Never before in the media have I met a character who I could relate to on such a close level than Marianne von Edmund. She was a character I had initially written off as one-note but ended up surprising me so much with the depth to her struggle through my experience with her character. Seeing her story unfold before my eyes and growing to understand the similarities to my own was a profound experience. Watching Marianne grow and overcome the same issues I have been plagued with for my entire life was immensely inspiring and it gives me hope that I can do the same one day. It feels great to know that someone found her character so compelling and could make such a great video about her. The structure and your delivery was very compelling to watch for me so keep up the great work. Thanks so much for this reminder that there’s beauty in every beast.
I have Three Theories as to what happens to Marianne if you don’t recruit her (Pre timeskip ending). 1: The obvious one is that she offs herself. Leaving the fate of Dorte unknown. 2: She became consumed by her Crest and suffers the same fate as Maurice. Most likely, she killed Dorte in Beast form And 3 the unlikely one: she lives with Dorte in a bittersweet peace.
It would be so tragic if she ended up killing Dorte after succumbing to her crest... Can we make it a happy ending and assume Marianne in beast form was able to recognize Dorte, and they became better closer friends? 🫣 Or Dorte was able to recognize Marianne and the end is happy?
Ok, a little story/testimony that makes me relate to Marianne in a major way. I too felt like I was nothing special. I was a meek little kid with autism, nothing more than an outsider that desperately wanted in. Although I was angry with others at first, I eventually grew to believe that I was the problem, I was the reason why I couldn’t make friends. I became a recluse, not even wanting to make friends anymore. Then, despite not having prayed in years, I believe God gave me strength and courage. I suddenly had the desire to talk to this one moody kid, and we became fast friends. He supported me, defended me, and loved me as though I were a brother. He was the reason I managed to see light in the darkness, but given that I recently discovered his pain, and perhaps the reason he had the look of an angsty teen when I first met him, I believe that it was not God’s will that I die, and I praise Him for giving both my friend and I the strength to carry on. Now, I find my purpose in helping the lost and lonely children of the world, as well as being a rock for my friends to stand on. I’m going to college this year to get my degree in psychology, so I may heal the mental illness that used to plague me, and I guarantee you is plaguing others now. I was to be left for dead by the world, but God said “Rise, for I have plans for you.” God indeed works in mysterious ways, for instead of dragging me to a church, he just gave me a friend. I don’t thank Him enough for what He’s done for me, and I don’t think I can. But still, I will be forever grateful for my saviors, both on this earth and off.
Since I rambled a bit, long story short: Depressed autistic kid finds strength in his friends, and turns back to God after realizing it is by His grace that he is alive to tell the tale
I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees Marianne in this light. Marianne has been my autistic headcanon ever since I started playing through the GD route and I'm honestly kinda surprised nobody has brought this up. Beautiful testimony btw✊🏾
Choosing Golden Deers was the best choice I made my first time playing Three Houses. Marianne was one of those characters I was able to relate to and how I can sympathize with her personal struggles and how she views herself as a burden despite her positive traits being shown. Her fear of death after realizing she has people that are willing to be apart of her life despite her Crest and the bravery she shows in combat really made her my favorite character in this installment. Who would've guessed in her route that she would be proposing to Byleth first.
She embodies the saying, never judge a book by its cover I thought at first she was just an emo, but her backstory, supports, and character development makes her one of my favourite game characters ever, every run I always recruit her, especially because I don't want to have to accept the implications that her not appearing after the time skip are.
Marianne's Academy phase reflects who I am, while her War phase reflects exactly who I desperately long to be. As a result, she's easily my favorite character in fiction, and I wish I could be even a third of how strong she is.
You're already strong enough. Even getting as far as you have so far is proof of that. It's gonna be tough. Some days will be harder than others, but the path is right there in front of you. All you have to do is walk it. One foot in front of the other. I believe in you.
I also remember the Sylvain-Marianne support line. Yes, I'm aware the support is kind of shallow, specially coming from a pre-timeskip Sylvain. But, aside from clearly being a Sain archetype, he is also described as being an elder brother (second oldest Blue Lion if I'm not mistaken) to those he cares about (a bit more evident when his supports start taking a more serious tone) I like how Sylvain essentially motivates her to try smile. Emphasis on the action of trying. And she does in fact try, giving her a small victory in combination with the other forms of support towards her brighter future. Sometimes, small victories are a grear help when we are stuck in a loop of sorts, and while i admit that the support, if isolated, may seem a bit shallow, when put in context of the best qualities of both Sylvain and Marianne, is one of her many steps in overcoming her tribulations. Edit: While it would be annoying from a gameplay perspective, I'd love to see supports being time restricted. I hate not being able to properly place a support in the context of the story's timeline.
That assertiveness in the S support is a very nice touch. And a far cry of the terrible, at least the English dub, S support of that other shy and troubled girl, Bernadetta. Still, if you play Blue Lions, I feel a Dimitri pairing is almost mandatory.
I know people are very focused on waifus and husbandos in games. But the reason I find Marianne one of the best characters in gaming for me is beyond that (besides, I’m gay, so it’s kind of my own way of having a best girl. A woman who resonates with me). In my early life I was so terribly antisocial I couldn’t hold a conversation with anyone other than 2 people. I was unable to find good in myself, I put myself as smart and kind as a way to salvage all of those negative thoughts of being worthless, selfish, egotistical, greedy, and so much more. But, soon after my lowest point ever in my life, I found the light, not the light on a higher power or on others, but myself. My own light, and I finally tried to share my light with others, so others could share their light with me, so that I could evolve. I learned to accept my own flaws, my own errors, my existence. Even if I still stumble and sometimes think I’m worthless, I’ll try to stand up again, because I never want to go through the pain I went before. Marianne reminds me of just that, she grew alone, depressed, when we met her at the officers academy she was at her lowest point, she couldn’t grow, as much as others tried. But, she came back, 5 years later, she finally accepted the light on herself, and the light of others, she accepted her flaws but didn’t try to beat herself up over them ever again. Marianne reminded me of how much I grew myself, and on what things I still need to work on. She truly touched a deep part of me that no other character has ever truly touched. And I find that it truly depicts just how utterly realistic, yet hopeful her character’s written. But that hope isn’t fantasy, because I had the same happen to me, and I stood up, and had hope, for myself and for the people in my life. Truly the best girl in gaming, at least for myself. By the way, Dimitri and Marianne have the best ending, I just loved how they supported each other through their pain, and that support made them smile and be happy like no other person could, genuinely. It’s the kind of relationship I really want.
i’m assuming you mean you’re a gay guy? i was so confused at first. i was like ok...? lesbians play the game too! lol. anyway i’m bi and love my husband lin and my wife hilda.
A rose with thorns may be beautiful to the eye, but painful to hold. Yet the rose whose thorns prick itself are the most tragic, for not only are the hands which would hold the rose pained, but the rose itself is hurt, and its beauty hampered. Yet that is the rose which needs nurturing the most, for one day the thorns will shed and the rose will be more beautiful than ever.
This most certainly feels like something Lorenz would say. For real though, I wholeheartedly agree with this, her character arc is nothing short of beautiful.
Yeah at the end of the day waifus are great and all but not since Olivia has a character made me fall in love with them and their story as much as Marianne. And seeing her development in the timeskip brought joy to my heart in such a way that made me proud to be her teacher, friend, and husband in game, Truly the best woman in 3H
When I first saw Marianne before the game came out I was interested into her and thought she looked cute. After I've played the game she is one of my favorite fe characters of all time.! And great video!!
Marianne is my favorite character in any form of media ever. I absolutely adore everything about her, thank you so much for making this video, it just reinforced in my mind how great she was and why I loved her so much
When I first started the game I was really nervous that Marianne was just going to be a one-note character used for cheap pathos. A year later she’s my absolute favorite from the game, and one of my favorite video game characters in general. I love seeing how far she comes and how she learns to look at the future and herself without her jade-colored glasses.
Finally a Marianne video!!! When I first laid my eyes on her, I know I was gonna love her. She is a great person and most precious even with her flaws. She needed some appreciation and sad that people just ignore her based on her looks. Look past that and look inside to find out why they look like that. Marianne will always hold a place in my heart.
She is a great unit indeed. Because I recruit her everytime, I tested a lot of different classes on her. I must say, marianne trickster (with mage previously and abusing soulblade) is just so much fun, definitely try it. She's more than holding her own in maddening, for me at leat.
@@wobbuchu9019 I remember when I did GD Maddening I had her be Dancer so I got Sword Dance Combat Art and that paired with Levin Sword or Blutgang as a Mortal Savant (I don't have the DLC) was actually so gross. It's easy for her to get a lot of charm, with the classes she'll normally use throughout her Charm growth ranges from 45-50% plus any charm statboosters. Was fun.
Whats better then a character you find attractive? A good character who is attractive! I love Marianne Von Edmund and this video reminded me why. All the subtleties laid the story and her supports makes me just love Marianne.(and to add a cherry on top of the ice cream and sprinkles in game you can somewhat do whatever you want with marianne which makes her fun to use)
The writing on her character is seriously astounding. It apparently connected to many people. Reading through her story makes me cry a lot. She became one of my favourite characters in all media. Especially because of the conclusion her arc reaches if you help her.
Bro that last support with Byleth, after hearing you break down everything about Marianne's struggles, insecurities and even her all time low mental health when you meet her, to becoming a women confident enough to express her wants and needs and PROPOSING to Byleth first. I legit started to cry at how great her character growth was. This is why I got into this game. I hope you make more analysis videos on FE3H again soon as this was so good and fascinating to watch. ❤
Fun fact: if you get Marianne and Hilda’s A support pre-Timeskip you can get away without doing Marianne’s Paralogue in GD tho her crest of beast will still be listed as mystery crest.
Agh she's such a well written character. She's one of the most realistic depictions of depression and self hatred I've ever seen in any media ever, let alone a damn strategy RPG. I genuinely think this game has some of the most interesting characters in any game ever, along with the 3 lords and characters like Ferdinand, Lysithea, Linhardt, Felix, Sylvain and Seteth. I really hope her and Edel get a support in the warriors game. Edelgard's anti church and "I'm going to use my crests and trauma to my advantage!" mindset are kind of the exact opposite of Marianne's and the parallels there are amazing. I also hope she gets an A support with Lys, as much as I love and agree with Lysithea in that support, she should probably apologise at some point haha. Also, "I prefer her with Ignatz, Dimitri, or Hilda tho" That's so true lol. Idk whether I prefer Dimitri or Hilda with her tho. Dimitri is thematically perfectly with her, but also, marihilda cute. Also, their colours remind me of bubblegum Marianne and ignatz is also great, I feel like it does a lot for BOTH of their characters rather than just one of them which is rare for this game. The only negative I have on Marianne isn't even her. It's that I wonder how IS managed to represent mental illness so well with her and then do a character like Bernie so badly. Bernadetta had so much potential and she got botched so heavily lol. Speaking of that, I hope bernie gets a support with Marianne too. It just sounds cute.
I should mention that you've definitely earned a sub from me, I'll be sure to watch a lot more of your videos cause it seems like you've got a ton of good ones whenever I get some time.
Thank you for giving me the words to describe why Marianne is one of my favorite characters. Marianne, Dimitri, Felix and Yuri are such inspirational characters to me.
I stopped watching before the confession because spoilers, but Marianne is one of those characters whose mental improvement is physically visible. I showed the pre and post timeskip pictures of her to my sister, who hasn't played the game, and she could immediately tell what arc Marianne had gone through.
This video made me realize how much I relate to Marianne and that for some reason I did not put that much attention to her while playing the game. There are so many good characters in this game and Marianne is definetly one of the best and perfectly put light on that with this video. Her ending if you don't recruit her is grim and makes me feel bad for not recruting her more. I'll definetly S-Support her (or at least save her) in a future playthrough. Great video.
Really well-made video. Marianne was the first Three Houses character to really attract my attention (I found out about Fire Emblem through Joe Zieja's stream of GD) because of her interesting character development which mirrored mine throughout my life. I hope you'll be able to do more of these Fire Emblem character analysis videos in the future!
I loved this video. It really, really dove into this topic in such a good and comprehensive way. I wish Marianne had been able to find a religion that encouraged believing that you are worthy of help and spiritual self-actualization. (I know Protestant Christianity has a constant "you are a child of God! Self-esteem! Confidence! Be proud of your ability to grow and improve as a person! Fellowship and grow closer with your peers!" but I'm sure other religions have this or similar mantras as well.) The Church of Seiros' heavy emphasis on the Goddess' favor and the Goddess' punishment and trying to appease Her, for Marianne, absolutely wrecked the idea that she could "make-up" for her transgressions, even if those included simply existing with the Crest of the Beast. I got a little teary eyed watching this because... man, I'm so happy that she gets a happy ending no matter what route I do, since I recruit all three healers every playthrough :'D
Every time I see her I get a goofy grin and say “My wife!” In an exaggerated manner imitating the line from Borat. I had planned on romancing Hilda and by association got to know Marianne, but seeing her transformation over the timeskip and running through her paralogue made me fall in love with her. Great video!
Incredible video. I initially found this video a few months ago while I was playing through 3H for the first time (chose Verdant Wind), and decided to wait until after I beat the game before watching it. I finally finished yesterday, and got her paired ending with Hilda. Glad you and I agree they were great together! I myself married Catherine so was nice to see that brief mention of Catherine's S support, haha. I loved the way you showcased Marianne's friends during the 'bad future' and 'good future' segments.
Gotta love fire emblem. One of nintendo's franchise where I'm able to find video essays on their side characters with great detail and thought. Thanks for making this!
Marianne really drew my eye when I first played this game. Visually, I thought she was already one of if not the cutest of the female characters. Just from the tiniest interaction with her at the very beginning of the game, I was in love. I quite literally restarted the game as Male Byleth right then and there because I wanted to marry her as soon as possible XD As I progressed through the game and began unlocking her supports, I found myself relating to her and her depression more and more. And watching her grow into a much happier person by the end gave me a joy I didn't think a video game could give me. I fell in love with her more and more as I played through the game, and when I got to her S support, I started bawling my eyes out. Her character arc inspired me to accept myself, and to not push others away or feel like a burden to them. It's thanks to her that I can be confident in myself. I also make sure to recruit her 100% of the time, because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't ;-; She is my favorite character in all of Fire Emblem, and my second favorite character in all of gaming. I love her so very much, and I always will ❤
Amazing video. I love how into detail you go here. You really understand Marianne as a character and her arc. Gotta say, marrying Marianne in my Golden Deer run was the most satisfying thing I've ever done in a game.
I don't support the idea that Marianne commits suicide. She does make it clear she prayed for the goddess to end her life but the way she phrased it makes it sound like she thought through praying, she would be allowed to peacefully pass away, which yeah is suicide in a way but she also says post timeskip she returned to help because of her adoptive fathers request. I firmly believe Marianne doesnt join because Margrave Edmund doesnt want to get involved in the war. Thats my two cents at least.
Love this video very wholesome, a great analysis towards Marianne who is a super relatable character in not just her pessimistic mindset but her need for religion as a form of comfort. I started playing three houses and Marianne stood out to me and the more I learn about her the more I grew to love her character. I too prefer Dimitri as a positive spouse for Marianne.
yeah Marianne is super compelling, I also enjoy her bit of dialogue pre-skip on Black Eagles, she sees Edelgard's strength and tenacity as something she desperately wants for herself, it feels like a seeds planting moment that's the beginning of her new path
I don't play any fire emblem games, I just bump on your video randomly (maybe the works of algorithm because I listened to "Apex of the World" and "God Shattering Star" on the other day 😅). But after I watched your video about a character I don't know, I never expected to hear a story about a person nearly exact the same circumstances as me, a person someone I can relate to. I must say that Marianne's life and journey is inspirational especially on how she overcomes her weakness one step at the time. Thanks for sharing I guess.
Marianne is what I believe to be one of the most inspirational characters in Fire Emblem. She stands strong alongside every character, especially coming up against those such as Dimitri, Edelgard, Sylvain, Lysithea, Hanneman, and Yuri. I find her to be portrayed unnervingly realistically, especially in some of the specific language she uses to depreciate herself. It’s also quite realistic for her to admit that her problems aren’t simply gone in Part 2, there is still room for improvement. Even despite this, Byleth and every single person in her supports find a unique way to give her strength in herself and abilities, ultimately saving her from herself and her tragic mindset. I can’t really recall many characters in Fire Emblem with depression or persecution complexes that develop in such an inspiring way. She’s not only a great unit, but a great character with a real lesson to tell, one of finding hope and happiness in oneself and the people who care about you. That’s my opinion, at any rate
Im barely on chapter 5 playing golden deer. I am going Holy Knight for my first run. Seeing her open and eventually come in her own makes her one of if not the most beautiful characters in the game so far. Choosing Holy Knight not for obvious reasons. A fighter embracing the light to purge her demons.
I can relate to her . She has a crest she doesn't want and a crest that is hated .while I have the same but with zodiac sign . Everyone at my old school disliked a certain zodiac so that led to me being disliked for being it . I isn't even know what that was before I went there ...
this video is really great. I'm glad you found Mariannes character as compelling as I did. when I first started golden deer I immediately wrote her off as a one note type of character we've seen countless times in fire emblem. the constant self deprecating was just so frustrating and tiring. however, after reaching support A and completing her prologue, I realised how compelling and deeply complex she really is. seeing her grow into a confident and happy person in part 2 was my favourite part of my play through. she's such a great character and adds so much to three houses. plus she's an absolute beast (lol) as a dark flier and blutgang is one of the coolest relics. thanks for making this vid.
i really loved your video, Marianne is my fav character in the game and I felt really connected with the character and your video helped with realising some stuff about me and how i will need to change. Would love to see more videos like this in the future and hope your channel will continue to grow.
Okay since i have always chosen female Blyleth I haven’t ever had the chance to see the female marriage support but DAMN that was so adorable and so cool I cant help but go Gaga for that. I love Marianne
I think a very underrated aspect of this game is than how crests are portrayed as both a gift and a curse. In the story there are very few that actually boast about possessing one, and in spite the privilege that comes with it most characters I feel do not consider themselves lucky for processing one.
i remember joining golden deer because her va is the same as haru from p5, who also happened to be my favorite supporting character, and holy crap, that was the best decision i made. marianne has probably one of the best growths as a character (and it helps she's one of the only offensive faith characters which is kinda badass) and i really can relate to some of her struggles.