Escaflowne meta rambles
Oct. 24th, 2013 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
konstantyaA while ago I was going to lay out my Eries head-canon, except to do that I needed to lay out some more general Aston sister head-canon, and in the process of doing that, I got tripped up on the Marlene issue: Specifically, if she was heir, why was she married off to Freid? Wouldn’t it make more sense for her to marry an Asturian citizen (much like Millerna eventually ends up doing with Dryden), and thus, keep her in the country?
The best explanation I can come up with (and the one I’ve decided to adopt as my own personal head-canon—both for my own sake and sanity, and because it lines up with a lot of other head-canon I have regarding the Aston girls) is that Aston and Duke Freid came to an agreement that said, upon Aston’s death the two countries would unify, and Mahad and Marlene would become king and queen. Historically speaking, it’s not unheard of for two sovereign states to become one via a marriage. Sometimes it was by accident (see: how Hungary became part of the Holy Roman Empire, under Austrian rule), but other times it was by design (see: how the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile were unified by the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile).
Asturia is, after all, primarily a mercantile power. It has an army, sure, but it is by no means known for its military might. It’s entirely possible that Aston was trying to secure, well, security for his country by arranging a union with a militarily stronger state. And while Freid isn’t explicitly stated to have a strong military, I think it’s safe to assume that they’re at least more military-minded than Asturia. (I mean, Mahad’s default day-wear is basically armor, and even Chid wears a helmet and carries a sword on a daily basis, despite him being all of, what, six-years-old?)
(As an aside, my personal head-canon states that Marlene was originally intended to be married to Folken, for basically the same reasons. (They were probably pretty close in age, and it would explain why Millerna, and presumably the rest of the royal family, visited Fanelia back in the day, after all.) Fanelia, despite being regarded as something of a backwater little kingdom, is explicitly known for their military prowess—Aston, himself, mentions this in canon. And who cares if Fanelia isn’t big on, say, trade? Asturia’s big enough on trade for the both of them. Just send some of those badass Fanelian soldiers Asturia’s way.(Like Balgus. His sword-skills bring all the monarchs to the yard. XD) But, as it happened, Folken was presumed dead, and Van was way too young at the time, and so this plan fell through.)
Of course, there is the possibility that Marlene wasn’t heir, and thus her marrying out of country would be a non-issue. But why wouldn’t she be heir? It’s possible that, after it came out she had Allen’s illegitimate bun in her oven, Aston struck her from the line of succession. Depending on how absolute the Asturian monarchy is, he could certainly have the power to do so. But disinheriting the heir of an entire country is not the sort of thing you can keep secret, and everyone, down to the lowest commoner, is going to be wondering: Why? Why was she disinherited? What did she do? Gossip will fly, to say the least. And once she gives birth to a lily-white boy who does not resemble her husband at all, enough people are going to put two and two together, and one way or another, the truth is bound to come out. And that’s the sort of scandal that risks destabilizing a monarchy. And when a monarchy gets destabilized, that’s when the neighbors start saying, “HEY LOOKS LIKE A GOOD DAY FOR AN INVASION :DDD” If Aston has any sense of responsibility as a ruler (and he does), he won’t risk his country like that just to satisfy his own personal anger at the situation.
(To say nothing of the fact that, if it had gone down like that, Millerna and her market excursions probably would have heard at least rumors about it before she comes across Marlene’s diary, such that the truth probably wouldn’t blind-side her the way it does. I always got the impression that Chid’s parentage was a pretty well-kept secret among the royalty/nobility. And while a few eyebrows were no doubt raised by the fact that Marlene did give birth to a lily-white boy who did not resemble her husband at all, if Gaea is anything like Medieval/Renaissance Europe, royalty/nobility would have been marrying all over the damn place. Mahad could probably just pull out a painting and say, “See, my maternal grandmother was from the north and had light skin. So Chid got recessive genes, so what?” Add to that the fact that Mahad clearly accepts him as son and heir, and most suspicions would be put to rest.)
Alternatively, it could be that Marlene was never heir. Ultimogeniture (where inheritance went to the youngest) was a legitimate thing, but I’m inclined to dismiss that possibility on the basis that 1.) ultimogeniture was historically far rarer than primogeniture (where the oldest inherits), and 2.) it clashes with how I read Millerna’s characterand really fucks up my head-canon. (Her rebelliousness, to me, seems to be caused by her overall immaturity, yes, but also because she never expected to be heir, and resents the fact that the responsibility has been thrust on her—especially since she has a well and able older sister who’s always lecturing her about duty when she, herself, refuses to do her duty by getting married. But that ties more into my Eries (and general Aston sister) head-canon, which is another ball of wax entirely.)
tl;dr: My head-canon states that Marlene was heir, and Aston married her off to Mahad to form/strengthen an alliance, with the intention that Asturia and Freid would formally unify upon Aston’s death. Except Marlene died first, so that part of the agreement was nulled and voided.
The best explanation I can come up with (and the one I’ve decided to adopt as my own personal head-canon—both for my own sake and sanity, and because it lines up with a lot of other head-canon I have regarding the Aston girls) is that Aston and Duke Freid came to an agreement that said, upon Aston’s death the two countries would unify, and Mahad and Marlene would become king and queen. Historically speaking, it’s not unheard of for two sovereign states to become one via a marriage. Sometimes it was by accident (see: how Hungary became part of the Holy Roman Empire, under Austrian rule), but other times it was by design (see: how the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile were unified by the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile).
Asturia is, after all, primarily a mercantile power. It has an army, sure, but it is by no means known for its military might. It’s entirely possible that Aston was trying to secure, well, security for his country by arranging a union with a militarily stronger state. And while Freid isn’t explicitly stated to have a strong military, I think it’s safe to assume that they’re at least more military-minded than Asturia. (I mean, Mahad’s default day-wear is basically armor, and even Chid wears a helmet and carries a sword on a daily basis, despite him being all of, what, six-years-old?)
(As an aside, my personal head-canon states that Marlene was originally intended to be married to Folken, for basically the same reasons. (They were probably pretty close in age, and it would explain why Millerna, and presumably the rest of the royal family, visited Fanelia back in the day, after all.) Fanelia, despite being regarded as something of a backwater little kingdom, is explicitly known for their military prowess—Aston, himself, mentions this in canon. And who cares if Fanelia isn’t big on, say, trade? Asturia’s big enough on trade for the both of them. Just send some of those badass Fanelian soldiers Asturia’s way.
Of course, there is the possibility that Marlene wasn’t heir, and thus her marrying out of country would be a non-issue. But why wouldn’t she be heir? It’s possible that, after it came out she had Allen’s illegitimate bun in her oven, Aston struck her from the line of succession. Depending on how absolute the Asturian monarchy is, he could certainly have the power to do so. But disinheriting the heir of an entire country is not the sort of thing you can keep secret, and everyone, down to the lowest commoner, is going to be wondering: Why? Why was she disinherited? What did she do? Gossip will fly, to say the least. And once she gives birth to a lily-white boy who does not resemble her husband at all, enough people are going to put two and two together, and one way or another, the truth is bound to come out. And that’s the sort of scandal that risks destabilizing a monarchy. And when a monarchy gets destabilized, that’s when the neighbors start saying, “HEY LOOKS LIKE A GOOD DAY FOR AN INVASION :DDD” If Aston has any sense of responsibility as a ruler (and he does), he won’t risk his country like that just to satisfy his own personal anger at the situation.
(To say nothing of the fact that, if it had gone down like that, Millerna and her market excursions probably would have heard at least rumors about it before she comes across Marlene’s diary, such that the truth probably wouldn’t blind-side her the way it does. I always got the impression that Chid’s parentage was a pretty well-kept secret among the royalty/nobility. And while a few eyebrows were no doubt raised by the fact that Marlene did give birth to a lily-white boy who did not resemble her husband at all, if Gaea is anything like Medieval/Renaissance Europe, royalty/nobility would have been marrying all over the damn place. Mahad could probably just pull out a painting and say, “See, my maternal grandmother was from the north and had light skin. So Chid got recessive genes, so what?” Add to that the fact that Mahad clearly accepts him as son and heir, and most suspicions would be put to rest.)
Alternatively, it could be that Marlene was never heir. Ultimogeniture (where inheritance went to the youngest) was a legitimate thing, but I’m inclined to dismiss that possibility on the basis that 1.) ultimogeniture was historically far rarer than primogeniture (where the oldest inherits), and 2.) it clashes with how I read Millerna’s character
tl;dr: My head-canon states that Marlene was heir, and Aston married her off to Mahad to form/strengthen an alliance, with the intention that Asturia and Freid would formally unify upon Aston’s death. Except Marlene died first, so that part of the agreement was nulled and voided.
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no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 04:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 01:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-26 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-28 11:10 pm (UTC)Not to get too chatty, but after I initially got into the series, I went trawling through old message boards and whatnot, and before the whole Allen statement came to light, there were some really bizarre theories out there. Like, she isn't heir because she's a nun/priestess, and so has taken a vow of chastity. Or my favorite ("favorite"): that she isn't actually Aston's daughter and is instead the result of an extra-marital affair her mother had with a cat-man (because those pointed ear-cuffs can't just be jewelry, oh no). Oh, fandom.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-05 03:51 am (UTC)