Anyone who listens to the Nintendo Entertainment Podcast we do here at The Outerhaven knows that I’m a huge Fire Emblem fan. Ike is my favorite video game character ever, and I’ve enjoyed the Nintendo Switch entries of the franchise very much. It’s ever fair to say that Fire Emblem Three Houses might be the best game of the series, thanks to its deep characters, social elements, four storylines, and fun DLC. It also has some of the most iconic characters in the franchise, with Dimitri, Edelgard, Claude, Byleth, Manuela, Dorothea, and so on.
Regarding Edelgard, she is a person who has divided the fanbase in a fun way, as many who have played Fire Emblem Three Houses know that her character isn’t simply that of a “friend turned traitor” she has solid reasons for doing what she did. Yet, whether fans accepted those reasons is another entirely different story. In an interview with ComicBook.com, Tara Platt, the voice actress for Edelgard across numerous titles, notes that she still heavily connects with the Empress, even after all these years:
“I love Edelgard and the other characters I’ve played in Fire Emblem. And I will continue working on it as long as I am able. Because I think they’re great and I really feel like I’ve been very fortunate and blessed to bring a character like Edelgard… who’s so conflicted! It goes back to characters that are doing their best, they’re trying really hard. And I feel like that’s easy for me to step into, because I as a human am trying really hard and I don’t always do a good job, but I am trying. And so I’m honored to get to play characters like that and I will do it as long as people let me.”
She makes a good point. Edelgard very much is a character “trying really hard” to change a world that she was tortured by and feels needs to be improved on many levels. If that doesn’t resonate with people in today’s day and age, maybe they’re not paying attention to the right things…
