#shanath

Right up front I’d like to address the elephant in the room: that Savyna has wings at all. And that requires some speculation on Geldoblame’s policies as emperor.

We know that to be accepted into Tarazed, one must give up one’s Wings of the Heart, presumably upon entrance. As this is done by choice (and because not everything is as strong-hearted as Gena), I suspect that the recovery period is on the short side. But even without emigrating, Alfard policy under Baelheit discouraged reliance upon the Power of the Heart (TM), so it can be assumed that wing removal was at least semi-popular even beforehand. The crowd DID clap pretty hard when Gena’s were torn out.

Which is what leads to Alfard being considered “that one nation without wings” in EWatLO. Given that Geldoblame was totally into using the ancient powers that Baelheit hated, I can see him going one of two ways: either he was totally cool with wings of the heart... or he rejected them to take advantage of a ideological divide that would make it easier to foster xenophobia.

The only real clue we have here is Lyude, the only imperial citizen we know who was born into Geldoblame’s reign. He doesn’t appear to have wings, which I don’t feel is strong evidence given his jingotastic family. Notably, he also isn’t shown to have a winglet, though that might be because of his demotion, as regular soldiers don’t seem to have them either.

Kalas is similar to Lyude in that he was born and raised for a time in Alfard, yet kept his wing, despite it being a symbol of the failure that so displeased Geldoblame. It may be that, as an experiment, no one wanted to screw around with his wing for fear of messing up the data.

Another point of contention is Shanath--sure, it may have been his doing that Gena lost her wings, but his motivations aren’t connected to Baelheit’s philosophies. So would he have spared Savyna? The answer, I feel, lies in whether he himself kept his wings.

The appearance of the wings--as well as the timing of their reveal--would imply that they are a part of his machina arma. However, Wiseman is an example of inorganic wings of the heart AND when Sagi breaks his arma, only the headpiece is removed from the character model. It could be that the arma comprises of a helmet, those fabulous nails, and wings, only one of which was destroyed... or the wings are separate and designed to match his arma.

Alternatively, it could be a proto- winglet... but I find that a little unlikely since A) no one else has one (including Giacomo), B) Alfard is shown to favor ankle rockets and the like (though Geldoblame DOES have that tacky golden wing thing....), and C) even if the range in motion is much more limited in comparison, the winglets Georg made for Kalas are some of his greatest work and I doubt he could’ve made their equivalent over a decade prior.

Personally, I favor the idea that Shanath kept his wings and encouraged Savyna to do the same.

Now it’s time to actually talk about the main attraction!

Savyna is a bit more straightforward than Xelha in that she’s clearly based on a flightless bird that has typical peacock features (large, brightly colored fantail). Unlike most peacocks, however, her wings are primarily red, then blue, then green. I’m inclined to say she’s meant to be a green peafowl:

A Congo peafowl:

Or even a golden pheasant:

Rather flashy birds for such a reserved individual. And the peacock, symbol of vanity, doesn’t really match her. The fanciness fits with her backstory as the granddaughter of the emperor, though I feel that’s incidental compared to her intimidation factor. Red is the color of danger, after all.

Moreover, Savyna’s wings are designed in such a way that they greatly increase her profile size, much like a frightened bird will puff up its feathers to appear bigger to potential threats. But Savyna need not puff herself up--feathers spread wide is her default. She’s always on edge, always feeling small. She has resting bitch feathers.

Speaking of her display, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th images above are the only female birds shown. As you may know, males generally are the ones to colorful plumage, both to distract predators and attract mates. In a series that includes the ambiguously gendered Guillo and Mizuti (who’s only referred to as a girl by Kamroh--her parents refer to her as “[their] child”), as well as Verus (canonically bisexual) and Geldoblame (explicitly interested in Verus and coded gay in general), it’s entirely possible to get a transgender reading of Savyna, seeing as how wings reflect who the characters truly are.

Savyna is, in many ways, coded male. For example, she plays the roles of Hunter, Guide (to the party), Mentor (to Mayfee), and Soldier (as the leader of the Mad Wolf Unit), all of which are typically masculine roles. She also fits well into the Mysterious Stoic Older Grizzled Warrior Man stereotype (think Auron from FFX, Kratos from Tales of Symphonia, etc). 

In terms of character arcs, she has one worthy of any gruff, gritty, military male protagonist: embittered by the horrors of war, she goes into hiding to find meaning in her existence, gets drawn into world saving shenanigans, and has to confront who she once was, learning how to smile and care for people again. 

Stats, too, are unusual for a female character, especially for when this game came out. YMMV (since stat growth isn’t set), but in my last playthrough, she ended up second to only Gibari in terms of STR and HP. She can also equip armor limited to male characters. And while she’s got a case of battle swimsuit, her clothes do provide protection to most of her body.

Which isn’t to say she’s lacking in female coding--she’s the only party member shown to wear lipstick in her portrait (she and Xelha are the only ones who can use Tonguetwister Rouge) and those are... quite the shoes for a martial artist to be wearing. She ultimately takes up cooking, though it’s not played up as a big deal as one would expect. Most importantly, she uses female pronouns.

I think it would be fair to interpret her as some flavor of nonbinary. I’m leaning towards bigender or neutrois.

I haven’t forgotten you, Lyude! There’s not much to say that I didn’t earlier, but there is as much meaning in absence as in presence. Lack of wings is an easy way of profiling him as being a citizen of Alfard beyond the clothing he wears, but so would be a standard winglet. I propose, therefore, that he’s meant to be a foil for Savyna.

Both are high class, high ranking officers in Alfard’s military who share the same inciting incident for turning on their homeland: Operation Sweep. Where Lyude refused and was sent away in disgrace, Savyna agreed and fled in shame. Where Lyude is a bastard raised in nobility, Savyna is a full-blooded heir who chose to grow up in obscurity. Where Lyude finds purpose in exile, Savyna chooses exile to find purpose.

Where rests Savyna’s wings, Lyude has none.