What do you think happens to Frederica long term after the Utility ending?
That's an awesome question! Thanks so much for the ask <3
My first instinct is that Frederica honestly would struggle to achieve much political change on her own. In the Utility ending's epilogue, we hear that she's got a few ardent followers, but that overall her situation isn't looking super good.
She's got the truth of the salt mines on her side, but Hyzante is actively working to suppress any information that might support Frederica's claim via actions like ordering Exharme to burn down the Aesfrosti Archives.
If nothing changes, Idore could potentially stay in power indefinitely—he alludes to powers of immortality in his golden route boss fight, and if he just takes on the role that the hierophant puppet currently occupies, he's already set up to "die" and then rule without showing his face.
HOWEVER. Here's how Frederica can still win!!!!!! (once again there's an essay under the cut. sorry)
The nice thing about the Utility ending is that there are a TON of characters who'd be at least marginally pissed with the Saintly Seven (and/or Roland in particular). These include:
The surviving Aesfrosti (including Avlora) who would likely resent Hyzante for their role in their home's destruction
Merchants and members of the Consortium who benefited from free trade
Any rebel factions from within Hyzante (similar to Plinius's group)
Anyone else who would sympathize personally with Frederica or the Roselle, such as Geela, Groma, Archibald, or Maxwell
The surviving Royalists who were exiled by Roland
The rest of the Saintly Seven themselves tbh. Exharme definitely intends to oust/kill Idore at some point, and Lyla and Kamsell I think would turn a blind eye to that after what happened with Tenebris getting arbitrarily zapped into oblivion. Roland and Serenoa seem on board with Exharme's intent to change the world as well, so I'd loosely count them in with any rebellion he starts up.
In any case, if Frederica can convince even just two or three of those groups to join her, she'll be at about the same strength as the Wolffort army was during a good portion of the war.
But the big caveat with this is that those alliances do depend on Frederica seeking out those connections and actively choosing to work with others and prioritize their goals alongside her own—for example, with the remaining Aesfrosti, they might want her to take Gustadolph's place and assume a leadership position, which would mean she has to balance that responsibility to Aesfrost's people alongside her desire to help the Roselle. Given how dedicated she is to the Roselle's cause, that might not be a sacrifice she's willing to make.
But if she does manage to put together a force, I think she'd have a pretty good shot at achieving something similar to the Morality ending! We know that the last hierophant's death provided Orlaea an opportunity to lead some of the Roselle to freedom, and Frederica will likely have a similar opportunity whenever Exharme inevitably takes his shot at Idore.
Depending on how that power struggle goes, Exharme might even be open to negotiation with Frederica and the Roselle. He's stated outright that he wants a peaceful world, and especially if the choice is between "admitting he just let Hyzante's entire force of slaves escape" and "striking a deal with Frederica to welcome the Roselle into Hyzantian society, thus painting himself as a benevolent savior (and the rightful successor to Idore who was clearly a heretic)," I could see him choosing the latter. Frederica and the Roselle might not accept that offer after everything Hyzante has done to them, but given that trying to find Centralia is a gamble, they might be tempted to stay and try to make it work.
Alternatively, a less flashy but still happy-ish end to it all is that some combination of Frederica, Serenoa, Roland and/or Exharme work together to gradually, systematically improve the lives of the Roselle. With Roland being the Minister of Salt, he should theoretically have control over the Source, and I assume that despite everything he'd still try to improve the Roselle's living conditions at the soonest opportunity. Over time, I think there's a pretty solid chance that they could enact reform to the point that the Roselle are about as "free" as any other Hyzantian might be, though it seems likely they'd still face some discrimination similar to the Liberty ending.
In a world where the Roselle do have the support of Exharme, Roland, and Serenoa, I could definitely see Frederica reclaiming her identity as Frederica Aesfrost and becoming a public religious/political leader for the Roselle. And if Exharme really does radically change things and brand Idore as a heretic, inviting Frederica or a different Rosellan to become one of the Saintly Seven would kinda make sense as a political gesture, especially since Serenoa and Roland were both brought in under similar circumstances. Again, it's not really clear if Frederica would accept a position like that after everything Hyzante has done, but she might be tempted if it would give her more leverage to help the liberated Roselle.
And you know, one thing I love about Frederica during Roland's ending is that, even if she doesn't achieve anything, I think it's great that the story ends on that note of "she keeps fighting anyways." She might not manage to get anyone to join her. She might not ever save the Roselle! But her character is such that she keeps pushing toward that goal anyways because it's the right thing to do, and that's very cool in and of itself :)
may i have hyzantian architecture from the artbook.... :3
Yeah absolutely! There's a lot of pages about Hyzante and its architecture so it might take me a hot second to get the actual translations done, but in the meantime if you're looking for art references, here you go! <3
