I've been thinking about this ever since going through HW with certain lore bits, when you really look at the situation, our favorite silver haired knight has lead quite a sad life. I noticed on my first go in HW, there was a subtle tension beneath the friendly atmosphere when we first meet the Fortemps family. Haurchefant's is unusually formal when calling his own Father, by his title of Count, and Artoirel looked down on him and us, even backhandedly referring to his own brother as proof of his father's sole indiscretion and looking down on the fact his father could never say no to what Haurchefaunt asked. And while we see Artoirel and Emmanalain in the Fortemps Manor most of the time, Haurchefaunt is usually at Camp Dragonhead.
To understand this, we must look at Haurchefant's own backstory. Born after an affair between the Count and some Ishgardian woman, Haurchefaunt had the unfortunate situation of being a bastard in a medieval theocratic society that is obsessed with honor and family standing, and unfairly getting hatred from the matron of the Fortemps family. While Count Edmont did love his son, and as Artoirel notes, always gave in to his requests, due to the scandal of the circumstances surrounding Haurchefant"s birth and Ishgard's obsessions with honor, he was forced to distance himself from his own son to save his reputation, and to placate his wife who hated Haurchefant. Haurchefant was never allowed to use the Fortemps family name, instead he was given Greystone, a name reserved for bastard children. At the very least Haurchefant was raised as a child of Fortemps and spent his childhood in the manor. We don't know how Emmanellain and Haurchefant felt about each other, but we can assume it was relatively close compared to Artoirel, since Haurchefant did rush to his rescue during the Sea of Clouds questline, and Emmanellain did speak of his brother in glowing terms. Yet despite that, they seemed distant. In the short story " Vows unbroken " We learn that the Countess of the Fortemps family hated him enough to ban him from parties as a child despite Edmont's protests, and child Haurchefant took it with dignity and decided to train as a Knight, which lead to him meeting Francel.
With this in mind, It's not hard to see Haurchefant being starved for actual affection and certainly gives more context of his relationship with us. Now regardless of how one RP's their WOL, they do generally help people in need, and Haurchefant lived by the Knight's code as a way to cope with his family situation, it's not hard to see how he could admire us. There's also the fact that we as outsiders to Ishgard are looked down upon, something Haurchefant no doubt could also relate to and want to help out with. Heck even his constant giving of gifts to us like the Black Chocobo and constant promises to always support us does indicate how starved for affection he was and how he learned from his father's example.
Of course, while this is not to say Edmont was a bad father, far from it, but there's a difference between giving gifts and actually being emotionally available. I can see Edmont always berating himself for letting the circumstances of Haurchefant's birth affect him so, and also gives context as to why Edmont seems so bitter about Ishgard traditions, such as that scene before the trial and how he welcomes outsiders.
Now this actually gives a far more tragic context to Haurchefant's death, only now when he dies, do the Fortemps family truly realize what they lost. Artoirel outright says he regrets the things he wasn't able to tell Haurchefant, while Emmanellain feels it a terrible situation and can't believe it's real. Edmont himself tries to convince himself that Haurchefant's death had meaning, and outright calls him his son while grieving.
In conclusion, Haurchefant had a sad life, but a smile better suits a hero, he knows from experience. Treasure your loved ones even if you have issues, you never know when they'll be gone.
submitted by /u/MegaGamer235
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To understand this, we must look at Haurchefant's own backstory. Born after an affair between the Count and some Ishgardian woman, Haurchefaunt had the unfortunate situation of being a bastard in a medieval theocratic society that is obsessed with honor and family standing, and unfairly getting hatred from the matron of the Fortemps family. While Count Edmont did love his son, and as Artoirel notes, always gave in to his requests, due to the scandal of the circumstances surrounding Haurchefant"s birth and Ishgard's obsessions with honor, he was forced to distance himself from his own son to save his reputation, and to placate his wife who hated Haurchefant. Haurchefant was never allowed to use the Fortemps family name, instead he was given Greystone, a name reserved for bastard children. At the very least Haurchefant was raised as a child of Fortemps and spent his childhood in the manor. We don't know how Emmanellain and Haurchefant felt about each other, but we can assume it was relatively close compared to Artoirel, since Haurchefant did rush to his rescue during the Sea of Clouds questline, and Emmanellain did speak of his brother in glowing terms. Yet despite that, they seemed distant. In the short story " Vows unbroken " We learn that the Countess of the Fortemps family hated him enough to ban him from parties as a child despite Edmont's protests, and child Haurchefant took it with dignity and decided to train as a Knight, which lead to him meeting Francel.
With this in mind, It's not hard to see Haurchefant being starved for actual affection and certainly gives more context of his relationship with us. Now regardless of how one RP's their WOL, they do generally help people in need, and Haurchefant lived by the Knight's code as a way to cope with his family situation, it's not hard to see how he could admire us. There's also the fact that we as outsiders to Ishgard are looked down upon, something Haurchefant no doubt could also relate to and want to help out with. Heck even his constant giving of gifts to us like the Black Chocobo and constant promises to always support us does indicate how starved for affection he was and how he learned from his father's example.
Of course, while this is not to say Edmont was a bad father, far from it, but there's a difference between giving gifts and actually being emotionally available. I can see Edmont always berating himself for letting the circumstances of Haurchefant's birth affect him so, and also gives context as to why Edmont seems so bitter about Ishgard traditions, such as that scene before the trial and how he welcomes outsiders.
Now this actually gives a far more tragic context to Haurchefant's death, only now when he dies, do the Fortemps family truly realize what they lost. Artoirel outright says he regrets the things he wasn't able to tell Haurchefant, while Emmanellain feels it a terrible situation and can't believe it's real. Edmont himself tries to convince himself that Haurchefant's death had meaning, and outright calls him his son while grieving.
In conclusion, Haurchefant had a sad life, but a smile better suits a hero, he knows from experience. Treasure your loved ones even if you have issues, you never know when they'll be gone.
submitted by /u/MegaGamer235
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...