Crow

[CalokAndQkourQcuarante]

Yes, this is a rant about a character. It's a heavily story-driven RPG, I'm allowed to do that!

I recently finished the Intermission and I really hate all the suggestions (that have been going on since the start of the game), that Crow is just gonna be let back into class VII like nothing ever happened.

Now that the game’s made the twist it seems to have forgotten that Crow and C are, in fact, the same person. And C’s actions in CS I were unforgivable.

For one thing, the ILF bombed a Republican base and an Imperial watchtower, almost causing a WAR between the two major Zemurian powers, which would’ve cost thousands of lives. I can’t even remember the reason they did this other than “to cause chaos”. It certainly wouldn’t help killing the Chancellor. Just ruin the peace of two countries. It’s no less twisted than what Weissmann did with Hamel in Sky SC.

Secondly, again as leader of the ILF, he tried to get railway guns to shoot Orchis Tower, knowing this would most likely kill everyone in the tower. (Also, in the attack on Garrelia Fortress, he killed many soldiers with archaisms). Again, including dozens of innocents, authority figures from 3 different states (throwing countries into chaos and possibly causing a war… again). Also included his own comrade Gideon AND one of his best friends Towa.

And finally, of course, he shoots the chancellor (I have my doubts he’s dead given the ending of Azure, but the intention’s the same), finally sparking a war (third time lucky, I guess).

So, to summarise, he’s perfectly happy to start wars, kill thousands (including friends), cause chaos and ruin countries… all to kill a guy who, it turns out, he doesn’t even think is evil? Sorry, but I just can’t ever see that kind of person being an ally again.

He’s a sympathetic villain, sure, but he’s still a villain, with no way of just being accepted back with the good guys with a slap on the wrist.

I mean, what about Captain Claire? There’s no way she’d accept him into the party, right? She ADMIRED Osborne. He gave her a chance she never would’ve had. And Crow shot him. And she confronted him, so she knows it was him.

And finally, there’s the legal matters. If the Noble Faction wasn’t winning, Crow would be imprisoned for life. If Erebonia has a death penalty, he’d get it for terrorism and assassination of a state figure. If the whole point of the game is beating the Noble Faction, then Crow’s probably screwed by the end of the game. Even if I was to somehow forgive him, there’s no way he’d get off free with what he did.

I can't be the only one who feels this way, right?

[Histidine]

Originally posted by CalokAndQkourQcuarante:

I can't be the only one who feels this way, right?

I recall it's come up a few times on this forum, with the same points!

Even disregarding all the reasons we'd expect Crow to get a hanging or at best a life sentence, I always felt that the story seems overly interested in 'rehabilitating' Crow to a degree not merited by the amount of interaction he has with Rean, never mind the rest of Class VII. It gets really heavy-handed at the ending when he's mortally wounded (to the point where Emma and Celine's magic can't save him) but of course they drag out his death just long enough for him to give life advice to each individual member of the class. Gah!

[Stabbey]

It's definitely incredibly jarring how quickly Class VII changes its tone about the ILF, despite all they did. I'm glad you brought up the Nord Highlands. Gaius was angry about the ILF trying to use his homeland as a battleground, but in CS 2? Not a word to be said about Crow's part in that attempt. Machias told Vulcan that terrorists need to be dealt with an iron fist, but in CS 2, what does he say about Crow? Not much.

I kinda get what Falcom was TRYING to go for. The country is in civil war, and these teenagers just want a sense of normalcy back. That is especially true for Rean, who felt the happy and like he belonged when he was at Thors. I get it, he wants Crow to come back as a symbol of getting that sense of belonging back. But what I don't like is how everyone else humors him and just nods perfect agreement. Especially Sara, an adult.

They should know deep down that it won't be as simple as just forgetting everything happened, and maybe they do, but because they won't say it at all, it comes across as far more naive than it was probably intended.

[Comic Sans Frontieres]

I think I became ready for everything after Alan Richard threatened an entire country and almost ended a royal bloodline... and then got rewarded by becoming a PMC, and being one of the best characters (stats wise) in a game lol.

[Legendary Mr. Tiddles]

But but... love conquers all!

The secret that no one is telling you though is there is a grand plan behind it all that makes no kind of sense until you run head-first into its completion which involves many things that would be unthinkable by any sane mind in most realities. And then you'll think, "Wow, I could be PAID for this kind of work".

And that's just how we like our Trails. Don't argue.