claude and lorenz are my two favorite characters in fe3h. this thread is to provide some clarification on facts, because i've seen completely made up assertions and accusations thrown at lorenz, while the fandom ignores blatant microaggressions and outright slavery from others. 1

to understand lorenz's initial hostility towards claude, we need to first make sense of alliance politics and history. the alliance leadership is comprised of a roundtable of lords (aristocratic oligarchy) headed by a dukedom (von riegan). 2

amongst the roundtable, only The Five Great Lords have voting power; they are all of noble background and 4/5 are descendants of the 10 Elites: von riegan, daphnel, gloucester, goneril. house edmund is so affluent and effectual that it was promoted to a seat as one of The Five. 3

when lorenz is introduced, he is convinced that he is the future leader of the alliance. von riegan has traditionally held the seat, but according to the library's register, gloucester is second in power only to von riegan due to ambition, influence, and public relations. 4

von riegan is led by Oswald the Old. he had two children: godfrey, and tiana. by official alliance records, tiana is considered vanished, but as players we know that she ran away to almyra and married claude's father, the almyran king. her brother would take over succession. 5

however, godfrey was killed under suspicious circumstances orchestrated by count gloucester. in the ignatz/raphael paralogue, we learn from a merchant that in the past, monsters attached two merchants (raphael's parents) in alliance territory, and also killed godfrey. 6

according to the merchant, the count lured godfrey out by inviting him to House Gloucester to strike a deal on some valuable art pieces. the duke brought a pair of merchants with him to assess the pieces (raphael's parents), but all three were killed by monsters en route. 7

the paralogue confirms that gloucester is unhappy with merchants contributing to von riegan’s wealth, and is actively putting lives in danger for doing so. von riegan and gloucester have been at odds “forever” and “they say even the previous duke’s death” is the count’s fault. 8

the paralogue also confirms what we already assumed— lorenz has no idea of his father's subterfuge. instead, lorenz has been raised completely in the dark to his father's misdeeds, emphasized by his obsession with nobility and doing the right thing for the common people. 9

with godfrey removed from inheritance of the dukedom, there is no one left from von riegan. according to the feudal concept of primogeniture, with tiana absent, the next to inherit leadership would be the crest-bearing firstborn of the next most influential house: gloucester. 10

according to a burnt report in abyss, this is not the first time a riegan heir has died under suspicious circumstances. the knights of seiros believed gloucester responsible, but due to the conspicuousness of godfrey's assassination, they assumed another party to be involved. 11

count gloucester no doubt orchestrated the situation very carefully (speculation presumes it was with the help of the empire/agarthan technology) so the gloucester line could finally overtake von riegan in prominence and rule. lorenz was born into and raised in this turmoil. 12

due to the line of succession lorenz is raised to consider himself next to take over duties as alliance leader. with his father's careful shelter, manipulation and propaganda, he is both influenced against von riegan rule and to hold himself up as a pinnacle of noble behavior. 13

his father has no compunction about his underhanded deeds and thus is unconcerned with true nobility, unlike lorenz. however, this means lorenz was raised to be unimpeachable through perfect behavior, so no one could challenge a gloucester heir despite the count's reputation. 14

lorenz is trained to embody nobility and his father's very toxic POV, but he's different. he sees nobility as a duty, ultimately for the preservation of commonfolk. he is held to both his father's standards and his own in the hopes of being the best leader for the people. 15

his noble ideals are a notably a strain on his relationship with others, but they are also a strain on him personally. while he believes nobility is responsibility, compassion, and empathy, these things are at odds with his father's ideas of power and influence. 16

enter claude, the next true von riegan heir. when pressed, as with balthus, claude insists he's an offshoot of the von reigan family. to protect his mother's anonymity and her life in almyra—as well as himself, from xenophobia—claude is purposefully vague about his origins. 17

from lorenz's perspective, Oswald had years to procure another legitimate heir; yet, in great illness/fragility, he announces an unknown as his true successor, with no further details as to how or why this came to be. his crest is significant in silencing any detractors. 18

from an outside POV, it appears like a last-ditch, petty attempt to keep rule from falling out of von riegan's power and into gloucester's. and, with the low opinion the count has instilled in lorenz, along with his many suspicions, lorenz has no reason to believe otherwise. 19

lorenz genuinely believes claude an imposter, or worse— worse being someone who's unfit and ill-prepared to lead the alliance. he was raised in a very rigid, strict household under uncompromising beliefs, yet here is claude, casual and flippant, to assume lorenz's inheritance. 20

he trusts his own coaching to lead the alliance, but with the mysteries surrounding claude—who refuses to volunteer any genuine information about himself (for good reason, but lorenz doesn't know that)—he needs proof that this is a leader that can do the job he was meant to. 21

their b support reveals that claude understands the alliance's politics just as well, if not better, than lorenz! in fact, lorenz goes to him in the first place to ensure that their leadership is fair and allocation of soldiers is not causing undue strife amongst the nobles. 22

ultimately, lorenz sees that claude has the necessary abilities to govern, and believes he is needed to rule the alliance and forge a future for the world they are fighting for. in their paired ending, they come together as rulers of almyra and fódlan to broker peace. 23

unlike characters with very notable racism towards almyrans, lorenz's antagonism towards claude is not racially motivated. it is rather based on ego, paternal influence, years of strife between the gloucester/von riegan houses, and genuine doubt of his preparedness to lead. 24

count gloucester doesn't even trust his own son from the beginning, as evidenced by his hiring of balthus to do the same task. in fact GD route is the only route that allows for lorenz's full character growth with claude, into himself and away from the count's toxic influence. 25

nothing to boost just know that claude and lorenz are in love thanks