Bernadetta is a sweetheart, but there is something special between her and Edelgard. This post is mostly observational, rather than analytical, but I want to draw attention to these two good children.

Two components of that special relationship. 1. Crimson Flower is the only route where Bernadetta leaves her room on the regular during war phase. 2. She is one of two female Black Eagles with a shared ending with Edelgard (alongside Dorothea).

Observations on 1) The most significant implication of this is that Byleth is not the person who helps Bernadetta flower during the war phase. This stands in stark contrast to most students; Byleth is an effective, nurturing authority figure that allows many students to grow. But Byleth alone doesn’t do it for Bernie. It takes Edelgard and Byleth for Bernadetta to develop the ability to safely leave her room. (I would postulate that it is Edelgard alone or that Byleth is, at most, a catalyst while Edelgard is the main reactant. This is pretty speculative, but I note that Byleth is actually less supportive of Bernadetta than most others: other writers have observed how Byleth is the only character to willfully make light of Bernie’s suffering, in their A-support of all places.)

Observations on 2) Bernadetta sticks out among the women who have endings with Edelgard. Dorothea and Manuela are connected with El through the Opera, their political interests, and personalities. Lysithea and El share a drive and twin crests. The lovely and genius lady of Nuvelle are both meritocratic, ambitious, and driven. Bernadetta lacks each and every one of these qualities.

3) As a final note, Bernadetta and Edelgard are victims of similar abuses: grooming. Their grooming runs in opposite directions. Those Who Slither needed Edelgard to be a powerful, efficacious leader and warrior. Count Varley sought to make Bernadetta a doll. But both Edelgard and Bernadetta were intended to be puppets under the control of men. Additionally, both had absent but benevolent mothers (Patricia’s case being well-known, while Bernadetta’s mother was apparently employed in Enbarr, away from home).

Unpacking all this:

Bernadetta and Edelgard engage in a peculiar, mutually beneficial relationship. From their C-support, Bernadetta reveals she looks to Edelgard as a model of fearlessness. Edelgard also displays unusual openness with Bernie (confessing her fear of the sea). In B-support, Edelgard proves very understanding of Bernadetta’s condition, helping her feel more grounded and being patient with Bernadetta’s rapid regresses to panic (I love the lines: Bernie: Then, may I please scream now? Edie: By all means. But please try to make it a fairly quiet one). By A-support, Edelgard is able to calmly navigate Bernadetta’s distress episodes and soothe her.

Edelgard understands (at least in abstract) the difficulty Bernadetta faces. Before Edelgard understands how to handle the conversations, she focuses on understanding exactly what Bernadetta is trying to communicate and reinforce what she herself intends to communicate. Edelgard addresses the barrier in communication directly and seeks to understand the barrier itself, rather than focusing on the outbursts or confusion the barrier produces. By taking Bernadetta as she is and working through their communication problems, Edelgard shows implicit respect and value for Bernadetta that other characters do not. Bernadetta values authority figures that make her feel safe, as evidenced by her relationships with Seteth, Alois, and her deceased uncle. Edelgard comfortably acts as an authority figure that Bernadetta naturally cares for and respects, even trusts (to the degree that she can with her persecution complex; she may still panic, but she trusts Edelgard more than her fears when Edelgard asks her to reevaluate things).

Conversely, Bernadetta is able to teach Edelgard a lot in terms of down-to-earth emotion. I’ve written before about how Edelgard is an empath, but it must be understood that being an empath does not mean you actually understand others’ emotions. An empath mirrors the emotions they believe the other is experiencing, not what the other is experiencing in truth. The empath may rely on assumptions about and exaggerations of others’ feelings. Bernadetta forces Edelgard to slow down her emotional processing and rely on communication more than practice. Edelgard specifically mentions that her experience with Bernie has helped her manage her anger in their A-support. But their shared ending suggests that this goes deeper:

“[Edelgard] demanded that Bernadetta counsel her in governing Fódlan. It is said that the emperor made this choice to keep herself from being too detached, and that Bernadetta was all too happy to provide a more emotional perspective now and again. “

Edelgard grounds Bernadetta during attacks from her mental illness, but Bernadetta also grounds Edelgard in terms of emotions. Bernadetta is very caring, something Count Varley didn’t snuff out of her. Bernadetta’s graveside manner exemplifies this. Pre-timeskip, Bernadetta leaves her room precisely once: to comfort Byleth after Jeralt’s death. She also invites Alois to visit her uncle’s grave, because Alois reminds her of him and to show Alois her trust and affection. This interaction also shows how Bernadetta has completed her mourning process for her uncle and has a healthy understanding of the loss. Contrast with Edelgard’s difficulty handling mourning with Byleth at Jeralt’s death (we’ve discussed on this sub how Edelgard’s handling of Byleth’s grief is not cruel, but they are indubitably hard to understand). Edelgard doesn’t address the past very much and, for her, mourning will not end until her fight is done. That perspective is important, but not infallible. It chills her emotions, even as it propels her fight. Bernadetta is perhaps the only person besides Byleth that directly counteracts the chilling effect of Edelgard’s trauma on her emotions. Byleth, like Bernadetta, has communication issues and emotional difficulty, but is caring and genuinely wants to help others. Bernadetta does for Edelgard in a subordinate position what Byleth does for Edelgard in a superior position. This is something of incredible value for Edelgard. Edelgard understands a lot about Bernadetta, but Bernadetta also understands Edelgard.

Bernadetta is, in short, a complement to Edelgard. Their grooming allows them to cover each other’s weaknesses but also appreciate how the other struggles with their weaknesses. I would describe them as symmetric: symmetric halves are different from each other in all the ways that matter and, at the same time, they are the same in all the ways that matter. Their A-support ends with them both contemplating a flower soon-to-bloom, waiting for that moment when its true colors show. In truth, Edelgard is not the only crimson flower, chasing the sun no matter where it goes.

[Originally for r/edelgard]