Fire Emblem's Failed Heroes, Part I (Cuan)

OK. I've meant to do this for a while, but kyusil 's remark on her latest meme-post on how Hector ran Ostia into the ground spurred me to get on with it.

One thing I like-- LOVE-- about Fire Emblem is how the seeds of conflict aren't all random and supernatural, except in Magvel, whose world-building sandbox is more like a shallow, crapped-in catbox. I love you anyway, FE8. People do venal, short-sighted, careless, or malicious things, and their kids and their kingdoms pay the penalty long after they're dead.

Take one of Judgral's leading players in the first generation-- Cuan, Prince of Lenster. Handsome, charismatic, a loving husband, valiant warrior, magnanimous lord, and the father of two darling children.

Also a guy who jacked things up real good. Or real bad, rather.

Now, it's easy to miss this in the games, 'cause a lot of information presented about Cuan comes from his caddy bitches cheerleading squad. And a lot of the posthumous glories heaped upon Cuan seem to be there to, well, guilt-trip Cuan's son Leaf into not sucking. Kid's got a destiny to fulfill and stuff. But, hang on a minute-- why is poor little Leaf in such a pickle all the time? Oh, right. Cuan failed.

Unfair? Not really. Let's take a look, shall we?

( Spoilers for OLD Games )