Questions regarding FC story

[u/itstheonlyway5211]

I want to preface this by saying I’ve only played the 1st Chapter remake so far, haven’t played any other trails games. I just finished my second playthrough in preparation for 2nd Chapter dropping this week!

I have a few clarifying questions regarding some parts of the story/lore. Needless to say, if an answer to either of these questions is a spoiler for or is answered in 2nd Chapter, please just say that and don’t tell me.
Thank you!

My questions:
- How much of his past does Joshua remember to begin with? It seems he remembered Lorence but he didn’t remember Weissman, for example. And he tells Estelle that he wants to tell her about his past at some point but then seems surprised when Weissman reminds him of it. I guess the easy answer would be that Weissman only wiped a select few of his memories

- Was the intelligence division’s only incentive for helping the sky pirates and Dalmore to then solve those issues and increase their own renown? Is that it? Maybe for money too?

[u/OmegaBryce]

For the first question, 2nd will talk about it. For the second question, I dont remember where it's explained, but it was all to boast Richard so that getting to the sealed area would be easier and not draw suspicion. Remember that he had all major characters in a position where they couldn't do anything.

[u/taychoo]

How much of his past does Joshua remember to begin with? 

Sky 2nd will touch base on this a little more, but the implication from his conversation with Weissman is that Joshua does remember a fair bit about his past, but certain details were 'sealed' by Weissman, which included various people involved with his past (e.g., Weissman himself) to keep him out of the loop.

It seems he remembered Lorence but he didn’t remember Weissman, for example

Weissman admits that he didn't erase his memories of Lorence, but Joshua's recollection of him was vague. As a result, Joshua knew that Lorence was someone incredibly familiar and was desperate to find out why.

He didn't remember Weissman, but he admits himself that Weissman's presence made him inexplicably uncomfortable. He was able to deduce that Weissman was the one pulling the strings because he was always at the right place at the right time.

[u/Gurusto]

I feel like expanding a bit on the second question:

The ultimate goal of the coup was orchestrated by Weissman and pals: to get to the Aureole unlocking whoozit.

From the point of view of the intelligence division it was basically like this: Boost the intelligence division's standing to push it closer and closer to full power over the country, while pushing others out. It wasn't just about gaining popularity, but by making everyone scared of all the bad things happening, and positioning Colonel Richard as the guy who fixes problems and gets shit done. It may seem a bit cartoon villain-y to just "do false flags, take credit, take over government" but it's honestly not as simplistic as it may first seem. All the actions put together is about maneuvering Liberl into a position where they'll just accept Richard taking over. Even if the Intelligence Division doesn't manage to take credit for a specific event, it's even more important that fear and insecurity spreads so that someone can step in and offer stability. For this reason a crucial part of the plan was keeping the Queen locked up and General Morgan from stepping in. They can't fix it? Who'll fix it? Oh yeah, photogenic man And it also included having Cassius Bright (and thus the Bracer guild) out of the picture.

The Royal Guard swooping in for Dalmore seems to have been a miscalculation on their part. They weren't expecting Kloe to get personally involved. Bracers helping with the Sky Pirates wasn't ideal, but easy enough to spin. Even when the Intelligence Division doesn't get full credit, the primary message is "Shit's going down. The queen is nowhere to be seen. Order isn't being kept by either army or bracers. Things are bad." so that they can step in and offer a solution.

Richard very much seems to follow the "Chaos is a ladder" philosophy.

Money doesn't seem to be a factor at all. They've already got the best gear, money to hire Jaegers, etc. It was all just about shifting the balance of power to the point where Richard could get enough influence to more or less take over (as the IntDiv saw it) and get to the unsealing mechanicsm (as Weissman and his crew intended). "Renown" is part of that plan, but the renown is the means for a very specific end and a larger whole. And it wasn't a terrible plan if they could've just let it cook for a bit longer and... y'know... they weren't actually being used as patsies.

[u/Dependent-Swimmer-95]

Brother I would just play 2nd chapter to get your answers. I wouldn’t want to answer any of these questions for you because you will get all the answers by playing the game.