Great analyzation and rebuttal of essay that sounds like it had too narrow of a focus (and maybe a high-horse choice in diction).

"existential anxieties of the value of life amidst violence,"
The parts of Awakening that most address this I'd say are Lucina's dark future and the unseen genocidal war lead by Chrom's father in the past. Neither of them are on screen for very long or examined too closely by characters (Lucina seems to be the kid completely mindful of it, and definitely the only character in cutscenes to emphasize the possible destruction).

Emmeryn's pacifistic rule could've been well-contrasted by Ylisse's recent bloody past, but instead she just seems like an easy military target. Which really isn't going to help the average citizen any when they're being raided by bandits or war parties.

I was really shocked with the game when the Risen show up spectacularly, start terrorizing pot-helmeted villagers, and then are never mentioned again within the plot. I mean, they don't destroy villages on the maps they randomly spawn upon, but I figured Chrom would be at least somewhat concerned with fixing this threat. But nope, council names 'em "Risen" and they're good.

...I never understood why Grima could summon robot zombies...