Unpopular Opinion: Celica is a Good Lord (Echoes)

[Chase]

Okay, so Celica is one of the most controversial Lords in the Fire Emblem series. On the one hand, she is easily the epitome of peace, democracy, and finds all fighting regrettable, even if coming from a just vantage point. On the other, she seems to be impressively unintelligent and extremely poor at preserving herself, to the point where she lies to her friends about it as she makes her grim march to what she understands as a personal sacrifice.

 

I'm going to address these points.

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1. Celica doesn't hold the same faith in man's own ability to thrive as Alm does or the same disdain in Mila as the Zofian commoner class seems to during the events of the story.

 

Before promoting into the known Zofian Princess Anthiese, Celica is a Preistess who grew up in a priory that focused primarily on worshipping the goddess Mila and providing for the increasing number of needy people.  Here, we learn two things about Celica's mindset before she even sets off for Mila's Temple on pilgrimage. The first is that Celica holds a devoted hope and faith in Mila to provide for her people, and the second is that people now more than ever are in desperate need of aid.

 

A couple of the priory's attendants will be quick to note that Novis is just as embattled as Zofia's mainland due to the pirate activity in the seas. This is largely important, because it means that whatever Novis is doing to aid those who are coming for help, isn't going to work. It's this context that may convince Celica that humanity is unable to stem the ill tides Zofia is facing and becomes the backdrop of her lack of faith in humanity to preserve themselves. This lack of faith in humanity undercuts the goal of the Deliverance (to free themselves from their opressors and reclaim the kingdom) and later the goal of Emperor Rudolf to protect Valentia from the incoming madness the two draconic deities (Mila, and her brother Duma) would come to harbor.

 

Speaking of the inevitable fall of Gods into mass destruction, this is a Fire Emblem staple among draconic villains of immense power. It would seem many in Valentia are not aware of this however, which also plays into the trust Celica has in Mila.

 

2. Celica is a peacemaker, not a combatant.

 

Part of what makes Celica's Act 4 and 5 questionable among some is that her Acts 2 and 3 are seen as aggressive and helpful to the continent of Valentia. Here, she's still making her journey to Mila, but along the way she deals with pirates and bandits and ends up resolving half of the human-inflicted blight of Zofia in the same manner Alm is doing with the Deliverance. Allow me to subvert the optics here.

 

Celica is IN CHARACTER when she is making a deal with Jedah to free Mila and help Zofia prosper, and is acting OUT OF CHARACTER when she herself is kicking a bunch of pirate ass and putting an end to crime rings.

 

However, you don't see Act 2 or 3 getting criticized, because those are fun chapters and the player likes to see a strong Lord thrive in combat. It CAN be argued, also, that Celica is fulfilling her role as the heiress to the Zofian throne by ridding Zofia of it's ailments. In doing these things, she's being the ruler she was meant to be and doing more good than Mila ends up doing out of dramatic irony. So, if all of the acts are explainable, how does this result in Celica not being very smart? I feel as if your expectations may be subverted by the first two acts she's playable as an adult, or you may have a personal preference in aggressive Lords like Ephriam, Ike, Alm here, or Hector.

 

3. Reasonable Faith

 

Is there any other Lord who puts so much stock in a deity as Celica?

 

> It's the reason she leaves the island of Novis.

> It's the reason her band of pilgrims invades Rigel.

> It's the reason she offers to sacrifice herself.

 

In Celica's eyes and heart, we find that Mila is placed in the pedestal Alm has placed his fellow comrades and human beings in. This plays as an intentional flaw to Celica considering the game's resolution is a unified Valentia under no deity's rule. It also follows the logic of many theists in the real world. Celica sees Mila as the answer to Zofia's ability to recover, and her own life as a small price to pay in her release. Celica takes on the role similar of Jesus' disciples, who died for the spread of the Gospel in shocking consistency for something to be seen as a myth or a legend. She is willing to die for what she believes in.

 

The reason we struggle to see this as logical is because we have knowledge Celica doesn't - the dramatic irony I alluded to earlier that Mila is descending into madness. Instead of appreciating the irony, we credit it as a fault too significant to think it a good aspect of Celica's character.

[Wolfox]

Never even considered this (and never disliked Celica either). good job