Question re: Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken & Sword of Seals

[SirJuicius]

Okay, this is a question that may or may not have an answer, but when I think about this, I always go deep into pondering... Anyway, my question is who is really the bad guy in those games? I know Nergal and the Black Fang are the main villains in Rekka no Ken and Zeiphel is the main villain in Sword of Seals. But it's strange how the Zeiphel's role reverses.

For those unaware, in Rekka no Ken, the Black Fang sent Jaffar and Nino to assassinate Prince Zeiphel, who at that time was a child. This was per request of the King of Bern, who is Zeiphel's father. Eliwood and company prevent Zeiphel from being assassinated, and as a result, Zeiphel lives. After defeating the dragons and Nergal, we learn that the King of Bern has been killed. By whom we do not know, but we are taken to a cutscene where an enigmatic man approaches a much older Zeiphel and apparently lost his eye, and the word "dragon" entices Zeiphel.

Fast forward to Sword of Seals. We learn that Bern has implemented a full-scale assault on bordering neighbors, specifically Ostia. As the Sword of Seals story goes forward, we learn that Zeiphel killed his father after he tried to assassinate him yet again. We also learn that Zeiphel's mind has been seriously altered in between the time of the aftermath of Nergal and the Sword of Seals story. As a child, he wanted peace and tranquility, but as an adult, he realized that the only answer to solutions is through war and that dragons, who he admired more than humans, would help him realize his vision of taking back the continent of Elibe.

So to repeat the question, who is the bad guy for real? Because it isn't as easy of an answer as it seems. Was Zeiphel's father the bad guy? Because he not only tried to have Zeiphel killed through a contract with the Black Fang, but he tried poisoning him. He never liked Zeiphel and always wanted Guinivere to take the throne of Bern. Essentially though, you could say that the King of Bern changed Zeiphel from a chaste and kind character to a cold-hearted and vicious character through his actions.

But then again, if you look at it from a different perspective, if Zeiphel were to have been killed when he was a child, would the King of Bern be seen as someone good? Because he would have prevented Zeiphel from assuming the throne in a state of madness. As a result, Hector *may* have not been killed and the whole war would never have happened. So if we look at it from that perspective... that would make Eliwood, Hector, Lyndis and the rest of the group the bad guys and the Black Fang would be seen as the heroes.

In fact, you could say Eliwood and company are bad because they allowed Zeiphel to live, although to their defense, they could not have anticipated the events that would transpire in the future. However, they did allow him to live, and that could make them be bad.

And of course, you could say Zeiphel himself is the only bad guy, but I find that to be unfair. Psychologically, he was ruined by his father. He and Guinivere made mention of how he tried so hard to make his father proud, but just couldn't. Add the fact that he tried to kill Zeiphel and then you have yourself a man who may have lost his sanity.

Anyway, what's your opinion on the matter? I'd love to read what you have to say.

 

[Wintropy]

Zephiel is definitely not the bad guy, that much I think is clear. He's a victim of circumstance and a tragic antagonist, and while his actions are heinous in their intent, he does possess latently altruistic goals.

That being said, there's a strong argument that the King of Bern is the source of Zephiel's madness: valuing Guinevere over him, killing the pet fox he got for her, multiple assassination attempts and routine emotional abuse hardened young Zephiel's heart and shattered any sense of love or decency he may have possessed. Had his father not been a vindictive maniac, it's possible that Zephiel would have grown up in a loving environment and maintained his sense of childhood innocence. Or possibly his madness is a nascent trait, and it only manifest when he matured into an adult (though it was no doubt exacerbated by his father's wanton malice).

The thing is, we don't know how Zephiel would have turned out had things been different. We can speculate, though, and I thus present a number of potential alternatives:

Canon timeline

Zephiel's father tries to assassinate Zephiel as a boy; the Black Fang's assassination attempt is thwarted by Nino an Jaffar's change of heart at the last minute; Zephiel fakes his own death and murders his father him in retaliation; Zephiel ascends to the throne and becomes the new King of Bern; his hatred of humanity and desire for peace at any cost drives him to make a pact with the dragons and usher in a war between Bern and its neighbours; Zephiel is regarded as a cruel tyrant and a madman, and is forever remembered as an evildoer is was bravely defeated by Prince Roy of Elibe and his comrades.

Verdict: Zephiel is not the true villain.

Happy family timeline

Zephiel's father is an honest and caring man who values both of his children dearly; Zephiel is never subject to assassination attempts, at least not by his father, and therefore has no reason to resent his old man and kill him; in this timeline, let's presume that Zephiel is not inherently mad, and he grows up to become a wise and benevolent ruler to his people; the pact with the dragons is never made, and the war never starts; Zephiel is considered a just king and is forever beloved by his people.

Verdict: Zephiel is not the villain at all.

Still mad timeline

As above, but Zephiel is inherently a sociopathic madman; he fakes his own death and murders his father out of spite and a lust for power, and ascends to the throne as the new King of Bern; the rest of the canon timeline occurs, except this presumes Zephiel is indeed an evil person by nature, rather than by his own traumatic upbringing; alternatively, Zephiel's father knew of his son's madness, and thus it can possibly be justified that he would attempt to assassinate him for the greater good.

Verdict: Zephiel is most definitely the villain.

Higher powers timeline

As "happy family" timeline, but in this instance, Zephiel is tricked by the dragons into believing that they will bring about peace if he allies with them; in his naivete, Zephiel agrees, and is drawn into a war that he later has no choice but to partake in; he fights Roy and his comrades reluctantly, and still believes that something good will come of his actions; he is forever remembered as a tragic fool who is defeated by Roy and co. for the good of the world.

Verdict: Zephiel is not the true villain.

I think we need to consider here as well, what could Eliwood and friends have done differently? Probably very little. There's no way they could have foreseen that Zephiel would turn out the way he did, much less that it would be the best option to kill him and be done with it. I can't imagine Eliwood or his allies being the kind of people who would murder a child, even with the best of intentions, and especially with no evidence that it would be a worthwhile endeavour. You can argue that they are partially responsible, insofar as they did nothing to prevent Zephiel's rise to power, but it's not like they knew what to expect or anything. It's difficult to judge somebody as evil because they did not expect how events would unfold because of their inaction.

Bear in mind also history is full of people like Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, people who thought they were doing the right thing and wanted the best for their people, yet are commonly judged to be villains because of the evil things they did to achieve those aims; similarly, there are a great many people like Robert J. Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein who came to regret their actions and its effect on humanity, yet chose to atone for them and ensure peace and prosperity would be maintained in future.

It's difficult to judge the merit of others without considering the big picture and their place in it. Zephiel had good intentions, at least initially, though you could say the previous King of Bern did, too. For better or for worse, though, the latter's methods of ensuring his kingdom's prosperity (to wit: let Guinevere become Queen of Bern, kill Zephiel to get him out of the picture) ultimately may have caused more hardship for his people and their neighbours. Ultimately, it's a tricky situation, and I'd argue that there is no singular villain: it's all a tragedy of circumstance, a rich tapestry of violence and hatred that is only resolved by the actions of the Prince of Elibe and his stalwart allies.

 

[L9999]

Ultimately, it's a tricky situation, and I'd argue that there is no singular villain: it's all a tragedy of circumstance, a rich tapestry of violence and hatred that is only resolved by the actions of the Prince of Elibe and his stalwart allies.

Wow, this black and white morality games don't have a villian and everything is a misunderstanding? THEY MADE US THINK! GENIUS! Better than Awakening.