Gate Rune War... pointless?

[Noot]

Okay, so Windy is controlling the country for her own selfish goals. But Odessa does not know that. One of the Old Books in SII says Odessa formed the Liberation Army because her lover was killed by the Empire. That seems like enough cause for her to go on her own Kill Barbarossa Vol 1 rampage, but why would so many other people turn against the emperor?

Sure, Kanaan, Kraze, and Grady were punks. But all 5 of the great generals truly were great people before they were trapped with the Black Rune. And the Emperor himself seemed to be an easy-going guy, letting Futch take the orchid to save the dragons. So the people were being taxed kinda high and the lower commanders were jerks. But is that cause for all the thousands of deaths that would later come in the Liberation War? They couldn't possibly suspect Windy of an evil plot.

If anything, Odessa should have started a rally for protest against the gov'ts questionable actions. Speaking out against the Emperor did not seem forbidden (if you go around and talk to people, they all seem to have their share of complaints), so I think all Odessa had to do was rally the people for changes in policy and staffing. Violence was her only means of change, and to me it seemed completely unnecessary.
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~~Harmonian Tenhei Star~~

It's hard to bargle naudle zauss with all these marbles in my mouth.

[Daniel Blackhand]

I think everyone fought against him because they came to realize that the emperor of now and then were two different people.
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[Tarik]

[Noot]

That's what the game kinda said, HMD. Most of the arguments for opposing the Emperor were "he's not the same man". But are you telling me that he was beyond change? The only way to fix the nation was through a regime change?
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~~Harmonian Tenhei Star~~

It's hard to bargle naudle zauss with all these marbles in my mouth.

[Tarik]

[Aurelien]

[Snowe Vingerhut]

***********Suikoden 1 Spoilers**********************


Step by step let's see if I get this right.

1. Barbarossa takes the throne and puts his loyal five generals in charge of the various regions of the empire. Claudia(Barbarossa's wife) dies while Barbar takes the throne. The people are happy, because Barbar is a fair and just ruler. Yay!

2. Barbarosa then meets Windy, who resembles his late wife. Barbar is probably lonely and longing for the past takes Windy as his confidant and "friend"(lover methinks), because of her resemblance to Claudia. Windy, having ambitions for the power of the true runes, puts many schemes into effect using the Black Rune(which can control people), and installing Yuber and Neclord(her allies) as generals to find some true runes. With Barbar soon lost to melancholy and nostaglia, he neglects his duties to keep a just society, and decisions soon fall to more corrupt officials on a more local level.

3. As the condition of the empire deteriorates,(becoming more unlawful and corrupt) a noblewoman belonging to the Silverberg family, named Odessa, rebels against the empire after her fiance(Achilles, who was involved with the Anti-Imperial Movement) was killed by the empire.
Windy finds Ted, who has the Soul Eater(true rune), and tries to take the rune, but Ted escapes to his friend, Tir McDohl's house. Ted transfers the Soul Eater to Tir and then Tir escapes eventually to Odessa's headquarters and joins the rebels against the empire. Windy will stop at nothing to get the Soul Eater, and searches for Tir and his friends. The empire, having a spy in the ranks of rebel faction, finds out Tir has joined the movement, infiltrates their headquarters and, Odessa is killed.

4. Tir escapes the Gregminster region, gathers rebels in area, and they decide to go to war with the Empire.

5. The different races/peoples of the empire decide to join the rebel army due to various atrocities(destroying the Village of the Elves, stealing women from Warriors Village...) committed against them by Windy's minions.

6. The rebels win and the peoples are happy. Yay!
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It boils down to, that Windy is the one pulling the strings, and is making or directing other people to search for true runes without any heed for any races or peoples that happen to be in the way of that goal. While the people don't know of Windy's role, they are sujected to the various atrocities commited on her behalf. Even if the regions wanted to complain, they are most likely not able to see the emperor due to Windy's minions screening audiences to see the Emperor. Since Barbarossa is not taking an active role in the affairs of state, he has no clue what is befalling his subjects. As for Teo, Kassim, Sonya, or Ain Guide not aproaching the Emperor about the state of the Empire, they are Generals of the military and are trained to take orders and let the rulers make the desicions. Besides, they feel that Barbarossa is a good ruler and probably blame the things going wrong on other things and not the Emperor.

In a corrupted military state like the Scarlet Moon Empire, striking or protest by the people would most likely make things worse for all.

From what I see, I think war was enivitable unless Windy left in search of a different true rune.

Perhaps there are still ways the war could be avoided that I didn't address, which is highly possible, since my brain is exhausted from the sheer amout of thinking I just had to do. *tries to concentrate**blows a fuse*

[Hrestelan]

Good post, Greenunderground. I was going to point it out myself, but I was too lazy to do that effort and was just like "gah..."

[Vextor]

Cheers to Greenunderground for a very well-written post!

[Filipe]

It is all about how Windy put into effect various attrocities during the war against other cultures that built towards eliminating Barbarossa and Windy at the end of the game. He after his wife's death slowly became a lack luster and meager at best emperor and that left the more corrupt members of his administration in charge which enraged the people. Those people were the ones that built up towards the rebel army and thats why people in Toran in the Suikoden two were happy with said administration. The alternative was far better than the original and things are reasonably peaceful for what it's worth.
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[Noot]

Thank you for my enlightenment!! I now understand the exact causes were that triggered the uprising. Before, all I thought was Odessa was PO'd at the Emperor, and that was all the reason for the war. I just think the game doesn't REALLY show the deterioration of the land as how you outlined it, Greenunderground. Thanks again!
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~~Harmonian Tenhei Star~~

It's hard to bargle naudle zauss with all these marbles in my mouth.

[luc]

A child in Rockland said [your not a soilder I knew because you didnt hit me] it seems like the empire was going out of control with power except the noble and just tipe people.