[ Claude considers that for a long moment in which he says nothing, stays silent, and lets Altaïr do what he wishes with the bow while he considers. It takes a bit of time to come to an answer as he loops the different bits of information he's gleaned through his mind in comparison to Fodlan. ]

Control is exactly what the Church of Seiros wanted and what they had for centuries. They were involved in so much around Fodlan from start to finish, and used the knights as a holy order supposedly to mediate situations but what it ended up being was a way to enforce their beliefs and those alone under the guise of guidance. If there were challenges to the mass amount of authority they had before the Empire started the war to overthrow them, they were stamped out quickly before they truly started.

[ And, rather dryly, ] we do have much in common after all.