Another layer can be explored here because Nikol and Glimmer never find out that Shulk and Rex are their parents. It goes beyond fathers, but also into father figures and how that shapes them.
You forgot to mention Shulk's third dad! His influence is not as noticeable in Redeemed, but if you think about it, Nikol is using a backpack of mechanical Nopon arms as a weapon, and you know who's a Nopon? Exactly: Grandpa Riki! We don't know why Nikol designed the backpack like that, but what if (headcanon) he has residual memories from his pre-aionian life of playing with Riki? He looked up to Hero-Gran-Pon and wanted to be like him! This is all based on the Distant Fingertip Heart-to-heart, btw. Even If we never got confirmation of Riki actually adopting Shulk as he said he would, I like to believe he did
About rex and gilmmar first intraction he knew what he was doing he was intentionally extra harsh as Linka said it "you don't want her with us, is that it?" and Rex saying "tell me something I don't know"
yeah there was a bit in there where I said Rex wanting that means he should've been more harsh. Friend said I shouldn't encourage yelling at your kids. So instead of putting in the effort of re-framing it...i just cut it
that’s not the interaction, it was “that was harsh, boss” with him responding “tell me something I don’t know” and THEN she asks “you don’t want her with us?” he doesn’t respond, then “is it too close to home?”
5:31 I love how thats reflected with his design kinda being this mashup of his mentors outfits or at least taking elements from them but also kind of being reminiscent of his own salvager outfit. His outfit has coattails like Moraig, belts galore like Zeke and he even has a scar on his face like Vandham.
I think part of why Rex berates Glimmer from the get go is that this has happened before. But while Glimmer took the role of Rex in his salveger days, Rex now has to take the role as both Vandham and Mythra (hence the scolding)
the way I see it, Rex has literally just parented her before so suddenly seeing her for the first time in god knows how long and she’s fucking up that royally, he just goes full strict dad mode, on top of the amount of scolding that Rex himself has gone through
@@Blitz_SpencerI think he’s also trying to emotionally distance himself at first to avoid the pain of probably losing her again since she was in her tenth term as an Agnian soldier. Plus he really missed his wives and family life. Glimmer showing up brought it all back and made it too real to accept right away.
@@fieldkaiju yes, Aionios Glimmer by all accounts isn’t the exact Glimmer Rex raised, but to Rex, it is still his daughter with the same face and personality
There's also the weirdness of the fact that the Glimmer from FR is older than the Glimmer that Rex raised (since Mio is probably about the same age as Noah), so Rex probably sees in her the child he raised, when she's 19 with no concept of what even is a parent
@meerzanazmi2823 maybe? either way, I meant that Rex never met a version of Glimmer before FR, and the Glimmer he met at FR is a tenth termer, while the Glimmer at Alrest is the same age as Mio, who is probably around the same age as Noah, maybe 1 year older just like in Aionios
Nikol and Glimmer are in their Tenth term so they’re effectively nineteen not 18. (I know it says they are in the 9th term in the art book but the their term markers have the 10th term design and Glimmer talks about being very close to her homecoming)
It’s also another way to show how they foil each other. Part of the reason why I think Rex has a hard time connecting with Glimmer at first is because it’s similar to how he struggled with bonding with Pyra and Mythra (runs in the family). In the case of Shulk, both he and Nikol are very similar to each other. Compare the interactions with each other when they first met, and the difference is clear as Night and Day. Though it’s partly Glimmer’s fault. Edit: The most important factor about their parent roles is their respective journeys and characters as a whole. Shulk has had a lot of people giving him emotional guidance (most notably, Fiora, Reyn, Dunban and Alvis). Rex does get that, but not nearly as much. As in chapter 7 where Nia and Brighid gave Rex pieces of their minds, and Mythra criticizing Rex for his actions at the end of Chapter 3 (which IMO, is the basis of his initial interactions with Glimmer). Rex was free spirited, and earnest about his feelings to a fault most of the time. It’s no wonder why Rex scolded Glimmer so hard.
That also shows that despite how much he's grown and matured, he's still our Rex cuz at his core he's just an emotionally driven dude. In his own words "stumbling my way forward" is something he's always done.
@@potatofarmergyro1720 because the writer write him out of all the shitty situation he gets himself into as if the game was written like shit, oh wait, 2 was written like shit and Rex was a shit character back then who get bailed out everytime by things outside of his control :)
I gotta say their dynamic is a rather interesting one, since Shulk and Rex very obviously want to treat Nikol and Glimmer as their kids, but they don't. Because in a way, they aren't. Also, I had some mixed feelings initially about them not disclosing their parentage, but after thinking about it, I think I would've done the same. I feel like it would be too much for Nikol and Glimmer to take in, especially at that point in their lives.
something tells me that the two of them found out either way, down the line. linka and panacea probably disclosed that kinda stuff, which woulda made for some hella good drama. oh well, a super fan out there can write a fanfic about it
I would also take another aspect from Rex and Shulk's conversation about Glimmer. Sure, Glimmer, as she is in Aionios, is independent, but what about Glimmer in Alrest? Unlike Rex, she grew up with a mother, father, siblings, and two other mother figures. Plus, when Linka asks Rex about not wanting Glimmer around because it feels too close to home, it reminds him of how Pyra and Mythra saw no value in their lives but to die since Glimmer feels cheated out of her homecoming. But in a way, I see Rex and Glimmer's dynamic as a positive representation of what Addam and Mythra's dynamic could've been in Torna if Addam had taken the time to understand Mythra. It's thanks to Rex's understanding of Mythra that he's able to help Glimmer. Their moment before Origin and within it means so much because it's a place Addam and Mythra never got to be. It's sad because Addam never got to apologize to Mythra and reconcile with her.
Also he probably just misses his wives and wishes they were with him, and Glimmer was a walking reminder of the family life he just can’t have at the moment because of the world.
Contrasting the beautiful bond of Shulk w/ Nikol and Rex w/ Glimmer to N accidentally killing his son and attempting to kill his great grandchildren is both hilarious and sad Noah why are you like this
@@Blitz_Spencerit’s clear n didn’t want to kill ghondor, you can see the shock when he realizes where his sword ended up after going after alpha. it’s only afterwards and because of z’s influence does n delusion himself into thinking killing his son was right and what ghondor wanted
Yeah Zeke is more like his big brother, Rex doesn't really take after Zeke that much mostly cuz he was already pretty similar to Zeke from the start. I just think back to that heart to heart on Torigoth when Zeke and Rex talk on top of like that tower, discussing their views on Torigoth and how they feel about it. Also if you take the theory that Rex is Addam's descendent into consideration then that would make Rex and Zeke like super distant cousins.
I think you forgot the whole angle that Rex was meeting Glimmer again after who knows how long _as a solider of Agnus,_ and one who doesn’t have any idea who he is. And she looks just like one of his three wives who he doesn’t have with him, and it all has to be really heavy and emotionally draining to reckon with all that context. He lost his entire family to Aionios and has no idea when he can find a way to fix things, if ever. He was trying to push away the instinct to be a dad to a daughter that can’t act like the girl he raised before the universes collided. That on top of the inevitability that his 10th term daughter was due to die soon anyway and he’d have to go through losing her AGAIN. And he misses her mom. Just look at his expression as he looks down at the swords when he separates them during his big entrance. Also Rex picked up cooking from _Pyra,_ not Zeke or Corrine.
Rex at the start very much seems like he tried to overcompensate for his own childhood growing up mostly on his own, being a sorta helicopter parent, overly protective and wanting to connect but not knowing how since he didn't experience that sorta bond(or at least not much). Of course he grows from that and does build a bond through the story and it's lovely if short, as you said.
While he was with Rex for the shortest amount of time I do think Vandham arguably made the deepest impression on him. He's putting community first just like his other role models but on a more intimate scale with Garfont Village which would be a parallel to Fonsett in many ways, with a deeper connection to community rather than nation, if that makes sense. He also challenged Rex's worldview in many ways providing him a more nuanced view of conflict and war. Ultimateley Zeke and Morag would have been longer term role models in the years between XBC2 and Rex becoming an adult so perhaps long term they would have shaped him more but I do think the impact Vandham had on him cannot be understated.
I think Rex's style of parenting is pretty indicative of the home life he originally raised his kids in. He not only had 3 kids to split his time among, but 3 very different mothers with distinct personalities. He wouldn't have needed to necessarily make hobby connections with his kids, or learn to be the gentle parent, and could focus on being the stern father figure. Come FR, and he has no family to bounce off of. His stern lectures would have been much better received while accompanied by Pyra's motherly touch, or Nia's snarky attitude, or sibling time with Mio. Rex instinctively defaults to paternal mode when Glimmer misbehaves, pushing her away without realizing there's no one for her to be pushed towards. When he opens up and acts like his old self, he begins getting through to his daughter, breaking though the hardened Agnian veteran to look for the girl he raised.
I don't kids either but, having a short interaction between them (considering the sub quest), i think monolithi represented really well the short but meaningful time that they spend together. It was more about Rex and Shulk in that regard cause they were the ones knowing their kids, and learning to let them go. But yep, it could had been better to have more interactions.
It would be funny if someone confirmed that every character does not remember what happened before Aionios but still "had some familiarity with it", just so they confirm Nikol's backpack works as Nopon arms because of Riki or any of his kids playing with him during his childhood and making him want to be a "Heropon" too, while Glimmer likes music because he has heard Zeke actually making songs in the future, considering Bringer of Chaos is actually a song that exists in game (or just make canon that Ursula's quest was canonically so long that Glimmer was able to hear her while Rex was still helping her).
"I do not have a type!" look Xenoblade fans are unified in one thing only and it's a desire to kiss Dunban on the mouth, we get it.
Mr Bean is a Xenoblade fan ⁉️
I prefer Rex xD
Another layer can be explored here because Nikol and Glimmer never find out that Shulk and Rex are their parents. It goes beyond fathers, but also into father figures and how that shapes them.
Well... maybe they do find out since they all interlink at the end of the game.
@thoet7270 Maybe, but it's unconfirmed in the cannon.
I like to think that years later, after being themselves parents, they understand.
You forgot to mention Shulk's third dad! His influence is not as noticeable in Redeemed, but if you think about it, Nikol is using a backpack of mechanical Nopon arms as a weapon, and you know who's a Nopon? Exactly: Grandpa Riki! We don't know why Nikol designed the backpack like that, but what if (headcanon) he has residual memories from his pre-aionian life of playing with Riki? He looked up to Hero-Gran-Pon and wanted to be like him!
This is all based on the Distant Fingertip Heart-to-heart, btw. Even If we never got confirmation of Riki actually adopting Shulk as he said he would, I like to believe he did
RIKIIIIII
About rex and gilmmar first intraction he knew what he was doing he was intentionally extra harsh as Linka said it "you don't want her with us, is that it?" and Rex saying "tell me something I don't know"
yeah there was a bit in there where I said Rex wanting that means he should've been more harsh. Friend said I shouldn't encourage yelling at your kids. So instead of putting in the effort of re-framing it...i just cut it
@@kouzeonwell I mean when your kid puts many people in serious danger, then I think it's kinda justified to yell at them.
that’s not the interaction, it was “that was harsh, boss” with him responding “tell me something I don’t know” and THEN she asks “you don’t want her with us?” he doesn’t respond, then “is it too close to home?”
5:31 I love how thats reflected with his design kinda being this mashup of his mentors outfits or at least taking elements from them but also kind of being reminiscent of his own salvager outfit. His outfit has coattails like Moraig, belts galore like Zeke and he even has a scar on his face like Vandham.
I think part of why Rex berates Glimmer from the get go is that this has happened before. But while Glimmer took the role of Rex in his salveger days, Rex now has to take the role as both Vandham and Mythra (hence the scolding)
the way I see it, Rex has literally just parented her before so suddenly seeing her for the first time in god knows how long and she’s fucking up that royally, he just goes full strict dad mode, on top of the amount of scolding that Rex himself has gone through
@@Blitz_SpencerI think he’s also trying to emotionally distance himself at first to avoid the pain of probably losing her again since she was in her tenth term as an Agnian soldier. Plus he really missed his wives and family life. Glimmer showing up brought it all back and made it too real to accept right away.
@@Blitz_Spencer szhe is not the kid he raised
@@fieldkaiju yes, Aionios Glimmer by all accounts isn’t the exact Glimmer Rex raised, but to Rex, it is still his daughter with the same face and personality
There's also the weirdness of the fact that the Glimmer from FR is older than the Glimmer that Rex raised (since Mio is probably about the same age as Noah), so Rex probably sees in her the child he raised, when she's 19 with no concept of what even is a parent
wait weren't their starting age locked to when the world's merged? Like Noah at the beginning of the game is how he looks during his first term?
@meerzanazmi2823 maybe? either way, I meant that Rex never met a version of Glimmer before FR, and the Glimmer he met at FR is a tenth termer, while the Glimmer at Alrest is the same age as Mio, who is probably around the same age as Noah, maybe 1 year older just like in Aionios
@ she was tenth? I gotta look closer at her term tattoos
Nikol and Glimmer are in their Tenth term so they’re effectively nineteen not 18. (I know it says they are in the 9th term in the art book but the their term markers have the 10th term design and Glimmer talks about being very close to her homecoming)
It’s also another way to show how they foil each other. Part of the reason why I think Rex has a hard time connecting with Glimmer at first is because it’s similar to how he struggled with bonding with Pyra and Mythra (runs in the family).
In the case of Shulk, both he and Nikol are very similar to each other. Compare the interactions with each other when they first met, and the difference is clear as Night and Day. Though it’s partly Glimmer’s fault.
Edit: The most important factor about their parent roles is their respective journeys and characters as a whole. Shulk has had a lot of people giving him emotional guidance (most notably, Fiora, Reyn, Dunban and Alvis). Rex does get that, but not nearly as much. As in chapter 7 where Nia and Brighid gave Rex pieces of their minds, and Mythra criticizing Rex for his actions at the end of Chapter 3 (which IMO, is the basis of his initial interactions with Glimmer).
Rex was free spirited, and earnest about his feelings to a fault most of the time. It’s no wonder why Rex scolded Glimmer so hard.
That also shows that despite how much he's grown and matured, he's still our Rex cuz at his core he's just an emotionally driven dude. In his own words "stumbling my way forward" is something he's always done.
@@potatofarmergyro1720 because the writer write him out of all the shitty situation he gets himself into as if the game was written like shit, oh wait, 2 was written like shit and Rex was a shit character back then who get bailed out everytime by things outside of his control :)
I gotta say their dynamic is a rather interesting one, since Shulk and Rex very obviously want to treat Nikol and Glimmer as their kids, but they don't. Because in a way, they aren't. Also, I had some mixed feelings initially about them not disclosing their parentage, but after thinking about it, I think I would've done the same. I feel like it would be too much for Nikol and Glimmer to take in, especially at that point in their lives.
something tells me that the two of them found out either way, down the line. linka and panacea probably disclosed that kinda stuff, which woulda made for some hella good drama. oh well, a super fan out there can write a fanfic about it
I would also take another aspect from Rex and Shulk's conversation about Glimmer. Sure, Glimmer, as she is in Aionios, is independent, but what about Glimmer in Alrest? Unlike Rex, she grew up with a mother, father, siblings, and two other mother figures.
Plus, when Linka asks Rex about not wanting Glimmer around because it feels too close to home, it reminds him of how Pyra and Mythra saw no value in their lives but to die since Glimmer feels cheated out of her homecoming. But in a way, I see Rex and Glimmer's dynamic as a positive representation of what Addam and Mythra's dynamic could've been in Torna if Addam had taken the time to understand Mythra.
It's thanks to Rex's understanding of Mythra that he's able to help Glimmer. Their moment before Origin and within it means so much because it's a place Addam and Mythra never got to be. It's sad because Addam never got to apologize to Mythra and reconcile with her.
Also he probably just misses his wives and wishes they were with him, and Glimmer was a walking reminder of the family life he just can’t have at the moment because of the world.
Contrasting the beautiful bond of Shulk w/ Nikol and Rex w/ Glimmer to N accidentally killing his son and attempting to kill his great grandchildren is both hilarious and sad
Noah why are you like this
nah N was very intentionally killing his own son💀
@@Blitz_Spencer N was saving the world in his POV btw
@@fieldkaiju intentionally killing your son as a “sacrifice” for Moebius/Aionios is still pretty fucked💀
@@Blitz_Spencerit’s clear n didn’t want to kill ghondor, you can see the shock when he realizes where his sword ended up after going after alpha. it’s only afterwards and because of z’s influence does n delusion himself into thinking killing his son was right and what ghondor wanted
@ I don’t think he necessarily wanted to lol but he was quite determined to see it through
I would say that Vandham is way more of a father figure / role model for Rex than Zeke
Yeah Zeke is more like his big brother, Rex doesn't really take after Zeke that much mostly cuz he was already pretty similar to Zeke from the start. I just think back to that heart to heart on Torigoth when Zeke and Rex talk on top of like that tower, discussing their views on Torigoth and how they feel about it. Also if you take the theory that Rex is Addam's descendent into consideration then that would make Rex and Zeke like super distant cousins.
That probably changed after Xenoblade 2.
big brothers can still be role models
Damn, I'm surprised I only just found your channel. Really good video! I'll have to watch all your others too :)
I think you forgot the whole angle that Rex was meeting Glimmer again after who knows how long _as a solider of Agnus,_ and one who doesn’t have any idea who he is. And she looks just like one of his three wives who he doesn’t have with him, and it all has to be really heavy and emotionally draining to reckon with all that context. He lost his entire family to Aionios and has no idea when he can find a way to fix things, if ever. He was trying to push away the instinct to be a dad to a daughter that can’t act like the girl he raised before the universes collided. That on top of the inevitability that his 10th term daughter was due to die soon anyway and he’d have to go through losing her AGAIN. And he misses her mom. Just look at his expression as he looks down at the swords when he separates them during his big entrance.
Also Rex picked up cooking from _Pyra,_ not Zeke or Corrine.
Rex at the start very much seems like he tried to overcompensate for his own childhood growing up mostly on his own, being a sorta helicopter parent, overly protective and wanting to connect but not knowing how since he didn't experience that sorta bond(or at least not much). Of course he grows from that and does build a bond through the story and it's lovely if short, as you said.
Also his children were literal kids before he got transported to Aionios, now they’re young adults with autonomy over their own life.
I think my favourite little parent moment in Future Redeemed is when Rex gets to make Glimmer's favourite food. It's so heartwarming to see
Fiora is so lucky...
Pyra, Mythra and Nia are so lucky...
You could say Fiora is Lucky times 7
@@SuperSavajinmy brother in christ💀
While he was with Rex for the shortest amount of time I do think Vandham arguably made the deepest impression on him. He's putting community first just like his other role models but on a more intimate scale with Garfont Village which would be a parallel to Fonsett in many ways, with a deeper connection to community rather than nation, if that makes sense. He also challenged Rex's worldview in many ways providing him a more nuanced view of conflict and war.
Ultimateley Zeke and Morag would have been longer term role models in the years between XBC2 and Rex becoming an adult so perhaps long term they would have shaped him more but I do think the impact Vandham had on him cannot be understated.
What is with the men of house Origo being saddled with moody teenage girls in Xenoblade story dlc?
I think Rex's style of parenting is pretty indicative of the home life he originally raised his kids in. He not only had 3 kids to split his time among, but 3 very different mothers with distinct personalities. He wouldn't have needed to necessarily make hobby connections with his kids, or learn to be the gentle parent, and could focus on being the stern father figure.
Come FR, and he has no family to bounce off of. His stern lectures would have been much better received while accompanied by Pyra's motherly touch, or Nia's snarky attitude, or sibling time with Mio.
Rex instinctively defaults to paternal mode when Glimmer misbehaves, pushing her away without realizing there's no one for her to be pushed towards. When he opens up and acts like his old self, he begins getting through to his daughter, breaking though the hardened Agnian veteran to look for the girl he raised.
I don't kids either but, having a short interaction between them (considering the sub quest), i think monolithi represented really well the short but meaningful time that they spend together. It was more about Rex and Shulk in that regard cause they were the ones knowing their kids, and learning to let them go. But yep, it could had been better to have more interactions.
It would be funny if someone confirmed that every character does not remember what happened before Aionios but still "had some familiarity with it", just so they confirm Nikol's backpack works as Nopon arms because of Riki or any of his kids playing with him during his childhood and making him want to be a "Heropon" too, while Glimmer likes music because he has heard Zeke actually making songs in the future, considering Bringer of Chaos is actually a song that exists in game (or just make canon that Ursula's quest was canonically so long that Glimmer was able to hear her while Rex was still helping her).
14:08
*Narratively
That's NOT how the gameplay actually went... For me at least 😅
A fellow based dad enjoyer i see
based dads too weak to even defeat their own kids
They were daddies before having kids
Daddy