#agarthans

[moltz23]

So I'm working on a new essay about Thales and TWSITD, and I found out the topic at hand needs to go over Edelgard's reasoning behind her massive beef with Rhea and the Church. Very quickly.

So I made this for it. Maybe it can be of help to someone in the meantime idk.

[slotumn]

My personal headcanon about the Agarthans is that they actually began as a political/ideological movement, rather than a culture in the ethnicity sense.

The politics and ideology in question is along the lines of "the fact we are in the place we are (both in terms of economic status and the ideology they subscribe to) prove that we are inherently (genetically) superior" + "the unwashed masses are a waste of space and resources that will reproduce more shitty genetically inferior subhumans and were only ever good as cheap labor (slaves) for us to use, but we have reached a technological singularity where we don't need to rely on them for that either; therefore the correct and natural thing to do is liquidate them and make the world our playground"

The main reason why they dislike Sothis is that 1. she can hard counter their technological singularity because she has full mastery of everything it was built on in the first place, and 2. she is a definite and unlimited safety net for the "inferior unwashed masses" to turn to, which is a big obstacle to Agarthans making Soylent Green out of the underclass

As one might expect, the movement is mainly lead by the ultra-wealthy, but there are actually a disturbing amount among the "unwashed masses" who agree with the Agarthans, thinking they are somehow an exception. Probably not a majority, but enough. Because you are not immune to propaganda etc and of course the Agarthans have money to spend on that.

Meanwhile, even when the goddess quite literally exists in physical form, the decline of religiosity in a post-industrial society still applied. The goddess and her children are there as a form of public service/social safety net, are generally well-respected, and still worshipped/revered by religious people, but overall their social authority isn't as absolute as it was back when humans needed to rely on them for more fundamental survival and safety needs.

So after getting enough bullet fodder on their side through relentless advertising and propaganda, the Agarthans declare war on Sothis for daring to have the concept of public good (in a "they are all my children and I must care for them" way) and not being a eugenicist. Ultimately they lose, but they do succeed in killing off most other humans. And the fact they survived this war at all reinforces their belief that they are superior and everyone else in the old civilization were inferior fucks who Deserved It.

As for the the "new" humans that Sothis repopulated Fódlan with, whose DNA is most likely reconstructed from the humans who sided with Sothis?

Obviously they are genetically pre-determined to be shitty subhuman slop, and Sothis is a bitch for daring to give the "untermensch genes" another chance in the world.

Anyway elitism, social Darwinism, and eugenics are definitely great things to base a "civilization" on and broil in for thousands of years. Treating the "subhuman slop" as lab rats and disposable tools to use against Sothis and her kids will not come to bite them in the ass at all.

Tl;dr what if you suggested that social safety nets should exist but then the We Love Putting Poor People Into Grinders Society started screaming about how you are an untermensch who has been brainwashed by the woke commie goddess* and launched an ICBM at your city

(*said goddess has essentially just been doing the same shit she always did ever since she arrived, long before the development of modern ideologies)

[princeorque]

As much as the implementation of the Agarthans is significantly flawed, I do think they hold a narrative role that is more interesting than given credit for.

Fe3h wider story surrounds a conflict that takes roots in much deeper history than first appears. Fundamentally, it arises from the problems of a society based on what Seiros built centuries ago from the fondation of the Church of Seiros to the crested elites... Which in itself originate from the conflicts between the first humans, the Agarthans, and the Nabateans.

In this way, the existence of the Agarthans in relation to the Nabateans embodies a cyclical nature of conflict. Not only does it give depth to the story in the present of the game by giving it a past, but it also strengthens the ideological themes presented in the war and renforce narrative parallel between characters.

For example, there's Claude who has distance with the past haunting Fodlan: him defeating Nemesis to then free Fodlan from some of the shackles holding it back feels much stronger in this context. Similarly, there's Edelgard who mirror Rhea in the wounds of her past caused by the Agarthans, but foil her in the path she took after. Rhea enchored society in what hurt her, authority being literally symbolized by the blood and bones of her kindered, to be able to get revenge on the Agarthans. In contrast, Edelgard used the Agarthans to radically change society in a way that would prevent what hurt her to ever happen again.

The Agarthans may be unuanced vilain in a story that build a more morally complex war, but ironically getting rid them would remove a lot of depth.

[jazzyfleur]

I know Thales has his methods, but they don’t sit well with me.

A drawing of Epimenides i did. I love the Argarthans very much but the game did them dirty.

[azelfandquilava]

After you, Fell Star~~~

Cleobulus being a persuasive little vixen is such a fun dynamic and I'm sad we don't actually get to see much of it in either 3H game.

[a-anima]

Myson... Myson....

[theblindarcher]

Those Who Slither in the Dark

GBA style portraits of Thales, Kronya, and Solon from Fire Emblem Three Houses. Made for the Night in the Abyss.

[midday-headcanons]

While we're at it, do you have any headcanons about the Agarthans in general? Or maybe some specifics for the other named ones?

Headcanons for 👾Those Who Dubstep Deep Below👾? Certainly. This'll be a long one.

(Reminder that these are all headcanons and not intended to be fact.)

Agarthans

My personal theory is that their numbers dwindled so much that they simply decided to stop having children altogether, instead focusing their energy on science and prolonging their lives to the same lengths as Nabateans using what they learn from their corpses.

The result of their research took the form of vessels that could be made and remade over and over again to implant themselves into - the exact same thing Rhea was doing to bring back Sothis, only much more successful. It is why, despite apparently being the original humans, you have Agarthans that have existed since the fall of Nemesis when they shouldn't be able to live this long.*

*Side note: If you want to think of it in an Adam and Eve situation, the Agarthans could already have immensely long life spans as the first humans, meaning the humans of Fodlan created by Sothis have much shorter lifespans as a result. (Though this could easily be debunked by looking at characters from other countries.)

Though, I would say there are outliers like Kronya, who is very obviously younger than the rest of them. She likely was one of the few new Agarthans, likely born within 100 years or less of the current timeline. So, maybe they can have children and occasionally do, but in a Frieren elves situation, they have no desire to.

Solon 🧠

He is the best at what he does, but not because he's been doing it the longest. Solon is simply the most proficient at it. Solon probably took to body snatching and the research required to make proper hosts much faster than the rest, clearly showing a much higher capacity for deception and cunning than the others by moving about undetected throughout the entirety of his time as Tomas.

And I believe it is because he worked with Epimenedes directly, but was swayed by Thales to betray him.

Misc.

Experiments on himself using magic/tech he's already tested on other disposable subjects. (Probably why he appears more monstrous than the others.)

Had a hand in the construction of magic cores and direct access to Nabatean corpses.

Probably part of the group that experimented on Lysithea (would explain how he learned about Tomas, who came from Ordelia)

Kronya 🔪

Very obviously young by Agarthan standards. She hadn't had enough time to learn the long-con, so people were immediately suspicious of her. In addition, her begging Byleth to save her life in 3Houses when Solon used her as a sacrifice also speaks to her age. Were she older, she never would have considered entreating a "lowly beast" to help her, even if she was dying a slow and agonizing death for the sake of her people's future.

If I recall correctly, none of the other Agarthans in 3Houses/3Hopes ever did that. Not even once.

Misc.

Nepo-baby. Only working in the open because she'd otherwise be in the way in Shambala.

Collects trophies from missions.

A fantastic fight, but "she jinxes every job."

Keeps getting herself into life-threatening trouble that results in her body needing to be replaced too often.

Young enough to not know who Epimenedes is.

Could potentially have been successfully rehabilitated.

Cleobulus 💋

(I have quite a bit about this guy, actually)

Second only to Solon in terms of intellect, leaning more towards constructs than organic experiments, but 10x as cunning. His charisma is like that of a devil striking a deal, bringing out the worst in you and waiting until you've sunk so incredibly low that your only way out is taking his hand, essentially feeding off your pain and misery without you even noticing.

It's probably why he took to wearing the body of a woman so easily. I think Cornelia herself didn't dress as extravagantly as Cleobulus did while using her body. If I had to guess why, it was strictly because he wanted to appeal to as large an number of people as possible using the *ahem* "tools" he had available.

He was masquerading as a bombshell of a woman in one of the coldest places in Fodlan, all while wearing a high slit dress and bare shoulders, putting aaaaall the "merchandise" on display for the world to see. There was... no support in the bodice of that dress, and it was absolutely on purpose. Considering how the other women of Faerghus dress with a fair amount of modesty and practicality in mind, this was probably incredibly out of the ordinary and very enticing. Honeyed words to mask the sting and the body of a supermodel. He had the method down to a science. Unfortunately for him, a few people close to the throne were immune to his wiles and questioned him a lot.

Misc.

Impeccable fashion sense and hygiene routine, even in his original body. Made the upkeep on Cornelia's body that much easier.

Much younger than Thales, much older than Kronya.

Probably had suitors as I Can't Believe It's Not Cornelia™️, and all of them "mysteriously" went missing.

Absolutely wears the "recently widowed" silk sleep set around the house, imported from Enbarr. You know the one.

"I have a heart. A few, in fact. They're in a jar up on my bookshelf."

Myson 🎓

Myson probably worked alongside Solon a lot, likely putting him in the direct line of contact with Epimenedes in the process. Judging by his reaction to seeing Shez using that power, he probably never expected the guy to come back, let alone have a new body to use. Yet another rat, even if he did have roughly the same ideals as Epimenedes.

Misc.

Freakin nerd.

Old and tired, but too busy to die.

Charisma stat in the negatives and still rolls a Nat20 when it counts. "Well, that was easy."

Probably involved in the experiments on Lysithea.

Treats Kronya like an annoying younger sister when in Shambala, but they're the personification of the "when two dumb girls say "Exaaaaactly"" meme when they work together.