The Leicester Alliance Never Wins

[@XellosNi]

"And they all work in perfect harmony to HAHAAHA" Congratulations, you just summed up Claude's feelings on the matter.

[@brandontherabboat4850]

Fódlan’s story is very much centered around Adrestia vs. Faerghus-or rather, Edelgard vs Dimitri, while Claude and Leicester are essentially bystanders to their whole physical and ideological clash. So when war breaks out and the Empire comes for the Alliance, there’s something I find deeply gratifying about the Golden Deer beating them back, crushing the Slitherers, and being the last ones standing in the end.

[@AlexT7916]

The thing is, the Alliance never makes it past the war, it always either turns into the Unified Kingsom of Fodlan or the Leicester Federation, as stated in the video

[@thanatosdriver1938]

@@AlexT7916 For all intents and purposes I'd say it passes the Ship of Theseus test

[@dizzyheads]

​@@AlexT7916 I think Claude intended for that to happen too

[@wholesome193]

@@AlexT7916 To be fair, the Alliance's politics were an absolute mess that never would've lasted in a unified Fodland. You could already see the political bickering almost crippling the Alliance in Three Hopes. For the Alliance not to collapse, complete political reform was absolutely necessary.

[@SuperBuckg]

I honestly agree with this and it's for this reason I love the Golden Deer route the most because, they're basically just trying to survive, the war in a lot of ways is really pointless for the commonfolk in their minds and Edelgard's implemented systems while nice on the surface and possible better is incredibly flawed and overall when you really look at it not worth the the 3 to 5 years of bloodshed especially since in a lot of ways the Alliance is the perfect example of what would most likely be born from the war which as we just covered is barely hanging on with it only going well do to Claude barely mending it and even then it still falls apart in the end and because getting rid of the Church isn't what's actually the best for Fodalin, it's challenging the status quo and giving everyone a voice, it;s ironically why I love how although the Alliance is doomed to die a better future is born from the ashes and finally the end result of Edelgard's way in Houses is just power vacuums galore as evil Snake people who want to take over the government exist and want to take over the government while alot of key figures and threat were just deleted off the face of the earth by the child they groomed for this role which is what they wanted

[@ElvenRaptor]

The Moral: Just go live in Valentia after Alm's taken over.

[@luma4682]

counterpoint: it will become a Walmart in the span of 2000 years

[@samkeiser9776]

@@luma4682countercounterpoint: you would be dead in the span ~80 years

[@XellosNi]

@@samkeiser9776 I don't know what this is at this point: Just subvert Walhart's conquest of the continent prematurely so he doesn't get too powerful

[@armandomendoza7371]

​@@XellosNi More like, aid him in his conquest with info, resources and trying to make him a better person(?)

[@ElvenRaptor]

@@luma4682 Walmart ain't my problem. My proposition was to live there during Alm's reign.

[@Hawkatana]

You call the Alliance an aristocracy, but a better word would be oligarchy (rule of the few). Technically speaking, the Empire, Kingdom and Alliance are all aristocracies by virtue of having nobility.

[@Hell_O7]

From the definitions I've read, aristocracy seems to fit better. They're both rule by the few, but aristocracy seems to require those few being a nobility. Apparently, it's also different from monarchy because even though the two have aristocrats, aristocracy doesn't center around one person.

[@troykv96]

To be fair, the Leicester Alliance is definitely the country that has the more literal use of aristocracy, because everything about Leicester politics is nobles fighting among nobles. Also, technically speaking, Aristocracy (rule of the privileged) could be seen as a connected concept to Oligarchy (rule of the few) based on the definitions. The Aristocracy implies there is some innate superiority in the few compared with the rest of the people, and that is true in Leicester with the Crest Stuff.

[@scion513]

Leicester is described as a “Republic” in game. The most apt term in my opinion would be “Aristocratic Republic” or “Oligarchic Republic” Note: only the upper crust of the nobility has any real voice on the round table conferences. Sure, other lords can show up, but they have no voting rights.

[@LAZERAK47V2]

And Edelgard's the only one who seeks (and succeeds, should you side with her) to dismantle it, further cementing her route as the objectively correct one. Now, whether you think her methods were necessary, that's another topic.

[@mray4784]

@@LAZERAK47V2 XD

[@nightscout9979]

Regarding "Cornelia", Female Byleth and Claude's ending in Three Houses says that Agarthan and Adrestian forces regroup and nearly conquer Fodlan, only for Claude and Almyra to come to the rescue. The Agarthan posing as Cornelia thus was probably the leader of this faction. This is the only ending that addresses what's otherwise a major loose end for both Silver Snow and Verdant Wind. Hopes Claude's probably stuck in war.

[@thefirebrothers3739]

The Golden Deer were my first and favorite route, the Alliance never wins but I think that's for the best. The Alliance dies in Verdant Wind and Golden Wildfire so that something better can come from the ashes, it is pretty fitting since Claude is all about change and looking things with a different perspective, like the Federation. Also I lowkey think the Golden Wildfire ending may be the best outcome out of all the Three Hopes routes and while a more active/morally ambiguous Claude may be a bit divisive, I still really loved him in Three Houses and Hopes makes me appreciate him way more.

[@joegreen3802]

Same here

[@raviolibirb8009]

Agree. He's my favorite lord too. I love him in Houses but Hopes is where he's at his best imo. Since he doesn't need Rhea to uncover Byleth's past, he used the war as an opportunity to kill Rhea, which is the opposite of what Edelgard intended, but he still went for it and i absolutely love him for that. He's an indirect victim of Rhea's ideal, the enforcement of xenophobia and racism in Fodlan impacted his life as someone who's half Fodlan born in Almyra, it subsequently made him an unfair target of racism and discrimination in his own birthplace even if he was born as a prince. I like Rhea too but when it comes to Claude, he has every reason to kill her. Sure, Claude can show some level of restraint towards Rhea, but damn he will go for the kill if he wanted to and he CAN

[@malluk3065]

@@raviolibirb8009I love Claude but what reason would he have to kill Rhea?

[@joegreen3802]

@@malluk3065because Claude wants change and Rhea doesn’t like change. XD

[@ImmaLittlePip]

Much like the 3 kingdoms story Claude and the alliance is basically the Wu kingdom They're just there as a third wheel

[@pn2294]

Not a bad thing

[@Hawkatana]

Quite literally. Koei Tecmo was involved, after all. The analogues to China's Three Kingdoms period were absolutely intentional.

[@scion513]

A few things: Regarding the Duke Gloucester/Count Gloucester thing: Erwin Fritz Gloucester gets called both titles, but count is the official title. The explanation I like to use is that he is malding over not getting the alliance leader ship so HARD that he sometimes just styles himself as a Duke. Holst doesn’t become Duke of Goneril until later on. Hilda and Holst got a dad, who is against the formation of the federation, but steps down and allows it to happen after some pressure from Holst. The leadership of the alliance is elective, it’s just house Riegan is so dominant that it gets elected every time (something commonly seen in elective monarchy style systems, like the HRE, or WAY more aptly, the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth/Early England/Wessex) And the documents describe it as a “Republic”. So the proper term would be an Aristocratic Republic. House Daphnel (counts in English and Marquis in Japanese) lost their position beyond just the crest issue: Not only did they lose their crests, they lost their relic too due to the splitting of western Daphnel territory into the new house Galatea and County of Galatea in the kingdom. To be fair, Galatea land fucking sucks, but it still was a big factor. Although the last major factor was that they were being economically out competed by Margrave Edmund (who might actually be the first Margrave of that house), who’s whole thing is having a shit ton of money and boats. He might have outright bought out the neighboring lords into being his vassals. Regarding the function of the round table: a bunch of noble families have no representation on the council. The three western Viscounts (Albany, Burgundy, and Siward), while power hungry, can’t really be blamed for it, as the fate of their lands are left to the whims of the council. The way the alliance army functions seems to be that the lords are responsible for raising troops, but the round table can command troops to enter the service of other lords or issues. (To compare it to the Kingdom and Empire, the Kingdom has absolutely no centralized Army. Where the alliance is somewhat more “unified” as the lords armies are technically commanded by the round table, who directs where they go and who gets what troops from where, the kingdom has a truly feudal system. The Kingdom has no unified army, instead the King can only draw forces from his personal domain (blaiddyd territory), and all the lords maintain their own armies each under his own command. It’s expressly mentioned that the invasion of Sreng in the 1160s only involved the armies of Blaiddyd, Fraldarius, and Gautier, so it seems that participation in offensive wars at the very least is entirely optional for kingdom vassals. It might be another factor as to why Faerghus lost the crescent moon war, as half of its vassals might of just refused to show up. Moreover, it’s heavily implied that the tipping point for the western nobles murdering Lambert was that he tried to make a unified Royal Army, so Dimitri has to tip toe it by making a private army instead. although the diplomatic stuff and the flat out renovation of his capital city, which while a good idea at the time, also would have murdered the budget, also contributed. The empire on the other hand is a bit less clear. There is a unified Imperial Army, but local lords also have their own soldiers, so it might be that while there is a unified imperial army, local lords have their own soldiers who operate along side it and can be integrated when needed, with the lords taking command of those forces. Also, Hubert uses the term “Bannermen” in three hopes to refer to Faerghan lords who provide soldiers to their liege, and I find that fucking hilarious because using that term like that was invented by A song of ice and Fire/game of thrones) Also, while I love the Banners of all the factions of Fodlan, and Faerghus will always be my beloved Shithole. I have to appreciate Leicester seemingly incorporating the cost of arms of the various round table families into its banner. I also am glad to find a fellow three hopes Claude appreciator. One thing I hate that people fail to realize is that the academy phase in houses is what creates the more church aligned claude we see. His time in the academy, surrounded by the church makes him change some of his plans for how to reshape Fodlan, whereas Three Hopes rips that out and we’re left with the more central church hating Claude we see in hopes One last thing about the Eastern Church, and the church branches in general. Each church branch initially had their own knight branch equivalent to the Knights of Seiros. The Southern Church had the Crimson Knights, the Eastern Church had the Eastern Knights, and the Western church knights go unnamed but we can guess they’re called the Western Knights The Crimson Knights were abolished with the Southern Church, and Edelgard seems to never refound the Crimson Knights. The Eastern Knights get dissolved and an Alliance family, House Nilsson, gets attached to the Eastern Church, and charged with its defense while still being part of the alliance (also I think a Daphnel was the Bishop of the Eastern Church at the time. And that a person with ties to house Daphnel was also the eastern bishop in three hopes)

[@scion513]

Bonus Fact: Shamir mentions that her previous employer was “more of a mercenary state”. She also says that she lost a friend who she was in that group during the Brigid and Dagda War. This implies that Dagda (or maybe the part that Fodlan interacts with) is a country run by MERCENARIES. Fuckers made Diamond Dogs.

[@cheris5868]

I think those are fans who only prefer Claude because of his "neutrality" or they like him but hates Edelgard, so they felt "betrayed" when he picks Edelgard side. even tho in house it's pretty clear he also isn't too keen on the whole churches business(I remember him talking about worshipping Gods are stupid and its the earth that have raised them all). To me staying at monastery makes him realized Rhea/the church aren't as evil as he thought(especially with Cyril being there) but hopes Claude doesn't have the chances to experience that, if Edelgard didn't start the war, hopes Claude probably will lol

[@MrGksarathy]

I just can't appreciate Three Hopes Claude because he's so much less curious about what's going on that he takes Edelgard's claptrap at face value. That, and his actions ultimately spit in the face of both Claude's goals of ending racial discrimination and opening borders between countries, metaphorically speaking. That, and Three Hopes Claude is way too up his own ass to the point he crowned himself King. Sure, it's better in the short term, but in the long term, it's worse for the people of Leicester.

[@MrGksarathy]

​@@cheris5868The sticking point for me is that even in the early phases, Claude was defined by flexibility and open-mindedness, as well as an ability to actually learn new things. He spitballed a lot of ideas and is pretty anti-theist, but he was with exposure able to see past his prejudices and admit to being wrong. Three Hopes Claude is even more close-minded and confrontational than Edelgard, and I feel a darker Claude could have been written in which he kept more of this open-mindedness and curiosity.

[@pola2808]

Every time I come to one of these videos I end up spending more time reading your lore dumps than watching the actual video. I wish intsys put out an official lore book or something this is all so interesting! 💙

[@ivanbluecool]

Upside down archer: I fight racism and old people

[@ghostrouxinol6169]

And leaves his land for any excuse.

[@derekmaullo2865]

Get used to it.​@@ghostrouxinol6169

[@dlarenceparks2211]

Yep that's my leader right there!

[@derekmaullo2865]

@@dlarenceparks2211 You guys should touch sand instead of touching cement in your homes

[@rainyday9174]

11:08 There's unused data for Silver snow and Verdant wind that suggests Cornelia (Cleobulus) was meant to appear in the shambala map as an enemy. Devs probably ran out of time to make an Argarthin form for him (yes him according to the localisation) so it was scrapped

[@Tenebrio-Morio]

Was that an actual localization choice or a sloppy mistranslation because the translators didn't connect the dots that Cleobulus in that scene was referring to Cornelia? What does the Japanese version say?

[@rainyday9174]

@@Tenebrio-Morio I'm gonna assume it was a sloppy localisation job since in the Japanese version the scene where Cleobulus is mentioned no gender pronouns are used.

[@Tenebrio-Morio]

@@rainyday9174 okay, I was curious about that for a while.

[@loserinasuit7880]

​@Tenebrio-Morio Translation error, if you have ever seen Google translate it does not do well with Japanese gender. It switches them all the time.

[@diogenes26]

Great analysis. But dare I say, I'd rather be a peasant in the failing alliance than a noble in the Empire

[@theshinypeliper8813]

Same

[@chibicelesti4859]

Me too

[@raviolibirb8009]

Being a noble in the empire is like being a chicken in kfc

[@SvanEsch123]

Not even Margrave Edmund is loyal. The only reason he doesn’t immediately secede like Count Gloucester once the war breaks out is because there might be a chance that Leicester wins. He even sends Marianne as his proxy to the side that appears to be winning to butter up with the important nobles, so that he gets to keep his influence and lands should Leicester lose. Like the other lords, Edmund only looks out for himself. You could argue the only house that is loyal to the Alliance/Claude is house Goneril, and even then that’s mostly Holst and Hilda, as I believe Duke Goneril doesn’t fully trust Claude either and even passes on his title to his son once Claude declares the Leicester Federation as a sign of protest.

[@loserinasuit7880]

Edmund has loyalty to his people first and foremost and Gloucester makes the same position. Letting your lands and people be ravaged for no reason is stupid.

[@scion513]

Nemesis actually works as a final boss for Verdant wind on a narrative level. Claude’s whole supposed thing in three houses is “outsider who isn’t blinded by local stuff and cuts to the truth”. For the truth of the Crest and Feudal Systems of Fodlan is that Nemesis is entirely responsible for them. He massacred the Nabateans and gave out their blood to the Elites, granting them the crests. It was he who established a realm in the north that created the Feudal institutions Fodlan still uses, with his crest bearing elites leading it. He probably even created the narrative mentioned in the book of Seiros of nemesis being a hero that slew dark gods, instead those dark gods were the Nabateans in truth, but as that narrative was so engrained, the church never tried to remove it. Just like with the feudal system too. The system of lords and crests that nemesis built was so engrained that the Adrestian Empire’s bureaucratic system ended up incorporating that Feudal system into is governing frame work. “It is the crests (and nemesis) that are too blame!” (This does although add to a flaw with VW in terms of bettering Fodlan. Killing nemesis is all symbolic with no actual systemic change. It’s like killing a zombified slave owner and then saying you’ve ended all racism in America)

[@coporalmirabelle652]

Bro it was Rhea who created the system not Nemesis or the Ten Elites

[@TheJaredPunch]

Nemesis the person I would have considered what Three Houses final boss would be if Three Houses had a Golden route.

[@chickenbacon5197]

@@coporalmirabelle652 Rhea made Adrestia. She made a deal with the 10 elites clans to spare them to end the war. To do this she rewrote history that the 10 elites helped her fight Nemesis who became a madman. Rhea had her revenge, now she needed to end the war/rebuild society. The Crest Bearers are the ones that made society as it is, Rhea's faith says that crest bearers are not anymore important in the eyes of the Goddess, its the nobility that craves/worships the power of crests that places them on such a pedestal. It's the 10 elites clans having the monopoly of power that makes them nobles from their bandit/clan origins. In short, nobles created the system that's falling apart with the dragon blood thinning out over time. Rhea just tries to maintain the peace while the Agarthans chip away at it. Her long term goal was always to resurrect her mother, because she had no faith in being able to fix the issue herself. The complaints mostly come down to Rhea/Seiros not going on a war of genocide against her enemies.

[@scion513]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@coporalmirabelle652 While Seiros did not create the crest system, she did legitimize it via the faith of the church of Seiros. While the church of Seiros does not see crest bearers as more inherently valuable as people in its doctrines, it does still hold that crest bearers should be entries with authority due to their “gift from the goddess” frankly, the crest system not existing prior to the end of the war of heroes makes absolutely no sense. Nemesis and his elites had ruled for several centuries prior to the founding of the Adrestian empire, and Nemesis’ northern kingdom was thus very entrenched by the time of the war of heroes, hence why the church still uses the narrative of nemesis slaying “dark gods” when he committed genocide upon the Nabateans. As nemesis was around for so long, he had the opportunity to control the narrative around that tragedy. Furthermore, we have the elites themselves. They all had children, but from what we understand, only the first receiver of a crest has the centuries long life, with their descendants not sharing in that particular gift. As such, the elites like had DOZENS of children over the centuries, possible even hundreds, when one takes into account the “wild oats” that Maurice and his children had and apply it to the other elites. These children, due to being so closely related to the elites, would be basically guaranteed to get major crests. And these children would have their own children and so on and so forth until eventually you get a brand new ruling class of warlords who all have crests. We do know some form of the feudal system already existed, as the histories state that “Wilhelm Paul Hresvelg, the inaugural Adrestian Emperor, raised an army in pursuit of the unification of Fódlan. With his might, he hunted and destroyed any house's territory that dared to seek more power.” Namely the mention of noble houses confirming it. However, when the war ends, Seiros, thinking she can fix everything if she can just bring mama Sothis back, doesn’t try to remove the old system; instead she tries to maintain stability over all. She creates a religion that while restraining the crest bearing warlords with moral strictures, also legitimizes their positions of power via the doctrine of the religion. A mutually beneficial deal. Thus these warlords would be less warlord and more the image of nobles we see in fodlan’s present day. Less violent but more entrenched. The feudal and crest system taking its final form.

[@Treasure_hunter_21]

@@chickenbacon5197 indead

[@pickyphysicsstudent201]

I will say that history was less "Game of Thrones" than what Game of Thrones would have you believe. Lords, Counts, etc tend to be beholden to their people and can't really make many evil decisions until the angry mob shows up with torches 'n' pitchforks. Someone like King John was the rare rare exception. Of course most stories tend to give the rulers some magical mcguffins which keeps the peasents at check out of fear. In short I can't imagine The Alliance being as bad you laid it out, in the beginning.

[@andrewowens4421]

Yeah. Despite what stories and movies show you a lot of feudal lands were pretty peaceful. Sure, there were big battles, but the stretch of time between them where things were peaceful was pretty significant. Even nobles who want to gorge themselves understood that if you don't have a happy populace (or at least a _content_ one) then you're not going to be in power for long. While nobles were always trying to gain more they still understood that it was risky to try and take more than they could handle.

[@CantusTropus]

There's also the fact that industrial-scale war didn't exist. Conflicts were indeed more common in the Middle Ages than they are now, but they were FAR less devastating. Even the most powerful European King would be lucky if he could scrape together 30,000 soldiers, of which MAYBE 10% would have been Knights (and this is Kingdom of France at its peak power we're talking about - most of the time it would be a *lot* less than that). You could have "wars" that only involved a couple thousand or even a couple hundred soldiers in total. Not that war is ever fun, but the kinds of hundred-thousand strong armies you see in things like Game of Thrones came about as a result of the Renaissance and the Early Modern Period, with their massive centralisation of power and population growth.

[@bobskywalker2707]

Daily reminder that the average medieval peasant worked less and was taxed less than the modern person.

[@EthanKironus8067]

Claude getting the route that deals with Nemesis fits because it takes an outside perspective to see the truth sometimes. That's the lesson I take from VW, and it fits really well with Claude's goal of breaking Fodlan's insularity.

[@loserinasuit7880]

Not really. Claude does nothing that Silver Snow didn't do. Nemesis is never awakened in the BL route because you kill Edelgards uncle and therefore the body double. Nemesis dies when you collapse the base in SS. And Nemesis is killed in the Epilogue of BE. Verdant Wind is the ONLY path in which the worst events come to pass for Fodlan. Meaning that Claude as a foreigner does not actually understand anything until exposited to him by Seteth and Rhea. Fodlan's insular nature was because it was constantly being attacked from the outside and considering there were 3 different nations it's like demanding the Iberian Peninsula to be more accepting to foreigners after the Reconquista.

[@EthanKironus8067]

@@loserinasuit7880 Several issues with your argument: First of all, your Iberian Peninsula example doesn't exactly back up your argument. Spain and Portugal were xenophobic enough to expel Jews and Muslims some of whose lineages in Iberia went back over half a millennium after decades of terrorizing them (and all Iberians) via the Inquisition, to say nothing of the violent and dehumanizing imperialism that was subsequently wrought on the world; they kickstarted that whole European fad. While it was not uniform among Iberian society, they certainly could have stood to be less xenophobic. And how does the presence of three different countries, vs. any other number, make any difference to that anyways? Second, I never said that Claude's route didn't overlap with Silver Snow, and I certainly am not saying anything of the sort now. That's an unfortunate consequence of their creative process, as well as material constraints. I dislike that aspect just as much as you seem to, in no small part because they could have done more involving Almyra, perhaps showing their own flaws which Claude does occasionally allude to. Third, how is VW the path where "the worst" happens? Bad stuff happens but it's quite absurd to argue that they're worse than what occurs in any of the other routes. All three House leaders apparently die in SS (I believe they do because it would undercut itself otherwise) and the Battle at Gronder is even more of a mess; Crimson Flower by default has you killing more playable characters than any other route and has overall the darkest/morally greyest story; Azure Moon has the emphasis on Dimitri's descent into madness and while he dies in his berserker state in VW, offscreen, it doesn't give too much attention to him as a character, AM goes deep into it, not to mention Fleche killing Rodrigue. Fourth, who else was supposed to know about the Agarthans? Barring Edelgard/her closest circle and the Agarthans themselves, the remaining Nabateans were the only ones with any knowledge of the Agarthans' motives. You don't even learn of their existence in AM, so how does Claude needing Seteth and Rhea to explain the backstory--the centuries-long obfuscation of which was an intentional effort by Rhea!--call into question Claude's knowledge of Fodlan? He certainly knew enough to be tapped as the heir to the Leicester Alliance. Fifth, and lastly--I apologize for going on so long but I wanted to be thorough--you have a point regarding Fodlan's insularity as a defensive mechanism. It's perfectly natural. That doesn't change the fact that such insularity never has to be a given. While the game is a bit clumsy about it, it's pretty obvious that Fodlan's insularity isn't great for it. Claude is aware of the long-running hostilities and his mission is to change that by opening up relations between Fodlan and Almyra. The insularity does not have to be condemnable to be something worth changing. Claude's background means he's seen the futility of the back-and-forth, on-and-off fighting from both sides. No other 3H character offers that same perspective; Cyril and Petra come closest but Cyril is both younger by a critical margin and thoroughly loyal to Rhea, while Brigid is enmeshed much more closely with Fodlan than Almyra. ---------------------------------------- Ultimately my point was simply that Claude's position was fitting to be the one to take on Nemesis. I never said anything about the other routes not having valid claims; rather, I believe it was partly just needing a final boss for VW and partly the other Route Leaders having character arcs where the writers didn't think Nemesis quite fit, though Rhea is the obvious choice. Seeing as they designed CF as the offshoot of SS, including Nemesis in the latter would clash with the routes' thematic comparison. Regarding Rhea, her personal baggage is more compelling to me than a generic "destroy for good the enemy I defeated long ago" ending. Plus, needing someone else to stop Nemesis lines up with how 3H portrays her, and is an important moment of humbling for her character.

[@brightlight8852]

The Alliance always loses yeah before even watching the video they do always lose because their government just isn't sustainable. They are the only faction that ceases to exist in their own route. Edit 2: after watching the video I have the distinxt impression that the reason why Claude isn't as manipulative in 3 Houses is because he feels like he doesn't have to be. Every faction leader has their strengths and attending Garreg Maach made him aware of that. He's more accepting of the Central Church because he realized that it's set up was what he wanted to achieve. It defied his expectations and preconceived notions, because as it turns out that the Central Church treats outsiders better than anywhere else. Then there is Byleth and the fact that in 3-4 routes Rhea actually named her successor so the fact that she also planned on stepping down prior to being to kidnapped by the Empire also helps. So his primarily is really just getting rid of the troublesome Alliance lords that would cause a united Fodlan any trouble. Plus their goddess is actually real. But yeah they are not meant to be long for the world it's even amazing that such a country lasted for 300 years.

[@jk-2053]

The problem with Claude as a clever leader in 3 houses is that we don't get to see it. If he doesn't have to be clever due to circumstances not requiring it, then the whole cast treating him like a mastermind for doing nothing special because nothing special is needed makes all that praise artificial. Basically, it becomes more "telling" without "showing". Still, I happen to like Claude, even if he isn't a great strategist in 3 houses. Perhaps the dude's just ridiculously charismatic or something, lol.

[@brightlight8852]

@jackychen7769 Yes that is avproblem with 3 Houses the i important bits all happen off screen and we are told about them instead of shown. I think that 3 Houses is actually smarter than 3 Hopes Claude mostly because he's more observant and doesn't try to paint everything with a single brush.

[@MrGksarathy]

​@@brightlight8852Yeah. He's absolutely wiser than Three Hopes Claude, even if we don't see him do much in the way of flashy tactics. He understands that his initial outlook was wrong upon exposure, and he refined his beliefs as he came into contact with other perspectives. You can't really say the same for Hopes Claude or Edelgard.

[@brightlight8852]

@@MrGksarathy pretty much. A joke I've seen from jp fans is that they call Dimitri, Edelgard, and Hopes Claude idiots for being too obsessed with their own perspectives.

[@MrGksarathy]

@@brightlight8852 I wouldn't say that's true for Dimitri.

[@trulymrword]

The Deer Peer Experience is like playing a faction of important green units. Oh shit is that why the routes are called Verdant?

[@elivcdxv1852]

ending the video with what amounts to "mommy rhea" several times is cyril coded

[@theshinypeliper8813]

Glad there’s someone else who’s willing to admit everyone sucks here…

[@theshinypeliper8813]

I say this as a diehard Dimitri simp too

[@chickenbacon5197]

That's kind of the point isn't it? 3 leaders could actually fix the issues if they worked together, instead they go the Team Deathmatch route.

[@theshinypeliper8813]

@@chickenbacon5197 yeah but 75% of the discourse I’ve seen is just “this lord is the right pick” Or at least that’s just been my experience

[@Treasure_hunter_21]

@@chickenbacon5197 the problem is Edelgard. She wont allow it. Its either her way or highway. Unless she gets memory wipe she aint gonna cooperate.

[@derekmaullo2865]

​@@Treasure_hunter_21Fire emblem media are unwilling to make things easier, just overcomplicating everything

[@WhiteCresentKnight]

The irony is that despite the alliance being what is it, It’s the only route where the ACTUAL problem is actually solved.

[@whiteraven1992]

Depends on which of the routes [between two games] you're talking about; if it's Golden Wildfire, they unironically make things *_worse_* than before.

[@MrGksarathy]

@@whiteraven1992 Yeah, and that's a real slap in the face.

[@Skepten]

It is also dealt with with the empire, albeit off-screen, as the ending of Crimson Flower states that Edelgard destroy the Agarthans after the events of the game.

[@whiteraven1992]

@@Skepten Well, only in Jeritza's endings [presuming he survives] is it mentioned that Shambhala is destroyed. Otherwise, in CF's main tapestry portion of the ending, the "unseen and silent struggle began to take shape"; she could "at last wage war" with TWSITD. Also, at an indeterminate time later, the majority of *Caspar's* CF character-endings tend to imply that _more wars are waged_ by the Empire, unlike his endings in all other routes. ^ But that last part is nothing to be surprised about, since the whole point of _empires_ is aggressive expansionism.

[@zerofudou5689]

Yeah, thanks to Edelgard and Hubert's info on the Agarthians.

[@MugenCannon97]

Leicester is named after a real place in England where I punched a tattoo artist over disagreements about how to pronounce the word "submarine"

[@randomguy-tg7ok]

How do you even find multiple pronounciations for "submarine"?

[@MugenCannon97]

@@randomguy-tg7ok The English side of the language is a pathway to many accents some consider to be....unnatural.

[@randomguy-tg7ok]

@@MugenCannon97 Yeah I'm quite aware. I still wanna know how you manage to pronounce "submarine" in a distinctly different way.

[@MugenCannon97]

@randomguy-tg7ok He said it like Sob-Mrin and I was already pissed at him for fucking up the ink and being a bellend so I just swung.

[@VeiledSeer]

You have routinely made some of the best three houses videos I have ever seen on this platform. If someone who's relatively new to the fandom I salute you.

[@TheHearthGuy]

Thank you! Its been a pleasure to get to share my ramblings to people who enjoy them.

[@VeiledSeer]

@@TheHearthGuy but who's best girl

[@TheHearthGuy]

@@VeiledSeer That is a flame war even I dare not start. It's Mercedes.

[@VeiledSeer]

@@TheHearthGuy Fair enough! I like post timeskip lysethia.

[@TheHearthGuy]

@@VeiledSeer She's a popular one, and I can see why.

[@SageofStars]

As I said, the other 3 people, Rhea, Edgelord and Dimitri are all well written enough that arguing which one is the worst for their crimes is an interesting discussion, especially as you try to excuse the crimes of your own favorite in that triad. And then there's Claude, who's just happy to be here.

[@BaelPenrose]

They also NEVER LOSE tho. Like even in an Empire victory they still end mostly in tact because their survival isn't tied to the chruch like the Kingdom is. In a Kingdom victory they are still almost entirely intact. An alliance victory doesn't mean they're the 100% victors and it turns into a diplomacy game rather than a war game - and hell, unless Edelgard wins the war, Claude's the one who wins the peace.

[@ranger24ff]

A few minor notes: The alliance is actually second overall in terms of wealth, the empire is just so big that it is through sheer weight of people, resources, and actually having a functional centralized system it’s able to be first in every category except heroes relics (Faerghus soldiers might be better in quality individually but not be a huge margin and the empire will have two or three men for every one Faerghus can field.) The alliance is actually according to dialogue around camp only just barely beating out Faerghus financially and it’s the only category where they beat Faerghus at anything on paper at least. No idea about Cornelia, could be hilarious long term that the Agarthans just quietly move into Faerghus and pretend to play nice with the church after losing Shambhala. Honestly they’re like cockroaches, and we know they still pop up from time post game everywhere except Crimson Flower I believe (Edelgard and Hubert are very good at killing cockroaches. Maybe Lucina should hire them?) Given the track record of Edelgard during the war and her interactions with Claude in Crimson flower if you spare him, I doubt she’ll stab Claude in the back (assuming Claude doesn’t stab her in the back first.). Edelgard seems mostly content to get her reforms, get rid of the central church, and get rid of the Agarthans. While she does want to get rid of Faerghus I believe this is more just pragmatism which tends to dominate edelgard’s approach to politics as Faerghus is pretty all in on crests, the church, and nobility. Pay attention in both white clouds and other routes and it seems clear to me Edelgard overall would prefer Claude as an ally he’s just frustratingly evasive on his actual views until Edelgard has either A kicked his butt, or b is at stalemate with him and the two actually talk seriously and openly… and then realize how much time, lives, and money they wasted when they probably could have solved this with an email and get to flipping Rhea off. It’s also possible Claude might try to steal Edelgard post Azure Gleam so he can hijack the Empire before going to war with the church. Notice Lysithea is absent from the allies he sends to help the Kingdom. There’s a somewhat popular bit of fan art depicting this scene where Claude, Lysithea, and Dorothea basically have a standoff with Rhea over a still very confused and not all there Edelgard while Dimitri looks like he just wants to wash his hands of this whole mess and go home. I absolutely agree Claude is a lot more fun in hopes than houses. I actually tried playing Golden Deer first at the same time as playing Black Eagles. It did not even compare. Black Eagles had way more intrigue and interesting goings on and I straight up dropped my first golden deer run half way through and had to start over later. The final couple missions sucked mostly because of ending fatigue where the plot just refused to end after one we swear it’s the final battle after another.

[@Quaelandys]

I like that there are still channels who talk about Fodlan lore Very cool!

[@unclefred3128]

It's okay, they're purchased by a fellow banking conglomerate Santander and be fully integrated by 2011. Little bit of UK humour there

[@firenze6478]

So basically, fodlan is effed regardless of who wins.

[@chickenbacon5197]

Yea.

[@emblemblade9245]

Making the entire story pointless and unsatisfying yeah. Really don’t like the way 3H’s narrative turned out

[@DiogoJ1]

Hardly. We should assume those problems are handled off-screen. There's no reason why Hapi would keep the Argathans a secret if she's on your party, for instance. On top of that, they suffer a crippling blow by Dimitri in Azure Moon, as their leader is killed, making their Javelins of Light useless. On top of that Byleth becomes the new leader of the church on that route, which with his divine powers, will ensure peace for many centuries.

[@MugenCannon97]

The Leicester Alliance never wins, but Hopes Claude does. See, If played properly, Claude can remove the Central Church, leave Faerghus too fucked to do anything but eat shit, solving the coldboys issue. As for the Empire, he can leave them screwed over, have leverage over them, or, if you do as a lot of the fanart wishes he would, have him marry the Federation and Empire together with Edelgard's hand in marriage. Even if the slitherboys kick up a fuss, he's got more tan enough means, such as Shez and Byleth, to rock their shit in. Not only that, but he's killed his older brother Shahid, so he's the rightful heir to Almyra. So, as potentially ruler of Fodlan and Almyra, two of the stronger, if not strongest factions on the known continent, Claude can combine them into one massive force, by which he can conquer, "peacefully" or otherwise, the entire rest of the landmass itself. From there, with a bit of ocean travel, he can take the entire planet with an empire to put Rome to shame. God Emperor Khalid is real, he is coming, and he will hurt you.

[@mop2420]

Okay more “tan” enough means was hilarious

[@moon4236]

Claude if he was based /j

[@HolyCrepe]

oh deer

[@jordanjohnston2453]

Thoroughly enjoying your videos. Just discovered you this morning. I like the breakdown of the story at large of Three Houses. It's hard to follow everything that happens across four campaigns

[@laken6461]

I recently found your video on the Adrestian Empire and after that saw you upload your video on Faerghus days later, can't wait to watch this one!

[@EuropeanQoheleth]

8:32 Heh, obligatory reference.

[@gjfwang]

Edmund the backbone of Leicester

[@orrorsaness5942]

Aristocratic Oligarchy

[@Dakress23]

Golden Wildfire's ending is brilliant because Claude ultimately gives Edelgard a huge middle finger in the end by taking out Rhea himself. Enforced moral dylemma aside, Edelgard is just in no position to fight against the Kingdom nor the Federation given how things go for her in Part 1 of every route of Three Hopes. That doesn't mean strife will be over thanks to the armistice, as there's some late exploration dialogue in GW pointing out it's highly likely Foldan will get its own version of the Pope Wars after Rhea's been taken care of. That's... kind of an intriguing prospect honestly.

[@Casual-viewer55]

Poor Leicester alliance going it's fine, we're fine, everything's fine until Edelgard and Dimitri decide to go all murdery on everyone.

[@illusive-mike]

Nemesis makes sense as the final boss of Verdant Wind, but the "he doesn't fit" reaction is perfectly valid because it shows the flaw of Claude's approach in Three Houses. Claude's route is styled as being about the Truth TM. Claude cuts through the noise with his untainted outsider perspective and strikes at the heart of what's wrong with Fodlan, clearing out the Rave Cave and backing the Church into giving him the One True Infodump. It only makes sense that Claude's final boss is Nemesis, the guy whose legacy (of giving his cronies dragon blood to reinforce their power) underpins most of Fodlan's problems. And if that happens to have absolutely no connection to modern affairs? That's the point. The noise that Claude gets past so carelessly is the real substance of the problem. Claude's boss doesn't seem to fit him because his solution doesn't fit his problem. Nemesis is a red herring, on purpose.

[@illusive-mike]

Also, Hopes Claude's plan with sniping Rhea doesn't truly work for the reason that Edelgard points out in their Zahras support: the Church is bigger than Rhea and far too integrated into Faerghus. While Claude has certainly established a situation where neither side has the power or the clout to press him into their war, the Empire hasn't lost its casus belli on Faerghus entirely, and Faerghus is not in a position to make any use of Rhea's death with their borders still being just as bad and all of their neighbors being proven hostile honorless curs. GW's outcome is spectacularly bad, but hey, Claude did secure Leicester's independence, so that's a win as far as he's concerned...

[@calvinmcneil9824]

I think the reason why Nemises and the Slithery people are the final enemy in the golden deer route is because Claude is the only Lord that actually looked into things fully in Three Houses

[@scion513]

@@calvinmcneil9824even then, killing nemesis is all flare no substance. Sure he started it all; but what he created has outlived him and doesn’t need him to exist. Really he represents the Brutish, unrestrained form of the feudal system that existed prior to the founding of the church, before the church restrained but legitimized the feudal system via the church’s doctrine. He represents the problem’s origin, sure, but killing him is like killing a zombified southern slave owner and then saying you’ve solved the problem of racism in America.

[@Treasure_hunter_21]

@@scion513 amazing analogy

[@MrGksarathy]

​@@scion513It doesn't have any practical consequences, sure, but symbolically speaking, the victory was huge, since it represents a victory against the dark history of Fódlan starting with the Massacre of Zanado. It's belated justice for all the murdered Nabateans. Also, it's important to remember that the war was already won and Shambala destroyed, so he was in a sense a post-final boss.

[@HyperGirl81]

Nice video! I gain a new appreciation for the Leicester Alliance even with all the problems that their nation is going under. With that said I got a question for you if there was a sequel in Fire Emblem Three Houses setting what would the future of Fodlen look like and which nation would be on top? The thought of Byleth leading Fodlan in the Verdant Wind route is also interesting considering that he doesn't have any experience in being a leader of a nation or have the training to be one either. The same could be said for being the Pope of the Church of Serios as well which could turn out worse if Byleth goes against the entire teachings and just upends their organization all together. I wished that reforming the Serios Church would stop the Empire attacking but I don't see that happening it might make Claude reconsider joining forces with Elderguard if Rhea is no longer in charge. I wouldn't mind there being another Fire Emblem game set in this universe as there is a lot of events that remain unresolved and the fact that I can easily see artifical Crests and weapons being created and used in the future as inevitable eventually. I am looking forward to your next video!

[@TheHearthGuy]

The natural problem with making a direct sequel to Houses or Hopes is that any 'canon' way they choose to set Fodlan will naturally discredit whichever route large portions of the player base chose. A prequel game set during the War of Heroes might be the most interesting for me, as we'd get to see what *really* happened back at the founding of the Empire and Church.

[@scion513]

⁠@@TheHearthGuy I raise to you the war of eagle and lion. We got: Lord: Loog Retainer: Kyphon Player self insert: Pan Also, the war of heroes happens across a whole century. A bit long

[@hyliastone286]

​​@@TheHearthGuyWhile I would also love to see a prequel game, I wouldn't complain in the slightest about sequels if they went the Fire Emblem Fates route and sold the aftermath of each Three Houses route as its own game. ^-^

[@hyliastone286]

​@@scion513Generational timeskips for the War of the Heroes. They did it in Genealogy of the Holy War, apparently. I wouldn't mind seeing a War of the Lions prequel either, though

[@chickenbacon5197]

@@hyliastone286 Units were barely characters back then, maybe a few "supports" but nothing like we have now. Best case you'd end up with something like Path of Radiance to Radiant Dawn with the story being split between two games.

[@0axis771]

When I read the title, I knew EXACTLY what you meant. No matter what, the Leicester Alliance was a nation that was hanging by a thread and would never survive a full-scale war. The moment a war happened, the Alliance in itself was doomed. BTW, I always felt that 3Hopes Claude was how Claude was meant to be. 3H Claude is just Claude mandated to act in accordance with 3H's poor route splitting. I'll reiterate and say that GW has the best ending because Claude holds all the cards. Edelgard owes Claude a debt. Claude's success in defeating the Church means that his Federation is now super unified and is a legitimate threat that all of Fodlan will recognize. Edelgard and Dimitri are best wary to take on Claude because Claude can easily threaten them to side with the other, and neither wants to call that bluff. This is actually the perfect way to balance the national powers of the three nations. Even if the Federation is inferior on its own against the mighty Kingdom/Empire, there being a Kingdom or Empire to side with against the other is how the balance will be maintained. Also, because Edelgard told Claude about the Disco Nightcrawlers, Claude has the leverage to justify the armistice even more by explaining that all three nations share a common foe. Dimitri could end up learning about how they were involved in his father's death, and that will get Dimitri to want to agree as well. The one route ending where all three nations have the chance to be independent is the one route that I will always support. I never liked how AM, VW, and SS ended with unification. Feels like we're just a massive hypocrite when we criticize Edelgard for it.

[@TheHearthGuy]

Very well put! As for how each route ends with unification, I definitely agree. The story does justify it in each route, since the power structures across Fodlan collapse in every country save the one you support, but it always felt a little unnecessary in Azure Moon especially.

[@0axis771]

@@TheHearthGuy Fair. Dimitri is honestly the worst offender in that regard because he was the one most opposed to Edelgard on principle, so him unifying the continent just feels the most hypocritical. Least with Claude, he's an opportunist, and Byleth is just going through the motions.

[@TheHearthGuy]

@@0axis771 In some defense of Dimitri, the Empire had no emperor or leading houses anymore and Claude basically dumped the Alliance in his lap. In opposition to Dimitri, he could have reorganized the nations afterwards, but perhaps that was too much work.

[@MrGksarathy]

No it doesn't. He killed Rhea for no good reason, so that dooms any attempt for the Nabateans to ever integrate back into Fódlan, he's now complicit in the fall of Faerghus, no matter what he says to the contrary, and he's definitely taken the first step to eroding the very few rights of the common people of Leicester because monarchy is inherently authoritarian. Moreover, Claude barely gave a shit about Those Who Rave in the Dark because after confronting Solon in his own territory, he somehow decided that Rhea was the bigger threat?! Hopes Claude is decidedly full of shit and spits in the face of Claude as an investigator of the truth and a man determined to find the best answer based on available evidence. Houses Claude was always the wiser, smarter one despite not showing as many feats of tactical brilliance.

[@0axis771]

@@MrGksarathy Yes, it does. Nabateans were never going to integrate back to society because of Rhea. She had a thousand years to, but she was the one who put Nabateans in a pedestal and made people worship and dependent on Crests when she founded her religion. And no, his support with Lorenz ins 3Hopes actually makes Claude be the CLOSEST person to establishing something resembling a democracy. The fact that you took that as thinking that commoners have no rights is HYSTERICAL! Actually, no. Claude didn't ignore him, he just has a war to fight. He can't spend time looking around for the dubsteppers wherever they are. Claude was never ONCE meant to be the investigator of truth, or even trying to find the best answer. In 3H, Claude straight up admitted that he wanted Rhea dead. The only reason he's cool not going through with it is cause he now has Byleth to take over Fodlan. Not to mention, Houses Claude is the Claude that could not act on his own will because he's written with Silver Snow's route in mind. It's fine if you dislike 3Hopes Claude, but don't start lying and pretending that he was the super wise or perfect leader trying to find the best answer.

[@firenze6478]

Omg! Someone finally gets Claude right! He’s literally edelgard, but in houses, byleth basically handed serios power to him, allowing him to remake the church while in hopes, the church was distrustful and still led by rhea.

[@MrGksarathy]

But he isn't literally Edelgard. Sure, they share many ideas, but where Edelgard was stubborn and bullheaded from the start, Claude was always more flexible, open to ideas, and curious about the underpinnings of Fódlan's institutions. Even if Three Hopes Claude took a different path, he should have still been written with more of this stuff and not been Edelgard lite, but as a schemity schemer.

[@PeruvianPotato]

So I'm taking that you didn't listen to his line if you have him fight Edelgard prior to her death in Verdant Wind.

[@firenze6478]

@@PeruvianPotato what does that have to do with what I said? Edelgard sees claude as a threat. Claude sees edelgard as a threat

[@HenriqueRJchiki]

leicester is the Wales equivalent in 3H OMEGALUL

[@samflood5631]

Are you going to cover the nations outside of Fodlan’s borders like Brigid, Duscur, Almyra, Dagda and Sreng? Or are you going to cover the nations of both Valm and Ylisse in Awakening, the nations in Fates and the nations of Engage? Or perhaps you’ll go over the various nations of Thedas from Dragon Age, the nations of both Dragon’s Dogma 1 and 2 or the City States of the Sword Coast in Baldur’s Gate?

[@abicrystalwing1543]

Me reading it as Leicester City and wondering why I'm seeing FE3H lol

[@giglobro09]

Lol me too I am like what job class is Jamie Vardy

[@Yacovo]

Thanks for the video.

[@Practitioner_of_Diogenes]

Democratic Monarchy? Taking notes from Naboo from Star Wars, I see.

[@MrGksarathy]

It's an elective monarchy, which is an IRL thing, but that often became hereditary monarchy with extra steps.

[@Practitioner_of_Diogenes]

@@MrGksarathy Ehh, close enough to one another.

[@MrGksarathy]

@@Practitioner_of_Diogenes Not completely wrong. Actually, there is some speculation among historians of the Holy Roman Empire that that realm's elective monarchy was in fact more of an insurance policy in case the current dynasty died out. Considering that this happened at least twice, I'd say I agree with that perspective. Also, most elective monarchies had a very restrictive electorate that didn't include ordinary people. I mean, otherwise, you just have a Republic.

[@samflood5631]

I see. Naboo usually elects its queen, even though they’re usually teenagers. But I wonder what kind of monarchy system Alderaan has since Leia was a princess of that planet.

[@natoriousthehopeful2786]

It is a shame Claude and my fellow Deer don't really win: from my POV, Claude's way would probably be the best for Fodlan's future

[@PeruvianPotato]

Nah fr. I'm a Deer guy myself but this video was a blackpill. 17 year old me would be very sad if he saw this sooner.

[@sambull2621]

hey, bringing peace between fodlan and almyra is still a big deal

[@paulneun3356]

secret weapon banking not discovered yet

[@valtinryu8147]

Iirc, Cornelia shows up at Shambala in the undisguised form (aka Cleobulus (spelling??)) so it's implied she's killed in SS and VW.

[@0axis771]

Nope. In Shambhala, it's someone else. Cleobulus never once appears and until 3Hopes, we had no idea what Cornelia's real name was.

[@legomaster2538]

@@0axis771In Three Houses, Cleobulus was always impersonating as Cornelia. We just didn’t know that until Three Hopes. He just disappears in VW and SS.

[@0axis771]

@@legomaster2538 That's what I meant. The OP here was thinking of the enemy lady you fight in Shambhala that summons the Titanus. Her name was Bias. They thought that was Cornelia's true form, but 3Hopes revealed that Cornelia's true name was Cleobulus.

[@rockowlgamer631]

The only issue I have with Three Hopes Claude was he let Randolph die to secure the win. Claude is known for wanting to keep everyone alive so to see Randolph die because of his need to secure the win I felt disconnect. That's why I like Three Houses Claude a tad more. Plus it's a bummer we didn't get to explore Almyra.

[@chickenbacon5197]

Randolph wasn't one of his people though. Long term letting Edelgard's generals die make it harder for her to continue the war.

[@MrGksarathy]

Randolph wasn't one of his own, but regardless, this was still a bad look for him and severely limits his ability to actually force a truce between the other factions because no one is super keen to trust him. That, and the Federation probably isn't strong enough to actually force Edelgard's hand on too much.

[@yukimurasanada5209]

so was edelgard's mind sent to the dark world in 3 hopes or something? because in Blue Lions battles ending she seems to be like a scared and lonely child, i like both Claudes though in 3 houses not great but he has that bro feel where in hopes hes much better

[@l.n.3372]

I think most fans would have preferred that the alliance/Golden Deer units actually got a route that was fully tailored to them instead of what felt like leftover copy paste of SS and AM assets. but truthfully, I wish that Claude wasn't in 3H at all b/c he was unique enough to be the lord of his own game instead. 3H could have been 3 routes instead of 4, and Claude could have had his own game w/o Fodlan drama. Claude could have been the new lord of a FE 18 instead and he would have been an awesome unique lord with his same backstory but w/o the baggage of 3H and Fodlan. the alliance in 3H honestly should have just been part of the kingdom too, if Claude has his own unrelated game instead. most of the alliance kids could fit easily into either the kingdom or the empire anyway, so they could be incorporated into 3H even with Claude getting a new game to himself.

[@caspianbchalphy]

It’s very obvious that The Alliance is in a VERY precarious situation. it reminds me of a bargain bin HRE or poor man’s Empire of Man (just no “Emperor” since the head duke position isn’t truly a leader position). When I first played TH I thought the Alliance was not going to last long doing what they did. Also yes Hopes Claude is better than Houses Claude since he actually seems a lot more morally gray and does do some scheming (I wish it was more but still). While I thought the straight up alliance with the Empire was strange and stupid (and kinda forced if I’m going to be honest) at least Claude was planing for the eventual break up of that treaty. I kinda wish the Alliance did more of guerrilla warfare in these games since that was probably their best bet for survival against forces like the Empire and the Kingdom.

[@dean_l33]

So the alliance is the Libertarian party of three houses

[@malluk3065]

Even got yellow as their representative color.

[@sambull2621]

that's kinda mean

[@endikaaspeurrutia1013]

This videos are great

[@bibbagamer1284]

But the leicester federation sure does 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@kevinnac1]

I Did not watch the video yet,so i will say here before watching,But yeah its the Truth the alliance never wins,Even in their route in three houses they cease to exist as Byleth and Claude form the United Kingdom of Fodlan.

[@vinsonli302]

will there be a faction review of the central church in the future?

[@TheHearthGuy]

I plan on it.

[@Jil1807]

I really can't stand Gloucesters. Lorenze's family sucks and he is annoying. Hilda's family (Goneril) has slaves and she doesn't even questioned it. They all are not better than the other shitty nobles in Fodland.

[@Holly-hr3xd]

Azure Gleam video when 🥺

[@jacobhederstrom8198]

oligarchy is a more fitting description, especially since you say that it is an aristocracy in the most litteral terms. aristocracy means rule of the best and while i am well aware that nobles and other types of elites generally think themselves better than everyone else by virtue of their status alone, in the most litteral terms that would be a highly meritocratic state and society.

[@megarotom1590]

yah I'll still take it over either of the other two pffff

[@gibusllama3418]

Both... It was both

[@LuiBei1994]

There's 0 reason to think claude would declare war on rhea. Only happens in hopes cus edel convinces him on her lie that she causes everything bad

[@kylefreeburg9353]

It blows because it's yet another example of Claude's writing being shafted by an Edelgard route, just becoming a copy of a different story that makes Claude act entirely different than he does in the early game just to make the plot work

[@engi9715]

thank god Leicester isn't a real place

[@aleisterleopold6229]

And yet the Alliance is the most stable country in fodlan

[@ranger24ff]

Just ignore the 32nd time this month two nobles have decided to go to war with each other over insults at tea which will result in the deaths of at least two hundred people before they agree to call it a draw. They shall repeat this process again in two weeks time.

[@mop2420]

@@ranger24ffI can’t believe the War of the Bucket is most likely to happen in Alliance territory

[@ranger24ff]

@@mop2420 well it will be them or some random Faerghus lord declaring rebellion because the tax collector showed up.

[@baka1fred642]

leiscter allience is somehow a worst holy roman empire

[@Matteo_nr1_evermore_stan]

They did win when Lysithea was assigned to their class #bestgirl

[@jasminesikes]

Maybe i just really like claude cause he reminds me of my husband :D 16:05

[@hadoukenfighter]

The title says Alliance but the thumbnail shows off the Federation, curious.

[@MrGksarathy]

Nemesis as a final boss only made sense for Claude IMO because Claude's ultimate opponent was Fódlan's bloody, hidden history. Silver Snow was more introspective and focused on issues of Byleth's identity. Nemesis would have felt more out of place given that thematic difference. Not only that, but I feel Silver Snow wore the story beats worse than Verdant Wind, and it should have been substantially changed to increase Rhea's role. Also, no, Hopes Claude was only a better tactician, not actually superior because he was also generally stupider and less understanding of the ideological ramifications of his actions.

[@theguy8729]

Would you be willing to look into other fe games like awakening

[@TheHearthGuy]

If they have anything interesting world-building or character-wise. We shall see.

[@CGFillertext]

I think it would be interesting to see this kind of analysis about Nohr and Hoshido

[@chickenbacon5197]

@@CGFillertext they're paper thin factions though.

[@coporalmirabelle652]

I mean Claude's ending was good thing but Fodlan's issues such as nobility and crests were never addresed

[@brightlight8852]

They kinda were, here's the ironic thing, that Edelgard's route doesn't really acknowledge. No matter what her goals will not will not see progress for quite some time, simply because Fodlan doesn't have the infrastructure to support it. In the Kingdom the issue isn't so much crests so much as it's the fact that the kingdom is a harsh land to live in and crests are used for their primary purpose to protect those lands from invaders. In the Alliance however, it's not really an issue. Rhea disbanding and executing the Western Church in Houses helps, as the Central Church is far more moderate. Essentially, the problem isn't that the crest issue isn't brought up, but rather that Edelgard paints everywhere with such a wide brush and wrongfully assumes that all the other countries have the same issues as the Empire (they don't).

[@coporalmirabelle652]

​@@brightlight8852Yeah i acknowledge that Edelgard's route was controversial, but if you look Edelgard's supports and the paired supports endings in Crimson Flower. I have one question: If Edelgard took on a peaceful pate, she would end the same fate as her father did.

[@brightlight8852]

@coporalmirabelle652 Funnily enough, I think that no matter what Edelgard does, the Empire is not long for the world. Because of the reasons why she even started the war is because of the Empire's issues that she perceives throughout Fodlan. But even if she wins at best, she's just biding time before the Empire is inevitably destroyed. A victory built on lies and self-delusion isn't going to last

[@blueberrypineapples441]

13:05 Did you just repeat the same line? Good video but that was a bit odd

[@TheHearthGuy]

Whoops, editing error.

[@TheHearthGuy]

Thanks for pointing that out. Its fixed now.

[@nexuseagles6279]

I personally love all the breakdown videos for each faction in Fodlan but I disagree with the statement you keep saying about hopes. The Golden Wildfire ending is probably the worst one of all the endings. I know you keep saying killing Rhea brings peace but it doesn't especially with the kingdom. Dimtri may be open personally to cutting ties with the central church but he runs a nation, where it is basically overall controlled by the central church. So killing the pope is going to upset the nobles and citizens. Dimitri can't cut them off or make peace with the pope's killer without consequences. As for the empire may agree to a peace deal only because of the favor she owes Claude but she is probably pissed because she never aims to kill Rhea. She wants to take power away from the church not kill them. So the ending for Golden Wildfire is probably the worst one. Scarlett blaze/ no betrayal ending is the best because both The mole people and church are dealt with and the kingdom is on ropes.

[@MrGksarathy]

So you think Faerghus on the brink of conquest is a good thing? They are probably the one innocent faction relative to the war in Three Hopes and are merely defending themselves from annihilation.

[@nexuseagles6279]

@@MrGksarathy As much I love Felix as my favorite house character. Kingdom is the worst faction due to basically being a church-state. If Rhea says bark they bark, it is basically a puppet state the pope controls. Literally, it is the most broken and unjust government of all. Case and point miklan is a better leader than sylvian. He loses everything because of something he has no control over. He got screwed by the church's system and the kingdom did nothing for him, he had to become a criminal. The kingdom's biggest mistake is letting Rhea in after she lost the monastery. Now had direct influence in the kingdom but made the war coming there unavoidable. It perfect opportunity to free themselves from the church's control by turning her away. The fact that Dimitri can't be king unless the pope agrees is an outrage and makes him the black sheep of rulers on Fodlan. Edelgard and Claude can't be removed by Rhea, Dimitri can. Honesty the kingdom needs massive reforms to its government structure and the other leaders are the only ones who can bring to them.

[@MrGksarathy]

@@nexuseagles6279 None of that is a reason to support the conquest of the Kingdom by the Empire. A) You cannot freedominate another country, as the United States and Great Britain have learned over and over again, if either really cared about that to begin with. All it does is impose another oppressive hierarchy on the people and encourages them to revolt in the name of the old status quo. B) No one asked them to do it, so any liberty imposed is undemocratic and inimical to freedom.

[@nexuseagles6279]

​@@MrGksarathy Well someone has to change the system in the kingdom and it definitely isn't Dimitri in Hope who can do that. The faction Hopes hurt the kingdom most because it shows how weak and easy it is to control. You can only be king if Rhea likes you or thinks you'll do exactly as she wants. In house this is hidden and byleth becomes the pope. So Dimitri is actually free of this control. In hope, he's not and he will stuck in the cycle. It's better if the kingdom is divided between Claude and Edelgard for hopes then they might actually work.

[@MrGksarathy]

@@nexuseagles6279 No, just no. Not only is the process of invading and carving up the Kingdom incredibly messy in a way that absolutely stymies any reform attempt, but also, once again, *NO ONE* asked for them to be there. It's pretty simple pro-freedom logic.