This song is unofficially about the fate of “Major Tom” , the protagonist of David Bowie’s 1969 song “Space Oddity”. The song is about him breaking off contact with ground control and travelling off into space. After listening to this,this evening, I went on YouTube and watched a video of the German version from the movie “Atomic Blonde”. The music was totally out of context but because it was in German, and the movie is set in Berlin, it works beautifully…….

Preface / My reason behind doing this for 22 day:

• 1st reason is because I want to challenge myself on analysing a game narrative as a game design student.
• 2nd is that I want to improve people thought on both Edelgard as well as both of her routes as i feel like there is a lot of intentional misinformation out on her character as well her routes. ( I say Intentional since it was done by both the community, youtubers and TreeHouse. Which is sad because Edelgard and her routes, I feel has the best writing out of “Modern Fire Emblem” despite suffering from the flaws it received from the larger flaws within 3House and Hopes writing. ( Which is a larger topic that one day I might make a big post about. ) As on their own. These routes really don’t have many flaws and the flaws they do have can be forgiven I feel.
• I can’t write fic or draw for shit.

Notes: Originally, the first post was about Edelgard ideology and how it fitted into Humanism, but kept having brain farts. So I am skipping it for time being, I am using and continuing a analysis I wrote around 8 month more a go before losing interest. So there will be a few conflicting things here. And I guess change in writing. There will also be a lot of spelling and sentence mistakes because I am dyslexic as hell.
Now before I go into the nitty gritty of the post I will mention to 2 things. First is that I will probably come across as condescending as I will be talking about what is PTSD very thoroughly and explaining certain things like ‘Umbrella term’ in certain manner in the helps that it would better understand the subject matter for people.
The second thing’s is that I only have the basic understanding of PTSD and it subject manner because I only learn about PTSD and mental health issues when I was learning about the different counselling theory like behaviourism, psychodynamic and humanism therapy during my level 2 Youth Work course. It has been over 4 years since I was on that course and have I changed field of what I what to do with my life.
Due to this, I will most certainly make mistakes here and I am not that well educated on the subject matter. Compared to let say the person who I get popularised the theory
What is Trauma
In order to understand Post-traumatic stress disorder otherwise known as PTSD. We need to first understand what is “trauma”.
Trauma is an emotional response that happen immediately after or later in life after a negative event that either happens unexpectedly or over the cause of a few or a multitude of days. This negative event can be many many things.
This 4 minutes long video by Nation Health Service ( NHS for short. ) Scotland explains trauma within a person childhood, how it effect adulthood and some additionally information’s on the subject matter. But while the video is focusing more on the children side of the subject. It doesn’t mean that these thing doesn’t effect adult with their lives.
Adverse Childhood Experiences - NHS Health Scotland - YouTube
For those who don’t want to watch the video. Here’s a mind map I made. Yes I am putting that much effort into this post:
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https://preview.redd.it/wwyzxi1gth3b1.png?width=1600&format=png&auto=webp&s=7e4b0c0853ca5fcc57f343f680bf65373f7f3183
These are only the event that can cause Trauma that I can think of when writing this.
However, a key thing to understand about traumatic events is that people responds differently to the events that happens to them and that one traumatic event for one person might not be one for another.. Some are able to brush it off when it happens to them while other are unable to.
Using Dorothea and Ashe as an example here. They both suffer from being Homeless and was pick up by some sort of guardian figure. For Dorothea it was Manuela and the Opera company, while for Ashe, it was Lonato.
What separates them is that Ashe “overcame” his trauma and his mental health both due to his sibling, Lonato and Christoph being a loving adopted family and the environment that he was then surrounded in. Whilst with Dorothea, whilst Manuela was a loving guardian. She was brought into a environment that has a lot domestic violence, sexual abuse and much more which caused more mental health issues for Dorothea.
Understanding Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PSTD within the UK is classified as an Anxiety and Psychiatric Disorder but in countries it is most likely classified differently but the main thing is that can be cause by the traumatic event’s I mention early.It could appear after the traumatic event happened or later down the lines after a couple of month to a year.
For explaining PSTD here, I will be using a lot of source since I probably won’t be able to explain it properly and make sure people have a good understanding of it which is the main I want to do.
To use a quote from PTSD UK which is charity: PTSD Explained – PTSD UK

“It’s estimated that 50% of people will experience a trauma at some point in their life. The defining characteristic of a traumatic event is its capacity to provoke fear, helplessness, or horror in response to the threat of injury or death and therefore can affect anyone. Examples of traumatic events include assault, road traffic incident, natural disasters, domestic and child abuse, war, acts of terrorism and traumatic childbirth. (you can read more about the causes of PTSD here)
The majority of people exposed to traumatic events experience some short-term distress, but eventually, their trauma fades to a memory – painful, but not destructive. However, around 20% of people who experience a trauma go on to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In the UK, that’s around 6,665,000 people, yet it is still an incredibly misunderstood, often misdiagnosed and stigmatized condition.
PTSD typically causes four different groups of symptoms:
reliving the traumatic event perhaps in the form of flashback, nightmares or intrusive memories (also called re-experiencing or intrusion);
avoiding situations that are reminders of the event;
negative changes in beliefs and feelings;
and feeling hypervigilant and fearful to people and the world around you (also called hyperarousal). “
To go into further details on the symptoms of PTSD: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - Illnesses & conditions NHS inform
“Re-experiencing
Re-experiencing is the most typical symptom of PTSD.
This is when a person involuntarily and vividly relives the traumatic event in the form of:
flashbacks
nightmares
repetitive and distressing images or sensations
physical sensations, such as pain, sweating, feeling sick or trembling
Some people have constant negative thoughts about their experience, repeatedly asking themselves questions that prevent them coming to terms with the event.
For example, they may wonder why the event happened to them and if they could have done anything to stop it, which can lead to feelings of guilt or shame.
Avoidance and emotional numbing
Trying to avoid being reminded of the traumatic event is another key symptom of PTSD.
This usually means avoiding certain people or places that remind you of the trauma, or avoiding talking to anyone about your experience.
Many people with PTSD try to push memories of the event out of their mind, often distracting themselves with work or hobbies.
Some people attempt to deal with their feelings by trying not to feel anything at all. This is known as emotional numbing.
This can lead to the person becoming isolated and withdrawn, and they may also give up pursuing activities they used to enjoy.
Hyperarousal (feeling "on edge")
Someone with PTSD may be very anxious and find it difficult to relax. They may be constantly aware of threats and easily startled.
This state of mind is known as hyperarousal.
Hyperarousal often leads to:
irritability
angry outbursts
sleeping problems (insomnia)
difficulty concentrating
Other problems
Many people with PTSD also have a number of other problems, including:
other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety or phobias
self-harming or destructive behaviour, such as drug misuse or alcohol misuse
other physical symptoms, such as headaches, dizziness, chest pains and stomach aches
PTSD sometimes leads to work-related problems and the breakdown of relationships.”

This short video below goes into what is PTSD. ( It explains it better then what I ever could.):
The psychology of post-traumatic stress disorder - Joelle Rabow Maletis - YouTube
The main 2 thing I want to mention from this video is:
The first is what separate people from having PTSD to not having it is when the symptoms of what the source I mention earlier are consistent, where these flashbacks and nightmare keep happening after a month from traumatic incident or when you start having these symptoms suddenly one day after 5 month from the Traumatic event and where the symptoms start to bleed into everyday life and have an effect similar to addiction and other mental health issues.
And the thing is that you don’t have to show all the symptoms to have PTSD. It similar to every other mental health but also disability where you could show just a few of those symptoms but they are enough to prove that you may have it.
The second is about how things that relate to the original trauma can cause a person to re experience and relive the trauma.
The difference between PTSD and C-PTSD
The last thing I want to mention is that there are multiple version of PTSD, this is something that people who aren’t as knowledgeable on mental health as a whole. Both of these come under the parent category or rather umbrella term / category of ‘Disorders specifically associated with stress’. ( This is a recent change from the World Health Organisation’s.)
To simplify Umbrella terms, think of it as something similar to genres where within video games, you have your shooters genre and within that genre you have your first-person shooters, third-person shooters, arcade shooters and much more. That is what Umbrella terms is and is used a lot in the social working field as a whole.
And while doing my research I have found about ‘normal stress response, comorbid PTSD, acute stress disorder and uncomplicated PTSD’ which fit under this umbrella category. I will only be talking about the two in the title.
The main difference between Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Complex-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the duration of the traumatic event.
To quote a video by “Psycho2Go” which goes into detail about C-PTSD:C-PTSD...What is it? - YouTube

“PTSD is typically triggered by a specific or a series of events in a short period of time. While C-PTSD is caused by a series of traumatic events over a long period of time.”

In other word’s, PTSD is caused by a singular traumatic event like car accidents or being raped whilst C-PTSD is caused by multiple, long-lasting, repeated or continuos traumas or traumatic events like domestic abuses, bullying and Repeated exposure to disaster, accidents, deaths or violent acts (including emergency service workers)
C-PTSD whilst share the same symptoms as one I mention above is much more severe then normal PTSD becomes of the continuos traumatic events which causes trust issues and if not treated can lead to all sorts of other issues like addictions, depression, anxiety and self-destructive behaviour to name a few and require much more professional help.
However, mental health issues as a whole is like a spectrum and ultimately symptoms and traumatic event are not binary. You can go through one single traumatic event and get C-PTSD while another person could through multiple and receive as bad PTSD or none at all. Traumatic event effect everyone differently and it also the fact that everyday life can effect this spectrum. Some day people with it are ok, other day it’t really bad.
To quote the same video again:

“C-PTSD is an issue involving safety, for examples those who grew up in abusive household may lack a feeling of safety. This constant fear, a physical, emotional or psychological harm in childhood can cause problems later in life.”

( This quote makes me want to want something about Dorothea trauma.)
In general trying to explain mental health condition as a whole is bloody hard to do.
Hopefully, I successfully explain what is PTSD that a lot of you understands it better thought honestly I think I probably made a good few mistakes here and there. Now let get onto explain about whether or not Edelgard has PTSD.
Edelgard Traumatic Events
Now ignoring the war aspect of the game since this Fire Emblem Game but also to borrow a quote from a another reddit user on a separate post where they were reply to another comment to give a reason why we are ignoring it. ( Not mentioning their usernames here because I don’t want them to get harassed. )
“I agree with all you said, especially the part "we don't live in Fodlan and they don't live in our world. If tomorrow you get attack by a group of bandits, you will probably get scared for life". Some scientific articles speak about that even in our modern world. The culture amd context of our country (people living in a country plunged by war are less at risk developing a ptsd from hearing/seeing a shooting than a dude living in the US/EU.). other factors include age (a little one doesn't have resources an adult has), duration, type of trauma (you can have some subtile differences, for example if the trauma is caused by someone you know or not, are you the author or victim of the abuse etc.), personality and past of someone (risk factors, how one manages stress) etc. Psychotraumatology is a new field and even today we haven't unbuncked precisely why one develops ptsd and the other no in reaction to a same event.”
Edelgard has quite a few traumatic event.

Traumatic event 1: The Insurrection of the Seven

Edelgard first traumatic event is in fact the Insurrection of Seven ( IoS for short. ), being separated from majority of her family and being forced to go into hiding with Faerghus.
We know that before the IoS, Edelgard has a good childhood with her being surrounded by her loving and caring family that is her siblings, Father, real Uncle and her retainer / best friend Hubert.
From a Youth Worker PoV, I could mention about her not having two parents or two Guardians and the effects it can cause with all that stuff since Anselma was exiled from the Empire when Edelgard was a baby. But the real Arundel took up and became what is Edelgard second Parent / Guardian who was very caring and dotted on her which makes up for Edelgard not having 2 parents. ( And in reality, a lot of people nowaday has grown up with only one parent, so this point is utterly point less. )
It’s also implied in AM and details within both games as well as Jp version that Edelgard around this time was religious personas well, most likely getting this from the real Arundel as he was a deeply pious person. Note: It’s could implied that Hubert is also religious due to him carrying a Goddess Talisman around.
However, Edelgard going into hiding was very sudden, in fact thanks to her support with Manuela that we know that Edelgard went to see a performance by Manuela with Her Uncle before leaving the Empire to go into hiding in Faerghus.
This would have caused a lot of stress for a child Edelgard, going from a loving family setting into a very unknown location, forced into hiding with no other point of contact other then her uncle would have been traumatic for Edelgard.
Even though she gain a new friend within Dimitri that unknown to him would have help her through it just by being friend. Since people underestimate how much being friends with someone can do for someone during struggling times. Over course of 1 to 3 years.
I say 1-3 I remember the game not being consistent with this detail of how long they knew each other for which is partly on Treehouse mistranslation, CF for not really caring Edelgard and Dimitri previous which isn’t a negative as route and Edelgard character chooses to focus on the present and future while AM is AM. ( If this sound like I do not like AM, you are correct.)
The event would have introduced a sense of fear when comes change and safety as she basically went into a big unknown. An unknown that is Faerghus. Which considering the lore, is bad. Like Faerghus would and should have a 0 out of ten on Trivago for a reason. Faerghus is inspired by the UK for a reason I know this as Brit.

Traumatic event 2: The Return to the Empire, The New “Uncle Arundel” and the Experiment.

Joking / not joking aside ( Like serious, Faerghus is bad. ) we known that this isn’t the last traumatic event as Edelgard sudden return to the Empire would have reintroduced this traumatic feeling into her. Especially, after she found a norm within the Kingdom even if it isn’t the same one as the her original norm within the Empire. This feel would have become worst with the sudden change in her “uncle”, going from a kind and loving person to a very blunt and cold person. ( Or rather Thalas body snatching Arundel )
This possible trauma did become a genuine thing if it hasn’t before as we know Edelgard has nightmare of the following event’s returning to the Empire, seeing her father powerless, seeing his eyes looking her in care. ( Care part was removed in Translation.) and seeing his clenched fists dripping with blood. Whilst details he betray from her Uncle is something we can definitely imply.
This event becomes worst as she forced into the deepest part of Enbarr castle, it lowest dungeon, far from the light above for the experiment TWSITD, her new uncles and some of the Empire nobles.
A subtle detail I just notice and another detail often missed is that there are multiple dungeons within Embarr. As within Edelgard support with Ferdinand in 3Hopes, she states that the dungeon of Ferdinand imagine of what the place his father would be like is a reality and is further down from where his father is staying.
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https://preview.redd.it/gwxv5mokth3b1.png?width=701&format=png&auto=webp&s=c0f53edbfd0665bd9bb716f9e717937638d15733
With Edelgard then saying before hand that she only been down there once, imply that other then her long placement down there during the experiment. She never return to the place of her sibling death. ( As Game Design Student and Media, I love camera shot above. )
While the detail that people missed mainly because it was removed in the English version was the implication that some of the Empire Nobles did know about the Experiments like Aegir and supposedly Varley but did nothing about. Note: Why would they as Ionius was trying to slowly strip their power with his reform. ( Yet again Treehouse removed the detail Ionius changing the Empire through reformation. It is one of the prime lore example of why change through diplomacy or reform won’t work. ) ( A nice detail also is that Edelgard choose not to put Ludwig Aegir in same dungeon, he put her and her siblings. Instead a better cells, something which Ferdinand appreciate Edelgard for doing. )
Getting back on topic, we know for a fact that the Experiment is a deeply traumatic event as we know that Edelgard struggles to get to sleep at night due to the nightmare and insomnia it cause her, seeing her sibling and father suffer.
She also reliving the event both at Remire village, her 3 Hopes paralogue, Hyrm in SB and the return of TWSITD in 3 Hopes. It’s an event that plagues her mind at times and is something she tries to lie to Byleth to a degree due to the nature of it all. ( She lies about it being a plague to them, which isn’t a bad thing since if Edelgard was to tell them without fully trusting them, them blabbing about it would put both Byleth at risk but also Edelgard. )
The Experiment very much gave Edelgard a deeply traumatic experiment on it own to the point that it enough evidence to say she has got C-PTSD from this alone. But we not finished there as still got two more traumatic event.

Traumatic event 3: Lost in Faith.

Now there was a reason behind me mention Edelgard being previous religiously, possibly to the degree of being a devout follow and that because Edelgard went through a lose of faith during the experiment.
I think this quote from CaptainFlash just sums it better then what I ever could:Edelgard and faith : fireemblem (reddit.com)

If you look at Edelgard's conversation with Dimitri in Azure Moon, a heartbreaking fact emerges-Edelgard was once a devout believer. She says to Dimitri- "Even if one clings to their faith, the goddess will never answer them. Countless souls will be lost that way. Living without purpose. And I can be counted among those who have died that way as well." The implication here is devastating- Edelgard was a formerly religious child, "clinging to their faith", pleading to the goddess to make her torture stop, and was instead left broken and ignored (of course, she had no way of knowing about Sothis' true situation). This makes sense given what we know about the greater social context of Fodlan-individuals who have a Crest often are presumed to have a special relationship with those who originated their Crests. This would be particularly true for a young girl bearing the Crest of Seiros, the first and most famous disciple of Sothis, particularly given the close historical ties between Seiros and the Adrestian Emperors. However, young Edelgard's petitions to the gods remained unanswered-her siblings died horrifically in front of her eyes, and she herself was tortured both psychologically and physically for years. Edelgard's entire worldview was shattered.
I want to make a brief aside here, to state that, as you can probably guess from some of my other posts, I empathize greatly with Edelgard and her worldview. There is nothing-not her death scenes, not turning into a monster in Azure Moon, not confirming her fatalistic world view by rejecting her in the tomb, which is more painful and true to life to me than those lines she says to Dimitri. There's a term with C-PTSD called "loss of systems of meaning" where the individual experiences a disconnect with their pre-trauma self and are unable to rely on things that previously defined his or her identity-that's what happened to Edelgard. It's why she says things like "the Edelgard who cries died years ago."
One of the major teachings of the Church of Seiros is that the goddess "cares for and protects all that is beautiful in this world" (You can find this listed among the major commandments of the faith in the library). One can certainly see the devastating impact this had on Marianne (who speaks of Edelgard in reverent tones in CF), but it also had a deep impact on Edelgard and how she views herself. Since Edelgard wasn't cared for and protected, she must not be "beautiful." If you want an idea of how Edelgard views herself internally, one need only look at Hegemon Edelgard in Azure Moon, a (symbolic) physical manifestation of Edelgard's dehumanization and utter self-loathing. This sense of abandonment, broken faith, and the persistent belief that she unable to be loved drives everything that Edelgard does. Due to this internalized sense of abandonment, Edelgard lacks self-worth as a human being-it's why she continues to question Byleth following her even in Crimson Flower, and why she says she "never thought" anyone would follow her.

I think what makes this situation worst is both the crest Edelgard received and the situation she is in. In that during the experiment, seeing her siblings slowly going insane before dying whilst her prays goes ignored. Being surrounded by Rat and never seeing the light again.
Until one day, she find a different crest that appears that isn’t Crest of Seiros. A built up Crest of Flame, that Nemesis, a corrupted Hero, a figure within the religious that hailed him as a Villain for being delighted in bloodshed, now appears. This would have shattered her belief since it would possible proof that the Goddess might not be real and that Crest aren’t gift at all.
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This whole break in faith becomes worst when you consider the Emperor, knowledge or rather text pass down through Emperor stating the truth about the war. That Nemesis wasn’t this figure of villainy the Church built up was just bandit. That the war between the Empire and Church / Nabataen vs Nemesis King of Liberation / Northern Fodlan and TWSITD ( a faction removed from history. ) wasn’t a holy war but instead dispute, a war over who would be in power. Before learning about the existence of Nabataen’s.
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Here the teaspoon translation of the dialogue.
Edelgard faith in the Goddess and in the Church as it stands is something that basically got repeatedly stamp and made her look like a fool. As she learn 70-80% of the Truth about the war of Heroes.
The only part she is missing is the original spat war between TWSITD and Nabatean and how side has suffered such as the genocide on both races but which point does it stop mattering, ( Genocide is bad and there nothing excusing it but it clear within the narrative that both Argarthan or Nabataen are as bad as each other. )
The continue war and manipulation between two faction has gone on for over 1000 years to Edelgard with both side showing they are more then content willing to use those around them. Rhea and Seteth willing to censor information and abuse their position and the Church monopoly in order to keep their ivory tower and to keep their version of “peace.” ( As CF, WC, SB and the introduction of 3 Hopes shows. )
Whilst TWSITD are TWSITD, it clear the spat battle will continue until either sides are completely gone. Just like the Edelgard debates ffs.
But getting back on topic, the shattering of Edelgard faith would have caused a both trauma for her as well as a changes in ideology when it comes to the faith. In that her views has becomes negative.
I am just going to post a good chunk of her support with Manuela from Teaspoon Translation but I want people to remember something and that is at times. Edelgard speaks about subtle about speaking herself as well as her previous self. In most cases, she is quite negative.
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https://preview.redd.it/svroa0druh3b1.png?width=363&format=png&auto=webp&s=8f7ecd46562a0a297f89a73b73c6608eb9fe9055
Edelgard belief in the current Church of Seiros is negative, seeing the corruption within it and understanding that the only way to fix the issues is to start again.
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https://preview.redd.it/3kde4ehtuh3b1.png?width=481&format=png&auto=webp&s=3e566a36e2afdb87fb57325de3697a9e952c6632
Something that she sorta does in 3 Hopes to an extent by reforming the Southern Church. (Varley is only in the position he is in is because Edelgard and Hubert needed to find a way to keep him busy and to use him as a Assassination pawn for the Church to try and kill as in 3 House, he under house arrest imply which implies a lot of things. All of them negative )
Edelgard faith in the goddess is gone. Now onto the last traumatic.

Traumatic event 4: TWSITD continual existence.

This one is the most easier to explain as they are Edelgard abuser, their return in SB causes Edelgard trauma to return and for her to relive the events. Something that is really understated by I feel the community is how well written SB is and how good Edelgard support Bernadetta is as it delivers into the both character trauma.
Edelgard partly see the trauma, the nightmares and fears she received from TWSITD and their experiment as a curse, believing that because she beat TWSITD and that they are gone for a while, that her curse has been lifted, the same way Bernadetta trauma / curse has been lifted due to Varley situation at the Monastery, fearing assassination attempt, Bernie being away from him as well as surrounding herself with her friends.
Until the ticking bomb within SB narrative explodes and TWSITD causing Edelgard trauma / curse to resurface. Something that Edelgard tries to hide from her friends around her, only for Bernadetta to see through Edelgard, seeing the trauma / curse eat away at her, relating to Edelgard and her issues. Understanding the negative emotion Edelgard is feeling, the Hyperarousal we talked about earlier you may say.

Hyperarousal (feeling "on edge")
Someone with PTSD may be very anxious and find it difficult to relax. They may be constantly aware of threats and easily startled.

This is one of Fire Emblem best support and this is totally not my next post.
But yeah, because of th situation Edelgard find herself in. Her trauma continues.

Does Edelgard have PTSD?

Short answer, yes she does in fact C-PTSD. She suffers from a lot of the symptoms.
Long Answer, still yes. Edelgard as through both games, it clears she suffers from a lot of the symptoms like:

• Re-experiencing
  • Nightmares
  • Flashbacks
  • physical sensations, such as pain, sweating, feeling sick or trembling
• Avoidance and emotional numbing
  • A key part of Edelgard relationship with Bernadetta and especially Byleth is the idea of numbing one feels. Edelgard in WC actively tries to numb her feeling in attempt to not become overly emotion. One of her dislike is losing control of Emotion.( Treehouse got rid of the Emotion parts. ) As well as distancing herself from other due to said trauma and because of Hubert fearing for her safety because own trauma
• Her whole B support with Byleth is about Edelgard losing her emotion, losing the human part of herself. That is point behind Heart of Ice line, the JP version implied this but it was sorta lost in translation because Treehouse but also by the community. It why when understand the themes of the route that her scene of painting Byleth, a friend of her becomes much more impactful as she is allowing herself to do an activities that isn’t work related as is a hobby. ( 3hopes makes it clear Edelgard doesn’t relax or takes break enough. )
• Hyperarousal (feeling "on edge")
  • irritability
  • angry outbursts
  • sleeping problems (insomnia)
• Other problems
  • Phobias like with Rat but most notably her thalassophobia, which fear of bodies of water. Which is mostly likely caused by her Trauma, Ironically at the hands of Thalas.
  • Destructive behaviour. ( Hegemon, her lack of self-worth, etc. )
  • PTSD sometimes leads to work-related problems and the breakdown of relationships.
• Edelgard also suffers from memory lost because of the traumatic

It clear Edelgard suffer from a lot of symptoms and it best to say that her trauma is C-PTSD because it very much was continues. She went from traumatic event to another, whilst we never fully got her feeling on the stay at the Kingdom since we can’t really use Dimitri as he is unreliable narrator because of his own trauma caused by both Faerghus system and the assassination attempt. It clear Edelgard feeling on the stay was mixed but it had one good thing in it being her time with Dimitri.
But otherwise, Edelgard went from one traumatic event that basically beat her down, ripping apart both the people she loved and what she believed. The darkness kept getting darker for her until she was the only one left.

Conclusion

For the conclusion I want to talk about two things. First is how I guess how much more grounded her portray of PTSD is and I guess how inspiring it. But also I guess the issues people have with neither game focussed on Edelgard past.
Ok first thing first, Edelgard portray is probably one of more ground of PTSD. It not hypermedialised ( I not sure if that the right terminology.) like Dimitri PTSD where it very much a toxic and bad portrayal of it similar to guess the Good Doctor and most other shows that has a Autistic character in my opinion.( Very much a problem that with Dimitri and AM writing. ) There a lot more people who suffer from issues or I disabilities that hide it that you wouldn’t know until getting to know the person.
Edelgard C-PTSD is very much more subtle and less in your face even after you know about Edelgard issues as it put within her dialogue in a smart way. before you get to her C- support, you would never guess this girl who poses like this whilst wearing bright red tights:
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Would be suffering from trauma, no, you think she a prideful upper class nobles due to her clothing, Possibly to an egotistical degree. But the design and her writing work because it tears down all perceived idea you have on her character trauma. Edelgard mask and hide her trauma like most other people do. She cares about people not because it her job but because she actually gives shit about people and their lives and wants the best for them.
And Edelgard view on her trauma which I will expanded on my next post is sorta inspiring because her thoughts ultimately goes. “My family are dead and I was experiment as well as countless others who were made victim by Fodlan issues. That is in the past, people are still suffering today and I refuse to allow more people to become victim and I am going to fight for both here and in the future so then they can makes a word based on their own agency, free from parties that made people in victim.”
It inspiring because it a refusal to allow oneself to lose themselves in issues they are having. To continue fighting for a brighter future. Something that is actually constant theme and motif within Fire Emblem series and its a theme that CF and SB holds the most relevance to out of the routes in both games. And I feel like it hits most well here compared to previous FE games because of how much more personal and grounded the game tries to be.
Secondly, I don’t think it a issues that neither CF or SB touches on Edelgard past either with showcasing her sibling and her relationship or seeing Ionius and Anselma true love for each other. ( Since it implied Anselma didn’t love Lambert and all that inconsistent stuff with AM, Hapi support and AG does with Anselma. )
Does it suck that we don’t get scene of Edelgard and her past. Yes, I do want to know more about her sibling and of the empire and it politics. But that a sign of a well written character, lore and story. The feeling of wanting more from it. CF and SB are very much stories that understand it what it going and cuts out all the extra fat that Fire Emblem normally has that ultimately takes away from the story.
Both stories are about Edelgard, her war and focusing on the issues her and now and trying to improve things for the future. Going against opponents that either refuse to change or hold net negative belief or holds differ belief. Her going back onto the past while interesting, would hinder the tight pacing in both those routes when it comes to the media of video games. ( Focusing on the past is Dimitri things,even if it done badly in my opinion. )
Now if let say 3 House and Hopes get a anime, light novel or manga adaptation, then you can proper pacing the story much more because it being a passive form of media. As well as chose when you want to explore Edelgard and her past, making her the central character for let say the Episode, book chapter.
Something that you could also do with other character like let say Claude and going into his childhood and his toxic relationship with his sibling. Or Dorothea and her trying to survive on the street. Or Valery abuse of Bernadetta. You can better explore this character and who they are in these media better then in video games.
Crimson Flower and Scarlett Blaze in my opinion are the only routes that I feel would only be a net positive and wouldn’t have negative that would appear within their narrative unlike other routers. But I’m going to stop here as I basically shat on other routes and Dimitri for this segment.
I hope people had a nice read and I hope everyone has a nice day. ALSO HOW DO YOUR CROSS POST.

Japan Communists make good music. Stalin would be proud.

I couldn't find this anywhere so I figured i'll do it myself and I also added lyrics in English and Japanese, aswell as the voice lines of the anime and romantized lyrics. I hope y'all enjoy