seeing how there is a lot of sharing between SS, AM, and VW. I assume she shows up there as well but I haven't confirmed it yet. She only shows up... Once, twice or not at all for CF part 2. The following is my conjecture. In the end of part one, Byleth is sent crashing to their demise off a cliff by thales. Most would assume Byleth dies and it is a fair assumption. Who the hell survives a fall like that? in the romance of the world perdition, it is said that Sothis is one who resurrects. When Byleth goes to meet with their respective house leader (not Dimitri though.) , usually they ask what was Byleth doing. Your responses are either A: 'I was sleeping' or B: 'I was dead'. Before, I thought the latter was Byleth attempt at humor. But now the latter may actually be plausible given that Sothis herself has a running theme regarding resurrection. And the magic wielding lady here supports that given she seemingly predicted Byleth's supposed demise exactly as it played out in the cutscene. Yet as we all know Byleth survived the fall where anyone else would have surely met their end right then and there. Which begs the question. Did Byleth survive and simply fell into a comatose state to recover severe wounds or did Byleth actually die yet enter a state of recovery where their resurrection would eventually come? Byleth is more or less Sothis incarnate at this point of the story so it's a bit plausible.
The main thing that makes it (slightly) more mundane to me is in SS, where normally Edelgard or Claude go "Bwuh? You were asleep for five years??", Seteth just goes "Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense", as he's seen that directly through Flayn. Seems like being tied with Sothis makes it much quicker (five years for a fall off a cliff vs. what sounds like a generation for being wounded in battle), but it doesn't seem like a wholly unique situation beyond the speed.
The one about the Church coverups regarding technological and medical progress is fake.
1) Manuela has an anatomy model in her office with a scalpel jammed in its head.
2) Printing presses have to exist. Ashe and Ingrid both had the same book when they were young so we know books aren't unique.
The one about the Church coverups regarding technological and medical progress is fake.
1) Manuela has an anatomy model in her office with a scalpel jammed in its head.
2) Printing presses have to exist. Ashe and Ingrid both had the same book when they were young so we know books aren't unique.
Fake? Who is it trying to fool? The player? The in-universe reader? If it was fake, then it's trying to convince someone in a library full of printed books that printing presses aren't real.
The lack of a full fledged printing press doesn't exclude copies of the same story. The book in question mentions that metal-mold printing would be a replacement for woodblock printing, and Ferdinand's C support with Edelgard makes mention of employing copyists to make his handbills. But it does mean books are rare and expensive, which we know is true here. Ashe's own support goes into how valuable books are and several characters make a big deal over the monastery's own library.
Medical knowledge within the heart of the church doesn't discredit the book either. Rules are for other people, and Rhea didn't issue these bans for Fodlan at large with any intention to follow them herself. She's willing and able to perform blood transfusions and heart transplants. Not surprising some allowances would be extended to those within the church, especially since the main objection voiced in the book was concern that medicine advancements outside the church would overshadow faith magic.
Honestly, all this points more to the staggering amount of privilege on display at Garreg Mach than anything else.
Fake? Who is it trying to fool? The player? The in-universe reader? If it was fake, then it's trying to convince someone in a library full of printed books that printing presses aren't real.
The lack of a full fledged printing press doesn't exclude copies of the same story. The book in question mentions that metal-mold printing would be a replacement for woodblock printing, and Ferdinand's C support with Edelgard makes mention of employing copyists to make his handbills. But it does mean books are rare and expensive, which we know is true here. Ashe's own support goes into how valuable books are and several characters make a big deal over the monastery's own library.
Medical knowledge within the heart of the church doesn't discredit the book either. Rules are for other people, and Rhea didn't issue these bans for Fodlan at large with any intention to follow them herself. She's willing and able to perform blood transfusions and heart transplants. Not surprising some allowances would be extended to those within the church, especially since the main objection voiced in the book was concern that medicine advancements outside the church would overshadow faith magic.
Honestly, all this points more to the staggering amount of privilege on display at Garreg Mach than anything else.
Was gonna answer something like that but you beat me to it.
Honestly a lot of the good deeds of the church in 3H give heavy vibes of modern philanthropy where rich people are donating to a number of causes all while knowing those donations may sometimes open business opportunities, not to mention the obvious hypocrisy of looking generous by throwing bread crumbs while you eat cake all day.
You're saying this like I'm suggesting that it's not a mess. Which is not at all what I'm suggesting. Rhea being unable to let go of what she's lost and the actions she took to cope in a very unhealthy manner... That gave her tunnel vision and led to the stagnation of the church.
Keep in mind that everyone close to Rhea left her soon as the war of heroes ended (Indech, Macuil, Cichol, Cethleann) with Seteth only returning 2 years after the great fire incident in 1162, and Flayn one year before Byleth returns to Garrech Mach with Jeralt. Seteth being much more concerned with Flayn than anything, that's roughly 900+ years of relative loneliness with no one to really open up to. It's not a healthy environment.
And to continue from earlier post regarding church fuck ups, hapi's imprisonment in abyss is hella wrong. However, given her unique circumstances, I can understand why Rhea decided Hapi's fate the way she did. She deemed the danger of her sighs greater than hapi's independence. Sure you could just have the Knights of Seiros but you just trade a cage for a leash instead. They can't let Hapi out of their sights. Hapi does take prudence to ensure her sighs don't become a problem but she eventually does sigh at some point and in supports she does at least once or twice unintentionally.
Yes the knights can take the monster(s) however there will be always be the odd chance where said monster(s) takes a victim whether it be a knight or a civilian. And that is where I understand Rhea's POV. It's not Hapi's fault but the victim's family will most certainly not see it that way even if you explain it to them. If word got out to the general public about Hapi, what would you think the general reaction would be?
That is not to suggest abyss is better. It definitely ain't. It's a fucked if you do, fucked if you don't situation. Personally I'd take the risk but I understand why Rhea made that decision. I don't agree at all but I understand why.
I'm not sure how any of that reads as "fixable", especially when step one to fixing the church is to completely overhaul the leadership its had for the past 1000 years. And that was only made possible by something as drastic as Edelgard imprisoning Rhea and completely kicking over the status quo. Sounds like "fixing" the church is indistinguishable from tearing down the church as it stood and completely rebuilding it.
...Have you not payed attention to the dynamic between Rhea and Byleth? Or heck, are you not paying attention to the story?
Why do you think Rhea is so hell-bent on bringing her mom back? She even spells it out for you in the beginning of chapter 12 SS/AM/VW, no speculation required. Besides unhealthy cope, unhealthy obsession with her mom, and her being unable to let go of what she's lost. She figures that if mom comes back, everything will be fixed/better because "mommy will take care of everything."
whether she's conscious about it or it's her subconscious at work, she already recognises she isn't fit to lead the church she founded. The war pushed it much sooner but the path where Byleth succeeds her was already set.
Why do you think Rhea gives Byleth the role of professor? She's basically giving Byleth experience teaching and leading.
She is also giving Byleth a chance to socialize where Jeralt seemingly neglects this aspect raising Byleth which is shown throughout the story. Seriously, how does a mercenary go out not knowing about the church or the politics of Fodlan in general?
Also, Byleth's relationship with Rhea is the key. Besides Rhea being the only person you can A rank in part one. Rhea has a soft spot for Byleth for very obvious reasons. Regardless of what happens in chapter 11 outside of CF, it wouldn't change anything if any. Cindered Shadows and what happened to the previous bearers of Sothis's heart supports this. In ch. 12 Rhea essentially gives Byleth greater responsibility and outright states that only Byleth can lead the people of Fodlan. If not for the war, we'd probably see the succession where Rhea steps down regardless of what happened in the chapter before.
What seals it is the cutscene where Rhea faces off against the incoming imperial army telling Byleth to run away and keep everyone else safe. She did so with the intention of sacrificing herself whether that meant death or capture. People seem to miss the significance of this cutscene. Because it more or less confirms Rhea accepting Byleth as they are right then and there.
Because otherwise, if she didn't, why sacrifice herself? Rhea is selfish. If she didn't like the outcome, wouldn't she try her best to do things to change said outcome? But here, she seemingly has no problems sacrificing herself to protect Byleth and the fleeing students, knights that chose to fight.
Also, you are giving Edelgard way too much credit. The war was going to happen sooner or later. Edelgard is a pawn. An important pawn but a pawn all the same. Thales and scum are what pushes this war which long started before Edelgard was even born and also what sets Edelgard on her path. She didn't decide this on her own. Thales pushed her in that direction while torturing her and her family.
The southern church insurrection, the Western church and their actions with Lonato, the attack on the holy mausoleum. Flayn's kidnapping, remire, the chapel and the resulting death of students and jeralt. The sealed forest. All of which Edelgard had little to no influence on. She supposedly commands the Death Knight but you saw his involvement in those incidents starting with the holy mausoleum. More importantly, you saw he had zero qualms going after Edelgard if playing her house.
Thales/Arundel was the regent of the adrestrian empire. With or without Edelgard, Thales was gonna use the imperial army to spark the flames of war. This is not a matter of ifs. Only a matter of when and how. It literally could have been anyone who was a success of those horrific experiments. Edelgard just happened to be winner (loser) of a shit lottery that she didn't have the choice of entering.
I got more to say but... I'mma stop here for today.
And let it known that Catherine as a trickster is fun. Ingrid as a dark flier is hella fun and so is having her as a Valkyrie. Having a tough time raising blue lions when I keep favoring ashen wolves.
The one about the Church coverups regarding technological and medical progress is fake.
1) Manuela has an anatomy model in her office with a scalpel jammed in its head.
2) Printing presses have to exist. Ashe and Ingrid both had the same book when they were young so we know books aren't unique.
That is the result of IS's sterling "QUALITY CONTROL" which is unfortunately a consistent theme with this game. Which shows it's ugly head in part 2 all routes. Which coincidentally the shadow library is part 2 exclusive.
I honestly think this is in fact supposed to be true but IS made an oversight not double checking their shit to make sure such inconsistencies don't happen.
The real sad thing is that there's no real way to be sure.
The one thing I will never change my position on with this game is this and this only: whoever is responsible for quality control needs to be fired along with everyone else in the QC team who didn't catch this.
The only thing fake is
feast of decadence which is more fanfiction than anything.
So I just started playing a few days ago, and this is my first Fire Emblem I'm getting seriously into. So I have a question about grinding. I'm finally able to go into fights freely and I level grinded for several battle now.
Is there a downside to this? Should I not be leveling so fast or is it okay? I wanted to get everyone to level 10 and I'm almost there.
So I just started playing a few days ago, and this is my first Fire Emblem I'm getting seriously into. So I have a question about grinding. I'm finally able to go into fights freely and I level grinded for several battle now.
Is there a downside to this? Should I not be leveling so fast or is it okay? I wanted to get everyone to level 10 and I'm almost there.
The only downside is the opportunity cost of spending the weekends doing battle versus exploring or doing lectures. The main thing is making sure your students have enough motivation when it comes time to teach class during the week to raise skills. You have plenty of opportunities to balance things out so you're not in any real danger of screwing yourself. I usually get in the habit of Exploring in the first week of the month to get everyone's motivation up, battling the second week, exploring the third to refresh motivations, then free choice if there is a fourth free week in that month.
It can be a good idea to do some extra battles when your students need a little extra experience to meet the level requirement for a class change or maxing out a class skill before the end of the month. Later you'll see opportunities for monster battles that drop good crafting supplies. If you're playing Black Eagles, always do the "Monsters in the Desert" battle if it pops up, because they drop the rare material for repairing Edelgard's relic.
The only downside is the opportunity cost of spending the weekends doing battle versus exploring or doing lectures. The main thing is making sure your students have enough motivation when it comes time to teach class during the week to raise skills. You have plenty of opportunities to balance things out so you're not in any real danger of screwing yourself. I usually get in the habit of Exploring in the first week of the month to get everyone's motivation up, battling the second week, exploring the third to refresh motivations, then free choice if there is a fourth free week in that month.
It can be a good idea to do some extra battles when your students need a little extra experience to meet the level requirement for a class change or maxing out a class skill before the end of the month. Later you'll see opportunities for monster battles that drop good crafting supplies. If you're playing Black Eagles, always do the "Monsters in the Desert" battle if it pops up, because they drop the rare material for repairing Edelgard's relic.
Thanks for the advice (and by chance I did pick the Black Eagles so I'll look out for that mission)
So is it normal to be able to battle endlessly? I'm in the mission select and I've done about 7 battles in a row now without losing any time. I thought after doing a battle it counts as 1 point, but there's an auxiliary mission were I keep battling over & over.
Thanks for the advice (and by chance I did pick the Black Eagles so I'll look out for that mission)
So is it normal to be able to battle endlessly? I'm in the mission select and I've done about 7 battles in a row now without losing any time. I thought after doing a battle it counts as 1 point, but there's an auxiliary mission were I keep battling over & over.
Okay, first of all yes, I have been paying attention to the story. You can state your point without needing to belittle me.
Secondly
The problem with your interpretation of Rhea's relationship with Byleth is the Holy Tomb. Rhea took Byleth to the Holy Tomb and sat her down on the throne in hope of reviving Sothis in her new vessel, which would essentially kill Byleth as a person in the process. And Rhea knows that is the sacrifice she was making; it's why she apologizes for exactly that in her S rank support.
Everything before the holy tomb - the early A rank, the teaching position - are all rendered moot by the willingness to make this sacrifice. And those things were never for Byleth's benefit anyways. The teaching position and reinstating Jeralt in the knights were just to keep them close; Rhea wasn't going to let Jeralt leave again with the child she suspected had the heart of Sothis. And aside from reminiscing about Jeralt, Rhea spends her support chain checking in on Byleth's progress as the vessel of Sothis. Seeing if wielding the Sword of Creator has stirred anything, gushing about Byleth's green hair and eyes, etc.
When Rhea entrusts Byleth with the church, she's entrusting Byleth the vessel of Sothis, not Byleth the person.
The "you" in the scene above is Sothis. Sothis' memories were the ones beginning to return. Rhea sees herself as a proxy for Sothis. She is entrusting the future of Fodlan to Sothis.
When Rhea fought against the imperial army at Garreg Mach, she was fighting to save Sothis' heart from the Agarthans and their allies. So much of what Rhea does is relive the past in a vain attempt to change it. Much like how she reclaims the name Seiros before the battle of Taltean to relive destroying her nemesis and reclaiming her mother's heart.
So yes Rhea did ultimately want to give up control of the church, but only to her revived mother. When she handed control to Byleth in White Clouds, she was still under the delusion that somehow her mother will still reawaken in Byleth. When Rhea gives words to her feelings of betrayal in CF, she's not lamenting that she would have given it all up for Byleth, her chosen successor, had they not turned away from her. She's deriding Byleth as another failed experiment who stole her mother's heart.
Rhea only comes to accept that she was wrong after spending five years contemplating her failure in Enbarr.
Okay, first of all yes, I have been paying attention to the story. You can state your point without needing to belittle me.
Secondly
The problem with your interpretation of Rhea's relationship with Byleth is the Holy Tomb. Rhea took Byleth to the Holy Tomb and sat her down on the throne in hope of reviving Sothis in her new vessel, which would essentially kill Byleth as a person in the process. And Rhea knows that is the sacrifice she was making; it's why she apologizes for exactly that in her S rank support.
Everything before the holy tomb - the early A rank, the teaching position - are all rendered moot by the willingness to make this sacrifice. And those things were never for Byleth's benefit anyways. The teaching position and reinstating Jeralt in the knights were just to keep them close; Rhea wasn't going to let Jeralt leave again with the child she suspected had the heart of Sothis. And aside from reminiscing about Jeralt, Rhea spends her support chain checking in on Byleth's progress as the vessel of Sothis. Seeing if wielding the Sword of Creator has stirred anything, gushing about Byleth's green hair and eyes, etc.
When Rhea entrusts Byleth with the church, she's entrusting Byleth the vessel of Sothis, not Byleth the person.
The "you" in the scene above is Sothis. Sothis' memories were the ones beginning to return. Rhea sees herself as a proxy for Sothis. She is entrusting the future of Fodlan to Sothis.
When Rhea fought against the imperial army at Garreg Mach, she was fighting to save Sothis' heart from the Agarthans and their allies. So much of what Rhea does is relive the past in a vain attempt to change it. Much like how she reclaims the name Seiros before the battle of Taltean to relive destroying her nemesis and reclaiming her mother's heart.
So yes Rhea did ultimately want to give up control of the church, but only to her revived mother. When she handed control to Byleth in White Clouds, she was still under the delusion that somehow her mother will still reawaken in Byleth. When Rhea gives words to her feelings of betrayal in CF, she's not lamenting that she would have given it all up for Byleth, her chosen successor, had they not turned away from her. She's deriding Byleth as another failed experiment who stole her mother's heart.
Rhea only comes to accept that she was wrong after spending five years contemplating her failure in Enbarr.
Hm I'll admit that wasn't the best choice of words. My apologies.
It is true that the main reason Rhea is so soft with Byleth is not because that it's Byleth pre sealed forest. But rather who Byleth is as the current vessel of Sothis.
Yes it is true that Rhea is entrusting it all to Sothis. But here is where you are making the mistake. When Sothis fused her soul with Byleth, granting them the power of the goddess and all that it implies. At that point Byleth and Sothis are no longer two separate beings. They are now one and the same. Technically Rhea succeeded in her plan. Just not in the way she expected it and not at the holy tomb but at the sealed forest. Which is once again yet another theme with this game: Rhea's great expectations are either not met or are met* ( *= monkey paw shenanigans)
Why do you think I refer to Byleth as the Goddess Incarnate? Byleth IS the incarnation of Sothis. And has been so since the merge. Byleth is Sothis as is Sothis Byleth. I am not wrong when I refer to Byleth as Sothis or vice versa.
That doesn't change even in CF referring to Sothis S support in said route.
Sure it's a technicality but that's what the game presents to you and I. For better or worse. No one said this game was well written. Characters are well written. Same cannot be said for plot however. And this applies to all routes and the side story even (where is Jeralt and Sothis?)
If you don't recognize that. Then we can only agree to disagree. Rhea did entrust it all to Byleth*. Though you can add the * to some plot points in this game in general. Curse you IS QC team.
When trickster exists. Is there even a point to mortal savant anymore?
I have my Byleth as trickster by default until enlightened one is unlocked. Them growth rates, class abilities, exclusive combat art >>>>> mortal savant. Mortal savant doesn't even look that good in the first place. Looks clunky and awkward.
And trickster got the best animations easily. What was IS thinking with mortal savant...
On my current BL run. Dedue victory quotes are hilarious when combined with trickster. Yes dedue is a trickster in my current run. So is Dimitri. Because why the fuck not?
Most amusing easily goes to Hubert as a trickster. The contrast is amazing. My last CF run I made it a point to turn everyone into a trickster. Can't wait to turn Claude into a trickster after my BL run ends.
cares for Byleth, she sees her as a tool. For most of the game she intends to functionally kill her by overwriting her consciousness with Sothis's.
Both Edelgard and Byleth were groomed to serve as the tools of the old guard, two entrenched powers each trying to recreate their preferred visions of the past. And it's only by rebelling against their masters and banding together that they're fully able to escape their fates and create something new.
That survey that Nintendo emailed folks was interesting. I asked for nerfed Canto and less route divergence, for all the good that'll do.
Hm I'll admit that wasn't the best choice of words. My apologies.
It is true that the main reason Rhea is so soft with Byleth is not because that it's Byleth pre sealed forest. But rather who Byleth is as the current vessel of Sothis.
Yes it is true that Rhea is entrusting it all to Sothis. But here is where you are making the mistake. When Sothis fused her soul with Byleth, granting them the power of the goddess and all that it implies. At that point Byleth and Sothis are no longer two separate beings. They are now one and the same. Technically Rhea succeeded in her plan. Just not in the way she expected it and not at the holy tomb but at the sealed forest. Which is once again yet another theme with this game: Rhea's great expectations are either not met or are met* ( *= monkey paw shenanigans)
Why do you think I refer to Byleth as the Goddess Incarnate? Byleth IS the incarnation of Sothis. And has been so since the merge. Byleth is Sothis as is Sothis Byleth. I am not wrong when I refer to Byleth as Sothis or vice versa.
That doesn't change even in CF referring to Sothis S support in said route.
Sure it's a technicality but that's what the game presents to you and I. For better or worse. No one said this game was well written. Characters are well written. Same cannot be said for plot however. And this applies to all routes and the side story even (where is Jeralt and Sothis?)
If you don't recognize that. Then we can only agree to disagree. Rhea did entrust it all to Byleth*. Though you can add the * to some plot points in this game in general. Curse you IS QC team.
Yes, Byleth and Sothis do merge as one. We see that clearly as the player and it's undeniable. But the thing is, Rhea doesn't know that.
Rhea is operating under the assumption that her plan will ultimately revive Sothis fully and completely. To the extent that her mother will hold her in her arms again. She can see that ~~something~~ is happening to Byleth when they return from the sealed forest. But she sees that something as a sign that the seed she planted in Byleth is taking root and soon will flower into Sothis, rather than the merging of souls that has already hit its apex.
Hence why she takes Byleth to the Holy Tomb for the revelation, and why she's so disappointed when nothing changes. The Byleth/Sothis merge that we got is not what Rhea wanted or expected. She's still hoping that Sothis will eventually emerge fully and dominantly when she entrusts the church to Byleth. Anything less than that is just "another failure".
(Hmmm. Now I'm wondering if Sitri and the others implanted with Sothis' heart ever saw a green haired little gremlin in their dreams. If the previous attempts were monkey paw successes, but without the circumstances that led to the full merge and without Rhea recognizing it because it wasn't the results she wanted to see. But I digress.)
Which brings me back to my original point that the centuries of neglect by the church weren't going away without Rhea stepping down, and she was only prepared to step down for a fully revived Sothis, who could act as both her mother returned to her and as the omniscient guide of all of Fodlan. What came back from the sealed forest was neither of those things.
Without Edelgard forcing the issue by coming to boot Rhea out of power, Rhea wouldn't have left the church to anyone less than her perfect mother. With Edelgard forcing the issue, Rhea does entrust the church to the merged Byleth but only in the hope that one day Sothis' memories will return and the "real Sothis" will emerge to lead Fodlan.
Hm I'll admit that wasn't the best choice of words. My apologies.
It is true that the main reason Rhea is so soft with Byleth is not because that it's Byleth pre sealed forest. But rather who Byleth is as the current vessel of Sothis.
Yes it is true that Rhea is entrusting it all to Sothis. But here is where you are making the mistake. When Sothis fused her soul with Byleth, granting them the power of the goddess and all that it implies. At that point Byleth and Sothis are no longer two separate beings. They are now one and the same. Technically Rhea succeeded in her plan. Just not in the way she expected it and not at the holy tomb but at the sealed forest. Which is once again yet another theme with this game: Rhea's great expectations are either not met or are met* ( *= monkey paw shenanigans)
Why do you think I refer to Byleth as the Goddess Incarnate? Byleth IS the incarnation of Sothis. And has been so since the merge. Byleth is Sothis as is Sothis Byleth. I am not wrong when I refer to Byleth as Sothis or vice versa.
That doesn't change even in CF referring to Sothis S support in said route.
Sure it's a technicality but that's what the game presents to you and I. For better or worse. No one said this game was well written. Characters are well written. Same cannot be said for plot however. And this applies to all routes and the side story even (where is Jeralt and Sothis?)
If you don't recognize that. Then we can only agree to disagree. Rhea did entrust it all to Byleth*. Though you can add the * to some plot points in this game in general. Curse you IS QC team.
When trickster exists. Is there even a point to mortal savant anymore?
I have my Byleth as trickster by default until enlightened one is unlocked. Them growth rates, class abilities, exclusive combat art >>>>> mortal savant. Mortal savant doesn't even look that good in the first place. Looks clunky and awkward.
And trickster got the best animations easily. What was IS thinking with mortal savant...
On my current BL run. Dedue victory quotes are hilarious when combined with trickster. Yes dedue is a trickster in my current run. So is Dimitri. Because why the fuck not?
Most amusing easily goes to Hubert as a trickster. The contrast is amazing. My last CF run I made it a point to turn everyone into a trickster. Can't wait to turn Claude into a trickster after my BL run ends.
Mortal Savant gets swordfaire, tomefaire, and doesn't get half spells. It was never a great class, but it's still better than trickster outside of foul play. Trickster isn't a very good class to begin with so it's kind of a strange question really, foul play is really the only thing the class has going for it. Sword users still don't have a great class to end up in, but assassin is still the best of the lot. Trickster is strictly a utility class.
Yes, Byleth and Sothis do merge as one. We see that clearly as the player and it's undeniable. But the thing is, Rhea doesn't know that.
Rhea is operating under the assumption that her plan will ultimately revive Sothis fully and completely. To the extent that her mother will hold her in her arms again. She can see that ~~something~~ is happening to Byleth when they return from the sealed forest. But she sees that something as a sign that the seed she planted in Byleth is taking root and soon will flower into Sothis, rather than the merging of souls that has already hit its apex.
Hence why she takes Byleth to the Holy Tomb for the revelation, and why she's so disappointed when nothing changes. The Byleth/Sothis merge that we got is not what Rhea wanted or expected. She's still hoping that Sothis will eventually emerge fully and dominantly when she entrusts the church to Byleth. Anything less than that is just "another failure".
(Hmmm. Now I'm wondering if Sitri and the others implanted with Sothis' heart ever saw a green haired little gremlin in their dreams. If the previous attempts were monkey paw successes, but without the circumstances that led to the full merge and without Rhea recognizing it because it wasn't the results she wanted to see. But I digress.)
Which brings me back to my original point that the centuries of neglect by the church weren't going away without Rhea stepping down, and she was only prepared to step down for a fully revived Sothis, who could act as both her mother returned to her and as the omniscient guide of all of Fodlan. What came back from the sealed forest was neither of those things.
Without Edelgard forcing the issue by coming to boot Rhea out of power, Rhea wouldn't have left the church to anyone less than her perfect mother. With Edelgard forcing the issue, Rhea does entrust the church to the merged Byleth but only in the hope that one day Sothis' memories will return and the "real Sothis" will emerge to lead Fodlan.
Well neither does Edelgard know about Byleth being the goddess incarnate or the merge. Or Dimitri. Or Claude until the end of ch10 (vaguely), fully by exposition of the final chapter. Your point?
Rhea had an idea what became of Byleth as a result of the sealed forest. Tis true she did not get what she wanted or expected. Hence the Rhea great expectations bit.
Byleth is not a success going by what Rhea was looking for but by no means is Byleth a failure. Yes she was still clinging on to the hope that Sothis returns but she was also slowly coming to terms with that this is probably as good as it gets. After all, despite the disappointment at the holy tomb. You don't see Rhea doing anything to force progress or asking Byleth to sit on that throne for another 5 mins or so. That's subtle acceptance. Not 100% but we see nothing to suggest Rhea would try something to force the issue and try to get her desired outcome.
If she didn't accept it, do you honestly think Rhea wouldn't have tried to do something about it? This is Rhea we're talking about. I like Rhea, she's a very complex character but I am not blind to her literally being one bad day away from completely going over the edge. Can't even use the invasion as an excuse. If anything the invasion would be the perfect excuse for her to hatch up a scheme to force her desired outcome at the expense of Byleth. But she doesn't.
What more can be said?
Finally, you did not just call Sothis a gremlin. Them's fighting words buddy. And no. Sothis never woke up for previous bearers. No info to suggest it. So safe to assume answer is no.
Mortal Savant gets swordfaire, tomefaire, and doesn't get half spells. It was never a great class, but it's still better than trickster outside of foul play. Trickster isn't a very good class to begin with so it's kind of a strange question really, foul play is really the only thing the class has going for it.
And halving spells is not a big deal at all unless if it's a dedicated healer/warp/rescue unit. Most of the time you won't even use up your spells if you're actually using your team well. I usually use my mages when nuking someone my physical units may have trouble with.
trickster is a really good unit because it allows you to set up a mage character in your front lines safely as long as you don't position them stupidly. like stealth wasn't really useful for assassin because the character that would be best at it(i.e. Petra) was better off as a wyvern anyway. trickster really synergizes well with dorothea's abilities because her passive wants her to be close to allies, she has one of the best rally abilities in the game, and she has hexblade which allows her to use powerful swords and deal tons of damage with hexblade without risking being overwhelmed by enemy units thanks to stealth
trickster is a really good unit because it allows you to set up a mage character in your front lines safely as long as you don't position them stupidly. like stealth wasn't really useful for assassin because the character that would be best at it(i.e. Petra) was better off as a wyvern anyway. trickster really synergizes well with dorothea's abilities because her passive wants her to be close to allies, she has one of the best rally abilities in the game, and she has hexblade which allows her to use powerful swords and deal tons of damage with hexblade without risking being overwhelmed by enemy units thanks to stealth
Well neither does Edelgard know about Byleth being the goddess incarnate or the merge. Or Dimitri. Or Claude until the end of ch10 (vaguely), fully by exposition of the final chapter. Your point?
Rhea had an idea what became of Byleth as a result of the sealed forest. Tis true she did not get what she wanted or expected. Hence the Rhea great expectations bit.
Byleth is not a success going by what Rhea was looking for but by no means is Byleth a failure. Yes she was still clinging on to the hope that Sothis returns but she was also slowly coming to terms with that this is probably as good as it gets. After all, despite the disappointment at the holy tomb. You don't see Rhea doing anything to force progress or asking Byleth to sit on that throne for another 5 mins or so. That's subtle acceptance. Not 100% but we see nothing to suggest Rhea would try something to force the issue and try to get her desired outcome.
If she didn't accept it, do you honestly think Rhea wouldn't have tried to do something about it? This is Rhea we're talking about. I like Rhea, she's a very complex character but I am not blind to her literally being one bad day away from completely going over the edge. Can't even use the invasion as an excuse. If anything the invasion would be the perfect excuse for her to hatch up a scheme to force her desired outcome at the expense of Byleth. But she doesn't.
What more can be said?
Finally, you did not just call Sothis a gremlin. Them's fighting words buddy. And no. Sothis never woke up for previous bearers. No info to suggest it. So safe to assume answer is no.
I'm not sure why you're bringing up the other house leaders because none of them are interested in or motivated by changing the Byleth they know into someone completely different. So their knowledge of what exactly happened in the sealed forest is irrelevant, since their relationship with Byleth isn't based on how much of the goddess Byleth has in them. Only Rhea cares about that, as it is the driving factor in her interest in Byleth.
Rhea sees Byleth as a work-in-progress towards reviving Sothis while the house leaders accept Byleth for who they are. To the degree that the emotional heart of Crimson Flower is Byleth and Edelgard accepting each other as who they are, as opposed to what Rhea and TWSITD push for them to become, respectively.
Yes Rhea doesn't immediately cook up another plan to awaken Sothis after the holy tomb, but that's more a factor of circumstances (an army is on its way and Rhea just exhausted what she figured was her best shot of awakening Sothis) rather than a deliberate decision to respect Byleth's personhood as they are. Was she on the slow road to finally coming to terms that she wasn't going to get what she wants? Sure, with the help of, oh say, five years of quiet contemplation perhaps.
trickster is a really good unit because it allows you to set up a mage character in your front lines safely as long as you don't position them stupidly. like stealth wasn't really useful for assassin because the character that would be best at it(i.e. Petra) was better off as a wyvern anyway. trickster really synergizes well with dorothea's abilities because her passive wants her to be close to allies, she has one of the best rally abilities in the game, and she has hexblade which allows her to use powerful swords and deal tons of damage with hexblade without risking being overwhelmed by enemy units thanks to stealth
The stealth factor is interesting. But Dorothea has mediocre mag growth to begin with, so putting her in a 5 move class with no bonus mag, canto, or faire ability to put her on the frontlines to use short ranged magic combat arts is pretty gimmicky. Especially since she is a character that absolutely benefits from more spell casts.
The stealth factor is interesting. But Dorothea has mediocre mag growth to begin with, so putting her in a 5 move class with no bonus mag and swordfaire to put her on the frontlines to use short ranged magic combat arts is pretty gimmicky. Especially since she is a character that absolutely benefits from more spell casts.
it's less about her ability to kill and more about her ability to kill when she needs to but also provide front line utility between meteor links and rally charm as well as passively healing your other units when she stands next to them. also her spell list is large enough that the extra casts aren't even necessary, hex blade is there for conserving casts when you need it and you'd mostly use her normal spells for sniping armors and such. her lower mag stat is also mitigated with the extra damage that a strong sword brings, since you won't be using the sword normally the weight doesn't matter and you can give her the strongest sword you can. it's honestly about which role you want her to fulfill do you want a strong spellcaster with decent healing or do you want a front line utility unit that is good for positioning your other units and also can snipe enemies off when you feel it necessary.
also if you just need the fetters for canto you can use that on her as well, they only take hp when you engage in combat so if you need her to do that you can just unequip it when you want her to fight something
it's less about her ability to kill and more about her ability to kill when she needs to but also provide front line utility between meteor links and rally charm as well as passively healing your other units when she stands next to them. also her spell list is large enough that the extra casts aren't even necessary, hex blade is there for conserving casts when you need it and you'd mostly use her normal spells for sniping armors and such. her lower mag stat is also mitigated with the extra damage that a strong sword brings, since you won't be using the sword normally the weight doesn't matter and you can give her the strongest sword you can. it's honestly about which role you want her to fulfill do you want a strong spellcaster with decent healing or do you want a front line utility unit that is good for positioning your other units and also can snipe enemies off when you feel it necessary.
also if you just need the fetters for canto you can use that on her as well, they only take hp when you engage in combat so if you need her to do that you can just unequip it when you want her to fight something
A 10% heal is rarely significant on Maddening so I'm not sold on the utility of her personal. Meteor and meteor linking don't require any front line positioning. Dorothea definitely does benefit from extra casts, one use of Agnea's Arrow, Meteor, Physic, and two uses of Thoron is bad. And fetters simply has better units to be used on. Like a dancer. Which honestly Dorothea would do all of these things better as other than the chip damage from sword arts.
A 10% heal is rarely significant on Maddening so I'm not sold on the utility of her personal. Meteor and meteor linking don't require any front line positioning. Dorothea definitely does benefit from extra casts, one use of Agnea's Arrow, Meteor, Physic, and two uses of Thoron is bad. And fetters simply has better units to be used on. Like a dancer. Which honestly Dorothea would do all of these things better as other than the chip damage from sword arts.
I already got Dorothea on the path to Dark Flier, but you're making a good case for her as Trickster. I'll have to try that on a subsequent run.
I'm not sure why you're bringing up the other house leaders because none of them are interested in or motivated by changing the Byleth they know into someone completely different. So their knowledge of what exactly happened in the sealed forest is irrelevant, since their relationship with Byleth isn't based on how much of the goddess Byleth has in them. Only Rhea cares about that, as it is the driving factor in her interest in Byleth.
Rhea sees Byleth as a work-in-progress towards reviving Sothis while the house leaders accept Byleth for who they are. To the degree that the emotional heart of Crimson Flower is Byleth and Edelgard accepting each other as who they are, as opposed to what Rhea and TWSITD push for them to become, respectively.
Yes Rhea doesn't immediately cook up another plan to awaken Sothis after the holy tomb, but that's more a factor of circumstances (an army is on its way and Rhea just exhausted what she figured was her best shot of awakening Sothis) rather than a deliberate decision to respect Byleth's personhood as they are. Was she on the slow road to finally coming to terms that she wasn't going to get what she wants? Sure, with the help of, oh say, five years of quiet contemplation perhaps.
Maybe FE just isn't for me. I cannot seem to get through the first real battle without loosing one of my students. I think I'm on try 5 and every time I loose someone different. Am I missing something?
Maybe FE just isn't for me. I cannot seem to get through the first real battle without loosing one of my students. I think I'm on try 5 and every time I loose someone different. Am I missing something?
Maybe FE just isn't for me. I cannot seem to get through the first real battle without loosing one of my students. I think I'm on try 5 and every time I loose someone different. Am I missing something?
What difficulty are you and what problem are you running into? If you're losing people you don't expect on the enemy phase, be sure to turn on the enemy range view (ZR button) and watch their threat indicators (the red arcs). It will point to who they are targeting if within range. You can also cursor over an enemy to see a preview of how much damage and chance to hit they have against their selected target.
Just remember if mutiple enemies are targeting one character, but one enemy moves up to attack and blocks the path for the rest, they will move on to the next target within range.
Sort of, but not really. In the conversation before the first battle of Garreg Mach, Rhea talks to Byleth as if she is an amnesiac Sothis. But after Byleth leaves, in her conversation with Seteth she draws the distinction between the professor as a vessel and the progenetor god within. She anticipates that they will eventually become one, again implying the current distinction between the two.
Okay, just so I can set my expectations properly...
My first route was Verdant Wind. I did the DLC and then just wrapped up a second playthrough, which ended up being Silver Snow. Was... that an especially bad combo, or is that indicative of what I should expect of the other routes? Because...
outside of the very last mission, they seemed to have identical maps/layouts/missions, and incredibly similar plots.
Okay, just so I can set my expectations properly...
My first route was Verdant Wind. I did the DLC and then just wrapped up a second playthrough, which ended up being Silver Snow. Was... that an especially bad combo, or is that indicative of what I should expect of the other routes? Because...
outside of the very last mission, they seemed to have identical maps/layouts/missions, and incredibly similar plots.
Yes, that's the worst back-to-back pairing of routes since those two are basically conjoined twins. Crimson Flow and Azure Moon are both appreciably different from the other routes to a further degree than what you just experienced.
Some further detail, but nothing too spoilery
Plot-wise Azure Moon also follows the march to Enbarr, but it has a different focus and goes off on its own tangents, so it's not beat-for-beat like VW and SS were for each other. Crimson Flower is of course doing something completely different with its plot. There is some map reuse though almost all of them remix the unit positions and objectives, except for Gronder Field and the battles at Garreg Mach for Azure Moon. Pretty much all the maps for CF are remixed to some degree and has Taltean Plains as a unique map. You also get unique units to each route: Jeritza for CF and Gilbert for AM.
Yes, that's the worst back-to-back pairing of routes since those two are basically conjoined twins. Crimson Flow and Azure Moon are both appreciably different from the other routes to a further degree than what you just experienced.
Ah, cool, thanks! A shame to hear that I chose poorly, but definitely a big relief anf makes me a lot more interested again in actually going back for the rest!
What difficulty are you and what problem are you running into? If you're losing people you don't expect on the enemy phase, be sure to turn on the enemy range view (ZR button) and watch their threat indicators (the red arcs). It will point to who they are targeting if within range. You can also cursor over an enemy to see a preview of how much damage and chance to hit they have against their selected target.
Just remember if mutiple enemies are targeting one character, but one enemy moves up to attack and blocks the path for the rest, they will move on to the next target within range.
Thanks. Maybe I'm playing a bit too offensively to get the enemy attention and then they cream one character. What I noticed is the same character is getting targeted by multiple enemies and that's how I'm loosing them.
nope. I just stink at this. Lost 3 more students. Gonna walk away for a while.
Thanks. Maybe I'm playing a bit too offensively to get the enemy attention and then they cream one character. What I noticed is the same character is getting targeted by multiple enemies and that's how I'm loosing them.
nope. I just stink at this. Lost 3 more students. Gonna walk away for a while.
If this is the map fighting the bandits from the prologue a good thing to do is to let them come to you because a few will just come at you naturally. After that you use your sturdier units to bait the others to come closer so you can let the squishier units do their thing.
Wow, holy shit! Yuri/Constance's paralogue didn't need to go in as hard as it did! That was a ton of reinforcements and a thick mess of monsters. It's only thanks to a spectacular Reposition chain from my peg knights that I was able to get the VIP out of the mosh pit of enemies and across the channel to set up a choke point. And even then it required Edelgard to eliminate like a dozen guys in enemy phase thanks to the grail of beginnings.
I'm not sure why you're bringing up the other house leaders because none of them are interested in or motivated by changing the Byleth they know into someone completely different. So their knowledge of what exactly happened in the sealed forest is irrelevant, since their relationship with Byleth isn't based on how much of the goddess Byleth has in them. Only Rhea cares about that, as it is the driving factor in her interest in Byleth.
Rhea sees Byleth as a work-in-progress towards reviving Sothis while the house leaders accept Byleth for who they are. To the degree that the emotional heart of Crimson Flower is Byleth and Edelgard accepting each other as who they are, as opposed to what Rhea and TWSITD push for them to become, respectively.
Yes Rhea doesn't immediately cook up another plan to awaken Sothis after the holy tomb, but that's more a factor of circumstances (an army is on its way and Rhea just exhausted what she figured was her best shot of awakening Sothis) rather than a deliberate decision to respect Byleth's personhood as they are. Was she on the slow road to finally coming to terms that she wasn't going to get what she wants? Sure, with the help of, oh say, five years of quiet contemplation perhaps.
...Except Claude was interested in and motivated by Byleth's changes. They raised more questions and Claude is the only smart lord of this game actually asking the question "why?" for everything. This was a plot point that wouldn't be resolved until the final chapter in VW.
As I said earlier before you could even post it, you can't use the imperial invasion as an excuse. We have 3 routes where Rhea doesn't do shit. Maybe not consciously accepting but she ultimately accepted the outcome all the same as that is what the game presents to us. If she didn't, ch12 would have played out much differently. That and remember, 2 weeks before invasion. She had plenty of time to contemplate. Not like she has anything else to do that Byleth, Seteth and the knights aren't already handling.
How Rhea treats Byleth post holy tomb upto end of part 1 however... Well that is definitely up for discussion. We see her talk to Byleth as if she is Sothis with amnesia in the opening cutscene for ch12. Then we see her talking to Byleth as she is now in the Monastery and in her A support while still checking whether or not if there is anything new updates regarding Sothis.
Her tea time suggests she legit enjoys Byleth's company and getting to know the Byleth side of the Byleth/Sothis persona.
Though Rhea still has her angle with the dreams of a throne as a topic to discuss but that's there since ch5.
Though I reckon we are going in circles at this point so I'll stop here. No point beating a dead horse.
Treehouse censoring Rhea's A rank tea time quote makes no sense to me. Why did they feel the need to censor it?
But at the same time, seeing as the director was pushing for Rhea tea time according to an IS interview some weeks back. I wonder if it was the director's idea to have Rhea say that line in question or if it's from the writing team. It's not provocative or controversial but it is certainly... Something. But no more than anyone else's quotes tbh.
What is treehouse's angle? Then again, wth is treehouse's angle with their changing the script for no apparent good reason? It is a pain having to switch back between English and Japanese double checking shit. I hate soft resetting enough as it is and now I have to do it to switch dubs? God damn it.
And Balthus tea time... What it written with the intention for F! Byleth? I wouldn't have questions if you could simply s rank with M!Byleth but you can't. So having tea time with balthus is rather awkward as M!Byleth. Or is Balthus taking the piss with M!Byleth and it's just flying over me?
Treehouse censoring Rhea's A rank tea time quote makes no sense to me. Why did they feel the need to censor it?
But at the same time, seeing as the director was pushing for Rhea tea time according to an IS interview some weeks back. I wonder if it was the director's idea to have Rhea say that line in question or if it's from the writing team. It's not provocative or controversial but it is certainly... Something. But no more than anyone else's quotes tbh.
Wow, Edelgard's paralogue is fantastic on Maddening. It's only like 6-7 turns long, but managing my defense across all three approaches to the base was incredibly tense and required every move to be meticulously planned. The predictable, infinite reinforcements aren't used as a boring gotcha but instead force you to push forward towards Nader, there's Bow Knights everywhere to keep your fliers honest, and the central cluster of monsters inevitably draws in your top and bottom flanks to prevent you from running a static defense across all three lanes.
Leonie was the MVP with a clutch cast of Raging Flames on the central cluster, but it took a Rescue from Constance and then a trade chain of the March Ring through Edelgard and Marianne for her to push through the thickets and reach the enemy in time.
I may or may not have botched the romaji structure (I give zero shits about romaji, if you rely on romaji then you're on team NGMI) but that's what Rhea said in the original Japanese dub.
Note. Japanese is not my first language nor will I claim fluency in it. Another note, I am currently sleep deprived, so this may or may not have errors. Still closer to original script than what treehouse is pushing.
Yet another note. Kusakihara-san you are a funny man indeed.
Now back to my blue lions run let's get to part 2 already ffs. White clouds is mad tedious after so many runs
As much as those translation errors annoy me, I also know how hard it is to translate accurately, so I'm always leaning towards leniency when these stuff happen.
Like IIRC there's among many not-so-subtle changes a dialog line between Edelgard and Dimitri in CF where in english it's a dumb "right back at ya" whereas the Japanese script has much more nuance in it (especially referencing past relationships).
There is an especially bad one in CS where Edelgard is supposed to be apologizing for her father's powerlessness, but instead is translated to her insulting her father by calling him useless.
As much as those translation errors annoy me, I also know how hard it is to translate accurately, so I'm always leaning towards leniency when these stuff happen.
Like IIRC there's among many not-so-subtle changes a dialog line between Edelgard and Dimitri in CF where in english it's a dumb "right back at ya" whereas the Japanese script has much more nuance in it (especially referencing past relationships).
I'm mixed on that. There are some errors that are clearly just mistakes, probably exacerbated by the route split not giving proper context if translating straight through. Like Edelgard accusing Dimitri of being highborn during their Q&A in Azure Moon, when really she's lamenting that she doesn't have the support structure in her life that he does. Which relies on some context from CF that you wouldn't see if going through the script linearly in AM.
But then there are things like downplaying the same-sex marriages, which only occurs in the english translations, because Nintendo of America has always been very conservative about that sort of thing. Edelgard and Byleth are explicitly married in their paired ending for every language except english. Which is weird and inconsistent because F!Byleth can marry Dorothea and Mercedes, but when it comes to the game's cover girl, Treehouse is suddenly "....but not too gay."
As much as those translation errors annoy me, I also know how hard it is to translate accurately, so I'm always leaning towards leniency when these stuff happen.
Like IIRC there's among many not-so-subtle changes a dialog line between Edelgard and Dimitri in CF where in english it's a dumb "right back at ya" whereas the Japanese script has much more nuance in it (especially referencing past relationships).
There is an especially bad one in CS where Edelgard is supposed to be apologizing for her father's powerlessness, but instead is translated to her insulting her father by calling him useless.
I'm mixed on that. There are some errors that are clearly just mistakes, probably exacerbated by the route split not giving proper context if translating straight through. Like Edelgard accusing Dimitri of being highborn during their Q&A in Azure Moon, when really she's lamenting that she doesn't have the support structure in her life that he does. Which relies on some context from CF that you wouldn't see if going through the script linearly in AM.
But then there are things like downplaying the same-sex marriages, which only occurs in the english translations, because Nintendo of America has always been very conservative about that sort of thing. Edelgard and Byleth are explicitly married in their paired ending for every language except english. Which is weird and inconsistent because F!Byleth can marry Dorothea and Mercedes, but when it comes to the game's cover girl, Treehouse is suddenly "....but not too gay."
See earlier response.
Things like this just grinds my gears.
Which is a shame because I have a preference for the English dub and then I have to recall shit like this...
Translation is not easy sure. But some of these decisions could have been easily avoided. But here we are.
Ftr there is more mistranslations, redactions, or outright changing the script like church and the Western church investigations but it would only cause me headache to list it all.
As if I needed more reasons to disdain treehouse...
But then there are things like downplaying the same-sex marriages, which only occurs in the english translations, because Nintendo of America has always been very conservative about that sort of thing. Edelgard and Byleth are explicitly married in their paired ending for every language except english. Which is weird and inconsistent because F!Byleth can marry Dorothea and Mercedes, but when it comes to the game's cover girl, Treehouse is suddenly "....but not too gay."
I mean I know of NoA being your usual American prude with a long history of stupidities like censoring Greek statues in Castlevania and shit, but man, we're in 2020 FFS. Let those gays have their relationships!
Maddening Tailtean Plains is a better penultimate map than Maddening Enbarr, just by virtue of spawning all the same-turn reinforcements out of instant murder range. A lot of the fun and drama of crossing the river and outrunning the reinforcements was lost by having a team made mostly of fliers, though.
Maybe the next game could use the limited resource concept behind Dark Seals for flying certifications instead of dark magic? The unrestricted class system is supposed to foster variety and choice, but flying classes being so easily available and so vastly better than everything else leaves your options feeling pretty constrained, in practice.
does dimitri start moving if you let dedue transform? because I always just snipe Dedue with a magic user before he transforms
I just send Edelgard up to the top left by herself and have her wreck everything there including that pesky commander who spawns the fliers(seriously Emperor Edelgard is an absolute unit). Also everything except for the Golems disappears when you beat Rhea so I just usually have most of my squad hanging out just out of reach so I can just go beat her up after she spawns.
What triggers the reinforcements for Hapi and Balthus' paralogue? Sometimes it happens when I kill someone, or if I just move. Either way, I find myself suddenly surrounded by a bunch of dudes ready to stab Hapi to death.
What triggers the reinforcements for Hapi and Balthus' paralogue? Sometimes it happens when I kill someone, or if I just move. Either way, I find myself suddenly surrounded by a bunch of dudes ready to stab Hapi to death.
