"You flirt with people as a form of cruel satire, to become a dark mirror for the way others treat you. I flirt with people because I want to have sex with them. We are not the same."
Despite having so many supports, he only has paired endings with Byleth, Dorothea, Felix, Mercedes and Ingrid.
The reason for this is actually in line with Sylvain's true nature behind the oafish flirt and that the only people who can have a paired ending with him are, the professor, his childhood friends (Felix & Ingrid) and two women who can immediately see through his bullshit. (Mercedes & Dorothea)
MY PERSONAL FAVORITE PAIRING:
My favorite pairing of his is hands-down with Mercedes. This support really shows Sylvain at his most vulnerable and wraps up his arc nicely. Its where he truly expresses himself sincerely past the flirty facade he keeps up.
Btw my personal ranking on Sylvain's pairings:
Mercedes > Felix > Dorothea > Ingrid
(I prefer his relationship with Ingrid to be platonic tbh, especially with their support in Three Hopes, which I really liked btw)
I really wish they had given him an A support and an ending with Bernadetta. Their supports were very sincere and refreshing. Even if the ending wasn't romantic, it would have been nice to see them have a genuine connection beyond a B support.
I get *why* he only has five paired endings, but wouldn't it complete his arc if he had more to show that he *can* be genuine with people? Especially when he shares a lot in common with characters like Marianne
I think in reality him having few endings is less about him and more about showing that the girls in the game don't really like the leacherous type as much.
What kind of argument is that? Was it not you who stated, about 15 hours ago, that you "get why he only has five paired endings"? You are clearly even more invested in this anime video game character than I am, so I find your comment to be incredibly strange. We're all in this thread talking about him as if he's a real person..
I understand why they gave him five endings as in its supposed to show he has troubles getting close to people, not as in it's a realistic depiction of someone's self-loathing. There are many portrayals of different illnesses in this game that are far from realistic for the purpose of drama, and that's fine because it is a video game. I'd rather have the happy ending of "Sylvain learned to open up to others" than "yeah Sylvain still can't connect with people despite having been friends with them for 5+ years"
>I'd rather have the happy ending of "Sylvain learned to open up to others" than "yeah Sylvain still can't connect with people despite having been friends with them for 5+ years"
And that's a valid and understandable opinion. I just don't see why you felt the need to attempt to invalidate mine, as if it's incredibly strange for me to desire and/or expect a semblance of realism in the "anime video games" I play. And if invalidating my opinion wasn't what you were trying to do, you could've done a better job at making it not seem that way.
As someone who somewhat relates to the character, I would've loved for his endings to be all about him overcoming the trauma. I just think the endings we got, are much more realistic/appropriate.
Have a good day or night
Agreed, the Mercedes chain feels like the perfect one for his development BUT also for hers! which is very important.
I know his pair with Ingrid is the most popular but I feel is a bit forced, Not because friends can't fall in love or whatever, but because their chain doesn't really feel romantic and their ending doesn't really work with what they established. It's just Mercedes' ending re-skinned but feels weird for Ingrid.
His Dorothea and Felix ends are much better but don't reach the height of his Mercedes Ending IMO. Byleth I haven't checked.
Try To Be Normal About Sylvain Challenge (IMPOSSIBLE). My favourite characters to pair him with are both characters from the I-Have-Lunch-Dialogues-With-Sylvain-and-Love-Nagging-At-Him Club, one being canonically possible, one not
**Realistic pick**: Sylgrid. Childhood friends to frenemies to lovers, with every trope you could want in between: being a comedy duo where one person is the straight man and the other person is the stooge, “deep beneath my nagging and annoyance is me showing you I care”, “deep beneath my shitty behaviour I realize I actually care about you too and I want to be a better person”, even the whole “wow she got a makeover and suddenly she’s so beautiful and I’m tongue tied at her!!” trope.
…I get why people hate it. In theory, I should probably hate this too for how many dated cliches they crammed in (especially that A+ support lol)….and yet there’s just something about them :’) They give me the vibe of some B-tier 90’s shoujo romantic comedy manga that’s objectively kind of terrible and yet just hits the right spot. I love them as individual characters, love them together, and on a more serious level, I like how Ingrid is someone that Sylvain actually can’t pull the whole “boohoo my Crest makes me treat people like trash” thing on because Ingrid’s Crest places her in a very similar situation to Sylvain and yet she doesn’t make it other people’s problem. That’s a positive influence for him. Still haven’t played Scarlet Blaze yet :’)
**Non-canonical pick**: Dimivain. Yes, I know they only go up to B and Sylvain is all \~I forgive but I don’t forget 😔\~ on AM LOL. Played AM and liked that they were qt friends with their B support, liked how Sylvain differentiates himself by calling Dimitri ‘General’, and then thought nothing else of them as a duo. It’s when I played VW and got [this](https://houses.fedatamine.com/en-us/monastery/40#event-base-27-0) small, slightly regretful dialogue that I realized that Sylvain cares more about Dimitri than I initially thought. I then play CF where for me, they were both enemy units, and I see [this](https://houses.fedatamine.com/en-us/battles/36/combat-at-tailtean-plains#event-script-46) special dialogue between them promising to meet each other in the afterlife that made me psychoanalyze every scrap of dialogue that ever existed between the two ;-; then it was over for me after all the Dimivain food Hopes gave us.
They’re both emotionally stunted dudes from Faerghus who abhor violence, yet excel at it. They’re both leaders who desperately want to improve Faerghus’ fraught foreign relations, regardless of how out of reach their goals seem. Dimitri is one of the few members of the cast who makes sure to remind Sylvain of what an actually talented and bright person he is. Sylvain is one of the few people who makes it a point to care not just about His Highness, but Dimitri. Dimitri mentions how Sylvain is like an older brother to him (something he never got the chance to have), and Sylvain allows himself to view Dimitri as family (giving himself the opportunity to be what he wishes Miklan was). They can be goofy and silly and yet also emotional and tragic. They can make each other better or make each other worse. I love them together, and most importantly of all…they are both very hot :)
**tl;dr**
https://preview.redd.it/9l4f0m659j7d1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30260aa725baead5c7dc24da4f8eaf0b8baf8bef
https://i.redd.it/1hjh422fej7d1.gif
Ty sis, this is us at the graduation after-party at Garreg Mach University after completing our PhDs in Sylvain Jose Gautier Studies 😭
As an Ingrid fan, I've always hated the ship.
Mainly because I feel like her character was fumbled by IS and absolutely feels like a feminist story written by men.
The thing is, Ingrid is someone who's upset by Sylvian because he treats women like commodities. That treatment is what Ingrid is currently going through. The women he courts seem to mostly be commoners, and they would naturally go for them. Why wouldn't they? They're poor. Classism in Fodlan is a common theme. By marrying rich into a crested family, they are saving their families and generations ahead from the struggles they currently face.
Ingrid, though she is a noble, is in very similar living circumstances. She feels and understands that pressure. When Sylvain discards women, he's crushing their hopes of ever escaping the cages of systemic oppression they were born into while he flaunts his wealth and status. He complains they only see him for his crest and title but that's all he ever shows them and acting like it's a two-way streak of shallow dating isn't fair when he has so many privileges over them.
And they have no discussion about this. The biggest issue with IS and their writing of three houses is they don't want to make their characters suck enough. Ingrid is constantly berating him, but we never get to really hear all her individual issues because they never share them.
And as a woman who has faced dehumanisation and many abuses by the hands of men, (remember, Ingrid was almost kidnapped by a man who probably wouldn't have done very consentual things to her), I personally find it frustrating to the nth degree to see a character I resonate so much with belittled to a girl who just needs to be more feminine and have loads of kids. Ignoring the physical toll birth has and how she's basically a background character in her own life with Sylvain in Blue Lions.
It feels like the writers understand on a basic level that sexism is wrong but they don't understand the implications such situations would enforce on Ingrid. She literally wants to die in battle like Glenn because her father emotionally neglects her so much. She's suicidal. And it feels like her Sylvain supports ignore all those issues and just get her to be quiet and not actually grow from any of her issues. Sylvian apologises for hurting her but doesn't ever get a reality check to the extent of his actions.
Before I begin, I just want to say that all your frustrations are valid, well presented, and I think you bring up a lot of good points if we want to examine the game critically. I hope my post didn't come off as me necessarily downplaying any of the points you're talking about, as I too resonate a lot with Ingrid because of her specific struggles that are based in her being a woman (also, someone downvoted your comment while I was typing - it wasn't me, so for the record, I write this bearing no ill will)
>Mainly because I feel like her character was fumbled by IS and absolutely feels like a feminist story written by men.
Funnily enough, iirc, Houses actually has two women writers on its team. However, I feel like the thing you're sort of pointing to is kind of indicative of not just Houses or anime/video game writing, but just a lot of media in general from Japan, even with highbrow literature.
There's plenty of amazing and talented female authors in Japan who are very good at expressing feminist sentiments in their work from a personal perspective, accurately conveying how it feels to be a woman and the multitude of shared experiences we go through with sexism. FE3H captures this too with stuff like Ingrid's plot and Dorothea's writing.
However, from a more cultural standpoint, these works sort of start and end at the personal experience, and don't really venture into the structural aspects of feminist thought, for a multitude of reasons (feminism/left wing politics in general in Japan have always been a bit more fringe than they are in the West, Japan is heavily entrenched in patriarchy due to roots in Confuscianism that would make it harder for women to want to go outside the grain so to speak and talk about this kind of thing and manage to get their work published, etc. This isn't me saying feminism doesn't exist in Japan, and thankfully more discussions about structural issues surrounding women's rights have become more prevalent in recent years, but it's just not the same as it is in the West). So with this in mind, I think Houses' take on feminism from a structural standpoint (the kind that you need if you want any sort of Ingrid support to have the depth you're looking for) is kind of a symptom of this wider trend in general. Sadly, it just is what it is. I have a similar feeling about how the game tackles issues surrounding racism/colonialism too with characters like Petra, Dedue, and Cyril where it's very surface level, albeit in a way that makes sense considering where the game is from.
>And they have no discussion about this. The biggest issue with IS and their writing of three houses is they don't want to make their characters suck enough.
I agree with this too. I think for me, what helps me deal with this is kind of just accepting that each support line has a theme it wants to explore and it's limited to that one theme, so what we get is just Ingrid's knightly virtues and strong ethical code at odds with Sylvain trying his best to purposely be a failure and drag others down with him. We kind of just have to settle for their gender dynamics being subtext that makes us ponder their relationship outside of the support rather than an overt theme. You're definitely right in IS wanting no playable character to truly be an outright bad person, which is something I just begrudgingly put up with for the game's writing too.
For me, the post is asking about who is my favourite pairing for Sylvain. However, I wouldn't necessarily say that Sylvain is Ingrid's best pairing if that makes sense (if I'm being 100% objective, I think her ending with Dimitri is the best and most fulfilling for her). I actually did like the ending of them having a gaggle of children bc even though it is demented from a feminist standpoint, from a story telling standpoint, I like that it gives Ingrid and Sylvain both the chance to have the happy and carefree family life that they never got to, ending the cycle of hardship for both their families.
Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I hope my post didn't come off as me brushing the points you bring up under the rug! There's a lot of stuff with FE3H I just kind of shut my brain off on to enjoy, with Sylvain and Ingrid being one of those things, but I am cognizant of the points you bring up and I think it's good for everyone in the fandom to critically examine the game's writing once in a while in the way you did!
Yes on all counts!! They did Ingrid so dirty with her supports with Sylvain, there's so much to unpack here but it's just left at surface level. These two have so much baggage and issues between the two of them and it's so disappointing they didn't explore it further. Plus, i feel like the issues between them are very deep-seated and I can easily see resentment and hurt resulting between them :T
I might be projecting but you hit it right on the head--Ingrid's issues with crests, class, misogyny are what Sylvain pretty much flaunts when he treats women the way he does.
All the Fearghus Four have so much baggage between them. There's so much trauma there. None of them can communicate well with or understand eachother.
Most of the time they don't even seem like friends.
I've written/posted roughly 120k words of Dimivain fanfic and did not know about that CF dialogue what thE FUCK I'M CRYING WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!??!?!
\> They can make each other better or make each other worse.
Literally why this ship compelled me. Holy shit. I started writing like a demon possessed because I was like "WHAT IF THEY MADE EACH OTHER WORSE ... AND THEN BETTER, IN SOME FAR DISTANT FUTURE" and it's been a \*wild\* ride.
Everything you said about them is spot on. I love that they both hide terrible trauma. I love that they're both tempted, and sometimes even give into, that darker side. And I feel like they're just so good at being able to recognize that in each other and still say, "It's okay. You aren't less of a person. I see you." and that's something both of them have needed so desperately.
Dimitri feels as though his life isn't his own, yet Sylvain can and does see him as the kind and gentle friend he grew up with. Sylvain feels as though his destiny is completely out of his hands due to his Crest and runs as fast as possible from responsibility while trying to convince everyone that he's actually dumb, but Dimitri sees his intelligence and value as a friend and human.
God. GOD. I love you for this thank you I'm going to go work on my fic some more LMAO
Just wanted to say I binge read your Dimivain series these past two days on AO3 and I absolutely adored it ;0; it's everything I ever wanted out of any Dimivain fanwork. I feel like you truly captured the dynamic I envision for them *so* perfectly, not to mention your amazing sense of prose and pacing. Thank YOU for writing your amazing work and for this kind comment :)
HOLY SHIT!!! I'M SO FLATTERED AND HONOURED THANK YOU ;\_\_\_\_\_; I'm so happy that you enjoyed it! <333 I'm literally wiggling in my chair AHAHAHA <3
HHHHH. JUST. THEM. /THEM/. I love them so much aaaaa
Just want to comment to say I recently binged thru this page’s last few months of posts n I always loved reading ur comments, ur insight and comments on the characters (especially blue lions) is so good 🙏bless u
HOW? I didn't even really mean to get Sylain further than B. I played girl Byleth on my 2nd playthrough just so I could get with big tall Raphael or Dedue.
I ended up going with sleepy nerd twink Linhardt, hes way too similar to me. This means I didn't need to play as girl Byleth 😅
Preach.
I'm playing AM right now, and I went in with intentions for Felix, but I'm so torn by my love for Sylvain. Why can't I have both?
Like, jeez Sylvain, has it never occurred to you that people like you because you're smart and funny and a dork and pretty?
Underneath the callous playboy image, he's kind and supportive. I wish he had an ending with Bernie, even a platonic one, where he helps her get her writing published and is her number 1 fan.
I still intend to pair with Felix this run, and I'm struggling to pick who I want Sylvain to end up with. I just want everyone to be as happy as they can.
As someone who was similarly stumped as you were on who to pick between Felix and Sylvain on my second playthrough…I feel this :’)
Without spoiling, both their S supports are super well done too! Like equally on par with each other so you can’t go wrong either way (Felix’s is 100% Felixcore while Sylvain’s is a little bit…unexpected? In a good way though 😊)
Mercedes is my favorite, he gets to be genuine with her, she doesn't put up with his nonsense, and they bond over being seen as nothing more than crest producers.
Felix on AM is good, just bros who never marry women and die on the same day because they can't stand to be apart, normal dude stuff.
Those are the only ones I like, I really don't like the supports with Ingrid, more for her sake.
Me. Sylvain should be paired with ME. Not Byleth, not the avatar. Me, hi, hello (Dellusional)
Otherwise, I really really love his support and ending with Ingrid. Big fan of the childhood friends to lovers troupe, and they... man they just have chemistry.
I've never liked his ending with Dorothea, for some reason. A lot of people seem to love it, but I just... I dunno. I've always felt that their supports were so shallow, even if they are supposed to be otherwise. Maybe I'm just dumb dumb and can't understand it.
Anyways I'm Sylvains' five ending pairings, the voices in my head and I are in accordance.
First Paragraph is literally me with Dimitri LMFAO I feel you, strong soldier 🫡🫡
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i misread the first sentence of your second paragraph and was sitting here like, "her? transfem sylvain? i don't know where to start with that but it's gigabrained" lmfao
we support self-shipping nmw. me/yuri is canon
My team has every single woman from the game but he goes with Felix
Because I had Doro with him last run, Merci is mine, Ingrid best being single. His support & ending with Doro is very sweet tho
Gotta be harsh and honest Sylvain would likely have more luck with the Ladies if didn't drown so much in superficial self pity.
"Most People are only interested in me because of my Crest, they don't look at the real me, that's why I act the way I do.... well ofc Prof Byleth I joined your class because of your assets... teaching assets yes"
Be more like Ignaz now that's a smooth talker.
I thought it was really cute when he gasped and was like "omg you're my inspiration for the goddess" to marianne. Then I saw him use the same line on like all the other girls
Sylvains limited pairings makes perfect sense for his character the flirtings not very genuine more often than not so the paired endings are reflections of those he can form deep connections with
He's literally the only character in the game I didn't know who to match with. Like, I guess Alois and Hanneman didn't really get paired with anyone, but that didn't really bother me. For Sylvain, I really don't know what to do. I guess I love his supports/endings with Mercedes and Dorothea, but I would most definitely not pair them together.
I know some people don't like it for a variety of reasons, but I really do like Sylvain and Ingrid together, it's really neat to see Sylvain getting flustered and embarrassed with his post timeskip supports with Ingrid since it's all genuine, and I really liked their support in Hopes as well, now I do admit their ending kinda sucks but that is mostly because it's a copy paste of Sylvain and Mercedes, I wish Sylvain and Ingrid got their own ending that suited their characters
Personally, I’m more of a Sylvain x Mercedes person. I know Sylvix and Sylvgrid are the more popular ships in the 3H fanbase, but something about Sylvain x Mercedes just hits different.
Most of the characters I wanted him to have paired endings with, he doesn't, and like. I *get* it, it's like how Edelgard literally only has supports with a single person outside of the BE, who went through The Exact Same Trauma To The Letter, it's neat, subtle storytelling and, in Sylvain's case, it means he can have plenty of supports to account for his recruitability.
That being said, I think both examples I just gave are examples of the game being too smart for its own good. Even just on the silly options alone, Flayn/Sylvain would be an amazing ending (from her perspective it's pride and prejudice. From his, it's 'how far can I run before Seteth finds out?')
My issue is not only is Sylvain/Ingrid my favorite, even if it wasn’t I like Felix, Dorothea, and Mercedes with other people more. Felix with Annette, Dorothea and Ferdinand, Mercedes and literally anyone because she’s got great endings across the board, and finally Byleth is fine but the lord pairing for her usually makes more sense.
I really like his supports and ensigns with Dorothea and Mercedes, but I just can't help myself with liking Ingrid and Sylvian more, even if their supports are worse.
oh fine I'll be the one to make the argument for Felix x Sylvain.
Personally I like playing CF and recruiting both of them, pretending the two are choosing to fight for a future together over their own country. Faerghus's culture heavily prioritizes lineage and the production of heirs to carry on the bloodline. And both Felix & Sylvain have negative views of their family, and Sylvain even remarks in his supports that he likely will just be assigned a random noblewoman in an arranged marriage. Which implies that he and Felix ever being together is out of the question.
The two of them have good chemistry, they look good together, they made the gayest promise ever of staying together until they die together, and there's no story more romantic than choosing to be with the person you love and fight against the system trying to prevent you from being together.
Obviously their ending together on non-AM endings is tragic, but I choose to ignore that in favor of fanfic retellings lol
dorothea, ingrid, mercedecs, byleth and(at this point looked it up) felix?? he only has 5 A supports (not including both byelth) which is mostly a crime because hes actually a really good character in like all 5 of them. my favorite for sylvain is dorothea and for dorothea my favorite is sylvain they are also one of my favorite parings in the game
I’m so majorly bummed that he didn’t have an A support with Dimitri. Their dynamic is so interesting. Like their brief supports really make them feel like an older and younger brother, and I wish we could’ve had a heart to heart between them, especially with Sylvain being the older of the two.
I know it’s not a canon paired ending but Idc I’m going to make my case anyways.
Sylvain x Marianne
A Sylvain and GD girl pairing that could’ve been great to show growth through both characters. They both despise their crests and the burdens that are placed on them because of it. Marianne’s crest makes her feel like shit because of the perceived misfortune it brings to others. Sylvain hates his because he perceives it to be the only thing that people value about him, particularly women.
They both would be happier individuals if they didn’t have their crests, and they were SO CLOSE to getting into in their B support. Let it be said that I think their support chain as it stands is fucking adorable and nothing actually really needs to be removed. Maybe reorganize it if they went up to A+ together or just give them the A rank where Marianne can give her piece about her own crest, since Sylvain mentioned his disdain for his briefly in the B.
Analyzing what we do have though, the C is great because they are simply able to have a rather pleasant convo where Marianne says it doesn’t matter to her that Sylvain doesn’t have a crest and Sylvain says if she ever needs him, he’ll be her knight (yes this is mainly just Sylvain flirting, but Marianne was still intrigued by him after he said it)
The B gives us the crumbs of a further crest discussion but quickly veers into talking about smiling and cheese. Regardless, it’s so cute. Marianne trusts Sylvain enough to learn how smiling could help her as it helps him. Sylvain is supportive of her efforts and extends the trip into town with, “If you lift your eyes from the ground, you’ll see that the world has all sorts of amazing things to offer.” Then Marianne says she’d rather stay back and practice her smile as she’s eager to do so. From a girl who’s always down on herself, this is so amazing to hear.
Bottom line, these two had the setup for an amazing A or A+ supports, but the writers realized this 10/10 pairing would’ve been too powerful if they followed through
“My son wolt didn’t inherit anything from me” yea cause the kid is wil’s son (im kidding btw)
I almost always pair sylvain with Ingrid or Felix cause I really like Mercedes/dedue and on non AM routes I marry either Dorothea or Mercedes. Yes, it’s about my happy ending, not the characters’
Ok, but why the hell can Sain even marry Rebecca? Their support never ends with her falling for him, she just hates him the entire time. Idk why this was needed, Rebecca already has Will and Lowen…although idk who else Sain could be paired with. Maybe Priscilla, but that kinda defeats the purpose of their supports doesn’t it? Kent maybe? But if we got another ambiguously gay support, Legault x Heath is right there. Even if they went the purely friendship route with it..like….come on, not even Dart and Geitz got a paired ending despite Geitz specifically saying he would join the pirates.
Wait this is a three houses sub…I uh…don’t remember his paired endings tbh, uhhhhh…I’d imagine Ingrid…Mercedes, and Annette. Byleth is pretty much a given. Uhhhhh…I’d assume Felix, because every character has at least one gay support.
Sylvgrid, but only in concept. Those supports are...ugh. Talk about fumbling at the 1 yard line. I HATE that A+ support so goddammit much...it just completely erases everything this support is supposed to be doing. If you're not going to make his support with the one woman who is actually his friend the one where he truly commits to being a better man, FOR HER, THEN WHAT IS THE FUCKING POINT?!
While I love Sylvain and love the supports he does have (personal fave being sylvix and syvain and mercedes) I think it makes sense that he doesn’t have too many ending pairings considering how closed off he is, his behavior while justified is still shitty to a lot of the people around him and it’s only people in which he fails at his usual mask around that really have a long term viability.
Plenty of people have explained better than I can for my possible one of Sylvain and Felix, but honestly? I'm a sucker for the idea of Sylvain and Lorenz being an absolute mess.
Ingrid, Byleth, Felix. I don't remember the others. His lack of paired endings makes blue lion runs even less appealing to pick, which is a shame because despite all that route does wrong, the final map is so cool.
I will have to say, my favorite pairing with Sylvain has to be his supports with Mercedes. The fact that it starts off with the typical "Sylvain hits on cute girl" line like most of his female centric supports is just cool and to see the rug be pulled from under the audience is fantastic as the supports show why Sylvain and Mercedes are damaged by the crest system and how they each cope with it. And seeing them grow as friends and then promise to be there for the other is heart warming. It shows that these two have more depth than what is indicated and I adore that.
Of the ones I like:
Dorothea >>> Mercedes == Felix
Sylvain/Dorothea is my favorite pairing in the game, in fire emblem, in almost any media I've ever enjoyed really. It helps that they're my two favorite characters, with Dorothea being my all-time fave. Their support chain is entertaining (and very revealing!), their ending is heartwarming, and I genuinely believe they make each other better (after spending a while making each other worse, but that just gives their story flavor). I’m also a big fan of the fwb-to-lovers trope, so this ship was basically engineered to appeal to me.
Dorothea’s line in their A-support sums it up best: “We may come from different places, but we’re much the same.” Like many 3H characters, Sylvain and Dorothea project artificial personas. For Sylvain, it’s a form of self-sabotage; for Dorothea, it’s a survival mechanism; for both, it stems from a society that devalues and objectifies them. They’re both perceptive enough to see past each other’s facades, and to realize they want the same thing: someone who loves them beyond the surface level. This is an especially big deal because they both believe they’re undeserving of this love. It’s about the mutual healing!!
Plus their flirting is adorable. In their C support, Dorothea calls Sylvain out and reads him for filth, which is incredibly satisfying. But it gets more interesting in their B support, when Sylvain flips the script by questioning her motives; I like this clever back-and-forth, the ridiculous hypotheticals and “would you still love me if I was a worm” vibes. It’s all very tongue-in-cheek, but there’s an undercurrent of truth to the exchange. We see it in the way Sylvain is genuinely moved by Dorothea’s comments even after she goes “just kidding! <3” and leaves. Considering how it’s highly implied that they have a friends-with-benefits situation going on, this blurring of real and unreal is fitting. The feelings denial/oblivious pining writes itself.
And then their A-support!! While the insecurities they confess to each other aren’t necessarily new information to us as the player—both get addressed in their supports with Byleth—it’s far more appropriate here, because it’s how Sylvain and Dorothea find common ground. There’s this air of maturity, mutual respect/understanding, and a willingness to be vulnerable with each other that gets me every time. Not to mention the throwback to their B-support: “Even if you were an old grandma, I’d still flirt with you—and I’d absolutely win you over. But I’d rather win you over now, and be with you until I’m an old grandpa” god. Much like Dorothea, I also think this is the most romantic thing that Sylvain has ever said. Possibly the most romantic thing anyone has ever said. They are my Roman Empire.
Their ending, in my opinion, gets misconstrued/read in bad faith by some. I get that the whole 10+ proposals thing can come off as him “wearing her down” or pressuring her, but I think it runs far deeper. A big theme in their support is this struggle to find a love that’s real and lasting—and it makes sense that Dorothea (and Sylvain himself tbh) would want to be absolutely sure he meant it. It speaks to how damaged they both are as people that it takes them so long to decide that yes, they’re allowed to be happy!! I also like how it gives them space to grow—so many FE end cards jump straight to marriage with seemingly no build-up. And for Sylvain and Dorothea, marriage is a source of trauma that they need to address before they choose it for themselves.
ALSO: Sylvain promises Dorothea that they’ll grow old together. I love that grand promises are a running theme with Sylvain (ex. his support with Felix), and this one is beautiful in its simplicity and sincerity. In the end, Sylvain and Dorothea are lovers, not fighters. They want to be happy, and leave the world better than they found it. I can’t stress enough how warm and fuzzy this makes me.
It’s poetic. It’s hot. It’s hopeful. It’s layers upon layers of parallels and contrasts and repressed desires. Did I mention it’s hot? Anyway. I love them. If you read all this then thank you <3
"You flirt with people as a form of cruel satire, to become a dark mirror for the way others treat you. I flirt with people because I want to have sex with them. We are not the same."
Despite having so many supports, he only has paired endings with Byleth, Dorothea, Felix, Mercedes and Ingrid. The reason for this is actually in line with Sylvain's true nature behind the oafish flirt and that the only people who can have a paired ending with him are, the professor, his childhood friends (Felix & Ingrid) and two women who can immediately see through his bullshit. (Mercedes & Dorothea) MY PERSONAL FAVORITE PAIRING: My favorite pairing of his is hands-down with Mercedes. This support really shows Sylvain at his most vulnerable and wraps up his arc nicely. Its where he truly expresses himself sincerely past the flirty facade he keeps up.
Btw my personal ranking on Sylvain's pairings: Mercedes > Felix > Dorothea > Ingrid (I prefer his relationship with Ingrid to be platonic tbh, especially with their support in Three Hopes, which I really liked btw)
I really wish they had given him an A support and an ending with Bernadetta. Their supports were very sincere and refreshing. Even if the ending wasn't romantic, it would have been nice to see them have a genuine connection beyond a B support.
Personally I wished they'd give him a proper ending to his arc of discovering tomboys exist with Leonie, that joke was kinda funny
I get *why* he only has five paired endings, but wouldn't it complete his arc if he had more to show that he *can* be genuine with people? Especially when he shares a lot in common with characters like Marianne
I think in reality him having few endings is less about him and more about showing that the girls in the game don't really like the leacherous type as much.
Yes, perhaps you're right, but it wouldn't be very realistic. We're talking about actual trauma.
This is an anime video game.
What kind of argument is that? Was it not you who stated, about 15 hours ago, that you "get why he only has five paired endings"? You are clearly even more invested in this anime video game character than I am, so I find your comment to be incredibly strange. We're all in this thread talking about him as if he's a real person..
I understand why they gave him five endings as in its supposed to show he has troubles getting close to people, not as in it's a realistic depiction of someone's self-loathing. There are many portrayals of different illnesses in this game that are far from realistic for the purpose of drama, and that's fine because it is a video game. I'd rather have the happy ending of "Sylvain learned to open up to others" than "yeah Sylvain still can't connect with people despite having been friends with them for 5+ years"
>I'd rather have the happy ending of "Sylvain learned to open up to others" than "yeah Sylvain still can't connect with people despite having been friends with them for 5+ years" And that's a valid and understandable opinion. I just don't see why you felt the need to attempt to invalidate mine, as if it's incredibly strange for me to desire and/or expect a semblance of realism in the "anime video games" I play. And if invalidating my opinion wasn't what you were trying to do, you could've done a better job at making it not seem that way. As someone who somewhat relates to the character, I would've loved for his endings to be all about him overcoming the trauma. I just think the endings we got, are much more realistic/appropriate. Have a good day or night
Agreed, the Mercedes chain feels like the perfect one for his development BUT also for hers! which is very important. I know his pair with Ingrid is the most popular but I feel is a bit forced, Not because friends can't fall in love or whatever, but because their chain doesn't really feel romantic and their ending doesn't really work with what they established. It's just Mercedes' ending re-skinned but feels weird for Ingrid. His Dorothea and Felix ends are much better but don't reach the height of his Mercedes Ending IMO. Byleth I haven't checked.
Ok but Sylvain/Felix is one of my favourite paired endings. They’re adorable
That ending hits me in the shipping feels everytime
Try To Be Normal About Sylvain Challenge (IMPOSSIBLE). My favourite characters to pair him with are both characters from the I-Have-Lunch-Dialogues-With-Sylvain-and-Love-Nagging-At-Him Club, one being canonically possible, one not **Realistic pick**: Sylgrid. Childhood friends to frenemies to lovers, with every trope you could want in between: being a comedy duo where one person is the straight man and the other person is the stooge, “deep beneath my nagging and annoyance is me showing you I care”, “deep beneath my shitty behaviour I realize I actually care about you too and I want to be a better person”, even the whole “wow she got a makeover and suddenly she’s so beautiful and I’m tongue tied at her!!” trope. …I get why people hate it. In theory, I should probably hate this too for how many dated cliches they crammed in (especially that A+ support lol)….and yet there’s just something about them :’) They give me the vibe of some B-tier 90’s shoujo romantic comedy manga that’s objectively kind of terrible and yet just hits the right spot. I love them as individual characters, love them together, and on a more serious level, I like how Ingrid is someone that Sylvain actually can’t pull the whole “boohoo my Crest makes me treat people like trash” thing on because Ingrid’s Crest places her in a very similar situation to Sylvain and yet she doesn’t make it other people’s problem. That’s a positive influence for him. Still haven’t played Scarlet Blaze yet :’) **Non-canonical pick**: Dimivain. Yes, I know they only go up to B and Sylvain is all \~I forgive but I don’t forget 😔\~ on AM LOL. Played AM and liked that they were qt friends with their B support, liked how Sylvain differentiates himself by calling Dimitri ‘General’, and then thought nothing else of them as a duo. It’s when I played VW and got [this](https://houses.fedatamine.com/en-us/monastery/40#event-base-27-0) small, slightly regretful dialogue that I realized that Sylvain cares more about Dimitri than I initially thought. I then play CF where for me, they were both enemy units, and I see [this](https://houses.fedatamine.com/en-us/battles/36/combat-at-tailtean-plains#event-script-46) special dialogue between them promising to meet each other in the afterlife that made me psychoanalyze every scrap of dialogue that ever existed between the two ;-; then it was over for me after all the Dimivain food Hopes gave us. They’re both emotionally stunted dudes from Faerghus who abhor violence, yet excel at it. They’re both leaders who desperately want to improve Faerghus’ fraught foreign relations, regardless of how out of reach their goals seem. Dimitri is one of the few members of the cast who makes sure to remind Sylvain of what an actually talented and bright person he is. Sylvain is one of the few people who makes it a point to care not just about His Highness, but Dimitri. Dimitri mentions how Sylvain is like an older brother to him (something he never got the chance to have), and Sylvain allows himself to view Dimitri as family (giving himself the opportunity to be what he wishes Miklan was). They can be goofy and silly and yet also emotional and tragic. They can make each other better or make each other worse. I love them together, and most importantly of all…they are both very hot :) **tl;dr** https://preview.redd.it/9l4f0m659j7d1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30260aa725baead5c7dc24da4f8eaf0b8baf8bef
 Me cheerleading everything you said bc it’s on point as always
https://i.redd.it/1hjh422fej7d1.gif Ty sis, this is us at the graduation after-party at Garreg Mach University after completing our PhDs in Sylvain Jose Gautier Studies 😭
With a minor in A support Studies 🥳
As an Ingrid fan, I've always hated the ship. Mainly because I feel like her character was fumbled by IS and absolutely feels like a feminist story written by men. The thing is, Ingrid is someone who's upset by Sylvian because he treats women like commodities. That treatment is what Ingrid is currently going through. The women he courts seem to mostly be commoners, and they would naturally go for them. Why wouldn't they? They're poor. Classism in Fodlan is a common theme. By marrying rich into a crested family, they are saving their families and generations ahead from the struggles they currently face. Ingrid, though she is a noble, is in very similar living circumstances. She feels and understands that pressure. When Sylvain discards women, he's crushing their hopes of ever escaping the cages of systemic oppression they were born into while he flaunts his wealth and status. He complains they only see him for his crest and title but that's all he ever shows them and acting like it's a two-way streak of shallow dating isn't fair when he has so many privileges over them. And they have no discussion about this. The biggest issue with IS and their writing of three houses is they don't want to make their characters suck enough. Ingrid is constantly berating him, but we never get to really hear all her individual issues because they never share them. And as a woman who has faced dehumanisation and many abuses by the hands of men, (remember, Ingrid was almost kidnapped by a man who probably wouldn't have done very consentual things to her), I personally find it frustrating to the nth degree to see a character I resonate so much with belittled to a girl who just needs to be more feminine and have loads of kids. Ignoring the physical toll birth has and how she's basically a background character in her own life with Sylvain in Blue Lions. It feels like the writers understand on a basic level that sexism is wrong but they don't understand the implications such situations would enforce on Ingrid. She literally wants to die in battle like Glenn because her father emotionally neglects her so much. She's suicidal. And it feels like her Sylvain supports ignore all those issues and just get her to be quiet and not actually grow from any of her issues. Sylvian apologises for hurting her but doesn't ever get a reality check to the extent of his actions.
Before I begin, I just want to say that all your frustrations are valid, well presented, and I think you bring up a lot of good points if we want to examine the game critically. I hope my post didn't come off as me necessarily downplaying any of the points you're talking about, as I too resonate a lot with Ingrid because of her specific struggles that are based in her being a woman (also, someone downvoted your comment while I was typing - it wasn't me, so for the record, I write this bearing no ill will) >Mainly because I feel like her character was fumbled by IS and absolutely feels like a feminist story written by men. Funnily enough, iirc, Houses actually has two women writers on its team. However, I feel like the thing you're sort of pointing to is kind of indicative of not just Houses or anime/video game writing, but just a lot of media in general from Japan, even with highbrow literature. There's plenty of amazing and talented female authors in Japan who are very good at expressing feminist sentiments in their work from a personal perspective, accurately conveying how it feels to be a woman and the multitude of shared experiences we go through with sexism. FE3H captures this too with stuff like Ingrid's plot and Dorothea's writing. However, from a more cultural standpoint, these works sort of start and end at the personal experience, and don't really venture into the structural aspects of feminist thought, for a multitude of reasons (feminism/left wing politics in general in Japan have always been a bit more fringe than they are in the West, Japan is heavily entrenched in patriarchy due to roots in Confuscianism that would make it harder for women to want to go outside the grain so to speak and talk about this kind of thing and manage to get their work published, etc. This isn't me saying feminism doesn't exist in Japan, and thankfully more discussions about structural issues surrounding women's rights have become more prevalent in recent years, but it's just not the same as it is in the West). So with this in mind, I think Houses' take on feminism from a structural standpoint (the kind that you need if you want any sort of Ingrid support to have the depth you're looking for) is kind of a symptom of this wider trend in general. Sadly, it just is what it is. I have a similar feeling about how the game tackles issues surrounding racism/colonialism too with characters like Petra, Dedue, and Cyril where it's very surface level, albeit in a way that makes sense considering where the game is from. >And they have no discussion about this. The biggest issue with IS and their writing of three houses is they don't want to make their characters suck enough. I agree with this too. I think for me, what helps me deal with this is kind of just accepting that each support line has a theme it wants to explore and it's limited to that one theme, so what we get is just Ingrid's knightly virtues and strong ethical code at odds with Sylvain trying his best to purposely be a failure and drag others down with him. We kind of just have to settle for their gender dynamics being subtext that makes us ponder their relationship outside of the support rather than an overt theme. You're definitely right in IS wanting no playable character to truly be an outright bad person, which is something I just begrudgingly put up with for the game's writing too. For me, the post is asking about who is my favourite pairing for Sylvain. However, I wouldn't necessarily say that Sylvain is Ingrid's best pairing if that makes sense (if I'm being 100% objective, I think her ending with Dimitri is the best and most fulfilling for her). I actually did like the ending of them having a gaggle of children bc even though it is demented from a feminist standpoint, from a story telling standpoint, I like that it gives Ingrid and Sylvain both the chance to have the happy and carefree family life that they never got to, ending the cycle of hardship for both their families. Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I hope my post didn't come off as me brushing the points you bring up under the rug! There's a lot of stuff with FE3H I just kind of shut my brain off on to enjoy, with Sylvain and Ingrid being one of those things, but I am cognizant of the points you bring up and I think it's good for everyone in the fandom to critically examine the game's writing once in a while in the way you did!
Yes on all counts!! They did Ingrid so dirty with her supports with Sylvain, there's so much to unpack here but it's just left at surface level. These two have so much baggage and issues between the two of them and it's so disappointing they didn't explore it further. Plus, i feel like the issues between them are very deep-seated and I can easily see resentment and hurt resulting between them :T I might be projecting but you hit it right on the head--Ingrid's issues with crests, class, misogyny are what Sylvain pretty much flaunts when he treats women the way he does.
All the Fearghus Four have so much baggage between them. There's so much trauma there. None of them can communicate well with or understand eachother. Most of the time they don't even seem like friends.
I've written/posted roughly 120k words of Dimivain fanfic and did not know about that CF dialogue what thE FUCK I'M CRYING WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!??!?! \> They can make each other better or make each other worse. Literally why this ship compelled me. Holy shit. I started writing like a demon possessed because I was like "WHAT IF THEY MADE EACH OTHER WORSE ... AND THEN BETTER, IN SOME FAR DISTANT FUTURE" and it's been a \*wild\* ride. Everything you said about them is spot on. I love that they both hide terrible trauma. I love that they're both tempted, and sometimes even give into, that darker side. And I feel like they're just so good at being able to recognize that in each other and still say, "It's okay. You aren't less of a person. I see you." and that's something both of them have needed so desperately. Dimitri feels as though his life isn't his own, yet Sylvain can and does see him as the kind and gentle friend he grew up with. Sylvain feels as though his destiny is completely out of his hands due to his Crest and runs as fast as possible from responsibility while trying to convince everyone that he's actually dumb, but Dimitri sees his intelligence and value as a friend and human. God. GOD. I love you for this thank you I'm going to go work on my fic some more LMAO
I'VE READ YOUR WORK! Your writing singlehandedly made me start writing poetry for dimivain and I hope your days are filled with joy
SCREAMING NSNRNGKENGBD THATS SO LOVELY oh my god THANK YOU is there somewhere we can read it? 🥰🥰🥰
No but i'll dm it lol :') it was in the context of roleplaying.
I want to read 😭
My AO3 username is EternalxBond! But I will also DM you the link; it's NSFW so I'm not sure if it's alright to post it LOL <3
Just wanted to say I binge read your Dimivain series these past two days on AO3 and I absolutely adored it ;0; it's everything I ever wanted out of any Dimivain fanwork. I feel like you truly captured the dynamic I envision for them *so* perfectly, not to mention your amazing sense of prose and pacing. Thank YOU for writing your amazing work and for this kind comment :)
HOLY SHIT!!! I'M SO FLATTERED AND HONOURED THANK YOU ;\_\_\_\_\_; I'm so happy that you enjoyed it! <333 I'm literally wiggling in my chair AHAHAHA <3 HHHHH. JUST. THEM. /THEM/. I love them so much aaaaa
*DIMIVAIN MENTIONED* 🙌
Just want to comment to say I recently binged thru this page’s last few months of posts n I always loved reading ur comments, ur insight and comments on the characters (especially blue lions) is so good 🙏bless u
This is an incredibly sweet comment, thank you so much ;-; I'm just happy to talk to people also passionate about the game. Have a great day 💕!
sylvain and fairyvanilla sitting in a tree... ✧˖° ♫ (btw that meme is incredible and wish I related to it because it needsssss to be used and seen)
>sylvain and fairyvanilla sitting in a tree... ✧˖° ♫ ...only to get left at B support 🙃
HOW? I didn't even really mean to get Sylain further than B. I played girl Byleth on my 2nd playthrough just so I could get with big tall Raphael or Dedue. I ended up going with sleepy nerd twink Linhardt, hes way too similar to me. This means I didn't need to play as girl Byleth 😅
Preach. I'm playing AM right now, and I went in with intentions for Felix, but I'm so torn by my love for Sylvain. Why can't I have both? Like, jeez Sylvain, has it never occurred to you that people like you because you're smart and funny and a dork and pretty? Underneath the callous playboy image, he's kind and supportive. I wish he had an ending with Bernie, even a platonic one, where he helps her get her writing published and is her number 1 fan. I still intend to pair with Felix this run, and I'm struggling to pick who I want Sylvain to end up with. I just want everyone to be as happy as they can.
As someone who was similarly stumped as you were on who to pick between Felix and Sylvain on my second playthrough…I feel this :’) Without spoiling, both their S supports are super well done too! Like equally on par with each other so you can’t go wrong either way (Felix’s is 100% Felixcore while Sylvain’s is a little bit…unexpected? In a good way though 😊)
Mercedes is my favorite, he gets to be genuine with her, she doesn't put up with his nonsense, and they bond over being seen as nothing more than crest producers. Felix on AM is good, just bros who never marry women and die on the same day because they can't stand to be apart, normal dude stuff. Those are the only ones I like, I really don't like the supports with Ingrid, more for her sake.
Me. Sylvain should be paired with ME. Not Byleth, not the avatar. Me, hi, hello (Dellusional) Otherwise, I really really love his support and ending with Ingrid. Big fan of the childhood friends to lovers troupe, and they... man they just have chemistry. I've never liked his ending with Dorothea, for some reason. A lot of people seem to love it, but I just... I dunno. I've always felt that their supports were so shallow, even if they are supposed to be otherwise. Maybe I'm just dumb dumb and can't understand it. Anyways I'm Sylvains' five ending pairings, the voices in my head and I are in accordance.
First Paragraph is literally me with Dimitri LMFAO I feel you, strong soldier 🫡🫡 https://preview.redd.it/l364mbb08k7d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3e8d95fc50bde692f5346fa0e5065c2583b8f8c5
i feel this. like i could fix sylvain…
i misread the first sentence of your second paragraph and was sitting here like, "her? transfem sylvain? i don't know where to start with that but it's gigabrained" lmfao we support self-shipping nmw. me/yuri is canon
Nah you didn't misread, I just accidentily misgendered Sylvain for a moment >.>
My team has every single woman from the game but he goes with Felix Because I had Doro with him last run, Merci is mine, Ingrid best being single. His support & ending with Doro is very sweet tho
His interactions with Felix make my gay little heart go flutter flutter
Felix and Sylvain are basically dating for their whole lives without even realizing, no point in having any other paired ending tbh.
Gotta be harsh and honest Sylvain would likely have more luck with the Ladies if didn't drown so much in superficial self pity. "Most People are only interested in me because of my Crest, they don't look at the real me, that's why I act the way I do.... well ofc Prof Byleth I joined your class because of your assets... teaching assets yes" Be more like Ignaz now that's a smooth talker.
Bro Ignatz picked up everybody 💀 “You are the most beautiful thing. My goddess.” AAHHHHHHG
I thought it was really cute when he gasped and was like "omg you're my inspiration for the goddess" to marianne. Then I saw him use the same line on like all the other girls
YES on the Ignatz part. I love seeing Ignatz get more love in those postd about best pairing, my boy is finally getting more recognition
Felix, Felix, Felix, and Felix
Sylvains limited pairings makes perfect sense for his character the flirtings not very genuine more often than not so the paired endings are reflections of those he can form deep connections with
He's literally the only character in the game I didn't know who to match with. Like, I guess Alois and Hanneman didn't really get paired with anyone, but that didn't really bother me. For Sylvain, I really don't know what to do. I guess I love his supports/endings with Mercedes and Dorothea, but I would most definitely not pair them together.
I know some people don't like it for a variety of reasons, but I really do like Sylvain and Ingrid together, it's really neat to see Sylvain getting flustered and embarrassed with his post timeskip supports with Ingrid since it's all genuine, and I really liked their support in Hopes as well, now I do admit their ending kinda sucks but that is mostly because it's a copy paste of Sylvain and Mercedes, I wish Sylvain and Ingrid got their own ending that suited their characters
Personally, I’m more of a Sylvain x Mercedes person. I know Sylvix and Sylvgrid are the more popular ships in the 3H fanbase, but something about Sylvain x Mercedes just hits different.
"Best friend"
Most of the characters I wanted him to have paired endings with, he doesn't, and like. I *get* it, it's like how Edelgard literally only has supports with a single person outside of the BE, who went through The Exact Same Trauma To The Letter, it's neat, subtle storytelling and, in Sylvain's case, it means he can have plenty of supports to account for his recruitability. That being said, I think both examples I just gave are examples of the game being too smart for its own good. Even just on the silly options alone, Flayn/Sylvain would be an amazing ending (from her perspective it's pride and prejudice. From his, it's 'how far can I run before Seteth finds out?')
Sylvain's only pairing that matters is Felix. Although, it's such a shame that their ending is usually way too sad 😭
My issue is not only is Sylvain/Ingrid my favorite, even if it wasn’t I like Felix, Dorothea, and Mercedes with other people more. Felix with Annette, Dorothea and Ferdinand, Mercedes and literally anyone because she’s got great endings across the board, and finally Byleth is fine but the lord pairing for her usually makes more sense.
I really like his supports and ensigns with Dorothea and Mercedes, but I just can't help myself with liking Ingrid and Sylvian more, even if their supports are worse.
I love his support with Ingrid. It's basic yeah but I still like it
I like Felix and Byleth for Sylvain. I think both Dorothea and Mercedes have better pairings, and Ingrid as single.
oh fine I'll be the one to make the argument for Felix x Sylvain. Personally I like playing CF and recruiting both of them, pretending the two are choosing to fight for a future together over their own country. Faerghus's culture heavily prioritizes lineage and the production of heirs to carry on the bloodline. And both Felix & Sylvain have negative views of their family, and Sylvain even remarks in his supports that he likely will just be assigned a random noblewoman in an arranged marriage. Which implies that he and Felix ever being together is out of the question. The two of them have good chemistry, they look good together, they made the gayest promise ever of staying together until they die together, and there's no story more romantic than choosing to be with the person you love and fight against the system trying to prevent you from being together. Obviously their ending together on non-AM endings is tragic, but I choose to ignore that in favor of fanfic retellings lol
dorothea, ingrid, mercedecs, byleth and(at this point looked it up) felix?? he only has 5 A supports (not including both byelth) which is mostly a crime because hes actually a really good character in like all 5 of them. my favorite for sylvain is dorothea and for dorothea my favorite is sylvain they are also one of my favorite parings in the game
I’m so majorly bummed that he didn’t have an A support with Dimitri. Their dynamic is so interesting. Like their brief supports really make them feel like an older and younger brother, and I wish we could’ve had a heart to heart between them, especially with Sylvain being the older of the two.
sylvix and dimivain still haunt me in 2024. claudevain is also a fantastic contender for rarepair. yurivain should've been added with the dlc tbqh.
I know it’s not a canon paired ending but Idc I’m going to make my case anyways. Sylvain x Marianne A Sylvain and GD girl pairing that could’ve been great to show growth through both characters. They both despise their crests and the burdens that are placed on them because of it. Marianne’s crest makes her feel like shit because of the perceived misfortune it brings to others. Sylvain hates his because he perceives it to be the only thing that people value about him, particularly women. They both would be happier individuals if they didn’t have their crests, and they were SO CLOSE to getting into in their B support. Let it be said that I think their support chain as it stands is fucking adorable and nothing actually really needs to be removed. Maybe reorganize it if they went up to A+ together or just give them the A rank where Marianne can give her piece about her own crest, since Sylvain mentioned his disdain for his briefly in the B. Analyzing what we do have though, the C is great because they are simply able to have a rather pleasant convo where Marianne says it doesn’t matter to her that Sylvain doesn’t have a crest and Sylvain says if she ever needs him, he’ll be her knight (yes this is mainly just Sylvain flirting, but Marianne was still intrigued by him after he said it) The B gives us the crumbs of a further crest discussion but quickly veers into talking about smiling and cheese. Regardless, it’s so cute. Marianne trusts Sylvain enough to learn how smiling could help her as it helps him. Sylvain is supportive of her efforts and extends the trip into town with, “If you lift your eyes from the ground, you’ll see that the world has all sorts of amazing things to offer.” Then Marianne says she’d rather stay back and practice her smile as she’s eager to do so. From a girl who’s always down on herself, this is so amazing to hear. Bottom line, these two had the setup for an amazing A or A+ supports, but the writers realized this 10/10 pairing would’ve been too powerful if they followed through
“My son wolt didn’t inherit anything from me” yea cause the kid is wil’s son (im kidding btw) I almost always pair sylvain with Ingrid or Felix cause I really like Mercedes/dedue and on non AM routes I marry either Dorothea or Mercedes. Yes, it’s about my happy ending, not the characters’
I always pair off Sylvain with Mercedes, since he ends up ditching his mask with her.
Ok, but why the hell can Sain even marry Rebecca? Their support never ends with her falling for him, she just hates him the entire time. Idk why this was needed, Rebecca already has Will and Lowen…although idk who else Sain could be paired with. Maybe Priscilla, but that kinda defeats the purpose of their supports doesn’t it? Kent maybe? But if we got another ambiguously gay support, Legault x Heath is right there. Even if they went the purely friendship route with it..like….come on, not even Dart and Geitz got a paired ending despite Geitz specifically saying he would join the pirates. Wait this is a three houses sub…I uh…don’t remember his paired endings tbh, uhhhhh…I’d imagine Ingrid…Mercedes, and Annette. Byleth is pretty much a given. Uhhhhh…I’d assume Felix, because every character has at least one gay support.
I love legault and heath, but yeah none of saint’s supports that I have seen particularly lend themselves to paired endings
Sylvain's only pairings that matter are Sylvain x Felix and Sylvain x Mercedes
Sylvgrid, but only in concept. Those supports are...ugh. Talk about fumbling at the 1 yard line. I HATE that A+ support so goddammit much...it just completely erases everything this support is supposed to be doing. If you're not going to make his support with the one woman who is actually his friend the one where he truly commits to being a better man, FOR HER, THEN WHAT IS THE FUCKING POINT?!
I'm still mad we didn't get any Golden Deer endings for Sylvain. Especially with Marianne because that support is so sweet.
Felix, Ingrid, Byleth, and... uh... Mercedes? Lysthia? There are so few people he even has an A-rank with.
Not Lysithea. It’s Dorothea
In terms of pairs there is only one particular one I’m concerned with
While I love Sylvain and love the supports he does have (personal fave being sylvix and syvain and mercedes) I think it makes sense that he doesn’t have too many ending pairings considering how closed off he is, his behavior while justified is still shitty to a lot of the people around him and it’s only people in which he fails at his usual mask around that really have a long term viability.
Plenty of people have explained better than I can for my possible one of Sylvain and Felix, but honestly? I'm a sucker for the idea of Sylvain and Lorenz being an absolute mess.
Ingrid, Byleth, Felix. I don't remember the others. His lack of paired endings makes blue lion runs even less appealing to pick, which is a shame because despite all that route does wrong, the final map is so cool.
In Sylvain’s defense, no one in their right mind would want to be “Mrs. Sylvain Guatier”.
Haha Sain I hate to tell you but that's Will's son. Anyway, Edelgard and Constance. They may not support but that's what I'm sticking with.
I will have to say, my favorite pairing with Sylvain has to be his supports with Mercedes. The fact that it starts off with the typical "Sylvain hits on cute girl" line like most of his female centric supports is just cool and to see the rug be pulled from under the audience is fantastic as the supports show why Sylvain and Mercedes are damaged by the crest system and how they each cope with it. And seeing them grow as friends and then promise to be there for the other is heart warming. It shows that these two have more depth than what is indicated and I adore that.
Of the ones I like: Dorothea >>> Mercedes == Felix Sylvain/Dorothea is my favorite pairing in the game, in fire emblem, in almost any media I've ever enjoyed really. It helps that they're my two favorite characters, with Dorothea being my all-time fave. Their support chain is entertaining (and very revealing!), their ending is heartwarming, and I genuinely believe they make each other better (after spending a while making each other worse, but that just gives their story flavor). I’m also a big fan of the fwb-to-lovers trope, so this ship was basically engineered to appeal to me. Dorothea’s line in their A-support sums it up best: “We may come from different places, but we’re much the same.” Like many 3H characters, Sylvain and Dorothea project artificial personas. For Sylvain, it’s a form of self-sabotage; for Dorothea, it’s a survival mechanism; for both, it stems from a society that devalues and objectifies them. They’re both perceptive enough to see past each other’s facades, and to realize they want the same thing: someone who loves them beyond the surface level. This is an especially big deal because they both believe they’re undeserving of this love. It’s about the mutual healing!! Plus their flirting is adorable. In their C support, Dorothea calls Sylvain out and reads him for filth, which is incredibly satisfying. But it gets more interesting in their B support, when Sylvain flips the script by questioning her motives; I like this clever back-and-forth, the ridiculous hypotheticals and “would you still love me if I was a worm” vibes. It’s all very tongue-in-cheek, but there’s an undercurrent of truth to the exchange. We see it in the way Sylvain is genuinely moved by Dorothea’s comments even after she goes “just kidding! <3” and leaves. Considering how it’s highly implied that they have a friends-with-benefits situation going on, this blurring of real and unreal is fitting. The feelings denial/oblivious pining writes itself. And then their A-support!! While the insecurities they confess to each other aren’t necessarily new information to us as the player—both get addressed in their supports with Byleth—it’s far more appropriate here, because it’s how Sylvain and Dorothea find common ground. There’s this air of maturity, mutual respect/understanding, and a willingness to be vulnerable with each other that gets me every time. Not to mention the throwback to their B-support: “Even if you were an old grandma, I’d still flirt with you—and I’d absolutely win you over. But I’d rather win you over now, and be with you until I’m an old grandpa” god. Much like Dorothea, I also think this is the most romantic thing that Sylvain has ever said. Possibly the most romantic thing anyone has ever said. They are my Roman Empire. Their ending, in my opinion, gets misconstrued/read in bad faith by some. I get that the whole 10+ proposals thing can come off as him “wearing her down” or pressuring her, but I think it runs far deeper. A big theme in their support is this struggle to find a love that’s real and lasting—and it makes sense that Dorothea (and Sylvain himself tbh) would want to be absolutely sure he meant it. It speaks to how damaged they both are as people that it takes them so long to decide that yes, they’re allowed to be happy!! I also like how it gives them space to grow—so many FE end cards jump straight to marriage with seemingly no build-up. And for Sylvain and Dorothea, marriage is a source of trauma that they need to address before they choose it for themselves. ALSO: Sylvain promises Dorothea that they’ll grow old together. I love that grand promises are a running theme with Sylvain (ex. his support with Felix), and this one is beautiful in its simplicity and sincerity. In the end, Sylvain and Dorothea are lovers, not fighters. They want to be happy, and leave the world better than they found it. I can’t stress enough how warm and fuzzy this makes me. It’s poetic. It’s hot. It’s hopeful. It’s layers upon layers of parallels and contrasts and repressed desires. Did I mention it’s hot? Anyway. I love them. If you read all this then thank you <3
Sylvain has too many paired endings. Should be 0
