Why is Chancellor Osborne Evil?

[Edwardlloyd]

he is cool asf. he does what he does for his country and he is extremely capable. Ironbloods clearly like him. Annexing other countries really does nothing to them. F*** off juna with your partisan ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

granted i first played cs1 and cs2 and i was seriously shocked after i played Sky trilogy that he was a bad guy.

havent finished cs3 yet, but he also seemed to care for Rean at the end of cs2. but cs3 starts and he calls him worthless, for what exactly? Forced evil in my eyes lol

[ArchmageXin]

At the end of the day, no one said Eronbia's control over Crossbell was sunshine and Rainbows. But it was not the rape of Nanking, Firebombing of Dresden or Battle of Stalingrad.

By real world imperialistic take overs, what happened to Crossbell was relative mild. No freaken "Chinese and Dogs are not welcome" type of pure racism or oppression we saw, no gulags, no random arrest and masscres.

From what I understand from an interview, Crossbell was meant to be stand in for...Hong Kong. Which Eronbonia stand in for the British Empire, and the Republic stay in place of China.

HKers chafted under British control during their times, and certainly is not an fan of China right now either.

[artturi siikanen]

i have played every game cold steel and still think osborne is a good guy not because of him trying to cheat you know who but all he did made the ALL THE PEOPLE better off not just the rich forks like the alliance wanted because "they deserve it" for being born into a certain family instead of earning it unlike reforms

[Dragon]

artturi siikanen eredeti hozzászólása:

i have played every game cold steel and still think osborne is a good guy not because of him trying to cheat you know who but all he did made the ALL THE PEOPLE better off

Yup, Osborne is definitely much more of a good guy than Rean is. Rean who in CS1 (or maybe 2) gives a "lesson" to Sunday school students where he literally indoctrinates/brainwashes them with pro-"Noble" "class" propaganda, and he completely refuses to tell them the truth that the "Nobles" are an artificial social construct who are a parasite "class" who live like tyrant kings because they leech off of the labor of the normal average regular people who live much worse lifestyles than their "Noble" oppressors do, and who, in actual reality, they (the normal people who are oppressed) have zero difference whatsoever from the so-called "Nobles;" in other words, the concept of "Noble" isn't real and doesn't actually exist in reality...but Rean doesn't dare to teach that truth.

So, on one hand, we have this bad guy Rean, defending the "Noble" parasite class, and brainwashing the next generation to accept them as a real thing and also to accept being oppressed by them.

And on the other hand, we have the good guy, Osborne, who rightfully wants to abolish the fake "Noble" class and to stop them from leeching like parasites off of their fellow citizens.

No way Rean is the "hero" and Osborne is the "villain."

[Gacktdirge17]

I like Osborne for making hard calls and sacrifices to achieve his goals, still amaze me that Class 7 saved the world within multiple wars without any blood spilled.

[Dr. Rudolf von Richten]

In general terms, I do not disagree with the notion that the concept of a 'Noble Class' that's supposed to be 'better' than the commoners and thus deserving of a higher station in society has no substantial basis and is therefore incorrect.

However, people are more than just their social class. Several of the Nobles starring in these games, such as Teo Schwarzer and Victor Arseid, are shown to be good people who rule their lands and the people living there with genuine concern for their well-being, and are much beloved for it. Of course, other Nobles, like Dukes Albarea and Cayenne, are absolutely despicable people, which is why Rean and co, including the Noble members of Class 7, fight to overcome them.

Meanwhile, the reformists, led by Osborne, are improving the lives of the commoners, but not for the sake of those commoners. Carl Regnitz might really have their interests at heart, but Osborne is doing it for the sake of power and doesn't care who gets trampled in the process, noble and commoner alike. Olivert calls him out on this in Sky 3rd, Star Door 8. Osborne isn't instituting a democracy or anything like that; he's just supplanting the nobility with his own people, using the commoners as a tool to wrench power away from the previous ruling class like a typical populist leader.

In fact, if anyone is brainwashing the people, its Osborne or rather, Ishmelga, for the sake of waging apocalyptic war on all of Zemuria. Which is what makes him the villain of the story.

As for Rean, the scene referenced is a sidequest (i.e. optional) in CS 1, chapter 3, in Nord, where he's telling the local kids about Erebonia. To call a single Q&A with these children 'indoctrination/brainwashing' is incredibly hyperbolic. If he had even remotely that kind of suggestive power he would be a Sept-Terrion himself.

Besides, when asked the question about the Nobility, ultimately phrased as "What do you believe Nobles Represent?", you can have Rean answer "No idea" and in the resulting conversation, he will be pretty open about the problems surrounding the class system and suggest that they might be fixed. So if Rean's uncritical about the Nobility, that's because you choose him to be.

And of course, Rean, together with the rest of Class 7, spends 4 games fighting to do what's right and defend the people from those which abuse them, be they noble (mostly in CS 1 & 2) or commoner (mostly in CS 3 & 4), from the first field study in Celdic in CS 1 to the final battles to prevent the disaster that's about to happen at the end of CS 4. Which is what makes him the hero of the story.

[Exia_]

make it easier to not spoiler the game, he was always evil through out the games, he was in and always try to begin or start wars, reason why noble try to gain power because Chancellor Osborne trying to weaken the 4 great house and other nobles by making them looking like the bad guys and making lot people turn to hate the noble and weaken them so much after the civil war, same in the sky game he was trying begin a war and claim the lands, hell look a crossbell how they made country into weaker and powerless place, and making rean, lose lot of his inner power to control his orgy powers, and i could go on

[spectre199]

About Osborne Annexing countries areas, and it being swift. You can thank Rean for that, you find out what dear old Rean has been up to between 2 and 3.

[Mistfox]

spectre199 eredeti hozzászólása:

About Osborne Annexing countries areas, and it being swift. You can thank Rean for that, you find out what dear old Rean has been up to between 2 and 3.

This thread is 2 years old, the anime is only recent news.

[Ceriss]

Since it's already been resurrected, for those of you who are going along in this series..

Consider the deep importance of politics and world building in this series. Every government in every game has its dark side. Think about real life politics, every action has its detractors but that doesn't mean the action is bad.

The Trails series really does try to replicate the complex real world as much as a small video game world can. Characters are more realistic, having their own reasons and motivations for their actions, those reasons often being solidly gray rather than black or white.

Hell Ouroboros itself is a gray organization it seems highly evil on the surface, but not every action it takes is evil and its overall intentions seem to hint at some kind of benevolent outcome. Every individual member has varied in their morality to the point where they've been able to shake the foundations of the protagonists.

If Osbourne is evil, are we all not evil? Is every country not evil?

He does and they do, what real people do everyday, Trails characters just have a lot more power to throw around.

I say this as someone who has played Sky/Crossbell/Steel. The way these games handle their worlds is realistic enough to allow you to draw real world parallels. If any particular government is not evil, then no Osbourne is not evil, nor is his government an ultimate good. It is simply a government whose job is to look after its people.

[Mistfox]

Ceriss eredeti hozzászólása:

......

I would say that their government is in a panic mode trying to solve the most important problem hanging over their heads, the Curse, and is willing to sacrifice anything and to play along until they have a chance of winning to get it lifted. I mean, even the Emperor was willing to play along to the obvious consequence (trying not to spoiler here) and I believe Osborne was part of the problem solving deal. He was given free reign, literally, and the power to do whatever he wanted so that the backlash would not directly hit the imperial family other than the confirmed parts of the Black Record (it was hinted that the more the imperial family fought the curse, the worse it became and things like the War of the Lions was a result of one such attempt).

The chaos comes when you got so many different players in the field all having their own goals. Oroborous and their Sept-Terrion collecting, the Gnomes and their vendetta, the Empire and their attempts to end the curse and the curse itself trying to get loose. Osborne can be said to be playing 2 sides, the Empire and the Curse, Sharon is Oroborous and Gnome, Greog is Gnome and Empire (very loosely due to friendship). So you end up with one big happy mess.

[Yekkusu]

Just play the games, you will know why at the end of Cold Steel IV.

[alonkishon]

Excellent answer to bring this forum form the underground