Won’t You Cut Down That Apple Tree For Me?

@sketchbookweek Day 1 | First Meeting

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

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

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

Spoilers for Fire Emblem: Three Houses below.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

i haven’t drawn fanart in a hot minute but these two make me really happy

Drew this a while ago and didn't post it here, so here's some late art for yall I guess

a lil treat for whatever sketchbook enjoyers are still out there

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An Important Lesson