Ideologies of the three Lords
(spoilers for all routes)
Iāve heard some talk about ideologies and people not being sure who believes in what, so I wanted to do a little breakdown on the ideologies of the main lords based on 1) what their goals are and 2) what theyāre willing to do to achieve them. The reason I emphasize the second is because methodology is an essential part of ideology, especially with these three. A methodology is an ideological decision on what can be sacrificed and what canāt for the sake of an end goal.
Edelgard: Equality through force. Priority is eliminating influence of Crests and the Church.
*I use āforceā instead of ārevolutionā because revolution comes from within, which only covers her actions in Adrestia. Force, specifically military force, is required for her plans for the rest of Fódlan. See below for more.
Dimitri: Equality through reform. Priority is eliminating racial inequality and avoiding violent conflict.
Claude: Equality through diplomacy. Priority is unification and eradicating racial inequality.Ā
In all, the Lords all have similar goals. Edelgard and Dimitri both agree that Crests are a problem. Dimitri and Claude both want to stop racial inequality. Edelgard and Claude both think the Church is a negative influence. While their main focuses are different, they have, for the most part, identified the same problems with Fódlanās society and feel these need to be changed. Where they really distinguish themselves is in how they think change should be conducted.
Further, no Lord is explicitly what weād identify as āleftā- or ārightā-wing in a contemporary framework. For example, all of them want equality, but how a person might define āequalityā varies dramatically depending on your beliefs. Equality under Liberalism looks very different from equality under Communism, and we generally donāt get the kind of information that would clarify what their positions are in these frames.
Except that Claude discusses free markets. Claude Fire Emblem: your only Lord with an economic policy.Ā
NOTE: I like all of the Lords a lot. Like anyone, I have a favorite and my own opinions about their ideologies, but I love every Lord, am sympathetic to their perspectives, and tried very hard to be evenhanded in my descriptions of their points of view. This is not meant to hate on any of them. Please donāt be nasty about them here.