In addition to an impressive library of games such as Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Bros.And Metroid Horror2019 Fire Emblem: Three Houses will still go down in my books as the best Nintendo Switch game of all time. It’s a great fantasy story and a superb tactical RPG that feels unmatched even within the franchise it’s part of. Alongside good gameplay and a fascinating world, Three houses a modern masterpiece is its cast of characters, each so phenomenally fleshed out that every single one is probably someone’s favorite. But on the occasion of the game’s fifth anniversary, it’s time for me to declare that one character stands above all the others: Edelgard von Hresvelg, Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ greatest triumph.
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As a former My city The writer Gita Jackson expressed it in your review Five years ago, “Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a game for interesting times.” Those interesting times require interesting people to inhabit them, and all are shaped by the realities they live in – particularly the looming war above their heads. The “three houses” of the title refer to groups within the game’s central setting, the officers’ academy of Garreg Mach Monastery, one of which you choose as your leader at the start of the game. There are the Blue Lions and the Golden Stags, but I’m most concerned about the Black Eagles and their seemingly cold-hearted leader Edelgard.
Each House Leader is the presumed heir of a particular political body within the world of Three houses. They play as schoolmates and tentative friends, but all live under the looming shadow that they’ll likely be enemies when (not if) this impending war finally begins. Edelgard is the only one of the three who seems to have thought about this reality in the first part of the game, which is set during her school days while a mysterious antagonist known as the Flame Emperor terrorizes the monastery. This can make her a forbidding figure, someone who comes across as calculating and indifferent. As the only female leader who, if taken at face value, could simply be seen as a superficial, domineering woman, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the white-haired ruler gets on some people’s nerves. Cut to the game’s big reveal that Edelgard is actually the Flame Emperor, here to overthrow the way of life you and the rest of the game’s cast have trained to preserve. She’s a dangerous, despotic revolutionary who you’ll try to defeat in the second part of the game. At least, that’s the case in all timelines except one.
If you choose to act as the Black Eagles’ caretaker early in the game, you’ll have the chance to build a relationship with Edelgard that will eventually lead to her confessing her true identity and mission to you before asking you to join her. This begins the Crimson Flower route. Given the cold and superficial behavior Edelgard displays early in the game, this isn’t necessarily something people stumble upon on their own. Even for those who choose to join her house, continued persistence is required to reach the point where she trusts you enough to reveal her secrets. In other routes, the only identity she gains is that of a terrifying antagonist who must be stopped at all costs. In Crimson Flower and the Black Eagles route in the first section of the game, she becomes human.
Calling the reveal of Edelgard’s identity as the Flame Emperor a twist feels inaccurate. Joining the Black Eagles and spending time with her almost feels obvious, as it’s the natural step given how Edelgard sees the world Three houses. In the first half of the game, you are presented with one storyline after another that openly show you that the medieval fantasy world is a place marked by terrible class inequality and deeply entrenched ways of life perpetuated by the Church, the institution you serve. Much of this inequality is due to coats of arms, special markings used throughout time to determine nobility. These coats of arms are hereditary, leading to women born with coats of arms often being seen as vessels to give birth to men who can pass on the special powers, a problem that is explicitly seen in Ingrid’s story. These issues, and more personal traumas such as the massacre of her entire family, have turned Edelgard into the cold woman we meet at the beginning of the game. But as you follow her through the first half, we see these horrific realities of the world up close. If you pay attention to the world, Edelgard’s mission isn’t much of a surprise. The reasons for what Xeecee aptly called a “call to arms” in a 2019 article Vice are all open to you.
As her schooling has shown, Edelgard is the only future leader in the world of Three houses
This isn’t an easy thing for Edelgard either. In many ways, she gave up her identity and her life to make change for everyone. Part of the beauty of the Crimson Flower path and leading the Black Eagles during her time at the Officers Academy is breathing some humanity back into her after the horrific life she led. The downside, again, is that you only see this side of her if you choose to lead the Black Eagles and then follow Edelgard in her revolution. This hides so much of the best writing and character work in the entire game behind so many choices, but in some ways that’s for the better, as your love for Edelgard means you really have to seek them out.
Edelgard remains a widely hated Character in Three houses. She is easily portrayed as an incorrigible villain who commits mass murder, all for the sake of her own ends. Of course, she is not perfect, but the game goes to great lengths to show that the price of revolution is high, but necessary. Edelgard sacrifices her own humanity, and that eats away at her. Revolution is not something she takes lightly, and she even confides in you that she fears the price may end up being too high. But the systems of oppression in the world of Three houses
For queer players, her journey becomes even more meaningful if you choose to be the game’s female protagonist. Edelgard is romantically inclined regardless of her gender, and in a revolutionary story where she fights for the downfall of oppressive institutions, it’s just logical to see her as queer. Building a relationship with Edelgard is the central pillar of understanding the moral imperative to fight alongside her. It also helps, as I mentioned, to breathe humanity into her in a world that has worked so hard to eradicate her. It sounds cliché, but by giving her love and making her romantically inclined, you can make the revolutionary story even more poignant. Not only is she fighting for a better world for the people around her, but she’s also fighting to be the truest version of herself without being judged.
To Edelgard’s disadvantage, Crimson Flower is the shortest route in Three houses. Yet it packs so much remarkable storytelling into a smaller package than its counterparts. It robs her of a true catharsis and relegates the fruits of her labor to the epilogue text. Furthermore, each route that follows a different house leader ends with corruption being eradicated from the world of Three housestherefore, in the end, many will question why Edelgard’s methods were even necessary or justified. But even though the world changes no matter who you choose, Edelgard is the only ruler who sees that change as her sole goal. Her devotion to that mission has also enlightened the other leaders around her, convincing them to eventually work for some measure of change, even in the ways that she gets killed for her crimes.
Three houses is a game that should be played through multiple times to see all the different routes and permutations, but if someone asked me which single route they should play, I would answer Crimson Flower. Edelgard is not right about everything, she is not perfect. However, she is the most compelling and well-written character in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. She will never deserve the hatred that is directed at her. That was true in 2019 and is still true today, five years later. Edelgard Von Hresvelg, you will always be famous.
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