Since it feels like you... well, didn't address any of the things I brought up in your first video about this, I'm going to repost it here for posterity's sake. Well, that and I'm hoping you'll actually read it this time ;p

Sorry to actually argue this... but I have to come out and say I completely disagree with... well, nearly everything you just said regarding Xander. And ironically, it's for reasons that you had used in another character; Camilla - and that is the fact that Xander is arguably as much a broken bird as she or Peri were.

To start with, Xander has, by way of his harsh upbringing under a monstrous father, effectively had to become a sociopath by necessity - he had to desensitize, depersonalize and compartmentalize himself to such an extent that, outside of a few examples, he really never lets the mask slip in regards to his vulnerabilities and regrets. After all, how can he afford to - he's the crown prince. And this is where I feel your arguments about "Story Xander".... well, it's where I feel you claims completely fall apart.

In the story, the main times we see Xander are either on the battlefield or in the presence of his father Garon - whom, as Leo tells Corrin in Conquest, is someone they cannot afford ever appear as anything less than merciless or unfeeling clones of while in his presence. In fact, much of your argument actively ignores the fact that Xander’s supports, like all other characters, seem to take place inside the Deeprealms/Corrin’s astral plane, where he is as far removed and therefore save from Garon’s spies and prying ears as he can possibly be and thus the only place he can be unguarded. During the story missions and cutscenes, he’s either in Garon’s presence or the presence of Garon’s allies - positions he literally cannot afford to appear as anything else but the merciless prince, in much the same vein as how Subaki feels he can’t afford to appear as anything else but perfect when in public or how Corrin themselves feel throughout much of Conquest itself.

Moreover, rather than "cowardly", Xander would arguably qualify more as what is known as a "Combat Pragmatist" - someone who's goal is victory regardless of the means; something that his supports actually reinforce as, according to his support chain with Leo, he was not someone gifted with immense talent like his younger brothers were. He had to work tooth and nail for it and ultimately became such a good warrior because he made use of any and every advantage he could get. Hell, the fact he's a horseback fighter rather than a front-line swordsman like Ryoma already indicated that there was a difference between the two on what was or wasn't acceptable to bring to a fight or what codes they abided by in regards to fairness in battle.

Going off of that, it can also be pointed out that your “pre-established” aspects argue what Xander used to be like; that he used to be willing to get into disagreements with Garon, but it became less frequent as he had to prioritize the safety of his siblings over his pride and eventually even his humanity. In fact, between Xander’s supports with Corrin and his words in Conquest, it can be inferred that the times Corrin watched him train were back when he was still in Corrin’s shoes; unwilling to accept what Garon was doing and trying to change things from within, but unlike Corrin he was slowly beaten down by his inability to succeed at this task due to the fact that, as with his siblings, he couldn’t truly betray his father no matter what kind of monster he became and that, much like Azura with her aloofness, he slowly became the mask because he felt he had no choice. The “bravery he was talking about” has, by this point, been long since burnt out by depression and despair and the vain hope that, if he just finds a way to resuscitate their dying nation, their father may snap back to normal. In fact, even your claims about his doubts don’t match up, because Xander’s doubts were only ever directed towards whether Garon’s action were morally righteous or not - no matter how much he doubted Garon, he never actually seemed to believe that Garon ever intended anything other than Nohr’s well-being but was going about it in an amoral way. Hell, even his response to the Gangarli is never definitively defined as anything more than simple surprise rather then genuine suspicion - in fact, his surprise that the sword exploded in Conquest seems to indicate that, whatever he believed or suspected, he hadn’t hit the point where he thought Garon intended it as a suicide bomb, and it wasn’t until after that point that he no longer seemed surprised that Garon wanted Corrin to suffer.

Additionally, Xander's reasons for going even further in Birthright were directly explained, in that it seems to mirror what was done for Saber Alter in the Fate/Stay Night's Heaven's Feel route - namely that he was being knowingly and deliberately severe towards Corrin so that, when Corrin faced him, they could strike him down with as little guilt as possible. Just as he had told Camilla in their supports, he is still serving as the pillar for his family - only in Birthright, he does so by being the obstacle Corrin must overcome. As you yourself said, his devotion to seeing Corrin happy was prevalent, only it manifested in a different way; the belief that, at that point, the most he could do was try to give Corrin as much reason as possible to defeat him so that she could cleanly sever ties with the least amount of pain. It’s effectively a permanent version of how he portrayed himself in battle with Corrin; he felt he had to take the fight completely seriously because, if Corrin couldn’t overcome him like that, how could Corrin possibly fend against the likes of Ryoma or survive battles that even Xander himself could struggle with? Hell, with how skilled Xander is in battle, it’s arguable that he wasn’t doing anything close to trying to injure Corrin in Chapter 3; if he were actually serious, he’d have taken Corrin’s head off then and there. Instead, it could be argued that Xander initiated a sword fight rather than just striking Corrin down wholesale as a deliberate move to stall for time so that Garon didn’t execute her instantly or so that Leo could get Rinkah and Kaze to safety - hell, his being there to see them off seems to imply he was indeed in on Leo’s plan, or at the very least wasn’t surprised by the outcome. If Xander hadn’t engaged Corrin himself, Garon likely would have struck - and unlike Xander, Garon wouldn’t have hesitated to kill Corrin instantly.

The above argument extends to Revelations with Leo, in which Leo speaking his mind in the throne room where Garon’s spies may hear is not exactly an ideal course when three of the five Nohrian royals have abandoned the cause already. When it was in the war-table with people he trusted, Xander had no qualms about Leo speaking openly, but to speak such in Castle Krakenberg when their father is nowhere near as tolerant was just tempting fate, which Xander was less willing to do than Leo was by that point. Hell, it extends to Conquest as well in that Xander gives Corrin the warning about what betrayal means instead of just arresting them for treason there and then on the spot; he warns Corrin that their accusation threatens not just the whole family but the entire Nohrian kingdom if they’re wrong and that, as the crown prince, it’s his duty to family and country alike to not prioritize any single life over the whole, no matter who it is. And this isn’t even counting that it honestly is pretty jarring to suddenly have Corrin bring up these accusations of Garon now of all times, or the fact that he may fear Corrin’s regret over the deaths of their Hoshidan siblings might have driven them to try and kill Garon as some brash and reckless attempt at justice or revenge - it, in all honesty, comes across as yet another act of intentional harshness to test Corrin’s resolve for any signs of doubt, mixed with the ever-present denial of wanting to believe Garon is still savable and the sense that, if Corrin’s wrong, he won’t be able to save her because he’d be trading the entirety of his family and jeopardizing the kingdom for her single life. And yet, that he gives Corrin the chance to prove their claims despite knowing all this shows how much faith he has in them. He is harsh intentionally because it is honestly the most straightforward and effective way to test Corrin’s conviction before he bets Leo, Camilla, Elise and possibly all of Nohr on it, and that he goes through with it shows just how firm his faith really is in spite of having to wear that mask to proof-check it. His “sub-zero coldness” was, arguably, more to confirm that Corrin didn’t have any doubts about what they said.
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