Fordola and Yotsuyu as Character Foils in Stormblood

jan 21 2022

Spoilers for Stormblood

TW: discussion of sexual abuse as part of a character's backstory

Fordola and Yotsuyu are interesting to discuss together, since they're clear parallels. Both are women who were abused and thrust into positions of power, committed atrocities because of the Garlean empire, and were given second chances. Yotsuyu's arc pretty clearly spells out the purpose of these two characters, through Gosetsu. "You speak of sins, my lord, but at whose feet do those sins lie? With the soldiers who committed the crimes, or those who commanded them to do so?" Gosetsu says (Rise of a New Sun). Are Fordola and Yotsuyu responsible for what they've done? Does the blame lie on Garlemald, or on the unwilling soldiers? What about Fordola and Yotsuyu, who seemed to relish in their power and cruelty? If the blame does lie on them, is there any possible way they can be forgiven? How would they go about doing that? It's a very fascinating and complex issue, in my eyes, and lots of these questions don't really have concrete answers.

Yotsuyu and Fordola are responsible for their own actions, and having a sad backstory doesn't negate the fact that they killed and psychologically tortured their own people, as enthusiatic participants of an oppressive regime. However, the point of the tragic events in their childhoods aren't to brush away their crimes, but to explain why an Ala Mhigan or Doman might actually hate their homeland. Fordola saw her father stoned to death by an angry mob of Ala Mhigans when she was a child. She was raised to view the empire as unbeatable, so when faced with the inherent unfairness of being a colonized subject, she doesn't rebel. Instead, she leans harder into it and works ten times as hard in order to still be viewed as subhuman, which she clearly dislikes and views as unfair. Yotsuyu seems indifferent to Garlemald as well, instead hating the Domans for allowing her abusive foster parents to sell her into sexual slavery. Terrible things have happened to these women, and even the people who are supposed to be the heroes don't seem overly concerned with fixing the societal issues that led to their abuse. Lord Hien, who essentially runs Doma, learns that Jifuya sold a woman into nonconsensual sexual slavery and tells the WoL, "I would not presume to defend the life Jifuya led before he joined the Front. Nor will I condemn it. Frankly, it is not my place to judge. I will only say this: the Jifuya I know has ever been a man of courage. That he should feel driven to flee bespeaks the depth of his terror. Even now, Yotsuyu casts a shadow over the realm..."(Elation and Trepidation). Not only does Jifuya face zero consequences for his actions, he's not even mildly rebuked, with the narrative taking a "we can't take sides!" stance.

So do these women deserve forgiveness? It's tricky. Fordola is interesting- she's not even looking for forgiveness. At first glance, Fordola has no issue with the things she's done for the Empire, and never seems remotely apologetic. Character-wise, Fordola is very proud, and it makes sense that she wouldn't want to beg for forgiveness from people who've bested her. In fact, the beginning of Fordola's imprisonment makes it very clear that Fordola does feel bad for what she's done, she just doesn't think she deserves forgiveness- she thinks she deserves death. She's pretty clearly suicidal, wanting the WoL and Lyse to just let the Ala Mhigans kill her and be done with it. When Lyse makes it clear that's not going to happen, Fordola doesn't know what to do. Fordola literally cannot imagine a world in which she doesn't have to work for the Garleans, a world in which she can genuinely apologize and seek forgiveness. By the end of The Return of the Bull, she's accepted the fact that she can't just die and get out of having to atone for her actions- she chooses to put her life on the line to protect Ala Mhigo and then willingly goes back to her cell. Underneath her uncaring and brash persona, there's a person who still loves Ala Mhigo despite everything. Raganfrid sums up her arc pretty well when he says, "You are not forgiven. Not you. You I will never forgive. But I will thank you." (Return of the Bull) Fordola cannot be forgiven, and that's okay. But her victims can still recognize that she's using her strength and power for them now, which is Fordola's way of beginning to atone.

Yotsuyu is more complicated. Her backstory is far more effective at its job, which is to make the audience feel sympathetic for her and the position she was put in. Yotsuyu endured some of the worst abuse a person can go through, failed by her parents and the upper echelon of Doman society who knew but didn't care what was happening to her. Her only way of regaining control over her own life was by gaining imperial notice and grabbing onto power any way she could. When she became viceroy, she began lashing out at the nation that failed her in violent and unpredictable ways-- ways that the common people did not deserve. However, she was still just a servant, as her interactions with Zenos make abundantly clear. Asahi tries to act like the brutal nature of Yotusyu's rule was solely her idea and not the empire's intention for Doma, but Yotsuyu had superiors like Zenos. At any time, if the empire truly felt she was going too far, they could have just told her to stop and she would have to obey. But Zenos explicitly wanted violence and fear in Doma. Not only is Zenos a cold and unforgiving master, he's also physically violent towards Yotsuyu, like when he grabs her by the hair to show his displeasure. For someone who grew up in a physically abusive environment, this must have been very triggering to Yotsuyu. She clearly has reasons to stay on Zenos' good side, and he shows himself to be a man that values violence and hatred. But putting aside her sympathetic nature, Yotsuyu really can't be forgiven because when she loses her memory and reverts to a childlike state, she just isn't the same person who did those things. She can't ask for forgiveness for things she doesn't even know she did. Even if she was told what she did, any attempt at gaining forgiveness would ultimately be hollow, because she's not the same person who even did those things. Her amnesia arc is not to redeem her, but to show how drastically childhood abuse can change a person's life and even their personality. If Yotsuyu hadn't been abused by her foster family, and had been raised by someone like Gosetsu, she would've been a sweet girl who loved dessert and cared about other people. Her narrative is meant to show the cycle of abuse and to really drive home the fact that she was a product of her circumstances. Whether or not you think Yotsuyu deserves forgiveness, or even like her as a character, you can acknowledge that she didn't deserve what happened to her.

Fordola, in my opinion, can be genuinely forgiven and redeemed by admitting what she did was wrong and seeking to help the families she hurt as part of the imperial army. The way Fordola and Yotsuyu's arcs play out is a kind of sick irony. Fordola, the person who doesn't want a second chance, is given one. Yotsuyu is given a second chance in a different way, through the innocence and kindness the loss of her memories brings. It's heartbreaking to see what she could've become if her life hadn’t been tainted by abuse. However, it's a fake second chance, because it's one she hasn't earned. I think you can definitely argue she doesn't really need to earn a second chance, and that a redemption arc where she seeks forgiveness despite losing her memories could've been done well, but I also think she gets a pretty fitting arc in canon. It emphasizes how much of a tragedy her life was, put into a role by every person in her life. The real Yotusyu doesn't even exist— she's a collection of masks. In the end, Gosetsu answers his own question of who is responsible, and it's not a simple answer. "With both, I would say, for all have a conscience, and all must choose. But with no memory of who she is or what she has done, what sin remains to be cleansed?" (Rise of a New Sun)

Fordola can be cleansed, and has the rest of her life to work towards atonement. Yotsuyu dies before she even has to begin facing the daunting and insurmountable task of making up for a crime she doesn't remember committing. At least for the brief time before she died, she was able to experience a loving childhood with Gosetsu, who treated her better than any other adult in her life, despite the wrongs she had committed against him. But I don't expect people to agree with me, because Gosetsu says it best when he says, "All have a conscience, and all must choose." (Rise of a New Sun) Each player must individually follow their conscience and choose whether or not Fordola and Yotsuyu's sins are forgivable, and must confront what that says about their own conscience and their own sins.

Sources:
rise of a new sun questline text
the legend returns questline text