to be the villain even before the release of the game, just for one reason: she's the leader of an empire. In FE the empires are always the villains: Grannvale, Grado, Dolhr, Rigel, Begnion, etc. Also, red and black are Edelgard's signature colors, but also the colors that enemies always use. On the contrary, blue, gold and green are often asociated with the good guys, and this are the colors for Dimitri, Claude and Rhea, respectively.

[@temporary67315]

That makes sense, the Adrestian Empire has much in common with the Grannvale Empire in particular due to how both were once benevolent empires founded by legendary heroes (The Twelve Crusaders for Grannvale and Saint Seiros for Adrestia) but now have turned antagonistic in the present day and have allied with dark cults that their founders opposed (Loptr Church for the Grannvale Empire and "those who slither in the dark" for the Adrestian Empire). I was hoping the Adrestian Empire might actually remain heroic unlike the other empires but they only become genuinely (anti)heroic on Crimson Flower, otherwise they're the Evil Empire on the other routes.

[@gypsysprite4824]

Begnion is wierd by FE empire standards....in PoR they pretty much are the good guys, and in RD they are both the good and the bad guys by the end due to that civil war they end up in, with the empress on your side (and Sanaki herself by fe emperor standards is one of the least dickish characters, outside of the arrogance driven into the nobility's heads from birth)

[@tomasgarcia7499]

Especially with Claude’s route being called Verdant Wind and Verdant meaning a green color.

[@l.n.3372]

The color aspect is pretty ironically telling. It especially fits if you chose the Blue Lions, naturally the blue house of the Kingdom. Blue represents playable units in FE. Red units are the antagonist/villain/enemy army (which makes sense here for the Black Eagles of the Empire). The Golden Deer of the Alliance are yellow, aka the the neutral, usually 3rd party army that may or may not become your ally or enemy in the long run. And the church, represented by the green Rhea, is the allied army, since the Kingdom allies with the church.

[@firenze6478]

Edelgards the ball that gets everything rolling Rhea kept everything stale to keep her lies a secret and did nothing as nobles used her faith to do unspeakable acts. Wether you agree with edelgard or not, her war is the only reason things change in Fodlan

[@magnusprime962]

Firenze 64 Her war does change things, yes, but it’s worth noting that many of the positive changes she tries to implement will also be implemented by Claude and Dimitri. Both care about the people of Fódlan, and if Edelgard had spoken with them about what happened and told them the truth, odds are good that they would’ve been willing to work with her. But the problem is that Edelgard just can’t bring herself to let go of control. She has to be in the driver’s seat, no matter what.

[@firenze6478]

Magnus Prime I don’t think she could have reasoned with Dimitri, what a lot of people don’t understand is that twsitd had complete control over her. 1. Her throne held no power. Thanks to the uprising if she hadn’t have forcibly taken power from the lords she’d be in her father’s position a puppet watching helplessly as twsitd did the same on her kids as they did to her or 2. Twsitd would just pin the tragedy of duscur on her for not starting the war, the whole purpose of the tragedy was to prevent edelgard from being able to seek Dimitris aid and to show edelgard that if she disobeyed she’d be framed for it. I do think that Claude May have helped her, but maybe not as well as he didn’t want anyone standing in his way of his dream and would probably have gotten rid of Rhea if edelgard hadn’t albeit by a secret scheme rather than a war. But Edelgard wouldn’t know that her and Claude shared the same ideas about the church of serios, Because he was an outsider who just suddenly appeared in Fodlan and edelgard has trust issues. Another reason edelgard was such a control freak was that she was dying very quickly and she wanted to give her empire the best start it could have, I get that she’s no angel and that Claude’s route definitely leads to a more stable future, but I believe she did everything she knew she could do to bring peace to Fodlan from the awful crest system.

[@gabbycraft7035]

Magnus Prime That’s true, but remember that it was Edelgard who began the unification to Fodlan by starting the war. If Dimitri or Claude was to be in the driver seat, then it would be no different. They were resistant to unite under Edelgard’s hands, and they’d be resistant under Claude’s and Dimitris.

[@jkarma3356]

@@firenze6478 edelgard was not dying.

[@violetraven8323]

Personally, is Edelgard evil? No. Completely in the wrong? Hell no. Edelgard’s character is one of resilience and detachment. Even before being brutally tortured she was raised by an emotionally and mentally broken man. Who had lost his family, his love, and his entire kingdom before he even realized. Right off the bat Edelgard’s mind was mercilessly drilled by the idea of consequences over intentions. She knew more than anyone else of brutal realities and dealing with the cruel hand of time. As such she knew when she entered the monastery she’d inevitably betray them. She even sung how she wishes she could stay in carefree bliss, never having to leave the comfortable bubble of the friendships she’s made. The world wasn’t on her shoulders and no pain of the past. Just being her. However turning back on her plans even if it’d hurt those who’d come to love and trust her would mean turning her back on her father and her kingdom. It’d mean those who traumatized her, exploited her family, and snatched her kingdom away from her wouldn’t know justice. She doesn’t expect peoples sympathy or forgiveness. She’ll endure there hatred alone if she has to. She’ll wage war with no friends by her side if that’s what it comes down to. She sees through on her word even if the whole world despises her for it. She knows what her actions make her- she does what she believes she must and accepts all outcomes that follow. She’ll kill gods, old friends, and former loves if that is what will put her, her fathers, and her kingdoms souls to rest.

[@GuyUWishUWere]

Yeah that sounds cool and all but why did she have to declare war on the church to bring her families tormentors to justice? the Ones who slither in the dark(who I will now refer to as Mole People) were the ones who killed her family and experimented on her, right? so her main focus should be on finding hidden mole people to whack. She certainly shouldn't be working with them to take down the church. It would make much more sense if it was the other way around. the plot of this game is such a mess.

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

@@GuyUWishUWere There were many reasons for that. The Church had a lot of influence towards the nations...even moreso than the mole people would dream. Besides, at that point, she felt forced to work with them since she didnt have the methods or manpower to fight them...and they had magic nukes lance things as well as indirect control in the Empire. And fighting both the Church and TWSITD at the same time or even the latter would've been a stupidly suicidal move. And, unlike Claude, she not only defeated both of them one by one, in the end, but also got rid of the corrupt nobility system sth. that Claude failed to do. Like it or not, she and her path was the best outcome for Fòdlan.

[@GuyUWishUWere]

@@v.emiltheii-nd.8094 She absolutely did have the power to crush the mole people. the church hates them. they would have crushed the mole people if edelgard informed the church. She could have used that to gain the church's trust which opens up more possibilities for dealing with the church. Her reasons for wanting the church gone are pretty weak too. The church divided fodlan and is lead by non-humans who claim to be gods. For the sake of argument let's say I agree that these reasons are plenty to get rid of the church. The mole people are still your first priority to kill. They are treacherous, they infiltrate your ranks, they have a super weapon, and they murdered Edelgards family. kill them first or risk a situation like the church route where all of fodlan turns against the empire, edelgard is killed and hubert has to send a not after death to warn the professor about the mole people.

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

@@GuyUWishUWere Yeah. After she did with the Church. But during the time she took control of the Empire it was too risky to deal with the moles early on. If she went for the mole people first...whom lets say they were expecting it, magical nukes aside, they mightve used subversive methods to manipulate the Church against the Empire. And knowing how they did it to begin with (coughTomasAndMonicadisguises), its not unreasonable to assume they might've done the same against Edelgard had they known about her true intentions. Or even covertly give the super weapon to the Church/Kingdom/Alliance. It was of no consequence to them who would win be it the Empire or the Church. It was just a game to them. And like you said, they had a super weapon that could make short work of the Empire. And El knew about it hence the Teeth-Clenching Teamwork. Edelgard just ridded herself of a not as riskier threat and fooled them by pretending to cooperate before turning her attention to TWSITD. And lets be honest and put yourself in her shoes. What is the least riskier opponent? TWSITD with their armageddon weapons (that can be hardly countered) and underhandedly subversive trickery/manipulation or the Church and her allies, the Kingdom and the Alliance? And she only managed to defeat TWSITD after uniting all of Fòdlan. Imagine the logistics on that. And she ridded herself of the church mostly because of the crest system and fabricated history that Rhea did nothing against. And speaking of Rhea, she cares little for humanity (minus the ones that serve her) and more for her mother. And speaking of...Hubert did gave the Golden Deer info on TWSITD. Those are my arguments. I await your rebuttal!

[@GuyUWishUWere]

@@v.emiltheii-nd.8094 the super weapon has enough firepower to level a fortress, not the empire. It is not a nuke. The moment the mole people get exposed they get wiped out. that's why they keep themselves hidden. Rhea can turn into a dragon that can tank hits from their missiles. rhea has the allegiance of more soldiers. Every house has a bigger military force than the mole men. you can kill them at any time and the sooner they are dead the better for everyone. "And speaking of...Hubert did gave the Golden Deer info on TWSITD" after the empire fell and edelgard died. this is why it's stupid to pick a fight with the whole world before killing the mole people. The world only becomes hostile once Edelgard makes a move against them. the mole men were hostile from the day they murdered her family and took power in the empire and across fodlan. Also, the crest system and promoting historical inaccuracy is a weak reason to declare war on the church. What crimes did Rhea commit to deserve edelgards wrath? not mole people crimes. she should have gone for a diplomatic solution.

[@fluffychan6000]

Edelgard hired the mercenaries to kill the leaders of the the three houses, fully expecting to survive, confidence bordering on arrogance. Had it not been for jeralt and byleth all of them would have died.

[@LinkKing7]

Yeah that's always an interesting plot point when people bring it up, and it kinda doesn't make sense

[@meta527II]

She didn't actually want Dimitri and Claude killed there, she wanted to stage a scenario for Jeritza to save them and become the professor of the Black Eagles house.

[@Sinkubus]

Yeah, it was CLAUDE of all people that made that go sideways. The new professor would run, Jeritza would take over and take up Byleths role. Then Claude buggers off and ruins that plan completely almost resulting in Edelgards death. No wonder she is so pissed when she tells Kosta that the knights of sieros are coming for them.

[@fiaschampion3379]

Astronomically based then

[@danwolf6307]

Edlegard- Inheritor of an *Emperor's* throne, Dislikes: *Losing* *control* _hmmmmmmmmmm_ I see no problems here

[@_lunaresca]

Without further Dedue... Sorry. I made myself laugh.

[@LinkKing7]

Lunaresca you know, that was funny, maybe I’ll use that in a future vid...

[@jigokushoujo9335]

LOl

[@JerichoTheCity]

She believes the ends justify the means; while every situation is different and is subject to opinions, in this game I would say that she is in the wrong. I've only played the black eagle route and I'm in the middle of the golden deer route. She has good intentions (I guess) but her methods are wrong.

[@johnathanera5863]

I disagree. Her methods are necessary.

[@icheatinexam5606]

@@johnathanera5863 Doesn't matter, many people still disagreed with her methods even after playing through her route(including myself).

[@johnathanera5863]

@Merciless Freak only because of the war. The war was necessary for change. Whatever the outcome, or who won. War was the catalyst to allow it to happen.

[@IanJulian02]

... they are all Evil if ya don’t choose them. I’m betting 10 bucks that there will be a secret neutral path (or maybe that’ll be dlc) where no ones goes crazy 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@LinkKing7]

I'm totally down for a 4th path, DLC or not! It'll probably be worth it from what we've seen anyways if it IS the DLC

[@flameemperor482]

Revelation route?

[@scarletrose8766]

its probably the mc dosent side with anyone but unites them all to maybe defeat an actual threat

[@orrthehunter]

If we get a chance to actually unit all of 3 Houses and defeat the true antagonist of the game then yes I will be happy with a True Ending Route. After playing all story paths, we get the fully story that this entire time we never actually defeated the True Antagonist. Only people who were manipulated by this person to become who they are now just because of the True Antagonist's hatred for the Human race due to what Nemesis did to the Mother.

[@cdwarrior6582]

@@LinkKing7 you mean a fifth. There are 4 paths right now. Black Eagles Church, Black Eagles Empire, Blue Lions, and Golden Deer.

[@regiman222]

3:53 White hair with horns, she's standing against Rhea/the Immaculate One on a symbolic as well as literal level.

[@user-pp3tn2lt3q]

I really like Edelgard. She has this dignified presence to her. For post-timeskip,majestic even. I’m really interested in seeing more of her. Like how antagonistic she’ll be in the other paths. I feel like she’s locked her emotions away to play her role as Emperor perfectly. But as Byleth,we’ll be able make her open back up. I think her S-Support with Byleth will be truly heartwarming. Though,I think it’s possible that she could be the next Arvis but female. At least maybe in the other routes. I may or may not play the Golden Deers and Black Eagles routes simultaneously,but I’m going to S-Rank Edelgard. Not sure if she’s my favorite Lord or not. Because I really like Claude too.

[@DSRJoker]

Edelgard basically looks and sounds like Danny from GoT, no way that's ending well.

[@brandondegraw825]

"I know a killer when I see one"

[@rustkarl]

3 routes of 4 she dies. But she’s at least more bearable than the Mad Queen of the Ashes.

[@FinalMessenger36]

The Lyrics of the three houses song also seem to be written from Edelgard's perspective as well the lines "yet still I hide behind this mask that I have become"

[@LinkKing7]

Hadn't thought of that, but I may have to look into that as well!

[@TheOmegaDragon]

She definitely reminds me of Rudolf because they both believe the gods/goddesses were not what the people needed and sought to remove them for the everyone in their own game. Both sides seem to demonize the other so it's a matter of perspective as far as who's evil. Edelgard may seem like she's at fault for starting a war however she needed to be in a position of power to make changes to the world. Rhea basically was devoted to Sothis and punished anyone who committed any form of sacrilege but she didn't seem all that evil in her route because she seemed to care about the main character who is the vessel for Sothis.

[@plastikcaik2585]

Fire Emblem Emperor/Empress that wears red and uses an axe and has horns -sounds like walhart-

[@DraceEmpressa]

Ippei draw a fanart of Walhart in Edelgard' s dress

[@plastikcaik2585]

can I use divine pulse to unread your comment

[@DraceEmpressa]

@@plastikcaik2585 Sorry for the typo, i' ve fixed it

[@plastikcaik2585]

i still hate seeing walhart in a dress, ive scored a critical hit on my eyeballs

[@fenris5932]

I'm just gonna point out that the first thing the Flame Emperor does is pay some bandits to assassinate the completely innocent Claude and Dimitri which then leads to Edelgard almost getting murdered, being saved only by literal divine intervention. Make of that what you will.

[@Mojo1356]

Not one of her brightest ideas- that’s for sure.

[@stickfigure8416]

@@Mojo1356 We still don't know if assassination was the goal (I mean, hiring regular ass bandits to target a group guarded by the freakin' knights of seiros? It's not just not bright, it's asinine) or if the intended result was having the scouted new professor run off to then have Jeritza substitute him, which worked. And Claude running away is what put them all in danger in the first place.

[@TheGoldenDunsparce]

I kinda wish you could see the 5-year time skip, go "nope." and Divine Pulse all the way back to when Edelgard gets axed by that bandit...

[@stickfigure8416]

@@TheGoldenDunsparce That honestly wouldn't have solved anything. It would most likely make things worse.

[@fitriaamel438]

Yeah cos it is the fastest way to reach her goal and the least bloodshed. And thats why she is EVIL.

[@espeon37]

I feel as though this part of a quote from Dimitri kinda sums edelgard up very well "you haven't even had the decency to stop and consider the reasons behind your actions" Dimitri pre time skip

[@bluefacebaby9334]

which isn't true because edelgard weighed the cost of peace and war beforehand, furthermore she's on a limited lifespan and her life is pain the quote was accusing her of causing the massacre that happened to dimitri's family, something she wasn't directly involved in she's basically a reinhard von lohengramm clone from lotgh complete with black haired edgelord number too to boot

[@espeon37]

@@bluefacebaby9334 her life span was limited thanks to those who slither in the dark a group that despite their horrid and inhuman behaviour edelgard still chose to support. peace was already a thing not once in the pre time skip and I believe beyond mention that aside from a few small disputes not one of the 3 nations were actively aggressive towards the others and if edelgard hadn’t attacked that peace would’ve remained. The quote in context wasn’t what I intended I meant it out of context in context it makes less sense edelgard was hellbent in killing the ones who gave her the very empire she cares so much about if she had just stopped if she had looked around and listened if she had the decency to consider why she was doing what she was doing she’d learn she was not in the right that unintentionally she had become evil.

[@bluefacebaby9334]

@@espeon37 twsitd had full control of the empire's government by then, already making her father a puppet; as this game tries to be realistic somewhat, an 18 year old isn't going to beat a 1000 yr old conspiracy overnight she also tells the professor as the FE that she has to work with twsitd, but she doesn't share their goals, and is pretty serious about turning on them once they win (she has a dead man's switch for the 3 routes where she gets whacked and in the epilogue of her route she takes out twsitd) basically she was destined to declare war on the world because the head bad guy said that they put her through experimentation just so she would pull this off and she had little power over the situation this isn't to say she's not a villain, but like char and reinhard, the two characters she copies, they generally have some sort of moral compass that's irrelevant because of the events of the story

[@espeon37]

@@bluefacebaby9334 ya that’s fair but I still feel that overall she could’ve probably done better in many aspects like instead of openly working with the people who ruined her life just not working with them or telling them to back off there were better ways for her to tackle the situation and she choose the worst possible one though I liked the way the story’s went it was interesting and very fun I’m just not a fan of edelgard and her portrayal if you liked her cool you do you I like her mostly because I enjoy defeating her in the other 3 paths

[@bluefacebaby9334]

@@espeon37 she's a great anti-villain to beat; killing a potentially loving and wonderful individual is cathartic because the writing borrows conventions from classical Western literature she could have been done way better but that goes for everyone in the story; Hilda, an 18 year old, is the first to figure out that Monica and Edelgard are working together instead of the 1000+ year old dragons running the Church overall Edelgard is appealing, as I said before, because she's a clone of a much better done character, Char Aznable, and carries the pluses and minuses that come with the original

[@VasmX]

After playing Edelgard’s storyline I can’t say she is. Rhea created all of the monsters attacking the nation and had her knights dispatch them to make it seem like the Church is the nations savior when in reality it’s the their biggest enemy. Rhea wants to rule the nation with her radical views of the church and faith while Edelgard wants to free the nation from her oppression and build a world where everyone can rise and achieve their goals through their own hard work and effort rather than being judged by their crests. Rhea doesn’t feel any type of remorse when killing people who oppose her or killing the innocent; she even burned down a town just to make her defense stronger. She purposely led Dimitry and the Blue Lions to their death so she could escape to the town she would later burn down Edelgard feels great remorse for her actions and betrayal but doesn’t back down because she knows that she has to be the one to strain her hands in blood to make the world a better place for everyone else. I really don’t see how people think Rhea is in the right here; just look at her reaction if you decide to betray her compared to betraying Edelgard

[@ItsCrashh]

VasmX I don’t think either of them are right. Dimitri and Claude are both victims of these two jaded pricks. Both of them deserve better

[@crimsonking7179]

It's not that people think Rhea is good but Eldegard is no better. In the end she became just like the church. Dimitri get to the bottom of Floian's problems and Claude reform the church to what it orginally suppose to be. Eldegard use the same method as the church so she not bad but she has the most unnecessary blood on her hands.

[@matcha_tea274]

She gave me the death stare when i chose the edelgard route

[@xaviaxs]

@@matcha_tea274 if you choose elde side rhea will try to kill you and if you choose rhea side elde will try to kill you...so both are not evil but too into their ideals to be reasoned with

[@darkfiend76]

I mean Edelgard did team up with the group responsible for the massacre of Rhea's people, so I can't blame her for getting mad at your betrayal.

[@somerandomname75]

Anyone else getting some major Cao Cao vibes from Edelgard? All she needs now is start sprinkling in the words "chaos" and "talent" more often in her dialogue.

[@Hawkatana]

Well, Koei Tecmo *did* co-develop the game.

[@RisenChudJr]

"Her smile and optimism: gone."

[@LinkKing7]

Yeah, it's interesting how clear cut it is. NO MORE HAPPINESS FOR YOU

[@regiman222]

Well it's been 5 years of war and 'dead' MC, it kind of makes sense

[@DS4__]

LinkKing I know I'm not the only one getting Armored Arvis vibes from her timeskip design - and the whole "The ends justify the means". Regardless she'll be an interesting character for sure and I'm eager to see how she ends up!

[@LinkKing7]

I'm sooooo hyped to see what she becomes. If it's anywhere close to Arvis we have a winner on our hands!

[@knightmayor1703]

Rumors say that Clause is a bit of a snake.

[@LinkKing7]

Been trying to take the rumors/leaks with a grain of salt. Will have to see for myself what the real actions end up being

[@mariaoi4996]

**so we are going to talk about the main lady herself** Claude?!? *Edelgard* Awwww #claudeisbestgirl

[@pedrinazangi7036]

what the hell is this authubillah?

[@MissHandyAndy]

4:46 the right side makes for a good “one of these things is bot like the others” image

[@LinkKing7]

I was thinking that myself when I was making that part as well!

[@JD-xz1mx]

The number of people trying to justify murdering the world into your way of doing things is pretty impressive. The woman literally declares that she's ending a religion by military force. That's uhh..... that's about as overtly evil as any major government action in history. There are legitimate and fair comparisons to Adolf Hitler here. "The world will be a better place if only I kill everyone who disagrees with me" is not a justifiable position, regardless of how tragic the backstory of your anime waifu.

[@LinkKing7]

There can be a case made for every one of the three lords, Rhea and Byleth all being evil in exactly the same way. I think she gets more hate than is necessary tbh, not all unjustified, but definitely overblown.

[@ahmedfalahy9337]

*Post-timeskip Edelgard represents the **_"Law"_** route in classic Shin Megami Tensei games*

[@coordinatorkenny5840]

what i never understood in Edelgard's route, it is said at the end she wants to get rid of TWSITD but unlike the other routes you don't get to actually fight them in her route..i kinda find that stupid tbh. it would had been interesting to see how they would react to her betrayal and all that..it would had been great for the story!

[@Mojo1356]

This is what holds CF back from being my favorite route (I can get past the shorter route since I love the gameplay for the CF route).

[@fauzanadrian1593]

well its the classic "not enough time,not enough resource,not enough ppl" if u ever heard from some other game.

[@blaviris8864]

Petition to make it a DLC? Lol.

[@solidskullz5736]

Crimson flower which is her edelgard's route was the first route I beat, so I may be biased. But when you go through that route after she tells you what she had to go through you understand why she did what she did, even I agree that starting a war over it was overkill but you can still understand why she did it.

[@alfredconqueror4422]

IMO she is the good one of the story, Dimitri is too but Edelgard took the red pill. I love the fact that stayed by her side the whole campaign

[@wholethedogsout880]

Alfred Conqueror k I know who the imperialists and fascists are in this comments section

[@stroheker1]

@@wholethedogsout880 are you one of those idiots that thinks that anything even remotely authoritarian is fascist? because that seems to be the mindset of anyone who calls her of all things fascist

[@laurenzollamas2324]

She's wearing red which is the standard enemy color in Fire Emblem. And she's wielding an axe, which usually happens with an Endgame Boss to weapon triangle the hero's sword. And she has ram horns in her timeskip (aka Satanic imagery) You do the math. Also... "Steadfast lord" and Ephraim. Ennhh... dude got deconstructed HARD in 8. In a good way, of course, but Ephraim was definitely not as confident or sure of himself by the end.

[@scarletrose8766]

you do realize thats a shot towards minerva whos not entirely evil minerva is a dragon rider and uses axe she also has red armor and is also part of the empire when the game started but shes a char that will join you lol im leaning towards eldegard being gray and depending on how you see the story shes either gonna be a villian or a villian cause they need one to actually force the actual villian out

[@l.n.3372]

@@scarletrose8766 Pretty sure original Minerva used lances actually. Only in the remakes of the Archanea games did the wyvern Lord units wield axes now. This was probably a throwback to the PoR and RD games, which swapped wyvern as the axe units as opposed to GBA games, where wyvern used lances.

[@Zavefwar]

No, she is the Empress of the Empire. Long live the Empire!

[@LinkKing7]

Darth Sidious would be very pleased

[@scottharris6116]

*After the game releases Well yes, but technically no

[@N0T4K0P]

If so, I sure hope she is full on nefarious, unlike the "Are you evil? Well yes, but actually no" thingy from Conquest. It'd be cool to side with the bad guys for once.

[@narukoazuma7596]

When I was playing Verdant Wind, I was really suspicious about Claude. He's literally too perfect, I thought he was scheming something behind.

[@kamilapodolak9289]

I've done an entire costume analysis on Edelgard comparing both her designs and the most striking thing about the post-time skip one is confinement. This dress literally binds her. She's laced up tight, weighed down by a heavy cape, she also incorporates many elements that say "stay back". She seems to have this entire motif of being caged and longing for freedom going on (if the theme song is any indication). That being said, I must add she's also my favourite and I'm doing her route first hoping I can stop her from falling.

[@KeePhengVue]

Heck Edelgard even got her own theme song. The main theme.

[@commanderkitsune8524]

As someone that has just finished my Black Eagle's playthrough, I believe Edelgard's personality is very dependent on you as the character. If you stand by her, she is still willing to do whatever it takes to stop the church from monopolizing the country (in her eyes) and put man's destiny back into humanity's hands, but she is still a warm and gentle woman to those she leads, and a cold and calculating force against her enemies. She shows remorse to having to do what she believes needs to be done, and still holds hope in her heart for a better tomorrow. But, even though I'm only barely started my Blue Lions playthrough, I'm willing to bet she's a much colder person post time-skip *because* she doesn't have you supporting her and staying by her side. You are her pillar of support, both in battle and mentally. You keep her from straying down a dark path. If you're not there, then there's nothing to stop her from becoming the next evil Empress. Of course I need to do a Blue Lions, Golden Deer and a Church of Serios playthrough, but I believe that your actions and who you side with determine what a house leader's character becomes.

[@8elementallords]

That's actually kind of the main theme/story thread of Three Houses, *all* the lords wind up as radically different people without Byleth there and falling to/embracing their worst traits and having those brought out and made more evident, though just how much that happens depends on how bad their flaws were to begin with as well as the specific character. Without Byleth there, Edelgard basically goes whole hog on the whole "end justifies the means" philosophy she has going on and is willing to utilize and lean on Those Who Slither in the Dark and all the atrocities they're willing to comit to a significantly larger degree than she ever is on her own route. I'm not going to spoil the other routes for you, but basically the same thing is going on with them as with Edelgard. Both Claude and Dimitri only wind up having their best brought out if Byleth is there with them, without Byleth they wind up worse. Though I will say, that regardless of whether Byleth is present or not, Claude always wind up the most moral of three, but his best is only brought out with Byleth actually being there, otherwise he winds up still being a decent and upstanding guy, but not exactly someone you can really, truly call dependable, especially not as a ruler.

[@Mojo1356]

Pretty much. Basically, who do you want to save? Or in the case of the church route, do you just say screw all of them (but let’s face it. Why would you pick the church route?)

[@megamario3696]

Edelgard is just female Lelouch, got some spoilers for you folks and recommend you watch Code Geass. She fights to end the cause of everything, Rhea = Lelouch’s dad/Geass. She sets her sights to rid those who’d get in the way, RIP Claude and Dimitri and those who slither in the dark (weird name tbh) /the royal britanian family and Japanese allies and friends. Then after they’ve achieved their goal they try to throw it all behind themselves for the better of the world. Lelouch having Suzuki killing him and Edelgard just leaving the Empire to a successor. They do all of this while being unnoticed until they can’t hide it no longer or if it wasn’t necessary. They got some striking similarities if you ask me.

[@RosegoIdFox]

There’s got to be a secret happy ending where everyone gets along. I mean, black eagles has 2 story paths so...

[@jordanquimby854]

It could be bad ending and a neutral ending with no good ending.

[@therealgj995]

@Crqzy Anime What are those two story paths?

[@RosegoIdFox]

YourBoy GJ I’m playing the game rn, but I believe that it’s a very dark and bloody path and the other is the neutral one. Don’t take my word for it tho cause I know nothing

[@therealgj995]

@@RosegoIdFox Oh ok then, enjoy your playthrough.

[@chaoticcranium]

I know this video was made before game release, but the question in the title is made profoundly more interesting post release, so I want to talk about that. In my eyes, Edelgard is not evil, nor are her goals. The game goes to great lengths to show how the nobility and Crests are rarely actually the blessing of the goddess they are exalted by the populace to be, but actually more of a twisted curse that ruins people's lives. It's not really the powers they have, per se, but how corrupt men abuse them. Humanity is just not compatible with this unequal distribution of power, and Edelgard is right to want to remove them and the corrupt nobility that uses them. The only times the Crests themselves are inherently bad are when two are forcefully implanted by villainous men (like Edelgard and Lysithea) or possibly Marianne's Crest (though I believe that turns out to be a hoax). Either way, that does not change the fact that mankind is just too irresponsible not to abuse that power. But Edelgard's methods are extreme and, ultimately, evil. She and her hench Hubert are extremely Machiavellian, to the point of being blind to the chaos and bloodshed they enact on Fodlan, ignoring potential compromises with the Alliance or Kingdom, and being blind to the danger that allying themselves with the Slytherins could cause. Maybe Edelgard could have even worked with the Church! They have a common enemy in the Slytherins, and perhaps if the Church could bend on its dogma they might be able to work together to find a way to remove Crests from the world. Better than putting their God in danger, at any rate, and SPOILERS - Rhea probably would have a vested interest in reclaiming the Relics and Crests from mankind that were originally stolen from the corpses of her brethren. But it also doesn't help that the ending to the Black Eagles path, SPOILERS, is extremely unsatisfying. Hubert deals with the Slytherins, the ones directly responsible for Edelgard's misery, completely off screen. And the ending does little to show how a world without the nobility and Crests would benefit our characters, when there was so much potential to do so. Imagine just seeing a brown-haired Edelgard and Lysithea (if recruited) at the end - something as small as a little Photoshop there would carry profound weight! But nope, just generic bland ending Bios for the characters that made it. After her depiction in other paths, this ending does not do much to actually justify Edelgard's actions - which it should have. No wonder, then, are people quick to just blanket dismiss her as just a pure villain...and especially, if they didn't dig too deep into the supports which show how corrupt and broken the nobility/Crest system is.

[@monodoro]

The answer is yes (This message is brought to you by the Blue Lions gang)

[@Jabberwocky112]

Legolancer4 Vids The answer is BITCH IF IT SOUNDS LIKE A DUCK AND LOOKS LIKE A DUCK ITS A FUCKING DUCK. (this message brought to you by the Golden Deer House)

[@mikethepokemaster2012]

Bias

[@VasmX]

Legolancer4 Vids From the Black Eagles storyline I got this: Rhea created all of the monsters attacking the nation and had her knights dispatch them to make it seem like the Church is the nations savior when in reality it’s the their biggest enemy. Rhea wants to rule the nation with her radical views of the church and faith while Edelgard wants to free the nation from her oppression and build a world where everyone can rise and achieve their goals through their own hard work and effort rather than being judged by their crests. Rhea doesn’t feel any type of remorse when killing people who oppose her or killing the innocent; she even burned down a town just to make her defense stronger. She purposely sacrificed the Blue Lions and had Dimitrty killed so she can have time to escape to the final battlefield. Edelgard feels great remorse for her actions and betrayal but doesn’t back down because she knows that she has to be the one to strain her hands in blood to make the world a better place for everyone else.

[@crimsonking7179]

@@VasmX that still make her just as bad as the church cause she use the same method. If anything the other routes have provided peace with unnecessary bloodshed.

[@mysterio1967]

Legolancer4 Vids We should destroy the Empire together (This message is brought to you by the Golden Deer House)

[@franklinzhu6003]

“When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die. You don't know who's children are going to scream and burn. How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does what they're always going to have to do from the very beginning -- sit down and talk! Listen to me, listen. I just -- I just want you to think. Do you know what thinking is? It's just a fancy word for changing your mind.”

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

"All is fair in love and war. War is hell...and war never changes."

[@rykosin2228]

Really no one person from the leaders of the three houses is really good or evil by default. They all have a darkness in them that they can't escape from on their own. So by throwing in your Byleth into the mix, one of three receives a chance to escape their darkness, while the other two succumb to their darkness.

[@kloa4219]

Leaks came out and (SPOILERS): You weren't wrong.

[@herbsoda7384]

I wouldn't see her as evil

[@evedaugherty]

I don't see what makes her evil. If anything she almost feels like an Alm to me. Fighting the dragons in order to create a world where humanity is able to rise and fall based on their own merits, instead of nobility or crests. What's so evil about that?

[@herbsoda7384]

@@evedaugherty Spoiler I think it's more people get their back up against that she's willing to kill you and the students right off the bat, I think the join or kill option should be given before the battle.

[@rustkarl]

Eli Daugherty It’s not the goal. It’s the method. She’s engaging in very cruel methods early on, even before the timeskip. Kidnap, Assasination/ Murder, Theft and it’s her that kicks a 5/6 year war over the continent. She started a war that would cause so many people that she claims to want to uplift into conflict, hardship and infighting. She’s also cruelly arrogant as to how superior her ideology is to others.

[@herbsoda7384]

@@rustkarl I duno how the other routes go but as I did black eagles first I must admit rhea and the Knights of seiros are not much better.

[@drummerbb3660]

Edelgard is not really a villain, but a lot of people don't see that since they refuse to keep an open mind to the BE Edelgard route. She's definitely an extremist when it comes to execution, but the ideology is just and what's best for Fodlan. Probably the best application of philosophy would be the stereotypical "the ends justify the means". Especially when you find out how much crests affects families and politics, the nobility, and how manipulative and influencing the church is. I think her route was the most needed solution in comparison to the latter three

[@JasonBrown-xn5pq]

I am only picking Black Eagles because she wields an Axe lol

[@LinkKing7]

Definitely an easy sellingg point for me tbh!

[@JasonBrown-xn5pq]

Heck Yeah, Hector, Vaike, Boyd all amazing! Not to mention Titania!

[@scitails]

Truth.

[@JasonBrown-xn5pq]

Yeah, I don't know the other characters well. But the eye patch guy will be my second play through

[@Copyrightbreaker22]

It's fair to say that no one of the four leading character (Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude or Rhea), except maybe those who slider in the dark, are evil.

[@jonathanfortin6174]

Post time skip Dimitri looks like he no longer holds political power, like his family has been deposed and now he's fighting some sort of rebellion. What if Edelgard took over Dimitris kingdom?

[@chromidius5339]

For the special epilogue with the path to join edelgard, the narration goes to say she unites the continent destroying seiros/Rhea the church of seiros is also gone. And leads the empire in peace. If you knew the truth of Rhea how corrupt she was

[@austinwhitmer4752]

Please explain how she was corrupt.

[@chromidius5339]

@@austinwhitmer4752 how she overwrote history claiming nemesis was corrupted by his power. How she did all her experimentation with creating bodies all for the hope of restoring her mother. That she fully intended to sacrifice the mc byleth all the time.

[@salehalhajri7745]

Wooooooooow you actually got it 👌🏾😂

[@nickypenn5841]

So, El's boys got: >Crest: Two-headed eagle. >Soldier: Black armored soldier. >Nation: Has "Empire" in it. >Weapon: Axe. >Trait: Hawkish, Confident, Certain. >Tendency: Crushing everything that stand against the Empire, and destroying false goddess. hmmm...should I choose another hou- *(Looking back at previous...'hobbies')* _"I find your lack of faith...disturbing."_ _"Rebel scum!"_ _"UNLIMITED POWAAAAAAAAH!"_ "FOR SIGMAR!" "For the Empire of Man!" *"FOR THE EMPEROR!"* *"Purge the heretic!"* *"BURN IN HOLY FIRE!"* ...Never mind. Time to keep calm, *don the Inquisitorial Rosette,* and *FOR THE EMPIRE!*

[@JakeMatthews-OnLo]

I hope she is, I wouldn’t mind being part of her conquest. If the MC is just a blank slate I hope I can at least be evil with her.

[@BigBassSmallBoike]

in the black eagles she won't fight you. in other routes she will fight you because war...

[@LinkKing7]

We shall have to just wait snd see how her story unfolds across all 3 routes to get the picture but it should be fun!

[@BigBassSmallBoike]

@@LinkKing7 yess. I'm going to pick blue lions first but edelgard really interests me aswell. it's just that the blue lions students are my favourite. I love all the lords

[@espada9000]

She's not evil. She simply doing what she must similar to The Hero of Chaos Cao Cao from Dynasty Warriors in order to truly obtain peace.

[@LinkKing7]

Yeah, I'm gonna look deeply into her character as I go through the routes in order to make a proper analysis for her

[@Mojo1356]

She’s anti-villain in any route that isn’t her own (which isn’t evil, mind you. That said, in her route, she’s anti hero)

[@espada9000]

@@Mojo1356 Yeah I know.

[@Mojo1356]

espada9000 ... that being said, for those who haven’t played the CF route yet, I honestly wouldn’t blame people for thinking she is a flat-out villain. However, when they play her route and still label her as a villain, I have to ask- what the heck is your definition of a villain?

[@espada9000]

@@Mojo1356 Exactly

[@techpriest6962]

Short Answer: Edelgard is a character who is right in her route, as is each character in their route. Though of characters in FE, Edelgard is one of the typical. I believe what I am doing is best for humanity, even if they don’t know it yet.

[@jgstudios5108]

The true answer: they are all both good and bad. The true hero is Byleth

[@cdwarrior6582]

and Claude. He's evil in no way.

[@rykosin2228]

Byleth is the light that shines on the respective leader of the house you chose, washing away the darkness within them. So in the end, the house you choose is changed for the better. While the other house's leaders succumb to their darkness in a sense.

[@Mojo1356]

Ryko Sin not barring Claude (and CF Dimitri for some baffling reason). Otherwise, exactly.

[@sillyputtyisfun7567]

Edelgard is a character that fits one of my favorite Villain tropes "The one that saw the Truth." She's the only ruler at the early game that knows the secret of the world around them and to some extent, understands its purpose. Being the only person to see the writing on the wall and see it for what it is can lead you down a number of paths, but the one it most likely leads to is that of the villain. Sad to say.

[@hewlettepackkard7316]

Edelgard is the Flame Emperor. She believes Rhea is evil. Rhea believes Edelgard is evil. Sothis is a complete idiot. Manuela is Cougar Emblem. Lol. So depending on which route you choose, she can be either an antagonist or protagonist... that's the whole point of the game. Lol.

[@Tvdiet]

Yeah I chose her route first and I don’t regret it But I have a gripe can just I play one game or see one movie where somewhere called the empire is NOT automatically considered evil by the majority of people

[@LinkKing7]

indeed, I blame Star Wars

[@saphiriathebluedragonknight375]

That's honestly why I did her route first. I wanted to fight for an Empire that wasn't evil for once.

[@HTakara82]

saying "High School kids" is a bit disingenuous, as the academy doesn't have any grade levels, ages vary all over the place to people 20+

[@LinkKing7]

That's fair I guess, although I meant it more as "they look like high school kids" more so in appearance than anything else.

[@tarkyubi7174]

#edelgarddidnothingwrong

[@LinkKing7]

Someone already mentioned that but yes! Certainly possible for it to be a future video!

[@Mojo1356]

As much as I love Edelgard, this is so not true (I can make a list for the number of things she did wrong)

[@johnathanera5863]

@@Mojo1356 i disagree. She did literally only ONE thing wrong. And that was not attempting at least a small measure of diplomacy before starting her war. If it didnt work( and it most likely wouldnt have) imo theres no moral or ethical nor logical wrongdoing with her war.

[@Mojo1356]

Johnathan Era very well then... here are some of the many things Edelgard did wrong: 1) Hiring the bandits at the start of the game. What was she trying to accomplish by nearly getting herself killed? 2) Not asking Claude for help in exposing the church (she won’t get anywhere with Rhea or Dimitir IMO). 3) Framing the church for the javelins of light (I’m not saying that Edelgard should have come clean about Thales doing it- I agree that she should not have told them Thales did it for the sake if keeping morals high. However, was framing the church really the best idea to cover the truth? That will only bite her in the long term since she is going to have to tell her allies eventually if she wants their help in destroying Thales. I would have just said while they believe the church destroyed Arianrohd, they weren’t positive and were looking into who really destroyed it). 4) Not telling Byleth about her suspensions of the church earlier (doing so would have made much more sense for Byleth to betray Rhea. Granted, I betrayed Rhea on my first run because I was already super suspicious of her, but it would have made even more sense if Edelgard opened up to Byleth more). I could go on, but I think I’ll leave it at that.

[@emperoralvis6559]

Johnathan Era Based on how Edlegard presents the current state of Fódlan, where the Central Church violently purges any nobles who oppose them, fabricated miracles to conjure the support of masses, and later on showed to be fine with killing thousands of civilians just to keep their power centralized, any attempt at diplomacy would be pointless.

[@golfer435]

I dont see evil, I see driven and willing to do what she must to achieve her goal.

[@Mojo1356]

While I admire her determination, even as someone who adores this character, even I have to admit she takes it too far for my liking (though to be fair, I think it’s at least tolerable in her route since she is nowhere near as extreme in her route)

[@PacificViceroy]

The people complaining about Edelgard being a tyrant are the same ones who still cheer on for Dimitri even after he reveals himself to be emotionally unstable and borderline psychotic.

[@LinkKing7]

Once I finish the game, I'll be doing a very deep dive on Edelgard because I absolutely love her character

[@PacificViceroy]

@@LinkKing7 Hail Edelgard!

[@ajakks6551]

@@LinkKing7 Same but I see everyone of the story Rhea, Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude (because of how each character intertwined with each other) in a morally grey area for reasons that would take too long to type. But that's just how I see them, to each their own perspective.

[@ericx6969]

Everyone would want revenge the fk

[@noe4354]

Lmao ikr

[@wuh-huw9950]

I chose Black Eagles and mainly sided with the Empire because I didn’t want to kill Edelgard. That was my main grievance with the church anyway; the fact that they have no hesitation to kill those who don’t bend to their will. Beneath Rhea’s graceful looks, she seems to be psychotic and bloodthirsty. However, now I’m forced to kill characters that I liked, and now I’m in a moral predicament.

[@zerohero4359]

I wouldn’t say blood thirsty, more power hungry. Either way she deserves to die

[@YamiAiger]

@@zerohero4359 Well, yeah but Rhea also only wants her mother back, but she went too far and is in the way of independence.

[@zerohero4359]

Yami Bakura that be fine if she didn’t make a cult in her name and those who didn’t follow her killed

[@YamiAiger]

@@zerohero4359 That's true. I've never really trusted Rhea and her henchmen. Especially not since Jeralt said that you should be careful with her.

[@beckyg1423]

I felt exactly the same way, and joined Edelgard because I couldn’t bring myself to kill her, and Jeralt didn’t seem to trust Rhea.

[@nerdysniper6194]

Me: *sees* *thumbnail* Still me: The answer is yes

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

Appearances can be deceiving.

[@Queen4infinityTV]

I feel like she is like Azula from Avatar. Living up to high expectations, emotionally damaged and just wants to protect herself.

[@Mojo1356]

Far from it... well, at least in her own route. I suppose she is like a selfless Azula in the other routes (that said, I think that is a slight stretch since she isn’t sadistic like Azula).

[@Queen4infinityTV]

@@Mojo1356 I never said she is sadistic. I am just saying in some perspective she reminds me of her, but that's my opinion.

[@Mojo1356]

Queen4infinity TV let’s agree to disagree then.

[@longshorts1092]

This took a Harry potter / telltale games kinda playstyle real quick Which i do not mind at all Its brilliant actually 3 paths to choose from

[@ParkBomisMine21]

Tharja's HEX actually 4 routes, 2 routes for edelgard

[@longshorts1092]

@@ParkBomisMine21 yeah just found out recently

[@everretwavince1843]

I think if she's then they're following Kaga's hatred for Axe users and likes portraying them as villains and barbaric.

[@LinkKing7]

That could be possible, although Lex was an axe user and he wasn't too villainous and barbaric. But that'll be interesting to see if this theory holds up!

[@naeshaunedwards7731]

And Hector

[@user-oi8rb9ur9i]

Personally I'm doing all three houses to get the full experience but I'm definitely going to enjoy how they all changed and possibly why.

[@LinkKing7]

I will 10000% be playing all the routes to get the full experience as well, this game has got me so hype

[@user-oi8rb9ur9i]

@@LinkKing7 I'm super hyped to see how much this game is about to give us, it'll be worth hours of gameplay from the way it looks so far!

[@juicemanvon9859]

After completing her route, I now am resigned to the fact that Edlegard was doing what she had to do because everyone was as, or even more ruthless than she is and she knows it because she was a victim herself. So, in the case of her completing her absolute goal, she's quite irrational even though her cause is pretty noble and just because she had to be. Here's the thing that I like, and I noticed it despite my feelings before the 2nd half, she was always who she was and there was no preconceived notions about it and after seeing the ending, I now believe that she's a true leader in every sense of the word.

[@Mojo1356]

JuiceManVon um, Claude would like a word with you on being ruthless.

[@mintythedemon1785]

I think I'll go with Blue Lions! It seems like their story is gonna go completley insane! I also want to help Dimitri become less revenge seeking (if I can).

[@wholethedogsout880]

Minty Meowstic period

[@Lexicon865]

A lot of folks really like to look at things black-and-white and it shows. Tsk. Folks are even comparing her to Hitler which I don't get because El is nothing like that??? She's not even a dictator of sorts, she's merely an empress who wishes to create peace for her kingdom, not have all her subjects forcefully obey her or be slaves to her or some shit. There are even some who would defend the Church of Seiros, which is fucking odd because the church has done more atrocities than Edelgard. Honestly, the folks who really hate her either have a rather simple and naive outlook in life or they have a huge hard-on for either Dimitri or Claude.

[@LinkKing7]

TheScatmanBros I’m going to do a big analysis on her once I finish playing through the game and I can get a clear perspective from all sides because I believe moral ambiguity is fluid, and there is no black and white here. But that remains to be truly analyzed in my end still

[@Mojo1356]

When they hate her as a person for her methods, I certainly can’t blame them. However, when they hate her because they think she is a badly written character who is black and white, that’s where I draw the line.

[@Moda-pf8wt]

@@Mojo1356 I don't like Edelgard because of her mentality, but I do think that she's a well-written character!

[@Mojo1356]

Moda1106 it’s a three-way split honestly between the fandom.

[@IconicCROSS]

In my opinion who ever you are up against in the final fight (besides the church ending) becomes corrupted due to you ending the lives the opposition cares about and their plans being foiled. Basically El is good if you go her route

[@zeroc977]

She is not that evil. She is just wrong about literally fucking everything. She is acting on wrong/partial knowledge. She treats Rhea as a Tyrant when the chruch doesnt even force their doctrines onto others. There is even Cyril who doesnt believe in the goddess but Rhea helped him out of missery either way. Rhea's main goal was always the peace of fodland and the monastery even provides a place for the future leaders of the continent to come together and build relationships.

[@SarahbearJayne]

How did she turn into a demon :o cause that fucked me 🔝

[@PeterHolmen]

Damn, you were pretty close. Made me subscribe because of it!

[@LinkKing7]

welcome to the family! I'm definitely doing a follow up once I finish playing through all of the paths in order to really do her justice!

[@PeterHolmen]

Looking forward to it 🤘

[@MrRosianemuller]

After playing all the 4 routes, I don't think there is a "good" or "evil" lord. All three of them and Rhea had theis own circunstances and it's just some of the solutions their found to those circunstances were... less than desirable. But that is exactly what make this game one of the best what I've played.

[@Mojo1356]

Yeah. While Edelgard is the most extreme, she’s an anti villain in all routes but her own at the end of the day.

[@megarotom1590]

Claude is good lord.

[@Mojo1356]

Mega Rotom he’s not very effective without Byleth though.

[@megarotom1590]

@@Mojo1356 If your talking about Claude it's because of Edelgard that Claude's plan gets recked, he even says as much with his special boss conversation in the battle before the timeskip.

[@Mojo1356]

Mega Rotom an effective leader has a backup for worst case scenarios, which Claude clearly did not have.

[@Seraphielium]

I thought I was crazy thinking this thanks for covering it!

[@LinkKing7]

If there's a controversial or unpopular opinion out there, I'll probably cover it 😂

[@Lite619]

Personally, i dont think edelgard is evil (i chose to follow her which makes it more apparent). but if she is, byleth can influence her. She reminds me of Daenerys Targaryen (Silver hair and violet eyes) and byleth of jon snow (his dad died before he could talk about his mother as well).

[@YamiAiger]

And in the end he really does. The same applies to Dimitri. Without their teacher both got a little bit evil.

[@amrithas182]

This analysis was so on point...depending on the route you take she can either go insane or stop at nothing to accomplish her goal.