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imustbenuts · 2 years

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Kiran is (functionally) a Bodhisattva/Deva and Askr is gambling on them (A wild almost baseless theory)

I'm out of my damn mind and I've decided to make you guys suffer through my insane thoughts.

To get this out of the way, a Bodhisattva is roughly translating, ‘the enlightened one’ in Buddhism, one who has grasped the truths of the world and are able to break away from the cycle of suffering and ascend into an actual Buddha. But choose not to, instead remain on the current plane of existence to help alleviate others' suffering in hopes that others may attain the truths and do the same. (This is NOT a perfect, total summary but I hope its enough to understand what a Bodhisattva, functionally, is.)

So for years I've been holding onto this idea that Kiran is a supernatural being in the context of the world of FEH. I mean, if they’re from our world and played the series, I reasoned some things:

Our world relatively speaking is one of incredible comfort, even more so than what monarchies of the medieval eras can achieve at their height. Specifically, Kiran is akin to a Deva of the variety of deities in Buddhism before they were pulled into FEH. Here's the wikipedia link explaining the nuance of what a Deva is. The takeaway: They live longer, are able to die, but their lives are one of pleasures and comfort. (Remember Peony’s words of how the World of Steel is one of comfort?)

They have knowledge of all FE characters, some more invasive than others. Conversely, native zenith folks are completely unknown to them. This makes them a bit supernatural despite being a human being, and makes them aware to the suffering of characters in the FEverse.

They must then know certain repeating tropes that has been occurring in FEverse. Masked dudes being sus, dead parents, blue haired lords, divine dragons subject to mental degradation, etc etc. You get the idea.

As blue haired lords with sisters are typically the main criteria in general for FE lords to be recognized as the protagonist, it is theoretically possible for Kiran to over-attach themself to Alfonse based on point 3 at the point of first contact.

Kiran has some level of perception towards tropes, which is why I think they caught on to Bruno/Zacharias’ identity in book 1 so easily. And how many of us were thinking, 'Gustav is totally gonna kick it' when he appeared?

If Alfonse can open pathways to other worlds, then one inferred reason why Kiran doesn’t leave is because they realize if they do, Alfonse is completely screwed. (twisting this can also mean: delay to ‘ascension’)

By book 2, the name of Sutr and the prophecy referencing Ragnarok is clear, and the presence of Loki throws in a very high possibility that Ragnarok will happen even without Sutr. Loki is also, across all interpretations, a chaotic basket of fun and does things so long as she has a laugh. Point 6 is reinforced.

I also thought about why the game explicitly refers to Kiran as us, the players playing the game, when they could have taken the Blazing Blade route when they could turn them into a Mark v2.0. Those 7 points i listed are ultimately wild theories of a theoretical Kiran who thinks like me, and so I have to admit it doesn’t hold much weight on its own.

It just has to be an avatar, is what I'm getting at. An avatar functionally more akin to Robin or Byleth, characters with their own personalities and goals while we drive the plot forwards.

Except, then, there are Norse gods. And Norse gods means a lot of self-indulgent deities with Odin/All-father who has the Twilit Runes, ie he has already seen EVERY bit of fate that’s to come. But Kiran wasn't there at the point the runes were made, so far away in our world without magic and so insignificant that it doesn't matter. Probably.

As a direct result of their presence/interference, Askr isn’t at Embla’s mercy by the end of book 1, and Ragnarok doesn't occur as prophesied in book 2 by the hands of Sutr. I think its possible that Fjorm would have perished instead by book 2 originally if not for Kiran’s presence bolstering Alfonse’s fate/desires to defeat Sutr.

So Kiran does have a function in the world of FEH.

So then that leads into who made Breidablik and the prophecy behind them? I thought it could be Askr, Baldr (if they even exist), someone, or even Eitri, but seems like Eitri wasn’t involved in the creation of Breidablik. Baldr remains non-existent at this point, so, I thought, someone who knows of the Twilit Runes wanted to stop it made Breidablik. And maybe Breidablik just looks for whoever understands enough of 1. sticking to the blue haired lord, and 2. Norse mythos, to roll on with the plot of FEH.

But that's all the thoughts I had for years.

Then book 6 starts raising my eyebrow. Ash’s beast form is a cow. A cattle. One of the most sacred creatures in Buddhism/Hinduism. Cows in general are a very rare and unique character design choice so I didn't dwell too much on it. (EDIT: here's a write up expanding on this idea) Since this is ultimately entertainment, so sometimes they do random things in the name of cool. Askr is a divine dragon anyway, right? Lizard and all, I thought.

But then. then. On April fools 2022, Lonely Puppeteer (Spring Remix) drops, complete with a fully rendered MV

And I see Kiran on a goddamn lotus. Lotus in Buddhism/Hinduism is representative of purity above material attachment and physical desire. It's a big thing there, but ok, still nothing definitive. I'm also reminded of how Kiran technically resisted the lust pollen in book iv. But ultimately it looks fancy and cool, and it's April Fools, so whatever.

(I want to stress also that there are countless depictions of deities and Buddha sitting above the lotus in peaceful meditation. The lotus is some serious symbolism in Buddhism and Hinduism.)

Then Askr's design comes out. He's a DIVINE. BULL. DRAGON. DEITY. I just about fucking lost it.

Immediately I notice the Third Eye on his forehead.

In many parts of Asia, the Third Eye is said to allow the user to perceive things which are beyond normal perception. Some think it predicts the future, lets the user see ghosts, divine fates, or even see beyond our own material world. Now, I don't know at this point if that third eye, if it is even one, lets Askr do those things, but I'm willing to bet the ability to open gateways to other worlds is in synergy with it at bare minimum. After all, Anankos was able to see the world of Awakening despite being in Fates, so this seems more than plausible.

And if my bullshit is right, the one responsible for Breidablik is likely Askr, who has seen the future and wants to prevent Ragnarok. (EDIT: JOSSED, it looks like. oh well!) So he pulls in a being from a wildly different plane of existence, maybe with said prerequisites of understanding 2 rules, 1. sticking to the blue haired lord, and 2. Norse mythos, all in hopes that the chance of breaking the prophecy of Ragnarok is above 0%.

Thanks for coming to my Ted-talk. Admittedly I've only bounced this idea off 2 people, one who hasn't caught up on FEH and doesn't know too much about Buddhism, and another who has dropped the game. So this idea is unrefined.

TL;DR: Title

I'll go back to writing Fanfic on AO3 now lol. I wrote Hello Hopeful, and this is my AO3 account. I’m losing my fucking mind rn, cheers. If you find my fic interesting, Id be super happy if you could leave a kudos!

PS: Third Eyes also enables the user to see Devas according to that Wikipedia article. Divine Eyes and Third Eye means the same thing in Mandarin, so wtf lol

PPS: Devas are not creator gods either. they are more of a human, mortal deity who can observe the realms ‘below’ theirs, but rarely intervene/offer counsel. There's a belief that we all once had the ability to fly and glow and are Devas ourselves, but lost the ability to do that over time in buddhism

EDIT: This theory is a shallower exploration and mostly made from speculation. I made a better one! For a more in-depth meta analysis feel free to check my pinned. Thanks!

#fire emblem heroes #kiran #summoner kiran #askr #also posted this on reddit as nutting_ham #feh theory #feh #fire emblem heroes theory #deva kiran theory

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