Azure Moon is a Masterpiece
Vložit
- čas přidán 3. 10. 2019
- Fire Emblem Three Houses boasts four stories, but one is better than all the others - and Sam is prepared to defend that stance. The Blue Lions route contains a unique factor that causes it to outshine the competition, join us today to find out what it is.
Follow the Digital Dream Club on Twitter
/ digidreamclub
#FireEmblemThreeHouses #FireEmblem #AzureMoon - Hry
Sorta regret playing Azure Moon first, because now that I finished it, I REALLY don't want to abandon Dimitri
They had us in the first half not gonna lie
EXACTLY. I literally can't bring myself to play any other route now.
I try to play the other routes now, but it hurts. It freaking HURTS
Same problem... I'm playing Golden Deer right now and everytime I see Dimitri I'm like NOOO I'M SORRY 😭
My exact problem right now, I don’t want to pick another path! 😭
blue lions felt so much more impactful and emotional than really any other route, dimitri's personal fall to hell and ascent back up to light was so genuinely satisfying to see unfold and happen
true
1000 like
100% agree
Ironic how the Lord who initially appears the shallowest and cliche- FE lord-esque, is the one with the most depth by far.
I love Edelgard and Claude to death, but there is just no comparison to Pirate Boy
Claude charmed me in the beginning. There's a reason why some say he threatened their heterosexuality. He's just so fucking likeable!
What I saw of Dimitri in VW made me want to do his route next.... and all I wanted to do throughout the beginning was give Dimitri a nice long hug, and cry. Cry about the caring lad I once knew having been lost.
You got that right
Actually, the one with the most depth is Edelgard. Dimitri's the one with the most development.
@@joseph86255 I completely agree with this statement, and I will die on that hill
@@joseph86255 edelgard has shallow conviction and motivations make no sense even playing through crimson flower. Her character is alright but how she got there was messy and unclear and is the main reason why people dun like her because her path isnt made clear.
Azure moon shows you can have a great story in Fire Emblem that doesn't rely on or end with world ending dragons, gods or super secret evil organisations. Sometimes a down to earth story about humans trying to cope is better.
I heard the development team called the Blue Lions "traditional". Like maybe they're traditional in a sense that the characters are all structured in the most traditional way of a war-related story: traumatised, killed family and loved ones, abandonment, or betrayed by the people that cared for you. The other houses do have those kind of characters but the Blue Lions have a cohesive theme and narrative driven motive (tragedy of duscur, chilvary, family, etc) with all of its cast. And like the old FE games, they're all more comfortable to be with each other than any other house. They're traditional in a sense that they all feel familiar I guess. They don't show off, they don't scream about their higher status and they don't feel like they're against you. They're like traditional friends, I mean that's my interpretation
I think that they are traditional because all of them are based on trioes that already exist in some way.
Dimitri:regular kind lord but with mental issues
Dedue: regular loyal servant but with his reason to being loyal being a true brotherly love for him
Felix:navarre but hes a tsundere
Sylvain: like inigo but its because of his family and social issues
Ashe: like niles but a cinnamon roll
Anette: child prodigie but shes a workaholic because of her dad
Mercedes: a kind cleric with a sad backstory kinda like renault but she also becomes a selfsufficient person
Ingrid : a knightly girl but shes torn between family and dream
Other characters do that to like edlegard and arvis as well as claude and lyn
I think it's described as traditional because to me, the Blue Lions felt like your typical FE cast. The AM story felt like it was the most flehsed out, like if there was no other routes and just one in the game, I'm 100% sure AM would be THE route they would have sticked with. The traditional sense of the BL class is to me just traditional Fire Emblem. The other classes don't give the same vibe to me..
The Golden Deer route may be my favorite, but the Blue Lions route is a VERY strong second. Compared to the others, Azure Moon's story is a BEEFY story, not just with the time-skip stuff but also with paralogues GALORE fleshing out all the characters.
Also, the funny thing about the lack of Slitherers in Azure Moon is that the reason for that...is because they all got utterly CURBSTOMPED by the BLs in the time-skip. They kill Arundel (Thales) when saving Claude, and they kill Cornelia when they take back the kingdom. And Solon was already dead. The Blue Lions unknowingly wiped out ALL the major players with the Slitherers and many more underlings when they fought Edelgard, meaning the Slitherers were just left weak, broken, and forgotten in the dust.
The Blue Lions didn't even realize they had totally OWNED the Big Bads by just doing their thing, taking back what's theirs, and stopping the Empire's conquest. It's funny and also BEAUTIFULLY ironic.
Slithers: You took everything from me!!!
Blue Lions: I don't even know who you are
@@dannyarcana0017
Myson in final map on Azure Moon: I will defeat you, Dimitri and the Blue Lions! You destroyed the Agarthans!
Blue Lions: who?
That's the best part. You unknowingly deal with them. Maxing out DLC Hapi's support with Dimitri just has the whole group removed - even though they had already been crippled severely in the main game.
It's why I don't get why people wish they were openly dealt with when that would take away from what Azure Moon is meant to be.
@@xHeyItsCami
I think it's possible to have both simply because Dimitri does have reasons to hate them too. They caused the tragedy of Duscur after all, and that should have been addressed in full during AM.
But the fix is easy: just have them destroy Shamballa post Derdriu map (aka create a new chapter in between Derdriu and Fort Merceus). Then move onto Merceus, Enbarr and Edelgard remains the final boss and conclusion to Dimitri's arc.
Yeah
Out of the 4 paths, Azure Moon had me in fucking tears nearly every chapter.
No game has done that since Metal Gear Solid.
I LOVE METAL GEAR SOLID
I gotta be honest, I played AM four times and I cried every time at (someone’s death after Gronder battle).
Well, and I played the other paths too but every time i start a new route I have to choose Dimitri xD
As a fellow MGS fan - I totally agree
@@hannemanisunderrated5610 I love AM so much, I basically won't complain at all if they delete SS and CF route in exchange to make AM twice as long and with more details and stories, because after AM ends I still want more. LoL#wishfulthinking
@@fitriaamel438 I personally love both Edel and Dimitri so I wouldn’t complain if they pushed further in CF. SS to me is okayish, I just wish we would have Nemesis as final boss and playable Rhea but overall, SS is good, better than VW in my opinion (it’s not that I don’t like Claude it’s just that his doesn’t fit him at all). Honestly I feel like AM is the most complete path, and the one that has the most sense out of the four even if it contains some plot holes (like where the duck did TWSITD go!?).
I cannot believe that during its announcement I pity-break Dimitri because he looks like the most underrated lord. The "Naive-looking white-kinda blonde prince charming" is not my favorite archetype of character so it wanst really a good impression from me. At first I was all for Edelgard but somehow my mind really felt sorry for this guy. When I got the game I couldn't be happier in my life. He's super sincere, compassionate, and has the most dynamic character arc in the game. His ideals of not putting the weak on dirt really resonated to me because I'm also weak-hearted as him and I get easily feel bad for anything. I still love Dimitri to this day and is one of my favorite characters in general
Same here. My friend group and i were talking about the game when it was announced and everyone was either team Claude or Edelgard. Personally, i wasn't really sold on any of the factions quite yet, but since no one was giving any attention to Dimitri and the Blue Lions i thought "Screw it, blue squad all the way!". Dozens of hours worth of game play later, i concluded that it was the best decision i could have ever made.
@@EmeraldKonoha after I made that choice, I will never be swayed so easily by memes and waifus ever again
@Shurryy Okay, but the same can be said for everyone else, Claude included (considering he still dips at the end of Verdant Wind). Part of Dimitri’s character is that he is very self-aware even when he’s at the bottom of the trauma-pit; he knows he can’t do it alone, that’s why he relies on his friends, even in the endings. It’s a bit frustrating that people say he is unfit to lead when he’s canonically always wanting to work together with others (sans during his breakdown period), he definitely won’t be the only one to lead.
Dimitri is the exact opposite of underrated. Nobody stops talking about how amazing his writing and voice acting is. At this point, Edelgard is the underrated one, since people who like Dimitri poisoned the discourse.
@@hypotheticaltapeworm What? The discoursed is poisoned by both side. I see Edelgard fans calling Rhea literally Satan and stating Edelgard did nothing wrong while dissing on Dimitri for doing things Edelgard is guilty of too. It is hardly one side of the fandom doing it, Edelgard and Dimitri fans are both poisoning the discourse (and I am saying that as someone who likes both). Claude is like the only lord whose fandom does not seem to stir up controversy, which I find kinda funny but that is another matter entirely.
This might sound silly but the Azure Moon route helped me cope with my own grief, the cat in my avatar was something I depended on fiercely and his lost was devastating. He died September 13th so leading up to his death I felt awful, crying constantly. As When I heard Rodrigue's speech about death, how they cling to us, how they can turn into a curse, it all suddenly clicked for me I never would have thought off.
And I had to analyze and realize I was beginning to resent his death, I was getting angry at this beautiful creature that gave me so much love because of the sheer power of the grief I felt. And I realized I needed to make more of an effort to move past it, the pain and scars are still there, but I know I can move past it now, and remember him fondly.
@Destiny FateKnight Don't think its that deep, just another way of thinking about something that was affecting me is all.
I really would have thought felix would have said after dimitri snaps
“I don’t wanna say I told you so
But i told you so.”
I think the reason i love Dimitri and his route above any other option is precisely the story of a ruler whose own heartbreak and compassion for the weak sends him to a hell and he still comes back thinking "people need me". Even at his worst, what drove him most crazy was the injustice everyday people suffered and his own inability to make the suffering stop. He was always the best option to rule because it was in his nature to protect those who would call him king, and even his enemies he tried to meet halfway. That was the hardest choice to make and he did it out of true, selfless concern for his people.
My only regret for BL was playing male Byleth so I couldn’t pair up with Dimitri lmao
Same lmao, I really wish I could’ve chosen to pair up with Dimitri. But it’s ok, I’m happy with choosing Mercedes as well XD
@@LittleLazyKitty mercedes is just the sweetest thing. Almost feels like she's too nice for this world.
@@Saltyoven oh absolutely! She’s both kind and sweet but you know she can stand her ground and destroy any enemy if she needs to. I love her, she’s my favourite Blue House girl
@@LittleLazyKitty oh don't I know it. Honestly think she's a better mage than Annette due to having better spells, and a higher speed growth
@@LittleLazyKitty Mercedes is oír Light
Azure Moon is essentially if The Lion King basically said "f*ck it!" to being family friendly and straight out included the dark non-kid friendly elements of Hamlet (since that's what inspired The Lion King) but still kept the less tragic ending where the prince lives and takes the throne that Disney added to the story.
This is why I consider Azure Moon a better 2019 Lion King than the actual 2019 Lion King remake as it managed to tell a better version of Hamlet with a less tragic ending where the prince lives at the end of the story that came out in 2019 than Disney's remake of the Lion King that came out that the same Summer of that year.
Hey, Dimitri actually kills Slither, he slays the leader in their disguise in the Alliance, and the other named leader in Enbarr, Hubert dosent leave a note because TWSITD have been destroyed!
Nah not really. TWSITD come back even after claudes route. TWSITD are destined to come back, even though we killed thales. I personally dont mind it that we dont.
Even if they do come back they're weakened beyond comparison to the now "newer and better" fodlan so they don't stand a threat anyway.
@@B_A-tr In Dimitri's support ending with Hapi, it states that he does take care of the Agarthans. Plus, the fact that Claude and Dimitri promise to meet again pretty much implies that they will continue going down Claude's route as well.
Also even if they do come back Byleth is in charge of the church and will absolutely hunt them down
@@stan8479 Not quite. Hapi’s ending only confirms they are fought against, but that’s it. Not as comparable as Jeritza/Byleth that outright confirms that they are completely gone.
Blue Lions was legit. Tbh I honestly struggled to finish the other paths but Blue Lions hooked me
Yeah same I'm going down the golden deer route now and I'm on the three-way War battle I know there's a lot more to the story but Claude is just so uninteresting in comparison to Dimitri not to mention that the golden deer cast even though I wanted to play Golden deer first (but bf made me play BL first lol)now that I'm playing it after playing blue lions just is so disappointing because they just don't have a connection with each other with Claude and with the story they basically just say there generic one-liners and continue on so kind of just feels like I'm playing it for the lore more than the characters and their experience which honestly I could have just read a Wiki about...
@@114bleachfan I agree Verdant Wind’s final boss is the only great thing it really has going for it. The route as a whole is completely underwhelming with little to no emotional stakes. I’m currently replaying Golden dear right now myself as I hadn’t played it in a while so wanted to refresh my memory. I can see why I forgot so much of it it’s just not very memorable and unsatisfying and pails in comparison to Azure Moon. Every character in Verdant Wind suffers from what I’ve appropriately named “Golden Deer Syndrome” in which they are all irrelevant and forgettable in their own story even Ashe who is the least relevant Blue Lion has more relevance to Azure Moon than the entirety of the Golden Deer house has to Verdant Wind.
Me too, still haven't been able to finish them because I know what happens to Dimitri in the other routes and I just can't do it...
Amazing video! Blue Lions was definitely the strongest individual story and personally I feel like has the best members
Best fe family
After playing the three lines (no church line yet), you can easily see that the writers either gave all that they had on Azure Moon, thereby weakening the other stories, OR they developed the Azure Moon story first but had to make some corporate deadline and had to rush the other stories.
It's in all the details. The Blue Lion students are much more nuanced. They have closer connections to the main stories (Ashe, Sylvain). Well crafted illustrations that accompany dialogue (Rodrigue's death, Dimitri's breakdown at the stables). Even much more interesting angles in certain scenes. Not to mention Dimitri's fleshed out arc.
I wish the writers had time to develop the rest of the story lines. Crimson Flower with only 18 Chapters is a damn shame.
Silver snow was actually the first route. I think it might have to do with a lot of the blue lions being enhanced archetypes(even though so is edelgard) and sometimes i get the feeling that there were different writers fir the stories because in cf there is a scene where dimitri and dedue have their last moments and its so much better than the rest of the route.
@@B_A-tr irrc IS wrote SS and the rest was written by Toei (?)
@@smollnano SS and AM were written by IS, VW and CF were Toei.
@@B_A-tr I heard the development team called the Blue Lions "traditional". Like maybe they're traditional in a sense that the characters are all structured in the most traditional way of a war-related story: traumatised, killed family and loved ones, abandonment, or betrayed by the people that cared for you. The other houses do have those kind of characters but I'm saying that the Blue Lions have a cohesive theme, narrative driven motive (tragedy of duscur and chilvary) with all of its cast. And like the old FE games, they're all more comfortable to be with each other than any other house. They're traditional in a sense that they all feel familiar I guess. They don't show off, they don't scream about their higher status and they don't feel like they're against you. They're like traditional friends, I mean that's my interpretation
Ok, good to know that I wasn't the only one who felt like the Blue Lions were the more canonical route. Like.... we have 5 characters in Blue Lions who are tied to the game, no matter what route is taken.
Ashe: Lenato. 'Nuff said.
Sylvain: You can make him kill his own brother *twice* over.
Annette: Don't try and tell me that none of you can imagine a story beat where Beast-Miklan is thrashing about, and Gilbert dives in to take a hit for Annette.
Felix: Who comes to retrieve the Relic? Felix's dad.
Mercedes: Jeritza/ Death Knight, who openly reacts to Mercedes.
Now, yes, other houses also have characters who have some effect on the plot, but... none of them have characters who tie into people introduced during the academy period.
The Blue lions felt the most like a family as far as each of the 3 houses went and I felt that dynamic between them is amazing
I'd actually argue that Dedue's case just slightly edges out over Dimitri's case at 7:50 . Dimitri's case is of COURSE horribly traumatic, but at least he technically had some sort of family or familial ties left over... Dedue literally lost not only his entire family but the vast majority of his people and culture, just completely obliterated. I'd almost venture to say that he was just as traumatized, but was able to repress it by desperately clinging to Dimitri's saving of him as the one thing keeping him going. Early on, he says he would choose to die if Dimitri died; he can't even choose to live his own life until the majority of the war is over, AFTER Dimitri has his breakthrough and returns to some semblance of normal (their A Support conversation where Dimitri tells him to live for himself). Dedue bears an incredible brunt of emotional weight on his shoulders and shoves it so deep down that people almost think of him as some emotionless automaton because he can't be open with his traumas. :(
i dont know if you know what happened if mercedes and Dedu fall in love... the result is basically the most beautifull fact of the game.
Blue lions genuinely feels like how the game would be if it was a game that just focused on a single Lord while the others to me feel like after thoughts
Aw, here come the waterworks.
But seriously azure moon is my favorite route by far
Did you intentionally quote Sylvain or was that a coincidence? Either way nice one lol
@@pearsemolloy9656 it was intentional. And thanks.
Dimitri as a character has been relatable to me in ways many other characters in different franchises haven't. The way his story deals with a complete fall from grace, and the guilt and shame that comes with it hit home harder than I'd have liked for it to. When he asks if it's okay for him to live for himself, and if he has the right at all to be beside his friends, I cried. I shed genuine tears because of how hard it hit me, as I've struggled similarly in the past and still feel ashamed and unworthy of all the good I was given afterwards.
Yeah... I can feel that too, for me Dimitri is ine of the best bc is really relatable to the suffering of someone that happen to fall in disgrace and create this sense of autodestruction and pain until you touch he limit. I know that pain too much
I believe everything this woman says because its exactly what I want to hear.
as interesting as the evils are in three houses (experimentation with crests, those who slither in the dark, etc) it was refreshing to have a story where the evil in the game was pretty much just....war and death itself, that alone is traumatic enough and creates a moving story
I first did Verdant Wind for the sake or lord and meme savior, Claude von Zieja. During that, I discovered the best boy Ashe. The next route I did was azure moon and I grinded until Ashe was at max stats, max skill ranks for everything, and almost all of the classes mastered. I am so proud of my cat burglar son.
EDIT: spelling
ashe hit four consecutive times with a 39% crit rate and does not crit. ._.
Dimitri’s arc is the most satisfying
Dimitri ending ins't satistying ....at least not for him
Playing blue lions first made me think that they were going to replace Mikhail and Lonato with characters that the other stories would replace them with characters relating to the cast of the other houses. I was wrong.
I thought the same thing!
I thought that too! Was very disappointed to realise I was wrong.
It would have been tricky to do, because they really use the Lonato map to show off the power of Catherine's relic before you get your own in the next chapter, and they use Miklan's fight as a tutorial for taking down demonic beasts, but it would have been incredible if the work had gone in to make the White Clouds experience a little different for the other two houses. When I think of allt he different Monastery dialogue they'd need to do, though, I kind of understand why it seemed unfeasible, considering how much CF felt incomplete at launch (really glad they at least added Jeritza to that route; it needed him) and VW was largely a copy + paste repurposing of SS's plot structure.
I hypothesize that part of the reason Sylvain is so easy to recruit as F!Byleth is because it's good to make him part of your squad early so you can have some of the emotional weight added to the Miklan chapter in any route; it's a funny joke of a mechanic, but it also gives half of the player base a reason to care, and that's partly why I imagine F!Byleth as the canon version.
I also did Azure moon first and it made me hesitant to start the other routes because of the fear that my heart would break again 🙃
Same for me.
I went through a blind play-through because I had NEVER played any Fire Emblem game. I'm gonna be honest, I initially chose Blue Lions because I thought Dimitri was hot and then ended up falling HEAD OVER HEELS for all of my students and truly cared for all of them.
Me before Fire Emblem 3 Houses:
This Dimitri guy seems cool, also Lions are my favorite animal. I’m choosing his house.
Me after Azure Moon:
That..was TOTALLY WICKED!
Totally agree, this route looks at the horrors of war/tragedies & how it changes even the kindest of people. There is tons of depth about Dimitri's character & to the other Blue Lions especially since they're all connected either by the Tragedy of Duscur or their childhood friendship.
I started with Edelguard's Crimson Flower 1st & was really glad that FE finally let me play as the unapologetic villain but I was really disappointed because of the bad writing. I loved Claude's route since it gave the background to the whole story & was very satisfying. Rhea's route was eh but it shined light on Seteth, Flayn & Rhea. The whole game is probably my favorite FE.
Personally, Edelgard's route disappointed me cause they didn't let her be an unabashed villain - they constantly tried to shoehorn in scenes to make her cute uwu dictator and gave us the flimsiest justifications to try to make her out to be actually tragically correct. I wish they had just let her be flawed. Let Ede villain, it'll make for a stronger route.
@@TheDigitalDreamClub The uwu moments made me cringe so bad since what she's doing & even her personality was far from suitable for such moments. I feel like IS chickened out on what might have been a great villain story & had to make her a waifu.
She never explains anything to you before the time skip & when she finally does near the end of the game it turned out to be utter bullshit & she was fighting the wrong "evil" while conquering & killing innocent people/countries for nothing for 5 years, her obsession with Rhea & downright lies about her & the history/politics of Fodlan was pathetic yet the game never called her out on it lol & tbh I really don't see her "suffering" from her tragedy since she was pretty happy about having the power of the crest of fire.
@@superfox1438 glad I'm not the only one. Maybe it's different when if you're hot for Edelgard but when she cries over seeing a mouse all I could do was sit there and think "Ma'am you're responsible for the death of thousands. Can we please not do this."
I think part of Edelgard's tragedy is that she IS so incredibly wrong, but instead of completely rolling with the fact that she's acting out of trauma and doesn't really have a grip on things, IS wants us to believe that she's completely coherent and her scant "look Rhea is ACTUALLY A DRAGON!!" reasoning is sound. She even... mocks Dimitri for acting irrationally and just. Sis. You're both highly traumatized and razing a path because of it. I just wish they'd tried a bit harder and let her be a touch more morally gray. She has some points. Roll with those. Let her still get some things wrong. Acknowledge how shes misguided and manipulated. It could have been great.
Anyway. I could (and kinda want to) make a whole other video on Rhea and Edel.
@@TheDigitalDreamClub I really think down the line many people will see how badly the whole route was written:
1) Edelguard as the flame emperor orders the bandits at the start of the game to "kill as many noble pipsqueaks as possible" which ironically almost killed her lol & yet Byleth never brings it up! Never called her a monster/killer even though it is an assassination attempt on innocent kids. Not to mention how she ordered her soldiers to kill anyone including her classmates who stands in her way in the holy tomb.
2) She joined/enabled the Agarthans (those who slither in the dark) who were responsible for the experiments on her/many other people & was directly or indirectly responsible for Jeralt's death, students transformation into beasts, kidnapping Flayn for her blood to use for more experiments which resulted in the Remire village incident & yet the game never once gave us a choice to be disgusted about this or even call it out!! Like with Dimitri on Azure Moon who at the very least only took his violence out of retaliation on actual imperial soldiers who are invading his country or were trying to kill him.
3) Rhea didn't control Fodlan or its people, never was responsible for the split of the Kingdom/Alliance, never persecuted people who don't believe in the Goddess (who was the true Goddess in game), never enforced the nobility system or discriminated against people who don't have crests, people did. In fact Rhea & the whole faith got kicked out of the empire & took refuge in the Kingdom & never once took revenge or plotted against them afterwards. Honestly Rhea is a very well written tragic character who we are told in the game to be wary of but the most she has done was trying to revive her mother who was murdered by humans, most of what she did was in self defense anyway since her ppl & family were killed by the Agarthans & humans.
4) The whole "crests are to blame" thing is a freaking fallacy, crests are objects that can be used for good or evil like any object ever! It's like saying games are bad because they can cause addiction so let's destroy/ban all games lol
5) Ultimately her unnecessary war was carried out on the wrong people, the war was disproportionate to the cause or the result. Edel was either delusional or brainwashed by Thales & it should have been pointed out in the game because as it's standing right now it's really badly written because they HAD to make her a cute uwu waifu who did nothing wrong.
@@TheDigitalDreamClub I think it makes totally Sense that CF shows Edelgard like the one who is doing the right thing. Because it shows how each side sees itself as the good ones. Edelgard isn't a person that questions herself. She has her view and doesn't anything else. That's just how she is and we learn this by playing all routes. I think this is the only thing CF does good. It shows how good Propaganda does work because Edelgard follower often see her as a good character dir questionable reasons. I think it shows the influence that even a fictional character can have in People. If Edelgard would recognize how wrong she is, it wouldn't be her. For me Crimson Flower is the Bad end and even if I hated to play this Route because Edelgard is a hypocrite in this Route. I'm happy that Edelgard stayed true to her character, but I think she shouldn't have such an Ending with byleth in which she cried for him. Was the only scene that felt wrong. 1 Chapter earlier she wanted to kill me if I betrayed her like wtf.
I think another reason why Azure Moon is considered to be the best route by most Fire Emblem Fans is because it’s one of the more traditional and better routes of the game. The story of Azure Moon is straight forward in terms of chapters, concept and pacing and of course, it has a beginning, middle and end. Dimitri’s route is the only route where he gets character development as well as his fellow Blue Lion Classmates. He went from a kind prince with a dark side, an unhinged knight who kills people without mercy to a king who wishes to change Fodlan for the better while trying to stop his step sister from continuing the war. Plus the Blue Lions themselves are more than just their anime character traits and most of their paraloges flesh out their back stories and give them character development. The final boss of that route is one of the more emotional of the routes as it’s just Dimitri vs Edelgard, brother against sister, friends turned foe, red vs blue, lion vs eagle.
Crimson Flower is fine as it also has a straight forward story with a beginning, middle and end. Most of the Black Eagles are fine and the final boss is pretty cool. But the main flaw of that route is that it’s rushed without resolving the Those Who Slither in the Dark storyline. That was resolved via epilogue through images and text.
Cindered Shadows is a great route worth your money after paying for the DLC as it explores more on Byleth’s family and the Abyss. Plus this route is one of the first times both Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer and Ashen Wolves team up to fight the final boss. The Ashen Wolves are great despite them being just 4 dropouts and delinquents.
Both Verdant Wind and Silver Snow are the worst routes by some fans, as well as me. The writing just goes all over the place, the main lords (Claude and Seteth) don’t contribute that much or get any character development, there are a lot of stuff that happens off screen (Dimitri’s death for example) and the final bosses (Bandit King Nemesis and Rhea) are just shoehorned into the stories of both routes with little to no build up. Hell Bandit King Nemesis and Claude never interacted at all and Rhea just goes crazy, loses control of her dragon form and for some reason, her fellow knights and priests start to mutate due to her dragon blood. Not to mention that the Knights of Serios (Shamir, Catherine, Alois, Manuela, Hanneman and Flayn) didn’t contribute to the story of Silver Snow at all since in my point of view, this route was about the Knights of Serios, but instead it focuses on the Black Eagles who were just shoehorned in for little to no reasons.
AM did the best job of integrating the characters into the plot. You have Mercedes and the Death Knight, Annette and Glibert, Ashe and Lord Lonato. Even the Blue Lions themselves, with Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix and Dimitri all being childhood friends, gives me the impression that they actually care about each other rather than just being together by chance.
VW did a pretty good job too, but AM being so character-based told a more convincing story. But I've always cared more about characters & their internal conflicts, rather than just lore, so maybe that's why.
EDIT people are saying this route is bad because it doesn't focus on TWSID, but this game would be boring as hell if it rehashed the same lore 4 times. Dimitri's battle against his inner demons is a much more compelling conflict than the one against cartoony villains.
Also Sylvain and his brother.
I mean they do deal with the TWSITD, they just didn't know about it
I chose the Blue lions first and I was enthralled with the story, it has great characters with great backstories, when Dimitri was questioning what to do after Rodrigues' death I almost cried. Blue lions is something that shouldn't be taken for granted for because it focuses less on the whole story of Fodlan. if anything it should be praised for that because it takes the time to develop its characters. This is a top notch story that no one should ever skip out. It truly is a near perfect masterpiece.
All this is why I felt it was fitting and is my headcanon that female Byleth ends up with Dimitri. It's the perfect couple and ending for both of them. It feels like the relationship built up slowly over time, and finally culminated in the end. While Edelgard and Claude let you in on their plans, you don't feel as genuinely connected to them as you do with Dimitri. With Dimitri, you've seen him at his worst, his best, and you've helped him heal and become a better person. And possibly, depending on the player's mindset, he may have done the same for them.
Even Chris Hackney (Dimitri‘s VA) proclaimed them his OTP
Ah i see a fellow housamo player
male byleth too ngl
Nah man, I always play as male Byleth, I can’t see these two together as a result. I feel like Azure moon is much stronger if you play as male Byleth because if your playing as female Byleth, then you see it as a woman helping the man she loves see the light. But if you play it as Male Byleth, you see a friend who risked everything to make sure his best friend doesn’t fall to ruin. Azure moon is way more powerful if you don’t go with the shallow Dimileth ending. You go with Deduleth ending instead.
I speak for the blue lions when I thank you!
Azure moon was so good for me that when i started a different route i couldnt get that involved in it and ended up replaying azure moon
I love AM so much, I basically won't complain at all if they delete SS and CF route in exchange to make AM twice as long and with more details and stories, because after AM ends I still want more. LoL#wishfulthinking
yeah same, currently at chapter 11 for golden deer and I just cannot get invested... I love Claude but the rest of the characters are soo lackluster tbh lol, don't even use them on my team for fighting. Only Golden Deer I use to fight are Lysithea, Claude, Marrianne, and Hilda. The rest are just the Ashen Wolves, Ashe, Sylvain, Cyril, and Linhardt
Blue Lions was my first run, blind day 1 run. I feel I would not love this game nearly as much if I had done one of the others first.
Great video, with a ton of great points and the main reasons I'm doing a blue run next. However the fact that Edelgard throws the dagger Dimitri gave her all those years ago not at a vital point, but at his well armored shoulder provoking the strike that kills her, combined with her acknowledgement of her status as the villain of history in the Yellow rout implies that she is giving Dimitri all she can in the end. She gave him the status as the heroic price who vanquished the tyrant. She gave him a way to end the war without having to kill her in cold blood, but in self defence. And she gave him back the dagger that to the two of them symbolized pushing forward to achieve ones ambition and destiny. She didn't try to kill someone who offered her mercy. She acknowledged her failure and chose to become a stepping stone for a just king and a better future that in the end she could not create.
Although some criticize that Blue Lions route left a lot plot points left unanswered, honestly, that's what the rest of the game is for. You literally have the whole game at your fingertips, unlike previous games (*cough* Fates *cough*) where you had to pay for a quarter of the story. It adds a lot to replay-ability and as incentive to explore other paths, as well as making sure the game didn't become too dull for players going on.
BUT, it was because the other routes most of all the fat and grease of lore/worldbuilding - for better or for worse - that the Blue Lions' perfectly trimmed-low fat story was able to shine :)
Not just that, but there are implications that those issues will be dealt with off-screen, in a gradual manner because it'll cause the least messy uproar. Claude and Dimitri make a promise to meet again, and given that they are friends, I doubt Claude wouldn't help him with TWSITD business. Not only that, but there is actual confirmation that Dimitri does fight the Agarthans, as it is explicitly stated in his support ending with Hapi.
As for Rhea and the Church of Seiros... It's as though people forget that Byleth literally becomes the new archbishop? Rhea is no longer in control, and cooperating church members like Seteth change how the church operates for the better, by allowing in both believers of any religion and non-believers. Rhea essentially has no power left to control the church or Fódlan, and if she tries, she will be exposed because there is nobody to cover it up for her (given that we can presume Dimitri doesn't agree with the way the church handles things either). The addition of the DLC and the forbidden library that comes with it shed a lot of light on her and the church regardless of which route you play. It's therefor not farfetched to say that the Church of Seiros might end up being similar to the way it is in Verdant Wind.
Well, some have argued that without the other routes, Azure Moon would just be a story that established a lot of plot points early on only to conveniently abandon them when things get serious.
I've played Azure Moon, Silver Snow, and Crimson Flower, and I've got to say..
My favorite route is Azure Moon.
I can't count how many playthroughs I've watched of other people playing that route, the characters are just so good. Dimitri is my favorite character. I like a video made by Faerghast about Dimitri's support science, the playable characters of this route are so complex.
Why I don't like Crimson Flower and Silver Snow _as much:_ (Heavy Spoilers ahead)
Crimson Flower, in my opinion, doesn't have as good of a cast. However I did like that I felt bad about killing some of my favorite characters, it feels terrible killing characters like Flayn, Seteth, Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix, Dimitri, Dedue, Ashe, and Annette. I don't mind Edelgard, but I think she's a villain of this story. She has her reasons, however what she does and her beliefs are fueled by a morally black side, TWSITD. Also it's short, and there's not enough cutscenes.
Good things this route did: Better maps, more special events (Tailtean plains event where Dedue is killed before he transforms, choosing to kill or spare Claude, different outcomes). Jeritza as a playable character, Edelgard is better in supports, feeling bad/ sad about killing BL students, Rhea has a great voice actress and it shows, feeling bad about recruiting Sylvain/ Felix, ect.
Silver Snow was the first route made, it was the only story written by IS. The character writing during the story just doesn't feel as good, it feels strange. Character interaction isn't as good during the story. Also Claude and Dimitri die offscreen (yes I believe Claude is dead), and then Dimitri is alive, oh no wait nvm lol he isn't. It's a tad strange, Dimitri is dead, then he's alive, then he's dead, then he's alive?? No he's dead. It was confusing honestly. Even if Dimitri survived Gronder honestly he probably wouldn't have made it that far, and it's canonical he died. No, I don't dislike that Dimitri died, I disliked how confusing it was. I would've rather been sad than confused, it makes sense that Dimitri only lives in one route. Claude's model never appears, that's kind of disappointing. Ultimately this route could've been heartbreaking had it been written better, there was a lot of potential.
Good things this route did: Seteth and Flayn appear more, Rhea appears more, I like Rhea, it was the first route made, the cutscenes are great (many of the cutscenes are unique to SS), there's a lot of cutscenes, Rhea still has a good voice actress.
Ultimately if I were to rank the routes I have played:
Azure Moon ≥White Clouds (BL edition) > Crimson Flower > White Clouds (BE edition) > Silver Snow
Why I rated White Clouds (BL edition) better than Crimson Flower: Honestly the characters pre-timeskip are great and the story fits really well with the BL characters. The Flame Emperor reveal scene is amazing (and my favorite cutscene so far). White Clouds is far sadder and far more interesting on the BL route. Black Eagles didn't have the same impact. I've seen other people play Blue Lions, it still hits well.
I don't hate any route, I just like Blue Lions/ Azure Moon better, I understand why other people like the different routes better, however. It all comes down to what you want in a game, and what makes you happy. I love how great the cast is, I love the dark tone, and the story ultimately feels better in this route. Yes, I didn't get much world building, but world building with the Kingdom works for me.
In the end, you're allowed to disagree with me, everyone feels differently about different things.
I picked the Blue Lions first too. Azure Moon gave me so many feels.
My favourite route is azure moon, but whenever I see the crying Dimitri CGs I remember when I was playing (and crying) and my sister came in my room and said he looks like a wet dog
And there you see me crying and laughing at the same time
I played blue lions first too, and I cried A LOT
Black Eagles was the first route I did and it was really good to the point I wanted to try the other routers. Then came the Blue Lions' and Dimitri and that became the reason I felt in love with this game.
The path is easily the best route in the game and one of the best FE stories in the entire series. One thing I noticed after replaying AM is that Dimitri unknowingly stopped TWSITH when he was saving Claude, at least temporarily.
Virtue truly doesn't go unrewarded
TWSITD also get curb stomped in AZ without the cast even knowing.
I love that TWSITD was subtly crippled when saving Claude in AM; to think that killing Arundel was actually killing Thales without knowing it was the most poetic way to kill him off. No grand last ditch effort to kill everyone through missiles, just a pitiable death in a disguise in the same way he had Kronya take a cheap shot at Jeralt.
It's perfect. And tbh AM has a lower bodycount...and with Claude going back to Almyra while being on good terms with Dimitri, who knows? Maybe the unification will *still* happen on AM.
Ouff, there's a feeling of regret creeping up my spine. I've only completed the Crimson Flower path and feel like I missed out heavily - but boy-oh-boy do you make me want to replay the game! I'll definitely check out the Blue Lions side of the story.
Also, I really enjoyed the video. There's a lightheartedness to your content, the 12 minutes just flew by in a breeze. Thanks for the great content, I'm looking forward for more! :)
Dimitri's character arc (aka Guts from Berserk) singlehandedly makes Azure Moon, and by extension Three Houses, so good. I feel Those who Slither in the Darkness are absolutely unnecessary to the story and undermine what good gray morality there is, and as you said, their absence cuts the fat and removes that boring, evil conflict. Dimitri's rise and fall is so compelling in this story about dealing with loss in a way that Rhea and Edelgard's isn't, precisely because of how flawed he is. The Blue Lions, too, feel much better as a cast because of all their ties to the Tragedy of Duscur, and in turn they represent what Dimitri pushes away. It's a concise narrative told through a tightly-knit cast.
Speaking of TwSitD being better off gone, I'd say the same for Claude and the Golden Deer, aside from Marianne. She's a closet Blue Lion if you really examine her, especially with her support with Dimitri. The Golden Deer irrelevant to the central conflict (Rhea vs. Edelgard vs. Dimitri) and the central theme (dealing with loss).
@Aidan Monner i personally would say that claude might very well be the least interesting lord of the game because silver snow exists without him while being practically the same as verdant wind. That means that claudes story doesn't need him it's rather byleth who is conected to the behinds of all. Claude does indeed cover up the almyran view on foadland and it's foreign policie however most of verdant wind is not about this. The only part i can remember is him pulling in nader and other almyram forces when atacking the impregnable fortress but the rest is more fight the empire and then twsitd. I like claude however i fell that there was a lot lost potential
On Dimitri not being all that competent: that's the point. He can't win on cf where he stays sane because you try to kill him and he can't win in his insanity because for him it's edels head or death. He knows that someday someone will take vengeance on him and kill him the same way he does. Dimitri did not fight against fleche byleth killed her. He literally says" someday i too will fall". Dimitri is far beyond fearing death and the fact that he dies in the remaining routes shows that his actions are wrong.
The game also hints more to a fight between dimtri and edelgard. Dimitri is the lord edelgand fights last. Dimitri is the one who tries to avenge his loved ones and fights someone who fights the children of the godess on taltian plain like seiros and nemisis did. It's also the war of the eagle and the lion. The deers aren't in there. Claude being the only lord who supports with students of both classes schows that he is meant to be the middle path however he is more on dimitris side cause both fight edelgard and ending this war in a peace where all live is impossible cause edelgard won't give up and also the existance of something like that undermines the whole " choose your side thing everyone is kinda right but also not" deal.
I also think that beside mirroring seiros, he also shows the less glorious side of edels ambitions.
This is a much betterly constructed video than another one I found on the edelgard route
This was the first route I played in FE3H too, and I adore it so much. I cried like a little bitch a couple of times. No game has made me cry this much besides FFX. Dimitri is fucking awesome, and it sucks that Those Who Slither In The Dark set him up and he didn’t even truly know. I’m glad he was able to come out of it before the end of Azure Moon. Gosh it was just so fucking good UGH!!!
This was actually the only route that made me cry twice.
I couldn't agree with you more. I also played the Lion Route first and I loved the house and the story :). I think another thing that made this route stand out is that the events of White Clouds had a strong connection to and impact on several students from the house.
I’d say my favorite route in terms of story and gameplay is Azure Moon, while Verdant Wind is my favorite for the lore and characters. There both great in there own ways.
Let me make this clear.
BL: One of the best written FE plots of all time(right up there with the three thread interpretation of Fates plot and the Ephriam route of Sacred Stones)
GD:Most oddly satisfying endings in the entire game because of the feeling that everyone else failed their Ironman runs and through our cunning and skill we get to clean up their mess.
BE: “You ever wish you could say bullocks to all this puppet of fate crap and just get rid of the dragons secretly controlling the world?” Yes. Yes I do.
SS:You like GD’s ending but don’t like Claude? Like the BE but don’t agree with Edelgard’s plot to kill the Inquisition as she works for the Illuminati? Then this plot is for you, but really, go play Golden Deer.
Lol your descriptions deserve a reward 👍
Blue lions for life. I even have a blue lions jacket that I got for Christmas
Awesome!
I loved every single moment of this
I fell for Dimitri SO hard, so during his “solitude pain” phase (I refuse to call it emo because he deserves a better term) not knowing if he was going to speak to us again hit me so hard that I had to TAKE A BREAK, the man slithered into my dreams and it hurt me so much X’D knowing he was going to recover (but not knowing how) was the only spoiler I let myself see, because I needed to know he was going to heal to move forward XD
Learning that made a huge difference and I stuck with him and married him at the end, Dimitri is my absolute favorite and I love all of the Blue Lions as well. 💙💙💙
I'm glad Blue Lions was my first route, but also, damn, it set up some really high expectations for the other routes that none of them quite met.
Why is it that the most well-written, most angry characters either lose an eye, a limb, or both?
Me the entire time: c'mon, dimitri, you need a hug and therapy-
By far my greatest regret is that I played Azure Moon first because for me it set the gold standard for the storytelling of the game and while I did enjoy the other routes, I never really connected with the story as well as Azure Moon (also the fact that I was still getting used to things and didn't think to recruit students and teachers because I wasn't expecting shit to go down the way it did) and it was soul-crushing to leave Dimitri on his own.
I thought I was on team Golden Deer... But oh boy..! After playing through Azure Moon, I'm on Blue Lions team for life.
The last thing you said make me cry, people left alone will destroy them selve, but when a hand show up for them, it can change a lot. That is something that I felt in a personal way and I am similar to Dimitri in my past, and yeah, for this you have a new subscriber, thanks for analysing blue lion, best route ✨
This was fantastic, thank you for this video. Its nice to see people talk about thus route positively.
The route has too many issues that puts it below the other 2. Dimitri’s 180 heel turn after Rodrigue dies, pretending he wasn’t a bloodthirsty psycho up to that point, the fact Dadue stated Dimitri was always this way and just hid it (raising a red flag on “oh he’s good now” BS), etc. I could type paragraphs about why it’s the worst but meh. People like what people like.
This is an amazing video! Azure Moon is definitely the best route! I love the characters and the storyline so much. It made the other routes weak in comparison. Especially Crimson Flower. I would always go back and replay Azure Moon!
one of my favorite routes. the best
Well you do kill three main members of those who slither in the dark, not to mention
Thales was Arundel in disguise
everyone is entitled to their own opinion but like. when people say azure moon straight up sucks im just "bro how...."
*EDIT* bc Idk who to reply to lmao but here’s my more elaborate opinion: To me, I don’t think I’d be as invested in three houses if it wasn’t for blue lions; out of the 3 stories Dimitri’s was the most interesting to watch, not just him but I found blue lions to have the most interesting supports.
I’m not gonna sit here and say the route doesn’t have its flaws but like the video says I actually like how the story kinda focuses more on dimitri? I love that there were so many flashbacks, I loved that we got to see all the ugly sides of Dimitri, I wish we could’ve gotten to know the other lords more like that, I mean they did a better job with edel but I wish I could see claude kinda sit and hold is head and talk all that’s bothering him, the darker side of his past but every chara is different. I also don’t think they should simply overlook Dimitri’s mental state bc it’d take a big blow to his character. *Dimitri never really had grand ambitions like edel and Claude to begin with,* and mostly wanted to change things involved within the kingdom and duscur + revenge, I feel like blue lions was the house was that was kinda dragged into the mess and have to watch it unfold + deal with it but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Idk man I just love blue lions so much my fav house :’) 💙💙
Because Azure Moon honestly has major flaws.
It's story telling method is awful. The story itself is fine but holy shit, unlike Claude and Edelgards routes that unfold in front of you, AM is super reliant on flash backs and characters just telling you things that have happened. It relies way too much on things you've never experienced, and that are never fully fleshed out, to tell its story.
Thematically it's also shockingly weak. Where as Edelgard and Claude have grand ambitions of change and are interesting based on their desires, Dimitri simply wants the current world, but with slightly less oppression. The focus of AM is Dimitri's mental state, but when you look at it through a larger scope like with CF and VW, it's hyper lacking, just "What if we were nice to people :)".
I wouldn't say AM is bad but it really does have genuine reasons to dislike it that are overlooked or dismissed as soon as you raise them.
Its a really good route! And yes I question the people that says it "just sucks" and it clearly shows they've never played or even watched the walkthrough of Azure Moon.
Absolutely agree with Creeeamy. I could write a few extra paragraphs of why Blue Lions and Dimitri are the worst of the 3 but creamy hit the main points.
Creeeamy To each their own. I love AM more than I did the others because it’s smaller scale and more focused on character. I don’t really like Rhea or Edelgard, they’re an absolute snore fest to me. Claude was cool, but you barely know anything about his life before Garreg Mach. VW does more for the Three houses world, but it’s harder to get anything other than “funny scheme man wants to end racism” when the focus is steered away from deeper characterization. Of topic tangent, but three houses would of been infinitely better without Byleth. Put yourself in the shoes of the house leaders, that would’ve given more time with them and probably fix my complaint. Oh well, at the end of the day, it’s all a matter of preference.
@@creeeamy7133
"Verdant Wind unfolds in front of you"
Not true. Half of it is exposition dump. Half occurs off screen. None of the route is properly show don't tell. It's all tell don't show.
Claude claims he faces discrimination in Fodlan. Never shown. Claude claims his childhood was hard. Never shown. Claude claims he wants to make a better world. And then leaves Fodlan after the war on every route he lives.
Your argument about greater scope plots is simply subjective. Blue Lions is a personalized narrative. Golden Deer get half the development cast time because it's torn between greater scope nonsense of Fodlan lore.
Claude also doesn't matter to the story at all. You can rewrite the game while removing Claude because he didn't add anything to the other major Lords. He's so unimportant to Edelgard that she barely features on his route and vice versa. And in AM, his purpose is simply to show that others believe in Dimitri and that he has hope Dimitri will return and save Derdriu. Claude is the outsider like Lyn except neither matter to their story much. Hector and Eliwood are the Edelgard and Dimitri and it shows.
How I just found this video??? It's great! You said all the stuff I been thinking of as to why AM it's my favorite route.
For me it's the only one who feels like it takes the war the most seriously. It's not an adventure to fight the evil forces, it's about a nation's struggle trying desperately to stand front to a powerful enemy. I don't regret playing first but, after doing the rest routes I don't think it was worth it to abandon the blue lions and Dimitri for the divine/magical side of the lore. It's not that is bad but, I found more appealing the "real" aspects of the war than the "magical" ones.
In my opinion without the "drama" of the blue lions the game would just be like a standard rpg story of "monsters and evil cult bad :( but with the power of FRIENDSHIP we can kill GOD :D"
Dimitri is one of the best written video game characters ever. That’s saying a lot because there are absolute titans of video games characters like the characters of the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise, who are surprisingly well written(at least before Colors). And while Sonic is my favorite video game character of all time, Dimitri is a close second
Lol I am about to start an Azure Moon playthrough it's the last one I have left, I saved it because blue is my favorite color and no other real reason. Played all other routes besides it and I am super pumped about it
just make sure you do all the Paralogues you see... a particular character's life hinges on you doing it D:
@@eji damn that's crazy will do D:
The one word that perfectly describes why Azure Moon is the best route story wise is: Focus.
So glad Azure Moon was my last route. It's easily my favourite and the best part is that the other three all enhanced it.
I felt that Verdant Wind tells the best story as it is a story, from start to end. It answers the questions, provides a climatic ending and it felt good when the credits rolled. Crimson Flower and Silver Snow felt lacklustre in comparison. But Azure Moon didn’t. While Verdant Wind tells a great story with well defined characters, Azure Moon tells a great story of a well defined character.
Verdant Wind and Silver Snow are very similar (literally the cutscenes are re-used), you just don't like Edelgard.
I actually like Silver Snow better than Verdant Wind with the exception of the ass pull final boss and that weird scene where Seteth reads your mind lol but aside from that I really like what Silver Snow was going for. It was going for a tragic story fighting against your former student who you grew close to after spending a year together alongside the rest of the class who were also her friends. The concept was great but the execution was flawed mainly due to Edelgard and Rhea not getting enough scenes in the story that they both should have had the most relevance to. Verdant Wind on the other hand was just really lazy taking everything from Silver Snow bar the final boss and just throwing Claude into it lol very disappointing.
this is one of my favorite videos essays about dimitri that i keep coming back to watch. it’s exactly my thoughts on why azure moon is my favorite route in the game and why dimitri is a breath of fresh air as a fe lord and a character in general. not to mention, in a way i can relate to the themes of trauma, loss, and pain presented in the route. congratulations on a wonderful video!
Azure Moon is so good at getting you to care about Dimitri, that it collectively ruins the other routes.
Very much enjoyed your video. Azure Moon is also my favorite route, with my favorite cast too.
I think people underrate why personal narratives are superior to greater scope, big bad, total drama. It's goes beyond "boring chosen one hero" but it's certainly true as well. Simply, the big bad evil don't make for interesting villains. And they also don't in other FE games. Nobody cares about Manfroy in FE4; we like deep, well intentioned extremist Arvis. Nobody cares about Fomortiis in FE8; we care about Lyon and his relationship with the twins. Nobody cares about Garon in Fates; it's the tragedy of betraying your siblings that hits harder.
Azure Moon takes this theme and runs with it. The Agarthans set up the tragedy of Duscur. But it's Edelgard who represents the betrayal to Dimitri, similar to how Arvis betrays Sigurd or how Lyon betrays the twins. Edelgard is someone who matters to Dimitri from their childhood: her betrayal hits raw. Dimitri already had suspicions towards Arundel. But he never realized Edelgard could betray to that degree until the flame emperor throws the blue dagger back at him - the same dagger he told Byleth that he gave to Edelgard as a child. That's why the flame emperor reveal hits hardest on Blue Lions: because Edelgard mattered to Dimitri and her betrayal is personal. Not to mention she allied with those who caused the tragedy of Duscur.
Everything about its plot sets up the conflict between Edelgard and Dimitri. Arundel is dealt with, Cornelia is dealt with. But while their betrayal cuts Dimitri as the heir to the throne/prince, Edelgard betrayal cuts Dimitri as a former friend/family. That's why Edelgard matters more and why she is built up to be Dimitri's final challenge/boss. It works because nearly every chapter of part 1 set up this gradual conflict between them. And it works because the emotions matter.
Its even more deep when you realise theres a reason why dimitri hesitate to leave after killing El, i think at that moment, he realise Edelgard make everything possible to force Dimitri to kill her. (she also use the Dagger of all thing, just to cement this further...)
It's interesting that Sylvain's brother, and Ashe's former lord, were key characters in the first half of the game. That kind of makes me think that Azure Moon has a better claim on being the "Canon" route than the other ones do.
Holy shit this needs more views. THIS IS WELL WRITTEN AND I FUCKING LOVE YOUR VOICE. Is that weird. BUT SERIOUSLY THIS VIDEO SUMS UP MY FEELINGS ABOYT AZURE MOON. I ABSOLUTELY LIVE THIS. I didn't cry at all. I'm crying. Yes. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
*ugly sobbing* I cried so much in this route I had to physically force myself to finish Verdant Wind and Crimson Flower
Not weird at all! I appreciate ti and I'm glad you enjoyed the video
Ironically, Azure Moon is potentially the least bloody of all the paths in Three Houses since it's the only one where you don't have to kill Dimitri (not counting Silver Snow, but he's probably dead there too since he's implied to have committed suicide off-screen). If you somehow managed to recruit everyone before the timeskip, the only playable characters who are required to end up dead by the end of Azure Moon are Hubert, Edelgard, and Jeritza.
Im pretty sure that dimitri, claude and the rest of the class that you havent recruited is on a boat going to almyra playing cards
you can say the same with crimson flower too.
To me
Dimitri has the best story, his redemption is satisfying and Azure Moon is the most consistent route.
Claude has the most powerful words, his speech against Nemesis is impactful.
Edelgard has the best motives, she wants to tear down the system that has hurt more than benefited.
Dimitri has the best personal journey, Edelgard's story was sadly not given the time it derserved... and Claude is just a good boy
great video. i love this game and this particular route
I love the fact that Dimitri supress his revenge desires to fight to protect the present and change the world by his own way
As I am a loyal GD and love that route, BL/AM left a last impact. Especially Dimitri, and the supporting cast.
It felt like they all had character development and played a role in the story. Even though his path comes with a huge price, it was for the better for Fódlan.
Definitely one of my favorite RPGS of 2019/2020 hands down
Blue Lions is the path that requires the least amount of deaths.
I love your summary of the Blue Lions route. I must confess that I am biased, though, because I played Blue Lions first and also because for many of the reasons you mentioned, I felt the most aligned with the Blue Lions. I enjoy seeing the personal journey, and who doesn’t love a good redemption arc?
In my geeky naivete, however, I have been trying to make myself impartial as I try to understand the lore and such better. I wanted to theoretically make all the routes come together somehow, and the more I look, the less I’m convinced it could work, and it makes me sad. I definitely am a naive idealist. But one thing I did come up with for each route was that Blue Lions shows the redemption of one person, the Black Eagles shows the redemption of Fodlan or their rights as people, and Golden Deer shows the redemption of humankind everywhere, the world.
The redemption of Dimitri did change the nation for the better, but not as Claude or Edelgard would have, I think.
I wish I could reconcile this. Like I said, the Blue Lions are my favorite.
I call that hell form edelgard
I just finished My first and possibly only Playthrough of FE: Three Houses which was Azure Moon.
I'm pretty depressed with how it ended. Its all beautiful but I weep for Edel. I wish she had reached for Dimitri's hand. I feel her entire conquest was fueled by her trauma. Eradicating crests and your friends, I can't accept that as an answer ever. What upsets me is that while you can heal Dimitri's Darkness, why couldn't you heal Edel's?
I wish there was a way to unite the houses against 'Those who Slither in the Shadows' and save the 3 leaders and their friends. I would pay the full price of a game to play that route.
Honestly I think Blue Lions compounds the power of our choice of what house to follow,
Because every route
You effectively because the "good guy" no matter what because
In the end, those around you begin to falter and fail
But that's only because they lacked you, the player
Every house leader is incredibly flawed but is adjusted and fixed by the extension of the hand of an ally
And none is more extreme than that of Dimitri, (and in a way Edelgard but I digress)
The fact he is someone who is so far gone and flung out from reality, caught so much inside his head, and gripped so tightly by his trauma, that we see in all the other routes this man exploding into a self destructive rampage and getting himself killed all the time
But in Blue Lions
With the hand of a friend and ally to hold him steady, he is able to recover his path and walk strong on his own
The other two leaders are also in a similar albeit less severe boat
Claude will never be able to accomplish his ambitions because he lacks the conviction to see it through
And Edelgard's conviction, is too much, for an ambition, that's a little too broad, and goes through bull headedly through her obstacles
Without the professor to balance the negative traits of each leader, they all crumble to dust
But Dimitri and Blue Lions as a whole, centres the story on this important plot device,
We see a man who, in all other routes, rages and screams and sends hundreds to their death
Now become... At peace with himself.
In a way Edelgard plays a part in this too, without proper guidance of her own ambitions, she takes a dark path that is without the light of the players hand to help her walk out of, and thus she becomes the monster we feared Dimitri to become.
Made me want to replay this masterpiece
I absolutely agree with you. I loved playing through this storyline.
Claude is still for sure my favorite lord. However, Dimitri’s storyline is definitely my favorite of the 4 campaigns
Great analysis! I always thought azure moon was easily the most compelling narrative in three houses, and arguably one of the best in the series. Every character has a purpose and backstory intertwined with one another, which makes it seem like such a believable cast
You hit the nail on the head
I didn't know what lord to pick when the game was announced, so I remember looking at the website to see what all the characters in each house were like. What stood out the most to me was the mystery behind Dimitri's past - sure, on the surface, he looks like a fairy tale prince charming kind of guy, but if he truly is hiding much darker secrets, then it's likely a facade. I wasn't disappointed by Blue Lions at all, and the way each character was affected in some way by war and tragedy really gripped me. It made me really feel for them, and made their successes that much more compelling.
Beautiful analysis
THIS VIDEO IS A MASTERPIECE. In all seriousness, I truly believe that TWSITD and overall the Golden Deer route was made to give us a "morally easy" route and sort of mild comedic relief, especially after having played the other 3 paths (and of course, more content to keep coming back to the game). You can't go wrong with the guy that focuses on "the true bad guys" and wants to unite everyone and basically defeat racism lol. Out of all the Lords and Rhea, Claude is the easiest one to agree with and follow (I mean, you get a lot of hate for the other three too, but who can hate on Claude? A MONSTER. THAT'S WHO.) It kind of reminds me about GoT and Jon Snow against the walkers while the rest of the morally grey characters battle for the throne. Anyway, I choose AM complexity above it all. They handle depression in a way that hit home hard.
Extremely well done. Bravo.