A certain plot discrepancy between FE6 and FE7 has been bothering me for quite some time now, and I was wondering if those of you familiar with the games and storyline would be so kind as to post your opinions on the mater. I realize that most of you reading this are primarily interested in the
Caelin Crew (Lyn, Kent, Sain, etc.) but I think I'll be able to provide enough background information on the issue at hand to help you folks form an answer. I’d like to have some feedback on this subject to help me with a piece I’m writing for the fandom. As I’m already going out on a limb with the plot, I want to be accurate elsewhere in the storyline to compensate.
Anyways, my question involves Fir from FE6 and how she was raised, or rather, who she was raised by. I think most of the discrepancy issues can be attributed to a mistranslation in FE7's ending, and possibly even some of FE6’s support text, but I don't quite feel comfortable leaving it at that without first talking it out.
Starting from the beginning, we have Bartre and Karla's ending text from the epilogue of FE7.
"Karla and Bartre were reunited in Ostia, [and] during the battle, they became friends. That friendship deepened into love, and they were wed. Later, Karla died of illness. Bartre took their daughter to her uncle and joined Karla."
Based on what is presented in FE6, one can validate that yes, Karla died of illness shortly after her marriage to Bartre, and yes, Bartre was separated from his daughter--Fir--for some length of time. This is stated in various intertwined support conversations.
The discrepancy appears when Fir's uncle--Karel--comes into the picture, as well as the allusion to Bartre's supposed death. Addressing Bartre, we know he doesn't actually "join Karla" as he's present and accounted for in FE6, so... that's merely a mistranslation, or a way for NOA to make things more conclusive to the English speaking audience, most of whom were unaware of the events that transpired in FE6 when the game was released.
I can't however bring myself to also write off Fir’s interactions with Karel as entirely a mistranslation, because I feel that FE6 leaves things open-ended enough to support the idea that Fir could have been raised by him, at least in some fashion. I’m not claiming that I believe the FE7 translation, but it certainly raises a few questions.
When you use Fir to recruit Karel in FE6, he
does mention that he hasn’t seen Fir “since she was a baby”, yet how would she be able to recognize him if that were completely true? Wouldn’t that entail that she had seen him sometime between her infancy and his time of recruitment? Furthermore, if she hadn’t seen him within that time frame, then perhaps she spent enough time with him as a young child that she gained some sort of impression of him and was able to recognize him through that.
However, none of these theories seem to be supported in the text presented in FE6. Karel tells Bartre that he visited Karla and her family once when Fir still fairly young, and after that, lost contact, so the idea of there being several meetings is void. (This also means that Bartre wouldn’t have been able to provide Fir with an accurate description of Karel, seeing as he changed his appearance considerably overtime without Bartre’s knowledge, nor would he be able to provide Fir with her uncle’s location.) Karel also says that he left without notice, which might imply that he didn’t want to be persuaded to stay over-long in their household, or feel tied down, which breaks apart the theory that he was around long enough to leave an impression on Fir.
Essentially, this leaves me with two problems. One, FE6 is filled with plot holes as to how on Earth Fir would be able to recognize Karel without having ever really met him, and two, this is made worse by mistranslation and ambiguity on the part of FE7, some of its text serving as fact and the rest fiction. What I'm guessing here is that something has been left out of the storyline, or perhaps too much plot was put into the situation to begin with, enough to create contradictory statements.
To add to the confusion, Bartre also had been separated from Fir for a long time, and claims to have never paid much attention to her as a child. When he reunites with her, he says,
“You grew up to be a strong, confident young woman. However, that isn't thanks to me.” Does this mean that maybe Karel
did have some sort of secret role in her upbringing? Considering that she’s just barely a young adult in the game, and that one’s childhood years are the most formative, I think there’s room to speculate that someone else may have helped mold her into the warrior we all know her to be. (Noah doesn't count because he enters the scene a little too late.) Also, I find it hard to believe that as a young girl, Fir would have set out on her own, found a sense of wisdom and idolization in her mother’s legacy, and manage to be a competent sword fighter--again, all on her own. Isn’t that a bit much for a girl (who would be around ten) to handle on her own?
After presenting all this, what I’d like is a little closure. If this entire mess had to be resolved in a manner that would appease the fandom, what would the solution be? What would the order of events be? I have a few theories—most of which are pretty half-baked—and am really interested in seeing what the rest of you have to say on the subject.
If you made it through all this dribble, than feel free to take a brownie on the way out. They’re by the comment button, down on the right. XD
Edit: Without spoiling too much, the story I'm working on is about post-FE7 Karel, so... this is all slightly important, seeing as Fir and Karla shaped most of his reformation. XD Let me know if I missed/overlooked anything key.
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