Mathiu Silverberg

Mathiu Silverberg (マッシュ・シルバーバーグ, Masshu Shirubābāgu) is a main character in Suikoden. Mathiu Silverberg was the military strategist for the Toran Liberation Army during the Gate Rune War.

Suikoden
"But today..... I have realized something. Even if I close my eyes, the world will not disappear."

- Mathiu Silverberg

Mathiu Silverberg is a famous military strategist who worked for both the Scarlet Moon Empire and the Toran Liberation Army. When he was younger, Mathiu served as a military strategist under Kasim Hazil during the War of Succession. He was the one who suggested that Barbarosa Rugner recruit his uncle, Leon Silverberg, who had helped to raise him following the death of his father, into his forces. This proved to be what Barbarosa's forces needed and with the weight of their combined strategies, Barbarosa's victory was assured.

Mathiu continued to serve the empire faithfully as a strategist until the Kalekka Incident. Though Mathiu Silverberg disapproved of Leon Silverberg's plan to massacre the citizens of Kalekka and pin the blame on the City-State of Jowston, he was unable to prevent the tragedy from occurring. The Kalekka Massacre haunted Mathiu, who decided to leave the Scarlet Moon Empire's service. Mathiu travelled to the quiet village of Seika, where he established a school that would see many future strategists tutored by Mathiu, including Apple and Shu.

Mathiu was approached by his sister, Odessa Silverberg, who asked Mathiu to use his strategist skills in order to help her and the Toran Liberation Army. Mathiu refused to do so. This caused a schism between the two siblings, as Odessa considered Mathiu a coward and never forgave him for rejecting her. Mathiu suffered another schism in his life when he eventually expelled Shu from his school for using his skills in order to make money in trading.

Following the Kalekka Incident, Mathiu travelled to the Grassland for reasons unknown, before returning to Seika in the year 453.

After Odessa's death, Tir McDohl travelled to Seika in order to relay her last request, but Mathiu refused to join the Liberation Army or even to discuss Odessa's death with Tir and tried to return to his school. However, Scarlet Moon Empire soldiers arrived on the scene, under orders from Kasim Hazil to bring Mathiu back into military service, by force if necessary. The soldiers even resorted to capturing students in order to force Mathiu's compliance. When Tir and his companions rescued the students, Mathiu realized that turning his head to the evils of war had only succeeded in bringing the war to his own doorstep and he agreed to join the Liberation Army as Chief Strategist. Mathiu Silverberg was offered leadership of the Toran Liberation Army, but refused, saying that he was not the type to lead.

His strategies usually involved intense cooperation between differing groups and were most effective when clear communication lines between legions were available. Despite this, however, he was not afraid to act on his own. For example, once suspicions that a spy had infiltrated the Liberation Army became known, Mathiu made sure that his plans directly afterwards became shrouded in mystery. In fact, even Tir McDohl, leader of the entire Liberation Army, was caught by surprise when Mathiu announced his intention to attack the Northern Checkpoint immediately.

However, a weakness of these strategies could be the lack of long-term planning. This showed itself most clearly with his plan for the surrender of Kasim Hazil which involved allowing the Jowston City-States of Tinto and South Window to overrun the Senan region Although this proved effective in forcing the surrender of Kasim Hazil, it also forced the Toran Republic to go to war with Jowston immediately after its formation, which soured relations with its northern neighbours at once.

After the Battle at Floating Fortress Shasarazade, Mathiu ordered the razing of the famed 'Floating Fortress', leaving him behind with Liukan and Sanchez to coordinate matters from the rear. However, he was attacked by Sanchez, who unbeknown to all was a spy, and Mathiu was badly wounded in this attack. With Liukan present, his life was saved, but after the attack, he suffered from very poor health.

Although Liukan stated that Mathiu was in no condition to participate in the war any further, Mathiu continued to push himself, causing his health to rapidly degenerate as the war drew to a close. Following the last battle, he spent his last moments in a battlefield tent along with Liukan, passing away after receiving word that the Emperor had fallen and that the war was over. Even as he passed away, however, Mathiu was still plagued with doubts that his participation in the war was right, reflecting that maybe he should have stayed in Seika after all. This does not seem to be have been borne out of concern for his imminent demise but rather out of regret of all the lives taken during the three year conflict.

Following his death, his student Apple decided to go on a journey, researching the life of Mathiu in order to write a biography on the man who had ensured the creation of the Toran Republic.

Triva

 * Mathiu also had a named student who had not become a famous strategist, by the name of Finn. Finn was the first student to befriend Apple when she started attending Mathiu's school.
 * In the English versions of Suikoden, Mathiu is sometimes referred to as a doctor, and at other times as a strategist. This is a translation error; Mathiu does not have any medical background and he is only a military strategist. This is not his only translation woe; Mathiu's line "Oh my god. All this killing... in front of a children." is one of the series most famous quotes, especially when talking about bad translation work.