so who wasn't expecting this.
Note to self: also do something on manga/game and motivations.
Albert is taken approximately two weeks after the war's end in Suikoden III. Unlike many of the other cast, he comes purely from manga canon, not game canon. Because, believe it or not, he is even more of a contradictory bastard in game canon--he would have been traitor to both Luc and Sasarai then, and with things as they are already in camp, I wouldn't be able to deal ICly OR OOCly.
Moving on.
God's honest truth? Albert is pretty much flabbergasted by CFUD.
Firstly, he's not the kind that's used to being outmaneuvered. The profession he was raised for entails seeing all the possibilities, and camp--coming to camp, what camp does--defeats that handily. It doesn't follow logic. It can strand him on an iceberg and turn him into a dog midsentence.
It has possibly the most unfortunate combination of people he was not planning on seeing again: Caesar, Hugo, Luc and Sasarai.
Thomas doesn't really hit Albert's notice, okay? He knows who Thomas is because he ran the opposing army's headquarters. Albert has wrapped his brain around the 'different worlds' concept and sees that Thomas can present no threat. Well. Probably not--unknown quantity and all that. So he'll just keep an eye on him, because he's not worth the bother at this point in time. MINIMAL PLAYERCEST YAY?
--back on topic! These are the three key scenes for Albert in the manga. The first is when Caesar discusses him with Hugo. I don't have it with me, but basically the reason behind their neverending fight is a difference in principle. Caesar does his best to preserve lives; Albert gets the war ended as soon as possible, regardless of the suffering it causes.
The second is a flashback, to when Albert first officially swears allegiance to Luc.
LUC: By breaking a Rune, we'd unleash an awesome power of destruction. But if we don't do anything, the only thing awaiting us is the ashen future...
ALBERT: There may be casualties, Lord Luc, but we can minimize the number of victims...for example, if we sent a powerful army to force the Grasslanders from their land, we could at least keep civilian losses to a minimum.
LUC: Then we could move them to Harmonia...we could collect all five Runes there too.
ALBERT: Leave it to me, Lord Luc. I give you my pledge to accomplish whatever you request me to do. That's my duty as a general.
And the last, right near the end, when he speaks to Caesar before leaving.
CAESAR: Albert.
ALBERT: ...Caesar.
CAESAR: It was not like you to fight a war like that. Who would have figured a guy like you would even care about the lives of Grasslanders if they got in the way of achieving your goal? And yet, you set up a fake war to drive people away from the Grasslands...I wouldn't even call that a war. Why...why did you save the Grasslanders in such a way?
ALBERT: ...because it was my duty. But the mission was unsuccesful--I don't think the True Wind Rune was destroyed.
CAESAR: What do you mean?
ALBERT: As the ruins crumbled away, I saw a ray of light shooting off somewhere. Besides...if the Rune really had been destroyed, the impact would have been much greater.
CAESAR: What...? Hey! Where are you going?
ALBERT: Now that I'm a Harmonian exile...I should probably change my name and move to another continent. I'll start all over again in some foreign land.
CAESAR: Albert! Our battle isn't over yet! And until it is, don't die on me!
And then Albert smiles, lifts a hand, and rides off. Scene ends with Caesar going, "What a jerk...!" Haha.
So when Albert entered camp, he was on his way away from everyone he knew. And WHAM there they are again. Bastards.
Sasarai, to him, is a big problem. Albert does not regret betraying him for Luc's cause, no. However! He was not expecting to have to deal with him again so immediately, and...the Bishop is the only one in camp who could be seen as an immediate threat to Albert's life. Certainly he hasn't done anything yet, and there would be repercussions, but Albert worked for him for months, and knows perfectly well that Sassy is a sneaky bastard politician with far too much power. Did Albert ever like Sasarai as a person? I THINK NOT. So nothing there but extremely wary hostility. Albert is expecting something to happen, but knows he can't actually prevent it, so will deal. Also, as Sasarai will side with Caesar and Hugo, Albert is like ':| disadvantage wut.'
Luc, now! Luc was, and most likely still is, the general to Albert's strategist, the equivalent of Hugo to Caesar, although Albert's not gay for him shut the hell up fandom. Albert...threw away a lot for Luc's MAIN goal, which I will cover more in a different essay. Luc is ALSO a) one of the few people Albert genuinely likes, b) the only sure ally he has, and c) the only thing that majorly weighs the balance toward his favor in camp. Albert knows about his arrangements with Hugo, and won't involve himself in plotting with Luc openly, but there's going to be fifty billion locked threads in the future. Because they're both seeing possible alternatives, and Albert is open to that.
Hugo means nothing to Albert personally except that he's the Flame Champion, has the power of the True Fire Rune, and is Caesar's ally, Caesar's general, Caesar's main asset, a powerful threat. Albert is willing to manipulate his connection with Luc, but not at the moment. There isn't as much to gain as there is to lose.
Will he care if he finds out Hugo's romantically involved with Caesar? Yes. I haven't managed to sort out that one in my head, so I'll deal with it when it comes.
...and then there's Caesar.
Albert didn't want to deal with him again so soon, much less in a space where they can't get away from each other. Albert doesn't like the way Caesar's been able to turn people against him before he's ever met them, especially when his job connects him to them far more than being a strategist did. Albert does not like the way Caesar is currently holding a lot more cards than he is at the moment. Especially because he'd thrown down his hand and walked away and camp is essentially dragging him back and telling him 'hey, sit down, you're not allowed to disqualify yourself.' And Albert and Caesar really are never going to resolve their differences, philosophical and otherwise. Ever. It just doesn't work like that.
Did I cover it all? I think I covered it all. Tell me if I didn't. God, it's weird playing a character I actually have to think for.
Albert is taken approximately two weeks after the war's end in Suikoden III. Unlike many of the other cast, he comes purely from manga canon, not game canon. Because, believe it or not, he is even more of a contradictory bastard in game canon--he would have been traitor to both Luc and Sasarai then, and with things as they are already in camp, I wouldn't be able to deal ICly OR OOCly.
Moving on.
God's honest truth? Albert is pretty much flabbergasted by CFUD.
Firstly, he's not the kind that's used to being outmaneuvered. The profession he was raised for entails seeing all the possibilities, and camp--coming to camp, what camp does--defeats that handily. It doesn't follow logic. It can strand him on an iceberg and turn him into a dog midsentence.
It has possibly the most unfortunate combination of people he was not planning on seeing again: Caesar, Hugo, Luc and Sasarai.
Thomas doesn't really hit Albert's notice, okay? He knows who Thomas is because he ran the opposing army's headquarters. Albert has wrapped his brain around the 'different worlds' concept and sees that Thomas can present no threat. Well. Probably not--unknown quantity and all that. So he'll just keep an eye on him, because he's not worth the bother at this point in time. MINIMAL PLAYERCEST YAY?
--back on topic! These are the three key scenes for Albert in the manga. The first is when Caesar discusses him with Hugo. I don't have it with me, but basically the reason behind their neverending fight is a difference in principle. Caesar does his best to preserve lives; Albert gets the war ended as soon as possible, regardless of the suffering it causes.
The second is a flashback, to when Albert first officially swears allegiance to Luc.
LUC: By breaking a Rune, we'd unleash an awesome power of destruction. But if we don't do anything, the only thing awaiting us is the ashen future...
ALBERT: There may be casualties, Lord Luc, but we can minimize the number of victims...for example, if we sent a powerful army to force the Grasslanders from their land, we could at least keep civilian losses to a minimum.
LUC: Then we could move them to Harmonia...we could collect all five Runes there too.
ALBERT: Leave it to me, Lord Luc. I give you my pledge to accomplish whatever you request me to do. That's my duty as a general.
And the last, right near the end, when he speaks to Caesar before leaving.
CAESAR: Albert.
ALBERT: ...Caesar.
CAESAR: It was not like you to fight a war like that. Who would have figured a guy like you would even care about the lives of Grasslanders if they got in the way of achieving your goal? And yet, you set up a fake war to drive people away from the Grasslands...I wouldn't even call that a war. Why...why did you save the Grasslanders in such a way?
ALBERT: ...because it was my duty. But the mission was unsuccesful--I don't think the True Wind Rune was destroyed.
CAESAR: What do you mean?
ALBERT: As the ruins crumbled away, I saw a ray of light shooting off somewhere. Besides...if the Rune really had been destroyed, the impact would have been much greater.
CAESAR: What...? Hey! Where are you going?
ALBERT: Now that I'm a Harmonian exile...I should probably change my name and move to another continent. I'll start all over again in some foreign land.
CAESAR: Albert! Our battle isn't over yet! And until it is, don't die on me!
And then Albert smiles, lifts a hand, and rides off. Scene ends with Caesar going, "What a jerk...!" Haha.
So when Albert entered camp, he was on his way away from everyone he knew. And WHAM there they are again. Bastards.
Sasarai, to him, is a big problem. Albert does not regret betraying him for Luc's cause, no. However! He was not expecting to have to deal with him again so immediately, and...the Bishop is the only one in camp who could be seen as an immediate threat to Albert's life. Certainly he hasn't done anything yet, and there would be repercussions, but Albert worked for him for months, and knows perfectly well that Sassy is a sneaky bastard politician with far too much power. Did Albert ever like Sasarai as a person? I THINK NOT. So nothing there but extremely wary hostility. Albert is expecting something to happen, but knows he can't actually prevent it, so will deal. Also, as Sasarai will side with Caesar and Hugo, Albert is like ':| disadvantage wut.'
Luc, now! Luc was, and most likely still is, the general to Albert's strategist, the equivalent of Hugo to Caesar, although Albert's not gay for him shut the hell up fandom. Albert...threw away a lot for Luc's MAIN goal, which I will cover more in a different essay. Luc is ALSO a) one of the few people Albert genuinely likes, b) the only sure ally he has, and c) the only thing that majorly weighs the balance toward his favor in camp. Albert knows about his arrangements with Hugo, and won't involve himself in plotting with Luc openly, but there's going to be fifty billion locked threads in the future. Because they're both seeing possible alternatives, and Albert is open to that.
Hugo means nothing to Albert personally except that he's the Flame Champion, has the power of the True Fire Rune, and is Caesar's ally, Caesar's general, Caesar's main asset, a powerful threat. Albert is willing to manipulate his connection with Luc, but not at the moment. There isn't as much to gain as there is to lose.
Will he care if he finds out Hugo's romantically involved with Caesar? Yes. I haven't managed to sort out that one in my head, so I'll deal with it when it comes.
...and then there's Caesar.
Albert didn't want to deal with him again so soon, much less in a space where they can't get away from each other. Albert doesn't like the way Caesar's been able to turn people against him before he's ever met them, especially when his job connects him to them far more than being a strategist did. Albert does not like the way Caesar is currently holding a lot more cards than he is at the moment. Especially because he'd thrown down his hand and walked away and camp is essentially dragging him back and telling him 'hey, sit down, you're not allowed to disqualify yourself.' And Albert and Caesar really are never going to resolve their differences, philosophical and otherwise. Ever. It just doesn't work like that.
Did I cover it all? I think I covered it all. Tell me if I didn't. God, it's weird playing a character I actually have to think for.