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Even longer than in real life too, since the financial slump the franchise entered started earlier here.
Fire Emblem: Crusaders of Light
Fire Emblem: Crusaders of Light is a turn-based strategy role-playing game released in 1996 for the Super Famicom, exclusively in China. It is the fourth game installment in the Fire Emblem series, and the second for Super Famicom. It is a distant prequel to its predecessors, Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light and Mystery of the Emblem, set over a thousand years in those games' past and in a different part of the world; contemporaneous events and civilizations from Archanea are referenced in the game. A companion game, Thracia 776, focuses on events in Crusaders of Light taking place in a certain area, with the protagonist one of the supporting characters of Crusaders of Light.
Crusaders of Light is set in the continent of Jugdral, a land whose rulers bear the holy bloodlines of the Twelve Crusaders, who centuries ago freed humanity from the tyranny of the Earth Dragon Loptyr and his child-sacrificing cult. The game is split up into two halves, separated by the timespan of a generation. In the first generation, while most of his nation's army is off to war in the eastern nation of Isaach, Lord Sigurd of Chalphy defends the Kingdom of Grannvale from a sudden invasion by the neighbouring Kingdom of Verdane, but he is drawn into a vast conspiracy that changes the course of Jugdral’s history. In the second generation, his son, Seliph, continues his legacy.
Gameplay
Crusaders of Light is an unusual beast among the series. Its general gameplay is rather different, and it boasts a large number of unique systems and features alongside introducing several gameplay points which would go on to become series staples.
One of the core themes to the game is the legacy of the Twelve Crusaders, reflected in gameplay with the Holy Blood system. Some characters possess one of thirteen lineages of holy blood, which enhance the unit's stats. There are twelve powerful holy weapons, one for each lineage, that can only be wielded by the Crusaders and their descendants.
With the game split into two generational parts, a key aspect of this is most of the characters of the second generation are the children of those of the first. During the first generation, the female characters (except Deirdre and Ethlyn, who have canonical pairings) can be paired up to fall in love with male characters and have two children, who will go on to join Seliph. As long as they fall in love and remain alive until Sigurd’s story ends, their children can be recruited in the second half. Otherwise, they will be replaced with a matching substitute character. This is one of the main factors in the game's replayability. Since different couples can be paired up, and each pair of parents influences their children and leaving certain people unmarried results in different substitute characters, units in the second generation are quite variable. A child's stats, growths and skills (passive abilities which have an effect on combat performance) are determined by those of their parents.
Unlike other games where weapon durability is more variable and limited, most weapons here have a durability of fifty uses. After that they break, as normal, but they can be repaired in allied castles for a fee. On the other hand, their availability is very limited; there are not many of each type, and only some bosses give one when defeated. With new limitations on trading, the player must strategize over who gets to kill these bosses to get their weapons.
The game marked the debut implementation of another series staple, called the weapon triangle. It is like rock-paper-scissors only with weapons: swords beat axes, axes beat lances, and lances beat swords. The unit with the “better” weapon receives an accuracy and avoid bonus in combat.
Crusaders of Light is ostensibly the second-shortest game in the series, behind Waiyun; however, each chapter is more comparable to numerous individual chapters contained within one. It is also the only game in the series where all of the game takes place on outdoor maps. Only two maps, Endgame 1 and 2, take place inside a city, and even those are still set outdoors and technically have seize objectives. In fact, the scope of most battles are so large they can even cover entire countries and talk conversations imply months have passed.
Before starting each battle, the player is allowed to freely roam around their “home” castle as Sigurd or Seliph, talking to allies and learning more about the world of Jugdral. Due to hardware restraints the explorable castle itself isn’t that big.
Development
The game which eventually evolved into Crusaders of Light was not originally conceived as an actual Fire Emblem game, and many of the initial plans for the game, which had the working name of Sword Emblem, deviate greatly from the finished product. According to Zhao Jiahe, one aim which led to the development of Crusaders of Light was to temporarily break away from Marth’s Archanean setting to do something new with the series, similarly to the Valentian setting of Waiyun. The initial concept for the gameplay had more in common with traditional Chinese role-playing games and was based around squads, where the player would move squads of characters across a world map and would encounter and battle enemies. However, as the development continued, the game eventually shifted back to playing more like a traditional Fire Emblem game, based on both feedback from Rentiantang and opinions among the team. Due to all of these changing plans, the Crusaders of Light project was scrapped and remade from scratch at least two or three times. The development of the game was further complicated by both staff and office changes at Intelligent Systems.
When he was writing the scenario, one of Zhao’s primary aims was to produce a large-scale historical drama where the world undergoes great change over a period of time and, in his words, "the history [is] the protagonist". He looked to ancient historical epics like the Iliad and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms as well as to the Reich’s Anarchy period, Fifty Years’ War, and even the Restoration for inspiration. The story's inspiration changed, drawing from Norse and Celtic mythology as opposed to the elements from classical mythology used by earlier titles. Through a much darker story than the Archanean and Valentian sagas, Zhao intended a key theme to be how many historical events and behaviors are unpalatable by modern standards, citing incest, patricide, and child torture as examples. To a lesser extent, he also wanted to show how people’s mistakes end up changing the world. He was determined not to whitewash history and sought to present a medieval drama reflective of the true nature of the era, and to present both the heroes and the villains as fighting for their own justice to emphasize the dangers posed by branding a conflict a crusade on either side. He summarized events in the game as roughly being inspired by the Reich’s Restoration and persecutions of Muslims, French, and Poles combined with the Anarchy and Fifty Years’ War. The historical character of Saint Heim is based on the two Roman saints Gunhilda and Wilhelmina, while Sigurd is based on Prince Nikephoros.
Many of the gameplay changes engendered are claimed by Zhao to have been directly inspired by this scenario direction. The game's enormous maps were intended to change the impression delivered by prior games that the conflict was being fought on a small scale, instead emphasizing the game's events as a massive, world-sweeping conflict spanning generations. The changes to the game's inventory and money systems, limiting the ability to swap items between units and giving each unit their own personal money supply, were developed in a bid to balance out which units are used by players, discouraging dumping every resource into a small handful of units.
Although the generational divide was a major element of the finished product in both gameplay and story, it was not part of the original concept that became Crusaders of Light. The idea of adding an element of romance was proposed partway through by Zhao based on the popularity of romance games and dating simulators at the time. The idea of inheritance based on variable parents also, bizarrely, derives from Zhao’s fondness for horse racing (probably by analogy with how retired champion race horses are used to breed more horses).
The idea for a third part of the story, following Seliph’s, came from Zhao’s desire to properly resolve loose ends and analyze moral issues raised by the rest of the story, although due to time and hardware constraints it was reduced to several lengthy epilogue scenes which are available depending on which marriage pairings were done in the first generation.
The music was composed in such a way to mirror the progress of the story. Prologue’s music track is upbeat and hopeful, reflecting Sigurd’s idealism. Chapter 2’s track remains upbeat but with hints of melancholy. By Chapter 5, the music has become sad and reflective, its tempo now reflecting that of a military march. Subsequent tracks go in the opposite direction. Chapter 6’s track remains somber, but with hints of hopefulness breaking through. By Chapter 10, the music is again upbeat and hopeful, and Endgame 2’s music is a remix of the prologue theme, encouraging the player to keep fighting.
During development after abandoning the name Sword Emblem, Crusaders of Light was tentatively called Genealogy of the Holy War.
Plot
The land of Jugdral, roughly 1000 years before the time of Marth.
The player is introduced to the game with an opening crawl showing a timeline of historical events from the founding of Grannvale (Year 0) to the time of Sigurd. In 440, the Earth Dragon Loptyr appeared before the power-hungry Galle, granting him immense power. Serving as Loptyr’s avatar, Galle conquered Jugdral and declared the tyrannical Loptyr Empire. In addition to purging hundreds of thousands of suspected heretics, he and his descendants regularly burned children alive as offerings to Loptyr. Much later, a rebellion swept Jugdral, but the rebels were no match for Loptyr’s power and were soon reduced to 12 desperate men and women. Everything miraculously changed when Naga and eleven other deities descended from the heavens to bless the twelve, granting them holy blood and holy weapons. They became the legendary Twelve Crusaders. In the following Holy Crusade, the Loptyr Empire’s forces were steadily driven back, and in 648, Naga’s disciple, Saint Heim, struck down the last Loptyr Emperor on the steps of Belhalla Palace. The Crusaders parted and founded their own kingdoms.
Sigurd, the protagonist.
It is now 757, and Heim’s descendant, the aging King Azmur, delegates much of his authority to his popular son, Kurth, who is advised by his friend Lord Byron of Chalphy. However, Chancellor Reptor of Friege and Lord Langobalt of Dozel oppose them. Isaachian barbarians cross the border, and Kurth and Byron lead an army to subdue them. As soon as the troops leave, the formerly allied Verdane invades, sweeping into Jungby and capturing its princess, Aideen. News of the attack reaches nearby Chalphy, where Sigurd, son of Byron, mobilizes his knights to rescue her. As Verdane’s soldiers are slowly driven back, others arrive to support Sigurd. First come Azel of Velthomer and Lex of Dozel against the wishes of their families. Next comes Sigurd’s sister Ethlyn, her husband and Sigurd’s friend Prince Quan of Leonster, and their retainer Finn. With the new help, Sigurd retakes Jungby, but Aideen has been taken to Verdane. Sigurd rashly decides to invade Verdane as well. As he makes preparations to do so, he meets his friend Arvis, Duke of Velthomer and Azel’s brother, who reminds him Sigurd will always have an ally in Belhalla.
Arvis
Sigurd invades Verdane. His old friend, Augustria’s Duke Eldigan of Nordion, aids him. Meanwhile, Aideen escapes imprisonment with the help of a thief, Dew, and an Isaachian princess, Ayra, who was forced to fight for Verdane as her nephew, Crown Prince Shannan, was held hostage. While Aideen and Dew escape to Sigurd, Ayra stays behind to protect Shannan. Sigurd frees Shannan and then convinces Ayra to defect. While resting at a friendly castle, he comes across a mysterious woman, Deirdre, being harassed by a ruffian. He drives off the ruffian and earns Deirdre’s gratitude. Although they are attracted to each other, Deirdre leaves. Confused, Sigurd goes after her. His army treks through the nearby Spirit Forest, where Verdane’s Prince Jamke’s men ambush them. Aideen, traveling with Sigurd, convinces him to join them. Jamke’s father King Batu begins doubting his adviser Sandima, but the Loptyrian sorcerer fatally wounds him and uses his Sleep staff to incapacitate anyone approaching.
Deirdre.
In the heart of the forest, Sigurd again meets Deirdre, who admits she is hiding because her late mother warned if she were to leave it, she would bring about the end of the world and great suffering to those she loves. Sigurd assures her that as long as he is with her, he will make sure nobody comes to harm, on his honor as a Crusader. They confess their love for each other, and Deirdre agrees to help Sigurd. She approaches the capital unarmed, offering her surrender. Sandima remotely contacts his boss, Manfroy, and reports he has found the girl they were looking for. Entering the castle, she holds up a staff, saying it is a gift for him. She then activates the Silence staff, which nullifies Sandima’s powers. Receiving their cue, Sigurd and his army storm the castle. Sigurd chases Sandima through the castle and corners him on a balcony. He rashly tries to kill him slowly with his fists. But the Silence staff’s effects wear off, and Sandima brings the full might of his dark magic to bear on Sigurd. Sigurd is only saved by Deirdre arriving and blasting Sandima with her Aura spell, killing him. Sigurd finds Batu, who with his last words warns Sigurd of the return of the Loptyrian Order. The chapter ends with Sigurd and Deirdre’s wedding.
Azmur, delegating powers to Arvis, orders Verdane placed under temporary occupation, which angers allied Augustria. The Augustrian Diet, where the kingdom’s dukes advise King Imca, is filled with heated arguments between supporters and opponents of Grannvale. This comes to a head when the pacifist Imca is assassinated. He is succeeded by his son, the ambitious, jingoistic, and paranoid Chagall (inspired by King-Emperor August of Lithuania). Fearing Grannvale will turn to Augustria next, he preemptively invades Verdane. Arvis tasks Sigurd, who is taking time off to raise his newborn son Seliph, with “ending the threat” posed by the newly hostile Augustria.
Eldigan, part of the anti-war faction in the Diet, plans to go to the capital of Agusty to convince Chagall to stand down. His sister, Lachesis, urges him to reconsider due to Chagall’s paranoia. Eldigan responds that it is his duty as the descendant of a Crusader to set his king right, even if it is in vain. However, Chagall believes Eldigan wants the throne for himself and imprisons him, dissolving the Diet and sending troops to occupy Nordion. Manfroy advises Chagall to commit everything to the war effort, promising he can become emperor of Jugdral. Sigurd learns Eldigan was imprisoned and Nordion is under attack and rushes to Nordion. Deirdre insists on accompanying him. Although Sigurd says she needs to be there for Seliph, Deirdre refuses to stay behind, saying Seliph has Shannan and Sigurd’s squire Oifey to keep him company.
Instead of heading straight for Nordion and defeating the Augustrian force besieging it, Deirdre instead suggests attacking other cities to sabotage Augustrian supply lines and luring the enemy away from Nordion, giving Lachesis time to mobilize the castle’s guards. With Nordion safe, Sigurd orders his army to rescue Eldigan, but Deirdre tells him about villages being extorted by bandits hired by Chagall to fund his war. Saving the villages would earn Sigurd the support of the people. When they arrive, they find many bandits have already been killed by a wandering bard named Lewyn, who is sick of nobles like Sigurd using the common people as fodder. Sigurd apologizes, acknowledging he hasn’t thought about this and offers to withdraw his army from Augustria. Lewyn then insists Chagall is too stubborn to end the war and must be defeated to protect his people from him. He says he considers Sigurd honorable and joins his army.
Sigurd meets an emissary from Arvis who updates him on developments in Belhalla. Reptor and Langobalt spread rumors claiming Sigurd and Byron are conspiring against the throne, with the childless Kurth as their puppet. Sigurd asks why Kurth is still childless. He learns Kurth had an affair with Sigyn of Velthomer, whose husband, Arvis’ father, was an abusive philanderer who committed suicide when he learned of the affair. Sigyn fled with her infant daughter, and Kurth swore never to marry. If they were to be found, Sigyn’s daughter could be legitimized.
Chagall receives pegasus knights from the Kingdom of Silesse, led by Erin, who is searching for the kingdom’s missing heir and her childhood friend, Lewyn. Chagall tells Erin Sigurd will execute him. Erin attacks Sigurd, but Lewyn reveals his true identity. Realizing she was tricked, Erin joins Sigurd’s army. Lewyn asks why Erin followed him. Erin says his mother, Queen Rahna, sent her to bring him home. Lewyn refuses to go home, as taking the throne of Silesse would start a civil war with his uncles, who also want the throne. They can just have the throne if they want it so much. It spares the people of Silesse a civil war.
As Sigurd approaches Agusty, Manfroy suggests Chagall stop killing his commanders for circumstances out of their control, but Chagall is convinced they are all part of a conspiracy to undermine him and his rightful claim to the throne of Grannvale (mirroring August’s claim to be the rightful Roman emperor). Deciding Chagall is more trouble than he is worth, Manfroy convinces Chagall to release Eldigan so he can negotiate a ceasefire with Sigurd. Agusty is surrendered to Grannvale, which establishes a second temporary occupation. A rump Augustrian state led by Chagall is established in the northern city of Madino. The ceasefire will be enforced by Eldigan, who tells Sigurd he will not hesitate to fight him if the ceasefire is broken.
Sigurd makes Agusty his base of operations. When not leading negotiations, he spends his time with Deirdre and Seliph. Despite his efforts, the temporary occupation becomes tyrannical. Chagall declares he must free the Augustrian people and invades again. The pirates of the neighboring Orgahil region, taking advantage, sweep in to pillage the towns, against the orders of their honorable leader Bridget, whom they overthrow and attempt to kill. Eldigan mobilizes his elite Cross Knights. Arvis orders Sigurd to kill Chagall and defeat his forces, promising he will launch an investigation into the abuses.
Sigurd easily takes Madino, but Chagall flees to Silvail with Eldigan. Sigurd the priest Claud and Reptor’s rebellious daughter Tailtiu, who offer support. Claud informs him Kurth was murdered and Sigurd and Byron were implicated. Arvis is currently working to clear their name. He sent Claud, protected by Tailtiu, to go to the Tower of Blagi in Orgahil, to uncover the truth. While Claud, Tailtiu, and a detachment of troops head for Orgahil (where they rescue Bridget), Sigurd advances on Silvail. His plans are interrupted by news an enemy army has been spotted near Agusty. Fearing for her son, Deirdre retreats to the city while Sigurd continues. She defeats the enemies and then rushes to her home, where she finds Manfroy waiting. The Loptyrian addresses her as Sigyn’s daughter. His followers hold Seliph and the townspeople hostage. Shannan and Oifey attack and rescue Seliph. Deirdre blasts Manfroy with Aura, allowing the townspeople to excape. Manfroy is surprised by Deirdre’s defiance and prepares a spell, proclaiming her fate was written the day she was born. Deirdre, activating her Silence staff, declares she is not scared of her fate as long as she has Sigurd. However, the Silence staff doesn’t work. Deirdre tries to resist the attack, but it is too powerful, and she faints. Shannan and Oifey attempt to rescue her, but Manfroy easily defeats them and teleports away with her. Arriving too late, Sigurd is shocked to find her missing. Shannan apologizes for not being strong enough, but Sigurd blames himself instead.
At Silvail, Chagall claims Eldigan is part of the plot against him and orders him to make a suicide charge against Sigurd. Realizing there is nothing he can do to convince Chagall, Eldigan picks up his holy sword, Mystletainn, and orders his Cross Knights to move out. He asks Lachesis to go to Sigurd’s army for her safety, fully expecting to die. Sigurd’s army arrives at Silvail and prepares for battle. After learning of Deirdre’s fate, Ethlyn approaches Quan and gives him House Leonster’s holy lance Gae Bolg, making him promise they will not be separated for the sake of their children. Returning with Sigurd’s army, Lachesis confronts Eldigan on the battlefield and warns his loyalty will destroy Augustria. Eldigan replies Chagall’s death will likewise doom Augustria. Lachesis insists Chagall’s insanity is dooming the country already. Not wanting to turn his sister down, Eldigan decides to convince Chagall one more time after sending her back to Sigurd. However, Chagall takes his retreat as treason and executes him on the spot. His head is delivered to Sigurd’s camp.
Enraged, Sigurd brings down the full might of his army on Silvail. The Cross Knights, remaining loyal like Eldigan, die fighting for Augustria. Chagall replaces them with mercenary wyvern knights led by Thracia’s King Travant. The brutal Thracians attack Sigurd’s army with a ferocity they are not used to. Quan brandishes Gae Bolg and charges at the Thracians, the holy lance’s power tipping the scales in his favor. Travant retreats, telling Quan he will get revenge. Silvail falls, and Lachesis kills Chagall to avenge Eldigan. The Augustrians surrender, and Grannvale occupies the whole country. With Chagall dead, Sigurd defeats the pirates. Sigurd’s army rescues Claud, Tailtiu, and Bridget, who is revealed to be Aideen’s long-lost sister and the heir to their family’s holy bow Yewfelle. Claud ominously says that his vision showed a dark future should things continue on their current path, and that they should watch out for a certain dark figure he couldn’t identify. Reptor and Langobalt arrive to charge Sigurd with Kurth’s murder and order his death. Silessian pegasus knights, led by Erin’s sister Mahnya, evacuate Sigurd’s army.
Sigurd escapes to Silesse, where he is received by Queen Rahna. Rahna uses her country’s traditional neutrality to hold off a possible invasion while vouching for Sigurd’s innocence, but there are many who disapprove of her. Rahna’s brother, Daccar of Zaxon, objects to Lewyn being heir and wants Sigurd to be handed over to Grannvale. His brother, Maios of Thove, conscripts an army to press Daccar’s claim. When Lewyn arrives back at court, Rahna gives him the silent treatment to punish him for running away. Lewyn simply laughs and asks if she is still mad at him, which she confirms. She tells him they have a lot to discuss now.
Maios mobilizes his army and marches towards the capital, while Daccar opens the southern border to let in allied Grannvale troops. Rahna tells Sigurd she was unable to clear his name. However, she tells him the looming succession crisis has been solved. An unknown daughter of Kurth has been discovered. She and Arvis fell in love and are now married. Although Sigurd is glad the succession is safe, he is dismayed he hasn’t found Deirdre. To repay Rahna for all she has done, Sigurd offers to help fight Daccar and Maios. Unfortunately, Quan, Ethlyn, and Finn are forced to return to Leonster, due to rising tensions with King Travant in neighboring Thracia. Once the situation at home is stabilized, Quan promises to be back for Sigurd. With convincing from Erin and Mahnya, Lewyn also decides to help Sigurd, realizing he couldn’t stop war from breaking out.
Sigurd repels Maios and counterattacks, killing him. However, this was part of Daccar’s plan, having used his disposable brother to distract Sigurd while he attacks the capital with pegasus knights led by Pamela, formerly Mahyna’s friend. Mahyna mobilizes her pegasus knights. Erin tries to join her, but Mahyna tells her to go help Lewyn, giving her sister her silver lance. Mahyna and her knights inflict heavy casualties on Pamela’s rebels, but Pamela reveals her trump card. Grannvale’s Beigenritter, elite bow knights which had secretly moved under the two armies as they fought, open fire, killing Mahyna and her knights. Pamela takes Rahna hostage and declares Daccar the rightful king.
Erin sadly informs Lewyn and Sigurd of Mahnya’s death and the capital’s fall. Lewyn is in shock and denies Mahnya lost. He is soon forced to acknowledge his childhood friend and former crush died far away from him, and all he did was run while she sacrificed herself for him. He realizes his actions have consequences, and he can’t keep running from his duties. Sigurd tries to take the blame for Mahnya’s death, but Lewyn blames himself for running away, believing he should’ve died instead. Sigurd refuses to reinforce Lewyn’s survivor’s guilt and says he has to move forward. Lewyn acknowledges he has learned a valuable lesson, that he must stand by his people.
Sigurd returns to the capital, where the Beigenritter and Pamela have fortified themselves. Erin lures Pamela and her knights away while Sigurd and the others engage the Beigenritter. Pamela mocks her for supporting a cowardly queen, an absent prince who does not love her back, and a dead sister blinded by loyalty. Erin counters Lewyn returned to save his people, and Silesse will be safe as long as she and Lewyn are there to defend it. Beigenritter or not, Daccar and Pamela cannot hope to oppose the united will of the Silessians, free like the wind. She defeats Pamela using Mahnya’s lance, and the Beigenritter retreat. Lewyn is the first to enter the palace and confirm his mother’s safety, apologizing for his past actions. He vows to remain in Silesse to help her and their people, but Rahna tells him Sigurd and the other people of Jugdral need his help more as the descendant of the Crusader Ced. She gives him the holy wind tome Forseti, saying he must prevent violence as Ced would and guide the world to peace.
Lewyn studies the Forseti tome and historical accounts of how Ced unlocked its power. It was said although Forseti’s wind magic was incredibly powerful, Ced didn’t use it much, instead using his charisma to unite the people of Silesse and drive out the Loptyrians. Erin greets him with a heavy heart. Lewyn tries to apologize about getting Mahnya killed. Erin tries to apologize for Mahnya’s death, believing Lewyn still had feelings for her, as she wasn’t there to protect her. But Lewyn says he has long moved on from Mahnya and confesses his feelings for Erin instead. And this time, he promises to stay by her side. This conversation guarantees Erin and Lewyn will get married.
Lewyn heads for Zaxon on his own and shows up at the gates unarmed. Amused, Daccar invites him inside, expecting him to have run away again. Lewyn says he is done running. He had thought leaving the country would protect his people, but he had only abandoned them. So he will not run anymore. He will be like the wind, lifting the people up to a new future. He takes out his flute and plays a melody. Daccar orders his guards to kill Lewyn, but they are entranced by the music. The melody echoes across the streets of Zaxon, carried by the wind, lifting the people’s spirits and inspiring them to rebel against Daccar. Daccar orders his troops to suppress the uprising, but the troops mutiny. Lewyn tells him this is the true power of Forseti. Instead of bending people to its will, Forseti soothes and inspires, uniting people around a common cause to build a better future, free of the machinations of cruel nobles. Daccar lunges at Lewyn, who nimbly dodges every attack. Continuing playing his flute, he has become like the wind, adaptive and unable to be restrained. In anguish from the music, Daccar commits suicide, ending the Silessian civil war.
Believing Grannvale is only sending troops because of him, Sigurd leaves Silesse to avoid endangering the Silessians more. As he approaches Langobalt’s Lubeck Castle, the mortally wounded Byron approaches, pursued by enemies. Byron confirms Reptor and Langobalt murdered Kurth to disgrace House Chalphy and gain influence over Azmur. He gives Sigurd their family’s rusted holy sword, Tyrfing, and lives long enough to hold Seliph in his arms. After Sigurd buries him, he orders his army to launch a reckless assault on Lubeck. The castle falls, and Sigurd vengefully kills Langobalt (if Lex fights Langobalt, Langobalt regrets having to fight his own son, wishing things could’ve turned out differently). He prepares to cross the Yied Desert, which stands between him and Reptor. With an important battle to decide the fate of Grannvale ahead of him, he has Shannan, Oifey, and Aideen take Seliph and the children of his other allies to Isaach for their safety, and their parents tearfully watch them leave. In-game, Aideen will not be available for the rest of the battle.
Elsewhere, Quan and Ethlyn, accompanied by their infant daughter Altena, enter the desert with Leonster’s Lanceritter knights, planning to meet Sigurd in Phinora. Although the desert is a neutral zone, the border near Phinora is guarded with Grannvale soldiers, and as they approach it, Quan asks Ethlyn to turn back for Altena’s sake. Ethlyn begins heading back to Leonster, but at that moment, the sun is blocked out by a host of Thracian wyvern knights, led by Travant. The Thracians descend upon the Lanceritter, whose horses struggle in the sand and are easily massacred by their special anti-cavalry weapons. Ethlyn does not get far before a Thracian kills her horse. She asks one of her soldiers to take Altena and escape while she distracts Travant, who is flying after her. Travant takes her hostage, but Ethlyn commits suicide to deny him leverage, and the anguished Quan attacks Travant. He is about to get the upper hand when a Thracian takes Altena hostage as well. Quan drops Gae Bolg to save his daughter, and Travant immediately kills him with his own holy lance, Gungnir. The Lanceritter is completely annihilated while the Thracians suffer no casualties. Returning to Thracia with plans to invade the newly weakened Leonster, Travant adopts Altena as his own daughter, to give her a childhood to replace the one he stole from her, and takes Gae Bolg as a trophy. He orders his men to stay behind and massacre Sigurd’s army.
Meanwhile, Sigurd advances into the desert after seeing the Thracians in the distance. He comes across the bodies of the Lanceritter and mourns the loss of his sister and friend, blaming himself for not arriving in time. More determined to end the war, he reaches Phinora, where he plans to reforge Tyrfing. The local lord is surprisingly welcoming. Suspecting a trap, Sigurd stays on his guard and refuses accomodations. That night, his suspicions are confirmed when the Thracians attack from the air and Grannvale mages attack on the ground. Quickly getting Tyrfing reforged, Sigurd unleashes the sword’s power on the mages, while Jamke and Lewyn drive back the Thracians with their arrows and wind magic.
The next day, the army leaves the desert and marches on Reptor’s castle. Before they can attack the castle, the Rottenritter mages of Arvis’ nearby Velthomer Castle rain down Meteor attacks on the unsuspecting Friege armies, inflicting massive casualties and forcing Reptor to flee. Arvis declares Reptor the true traitor of the realm. In the aftermath, Sigurd meets with Arvis’ general Aida at Velthomer Castle. Aida tells him Arvis has managed to purge the court of Reptor’s influence and finally cleared Sigurd’s name. Azmur invites Sigurd to Belhalla to formally apologize for and retract the charges of treason.
Several lengthy cutscenes detail the conclusion of Sigurd’s story and the outcomes of his friends, which change depending on who they married (or if they married). The following passages assume certain character pairings were made.
If Azel and Tailtiu are married, Azel meets Arvis at Velthomer Castle. Arvis is happy to see his little brother is safe and updates him on his happy marriage to Kurth’s daughter. Azel talks about his marriage to Tailtiu, shocking Arvis, who tells him that it is dangerous to remain connected so closely to Reptor. Meanwhile, Tailtiu tracks down Reptor in a forest and confronts him for not caring she was with Sigurd and wanting her killed anyways. Shocked by her words, Reptor realizes how much his ambition has consumed him. Cutting back to Arvis and Azel, Arvis says Azel doesn’t have to worry about being connected to Reptor anymore. At that moment, Reptor and his loyalists are attacked by the Rottenritter, who were summoned by Tailtiu’s treasonous brother Blume. Blume forces Reptor to give him House Friege’s holy thunder tome Mjolnir. He attempts to use Mjolnir on Tailtiu, but Reptor jumps in front of her and takes the blast.
Arvis explains war has consumed Jugdral for too long. The people of Grannvale are tired of constant fighting and political intrigue. Arvis plans to show the people a symbol to unite them around a fair and tolerant Grannvale, where all can live peacefully under the guidance of the dynasty of Saint Heim, with House Velthomer and its family crest, known as the Fire Emblem, as its protectors. Realizing Tailtiu is in danger and Arvis is planning something, Azel leaves. Arvis warns if he continues on, he will have no choice but to cut down his own brother. Azel reunites with Tailtiu. The mortally wounded Reptor sacrifices himself so the two of them can escape. Azel and Tailtiu’s stories are concluded.
In Belhalla, a glorious triumph is held for Sigurd and his friends. Sigurd arrives at Belhalla Palace and meets Arvis. He thanks him for his support and asks to meet Azmur to receive the apology and clearing of charges. However, Arvis unexpectedly refuses, saying he will not let a traitor meet the king. Sigurd insists the misunderstanding has been cleared, but Arvis publicly denounces Sigurd as a devious schemer who deceived the people so he could seize the throne. In the middle of the denunciation, Arvis’ wife, Deirdre, rushes in from behind a curtain, protesting there is no way Sigurd can be as vile as Arvis makes him out to be. Sigurd is shocked to see her. He tries to reach out to her, but she doesn't remember him. Arvis’ guards take Deirdre away, who begs to have more time to remember. Claud, accompanying Sigurd, realizes the dark figure he couldn’t identify is Arvis. Palace guards surround Sigurd and draw their weapons. Sigurd draws Tyrfing, angrily shouting “Arvis, you dastard!” If Lewyn and Erin are married, Lewyn will hear the wind whispering something: “Afraid.” Erin notices the Rottenritter charging up an attack.
Sigurd easily defeats the palace guards and faces Arvis, even as he knows it is unlikely he will escape the city. He orders Claud to regroup with the others, who have hidden to avoid the Rottenritter’s Meteor attacks. This begins an in-game battle where the player’s units must survive for an indefinite number of turns, taking advantage of the city’s terrain to avoid the Rottenritter attacks. Jamke, Dew, and Bridget decide to fight their way out and regroup at Aideen’s hiding place, while Lex and Ayra fight the Belhalla garrison to protect fleeing citizens. Erin evacuates Claud (removing him from the battle), while Lewyn listens to the wind, overhearing the malevolent thoughts of Aida, the Rottenritter, and Arvis. He wills the wind to blow through the streets, putting out fires, deflecting incoming Meteor attacks, and clearing a path to escape through.
Arvis attacks with his holy fire tome, Valflame, but Sigurd parries the divine flames with Tyrfing. He disarms Arvis but refuses to kill him, saying he must be given a lawful trial to properly atone, and leaves to find Deirdre. Manfroy approaches Arvis and mocks him, saying if Sigurd wins, Arvis will never see Deirdre again, and his vision of a united and peaceful Jugdral will never come about. Spurred into action, Arvis goes after Sigurd.
After learning of Claud’s vision, Sigurd’s army fight even more fiercely against the Rottenritter and Belhalla garrison, determined to not let “that time” come around. Erin and Lewyn rush to the palace’s side entrance to help Sigurd, but they run into Manfroy, who is waiting for them. Lewyn asks Erin to leave, but Erin refuses, reminding him of their promise. Manfroy unleashes a dark spell which even Forseti struggles to avoid. Erin blocks the entrance to prevent enemy soldiers from distracting Lewyn. Although she is outnumbered, she calls on Mahnya’s spirit to give her the strength to defend Lewyn, temporarily boosting her stats.
Sigurd searches the palace for Deirdre, who slowly remembers him. She breaks free of her bodyguards and runs in the direction of Sigurd’s voice. The two reunite on the front steps, and Sigurd apologizes for not being there for her. He vows to spend the rest of his life at her side. Arvis catches up and orders Deirdre to back away, but she refuses. Sigurd demands to know why Arvis wants to bring about the dark times again, or rather, the time of the Loptyr Empire. Arvis explains Sigurd is mistaken and blinded by centuries of Crusader propaganda.
After the fall of the Loptyr Empire, the Crusaders carried out bloody pogroms against Loptyrians and those with Galle’s blood, even if they weren’t part of the cult which committed atrocities. Even after the Crusaders passed away, their descendents continued the persecution, burning suspected Loptyrians, including children, at the stake even if they were generations removed from the Loptyrian atrocities. Arvis was shocked to learn Sigyn and thus he too were descendants of Galle. If news got out, he would’ve been immediately executed. It wasn’t fair, because he didn’t choose to be born this way. But if he could change the world, he could avoid that fate. He could save others from being doomed by their birth. That is what he intends for his new world, to break the cycle of hatred and persecution by and of Loptyrians.
Manfroy also monologues to Lewyn. He was raised in a hidden shrine in the Yied Desert, where his people hid for generations. One day, he and his friends disregarded warnings not to leave the shrine and went to a village. Identified as Loptyrians, the fearful townspeople grabbed the children and burned them at the stake, in revenge for the children the Empire burned at the stake. Manfroy escaped, his face badly scarred, and vowed revenge. Lewyn asks why he would continue the cycle of hatred with the Loptyrians at the top again. Manfroy agrees the hatred will continue, and it will not heal his old wounds, but he might as well continue it so others will feel the suffering he did. He reveals he was only monologuing to charge up a spell. The player is thrown into a combat screen, where Manfroy attacks Lewyn and brings him down to 1 HP. Lewyn does not counterattack, instead shedding tears.
In the palace, Arvis breaks down, lamenting how everyone in his life eventually left him. First was his father, who committed suicide. Then his mother left him. And now Azel is gone, and Deirdre is about to go back to Sigurd, who will likely kill him. He only went along with Manfroy’s plan and married Deirdre so he could inherit the throne and as king enact his reforms, but he confesses he genuinely fell in love with her. He pleads for her to not abandon her like everyone else has. He doesn’t want to be alone again.
Erin continues fighting off the garrison, not looking back to see what happened to Lewyn. Manfroy is not surprised a descendant of Ced survived his attack, but he is surprised Lewyn shed tears for him. Manfroy offers him the honor of being put out of his misery, so he does not need to see the cycle of hatred repeating itself. Erin finally looks back. She immediately abandons her position and rushes to Lewyn’s side. Seeing Erin, Lewyn calls upon Forseti one last time. Their units disappear from the battle, and their story is concluded here. One by one (or two by two if married), the player’s other units will say some dialogue and also disappear, until only Sigurd is left.
Sigurd approaches Arvis. He talks about the many people he lost during his journey, like Ethlyn, Quan, Eldigan, and Deirdre. But clinging to the pain and anger won’t change anything. What matters is they accept it for what it is, and rise above it. He puts down Tyrfing and reaches out, promising to never leave his last friend alone again. Together, they can work to bring around the peaceful Jugdral Arvis always wanted, where all people, both Loptyrians and non-Loptyrians, can live together without fear of persecution, able to rise and fall on their own merits. He tells Arvis there are still people who wholeheartedly love him, and they will stand with him. Arvis cries and reaches for Sigurd’s hand. His dialogue box pauses on “…” for a few seconds.
Suddenly, the player is thrown into another combat screen. Arvis attacks the unarmed Sigurd with Valflame and gets a critical hit, reducing him to ashes.
Deirdre is unable to accept what she just witnessed. She breaks down and cries, reaching for Sigurd’s ashes and the abandoned Tyrfing, before fainting and again losing her memories. Manfroy arrives and tells him the situation in the rest of the city has been brought under control. Arvis declares the last obstacle to his plan has been eliminated, with the traitor Sigurd’s death serving as the symbol of Jugdral’s rebirth and unification. He orders a manhunt for the survivors and then takes Deirdre to her room to rest. Scrolling text informs the player this is the end of Sigurd’s story and lists the names of all of the men and women who served with him, saying although they fought for justice and truth, they ultimately failed.
In the next chapter, scrolling text explains what has happened since Sigurd’s death in what became known as the Battle of Belhalla. With the deaths of Kurth, Reptor, Langobalt, Byron, Sigurd, and later Azmur (from natural causes), Arvis became the sole power in Grannvale. The surviving nobility pledged their loyalty to him and through his wife Deirdre proclaimed him king of Grannvale. Arvis turned outward, formally annexing Verdane, Augustria, and Isaach, placing them under the rule of puppet kings. He invaded Silesse, killing Rahna, and Leonster, already dealing with a coup that killed its King Calf as well as a Thracian invasion, easily conquering both and bringing all of Jugdral under his rule. Arvis aimed to construct a new world as free of discrimination as possible, and he swiftly issued decrees such as releasing slaves, banishing corrupt nobles, and arresting dishonest merchants, which earned him overwhelming support from the people. With this support, Arvis declared himself the first emperor of the Grannvale Empire, and the first few years of his reign were marked by a golden age of peace. Unfortunately, his ideal world would not last.
A generation later, the same public which once welcomed Arvis’ rise now suffer under an oppressive and tyrannical regime. People in the occupied kingdoms suffer even worse, living as little more than slaves to the empire’s whims. In Isaach, Langobalt’s son Danan reigns. While he lives an indulgent life, he extorts as much gold, food, and women as he can from the locals. His sons Johan and Johalva, who are much less brutal, respectively rule over other cities. Under House Dozel, Isaach knows no freedom. But its people have one last hope, located in the distant Isaachian village of Tirnanog. There, King Shannan, now of age, and Aideen, now a priestess at the local church, rally a resistance force. Among these hopefuls is a teenage boy named Seliph. Although his father was initially remembered as a traitor who got what he deserved, as Arvis fell into tyranny, Sigurd became a folk hero renowned for his unyielding sense of justice and his love for Empress Deirdre. Many consider their son the rightful heir of the empire.
Seliph, the protagonist.
The year is 775. Danan, concerned about the growing strength of the resistance, orders his troops to attack Tirnanog while Shannan and most of his veterans are away finding the Isaachian royal family’s holy sword Balmung. Seliph, Ayra’s twins Larcei and Ulster, and Aideen’s daughter Lana are left as the only defenders. Ulster asks for Larcei and Seliph to stay back, out of concern for his sister and Seliph’s survival. Seliph insists he’s not a child anymore, and he will not stand by while the rest of resistance dies in his name. He owes it to make the Isaachians’ defiance mean something. The four of them manage to hold out long enough for Oifey, now a veteran knight and Shannan’s tactician, to arrive with reinforcements. With their cover blown, Oifey plans to evacuate the village in anticipation of the next attack, but Seliph refuses to leave. He is tired of hiding while thousands suffer. It’s not what his parents would’ve wanted. It’s time they went on the offensive. Oifey says Seliph reminds him so much of his father. He always knew this day would come.
The resistance mobilizes an army to retake Isaach and marches out from Tirnanog, the people of Isaach rebelling alongside them. During his march, Seliph runs into Lewyn, who seems to have survived the massacre at Belhalla. Although Seliph attempts to address him as king, Lewyn refuses to accept the title, saying Rahna died fighting for Silesse while he learned nothing (if he was married, he also admits he abandoned his wife and children in doing so). He encourages Seliph to continue the revolution. Lewyn also has a favor for Seliph, bringing over an amnesiac girl named Julia, whom he found badly injured on a street in Belhalla. He asks Seliph to look after Julia while he attends to important business. Seliph agrees, vowing to protect her along with the people of Jugdral, just like his father did.
Julia (hmmmmmmm)
Danan orders Johan and Johalva to stop Seliph. Secretly, the two brothers have grown disgusted with their father and the Loptyrians’ atrocities, and they plan to defect. However, they both have a crush on Larcei, so when Seliph’s army moves south, they fiercely compete over Larcei’s affections (which becomes awkward if Lex and Ayra married, making Larcei their cousin). Choosing one brother will result in him, his troops, and his castle defecting to Seliph, while the other turns hostile, forcing Seliph to kill him and take his castle. Julia finds a familiar Aura tome she can use.
The pegasus knight Fee, Erin’s daughter, and the mage Arthur, Tailtiu’s son, join Seliph. Fee reveals her mother died of heartbreak and illness after her father disappeared, and she wants to track him down. Arthur likewise wants to find his missing sister. Seliph welcomes them, and together they confront Danan. If Lex and Ayra were married and Larcei fights Danan, he taunts her as a “half-barbarian mongrel,” saying she reminds him of her mother. When Larcei asks what he means, he explains after Belhalla, Larcei’s parents sought refuge at Dozel Castle, only for Danan to betray them. Danan, picking up the holy axe Helswath, disowned Lex for marrying Ayra and cleaved him in half. Ayra attacked him but was also no match for Helswath. Danan says the resistance is lucky he does not have Helswath.
Lewyn congratulates Seliph on his victory, but this is only the beginning. Jugdral is at a pivotal moment in its history with the return of the Loptyrian Order, which Lewyn suspects is the force behind Arvis’ fall to tyranny. All across Jugdral, the Loptyrians burn children at the stake. All attempts at resistance are suppressed with brutal executions and enslavement. They failed because they were disorganized. The people need a savior to unite them against the tyranny of the empire. That is Seliph.
Seliph denies he is Jugdral’s savior. He admits he is weak and inexperienced, and despite who his parents are, he lacks the strength to lead. Lewyn refuses to indulge his self-doubting. Seliph is the eldest child of Deirdre, and through her he has inherited the blood of Saint Heim blessed by Naga. Through Sigurd, he has the blood of the Crusader Baldr, and once he recovers Tyrfing, he will be unstoppable. There is no denying he is the son of Sigurd, a man whose final hopes were left unfulfilled. That duty falls to his son now. He can’t afford to doubt himself. Accepting this is his fate, Seliph reluctantly accepts his duty. Lewyn tells him his destiny is to unite the heirs of the Crusaders, the children of Sigurd’s allies a generation ago. To start with, he should reach occupied Leonster, where Seliph’s cousin Leif, the son of Quan and Ethlyn, has raised his own rebellion but needs help. Seliph wastes no time in marching south.
Leif, who will become very important later on.
Word of Isaach’s liberation spreads, inspiring hope across Jugdral. More uprisings erupt, but most are easily crushed, and entire towns are wiped out in retaliation. In Leonster, Prince Leif, the son of Quan, has raised an army with the aid of his father’s old retainer Finn, but he has suffered a devastating loss at the hands of Blume, Reptor’s son and the puppet king of Leonster. Before he can even reach Leonster, Seliph first goes through the Yied Desert, where the Loptyrian Order has turned their old shrine of refuge into a base of terror.
In Leonster, Leif asks if there are any survivors of their recent attack on Alster, Blume’s capital. Finn reports the battle was a massacre, completely destroying their army and leaving Leonster open to a counterattack. Leif blames himself for making such a terrible miscalculation, but Finn assures him Seliph is on the way. Nanna, Lachesis’ daughter, suggests he take his remaining forces and retreat to a more defensible location until Seliph arrives. Sara, Manfroy’s granddaughter who rejected the Loptyrian Order, goes ahead to clear a path for civilians.
At the Yied Shrine, Shannan finds Balmung with the help of the thief Patty, Bridget’s daughter. Seliph arrives in time to rescue them and defeat the Loptyrians. Exploring the shrine, Lewyn tells him the Loptyrians hid here for generations after Saint Heim’s victory, fleeing harsh persecution by the Crusaders, with Saint Heim the most aggressive of them all. Originally, most of them were probably decent people who didn’t participate in the atrocities, but centuries of hiding twisted them into the modern order. Seliph realizes the modern Loptyrians are being tortured for the actions of their long-dead ancestors, even if they had no hand in those crimes. They had been condemned by their birth, giving them no choice but to hope for Loptyr’s return and restart the cycle of hatred with themselves at the top again. Lewyn reminds Seliph good and evil can’t be easily defined. Seliph vows to not forget the sights he sees in the shrine.
A mercenary band arrives in nearby Darna, hired by the local lord to ambush Seliph’s weakened army once it exits the desert. It is led by the brutal Commander Jabarro and his protege Ares, who has a soft spot for Lene, the mercenaries’ dancer. Darna’s lord orders the mercenaries to lure Seliph into a trap first. They will let Seliph proceed further south before attacking them from behind, while Fort Melgen’s garrison attacks from the front. Melgen’s commanders, Blume’s son Ishtor and his wife Liza, receive the plan and prepare accordingly. However, the plan is derailed when Darna’s lord attempts to force himself on Lene, and Ares angrily draws his holy sword Mystletainn and kills him. Jabarro orders his men to attack Ares, who easily fights them off, collapsing the Darna lines and allowing Seliph to take the city. There, Lewyn tells him about the Miracle of Darna and the rise of the Crusaders. Ares attacks Seliph, introducing himself as the son of Eldigan, whom Sigurd killed in cold blood. Now Ares will right the injustice Sigurd committed. Confused, Seliph tells him their fathers were friends and there was no way they could ever have clashed so bitterly. Ares refuses to believe it, as his mother constantly blamed Sigurd for everything, and Jabarro only reinforced that perception when he adopted Ares after her death. Seliph insists this is all a lie. He holds the late Eldigan in the utmost respect. But if Ares is so set on getting his revenge, he can have it. Seliph lays down his weapons and asks Ares to strike him down. Ares decides against killing Seliph for now.
With Ares’ support, Seliph next engages the Melgen army. Although Ishtor and Liza are highly capable thunder mages whose long-range Bolting spells wreak havoc from far away, Julia shrugs off the magical attacks like they are nothing. She breaches the fort’s walls and kills them with her Aura spell. A path to Leonster is now opened up. Blume grows impatient and deploys more troops to crush Leif. Among the reinforcements are his elite thunder mage squad, led by Tine, Tailtiu’s daughter and Blume’s niece, who was raised by Blume after her mother died. Although she has her doubts, Blume demands Tine repay his “kindness” in taking her in.
Seliph arrives in Leonster and meets Leif. Leif tells him how Finn helped him and Nanna escape the capital after its fall and raised them in nearby villages, preparing them to retake Leonster. Unfortunately, Leif’s strategic error cost him the bulk of his forces, and he would have been killed if Seliph hadn’t arrived. Seliph vows to always fight side by side with Leif, just as Sigurd and Quan once did. However, he is unnerved by Sara’s presence. Sara explains that although she is Manfroy’s granddaughter, she is opposed to his actions, as Manfroy had killed her parents when he found out about their relationship. Arthur recognizes Tine as her squad approaches. He convinces her of their blood relation, and she defects. However, he is sad to hear their mother is long dead. Seliph and Leif turn the tides against Blume and eventually besiege Alster. Fed up with the perceived incompetence of his army, Blume personally takes the field, wielding Mjolnir. If Arthur or Tine fight him, they angrily tell him they will avenge their mother and pay back the suffering he caused them. After defeating Blume, he retreats to Conote in the east. Leif declares Leonster’s independence to cheering crowds.
The fighting is not over yet. Blume remains in the east and Travant himself in the south. Thracia long had a tense relationship with Leonster. Jealous Leonster got fertile farmland while Thracia proper got a harsh wasteland, Thracia’s wyvern knights led countless attempts to conquer Leonster, only to be defeated every time. Following Quan and Calf’s deaths, it appeared as if Thracia, with Grannvale’s backing, finally won the age-old struggle. But Travant was driven back by Blume, who conquered Leonster for themselves. Now, Travant sets his sights on Munster, which is guarded by House Friege’s powerful “goddess of lightning,” Princess Ishtar, Ishtor’s brother and Crown Prince Julius’ betrothed. In Munster, Thracia’s mobilization worries its citizens. Erin’s son, Ced (heir to the throne of Silesse if Erin and Lewyn married), leading a rebel group known as the Magi, prepares to openly rebel. Blume raises another army at Conote and attempts to retake Alster. He sends ambassadors to ally with Travant, but Travant dismisses the proposal and orders his wyvern knights to attack both House Friege and the resistance. The future of Thracia and its people rests on the unification of the peninsula under him alone.
Oifey suggests the resistance army strike while Blume is still moving into position. Julia devises a plan to encircle the Friege army. Seliph, Shannan, and Oifey advance from Alster in the south, while Leif, Nanna, and Finn advance from Leonster in the north, stalling Blume’s attack. Frustrated, Blume hires a mercenary band led by Faval, Patty’s brother and the wielder of his mother’s Yewfelle. Although Faval is disgusted by Blume, he is forced to accept the job to raise money for an orphanage he supports. In the midst of the battle, Patty recognizes Faval and convinces him to defect. Angered, Blume summons Ishtar. Ishtar mocks her father for letting a simple rebels repeatedly humiliate him. In return for helping out, she demands Mjolnir, which Blume reluctantly hands over. Seliph is surprised to see Conote guarded by only one woman, but his surprise turns into shock when she attacks with Mjolnir, which he barely avoids. Even Julia struggles to resist the goddess of lightning. But after a little while, Prince Julius appears, telling her she has important business in Belhalla, and the two teleport away. Tine tells Seliph she met Julius once in Belhalla, and he is extremely charismatic but unnaturally callous. Julia notes Julius looks very familiar, but she instinctively wants to stay very far from him. Ishtar’s departure leaves Conote undefended, and the resistance easily kills Blume and takes the city.
With House Friege eliminated, Travant orders his army to begin the reunification of Thracia, starting with Munster. He has his daughter Altena lead the invasion force, ordering her to cut down anybody in their way. Although she is eager to reunite the kingdom, she questions the logic in killing innocents. She instead suggests forming an alliance with the resistance army and peacefully integrating the north that way. Travant refuses to listen to her. Stepping in, Arion apologizes on her behalf and sends her to join the invasion force.
Ced and the Magi learn the Thracians are on the move ahead of schedule and are forced to begin their rebellion early, opening the gates so civilians can escape the coming onslaught. Seliph and Leif arrive in time to rescue the civilians, joining forces with Ced and his Magi, including Saias, Arvis’ illegitimate son with Aida (who had been killed by Manfroy), and Eyvel, a wandering swordswoman who helped raised Leif and Nanna when they were children. Fee reunites with her brother (and if Erin and Lewyn married, chastises the Crown Prince for being just like their absent father). Altena sees the civilians escaping and orders her men to let them go, but her second in command overrides her and orders the wyvern knights to slaughter them all. The Thracians descend on Munster, only to be defeated by the resistance. Leif notices Altena, who refuses to fight, and sees a sad but familiar look in her eyes. After suffering heavy casualties, the Thracians retreat.
All of northern Thracia is under the control of the resistance army. Seliph remarks on the desperation of the Thracians, which makes them fight unlike anyone they have fought before. Lewyn explains the Thracians have always been desperate. Their lands are mountainous and almost impossible to farm, so most Thracians seek mercenary work. Although Travant is an awful man, he genuinely wants to help his people, and in response, the Thracian army is blindly loyal to him, believing he can guide Thracia out of its endless famine. But such desperation will only fuel further conflict. They must defeat Travant, and only then can they break the cycle. Meanwhile, Finn believes he recognizes Eyvel, who denies being the person he thinks she is. Patty and Faval also think they recognize their mother, but Eyvel denies being the archer Bridget, as she has no idea how to wield a bow and cannot wield Yewfelle. Lana insists Eyvel meet her sister Aideen at Tirnanog, but Eyvel says she doesn’t remember having a sister or children.
Travant is disappointed and angered by Altena’s behavior, especially since she wields the holy lance Gae Bolg and could easily have destroyed the resistance with it. Arion tries to defend her, but Travant blames him for holding her back. He gives Altena one last chance to take Munster.
Back at Munster, Lewyn alerts Seliph about the approaching wyvern knights. Seliph has his doubts about fighting Thracia, as his main enemy is Grannvale, but Lewyn insists that they don’t have a choice in who they fight. They must defeat Thracia before they can turn to Grannvale and stop the resurrection of Loptyr. Meanwhile, Finn approaches Leif and talks to him about the mysterious wyvern knight from the previous battle. Seeing Gae Bolg, he concludes she is Leif’s long-lost sister Altena. Leif is shocked to hear not only is his sister still alive but also fighting for Thracia. Finn urges him to talk to her and try to convince her of her true heritage.
Leif stays behind at Munster with his Leonster allies, hoping to draw the attention of Altena’s wyvern knights, while Seliph pushes into northern Thracia. Altena descends on Munster. Leif, unarmed, approaches her alone and declares Altena is his sister, the daughter of Quan and Ethlyn and the heir of House Leonster’s Gae Bolg. Altena doesn’t believe him, but she notices something familiar about him. Confused, she returns to the capital to confront Travant. Travant admits he adopted her after killing her parents. But he was the one who raised her, and he is arguably more family than her blood relations who barely know her. Enraged her whole life was a lie, Altena attempts to kill Travant, only for Arion to kill her first. Travant is shocked Arion did such a thing, as despite his recent actions, he truly did love Altena as his own daughter. Realizing what his ambition has cost him, he gives Gungnir to Arion and asks him to find a way to end the Thracians’ suffering. He launches a suicide attack on the resistance and is cut down.
Meanwhile, Altena had survived Arion’s attack. Arion urges Altena to join the resistance, as he intends to stay and defend Thracia. Altena flies to the resistance army and defects to Seliph. With her assistance, the resistance army eventually takes the capital, with Arion cutting down hundreds with Gungnir before going down. Before he is killed, Julius teleports in, telling him this is not his place to die, and teleports him away. The Thracians surrender. Seliph points out how Arion was saved at the last moment, and Lewyn tells him Julius is his half-brother. Seliph is still confused as to how Julius can teleport without a Warp staff. Lewyn reveals Julius is the new avatar of Loptyr, which unnerves Julia.
Julius (hmmmmmm)
Seliph turns back to Grannvale. To reach the heartland, he takes a route through Miletos, once a federation of independent trade cities that were a hub of commerce for all of Jugdral. Now, Miletos suffers under the tyrannical Queen Hilda, Ishtar’s mother, whose merciless savagery makes even Danan and Blume look like saints. From her stronghold in Chronos Castle, her armies torture and terrorize the locals, and the Loptyrian Order is let loose to conduct child hunt after child hunt. If the children so much as cry, Hilda would then torture their parents to death and slaughter their entire village. It is like a repeat of the Sorrow of Miletos during the tyranny of the Loptyr Empire, when the nearby seas ran deep red with the blood of thousands of sacrificed children. But as Seliph approaches, the people of Miletos regain hope and rise up, welcoming the resistance’s arrival.
Julius visits Chronos Castle and asks Ishtar and Hilda about the latest child hunt. Ishtar reports the hunt was more successful than previous ones, and the castle has reached full capacity. Deciding he is bored with driving the children’s parents mad and terrified with grief, he instead asks Ishtar to deliver them to Belhalla, where he would personally make them fight to the death, particularly relatives and friends, and groom the survivors as the ideal citizens of his new world. Ishtar is concerned as Arvis refuses to allow any child hunts under his watch. But Julius assures her he has taken care of him and leaves. Hilda mobilizes her troops, fully intending to avenge Blume and Ishtor. Several children manage to escape Chronos’ dungeon, and Hilda orders General Riddell to slaughter them. Riddell, who is disgusted by the child hunts, orders his knights to take their time to avoid catching up to the children.
Julia is busy tending to the wounds of civilians when Manfroy teleports in, addressing her as the princess of Grannvale. When she expresses confusion, Manfroy realizes she lost her memory after “the incident.” He orders her to come with him, but she refuses. Her Aura spell catches Manfroy by surprise, and he remarks the only person who managed to hurt him this badly was her mother. But Deirdre lost in the end, and Julia is nowhere near as experienced. He knocks her unconscious. Oifey and Shannan again try to stop him, but they are still no match, and he teleports away with Julia. Lewyn informs Seliph of the news, and Seliph vows to find her.
The resistance marches south and rescues the children, at the cost of revealing their location. Riddell and his men mutiny. Seliph uses the opportunity to besiege Chronos Castle. If Tine fights Hilda, Hilda cackles and berates Tine for being such a stubborn and ungrateful brat, just like her mother. She brags about how she tortured Tailtiu to death and how she will do the same to Tine. Enraged, Tine declares she won’t forgive her. After Hilda’s defeat, she teleports away, surrendering Chronos Castle. Seliph remarks Chronos’ town is almost completely deserted, most of its inhabitants either slaughtered or forced to flee. He has trouble comprehending how anyone could be so savage, and Lewyn reminds him this is the reason they must defeat Loptyr.
The resistance army moves up to the coast to Miletos. Ishtar meets Arvis there, who orders her to release the children being delivered to Belhalla, knowing she is just as disgusted by the child hunts as he is. Ishtar refuses, citing Julius’ order. Arvis orders her to obey him as her emperor and promises to talk to his son, but Julius intervenes, calling his father a selfish, bothersome, and senile old man. He gloats there is nothing Arvis can do. He orders Arvis to “play his part” in defending Chalphy, across the sea from Miletos, and not to fail him again. Arvis reluctantly concedes and leaves.
Emperor Arvis
Manfroy mocks the timidity of the once conniving and charismatic emperor, calling him just a puppet of the true ruler of Jugdral. Julius asks Manfroy about his sister. Manfroy reports Julia is in Chalphy, where her memories have been restored. She has been traumatized by remembering how Julius, after receiving the unholy Loptyr tome, containing Loptyr’s soul and draconic power, and being possessed by the dark god, tortured Deirdre and Julia for their Naga-blessed blood. Eventually, Deirdre sacrificed the last of her strength to teleport Julia out of the palace, with Julia’s last memory being of her mother’s death. Julius suggests killing her now to destroy Saint Heim’s last heir, the only one capable of countering Loptyr and defeating him, but Manfroy insists the threat has been neutralized as the Naga tome, containing Naga’s draconic powers, is in his possession. Julius warns Manfroy to not fail him and sends him away. Meeting with Ishtar, they make a bet to see who can slaughter the most rebels in Seliph’s army. The resistance approaches Miletos, finding it defended by Julius and Ishtar. Julius is far more powerful than anyone they have ever fought. His Loptyr tome not only inflicts massive damage on the army but also weakens everyone’s attacks. Eventually, though, he tires of the game, and the two teleport away. Taking Miletos, Seliph learns the children were already shipped to Chalphy. He redoubles his efforts to rescue them and orders the army to cross the sea to Chalphy, his family’s old home.
Seliph asks Oifey if he remembers Chalphy. Oifey replies he used to have fond memories, but now those memories only brings up the faces of Sigurd and his dead friends. There is nobody left there. Seliph admits he has never seen or visited Chalphy at all, despite his heritage. Come to think of it, he isn’t even much of a prince of Grannvale. He feels like he’s tricking everyone. Oifey assures him the people won’t care. They have long prayed for the second coming of the hero Sigurd, returning in his legendary son with Deirdre. Seliph shudders at the thought of being viewed as a god. Oifey explains it is the result of Grannvale’s sheer brutality as a regime which burns children at the stake. It is Seliph’s destiny to save Jugdral from the dark god. If Erin and Lewyn married, Fee chastises Lewyn for not only abandoning their family but also ignoring her and Ced the whole time. Lewyn calls her a brat, and Fee blames him for Erin’s death. Lewyn insists his relationship with Erin is something for him alone to focus on, not Fee and Ced, and they should focus on the war instead. If Finn and Lachesis married, Nanna has a similar conversation with Finn, blaming him for not stopping Lachesis when she set out from Leonster into the Yied Desert, hoping to find Nanna’s brother Dermott (who is recruited at Tirnanog).
At Chalphy, Arvis meets the bishop Palmarch, who was once Sigurd’s family priest. He leaves the children and a special package in his care and orders him to take them to safety. Arvis also visits Julia, who begs for her forgiveness. He admits he wasn’t strong enough to save Deirdre, and he could only stand by as he watched Julius turn his ideal empire into a land of misery. He realizes he has been a fool from the beginning, always manipulated by Manfroy. And now Manfroy will take Julia from him, just as he took Deirdre from him, making him completely alone again. Julia refuses to hate her father, saying he was always kind to her and gave her as happy a childhood as he could. Arvis starts crying, remembering how he truly did love Deirdre and tried to protect her, only to fail in the end. He asks Julia to go with Palmarch, but Manfroy catches them and takes Julia with him. Before Julia is taken away, Arvis gives her one last gift, the tiara Deirdre once wore. Manfroy orders Arvis to “play his part,” and Arvis reluctantly takes the field to fight Seliph.
The resistance lands on the beaches south of Chalphy. Seeing Palmarch and the children being chased by Loptyrians, Seliph tasks Fee and Altena with flying after them and cutting off the Loptyrians while the main army engages Arvis and his personal guard. Arvis fights fiercely, his Valflame incinerating hundreds, although Seliph notices a sad look in his eyes. The two approach each other, and Seliph demands to know why Arvis betrayed Sigurd.
Arvis admits he never wanted this. He had a dream of a peaceful Jugdral, where all could live free of persecution and suffering. He was willing to do anything he could to achieve that dream, even siding with the Loptyrians. But he realized too late the Loptyrians were merely using him for their own goal, and his dream became a nightmare. All of his friends and family are dead or against him. He is completely alone. The empire has degenerated into misery. The dark god is upon them again. And it is all his fault. There is nothing he can do. He must play his part, that of the tyrannical emperor defeated by the heir of light, and go down in history as a villain. Seliph insists they can still work together to stop Loptyr, but Arvis refuses. The only way he can atone for all of the suffering he has committed is to die at Seliph’s hand. That is, if he even wants forgiveness. There is no road to redemption, so why doesn’t Seliph just get it over with and avenge his father? Realizing there is no way around it, Seliph raises his sword. The emperor puts up a serious fight, but eventually Seliph defeats him. As he dies, Arvis apologizes to Deirdre and Julia once more and makes Seliph promise he won’t repeat his mistakes. Lewyn congratulates Seliph on his victory, but Seliph finds himself unable to celebrate, especially when Julia is still missing and Arvis’ words are still in his head.
Alternatively, if Saias fights Arvis, Arvis is shocked to see his son fighting him. He also apologizes to Saias for not protecting Aida from Manfroy, but Saias said he did the best he could, having sent him to distant Thracia to build a life of his own, far from the Loptyrian Order. Arvis resigns himself to his fate, asking his son to put him out of his misery and take his birthright as the true heir of the Crusader Vala.
That night, Seliph returns to the beach and buries Arvis’ body as best as he can, vowing to end the tyranny of the empire and truly break the cycle of hatred plaguing Jugdral. It is the least he can do for all those who have died in the war. He hears a familar voice and looks up, seeing the ghostly spirit of Deirdre hovering over the waves. He tearfully embraces his mother, who beams with pride over the fine young man he’s become. She asks him to never forget about his friends who brought him this far. Another apparition appears, and Seliph is reunited with his father. Sigurd reminds him to remain humble. He must understand the pain and sorrow of the people. Only then will he be able to break the cycle of hatred and bring lasting peace to Jugdral. Only then will his and Deirdre’s deaths, along with the deaths of everyone in the war, be meaningful. Seliph embraces his parents one more time and thanks them for their encouragement. Returning to Chalphy, he meets Palmarch, who presents him with Tyrfing on Arvis’ orders, so he can succeed where Arvis failed.
The liberation of Chalphy gives the resistance army a foothold in Grannvale proper and serves as a beacon of hope for the empire’s victims. A wave of further rebellions sweep across Jugdral. In the north, the Silessians banded together and, remembering Rahna and Lewyn, rose up and surged forward like the wind, driving out the Loptyrian Order and the Grannvale army. Inspired by Silesse’s independence, the Augustrians also took up arms, rallying behind the memory of Eldigan and Lachesis. Soon Verdane also rebelled with Augustrian support. But Grannvale itself still stands. House Dozel, led by Danan’s eldest son Burian, armed with Helswath, mobilizes its Grauritter axe knights. House Jungby, led by Aideen and Bridget’s brother Scorpio and his Beigenritter bow knights, follows suit. The remains of House Friege, led by Hilda and her feared Gelbenritter war mages, guard the road to Belhalla. The capital itself falls under an eerie silence, as Ishtar and the elite Weissritter lie in wait to defend Emperor Julius.
Seliph steels himself for the final stage of his crusade. He asks Lewyn for information on Julius and the Loptyrian Order so he knows what he’s up against. Lewyn explains he has been traveling around Jugdral to find out the full story behind the Loptyrian Order. It appeared Galle journeyed to savage Archanea, with his goal to gain a dragon’s power. Seliph realizes the dragon was Loptyr. Following the war between the Divine Dragons and Earth Dragons, Loptyr escaped the sealing of his kind in the Dragon’s Altar by Naga. He formed a blood pact with Galle, abandoning his physical body and sealing his soul and powers inside a magical tome, which Galle allowed to possess him in exchange for Loptyr’s powers. Returning to Jugdral, Galle used his new charisma to raise an army and conquer Jugdral.
Lewyn attempts to continue the story, but Chalphy comes under attack from House Edda, Claud’s former domain. Seliph pushes back the invaders and counterattacks, seizing Edda. Duke Burian orders the Grauritter to move out and take both Edda and Chalphy. Seliph divides his army in two to repel both attacks. If Johan or Johalva fight Burian, Burian condemns his brother for betraying House Dozel, just as Lex did, but Johan/Johalva simply replies he is only setting things right after everything Langobalt, Danan, and now Burian have done. Burian falls, shocked he was defeated even with Helswath. Defeating the Grauritter, Seliph takes Dozel.
Taking a brief rest in Dozel, Lewyn continues his story, moving to the Miracle of Darna. After learning of the suffering in Jugdral, the ice dragon Forseti convinced Naga and her supporters to help humanity in Jugdral. Naga, having stopped intervening in human affairs, only relented when Forseti suggested giving certain worthy humans the power to resist Loptyr. Naga, Forseti, and ten other dragons appeared at Darna Fortress to the Twelve Crusaders in human form. Naga appeared before Heim, leader of the resistance, as a young woman, while the fire dragon Salamand appeared before Vala as an old man, and Forseti, the youngest of the twelve, appeared before Ced (the crusader, not Erin’s son) as a little boy. The twelve dragons, in human form, offered their blood to the Twelve, giving them holy blood. The dragons also sealed away their powers in dragonstones integrated into the Crusaders’ weapons, turning them into their holy weapons when the dragonstones were activated by holy blood. Naga went even further, sealing her entire draconic essence into the Naga tome, which she entrusted to Saint Heim. Only the power of Naga stands a chance against that of Loptyr, as Loptyr had done something similar with his own tome and Galle. So to ultimately defeat Julius, they need an heir of Saint Heim. Although Seliph inherited Naga’s blood, it is not enough to use the Naga tome. Obviously Julius is out of the question, which leaves just his sister, Julia…Seliph’s half-sister. Seliph is shocked to hear he is related to Julia, but Lewyn reminds him all three of them share the same mother, Deirdre (awkwardly enough). It is now imperative they rescue Julia.
Hilda orders the Gelbenritter to prepare a trap for the resistance with Scorpio’s help. They would lure them into a forest, where the Beigenritter would ambush them from behind. However, Faval and the other archers fend off the Beigenritter, while Shannan, Oifey, Leif, and Finn take out the Gelbenritter mages. The forest turns into a trap for the mages who can’t escape the knights among the dense trees, while Faval’s Yewfelle eliminates any numerical or tactical advantage the Beigenritter may have had. If Faval battles Scorpio, he introduces himself as the son of Bridget, whom Scorpio recognizes as his aunt. Scorpio welcomes Faval’s challenge, as it means he can kill the son of his traitorous aunt. Faval likewise says the same of Scorpio. If Lana battles him, she introduces herself as Aideen’s daughter and says her mother sends her regards. If Eyvel battles him, Scorpio recognizes her as Bridget and ask why she replaced her bows with swords. Confused, Eyvel says she is not Bridget and she has always felt more comfortable with swords. Scorpio falls, and the Belgenritter is routed, allowing the resistance army to focus on Hilda and the Gelbenritter. If Arthur fights Hilda, Hilda addresses him as “Tailtiu’s other brat” and mocks him for showing up to avenge his mother’s “pathetic death.” Arthur concedes this is the case and he’s doing this so his sister doesn’t have to. If Tine fights Hilda, Hilda mocks her for showing up again and declares she will personally torture her to death, just like her mother. Tine whispers a prayer to Tailtiu and says she is going to avenge her. The resistance prevails, and Hilda is killed. Seizing Friege Castle, Seliph finds the remaining abducted children were safely hidden in a nearby church, on secret orders from Arvis. Lewyn learns Ishtar herself had put the church under her personal protection. Seliph is shocked Ishtar would’ve done such a thing. The local townspeople are not surprised, though, hailing Ishtar as their hero.
Ishtar asks Julius to deploy her and the Weissritter, which requires her to take the field. Julius, noticing her eagerness to leave Belhalla, suspects she wants to escape him and refuses, saying she shouldn’t bother with maggots. Ishtar convinces him she wants to avenge the deaths of her family at the hands of the resistance. At Velthomer Castle in the northeast, Manfroy orders a brainwashed Julia to attack the resistance army. And in Belhalla, Julius orders Arion and his wyvern knights to attack Chalphy. Julia attacks Seliph, who holds back to avoid killing her. He tries to break her out of her trance but fails. Lewyn tells him the spell controlling her can only be removed by killing Manfroy, so they make plans to target Velthomer. However, the plans are put on hold when Ishtar attacks, and Seliph learns Chalphy is also under attack from Arion. The threats force Seliph to split his army in three. He sends Altena back to Chalphy to meet Arion, a small strike force to sneak around Ishtar’s army and take out Manfroy, and concentrates everyone else on fighting Ishtar. If Tine fights Ishtar, she urges her cousin to stop fighting, as Ishtar was one of the few members of the family who treated Tine kindly. Ishtar admits she doesn’t want to fight this battle, but she has been left with no choice and asks for forgiveness. The resistance army kills Ishtar and defeats the Weissritter. Altena flies back to Chalphy in time to stop Arion and convince him to defect.
The strike force reaches Velthomer Castle, which has been fortified by the most powerful dark mages of the Loptyrian Order, personally led by Manfroy. If Seliph fights Manfroy, the Loptyrian high priest mocks how Julia was just as helpless before his magic as Deirdre was. Realizing Manfroy is the reason behind his family’s separation, Seliph vents his rage. Manfroy laughs and dismisses Seliph’s actions as futile, as Loptyr has been resurrected in Julius. Seliph vows to show no mercy to him, for all of the pain he has inflicted. If Oifey or Shannan fight Manfroy, he reminds them of the two previous times they fought him and failed. They insist the third time will be different. If Eyvel fights Manfroy, he is surprised to see Bridget, having watched her die in Belhalla all those years ago. However, Eyvel doesn’t remember being at the Battle of Belhalla, much less dying there, and it isn’t any of her concern, as she is focused on killing him. If Saias fights Manfroy, Manfroy is also surprised to see him, having thought he was “taken care of” just like his mother for getting in the way of Arvis and Deirdre’s marriage and Julius’ birth. Saias replies he will avenge his mother and retake his family’s castle as Arvis would’ve wanted. If Sara fights Manfroy, Manfroy is completely shocked to see his granddaughter fighting him. He says Sara reminds him of her mother before she betrayed the cause by eloping with a non-Loptyrian, forcing him to kill them. Now he will kill her for also betraying the cause. Sara is undeterred. It is time she took a stand for what she believes in. If Ced and Fee attack Manfroy and they are Lewyn’s children, they declare their intent to avenge their father. Although Lewyn is not a playable unit in this generation, when someone initiates combat with him for the first time, he also exchanges some words with Manfroy. Manfroy says Lewyn should’ve died at Belhalla. Lewyn reveals he did actually die at Belhalla. Manfroy dies and the Loptyrians surrender.
Julia returns to her senses. Seliph apologizes for not protecting her. Julia refuses to accept the apology and explains she finally understands why she’s survived so long. She will stand and fight as she was always fated to do. They search Velthomer Castle and find the Naga tome. Julia picks up the book and embraces its power, embracing her destiny as the heir of Saint Heim. It is now time to fight Julius.
The resistance army enters Belhalla, finding the gates wide open and the city deathly quiet. Suspecting a trap, Julia urges them to proceed slowly towards Belhalla Palace. At the main square in front of the palace, the army encounters the palace guard, the city garrison, several Grannvale army units, and the enigmatic Deadlords, commanded by Julius. Julius is surprised the resistance army made it this far, but their journey is over now, as they cannot hope to defeat his most loyal troops, let alone touch him. He invites Seliph and his friends to take a closer look at the Deadlords. Seliph approaches their leader and is immediately horrified to see it is Sigurd.
The Deadlords all look exactly like the parents of Seliph and his friends, as well as a few other important figures from their past. There is Sigurd on his horse, carrying a dark Tyrfing. Eldigan and Quan are next to him, armed with Mystletainn and Gae Bolg. Travant circles overhead, brandishing Gungnir. Burian, Scorpio, Ishtar, and even Arvis are also present, armed with dark versions of their respective holy weapons. Deirdre stands next to Julius, wielding a dark version of the Naga tome. The rest of Seliph’s friends dead parents can also be seen, including those without holy blood. Lewyn is shocked to see Erin among them and realizes these are actually their corpses, reanimated with the forbidden magic of Archanea’s Thabes. Julius says he looks forward to watching Seliph and his friends be killed by their own parents.
A battle begins, reusing the map from the Battle of Belhalla. The objective is to kill everyone on the map and then Julius. Each character has unique dialogue for their parent(s) or allies, although the Deadlords do not say much besides “…” Some Deadlords like Sigurd, Deirdre, and Arvis refuse to attack their children, and after several turns some like Eldigan, Ishtar, and Travant might rebel or turn on each other. Eventually, the player defeats the Deadlords and approaches Julius on the palace steps.
If Seliph attacks, Julius welcomes the challenge and dismisses his claim as the heir of light, declaring himself as the heir of darkness and Loptyr’s avatar, which Seliph’s Crusader blood cannot hope to match. He looks forward to repeating his father’s killing of Sigurd right on the very steps where it happened. Seliph declares Julius’ reign of terror is over, and he will bring justice for all those lives the dark prince has claimed. If Julia battles him, Julius will look shocked and curse Manfroy for screwing up. She apologizes and prays to Deirdre. Julia activates her Naga tome and lets loose a blast of holy light right at Julius, piercing the barriers of the Loptyr tome. In the skies above Belhalla, Loptyr’s shadowy form clashes with Naga’s light-filled essence. On the steps of Belhalla Palace, Julius fires a blast of dark magic at Julia, who dispels it with a flick of her hand. Light and dark clash, sending shockwaves and recoil energy crashing into the nearby buildings. The resistance army and imperial forces, having long since paused their fight to watch the spectacle, both retreat to avoid the collateral damage.
Once Julia brings Julius to under 10 HP, a cutscene occurs. Julius falls to his knees, his haughtiness falling away. He pleads for Julia to remember their happy childhood together, before Manfroy gave him the Loptyr tome. Julius never wanted the tome to begin with. Manfroy forced him to touch it, allowing Loptyr to possess him. With Loptyr weakened, he managed to retake control of his body. There has to be a way to reverse the possession. She owes it to him to figure it out. After all, she did shake off her own possession. They could be a family again. Julia’s dialogue box hangs on “…” for a few seconds as she contemplates his offer.
Suddenly, the battle resumes, and she lands the final blow independent of the player’s actions.
Julius falls to his knees, surprised Julia saw through the deception. Julia responds there is no way the real Julius could’ve known she was possessed, or that she even overcame the possession, as he was shocked when he saw her on the steps just a little bit ago. She acknowledges the brother she once knew is dead. Julius falls, and Loptyr’s spirit emerges from his body. Julia blasts it with the Naga tome again, and Loptyr screams in agony, cursing Naga for defeating him once again, before dissipating. The dark god has been defeated, much in the same way Saint Heim triumphed generations ago.
Weeks later, Seliph gathers his friends in Belhalla Palace once more. With Julius’ death, the empire collapses, and the people of Jugdral set about rebuilding. His friends inherit the lands their parents once ruled and pitch in to help rebuild the other kingdoms.
Some characters have more detailed epilogues where they reunite with their parents. Leif accompanies Nanna, Dermott, Ares, and Lene to Augustria. There, they free the prisoners held in an imperial concentration camp, most of them children. Among them is an older Lachesis, who had been taking care of the children so well they consider her their second mother. Once the children are reunited with their parents, Lachesis accompanies Nanna to Leonster and attends her wedding with Leif and their coronation as king and queen. Leif vows to work with his sister, now Queen of Thracia, to reconcile Leonster and Thracia. Ares and Lene marry and are crowned king and queen of Augustria. Ares forgives Seliph and pledges to forge a new bond of friendship with him, just as their fathers did before them.
If Azel and Tailtiu married, Arthur tries to search for his father. Azel and Tailtiu had survived Belhalla and escaped to Silesse, where they had Arthur and Tine. But as Arvis consolidated his power and enacted popular reforms, their village turned on them, fearing they could all be punished for harboring criminals. Azel traveled to Belhalla to confront Arvis, and although Tailtiu begged him not to go, he went anyways. He never returned. Tailtiu and Tine were later turned in to Grannvale troops while Arthur was away hunting. Reunited, Arthur and Tine try to find out what happened to their father. During renovations for Belhalla Palace, construction workers come across a secret basement. Inside, they find Azel, petrified by Manfroy’s magic. Arthur and Tine enlist help from Sara, who is familiar with such spells. Remembering a similar incident in Thracia, she explains the petrification can only be undone by special Kia staff, which can only be used by Manfroy’s family. Sara retrieves the Kia staff and uses it to free Azel, who has not aged since being petrified. Miraculously, the three of them learn soon afterward that Claud had used his family’s holy Valkyrie staff to resurrect Tailtiu at the cost of his own life. After Azel renounced his claim on Velthomer and Tailtiu renounced her claim on Friege, their family lived happily as regular Silessians.
If Azel’s children do not inherit Velthomer, Saias inherits the duchy instead after being legitimized as Arvis’ son. To atone for his father’s legacy, he locks away the Valflame tome and refuses to use it under any circumstances. He devotes the rest of his life to religious studies. Sara tracks down former members of the Loptyrian Order and helps rehabilitate them.
Shannan formally ascends to the throne of Isaach. Ulster and Larcei are hailed as heroes for their leadership in the war. Johan/Johalva pledge their services to Larcei, who tasks him with helping her reorganize and train a new Isaachian army.
If Lewyn and Erin married, Lewyn refuses to take the throne and abdicates to Ced. Seliph thanks him for his guidance, deducing his true identity as the spirit of Forseti, the real Lewyn having made a pact with Forseti to survive Belhalla at the cost of Forseti possessing him and separating himself from his family and people. Lewyn visits Rahna’s grave, which was dug by Arvis following the conquest of Silesse. A Grannvale soldier had executed her against his orders. He gave Rahna a proper funeral, personally eulogizing her as a queen who only wanted the best for her people. Lewyn pays his final respects to his mother before leaving. He vanishes from the historical record afterwards, but tales abound of a wandering bard with a talent in wind magic who occasionally intervenes to protect the weak.
Aideen returns to Jungby, remarking on how she hasn’t been home since her abduction, which kicked off the whole war, and passes the title of duchess to Lana. Eyvel also returns to Jungby and with Aideen’s and her children’s help slowly remembers her life as Bridget, learning she also made a pact to survive Belhalla at the cost of her memories. If Aideen and Jamke were married, their son Lester is crowned the king of Verdane, and Aideen is granted an estate befitting of the king’s mother.
Seliph is crowned the new king of Grannvale, with his potential spouse and Julia at his side (who can’t be the same person unless the player exploits a glitch that allows Seliph and Julia to marry, though this doesn’t result in new content). Seliph’s reign would bring about a golden age of peace for all of Jugdral which would last for many long generations. For his contributions to ensuring all people were treated fairly, regardless of their birth, he would be fondly remembered by Jugdral’s people.
If the player finishes the game in under 500 turns and with no playable character deaths (not counting the turns spent in the Battle of Belhalla), a cutscene explains that due to Seliph’s efforts, the hatred between Loptyrians and non-Loptyrians was eventually overcome, bringing lasting peace to Jugdral.
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Due to a glitch, Lachesis can actually marry both Finn and the mercenary knight Beowulf at the same time. Although her stats screen will only show her husband as Finn in the end, she receives stat boosts and special conversations from Beowulf as well as Finn. Although this does not affect the story or the stats of Nanna and Dermott (who inherit Finn’s stats and weapons), it has led to some interesting fan theories, and in the Crusaders of Light manga (not manhua) adaptation by Mitsuki Oosawa, this is built on with a dying Beowulf (who fathered Dermott) urging her to go to Finn (Nanna’s father), having noticed Lachesis is more in love with him.
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In the Annionaverse, Heirs of Light was highly popular, its sales rivaling only those of its predecessor Mystery of the Emblem. However, due to time and hardware restrictions, the epilogues were fully cut out, as well as the two Endgame maps, which were folded into cutscenes or abandoned altogether. The details of the Belhalla massacre and the fates of certain first generation characters are left mostly unexplained.
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Absolutely incredible here, that's a lot of work for just one game being covered. Thank you for this reminder of how badly I want these games localized and maybe getting remakes.
I’m glad to hear this update turned out well, as I had to cut out so many details from the final post (which was originally two). This game still holds up after 24 years and I’m sure they will announce a remake next year or at least something to tie in with its 25th anniversary, especially since Three Houses has a lot of gameplay and story inspirations from this. Hopefully the remake includes content from dev notes and the manga like here.
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To be fair, it's much easier to play Gen 4 than FE4 right now...
Definitely. I did grow up on Gen 4 and would like to play remakes of them, but on the other hand I am really looking forward to seeing what a remake of FE4 would do for the story.
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
Thracia 776 is a turn-based strategy role-playing game released in 1999 for the Super Famicom, exclusively in China. It is the fifth game installment in the Fire Emblem series, the third for Super Famicom, and the final game in the series by creator Zhao Jiahe before he left Intelligent Systems for unknown reasons.
Thracia 776 is a midquel to its predecessor, Fire Emblem: Crusaders of Light, set entirely in Jugdral's Thracian Peninsula during the Grannvale calendar year 776; this places it approximately before and during part of the second generation of Crusaders of Light. It stars Leif, one of the second generation characters from the previous game, and follows his rebellion against the Grannvale Empire's occupation of his kingdom. While Thracia 776 fundamentally tells the same story about Leif depicted in passing in Crusaders of Light, there are some minor changes to the events of the prior game, and certain player-made decisions are considered canon for purposes of the more linear and small-scale story.
Thracia (with outdated translations of names)
Gameplay
Compared to the previous game, Thracia 776 returns to a conventional Fire Emblem series mold in its gameplay, featuring a smaller, more tightly-focused chapters and a broader cast. Among Fire Emblem communities, Thracia 776 is widely regarded as the most difficult and unforgiving title in the series, owing to both the pressure placed upon the player by several unique mechanics and its challenging map layouts.
Thracia 776 added some unique stats, many of which have not returned. The action stat, or "movement stars", gives units a chance of being able to move again after ending their turn, depending on how many stars they have. The follow-up critical coefficient (jokingly called FUCC by fans) is a value which multiplies a unit's critical hit chance on their second attack if they outspeed an enemy. The fatigue stat is a value which increases for all units (except Leif) for acting in a battle. Once their fatigue exceeds their HP, they are worn out and cannot participate in the next chapter. If a unit is not deployed in a chapter, their fatigue will reset to 0. Another mainstay mechanic introduced by Thracia 776 was fog of war, a weather state which hinders the battlefield's visibility as the player's army fights in dark or foggy conditions. When fog of war is in effect, allied units have a limited range of vision and cannot see anything outside of it, creating a state of uncertainty and caution. Enemies are invisible until they walk into the player's range of vision, or until a playable unit approaches one.
Thracia 776 introduced the rescue mechanic to the series, allowing units to rescue their allies of lower constitution to protect them from further harm or remove them from the area, at the cost of penalties to their own stats. Exclusive to Thracia 776 is the capture mechanic, an offensive variant of rescuing in which units can overpower and seize enemies rather than outright killing them, then steal their weapons and let them go or simply keep holding onto them, necessary to recruit some units. This is made very important as the player is given no way to get money or even more weapons aside from the starting ones, forcing them to capture enemies, steal their weapons and equipment, and sell any they won’t use to raise money.
Thracia 776 features a total of 35 chapters in the game's entirety: 27 normal chapters and eight optional ones, introducing the concept of sidequests. In a single playthrough, the player will tackle between 25 and 33 chapters, as the game features a pair of branched routes midway through the game which comprise two chapters each before rejoining into a single story. Sidequests are accessed by completing secondary objectives in prior chapters, such as ensuring the safe escape of NPCs or preventing villages from being destroyed.
Marketing
The game was released in 1999 and accompanied by a bizarre marketing campaign. In one television ad for a Chinese convenience store chain, singing children welcome a new kid who just joined their class before the narrator encourages the viewer to buy a copy of Thracia 776 at the store. A special edition was released containing a cloth map of Thracia, a VHS promotional film about the series, and two plushies of Erin and Altena on their pegasus and wyvern. To promote the game’s release, Leif was announced as a playable fighter in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Melee, which outraged fans who expected Sigurd or Seliph from Crusaders of Light to be added.
Reception
By now, the era of the Super Famicon was coming to a close, and the Rentiantang 64 had been released for 3 years. For some reason, Intelligent Systems went ahead with releasing the game on the aging SRUS, making it the last game to ever be released on that console before production was officially halted. As a result, Thracia 776 holds the unfortunate distinction of being the worst-selling Fire Emblem game ever, having sold about a million units by the time sales ended in 2002. This was still a commercial success, although it paled in comparison to its predecessor’s sales. Afterward, Zhao Jiahe left Intelligent Systems and stopped working on the Fire Emblem franchise altogether.
It is rumored Zhao was expelled from Intelligent Systems on Rentiantang’s orders because he insisted on releasing the game on the more familiar SRUS, or he quit due to creative differences due to wanting more Thracia-style games set in Jugdral, but neither he nor Intelligent Systems publicly discussed what happened. Regardless, he then set up his own game development studio with the intent of continuing the Fire Emblem series on his own terms, but a lengthy and costly court battle with Rentiantang forced him to abandon all plans for that (and infamously barring him from using the term “pegasus knight”). He continued releasing Fire Emblem-style tactical RPGs over the next few years with no ties to his original creation. Zhao, a notoriously private person with only two or three publicly available pictures of him, almost completely disappeared from public life afterward and refused to comment on anything related to Fire Emblem, if he did comment at all. If asked on social media what he thought of the games released after his departure, he always replied he never played them and could not comment on them. Most of his original team also went their separate ways, and eventually only his composer Yuka Tsujiyoko, a Japanese composer who had joined the company shortly after the 1989 revolution, remained with the franchise.
Despite the sales numbers, the game received mostly positive reviews, encouraging Intelligent Systems to release the next game, The Binding Blade on the Game Boy Advance, outside of China.
Plot
In the aftermath of the Battle of Belhalla, almost the entirety of Jugdral fell under the domination of Grannvale, now an empire led by Emperor Arvis. The Kingdom of Leonster was invaded by Thracia following the deaths of Prince Quan and his wife Ethlyn in the Yied Massacre. Quan’s father King Calf rides out to face King Travant’s wyvern knights, only to be betrayed by his own General Raydrik and assassinated. As the Thracians take over Leonster, Quan’s retainer Finn and his wife, Princess Lachesis of Nordion (Thracia 776 assumes this pairing as canon), flee the country with Quan’s infant son Leif and their baby daughter Nanna. Shortly after their victory, Raydrik sold the country out again to the Grannvale Empire, who after defeating the Thracians installed King Blume and House Friege as the puppet rulers of Leonster.
Leif, the protagonist
Over the next few years, Leif and Nanna were raised by Finn and Lachesis while on the run from the Grannvale and Leonster collaborator forces hunting him. After Lachesis disappeared while searching for her son Dermott, Finn settled in the remote village of Fiana, under the protection of the renowned amnesiac swordswoman Eyvel, leader of the Fiana Freeblades militia, and the pirate Dagdar, leader of a reformed bandit gang allied with the Freeblades. As they grow older, Leif and Nanna develop feelings for each other.
In the year 776, while Leif and Finn are absent on a mission with the Freeblades, Fiana finds itself under attack from Raydrik, now Duke of Munster, who abducts Nanna and Mareeta, Eyvel’s adopted daughter. In response, Leif sets out with Dagdar and the Freeblades to enter Munster and rescue Nanna and Mareeta.
On his way north to Munster, Leif meets Augustus, a priest also traveling to Munster, who joins him and provides the Freeblades with tactical advice in the battles on the way. Their first target is Fort Cerberus on the border, regarded as “more terrifying than Hell” by locals as the center of Grannvale’s child hunts in the area. The Freeblades send Augustus away for his safety before they attack the fort. Although Leif successfully seizes Fort Cerberus, Raydrik appears, holding Nanna hostage. Although Nanna urges him to not worry about her, Leif lays down his arms to ensure her safety. Raydrik’s men arrest him and Eyvel, who buys time for the other Freeblades to escape.
Awaiting execution, Leif is imprisoned in a dungeon in Munster Castle, while Eyvel is taken by Raydrik to participate in gladiator battles. While in captivity, Leif meets fellow captives Fergus, the illegitimate son of the renowned mercenary Beowulf (a former ally of Sigurd), and Karen, a pegasus knight in training and a friend of Fee, daughter of Dowager Queen Erin of Silesse (the game canonizes Erin and Lewyn’s marriage). They manage to break out of prison. Along the way, they run into the Magi, a group of rebels led by Erin’s son Prince Ced of Silesse, who uses the Forseti tome to free the rest of the prisoners. Ced entrusts several of his companions to Leif’s command, staying behind to coordinate the Magi’s coming uprising in Munster.
Leif breaks out of the dungeon and storms the main castle. There, Nanna and Eyvel are forced to fight in an arena for the entertainment of Raydrik and his benefactor, Bishop Veld of the Loptyrian Order. Pushing Nanna behind her, Eyvel easily defeats the other fighters. Bored, Raydrik introduces a new challenger: Mareeta herself, now brainwashed by the malevolent power of the Shadow Sword in her hand. She attacks Eyvel, who refuses to fight her. Nanna forces the door open and escapes, but Veld, tired of Eyvel’s lack of fighting, uses dark magic to turn Eyvel to stone, forcing Leif to leave her behind as he escapes. Before Raydrik can give Mareeta orders to pursue Leif, the mercenary Galzus rescues her and hands her over to the sympathetic bishop Saias, asking him to heal her and undo the Shadow Sword’s conditioning.
Leaving the city, Leif and the Magi flee south. He reunites with Augustus, who reveals he was sent by Lewyn to serve Leif. Augustus suggests Leif seek aid from Thracia, particularly the sympathetic and influential general Hannibal. Hannibal provides them asylum, and at his castle, Leif reunites with Finn and several other Freeblades. Nanna suggests they next head for the city of Tahra, one of the last free cities in Leonster and home to some friends of theirs. To help them, Hannibal sends some of his knights with them. Leif crosses the mountains and regroups with Dagdar’s bandits, saving Dagdar from a mutiny by those who want to return to pillaging, and a group of refugees from Leonster led by the knight Selphina. Selphina tells Leif an imperial army is on its way to conquer Tahra, and her husband Glade, in charge of the city’s defenses, will likely be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Remembering Glade as his old friend from the Leonster knights, Finn urges Leif to hurry. Along the way, they encounter Mareeta, who with Saias’ help has not only recovered from the brainwashing but has also brought the Shadow Sword under her control. She vows to fight for her mother.
Leif fights his way through several Grannvale-controlled fortresses, fighting the rival Friege generals Kempf and Reinhardt and meeting an unlikely ally in Reinhardt’s sister Olwen, who is opposed to the child hunts. He barely arrives at Tahra before Grannvale’s assault and fights his way through the imperial forces to reinforce Glade. However, even with their added numbers, they are still vastly outnumbered and outmatched. Leif meets Linoan, Duchess of Tahra and his childhood friend, and helps her prepare the city’s defenses for the coming onslaught. Despite heavy resistance, the enemy soon pushes into the heart of the city. Arion, the prince of Thracia, flies into the city under a flag of truce and asks to meet Linoan. He proposes a ceasefire in which Tahra will be transferred to Thracian control, sparing it the worst of Grannvale’s atrocities. However, he cannot guarantee Leif’s safety or Grannvale’s compliance with the ceasefire as long as Leif is in the city, asking her to send him away. Not letting Linoan make a choice, Leif, the Magi, the Leonster knights, and a band of refugees escape the city.
Having fled Tahra, Leif’s varying forces are unable to agree on what to do next, until Nanna convinces her father and the Leonster knights to remember their loyalty to the old kingdom, convincing them to support an attack on Leonster City. The liberation of Leonster, especially by the son of Quan and Ethlyn, would inspire hope in the people of the peninsula, giving them the numbers to retake Munster and kill Raydrik. Augustus and Dorias, a second tactician, suggest two routes to take. Dorias favors a brute-force attack to inspire the people, while Augustus suggests staying hidden, taking them through a Loptyrian-infested forest. Along the way, Leif meets and recruits Sara, Manfroy’s rebellious granddaughter.
Regardless of which path Leif takes, he eventually reaches the gates of Leonster Castle. Inside, the Grannvale general Gustaf forces the Leonster knight Xavier and his men to do his bidding by holding their families hostage. While there is nothing stopping the player from just rushing to Gustaf and killing him, Xavier can be recruited, although through a very convoluted process which involves freeing the NPC family members, having each family member talk to their respective NPC Leonster soldier, and then waiting for them to escape, all of which depend on the very unreliable AI. Players generally consider recruiting Xavier the hardest recruitment if not task in the entire series and for the most part don’t bother. But if Leif manages to pull it off, Xavier defects and helps him kill Gustaf, liberating Leonster.
A desperate woman from Alster begs Leif to rescue fellow rebels who attempted to free the city. Leif impulsively agrees to help and orders the bulk of his army south to Alster. Augustus and Dorias attempt to convince Leif not to intervene, reminding him his current victories are either due to the enemy’s incompetence or just dumb luck, and he does not have the manpower or resources to take on Grannvale head-on. Leif still insists on helping Alster, even as Finn and Nanna strongly advise him against it. Dorias reluctantly offers to lead the first attack, with Augustus and Leif to lead the second assault the next morning.
The next morning comes, and Leif's half of the forces depart to assist Dorias's. However, they receive the grim news that Dorias is dead and his men were completely slaughtered, with the almost intact imperial army marching north to retaliate. Nanna chastises Leif for being so reckless and losing all of their rebellion’s momentum in one day, and Leif, realizing his mistake, orders a retreat to Leonster. The imperial forces besiege Leonster for months, during which the rebels start running out of food. Realizing they can’t keep up the siege for much longer, Nanna suggests retreating from the city to a more defensible area. Leif agrees and sends Sara ahead to clear a path for the escaping civilians. Fortunately, Seliph and his resistance army arrive in time to reinforce them, driving off the empire. Seliph and Leif join forces, combining their two armies to fight King Blume. Seliph sends his knight Dermott, Nanna’s brother, to join Leif. Nanna tearfully reunites with her brother and asks if he’s seen Lachesis. Dermott sadly replies he has not seen their mother.
While Seliph concentrates on Blume in the east, Leif marches south to liberate Munster, storming several imperial concentration camps and freeing their prisoners. He crosses the Great River of Thracia, the natural border between Leonster and Thracia, suffering heavy casualties from Reinhardt’s forces, although Reinhardt is ultimately defeated. News of Leif’s victory at the Great River reaches Munster ahead of him, inspiring its people to rebel. Ced launches his rebellion and asks Saias to help him evacuate children from the city. Leif’s army arrives at Munster in time to link up with Saias, repel a Thracian wyvern attack, and help Ced’s forces take the city. The two men agree to join Leif’s army, folding the Magi into the Leonster resistance.
Leif’s bolstered forces storm Raydrik’s palace. There, Mareeta runs into Galzus again, whom she recognizes as her birth father and convinces him to defect. Saias helps Leif rescue the children being kept in the dungeons, while Ced takes out the Loptyrian priests waiting in ambush for them with the power of Forseti. Sara searches the treasury and recovers the Kia staff, only usable by members of Manfroy’s family, which she believes can help undo Eyvel’s petrification. Leif goes after Raydrik and kills him, but his body disappears.
The Leonster resistance descends into the depths of the palace, entering a secret Loptyrian temple hidden underneath. Fighting their way through Veld’s Loptyrian priests, they recover Eyvel’s statue, and Sara uses the Kia staff to free her. That done, they storm the inner sanctum, where Veld awaits with several Deadlords reanimated from the corpses of Raydrik and other fallen allies or enemies Leif met. After a tense battle, the resistance prevails, killing the Deadlords and Veld. If Mareeta battles Veld (and likely one-shots him), she brandishes the former Shadow Sword and declares she is no longer under his control, and she will get revenge for everything he did to her mother.
With Veld’s and Raydrik’s death, Leif’s rebellion comes to its end. From Fiana, Leif has managed to liberate all of Leonster. However, the fight isn’t over. With Travant still ruling over Thracia in the south, and Prince Julius’ reign of terror continuing in Grannvale, Leif meets up with Seliph again, and they draw up plans to take the fight to Travant. The year is now 777, and the next stage in the liberation of Jugdral is about to begin.
After Seliph’s and Julia’s final triumph over Julius, Leif, Nanna, and her relatives led a campaign to liberate her mother’s homeland of Augustria, finding Lachesis languishing in one of its concentration camps. Their family reunited, they return to Leonster, where Leif and Nanna marry and take the throne as king and queen. Finn and Lachesis reunite and retire to a happy life of peace and quiet. Mareeta accompanies Eyvel to Jungby, where she helps her adopted mother recover her true identity as Bridget with the help of Bridget’s biological children. Dagdar rounded up his bandits and led an effort to farm on the mountains of Thracia, eventually making the once barren land fertile. Karen returned to Silesse and became a full-fledged Pegasus Knight on Fee’s and Ced’s recommendation. Working with his sister Altena, the Queen of Thracia, and his wife Nanna, Leif devoted the rest of his life to maintaining peace and prosperity for both Leonster and Thracia. For his efforts, he is remembered as the Sage-King of Leonster, one of the defining figures of the era alongside Seliph whose reign paved the way for the peaceful reunification of Leonster and Thracia.
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In the Annionaverse, Thracia 776 was released on the Nintendo 64, revitalizing the series and bringing in many new fans. It was the first Fire Emblem game to receive a German dub and be released overseas, followed by an N64 rerelease of the previous game, Heirs of Light. Encouraged by the game’s successors, creator Shouzou Kaga remained with Intelligent Systems to work on the next game, Priestess of Darkness.
I’m going to try out a three update a week schedule and see if that works.
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Lief in Smash Bros? Ah, wouldn't mind that... I wonder if this timeline will also include some arguably controversial additions to the roster and the... overexcited response to potential naysayers.
Leif in Smash was actually the original plan, but they decided to go with Roy since it was the most recent game I think. I decided to...take an alternate decision, as you will see in the next two updates. All I can say is there will be a lot of salt by the time we reach Three Houses.
Actually, I'm going to try for daily uploads, at least for these Fire Emblem updates. I might be busy when I go on break (weird how that works), so I want to finish this series before then and hopefully get started on posting the Forum arc. I'll post the "FE6" update next.
Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade is a Game Boy Advance game released in 2002. It is the sixth installment in the series, the first for Game Boy Advance and on a handheld platform, and was the first to be released outside of China. This game sparked international interest in the franchise, caused by the appearance of Lyn in Super Smash Bros. Melee alongside the sequel’s protagonist Roy and the previous game’s protagonist Leif, paving the way for successive titles to be released overseas. It was also the first installment to be made without the involvement of Zhao Jiahe, a prominent figure in the series' creation and the director of every installment through to Thracia 776, who had left Intelligent Systems after Thracia’s release.
The game is set in the continent of Elibe, far from the world of Archanea, and explores the reasons behind dragonkind’s degeneration as explained in Mystery of the Emblem. Long after a conflict between humans and dragons, three young lords—Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn—are drawn into a shadowy conspiracy.
The game was followed up by Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, a sequel set twenty years later and follows Eliwood’s, Hector’s, and Lyn’s children Roy, Lilina, and Sue, who are wrapped up in a continent-spanning conflict.
Development
The development of The Binding Blade originated with Fire Emblem: Priestess of Darkness, an ill-fated title for the Rentiantang 64 console better known as Fire Emblem 64. When developmental difficulties arose with this title and Zhao Jiahe left Intelligent Systems, the project was cancelled and development was moved to a new title for the Game Boy Advance platform, which at first was still known as Priestess of Darkness. The idea to move to handhelds was in part inspired by the growing market for such games, which Intelligent Systems leadership saw as a way to reverse the relative commercial underperforming of Thracia 776 and move on from Zhao’s departure. Furthermore, the GBA offered technical capacities superior to the SRUS while also offering portability, as well as fitting within their development time and budget restrictions.
However, the planning for the game had to start from the beginning due to the difficulties which led to the initial cancellation, notoriously with the game and its sequel switching places, as the sequel was supposed to be the first game released. Few traces of the Rentiantang 64 original remained in the Game Boy Advance product; the only elements which are confirmed to have carried over without major changes are Elibe’s ties with Archanea, the character Karel, a descendant of Isaachians, the protagonist Roy, and the “Priestess of Darkness” name, which is recycled as a character nickname.
The nations of Elibe.
The continent of Elibe and its inhabitants were intended to be made very different from the past Archanean/Valentian/Jugdrali settings, both in cultures and societies. Although the story and its sequel do partially explain the reason why dragons in the larger continuity began degenerating, setting off the war between Naga and the Earth Dragons, there are almost no other connections to previous games. Even the designs and backgrounds of the main protagonists were made to be very different from those of Marth and Seliph. Eliwood, the most “traditional” lord, is the red-haired Marquess of Pherae in the aristocratic republic of Lycia. His friend Hector of Ostia prefers using axes. Lyn’s attire is based on a mix of traditional Mongolian women’s clothes, and her homeland of Sacae is based on Mongolia. There is no specific part of real life history that Elibe is based on.
Lyn, Eliwood, and Hector
Marketing
The Game Boy Advance version of Priestess of Darkness was first announced in August 2000, when it appeared in a list of games to be showcased in the following year's Rentiantang Space World press event. The first footage of the game was demonstrated at that year's Space World. By July 2001, the game had been renamed The Binding Blade, its title in the final release, and Intelligent Systems announced they would be working on a sequel in the same universe. During its development, the characters of Leif (Thracia 776), Lyn (Binding Blade), and Roy (Blazing Blade) were introduced as playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee at the request of Intelligent Systems, in order to promote the Elibe games.
In keeping with Fire Emblem’s tradition of absolutely bizarre marketing, The Binding Blade ads run in the Reich completely missed the point of the game. One such ad features a live action medieval banquet where noblemen discuss military strategy, only for one to die. One of them asks “What happened to Dorcas?” to which the host says he poisoned Dorcas’ mutton, and everyone laughs. The narrator declares nobody can be trusted and the player must build an army to conquer the world. This ad has since become a meme in Roman Fire Emblem communities, much like how Wrys remains a meme in Chinese Fire Emblem communities due to his deletion in Mystery of the Emblem.
In mid-March 2002, weeks prior to the game's Chinese release, Rentiantang Europe confirmed their intent to localize and release The Binding Blade internationally, as well as its sequel, confident in the games’ successes.
Localization
The concept of localizing a Fire Emblem game outside China had been around for some time, but the combined elements of extensive use of text and a view that tactical RPGs would be met with low sales overseas had kept the series exclusive to China. One major factor in breaking past this mindset was the appearance of Roy, Marth, Leif, and Lyn in the 2001 game Super Smash Bros. Melee to promote existing and upcoming Fire Emblem games. The director of Melee, Zheng Boying, had wanted to include Marth since the original Super Smash Bros., and included him as part of a push for more sword-wielding characters (ironically enough). Gameplay-wise, Lyn was included to act as a faster version of Marth, while Roy hit harder and Leif was somewhere in between. There were difficulties coming up with movesets for all four characters since none of their games had seen an overseas release at that point. Zheng, with support from Rentiantang of Europe, managed to keep them all in the game. The growing base of tactical role-playing games like Advance Wars, in addition to the interest garnered by Lyn and Roy in Melee, meant Rentiantang was more willing to bring Fire Emblem overseas.
Gameplay
The Binding Blade is today considered to be the game which codified the general structure and gameplay flow of almost all subsequent Fire Emblem games. Compared to its predecessor, Thracia 776, it is significantly simplified and has dropped numerous features in an attempt to build a more easy and accessible game, but also retains some of the stats, mechanics and general concepts introduced by Thracia. The rescue mechanic returns, although capturing does not. Weapon durability is again made more limited and restrictive, and broken weapons can no longer be repaired at all, instead disappearing from the inventory after the last use. There are certain weapons with unlimited durability, such as the two Kattis, Durandal, and Armads. If she has both Kattis, Lyn can dual wield them, and attacking with one while the other is in her inventory gives her attacks a stat boost and the brave effect, doubling the number of hits she inflicts (so instead of one attack and follow up attack if she outspeeds her target, she can attack four times).
While the support bonus mechanic had existed in a hidden form in prior games, The Binding Blade converted it into its present form, where supports between units are strengthened by their participation in battles alongside each other and are activated by having units talk to each other during the battle. Once certain characters achieve an A support, they may fall in love and get married in the game’s epilogue, and some have children in the sequel. Only the first five support conversations unlocked per pair count towards gameplay bonuses and a marriage ending.
As The Binding Blade and its sequel were worked on alongside each other, there is a new feature which allows data from a completed Binding Blade save file to be transferred to Blazing Blade. This may affect the stats of children of Binding Blade characters, notably Roy, Lilina, and Sue, or even change the story of The Blazing Blade in the case of Roy’s mother.
Reception
During its debut week, The Binding Blade reached fourth on sales charts and eventually reached #29 in the 300 best selling games of the year. Critics were again positive about the game, praising the game’s pacing and the convenience of the “rescue” function, improved on from the previous game. Fans generally liked the story, although they pointed out various plot holes and translation errors.
Plot
The game begins with Lyn, a teenage nomad of Sacae, waking up to screams and flames. She realizes her tribe, the Lorca, is under attack from bandits. Her parents, Madelyn and Hassar, tell her to flee while they fight off the attackers, drawing their treasured personal swords Mani Katti and Sol Katti. Batta the Beast, the bandits’ leader, orders his men to kill everyone they come across. Florina, a pegasus knight and Lyn’s friend who happens to be visiting, flies in to help Lyn escape. The objective of this chapter is for Lyn and Florina to escape the map. Meanwhile, her parents seem to be doing quite well against the bandits…until Batta himself shows up, armed with a special Swordreaver axe designed to counter swords. “You think you can stand up to Batta the Beast?” he declares before easily cutting down both Hassar and Madelyn. Shocked, Lyn can only watch in horror before Florina screams for her to run. The terrified Lyn is forced to escape before Batta comes after them. She gets on Florina’s pegasus, and they fly away as fast as they can. Traumatized by what she saw in the attack, Florina cries into Lyn’s shoulder, while Lyn assures her she will get revenge for her parents and the rest of the Lorca.
As the smoke clears and dawn breaks, the first thing Lyn does is to return to the settlement to bury her parents and retrive the Kattis. Florina, now terrified of men, refuses to go, but Lyn manages to convince her to at least fly her there. Reaching the ruins of the settlement, she finds another group of bandits already looting it, led by a man named Glass. Glass picks up Mani Katti and attempts to wield it, but he can’t (he doesn’t have the weapon level required). Taking the Mani Katti back, Lyn angrily kills the bandits but spares Glass, telling him to escape and tell other bandits that Lyn of the Lorca will get her revenge.
Emboldened by her victory, Lyn is increasingly convinced she can avenge the Lorca and take on Batta the Beast. She drags Florina to Batta’s hideout and challenges him. However, Batta just laughs at the two girls wave around their iron swords and in response taunts Lyn with the Sol Katti in his hands. He sends part of his gang to go wipe them out, and Lyn realizes she and Florina are still not ready to fight Batta. They retreat to an abandoned fort, while Florina flies away to get reinforcements. Lyn is left alone in the fort to fight off dozens of bandits, and the player is forced to survive for several turns. Eventually, Florina returns with reinforcements, the Caelin knights Sain and Kent, and drive off the bandits. In the aftermath, Lyn thanks the two knights for arriving in time to save them. While Kent says it was only his duty, Sain tries to hit on her, which annoys her. Lyn is forced to accept she might not be ready to avenge her parents at this point, and Sain and Kent refuse to let her go on another suicide mission. They explain her real name is Lyndis, and Madelyn was the only daughter of Marquess Hausen of Caelin, who had eloped with Hassar to Sacae, making Lyn the heir to Caelin. They suggest going to Caelin, where she could receive instruction from the veteran general Wallace. For the time being, she asks Sain and Kent to help her train as they travel to Caelin. The group decides to around the mountains in between them and Caelin, taking them to the city of Bulgar.
The scene cuts to Caelin, where Lundgren, Hausen’s brother, monologues about how he had sent Batta to kill Hassar, Madelyn, and Lyndis so he would inherit Caelin instead. But since Lyn somehow managed to survive, he hires the Black Fang, professional assassins with ties to the Kingdom of Bern, to kill her. He meets with its lieutenants, the Four Fangs, and their leaders Sonia and Brendan. He makes up a story about how Madelyn plotted to use Hassar to unite the tribes of Sacae and lead them in an invasion of Lycia, and now Lyn will continue her efforts. Brendan is skeptical, as Lyn only has a small group of teenagers with her and poses no threat. However, Sonia sees Lundgren as a good pawn in a potential Lycian civil war, which would cause more demand for their services, and convinces Brendan to go ahead with it. Since Bulgar is very far from their main strongholds and the targets aren’t exactly major threats, Brendan only sends a cavalry unit led by Ursula and Uhai.
The Black Fang arrives at Bulgar. However, they don’t coordinate well. Uhai is skeptical just like Brendan, while Ursula eagerly wants to kill the targets as soon as possible. They split up, with Ursula hanging outside the city and Uhai entering it to stealthily track Lyn. While Lyn gathers supplies, Florina hears Madelyn’s and Lundgren’s names mentioned by assassins during an argument. Suspicious, she alerts the others flies back to Lyn, who is being traced by Uhai. Learning about the Black Fang, they lure Uhai away from his men and into an ambush. However, Uhai laughs and says his men predicted this, and the rest of his squad ambushes them in turn. Just when it appears Lyn and her friends are overwhelmed, a volley of arrows distracts the Black Fang, folowed by two young men intervening. They introduce themselves as Rath, a quiet horse archer, and Guy, a talkative swordsman, both of whom Lyn recognizes as Sacaeans from the nearby Kutolah tribe. Guy explains he was watching their fight and wanted to help out a fellow Sacaean, especially a daughter of Hassar, one of Rath’s father’s closest allies. Lyn asks where the Kutolah were when the Lorca were being slaughtered. Speaking up, Rath explains his father was wounded after repelling another attack from Batta. Understanding they have a common enemy, Lyn welcomes Rath and Guy.
They overpower Uhai and force him to call his men off. Lyn draws Mani Katti and prepares to kill him, but Florina urges her to keep him alive to learn his motives. Sain also tries to kill Uhai but is restrained by Kent. As they argue, Uhai figures out Lundgren lied about Lyn and decides he doesn’t want to carry out the contract. However, he knows Ursula won’t believe him, so he suggests the group escape the city while he gives Ursula a “tip” on their location. He also gives Lyn some instructions on how to contact the “Old Fang,” a faction of the Black Fang which remains loyal to their original ideals before Sonia married Brendan and brought the mysterious Nergal in. Among the Old Fang are Brendan’s sons Lloyd and Linus, who have no love for Lundgren for his corruption.
Lyn travels to Araphen. There, the local marquess is initially willing to help her, as he strongly dislikes Lundgren’s actions. But when she appears at his court, he notices her Sacaean heritage as well as the Sacaeans alongside her. Having no love for Sacae, he withdraws his help. Sain and Kent vouch for Lyn, saying it’s important she gets the support she needs to defeat Lundgren. The marquess is willing to reconsider, but only if Lyn proves she has the strength to actually take him on. Batta the Beast had recently raided a nearby village, abducting several villagers, among them a traveling dancer and bard. If Lyn can free the hostages, the marquess will provide military assistance against Lundgren.
Lyn and her friends track down Batta and his hostages at a slave market. Lyn and Sain favor a direct assault, hitting the market and freeing the hostages as soon as possible, while Florina and Kent favor sneaking around and quietly freeing them before dealing with the bandits. The player can use either strategy to win the battle. This battle is a stealth mission, where the objective is to free the NPC hostages and kill Batta. Additional rewards are given if Lyn and the others stay out of the bandits’ line of sight, but this is optional. Once the hostages are freed, Lyn and her friends attack the bandits.
Lyn confronts Batta, who again refuses to acknowledge her as more than a scared girl. Lyn counters that she has learned much on her journey, and now she can finally avenge her parents and the Lorca. Batta welcomes her to try, declaring again none can stand against Batta the Beast. However, he still has his Swordreaver, meaning he has the advantage over Lyn, especially with her Mani Katti. The two are locked in a stalemate, Lyn countering the Swordreaver’s advantage with her agility. This particular fight, when initiated, is actually scripted. Lyn is unable to damage Batta, but Batta is unable to even hit her. Surprised, Batta increases his efforts, and Lyn stubbornly vows she will no longer run, but she will fight just like her parents did. Finally believing in herself again, she promotes to her advanced class, Blade Lord, gaining a boost to her stats and allowing her to use bows. With her new gains, she can finally deal damage to Batta, or step out of range of the Swordreaver and attack with a bow. She lands the final blow on Batta with a (scripted) critical hit, and the bandit leader falls. As he dies, Lyn demands to know where Sol Katti is, to which Batta replies he gave it to Lundgren.
Lyn celebrates Batta’s death and holds a Sacaean prayer in memory of Hassar and Madelyn, telling her parents she finally avenged them. Her friends congratulate her on her victory, but Florina reminds her she still needs to defeat Lundgren and recover Sol Katti. Sain and Kent add that with Batta dead, there’s nobody who can stop them now. Lyn spends the next few days returning the hostages to their families. Eventually, only the bard and dancer remain, a brother and sister, Nils and Ninian, she can’t find family for. Nils asks Lyn if they can just leave and head out on their own, which Lyn refuses to allow, as that would invite more bandits to capture them again. Ninian suggests going with her, promising to help out with her rehabilitating dances (allowing units to take a second action) and temporary blessing magic (boosting stats for a turn). Deciding it’s better than nothing, Lyn agrees.
The marquess agrees to send troops to help Lyn fight Lundgren. Along the way, as Lundgren sends his troops stop her, Lyn runs into Eliwood, the son of Marquess Elbert of Pherae, who lends his support to Lyn’s cause. She calls on the Old Fang to help her infiltrate Caelin and learn about Hausen’s condition, learning the marquess is near death. Lundgren, having decided he didn’t want to wait for his brother to die, poisoned him. While the Araphen army lures Caelin’s troops away, Linus and Lloyd help Lyn and her friends sneak into Caelin, where they meet up with Wallace. Wallace helps them get into the castle. The objective of this battle is to kill Lundgren before Hausen dies from poison, with extra rewards given if the player’s units are not detected by the enemy guards. Lundgren waits for Lyn in the throne room, Sol Katti in his hand. He is frustrated Madelyn’s daughter has survived so long, keeping the throne out of his reach, but now that she has conveniently solved the issue of being found in showing up at his doorstep, he will eliminate the last obstacle between him and Caelin. Realizing Lundgren was responsible for the massacre of the Lorca, Lyn vows he will be brought to justice in their name. She draws Mani Katti and lunges at him, but even in her advanced class, she is no match for the more experienced Lundgren and Sol Katti. However, the combined strength of the people accompanying her is enough to bring him down.
After Lundgren’s death, Wallace brings the rogue Caelin troops under control with the help of the marquess of Araphen. Lloyd and Linus congratulate Lyn and praise her for being rather moderate and just, for a noble. When Lyn asks what they mean, the brothers respond they hated Lundgren because he was the very example of a corrupt noble, who Brendan had formed the Black Fang to protect the people against. At least until Sonia showed up. But that is not any of her concern right now, and they bid her farewell.
Florina creates an antidote made with ingredients from her native Ilia, which cures Hausen. The old marquess is delighted to meet his granddaughter, glad he finally has an heir. Although Lyn doesn’t have any political experience, she promises to try her best to learn. Kent and Sain jokingly remind her to not forget their daily training, especially now that they have Wallace. Although they have achieved their goal of killing Batta, Rath and Guy decide to stay with Lyn, Guy because of his friendship with Rath and Rath because of his and Lyn’s mutual attraction. Ninian and Nils also stay, trusting Lyn will protect them. Eliwood returns home to Pherae. Although Lyn tries to settle down in her new roles, she can’t help but remember her life on the steppes and look back fondly on her childhood in Sacae.
The game jumps forward a year and shifts perspective to Eliwood and Hector, alternating between them. A month before the story resumes, Elbert had vanished along with his best knights. Against his mother’s wishes, Eliwood also sets out to find him, taking with him his veteran retainer Marcus. In neighboring Ostia, Elbert’s disappearance unnerves the locals, especially with rumors the marquess of neighboring Laus is raising an army against Ostia’s Lord Uther, the leader of Lycia, for letting Lyn succeed her abdicated grandfather despite being half-Sacaean and having no political experience. Uther takes no apparent interest in either issue, instead maintaining an official policy of neutrality. His younger brother Hector, though, does not agree. A hot-blooded young man and Eliwood’s closest friend, he is unable to ignore Eliwood’s plight. He takes his spy, Matthew, with him to meet Eliwood, only to be ambushed by Black Fang assassins sent by Laus. He fights them off and continues on.
Eliwood travels to Santaruz, which he believes Elbert must have passed through on his journey. However, Marquess Helman, secretly in league with Laus, sends troops to intimidate him into going home. Hector arrives at Santaruz to find its borders closed and Eliwood under attack. He forces his way past the guards and helps Eliwood drive off the attack. Seeking answers, they set out for Helman’s castle, fighting through more pro-Laus rebels on the way. They enter the castle and find Helman dying, having been murdered by the Black Fang. Realizing there is something very suspicious about all of these incidents, they decide to go to Laus and get answers from Marquess Darin.
Matthew calls upon his fellow spies to get intelligence on Darin, concluding he was involved in some way with Elbert’s disappearance. Although they are aware Darin’s allies have tried to kill them in Santaruz, Eliwood and Hector decide they need answers and journey to Laus. Arriving at Laus Castle, they find the marquess’ troops mobilized, led by Darin’s son Erik. An old classmate of theirs, Erik rides to their camp under a flag of truce, asking to speak to Eliwood alone regarding Darin’s plans. While Hector scouts out the battlefield, Eliwood asks him what Darin is planning. Erik only says Darin is currently out of the country and will not be meeting with Eliwood. He then attempts to stab Eliwood. Hector blocks the stab and tells Eliwood the talks were only a distraction for Darin to ambush them. He has already given the order to ambush the ambushers, and the angered Erik leaves the camp. Eliwood and Hector defeat Erik’s forces and capture him, and he reveals Darin is working with a mysterious man named Ephidel, who has promised him support in his rebellion. Erik adds Elbert was also part of Darin’s coalition, which shocks Eliwood.
After the battle, the two lords rest in Laus Castle while they figure out where Darin is. They suddenly come under attack from more of Darin’s rebels, which are aided by several Black Fang assassins who narrowly miss killing Eliwood and Hector. The attack is repelled and the castle remains in their hands. Realizing they are open targets as long as they stay in Laus, they get on the move, despite still not knowing where Darin is. Eliwood still denies his father would’ve supported Darin against Uther. House Ostia and House Pherae are the closest allied of any of Lycia’s families. He wonders why Uther still hasn’t taken any actions against Darin. Hector explains the militaristic Kingdom of Bern is Uther’s main focus. After a coup which stripped its king Desmond of most of his powers, the newly empowered nobility have set their sights on expanding the kingdom to enrich themselves with the resources and taxes of their neighbors. Uther’s neutrality makes the Lycian League appear to be united under him, pushing the internal conflicts under the rug so it appears the country is stable.
Matthew receives word Caelin has been taken in a surprise attack from Darin, who has begun the rebellion and targeted the weakest marquess, Hausen. Remembering his meeting with Lyn the previous year, Eliwood rushes to relieve Caelin. At Caelin, Lyn and her friends escape the castle and hide in the nearby woods, surrounded by Darin’s men. While Sain, Kent, Rath, and Guy hold off the enemy, Lyn has Florina fly out to relay their location to Eliwood and Hector. The rebels spot her and ready a ballista to shoot her down. Her pegasus is killed by the attack, but Hector catches her (she will be a footlocked lancer in this chapter). Florina informs them the retired Hausen has been captured and Lyn is trapped in the woods. Eliwood decides to link up with Lyn, cutting a path through the enemy forces to allow Lyn and her friends to join his ranks. They retake the castle, kill Darin, and rescue Hausen. Disgusted by the political intrigue of the Lycian nobles, Lyn seriously contemplates abdicating her titles and going back to Sacae, and Rath offers to help her settle in the Kutolah tribe.
Matthew meets with his lover and fellow Ostian spy Leila, who has infiltrated the Black Fang. She has found Ephidel is a high-ranking member of the Black Fang, specifically the “New” Fang created after Brendan Reed married Sonia ten years ago. Originally, the Black Fang only killed corrupt nobles, earning them the support of the general public, but after Sonia appeared, they abandoned that and are now willing to target anyone, including Hausen just now. Ephidel answers to Nergal, the true power behind the Black Fang. She believes Elbert is with Ephidel on the Dread Isle, a dangerous island off the coast of Lycia. Not deterred by the rumors, Eliwood goes to rescue him. Hector and Lyn both decide to go with him, as do their various friends and allies, including Ninian and Nils. Ninian is enamored by Eliwood’s determination and chivalry, although she can’t help but feel uneasy about the Dread Isle.
Eliwood finds a ship willing to take him to the Dread Isle. They arrive on the isle and fight through a lot of Black Fang assassins. At the Dragon’s Gate at the center of the island, Nergal is disappointed the civil war in Lycia wasn’t as destructive as he wanted it to be, meaning the ritual he was supposed to do doesn’t have enough energy to work. To make up for it, he begins absorbing quintessence from the captured Elbert. He then orders Ephidel and his lieutenant Limstella to deal with Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn and take their quintessence. When Limstella reports Ninian and Nils have unusually high amounts of quintessence, Nergal orders them to be captured so he can take their quintessence more efficiently. Figuring out Leila’s treachery, he orders his best assassin, the emotionless Jaffar, to execute her.
Leila’s body is delivered to Eliwood’s camp, which enrages the lords and saddens Matthew. Taking advantage of their shock and grief, Uhai ambushes the group, demanding they hand over Ninian and Nils. Recognizing him, Lyn tries to reason with him, but Uhai replies he can’t deny the will of Nergal and the Black Fang. He already did as much as he could delaying his attack and not killing them from a distance. He urges them to kill him now if they don’t want Nergal to take Ninian and Nils. The lords reluctantly attack. Reinforcements soon arrive for the lords in the form of an Ilian pegasus knight squadron Hector had hired, led by Florina’s older sisters Fiora and Farina (who demands extra money for the dangerous job). Lyn asks Uhai to reconsider one more time, but Uhai still refuses. He does tell her the safest and shortest path to the Dragon’s Gate before asking her to kill him to prevent Nergal from learning of his deception. Lyn obliges, and they continue on.
On the way to the Dragon’s Gate, Eliwood sees Ninian running off. He follows her to some ancient ruins. She remembers being here before. Her father told her and Nils to hide there as children and he was going back to find their mother, Aenir. Exploring the ruins, they find an ancient library dating back to the Scouring, where Ninian stares at a certain picture. In contrast to pictures in other books, which depict fighting between humans and dragons, the picture Ninian looks at is of a human and dragon standing together. They wonder who used to own the library.
The lords reach the Dragon’s Gate, where Ninian has an adverse reaction to the magical energy overflowing from the altar. She senses impending danger and warns them to prepare for battle. Ephidel ambushes them and takes Ninian hostage. He delivers Ninian to Nergal and sends assassins to attack the lords. Elbert attempts to interrupt Nergal’s ritual, only for Jaffar to mortally wound him. Ephidel joins his assassins, and the lords kill him and his men. Eliwood finds Elbert in a nearby dungeon. Lyn finds Ninian, but she has been hypnotized by Nergal’s dark magic. Nergal monologues about how he was planning to resurrect the powerful Demon Dragon to take over Elibe, but it required at least the quintessence of thousands of people who would have been killed in Lycia’s civil war. Although that plan has failed, he can make up for it with quintessence taken from Darin, Ninian, Elbert, and Elbert’s knights, which would be enough to summon several regular dragons to go on a rampage and generate more quintessence from the chaos. Nils intervenes and breaks Ninian’s brainwashing with music from his flute, interrupting the ritual. Nergal attempts to restore the brainwashing on both Ninian and Nils, but Elbert stabs him. The Dragon’s Gate begins shaking. Nils explains the ritual was interrupted, and the quintessence is being violently released. Nergal escapes on a wyvern, planning to get more quintessence. The lords escape the Dragon’s Gate just as the quintessence releases, significantly damaging the area. Elbert uses the last of his energy to explain how he was spying for Uther on Darin, but he was gradually pulled into the conspiracy with the Black Fang, which got his knights killed and led him here. He apologizes for not being able to go home with Eliwood and passes away in his arms.
Escaping more Black Fang assassins, Eliwood returns to the Lycian coast and has his father’s body delivered home to Pherae. He talks with the other lords and the siblings about what happened on Dread Isle. Nils explains they are unique in that they have more quintessence than the average human, giving them their powers. But to resurrect the Demon Dragon, he needed far more quintessence, so he sent Ephidel to manipulate Darin into starting a war and eliminate anybody who was onto the plan. That failed, so he decided to summon several dragons from the quintessence he already had and send them on a rampage, harvesting the quintessence released as a result. And since that also failed, he will likely return to gathering quintessence. When the subject shifts to Elbert, Eliwood excuses himself. Ninian tries to take the blame, as she stood there while Jaffar stabbed him. Eliwood refuses to believe it is her fault. Ninian admits she has been deceiving him and apologizes, to which Eliwood says he doesn’t mind, as he doesn’t want to see her be sad, especially now. When they come under attack from remnant rebel forces, Eliwood is temporarily unplayable, still grieving.
They reach Ostia and meet Uther. Uther promises a weapon that could help them out, but only if they do him a favor in Bern. A power struggle has consumed Bern’s nobles, all of them fighting for influence over the throne. One has even stole the Fire Emblem, a gemstone that serves as the Bernese royal family crest. The infighting threatens to destabilize nearby Lycia, and Uther wants them to recover the Fire Emblem for the rightful heir, Prince Zephiel, and end the feuding.
Crossing the border from Pherae into Bern, the lords encounter Lloyd and defeat him. Lyn convinces the other two lords to spare him, on account of him having helped her in the past. Lloyd demands they kill him, as the Black Fang has no use for failures like him. Lyn refuses again and lets him go. Lloyd eventually relents, considering the lords just as honorable as he and the Old Fang were. He decides it’s time to retake control of the Black Fang from Sonia. He sets out to meet Linus, but Limstella kills him and steals his quintessence.
Eliwood seeks an audience with Queen Hellene of Bern and offers to help retrieve the Fire Emblem for her. The lords stay overnight at the royal palace, where they meet Zephiel, a charismatic and talented young man who is tired of seeing him and his father be used as pawns by the nobles. He asks the lords to help him recover the Fire Emblem. Lyn eavesdrops on a reception of some of the feuding nobles and learns where the Fire Emblem is being kept. They go to the castle, fight off its garrison, and recover the Fire Emblem.
On the way back, they are again ambushed by Linus and more Black Fang, just barely escaping and killing Linus. However, they learn Sonia’s adopted daughter Nino, along with Jaffar, were sent to kill Zephiel. Sonia fully expects Jaffar and Nino to be killed after doing so, along with Zephiel and thousands of Bern citizens in the ensuing chaos, releasing massive amounts of quintessence for Nergal. The lords arrive too late to stop Jaffar and Nino from reaching Zephiel, but Nino, noticing how Zephiel’s situation is much like her own (Sonia treats her as a weapon, not a daughter), takes pity and convinces Jaffar to not kill him. Jaffar, who has feelings for Nino and also realizes the similarity of Zephiel’s predicament to his own (being raised as an emotionless killer), decides to listen to her. Realizing Sonia will order their deaths, he rebels against the Black Fang and attacks the other assassins, intending to take down as many of the others as he can. Nino then convinces him to join the lords’ army so they can take down the Black Fang. They lead the lords to Sonia’s stronghold, where she has just killed Brendan Reed to take his quintessence and assume full control over the Black Fang, and Nino kills her in a rage when Sonia reveals she murdered Nino’s real parents. Traumatized by the assassination attempt and believing it was the work of an overambitious noble, Zephiel vows he will never again be powerless, for his own sake and the people of Bern’s. He becomes interested in the legend of the Demon Dragon after overhearing the lords talking about Nergal’s plan for it and writes off all of humanity as greedy and selfish individuals who should not be trusted with power. Secretly, Limstella steals the remaining quintessence from Sonia’s body.
Thankful for both recovering the Fire Emblem and saving Zephiel, Hellene grants the lords access to the Shrine of Seals, connected to the legendary weapons humanity used in the Scouring against the dragons. At the Shrine, Eliwood presents the Fire Emblem, which unlocks the seals guarding the legendary weapons hidden across Elibe. Impressed by the achievement and believing the time is right, Ninian tries to apologize to Eliwood about her secret, only for Eliwood to tell her she doesn’t have to share it if she’s not comfortable with it. Regardless of what it is, his feelings for her won’t change. Ninian confesses her feelings for him as well, and Eliwood promises to keep her happy.
They travel back to Lycia, where Uther follows through on his promise and gives them the location of the legendary sword Durandal, the Binding Blade, hidden in a tomb in Ostia. Eliwood braves a trial in the tomb and proves himself worthy of wielding Durandal. Around the same time, Uther directs Hector to the Western Isles in the northwest of Elibe, where another tomb containing the legendary axe Armads awaits for Hector. Going through that tomb’s trial, Hector is made aware of a curse that dooms Armads’ wielder to death in battle. Not caring as long as he can help his best friend, Hector picks up Armads anyways. Meanwhile, Lyn and the others remain in Ostia, waiting for Eliwood and Hector’s return when suddenly they are ambushed by the Black Fang and remnant anti-Uther rebels, who abduct Ninian again. Lyn curses herself for not being able to save her. As they retreat, one of the assassins relays a message from their leader: “This is a message from Lord Nergal. I await you on the Dread Isle.”
Eliwood and Hector return to Lycia and learn of Ninian’s abduction and the message. Realizing Nergal has gathered the quintessence he needs to restart the ritual, they prepare to go to the Dragon’s Gate. Suddenly, an ice dragon attacks them. Eliwood, remembering Durandal is a dragon-killing sword, willfully charges at the dragon and fatally wounds it. However, there is a flash of light, and the dragon reverts to human form…Ninian. Shocked to see her, Eliwood drops Durandal and rushes to her side. Ninian refuses to blame Eliwood for his actions, believing it is her fault for not telling him sooner. Nergal had tried to use her as part of the dragon summoning ritual, but the spell backfired and instead reverted her to her dragon form, making her go on a rampage. All she could remember was Eliwood, and she ran as fast as she could to him, hoping he could save her. She smiles and says her time with Eliwood was the happiest time of her life and thanks him. She then dies in his arms.
After burying Ninian, Eliwood wastes no time to avenge her. Eager to kill Nergal now, he and his friends get on a boat to the Dread Isle and rush to the Dragon’s Gate. There, they fight fiercely through the remnants of the Black Fang still loyal to Nergal, led by Limstella. After killing Limstella, they storm the altar, but the ritual is already in progress. Nergal declares with the quintessence of the dead Black Fang leaders, Ninian, and soon Nils and the lords, whom Eliwood was nice enough to bring to the Dragon’s Gate for him, he will have enough to resurrect the Demon Dragon. Nergal sends several Deadlords, reanimated from the corpses of the Black Fang leaders and other enemies from over the course of the game, to attack them. Eventually, the lords prevail over the Deadlords, rescue Nils, and reach Nergal. Avenging Ninian, Eliwood cuts down Nergal with Durandal. In his final moments, Nergal regains his sanity, long buried due to his years of dabbling in forbidden magic, and apologizes to his wife, the dragon Aenir, for not resurrecting her, as was his original goal before the forbidden magic drove him insane.
Although Nergal couldn’t take the lords’ and Nils’ quintessence, interrupting the ritual with the existing quintessence he gathered causes a chain reaction which threatens to cause a massive explosion just like before, only far more powerful. The lords realize they can’t run to a safe distance in time, but Nils thinks quickly. He notices the large amounts of quintessence surging through the altar and then looks at Ninian’s dragonstone. He figures out he can redirect the quintessence instead. He holds up the dragonstone and concentrates the quintessence into it, preventing the explosion. The dragonstone shatters into several pieces. There is a flash of light, and they are surprised to see the quintessence solidify into Ninian, who is brought back to life. Eliwood is overjoyed to see her, but Nils points out although the Dragon’s Gate won’t be consumed in an explosion, it is still collapsing around them. They manage to escape the Dragon’s Gate before it crumbles.
Outside, Nils tells the others too many people know about his and Ninian’s secret now. Even though Nergal is gone, eventually someone else will come after them for their quintessence, or, even worse, their lives. Remaining here would also put Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn in danger for sheltering them. So they have to leave. Ninian doesn’t want to go, still in love with Eliwood. If Eliwood and Ninian don’t have an A support, he convinces her to go. But if they do have it, Ninian insists on staying with Eliwood, who promises to protect her. Saying his farewell, Nils takes a boat and leaves the island, never to be seen in Elibe again. Returning to Lycia, the lords celebrate their victory and go home.
The epilogue picks up a year later. Eliwood and Hector have succeeded Elbert and Uther as marquesses of their respective domains. If they achieved an A support with certain women, they will also invite the other to their wedding before agreeing on a double wedding and then asking the other to be the godfather to their first child. They talk about Lyn and their other friends. If Lyn and Rath A support, Lyn abdicates her titles to Hector, marries Rath, and retires to Sacae. Marrying either him or the two lords will result her having a daughter named Sue. Lyn and Florina can also marry, marking the first time the series portrays a positive LGBT relationship, although this will result in Lyn’s daughter Sue not existing in the sequel if save data is transferred forward. Some other pairs, like Nino and Jaffar and Karla and Bartre, also marry and have children.
In the next scene, set a few years later, Eliwood and his young son Roy visit Hector, who introduces them to his daughter, Lilina. The two children immediately become close friends, and Eliwood and Hector remark on their similarities with their fathers. Lyn arrives and introduces the others to her daughter, Sue. Roy and Lilina welcome Sue, and the lords watch them play. However, Eliwood changes the subject and mentions how King Desmond has recently died, and Zephiel is now the king. The new king reasserted his authority and carried out a bloody purge of the nobility, worrying Eliwood. Hector assures him he will do everything he can to stop anything that may happen, for their children’s future. Lyn vows to do the same.
If Eliwood and Ninian achieved an A support, Roy impresses Lilina with a small demonstration of his ice dragon powers, showing off Ninian’s reassembled dragonstone, which is now his. He tells her dragons aren’t all bad as the legends say.
If Hector and Farina achieved an A support, Lilina shows Roy her mother’s pegasus. If Eliwood and Fiora have an A support, Roy instead shows Lilina his mother’s pegasus (in the sequel he will start in a unique class and be the first male pegasus knight in the series), and if both Hector and Eliwood A supported Farina and Fiora, the entire epilogue’s dialogue changes to accommodate the fact Roy and Lilina are cousins (changing their A support in the sequel and allowing them to use a more powerful two-character version of the Triangle Attack), and they argue about whose pegasus is better.
If Lyn and Rath achieved an A support, Sue demonstrates to the other kids her talents with a bow. If she married either Hector or Eliwood, Sue and Lyn arrive with Lyn’s spouse, and Sue will already be familiar with her sibling.
The scene cuts to Bern Castle, where a mysterious man approaches an older Zephiel and asks him how and why he has awakened the Demon Dragon. Zephiel simply smiles, leading into the events of the sequel.
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Fans noted Nils’ dialogue, character design, mannerisms, and development implies he is really the dragon Forseti from Crusaders of Light. There is a continuing debate on where exactly the Elibe games take place in the greater timeline, though the general consensus is Nils’ experiences in Elibe are the reason why he, as Forseti, vouches for the Divine Dragons’ intervention at the Miracle of Darna. Although Intelligent Systems confirmed Elibe is set in the same timeline as the previous four continents, no definitive timeline has ever been released.
Fans also noted the swordfighting siblings Karel and Karla’s Isaachian backgrounds and how their hair color and attire strongly resemble those of Prince Shannan. In addition, Karel (and later Karla’s daughter Fir in the sequel) attains the title of Sword Saint, which is generally associated with the Crusader Odo, founder of Shannan’s dynasty. Numerous theories have been made to explain how their family ended up in Elibe, but as neither Karel nor Karla share much about their family history, nothing is conclusive.
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In the Annionaverse, although Thracia 776 was a commercial success, many overseas fans complained it was too difficult and confusing especially for newcomers. Shouzou Kaga refused to listen, believing veteran fans would still stand by the franchise. He released Roy’s game, Priestess of Darkness, on the Game Boy Advance, as the original plans to release it on the N64 fell through when the console was discontinued. Although veterans praised Priestess of Darkness for its well-done story and challenging gameplay, newcomers continued complaining about the difficulty. In response, Shouzou Kaga decided the next game, Sword of Seals, would be much easier. But Intelligent Systems also ordered the story to be made much simpler to accomodate the newcomers. Against Kaga’s suggestions, the other developers introduced an avatar character, Mark, and players may choose Mark’s name, gender, starting class, and even blood type. Mark may gain an A support with certain characters, including Lyn. Kaga protested the toning down of difficulty had gone too far and the story made no sense, especially in the context of the previous game. Frustrated with what the franchise has become (“I didn’t think the dating simulators would take over,” he was rumored to have complained), he quit Intelligent Systems and set up his own game development studio. After a court battle over the rights to Fire Emblem, Kaga and Intelligent Systems agreed to share the rights. Kaga would be allowed to make Fire Emblem games, titled Emblem Saga to distinguish themselves from the Intelligent Systems games, but he was confined to writing in the Archanean/Valentian/Jugdrali setting, while Intelligent Systems would not touch that continuity and instead set future (non-remake) games on new continents with no ties to Archanea.
Still the starting point for localizations; not the ideal, but hardly a bad entry point for the series. Timelines don't matter, you're gonna get cancelled N64 titles reworked for the GBA.
The Annionaverse's specific mentions of Kaga hit a little oddly for me; I fear I'm exactly the sort of fan he took issue with.
The Annionaverse's specific mentions of Kaga hit a little oddly for me; I fear I'm exactly the sort of fan he took issue with.
Imagine if localization started with Thracia. Players would be terrified by the difficulty.
Probably me as well, as you'll see when we hit Awakening.The Annionaverse's specific mentions of Kaga hit a little oddly for me; I fear I'm exactly the sort of fan he took issue with.
As for the game I replaced Fates with? You'll see.Though these sort of fans have been around since Genealogy. There are still ongoing ship wars for that game, 24-25 years later.
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
The Blazing Blade is a Game Boy Advance game released in 2003. It is the seventh installment in the Fire Emblem series and the second game set in Elibe, set 20 years after its predecessor. Building on the successes of the previous game, The Blazing Blade solidified the franchise’s presence overseas, especially with Roy’s appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee alongside Thracia 776’s Leif and The Binding Blade’s Lyn. It would be the last game set in the Archanea continuity until Fire Emblem Awakening in 2012.
The game is again set in Elibe, a land once wracked by a war between humans and dragons. Centuries after that conflict, King Zephiel of the militaristic Bern has engaged the rest of Elibe in a full-scale war. In response, Roy, the young heir of Pherae, leads the forces of Lycia against Bern in lieu of his severely wounded father, Marquess Eliwood. He is accompanied by his childhood friends Lilina, daughter of Marquess Hector of Ostia, and Sue, daughter of Lyn, now revered by Sacaeans as the legendary Silver Wolf.
In response to criticisms of how The Binding Blade’s story was largely limited to Lycia and Bern as well as a couple other locations, Roy in The Blazing Blade travels across Elibe to unite its people against Zephiel’s aggression, while learning of Zephiel’s motivations.
Gameplay
The Blazing Blade improves on many features The Binding Blade introduced or continued from Thracia 776. The support system is refined to provide more meaningful stat bonuses in addition to story content. The magic and strength stat, combined in the previous game, are split again, while the rescue mechanic’s stat penalties are removed. In addition to increasing the weapon triangle’s bonuses and penalties to accuracy, magic is given its own weapon triangle (or rather a weapon pentagon since there are five different magic types). Weapon durability is adjusted from The Binding Blade for balancing reasons, and all legendary weapons aside from Durandal and Armads have finite durability. Most legendary weapons can only be used by certain people.
The game’s main selling point is the save data transfer mechanic. Using a Link Cable, players can import data from a completed game of The Binding Blade to affect a new game of The Blazing Blade. Building on Crusaders of Light’s inheritance mechanics, children of characters in The Binding Blade inherit weapons, stats, and skills from their parents, although the system is much more dynamic and variable. For example, if the characters Bartre and Karla married in The Binding Blade, their daughter Fir will inherit Karla’s swords, be able to use axes like Bartre, gain Bartre’s Wrath skill (increasing her critical hit rate when an enemy initiates combat) and Karla's Vantage skill (allowing her to always attack first when an enemy initiates combat and she is below 50% HP), and have her stats be set to at least the average of both parents’ final ones. Story changes can be unlocked based on Roy’s, Lilina’s, and Sue’s mothers. If Eliwood and Ninian married, Roy’s starting class changes to the unique “dragon lord,” allowing him to use magic and a dragonstone (although he can’t transform into a dragon like a traditional manakete) in addition to swords, at the cost of now being weak to anti-dragon weapons. When he obtains Durandal and his second signature sword, he gains the ability to dual wield them. If Hector and Farina married, Lilina starts in the “pegasus lord” class which allows her to use axes, lances, and magic. Working with Shanna and her mother Farina, she can execute her signature Triangle Attack, just as Fiora, Farina, and Florina and Palla, Catria, and Est could in previous games. Lilina gets a weaker version of pegasus lord, only allowing the use of axes and magic, if Hector and Florina marry. For balance, Eliwood’s and Hector’s Durandal and Armads do not start in Roy’s and Lilina’s inventories, as the two returned their legendary weapons to their resting places. If Hector married Farina/Florina and Eliwood married Fiora (making Roy and Lilina cousins), their dialogue changes and their A support becomes platonic, and they can execute a more powerful dual version of the Triangle Attack. If Lyn and Rath married, Sue starts in the “nomad lord” class, a cavalry unit with access to swords and bows, and starts with Mani Katti in her inventory. When she obtains Sol Katti, she can dual wield the two swords like her mother did. If Lyn and Florina married, Sue does not exist in a data transferred game, and Lilina takes on most of her dialogue and story role. Parents from The Binding Blade who are playable in The Blazing Blade may normally A support other people than their spouses, although without marriage in their epilogues since they are already married, and if killed in battle will retreat so they can keep appearing in story-important cutscenes, though they will be considered “dead” for purposes of gameplay and can’t be deployed in future battles.
As a reward for beating the game and replaying it, the player can unlock postgame trial maps where they can use their characters from a completed save to challenge difficult bonus maps. They may also unlock special characters, usually important NPCs or enemy bosses, for exclusive use in trial maps. These maps are not canon to the main story.
Development
Following on the success of The Binding Blade, Intelligent Systems launched a global marketing campaign for the sequel, which they were working on as the same time as the previous game. After The Blazing Blade’s distancing from the Archanean continuity, the developers decided to reconcile Elibe with the canon of the previous six games by explaining the Scouring more, which would explain the reason why dragons in Archanea degenerated. Other thematic ties to Archanea would be reinforced by The Binding Blade’s story. The Blazing Blade and its ties with the Bernese Fire Emblem parallel Falchion and the Archanean Fire Emblem (the two Fire Emblems have no connection aside from their name). Zephiel’s actions and motivations loosely resemble those of Medeus of the first game and Arvis of the fourth. Lilina was intended to be a co-protagonist for Roy much like Caeda and Celica were to Marth and Alm, although with Sue’s presence their dynamic becomes more like that of Lyn, Eliwood, and Hector. In response to claims The Binding Blade was relatively beginner friendly with a simple story as the first internationally released game, The Blazing Blade’s difficulty was ramped up and the story made more complex, though it retained accusations of taking story beats from Mystery of the Emblem.
Like its predecessor, The Blazing Blade is not directly inspired by any real life historical event, although game developers said they were influenced by the Roman-Lithuanian relationship in the early modern era when writing about Etrurian-Bernese relations. Etruria’s architecture takes inspiration from Renaissance-era Roman architecture, and Lycia’s noble republic takes some cues from the later Holy Roman Empire. Sacae is based on Mongolia and Ainu Mosir.
Marketing
The release of Super Smash Bros. Melee and its three new Fire Emblem fighters (joining Marth) dramatically increased The Blazing Blade’s visibility. Although Chinese players knew Leif and Roman players knew Lyn, neither community knew much about Roy, which Intelligent Systems had lobbied to be included in the game. Not even Zheng Boying, the developer of Melee, knew who Roy was and as such made up his own attacks for him independent of what his actual story role was. His unique design compared to the previous lords, in particular his blue headband, fiery red hair, and self-explanatory Blazing Blade standing out from Marth’s tiara, blue hair, and Falchion, made him a fan favorite among Melee players.
Artwork of Roy from Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Fire Emblem marketing campaign without bizarre marketing. To tie in with the game’s release, for a limited time, a bonus disk came free with the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! game for the GameCube (in Europe at least). With the disk and a GBA-GC cable, it was possible to add some special weapons and items directly to The Blazing Blade. The transfer also automatically unlocked Songs 99 (Legend of the Dragon God) and 100 (Royal Palace of Silesse) for playback in the Sound Room. A similar promotion was done with the release of Pokemon Colosseum, of which reserve copies came with a bonus disk. In addition to allowing Colosseum players to obtain the legendary Pokemon Jirachi and Celebi (as well as a special Pikachu), the disk contains previews of the upcoming Pokemon Box utility and other Rentiantang games such as Mario Kart Double Dash!! and The Blazing Blade. With the disk and a GBA-GC cable, a copy of The Blazing Blade could receive more special weapons and items, while a copy of Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald linked to Colosseum could receive a special shiny Salamence with normally unobtainable moves inspired by the Demon Dragon. This would be the first of many collaborations between the two franchises.
The infamous “Dorcas’ poisoned mutton” ad was paid homage to during the game’s marketing. A new ad starts much the same way, with live action nobles warning nobody can be trusted. Suddenly, all of them fall over and die, and Dorcas says he poisoned their mutton in revenge. Ironically, Dorcas is not playable in The Blazing Blade. He can be found in a village Roy visits, where he complains he is prevented from helping him because Zephiel poisoned his mutton. His daughter Dorothy is playable and is affected by save data transfers.
Reception
Fans complained Roy, especially with his dragon lord class and early access to dragonstones, breaks game balance for being way too powerful, even when compared to the already powerful Lilina (with her four legendary weapons, high stats, and flier and armored statuses) and Sue (with her two signature weapons and one legendary weapon), making most characters obsolete. The temporary route split between Ilia and Sacae was also criticized for poor balance. Although most fans liked the idea to temporarily split up the powerful lord trio, the idea of having Roy be locked to one route if save data was transferred was met with some criticism. Roy’s presence on one route or another (or even the option to choose which route to put him on) depends on if save data was transferred, and if so, who Eliwood married. Since two of his three potential spouses had ties to Ilia, it would be very likely Roy is locked to Ilia, which already has Lilina (locked to Ilia regardless of if her mother had ties there), unless Eliwood didn’t marry any of the three in the previous game. This would result in the player’s generally two best characters being put on the same route, while Sue, usually the weakest of the trio, remains alone on the Sacae route. This was especially obvious by the fact that Roy can only go on the Ilia route if he starts in the dragon lord class, due to his mother being Ninian, which increases the power discrepancy between Roy/Lilina and Sue to ridiculous levels. Players were thus forced to focus more on the supports they chose in The Binding Blade when moving on to the sequel if they wanted data transfer content. It also wasn’t fair that the transferred content was locked to those who either had two GBA systems or a friend with a GBA.
Despite the criticism, fans generally liked the game and its challenging maps. The game’s simple and 2D sprite-based engine went on to be used by hundreds of fan games, jumpstarting Fire Emblem’s hacking community and inspiring fans to make their own stories and characters, as well as fix The Blazing Blade’s balancing issues or make it more challenging.
The Blazing Blade went on to be a commercial and critical success. Roy would go on to appear in every subsequent Super Smash Bros. game, a feat that can’t be said for Lyn and Leif. Following the conclusion of Mitsuki Oosawa’s popular manga series about Crusaders of Light and related parts of Thracia 776, a conventional manhua series covering the events of both Elibe games was published with much fanfare. A donghua series also aired, starring Roy, Lilina, and Sue. Roy’s voice actor in that series would be contracted to voice Roy again for future Fire Emblem projects, including Super Smash Bros entries featuring Roy.
A new generation of children and young adults, especially those outside China, had been introduced to Fire Emblem, making it one of Rentiantang’s flagship franchises. Despite Zhao’s departure and the absence of any unifying figure to replace him so far, it appeared the franchise’s future was bright.
Plot
The following summary assumes Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn married Ninian, Farina, and Rath respectively in the previous game and save data was transferred. All plot elements involving any of them are instead done with generic NPCs or related characters without a data transfer or with different data transfers.
The prologue's young Roy, Lilina, and Sue (credit to u/Noobodynone for Sue's, and sorry for the quality, I couldn't find a better one)
The game opens with a prologue set ten years before the main story. A young Lilina visits Pherae with her father Hector, Marquess of Ostia and leader of the Lycian League, and meets her friend Roy and his father Eliwood, Marquess of Pherae. Their friend Sue and her mother Lyn, the revered matriarch of the Kutolah tribe, arrive as well. While the three adults and their spouses walk off to discuss important things, the children cheerfully play “humans vs dragons” in the courtyard. Lilina recites a childhood storiy her father told her. Centuries ago, dragons once lived in Elibe alongside man and built a glorious civilization. For some reason, the two species went to war, creating a massive conflict called the Scouring. The Scouring laid waste to all of Elibe, and for a time, it looked like the dragons would win. However, eight heroes, together with their legendary weapons, defeated the dragons. They then settled down and founded the nations and dynasties of Elibe. Sue pretends to be her childhood hero, the Sacaean heroine Hanon, the Lady of the Wind, and zips around the courtyard shooting “dragons” with a toy bow. Roy asks why humans and dragons went to war. Lilina admits she doesn’t know, as the stories never explained why it happened. Roy says it’s sad they had to become enemies, because it sounded like they were getting along very well. He points to his dragonstone necklace. It’s a gift from his mother, a sign he has inherited the powers of dragons. A little worried, Lilina asks if he can transform into a scary dragon. Roy says he can’t, but even if he could, he wouldn’t harm Lilina or Sue. He wants to use his powers for good. And hopefully, he can show people humans and dragons don’t have to be enemies. He is proof of that. And when he does that, he hopes Lilina and Sue can be at his side.
The now adult King Zephiel of Bern
The game skips forward ten years. Crawling text reveals King Zephiel of Bern has declared war on the other nations. Unable to stand against Bern, the mercenary kingdom of Ilia falls, along with the disorganized nomads of eastern Sacae. This drags the Lycian League into the war as Hector is married to the Ilian Farina, and Eliwood’s wife Ninian was visiting Ilia to search for a rare flower. Zephiel marches south from Ilia and invades western Sacae on his way to Lycia. Lyndis of the Kutolah rallies the other Sacaean tribes to halt Zephiel’s advance until Eliwood’s Knights of Pherae arrive. Sue, now a talented horse archer, insists on fighting with her, but Lyn entrusts her with Mani Katti and asks her to go to Roy.
Lyndis the Silver Wolf (credit to u/Spoon_rhythm) and her daughter, Sue
Sue travels to Pherae only to find it is under attack from Bern, the battle in Sacae merely a diversion for a second army to invade Lycia proper. With Eliwood having left for Sacae with his most experienced knights, it falls to Roy and his aging mentor, Marcus, to defend Pherae. Sue arrives in time to help him drive off the Bernese, only to learn it is merely a small raiding force probing Pherae’s defenses. The two reunite, and Roy remarks on how Sue’s skills have improved since the last time they met, while he still hasn’t been able to master his mother’s draconic powers. Sue admits it apparently isn’t enough for her mother to recognize her strength. Marcus informs them of a small group of civilians trying to flee over the border. Roy and Sue immediately ride out to save the civilians.
Roy, son of Eliwood
The civilians reach the border, where they come under attack from Bernese border guards. The remnants of an Ilian pegasus knight squadron, led by Shanna, arrives to protect them. Shanna explains her mentor Farina sent her and helps fly them and the civilians to Pherae. They learn one of the civilians is actually Guinivere, the princess of Bern and Zephiel’s sister. Guinivere explains she wishes to stop the war. Roy trusts her, and against Marcus’ suggestion he sets out for Ostia, where they will meet Hector.
As they travel to Ostia, Sue learns the Sacaeans suffered a massive defeat. The Kutolah tribe was almost completely wiped out, and Lyn is missing. Sue blames herself for not being there to protect her mother. Roy tries to console her, hoping Eliwood can at least slow Zephiel down, but Marcus informs him Zephiel has instead marched south into Lycia, moving past Eliwood. While he turns around, Zephiel and his 47 feared Dragon Lords fly ahead and besiege Araphen. There, Hector himself and the core of the Lycian army march out to fight them.
An older Hector
Roy and Sue reach Araphen only to find the battle already over. Although the Lycians inflicted massive casualties, with Hector personally killing 43 of the Dragon Lords, the city still fell. Hector’s status remains unknown due to lack of information, but Roy assumes if Hector died, Zephiel would waste no time announcing it, and thus he is alive. Meeting with the remnants of the Lycian army, Sue draws up a plan to infiltrate Araphen and rescue Hector. Guinivere is appalled at her brother’s brutality, but Roy tells her she shouldn’t blame herself, and he will do everything he can to rescue Hector.
Inside Araphen Castle, the Dragon Lords Brunnya and Narcian prepare to fight Hector, but Zephiel orders them to stand down, wanting to duel him himself. Hector demands to know why Zephiel launched his war, as Bern was on good terms with Lycia and the other Elibean nations. Zephiel replies Hector wouldn’t understand his reasons. Hector replies he should’ve just let Zephiel die back in the Black Fang attack twenty years ago. They duel, and the player watches Zephiel fatally wound Hector in a scripted battle with his family’s legendary sword Eckesachs. Zephiel taunts Hector for losing the battle, saying if he had kept the legendary axe Armads, perhaps things would be different. And Hector can’t know for sure if changing what happened that night would change anything. He takes his axe Wolf Beil and orders Hector locked up..
Brunnya gets permission to leave for Sacae to pacify the remaining resistance. As she leaves, she questions Zephiel’s trust in Idunn, the mysterious shaman who always accompanies him. Zephiel dismisses her complaints. Noticing Roy’s approach, he orders Narcian to kill him and anybody else who resists, including women and children, before leaving. However, Narcian also leaves immediately afterward.
Rallying the remains of the Lycian army with the help of the mage Lugh (Nino’s son), Roy and Sue retake Araphen and rescue Hector. Although Roy is shocked at his injuries, Hector dismisses their severity, knowing they are already fatal. He explains although he had no trouble with the Bernese army and the Dragon Lords, he was surprised by something nobody expected…resurrected dragons, the same ones humanity fought in the Scouring. He believes the answer to the dragons lies in Bern and adds there is still hope. The legendary weapons humanity used to fight the dragons can be used to fight Zephiel’s, and one of them is hidden in Ostia. As his life leaves him, Roy grows desperate, but Hector tells him not to worry. He knew this day would come from the moment he picked up Armads, and he doesn’t regret doing it. Now it’s time for Roy, Sue, and Lilina to pick up after him. With his last breath he asks Roy to lead Lycia and support Lilina in his place.
Meanwhile, Narcian flies to Laus Castle and meets Marquess Erik, son of Darin. Narcian is pleased to hear Erik has allied with Bern against Lycia. A guard informs the two the Lycians have retaken Araphen and are marching to Laus. Narcian tasks Erik with stopping the Lycians and flies to Ostia. Erik rides out to Roy and Sue’s camp under a flag of truce. He tries to flatter Roy, but Roy sees through the deception. Meanwhile, Sue and Shanna scout ahead and discover Laus troops waiting in ambush. Marcus and his knights launch a preemptive strike. Roy reminds Erik he had tried something similar with Eliwood, and Roy won’t fall for it. After suffering heavy casualties, Erik and his surviving troops retreat to Ostia. Roy spends the night in Laus Castle, and over dinner, he reflects on Laus’ history with the rest of Lycia, realizing Lycia isn’t as united as he believed. He impulsively curses Bern but catches himself and apologizes to Guinivere, who tells him his anger is justified. She explains Zephiel wants to conquer Elibe and “liberate humanity.” Whatever that is, it is no excuse to kill thousands. She must stop her brother, and Roy pledges to help her. He and Sue agree they can’t trust the other marquesses. Their priority now is to focus on reaching Ostia.
The next day, they set out for Ostia, saving multiple villages from Erik’s rebels along the way. A priest, Saul, from the Church of Saint Elimine, arrives to meet with him, Sue, and Guinivere. He asks if Guinivere has Bern’s Fire Emblem with her. Guinivere explains the Fire Emblem can be used to break the seal of the Blazing Blade, the most powerful of the legendary weapons. She took the Fire Emblem with her in the hopes of preventing the war, but that obviously failed. Now she is searching for another solution. Saul offers to join the growing army and provide both healing magic and religious services.
The Lycians head to Thria Castle, hoping to talk to its neutral Marquess Orun. Although they are warmly received, Marcus is bothered by Orun’s advisor, Wagner, who refuses to let them see Orun in person due to an illness. Saul notices a suspicious number of soldiers outside, and Roy suspects an ambush. Sue suddenly draws her bow and fires at the shadows, forcing a young woman to reveal herself. The woman, who introduces herself as the thief Cath (ironically revealed to be the daughter of the previous game’s spoiled noble cleric Serra), casually tells them Orun was murdered by Wagner, who plans to kill the Lycians and turn over the “Sacaean prisoners” and Guinivere to Zephiel. Although Marcus is wary, Cath says they don’t have to believe her, as she’s only there to loot the castle’s treasury and donate the gold to local villages.
The Lycians attempt to leave, but Wagner orders his troops to attack. Roy kills Wagner and seizes the castle. Sue finds Sacaeans imprisoned in the dungeons, mostly women and children. They had fled Sacae after Lyn’s army was wiped out when the Djute clan, the largest of the nomad clans, betrayed her for Bern. She asks if any of them saw her mother. Some of them report seeing her fight Zephiel to cover the others’ escape, while others report seeing Zephiel leaving the battlefield with Sol Katti. Believing Lyn is dead, Sue briefly cries in grief before steeling herself, telling the Sacaeans she will avenge her mother. Marcus informs them Bern has made a breakthrough in the siege of Ostia with the help of Erik’s army, putting Lilina in danger. Roy and Sue immediately resume their journey.
The Lycians arrive in Ostia, where Bern and Erik’s rebels have begun the final offensive. This battle pays homage to Leif’s arrival in Tahra in Thracia 776, with a map objective of defending the target (Ostia Castle) and making sure all units arrive at the target. To prevent the enemy AI from instantly seizing the target before the player can defend it, three of Hector’s mercenaries hold the line against all odds, frustrating Legance, an Ostian general who had defected to Bern, who dreads having to tell Narcian the castle hasn’t been taken before his return. Legance orders Commander Debias to handle the Lycian reinforcements while he gets reinforcements, hopefully before Narcian arrives.
At the city gates, Roy and Sue assess the situation. Marcus informs them most of the Ostian troops have either surrendered or defected. However, Sue spots the mercenaries guarding the gates and notices their determination. Roy wonders if the determination will continue once they learn of Hector’s death. Shanna assures them they will remain loyal. They are Ilians like her, and Ilians have no love for Bern, especially with their mercenary code of honor. However, she hears rumors a Dragon Lord is approaching, and they are in no shape to fight a Dragon Lord.
Roy suggests asking for help from the Kingdom of Etruria, specifically his old combat instructor, General Cecilia. Marcus objects, saying with the leverage Etruria has, Roy would be forced to do its bidding. Roy admits he has no other choice. Regardless of Marcus’ objections, he will write a letter to Cecilia. After Sue stands with him, Marcus relents. Roy addresses the troops and urges them to remain strong.
The battle begins, and Roy’s attack is so sudden Debias is caught off-guard. The noise of the battle reach the mercenaries’ leader, Zealot. He tells his colleague Trec this is the moment they’ve been waiting for, but Trec points out their third member, Noah, is away training with a young woman. Meanwhile, Noah finishes training with his new sparring partner, Fir, who pressured him into helping her train. Remembering the battle, Noah tells her he has to get going. He does say she was very hasty in asking to spar in the middle of the battle. Fir admits she was acting on the spur of the moment. She says she will go to the Western Isles and train there. Noah rejoins Zealot and Trec, and they catch Debias’ forces in a pincer attack. Debias is killed, and his men surrender. Although the castle has been relieved, they still have to worry about the rest of the Bernese army and the approaching Dragon Lord.
As they enter the castle, Roy, Sue, and Marcus talk about Hector’s last words. Marcus comments on the strength of Bern’s human army, and Sue can’t imagine how powerful the dragons are. Their only hope lies with the legendary weapons. Roy remembers Hector saying something about one of the legendary weapons being in Ostia, and Sue recalls Lilina sharing a similar story many years ago. They decide to go ask Lilina when they meet her.
Roy is glad to see the castle isn’t only guarded by Zealot, Trec, and Noah but also by a squadron of Ilian pegasus knights, led by Farina. She welcomes them inside, jokingly charging them money for renovations and hazard pay, before remarking on how much Roy and Sue have grown since she last saw them. Roy finds Lilina in the stables, tending to her pegasus, the child of Farina’s pegasus. The two catch up, and Roy breaks the news of Hector’s death. However, Lilina has already heard from Farina, and she is done grieving. Roy tries to apologize, believing if he had gotten to Araphen sooner, he could have saved him. But Lilina refuses the apology, saying it isn’t his fault. She knows about the Armads curse. Hector had prepared her for today. As marchioness, she must look after her people. Roy promises to always be at her side, just as they promised as children. Sue interrupts their “lovers’ talk” and informs them Legance has attacked with reinforcements. Farina tells them she and her pegasus knights will fight Legance, buying the others time to escape. Lilina insists on fighting, which prompts Roy to also stay. Although Roy asks her to stay back as Hector would’ve wanted, Lilina insists she can fight, as that is what Hector really would’ve wanted.
An older Farina with her eye injured in the latest battle (credit to u/Spoon_rhythm again) and her daughter, Lilina
The player must prevent Legance and his men from reaching Hector’s throne for a certain number of turns. Farina uses the high ceilings of the palace halls to her advantage, sweeping down to attack the Bernese before flying back up to the ceiling. Lilina sticks to the ground and shows Roy just how much her magical talents have improved since they last met, blasting some enemies with a Fire tome, while Sue’s bow finishes off the rest. She, Marcus, and the Ilians advance towards the entrance. Lilina, Farina, and Shanna fly over them and surround Legance. Lilina demands to know why Legance betrayed Hector, and Legance replies Hector was stuck in the past, unable to see the new future Zephiel will lead them to. Lilina replies he won’t see that future either, and together with her mother and Shanna kills him with the Triangle Attack. Legance gloats this is just the first wave, and soon the Dragon Lord will arrive. Farina tells the others to go while she holds off the Dragon Lord. Lilina asks to accompany her, but Farina urges her to stay with Roy, as he needs her more. Lilina rushes back to her room and gathers a special magic tome she wrote and a map to the tomb of one of the legendary weapons, entrusted to her by Hector. They need to recover the weapon so it doesn’t fall into Bern’s hands.
Durandal, the Binding Blade
The Lycians fight their way out of Ostia, with Shanna and Lilina providing air cover while Roy, Sue, and Marcus fight on the ground. Lilina uses her father’s map to find the tomb. As they go inside, Roy asks Lilina if she really is fine. She admits she isn’t completely fine, but as the new leader of Ostia, her priority is the safety of her people. But she is fine because he is with her. Roy, not hearing that properly, asks her to repeat herself, but Lilina changes the subject to the legendary weapon in the tomb. It is his father’s old sword, Durandal, the Binding Blade, once wielded by the hero Roland, the first ruler of Ostia. Legend has it Roland used it to turn the barren lands of Ostia, devastated by the Scouring, back into fertile farmland. They are suddenly ambushed by bandits who are looting the tomb, and Roy, Sue, and Lilina kill them. They find what they have been looking for, Durandal. Roy is surprised at the size of the sword, wondering how his father carried it around. Lilina tells him Roland was a small man and yet had no trouble wielding Durandal. She believes the user’s skill is more important than raw strength. Without further hesitation, Roy picks up the sword and feels its power surge through him. Marcus rushes in and warns the Dragon Lord has arrived. Fearing for Farina, Roy and his friends hurry back to the city, only to find Narcian waiting for them. Narcian introduces himself and haughtily invites the “boy of Pherae” to fight him. Roy draws Durandal, but Sue holds him back, reminding him they are not strong enough yet. Roy wonders where his father went.
Miraculously, an Etrurian army arrives, commanded by Perceval and Cecilia, two of Etruria’s Triumvirate of generals, along with Eliwood and the Knights of Pherae. Addressing Narcian, Perceval declares Ostia is now under Etrurian military protection. Any further aggression from Bern will be considered a declaration of war on Etruria. Eliwood then challenges Narcian to a one on one duel. Narcian reluctantly concedes and orders a retreat, vowing to get his revenge.
An older Eliwood
Perceval asks who the leader of the army is. Roy nervously speaks up, saying Hector chose him to lead. He thanks Perceval, but Perceval gives credit to Cecilia, who disobeyed a direct order from the king after Eliwood and his knights showed up, with the same idea as Roy. Eliwood remarks it is not good for two of the Triumvirate to be outside the country, and Perceval decides to head home first. Roy apologizes for the trouble Cecilia went through for his sake. She admits she did it for Etruria’s sake, worried Bern threatened the balance of power. Etruria could not justify a full mobilization as long as it wasn’t directly attacked. Eliwood convinced her intervening in Ostia was a loophole around this. Roy invites his former teacher to meet his friends and leaves to talk with Eliwood, who is proud of what his son has done. Roy admits he could’ve done better, such as moving faster to save Hector, but Eliwood takes the blame, saying he should have arrived sooner to help Lyn in Sacae.
Roy is hailed as a hero for securing the Etrurian intervention. Although Bern and Etruria are in a technical state of war, neither kingdom is willing to fight the other, as Etruria’s neutral interventionist doctrine prohibits mobilization unless directly attacked and Bern is too busy consolidating its gains in Sacae and Ilia. Zephiel withdraws from Lycia, which is declared an Etrurian protectorate. The surviving loyal marquesses meet in Ostia. On Farina’s recommendation they elect Eliwood as their leader and appoint Roy as the commander-in-chief of the Lycian army. Under the terms of the protectorate, the new army is to defend against Bern if it breaks the truce. However, Etruria requests Lycia’s assistance in restoring order to the Western Isles, where bandits interrupted local mining operations. Although the marquesses and their citizens are not content with the request, they have no choice if they want to keep Etruria’s military protection.
The army lands under heavy fog and is immediately ambushed by the bandits. Cecilia arrives with reinforcements. She apologizes for Etruria’s actions, explaining even the Etrurian public disapproves of how the government treats the Lycians. Lilina realizes the order did not come from the king. Cecilia confirms the orders came from the lords Roartz and Arcardo, the latter of whom is in charge of the island’s mines. After the death of Crown Prince Myrddin, the only son of King Mordred, Mordred withdrew from politics and stopped leaving his own castle, which Roartz took advantage of. Naming himself regent, Roartz now acts in Mordred’s name. Roy assures her not to worry, as the only thing the Lycians have to do is fight the bandits. But Sue worries there may be more to their orders than the regent lets on, and with the bulk of the Lycian army in the Western Isles, Lycia might be open to attack. Cecilia assures him Eliwood and his knights have the country defended, and if not, she leaves to reinforce Eliwood. Roy asks her to take Guinivere with her for her safety.
The initial ambush is driven off. Lilina, Shanna, and Farina fly ahead to scout out a path through the fog, while Sue and Roy advance behind them. Realizing he can’t win, the bandit leader, Scott, calls on his best mercenaries, who turn out to be Fir and a Sacaean, Shin. Telling them more bandits are attacking the nearby villages, he asks them to help protect the locals. However, once they are gone, Scott secretly orders his other men to kill Fir and take her valuable Wo Dao, an Isaachian-style sword passed down from her mother Karla.
Fir and Shin set off. Fir tries to make small talk, but Shin explains he is only here to look for Lyndis’s daughter, as he had heard she was rallying the survivors of the Kutolah clan. The bandits ambush them, and Fir realizes the deception. She and Shin fight off the first attack, but more bandits show up. Lilina notices the fighting and descends to help her, while Shanna goes back to alert the main army. Roy and Sue arrive and defeat the bandits, killing Scott. Shin recognizes Sue, who remembers him as one of the Kutolah men who went off to fight Bern. Shin pledges his loyalty to her, vowing to help her get revenge for their clan. Fir tracks down Noah in the Lycian camp. Surprised to see her, Noah offers to resume their sparring sessions. Although they notice an attraction to each other, Fir eventually trains more with Sue instead.
Roy discusses how there was an ambush as soon as they landed. Marcus concludes the bandits must have known of their arrival. Lilina suspects the Etrurian government might be involved. Depending on the player’s choice, Roy may either choose to go north to investigate rumors of enslaved miners or west to collect information on a supposed anti-Etrurian rebel group. As the Lycians travel to their next destination, they are attacked by local Etrurian nobles. They soon learn from Elffin, a mysterious bard, that Arcardo enslaved the locals to work in the mines under harsh conditions. An armed rebellion, led by Fir’s father Bartre, Clarine’s brother Klein, and the rebel leader Echidna struggle to free the islands. Roy sends Cecilia and Eliwood a letter about the situation before joining the rebels and storming the mines. He then marches for Djuto, Arcardo’s capital, to kill him.
Elffin hears rumors Arcardo is in league with a dragon. Roy confidently replies the dragon will be no match for Durandal. Defeating Arcardo’s troops, they march the city and storm the castle, where they run into Cath and Lugh’s twin brother, Raigh, who help them sneak in. Waiting inside is the dragon, who unleashes a barrage of flames. Roy is unfazed and charges. The dragon attacks Roy again, but he is shocked to find Roy unharmed. Grinning, Roy holds up his dragonstone and dispels the flames with an icy wind. He then raises Durandal and kills him.
Although Lilina, Sue, Farina, and Marcus are aware of Roy’s parentage, most of his army is shocked Roy is himself a dragon. Roy explains he is only part dragon through his mother, and he can’t transform. Instead, his mother taught him to channel draconic energy into a dragonstone, making him promise to use his powers for good. Roy is aware of the history between humans and dragons, but he wants to move on from that. He is living proof humans and dragons can get along, and even if most dragons now answer to Zephiel, he won’t. He believes Zephiel only wants to use the dragons as weapons in his conquest, which will make both suffer. He vows to stop Zephiel and put an end to the war. It’s what his mother would’ve wanted.
Elffin interrupts Roy’s inspiring speech. He reminds him there is a dead dragon in front of them. Lilina remembers the only country which has dragons is Bern, and Sue concludes Arcardo was working with Bern. Roy realizes this was a setup to lure them away from the homeland. He orders the army to leave the islands immediately. Elffin urges him to slow down, saying there is one more thing they can do. The legendary axe Armads is hidden in a tomb nearby, and it could help them against Bern. Remembering her father’s old weapon, Lilina insists they take Armads before returning home.
The army reaches the tomb. Lilina explains Armads was once used by Durban the Berserker, the second of humanity’s eight heroes. More recently, it was used by her father. Roy reminds her about the curse of Armads, where “all who grasp it in their hands shall be fated to a violent death” in battle. Lilina says she is aware of that. They enter the tomb. Lilina reaches the altar, where she finds Armads. Although Roy pleads with her not to pick it up, she ignores him. Taking out her custom magic tome, she uses it to magically pick up Armads, not making physical contact with it. She tells Roy the curse only applies to those who hold Armads in their hands, which she hasn’t done. She doesn’t have the strength to physically lift and hold such a large axe.
Armads
One of Farina’s scouts reports a coup has broken out in the Etrurian capital of Aquileia, and Arcardo and Roartz have seized power for themselves. Holding Mordred hostage, they announced an alliance with Bern. Two of the Triumvirate, Perceval and Douglas, were forced to join the rebels, while Cecilia and Guinivere fled to the Lycian border. Eliwood and his knights marched to the border to meet her. Roy orders the army to make haste and join them. Roartz and Arcardo consolidate their power with help from Bern, which sends several dragons to violently suppress loyalist forces. By the time Roy reaches Misul Castle in southern Etruria, most of the kingdom has fallen into rebel hands, with only Misul still in loyalist hands. There, Eliwood’s knights reinforce Cecilia. However, the rebels vastly outnumber the loyalists, and that is before considering the Bernese army which reinforces the rebels, personally led by Zephiel.
Outside Misul, Narcian reports Eliwood, Cecilia, and the Knights of Pherae have so far stalled the Bernese/rebel advance, despite Cecilia being unable to battle from wounds suffered in previous battles. Eliwood has also proven a nuisance. Zephiel tells him he will personally deal with Eliwood and takes to the field. Eckesachs transforms from its usual lance-like appearance into a gigantic sword. He calls out for Eliwood, who approaches him. Zephiel declares he has given Eliwood the honor of fighting him in a one on one duel, just as he did with Lyn and Hector. Eliwood asks if Zephiel remembers the night the Black Fang attacked the royal palace and almost killed him. Zephiel recognizes Eliwood as one of those who saved him back then, but he brushes it aside, saying that is in the past. That incident taught him that humans are greedy and self-serving individuals. He explains how his father Desmond had been reduced to a puppet and forced to obey the whims of the Bernese nobility. One of those nobles then had the gall to try and kill Zephiel to seize power for himself. That night was the last straw. Since that incident, he vowed to never again be powerless. Once he ascended to the throne, he purged the nobility and used their quintessence to resurrect the dragons to start his war. Eliwood tells him there has to be another way, but Zephiel refuses to listen. Humans will always be greedy and self-serving. For their own good, he must subjugate them all. Eliwood then asks why he even needs the dragons. Zephiel cuts off the conversation, saying he doesn’t need to know since he is about to die.
A scripted battle begins, and Eliwood attacks first. However, he does no damage to Zephiel. Zephiel counterattacks and gets a critical hit, bringing Eliwood down to 1 HP. As Eliwood falls to his knees, Zephiel congratulates him for surviving one attack, saying only Lyn and Hector managed to do the same. If only Eliwood still had Durandal, things could have been different. Eliwood does not regret resealing Durandal, declaring the legendary weapons shouldn’t be used like toys.
Eliwood’s defeat throws the knights of Pherae into chaos, making them easy targets for Narcian and his wyvern knights, who slaughter them. The loyalist lines shatter and flee, and Narcian seizes Misul. Zephiel orders Eliwood thrown in the dungeon to die just like Hector did. Searching the castle, he finds Guinivere inside. Guinivere demands to know why her brother is killing innocent people. Zephiel replies humans aren’t innocent. She knows that, having growing up surrounded by the vultures that are the Bernese nobility. He declares humanity must be liberated from such trivial matters, and dragons will help him accomplish that. He offers Guinivere a place at his side in his new order, where they will no longer be powerless. Guinivere refuses to go along with the slaughtering of innocent people. Zephiel decides to forgive her this time and orders her and the Fire Emblem escorted back to Bern. However, her wyvern knight escort instead helps her escape to Roy’s camp. Hoping to make up for Araphen, Roy orders his troops to advance on the castle as fast as possible to save Eliwood and Cecilia.
Zephiel orders Narcian to send their dragons to Nabata, the desert in the southwest, and use them to find a legendary weapon there. He can also interrogate the priestess they captured from a village in the desert for more information on the legendary weapon. As soon as Zephiel leaves, Perceval defects to Roy. As the Lycians approach the castle, Narcian decides to go back to Aquileia and consolidate the rebel forces. Inside, Eliwood wakes up, finding the priestess has partially healed him. Introducing herself as Sophia, she tells Eliwood help is on the way.
The Lycians storm the castle and retake it. Roy is relieved to see Eliwood is alive. Eliwood explains Sophia healed his wounds enough to stop him from bleeding out, although she isn't experienced enough to fully heal him. Roy apologizes for not getting there sooner, but Eliwood says he did his best. Noticing Durandal and his dragonstone necklace, he tells Roy he has grown into a fine young man. His mother would be proud of him. Sophia introduces herself as a priestess of Arcadia in Nabata, telling Roy her village is being attacked by Bern's dragons. Lilina wonders why Bern would be interested in a random village in the middle of a desert. Sophia tells them Arcadia was built by humans and dragons who wanted to live peacefully with each other, protected by constant sandstorms. Seeing Roy’s dragonstone, Sophia notices he is part dragon, just like she is, and says he is proof humans and dragons can coexist. Roy orders the army to march for Arcadia. Meanwhile, Cecilia escorts Eliwood back to Lycia.
Sophia leads them into the heart of the desert, where sandstorms obscure their path. Roy clears a way with his ice dragon powers, allowing Lilina, Shanna, and Farina to fly ahead and check the desert for either the Bernese army or the village. Finally, Lilina spots Arcadia, and they hurry into the village. Sophia realizes the doors to the main temple are forced open. That is where they keep their legendary weapon, the fire tome Forblaze.
They enter the temple and head underground. Sophia tells them Archsage Athos, the third hero, led them to Nabata to escape persecution, entrusting them with Forblaze, his legendary weapon, to protect against invaders. After defeating the Bernese soldiers occupying the temple, Sophia retrieves Forblaze and entrusts it to Lilina, having noticed her talents from “wielding” Armads. The village elder thanks Roy for driving out Bern. Roy asks if they are dragons, but the elder says the only real dragon they have is Fae, a little girl. He then notices Roy’s dragonstone and realizes he too is part dragon, surprised there are dragons living outside Arcadia. Lilina adds there are dragons in the Bernese army too. Sophia sensed an evil and unnatural presence coming from the ones at Misul. The elder sends the human Igrene, guardian of the desert and daughter of Hawkeye, one of Eliwood’s colleagues, to go with Roy and investigate Bern’s dragons. As soon as the army leaves, Fae sneaks out and follows them. She is captured by the rebels.
Learning of Fae’s capture, Roy heads north to rescue her. Igrene tells him Fae should be fine as long as she keeps her dragonstone hidden and doesn’t transform. Dragons are naturally overflowing with magical energy, which makes it very tiring to remain in dragon form, so they typically stay in human form. Because Roy and his mother aren’t full dragons, Roy doesn’t have enough draconic energy to transform. But Roy isn’t bothered by it. Igrene impulsively says most dragons wouldn’t feel the same, as they only needed dragonstones after the Scouring ended. They arrive at the fort Fae is being held at and rescue her. Igrene chastises Fae for following them from Arcadia, but Fae complains she is always kept hidden with no friends. Marcus suggests sending her back to Arcadia, but Roy decides it’s too dangerous and offers to let Fae stay with them, where they can keep an eye on her.
Roy leads the Lycians to Aquileia, planning to retake the capital and rescue Mordred. Anticipating his arrival, Roartz and Arcardo fortify the city’s walls, intending to stall the Lycians. Their plans are screwed up by a popular uprising, led by the priests and clerics of the Church of Saint Elimine, founded by the fourth hero and Etruria’s founding queen. Due to the rebels’ harsh anti-Church policies, the Church had no problem rallying the people of Aquileia to Roy’s cause. The people throw open the gates for Roy, welcoming him as “our boy.” Roartz and Arcardo retreat to the palace. In the palace, Narcian fumes over Roy’s successes. His superior Murdock, the most senior Dragon Lord, chastises his repeated failures and demotes him from Dragon Lord. Narcian begs to have one more chance to redeem himself. Murdock takes mercy and relents, ordering him to stop the Lycians if he wants his rank back. Murdock flies away to pacify resistance in Ilia. Arcardo and Roartz blame each other for their predicament. They eventually defect to Bern and flee, while Douglas remains, still biding his time.
Roy, Sue, and Lilina arrive at the royal palace, aided by Bishop Yodel of the Church. Roy thanks Yodel for the Church’s intervention. Yodel says there was no question the Church would support the Lycians as the rebels tried to harshly suppress it, most likely because its senior leadership was investigating Bern’s dragons. Yodel leads them into the castle. Elffin finds Douglas, who recognizes him as Prince Myrddin (who faked his death), and convinces him to join Roy. Roy and Lilina find Narcian on the throne, and the arrogant Dragon Lord goads them to attack. But he falls before the power of their legendary weapons. With the palace in loyalist hands, Douglas leads them to Mordred’s room. Mordred asks the Lycians to liberate the rebel-controlled Tower of the Saint, promising to give Roy the legendary weapon kept there. Meanwhile, Elffin keeps his true identity hidden, planning to reveal himself when the time is right. At the tower, the rebels rain down giant bolts of lightning on the Lycians, but Roy persists. They reach the top and kill the last of the rebels. Douglas searches the altar and recovers the light tome Aureola, Saint Elimine’s legendary weapon. Lilina again takes the tome, joking she probably has too many legendary weapons at this point.
The army returns to the palace to plan their next move. Eliwood barely holds out against a new Bernese invasion of Lycia. They must defeat Bern soon. Guinivere approaches Roy and formally hands him the Fire Emblem, asking him to use it to unseal the Blazing Blade held in the Shrine of Seals in southern Bern. It was once used by her ancestor Hartmut, the fifth hero and the first king of Bern, to kill the Demon Dragon, leader of the dragons in the Scouring. She suspects the Demon Dragon has been resurrected and now serves at Zephiel’s side. Roy decides they have to invade Bern to get the Blazing Blade and kill the Demon Dragon. The bulk of the fighting is taking place in Lycia right now, so that route is too dangerous. Their other options are to go through Sacae and Ilia. Roartz had fled to Sacae, while Arcardo had gone to Ilia. Here, Sue and Lilina butt heads over where to go. Sue, Fir, Noah (his feelings for Fir outweighing his Ilian background) and the Sacaeans want to go through Sacae and avenge the Kutolah. Lilina, Farina, Shanna, Zealot, Trec, and the Ilians want to liberate Ilia. Roy personally wants to go through Ilia, hoping to find Ninian there, but he also wants to help the Sacaeans. He decides to split the army in two, with himself and Lilina going to Ilia and Sue leading a second army through Sacae.
For the next few chapters, the player’s army will be split in two between Ilia and Sacae, and the perspective shifts between them every chapter. The player can choose who goes in which army, although certain characters are locked to each route. Lilina, Farina, Shanna, and other Ilians are locked to the Ilia route, while Sue, Shin, Fir, Noah, and Sacaeans are locked to the Sacae route. If a data transfer from The Binding Blade wasn’t done or Eliwood didn’t marry, the player may choose which route to put Roy on. If Eliwood married Ninian or Fiora, Roy will be locked to the Ilia route, while if he married Lyn, Roy will be put on the Sacae route instead. This summary assumes Roy is on the Ilia route.
Roy, Lilina, and the bulk of the Lycian army, now aided by several Etrurian army units led by the reunited Triumvirate, march north to Ilia and finish off Arcardo and his rebels. Meanwhile, Sue leads a smaller army through Sacae and deal with Roartz and his own faction. With the powerful backing of the Church, the people of Elibe all voice their support for Roy, defiantly shouting “Roy’s our boy!” in regions occupied by Bern. Murdock, after ordering Arcardo to defend the border against the Lycians, commends Roy for rebuilding the Lycian army from scratch, saying he would like to fight him at some point. He and Gale, Narcian’s replacement, fly further east, abandoning Arcardo to his death. In the south, Sue’s army engages the Djute clan, which has been subjugated by Brunnya and forced to fight for Bern, and kills Roartz, surprising Brunnya and many Sacaeans who previously thought her an inexperienced girl living in the shadow of the Silver Wolf.
Sue leading the Sacaeans into battle
In Ilia, Roy and Lilina defeat more of Bern’s armies, as well as several dragons. They learn the Demon Dragon is different from regular dragons. One of the reasons why humans eventually won the Scouring was because they could reproduce much faster than dragons. But the Demon Dragon could magically spawn more dragons of its own. Roy realizes that is where Bern is getting its new dragons. In Sacae, Sue enters the core territory of the Djute clan. Khan Mongke plans to lure in the Lycians before overwhelming them. Consulting with his other chieftains, they predict since the Lycians are outsiders, they can call in the other clans to fight against them. One chief worries their betrayal of the Kutolah frayed their trust with the other tribes. Another chief hears rumors the Silver Wolf may have survived the battle and is secretly uniting the tribes against the Djute. However, none of them expect Sue to ambush them. As Sue cuts Mongke down with Mani Katti, Mongke admits he underestimated the Silver Wolf’s daughter.
Roy and Lilina push on through a massive blizzard, fighting off Ilian soldiers who are hostile to both Lycia and Bern. Lilina suspects since all dragons are in human form now, maybe the Demon Dragon is as well. She remembers an old tale Hector told her. The Ending Winter was an apocalyptic event so terrible the laws of nature were turned upside down and the dragons were forced to adopt human forms. Most people assume it was the result of dragons unleashing their full magical power, but that might not be the case. In Sacae, Mongke’s death changes the balance of power on the steppes. Rather than join forces against the Lycians, the surviving clans rose in rebellion against Bern and flock to Sue’s banner. Sue marches on Bern-occupied Bulgar, the center of commerce and trade on the “Silver Road” between Etruria, Bern, and Ilia, having heard rumors her mother may be alive and was last seen there. Having been to the city several times in her childhood, she is familiar with its layout and knows how Bern has fortified it. With her knowledge, she liberates the city and kills its commander, who says Sue reminds him a lot of her mother. Sue replies she isn’t like Lyn and never can be. She is simply Sue.
Roy and Lilina head for the city of Edessa. Their objective is its castle, once Zealot’s home and the hub of Ilia’s pegasus knights. A rebellion sweeps through the city, its people inspired by Roy and Lilina’s successes and encouraged by Farina’s sisters Florina and Fiora. The battle comes with many side objectives. There are prisoners the enemy constantly attacks, steadily bringing down their HP, while civilians flee in the streets, and if they are rescued, they reward the player with good items. It is important to reinforce Florina and Fiora, who are heavily outnumbered. Minimizing allied rebel casualties also gives rewards. Eventually, Edessa is liberated. Bern withdraws from Ilia.
Roy and Lilina celebrate in Zealot’s castle, where they decide to rest before meeting up with Sue. Farina reunites with her sisters, while Shanna searches for her old friends. Roy finds Ninian in the dungeons, shaken but alive. Roy apologizes for not being able to find her sooner. Ninian replies he did what he could. She looks at his dragonstone and smiles, knowing he’s grown so much since Pherae. As the routes to Lycia remain unsafe, Ninian joins Roy and Lilina. Although she can no longer refresh others with her dances or transform into a dragon, she has learned how to use wind and healing magic. Roy reaches into his pocket and takes out the flower Ninian was looking for, having found it on his way here. Touched, Ninian hugs him.
Later that night, Roy and Lilina meet on the balcony. Lilina admits she hasn’t visited Ilia much, despite her mother’s ties. Farina seemed eager to leave Ilia behind, due to her poor background and need to support her two sisters. Meeting Hector helped them leave that behind. She now had a comfortable life, a loving family, and a husband she could train with. There was no reason to go back to Ilia, especially after Lilina came around. But after Hector’s death, Farina became fully dedicated to the war, which unnerves Lilina. She wishes they could go back to the way things were. Roy promises that whatever happens in this war, they will always remain together.
Guinivere offers to share more about Zephiel’s past. Following the death of his first wife, Guinivere’s mother, from an illness, King Desmond married Zephiel’s mother, an Etrurian noblewoman named Hellene, causing massive uproar in the Bernese court. Desmond’s idea was to strengthen diplomatic ties with Etruria, although the nobility did not like Etruria. As Zephiel excelled in various fields of studies, Desmond decided to name him his heir. The nobility feared Zephiel would become an Etrurian puppet as king. They launched a coup and stripped Desmond of his powers, forcing him to name Guinivere his heir. Over the next few years, the nobility ran the country, dividing into factions jockeying for power over the throne and harassing neighboring Lycia and the Sacaean tribes. Guinivere and Zephiel devised a plan to reassert Zephiel’s power.
With the help of Hellene and Marquess Uther of Ostia, who realized the noble infighting could destabilize Lycia, they convinced Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn to recover the Fire Emblem, stolen by a noble, so Hellene could use it to invest Zephiel as heir. Although they controlled Desmond, trying to disinherit an heir invested with the Fire Emblem would cause massive outrage. So one of the nobles sent the Black Fang to murder Zephiel. Zephiel survived, but he was changed. He wrote off the nobility, and eventually all of humanity, as corrupt and greedy. Zephiel decided he would remake the world in his own image, and with the help of the dragons, he would always remain in power. After Desmond died, Zephiel and Murdock purged the nobility, slaughtering all those who had participated in the coup years ago. The purge earned him the support of the public, who had long suffered under the nobles’ rule. Unopposed, he ascended to the throne and began building an army to conquer Elibe. Guinivere initially supported Zephiel, something she deeply regrets now. Having overheard Roy and Lilina talking fondly about their mothers, she also remembers her childhood, when Zephiel was kind and loving. She acknowledges there is nothing that can convince Zephiel to stand down now. She asks Roy and Lilina to stop him.
Marcus informs them the Bernese army has been spotted in the ruins outside Edessa. Farina remembers an Ilian legend which says the ruins hold a legendary weapon. Ninian confirms the ruins hold a legendary weapon she was trying to protect before she was imprisoned. As they leave the castle, Farina calls Lilina aside. It’s time she gave Lilina her birthright as the marchioness of Ostia. She gives her a gold circlet, passed down through the women of House Ostia for centuries. Hector had given it to Farina for their wedding, and he asked Farina to give it to Lilina when she came of age. Farina also reveals a suit of armor custom designed for Lilina. It was supposed to be a birthday gift from Hector. Lilina accepts the circlet and armor and fully assumes her duties as marchioness of Ostia. She promotes to her special Falcon Lord class, becoming an armored unit in addition to a flier and gaining the ability to use healing staves. (In games without a data transfer, she promotes to Marchioness Lord, a fast armored but non-flying class which can only use axes and magic.)
Lilina in the Marchioness Lord class as depicted in the official TCG
In Sacae, Sue is suddenly ambushed by the surviving warriors of the Djute clan, who launch a desperate attack on Bulgar late at night. Her troops still resting after seizing the city, she is for once caught by surprise, both due to the timing of the attack and its ferocity. Suddenly, the enemy horde is attacked from behind as a new army attacks from behind, waving a familiar silver wolf banner. Sue is overjoyed to see Lyn, the Silver Wolf, leading the charge. The Djute are quickly overwhelmed, keeping the city in Lycian hands. Sue reunites with her mother. Lyn apologizes for not being there for Sue. Sue demands to know why Lyn sent her away, as she should’ve been there fighting at her side. Lyn replies she loves her too much to let her die there. Sue’s destiny is to be with Roy and Lilina. She reveals she never expected to win the battle. Her goal was never to win. Her responsibility was to lead her people to safety. After the battle, she traveled around Sacae, rallying the surviving tribes against the Djute and Bern to pave the way for Sue to free Sacae. That day has finally arrived. Lyn joins the Lycians as an advisor to Sue. She presents Sue with a traditional Sacaean dagger. It was once Rath’s father’s, before he passed it down to Rath, who gave it to Lyn. And now it is Sue’s, to symbolize her new role as the leader of the Kutolah and the liberator of the Sacaeans. Sue promotes to her special Wolf Lord class, immensely increasing her movement, speed, and defense stats and letting her use lances in addition to swords and bows. (In save files without a data transfer, she will instead promote to the Sacaean Lord class, which is weaker and doesn’t let her use lances.). As for right now, Lyn explains they have to act fast, because the attack on Bulgar was merely a distraction for another Djute host to raid nearby ruins where Sacaean legends say a legendary weapon is being held.
In Ilia, Roy and Lilina hurry to the ruins. Recalling more from the legend, Farina believes the legendary weapon hidden here is Maltet, the Frozen Spear. Ninian recalls it was owned by the sixth hero Barigan the Faithful, founder of Ilia, and only the most honorable and kind-hearted person can unlock its full power. They arrive at the altar and find Maltet. However, they are not sure who can claim it. Ninian repeats only the most honorable and kind-hearted person can wield Maltet. Roy steps back, not believing himself worthy. Lilina cautiously steps forward and takes Maltet. Farina and Roy sigh as Lilina claims her fourth legendary weapon.
Sue heads towards the Sacaean ruins, which hold Mulagir, the Bow of Swift Winds, owned by the seventh hero Hanon. Sue remembers the Lady of the Winds from her childhood stories, like how she and Saint Elimine were the only two women among the eight heroes and only she could string Mulagir. A prophecy holds only Hanon’s chosen successor can string Mulagir, and they will reunite Sacae. Many visited over the centuries to try their luck, only to fail. Even Lyn and Rath failed. Hanon was Sue’s hero growing up, and she always dreamed of stringing Mulagir.
They enter the ruins and are ambushed by the Djute. Sue’s forces take heavy casualties. Lyn urges Sue to find Mulagir while the rest of them hold off the enemy. Sue refuses, saying she doesn’t want to keep abandoning her mother, but Lyn refuses to let her stay. Sue rushes to the altar at the center of the ruins, where Mulagir awaits. However, several Djute clansmen are also waiting in ambush here. She is unable to fight off so many enemies at once, and eventually Mani Katti is forced out of her hand. Pressed against the wall, she spots Mulagir, and thinking quickly, she picks it up, easily strings the bow, and fires. One enemy falls, and the rest stop in shock. They resume attacking, but Sue now nimbly dodges their attacks, moving around like the wind. She rushes back to the main battlefield and drives off the enemy with her new power. Lyn proudly hails her as the new Lady of the Winds.
Wolf Lord Sue as depicted in the TCG (sorry for low quality)
The two armies link up on the Bernese border. Roy and Lilina meet up with Sue again, and the three share stories of their adventures in Ilia and Sacae. Lilina brags about all of the legendary weapons she has received, though she worries her pegasus might not be able to hold them all and her new armor. Meanwhile, Roy is amazed Sue managed to not only free Sacae but also unite the remaining tribes under her. Their mothers stand back and watch them chat, remarking to each other on how much they have grown during this war. Guinivere emphasizes the need to reach the Shrine of Seals and unseal the Blazing Blade, which they can then use to kill the Demon Dragon. But Lilina remembers the Demon Dragon was killed by Hartmut. Guinivere shares a secret passed down from Hartmut through the Bernese royal family. Hartmut never killed the Demon Dragon, but he used the Blazing Blade to seal it away. Zephiel merely used the quintessence from his purge to awaken it. She suspects a shaman known as the Priestess of Darkness who is always at Zephiel’s side is the reawakened Demon Dragon.
Murdock and Gale attack the Lycians as they pass, but Roy, Lilina, and Sue easily lay waste to their wyvern knights with their legendary weapons and Roy’s draconic powers. In a village, the villagers watch the battle. They ask the old swordmaster Karel for his protection. As the battle draws closer to the village, Karel cuts down any attacking wyvern knights with his Isaachian-style Wo Dao. When Fir and Bartre reach the village, they recognize him as Fir’s uncle. Karel explains he had retired here to train in peace. Bartre reveals Karla, Karel’s sister, died of an illness several years ago, and Karel apologizes for not being there for her. To make up for it, he joins Fir and Bartre. Murdock approaches Roy and challenges Roy to personal combat. Roy accepts his challenge and defeats him. As he dies, Murdock acknowledges his strength and apologizes to Zephiel for failing him. His armies surrender to Roy. The path to the Shrine of Seals is now open. However, a few enemy troops barricade themselves inside the shrine. Guinivere tells him they are probably after the other legendary weapon held there, the dark magic tome Apocalypse, wielded by the eighth and final hero Brammimond, of whom not much is known about. Roy, Sue, and Lilina enter the shrine to recover the two weapons. Roy presents the Fire Emblem at its entrance, and the looming stone doors rumble open.
They storm the shrine, defeat the Bernese inside, and obtain the Apocalypse tome. Guinivere knows it as the Silencing Darkness, with which Brammimond could cover entire battlefields with a darkness darker than night. Lilina notes none of the legends describe Brammimond at all, and nobody knows what they looked like. Roy continues to the shrine’s inner sanctum. There, he sees the Blazing Blade sticking out of the altar. Roy holds out the Fire Emblem, and the gemstone magically attaches itself to an opening in the hilt. Roy pulls the sword out. Its power surges through him, and the blade bursts into flames. He swings the flaming sword around, confident in his new power. Roy promotes to his special class Lion Lord (Great Lord if Ninian is not his mother or no data transfer was done), making him a cavalry unit and allowing him to use lances and dual wield Durandal and the Blazing Blade. Guinivere says the Blazing Blade has chosen him as Hartmut’s successor. Now they must confront Zephiel.
Roy obtains the Blazing Blade
In the capital, Zephiel discusses the Lycians’ advance with Brunnya. Although his forces put up significant resistance, he failed to account for the influence of the Church. As in Aquileia, it incited a popular rebellion, and very soon, chants of “Roy’s our boy!” overran the city, forcing Zephiel’s troops to barricade themselves in the palace. Brunnya asks to lead the defense, but Zephiel orders her to evacuate Idunn. He will make his last stand here. The Lycians reach the palace gates, where they meet Eliwood and his knights. Eliwood explains the stalemate on the Lycian border ended when the Bern lines collapsed. Roy tells his father he should be resting in Pherae instead of leading troops, but Eliwood insists he has to be here. He was here that night when the Black Fang almost killed Zephiel. This is partially his problem. Roy tells him he shouldn’t blame himself for this war, because he couldn’t have known this would happen. Eliwood is surprised by Roy’s new confidence, and Roy says he learned it from him. If he’s not going home, he’s welcome to join. Roy presents Durandal to him, but Eliwood refuses to take it, saying it’s his now. Lyn greets her friend, and Eliwood jokes she has aged well, unlike himself. He wishes Hector could’ve been here with them. He reunites with Ninian and is glad to see she is safe. Eliwood next talks about their strategy. His scouts found Zephiel is in the throne room. But the room has been magically sealed and now can be only opened by the Fire Emblem. And the palace is crawling with Zephiel’s most experienced soldiers. Roy tells him not to worry.
The assault begins, and as expected, Zephiel’s men resist with a ferocity unlike anyone Roy has ever fought before. But the Lycians push forward and eventually arrive at the throne room. Roy presents the Blazing Blade to the door, and the Fire Emblem glows, opening them. The dragons hiding inside ambush him with a roaring inferno, but he emerges unharmed and cuts down the dragons with Durandal. Zephiel gets up from his throne and readies Eckesachs.
Zephiel says unique dialogue against certain opponents. If Lyn is his opponent, he is surprised she survived their battle, saying she looked very dead when he took Sol Katti from her. Lyn replies he should never have underestimated the Silver Wolf and the people of Sacae. If Sue is his opponent, he laughs off her challenge, saying she’s still an inexperienced girl. Sue replies many of her previous victims thought the same. If Farina is his opponent, Zephiel taunts her about Hector’s death. Farina replies Zephiel took not only her husband from her, but her lifelong sparring partner. If Lilina is his opponent, Zephiel recounts in lurid terms how her father died. If the greatest warrior in Lycia couldn’t survive against him, what hope does she have? Lilina raises Armads and dares him to repeat that. If Ninian attacks, Zephiel recognizes her as a dragon and wonder why she isn’t on his side. Ninian says she would never support someone who made her family suffer so much. If Eliwood attacks, Zephiel will ask if Eliwood wants revenge for their previous fight. Eliwood simply states he is here to correct a mistake.
Roy faces Zephiel
If Roy accepts Zephiel’s challenge, Roy demands to know why Zephiel started the war. Zephiel replies he wants to rule over humanity. Humans are driven to kill by emotions like jealousy, hatred, and greed. Such emotions create nobles willing to kill an innocent boy. As long as such humans control, dictate, and exist, this madness will never end. Roy points out his hypocrisy, as he is now one of those humans. Zephiel admits there will always be someone at the top, and who better than himself? He would make sure he would never be powerless again. His rule would curb humanity’s worst emotions. He asks Roy if he knows how the Scouring ended. Roy says Hartmut defeated the Demon Dragon. Zephiel says humanity should not have won, because they subjected Elibe to madness and evil. He revived the Demon Dragon to correct this. He will again put the dragons back at the top of Elibe. Roy points out a rule by dragons would only be the same as rule by humans. Zephiel explains the dragons he has used were created for battle and have no souls. Therefore they have no emotions. Roy denies such a world would be better than the current one. He insists there are better humans who acknowledge their flaws and try to improve themselves. There will always be evil humans, but there are always other humans who have corrected them.
Zephiel falls before the Blazing Blade. Bleeding out, Zephiel acknowledges his defeat, but he tells Roy his dream will not die. His surviving troops surrender. Eliwood says it’s too early to rejoice as they have to find the Priestess of Darkness. Roy notices Eckesachs glowing, along with Durandal and the Blazing Blade. Lilina and Sue notice their legendary weapons glowing, and all of them emit a beam of light. Ninian remembers a legend saying when all of the legendary weapons are gathered, they point the way to Dragon Temple, the dragons’ stronghold. Roy concludes the Priestess of Darkness escaped there. Lilina and Sue are briefly called away by their mothers. Searching the treasury, Farina and Lyn dig out Hector’s Wolf Beil and Lyn’s Sol Katti, which they present to Lilina and Sue. (If the player broke or failed to obtain one of the legendary weapons, the game ends and the Demon Dragon’s horde of dragons overrun Elibe a year later.)
The Lycians follow the beam of light to the Dragon Temple, guarded by Brunnya’s troops. Although the rest of the Bernese army had surrendered, Brunnya refused to stand down. She entrusts Idunn to Lord Jahn, a dragon, and gathers her wyvern knights for what she believes will be their last battle. She tells her men they are released from their oaths of duty, and they will not be punished if they leave now. But almost nobody takes the offer, all of them vowing to fight to the death. While Bern and Lycia fight, bandits exploit the chaos to attack a village. The villagers attempt to fight off the bandits, only to find they are better armed than usual and move and fight as if professionally trained. The rest consider evacuating, but a woman tells them not to worry, saying the bandits are bounty hunters after her. If she leaves, they will be safe. She leaves and approaches the bounty hunters, who demand to know if she is the former Black Fang mage Nino. Nino confirms her identity. She explains how twenty years ago she was completely illiterate and had to rely on memorizing her “mother’s” spell chants to learn magic. “Unfortunately for you, that’s not true anymore,” she adds before incinerating the bounty hunters with a powerful Bolganone attack. Raigh and Lugh recognize their mother, whom they thought had died years ago. Nino embraces her sons and admits she had to fake her death to protect them from the bounty hunters. She apologizes for abandoning them for most of their lives and promises to make up for it by joining the Lycians now. With Nino’s powerful spells on his side, Roy defeats Brunnya and her army.
The Lycians enter the temple. Lyn and Eliwood recall the architecture of the destroyed Dragon’s Gate on the Dread Isle, and Ninian instinctively shudders. Roy, Sue, Lilina, and a few others enter the temple with their most powerful weapons, ready to confront the Demon Dragon. Jahn appears and introduces himself to them. As a courtesy, he answers some questions about the Demon Dragon. It is only something to bring about hope for dragonkind, not their actual leader. Roy asks what the Demon Dragon really is, but Jahn retreats deeper into the temple. If the Lycians make it to him, he will explain more. As they proceed through the temple, Jahn telepathically provides them with more information. The Demon Dragon was created by his people to win the Scouring by creating war dragons to replenish their ranks. It was created out of a Divine Dragon by destroying its soul so it would obey them. But the Divine Dragons, led by the young Naga, refused to go along with the plan. In protest, Naga took the Divine Dragons and their allies and left Elibe altogether. However, one Divine Dragon, Idunn, refused to go. She agreed to become the Demon Dragon, but she refused to create the war dragons. So the dragons destroyed her soul to make her comply. With their new army, the dragons turned the tables on humanity and began winning. But the humans devoted their efforts into constructing the legendary weapons, which they gave to the eight heroes. The eight heroes fought the Demon Dragon in the temple, but something unexpected happened. Unable to handle the immense amounts of quintessence and magical power released in the battle, the laws of nature warped, causing the Ending Winter. After realizing what they had done, the eight heroes sabotaged their weapons and sealed them away to prevent the Ending Winter from happening again. The Ending Winter sealed humanity’s victory. It was impossible for dragons to maintain their normal form. Many degenerated and went feral. Hearing news of what Naga was doing, the dragons of Elibe also sealed their power in the dragonstones. But this made them almost completely helpless, and the humans slaughtered most of them.
Roy still doesn’t know why Hartmut spared the Demon Dragon. Jahn explains when the eight heroes assaulted the temple, they found Idunn, who didn’t fight back. Hartmut took pity. He used the Blazing Blade and struck Idunn down, putting her into a deep sleep. Since Hartmut didn’t want to kill Idunn, the sword only sealed her away. He sealed away the Blazing Blade in the Shrine of Seals to prevent it from being used again, and the other heroe founded nations to watch over the legendary weapons as well. Roy takes pity on Idunn, who had been forced to obey orders by people who only wanted her as a weapon. Jahn notes he reminds him of Hartmut but believes the two species are unable to coexist. Roy denies this. He tells Jahn about Arcadia, where humans and dragons peacefully coexist. He holds up his own dragonstone, saying he is proof dragons and humans can understand each other. Jahn simply laughs at his words and dares him to prove it. Roy immediately cuts him down with the Blazing Blade. Jahn opens the door to the inner sanctum and remarks on humanity’s unpredictability. If Fae is on the roster, she asks if she will grow up to be like the Demon Dragon, as she is a Divine Dragon. Roy promises he will make sure she doesn’t. If Sophia is on the roster, she also takes pity on Idunn, seeing her as just a poor victim of her people’s desperation. She asks Roy to spare her, and Roy states he already intends to do so. Lilina asks how Roy will accomplish it, and Roy says he will do the same thing Hartmut did. Idunn deserves better.
The three lords and their most experienced friends, armed with their best weapons, enter the inner sanctum and confront Idunn. The Priestess of Darkness, no, the Demon Dragon, sits in front of the altar in her human form, waiting for them. She asks why they are hindering her path. Roy explains he doesn’t want to fight her, and the person who ordered her around is dead. But Idunn refuses, saying her orders are to return dragons to where they once were at the top. Lilina tells her she doesn’t have to listen to the orders now, and Sue says she has no reason to fight. Idunn recalls she once heard those words, long ago. But she has been asleep for too long. Now she is awake, and Zephiel has told her what must be done. She now clearly understands her role in remaking the world. And if Roy, Lilina, and Sue still stand in her way, she will destroy them. She transforms into a dark and intimidating dragon. Her malevolent aura coalesces into several war dragons, which she commands to attack the group. Sue quietly prays to Father Sky and Mother Earth, the gods of Sacae, to watch over them, before stringing Mulagir and unsheathing the two Kattis. Lilina asks her father to give them strength and readies Armads and Forblaze. The others in the roster also say a few words. Drawing Durandal and the Blazing Blade, Roy vows not to give up but promises to show mercy, just as Hartmut did.
Roy and his allies face down the Demon Dragon
While the others fight the war dragons, Roy charges at Idunn, and the Blazing Blade ignites, its flames dispelling Idunn’s dark aura. He slashes and cuts through Idunn’s scales. The Demon Dragon roars, while Roy staggers back, receiving a surge of Hartmut’s memories from when he too fought the Demon Dragon. He changes his stance to copy Hartmut’s and charges again, following the past hero’s techniques. Durandal now cuts through Idunn’s scales, and the dragon roars in pain. She breathes out a blast of darkness, which Roy dispels with the combined power of his dragonstone and the Blazing Blade. While Idunn is distracted, Lilina magically hurls Armads and Maltet at her head and blasts her body with Aureola and Forblaze, forcing her back from Roy. Sue fires a volley of arrows from Mulagir at her legs, forcing her to the ground and leaving her open to swift strikes from the Mani and Sol Katti, which despite not being legendary weapons still do substantial damage in her weakened state. Finally, Roy runs up and plunges the Blazing Blade right into the Demon Dragon’s open mouth, delivering the final blow.
Some time later, Roy, Lilina, and Sue gather in Bern Castle to attend Guinivere’s coronation. Although Zephiel’s war is over and the Demon Dragon’s threat is ended, there is still much for everyone to do. Roy is worried about Guinivere’s coming reign, since she only ascended to the throne with the help of the Lycians and Etrurians. Sue recalls Zephiel was tormented by Bern’s nobility for being half-Etrurian, among other things. And the optics of the whole war would mean the surviving nobility could accuse Guinivere of being the Etrurian puppet they feared Zephiel would be. She worries if they are just repeating the mistakes of the previous generation and if their children will have to clean up after them twenty years from now. She certainly doesn’t want to see Sacae invaded and its people slaughtered yet again. Lilina assures her Guinivere will be fine. She was raised in much the same circumstances as Zephiel was, but she didn’t become twisted like him. She did give them the Fire Emblem, after all. They ask each other what they’re going to do now. Sue says she’ll take on her responsibilities as the new Lady of the Winds, and rebuild Sacae to what it once was. Roy says he will help rebuild Lycia. If Roy and Lilina have an A support, Lilina stammers and awkwardly looks away, which alarms Roy. She changes the subject and says she will return home as well. Roy says he is glad she will be in Ostia, so they can keep in touch and be with each other. Lilina, overjoyed, stammers again. Sue jokingly asks when the wedding is scheduled, and they both blush. If Roy instead has an A support with Sue (and Eliwood and Lyn didn’t get an A support in the previous game), the dialogue changes and Sue says she will try to visit Lycia and her old friends as much as possible, in the name of Lycian-Sacaean friendship. Roy assures her Pherae will always welcome her. It’s the least he could do for his friend. Sue, overjoyed, briefly loses her cool and stutters. Lilina says they are a perfect match and playfully asks if she can be maid of honor, and the two blush.
The three lords meet Guinivere in the throne room. They congratulate her, but Guinivere acknowledges her battle is only just beginning. Roy apologizes for relying on Etruria to achieve their goals, but Guinivere is only thankful for his help. That was his war to fight. Her war is against those who consider her an Etrurian puppet. She painfully recalls the same words being thrown at Zephiel in her childhood and being used to fuel the coup against their father. But she has grown up with those people, and she knows how to handle them now. Her main priority is rebuilding Bern. She will gain back the people’s trust by bringing Bern back to life, now as a more peaceful country. As for the three of them, she tells them to go home and get some well earned rest. The people of Lycia and Sacae are fortunate to have such gifted leaders as them, and their parents must be proud to have such talented children.
And thus the great war of Elibe ended. Etruria dismantled the Bernese government and military. But upon further consideration with the Lycians, Sacaeans, and Ilians, they avoided direct influence and control over the reconstruction process. As soon as a functioning government under Queen Guinivere had been established, the Etrurians returned home. Guinivere vowed to never repeat the mistakes her brother made. She swore off armed conflict except in self defense and promised to look after the well-being of her citizens, who for too long had been the pawns in the Bernese nobility’s and Zephiel’s games. The balance of power in Elibe was restored. As the war faded into memory and the continent’s nations slowly rebuilt, its people were blessed with a golden age of peace and prosperity. Bern eventually abandoned its militarism and became a peaceful nation devoted to intellectual pursuits.
Some time passes. Roy visits Arcadia and asks about Idunn, who thanks to the Blazing Blade survived the final blow (if the player lands the final blow with the Blazing Blade). The village elder says they succeeded in restoring her soul, but she is still in recovery. Fae sometimes takes her outside, but she hardly does anything and doesn’t express emotions. The elder admits he knew about the Demon Dragon back during the Scouring, but he did not do anything to save her. He thought he would put the village in danger if he revealed himself. But now he wonders if his decision was correct. He tells Roy he is talking with the other villagers about revealing themselves to the humans. Maybe it’s time dragons and humans finally reconciled. Roy smiles and says he would really like that. They watch Fae playing around the oasis, pointing out various objects to Idunn. Fae shakes a tree, accidentally dropping a fruit on her head. Idunn briefly laughs, and Fae excitedly runs off to tell Roy.
The credits roll, during which the fates of various characters is shown. Marcus retired from the Knights of Pherae and began teaching at the Lycian military academy. Fir and Noah married and traveled across Elibe, constantly honing their skills. After showing up at his niece’s wedding, Karel retired to a small village and resumed his training. Bartre opened a bar with his old colleague Dorcas, from which they banned all forms of mutton. After being paid, Cath settled down and used the money to fund Raigh and Lugh’s old orphanage. Elffin revealed his identity as Myrrdin, to the joy of his father and people, and returned home, where the Triumvirate helped him rebuild the kingdom. Zealot returned to Ilia and was later elected as its new king for his leadership during reconstruction efforts. Nino fully reconciled with her twins, and they settled down in Lycia, occasionally visiting Nino’s great-aunt Niime (mother of Canas), who resumes her dark magic research. Shanna stays in Lycia as Farina’s protege. Farina rebuilt her squadron and dedicated her life to improving ties between Ostia and Ilia and advising her daughter; when her job was done, she handed leadership of the squadron to Shanna and retired to a pegasus farm with her sisters. Sophia returned to Arcadia and oversaw Idunn’s recovery with Igrene and Fae.
Lyn retired to the plains and built a new clan centering on the surviving Kutolah, which she named the Lorca. The leadership of the Silver Wolf ensured her daughter united the Sacaean clans under her leadership, whose inspiring words led to lasting peace in Sacae. The new Lady of the Winds and wielder of Mulagir would be remembered as the second coming of Hanon. If Roy and Sue got an A support, they marry despite their many cultural differences, and their union would eventually lead to the unification of Lycia and Sacae. Eliwood and Ninian largely withdrew from public life after the war, delegating their political responsibilities to Roy. After proudly attending Roy and Lilina’s wedding (if Roy and Lilina have an A support), they retired to an estate in rural Pherae, where they could be found participating in harvest festival dances. Occasionally, they would travel to Ilia to find Ninian’s favorite mountaintop flowers.
Lilina assumed her father’s throne and was officially declared the new marchioness of Ostia. She dedicated much of her early reign to rebuilding her land. Roy, as the new Marquess of Pherae after Eliwood’s retirement, always took the time to help her reconstruction efforts. After a short but sweet courtship, they eventually married. Her efforts in rebuilding Lycia earned her the undying support of both the nobility and common people, and she and Roy were eventually declared the joint rulers of a new Kingdom of Lycia, a peaceful nation blessed with prosperity and happiness. It was said the two of them made regular pilgrimages to Hector’s tomb, where Lilina laid Armads to rest alongside him, to pay their respects.
Thanks to Roy’s, Lilina’s, and Sue’s efforts, Elibe would never see a war as destructive as Zephiel’s ever again, and centuries in the future, its kingdoms would peacefully unite, with Roy and Lilina’s descendants as the rulers of this unified kingdom.
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In the Annionaverse, although Thracia 776 was a commercial success, many overseas fans complained it was too difficult and confusing especially for newcomers. Shouzou Kaga refused to listen, believing veteran fans would still stand by the franchise. He released Roy’s game, Priestess of Darkness, on the Game Boy Advance, as the original plans to release it on the N64 fell through when the console was discontinued. To represent the teenage Roy’s inexperience in leading an army, Kaga intentionally made his stats and stat level up chances weaker than usual, which would encourage players to invest in other characters (other than Marcus). Many gameplay mechanics from Thracia 776, like capturing, fatigue, fog of war, escape objectives, and very obscure recruitment conditions return. A lot of characterization and story was cut due to time constraints. Although veterans praised Priestess of Darkness for its challenging gameplay, newcomers continued complaining about the difficulty, resulting in its prequel having much easier gameplay and an even more simplified story.
Lord characters being overpowered? In a Fire Emblem game? Why, I never.
Speaking of scripted fights, I am kind of curious how you'll be handling a certain iconic battle for Ike. I like it being a challenge, but kind of hate the time limit so that'll be fun.
Speaking of scripted fights, I am kind of curious how you'll be handling a certain iconic battle for Ike. I like it being a challenge, but kind of hate the time limit so that'll be fun.
At least it beats Roy being underpowered as usual. Although when I played he was actually pretty good.
Due to changes to the story, I think that certain fight was removed, unfortunately. But there will be other challenging story-relevant fights for Ike.
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones / Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stone
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is a 2004 Game Boy Advance game. It is the eighth installment in the Fire Emblem series, the second installment to be released internationally, and the third and final installment released for the Game Boy Advance. It is set in the world of Magvel, the first continent to be set in an entirely separate continuity from the previous Archanea/Valentia/Jugdral/Elibe continuity. It stars Eirika and Ephraim, twin heirs to the kingdom of Renais, as they combat the sudden aggression of their neighbour Grado and investigate dark forces that have plunged the continent into chaos. A sequel game, The Sacred Stone, was released in 2005 and continues the save data transfer mechanic of the Elibe games. It continues Eirika and Ephraim’s story some time after the events of The Sacred Stones.
Gameplay
A turn based strategy game as with the rest of the series, The Sacred Stones is built on the same engine as the two Elibe games but with many notable new features. All characters except for Eirika and Ephraim have two choices for what class they can promote into. In addition to these branched promotions, there are also trainee classes, which start out with low stats but gain experience quickly and can promote to regular classes. Returning from Fire Emblem Waiyun are monster enemies and a traversible world map. The player can travel around Magvel, revisit old locations to buy items, and fight monsters on the overworld. Furthermore, building on The Blazing Blade’s Ilia/Sacae route split, The Sacred Stones also has a route split between chapters 8 and 15 where the player can alternate between Eirika and Ephraim’s journeys, much like how Alm and Celica’s journeys were depicted in Waiyun. The sequel uses the same engine as its predecessor, with no major changes compared to the jump between Binding Blade and Blazing Blade or Blazing Blade and The Sacred Stones due to time and budget restrictions.
Development
Work on The Sacred Stones and its sequel ran parallel to the development of the console game Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for the Rentiantang GameCube. According to staff, development began unexpectedly alongside Path of Radiance, surprising many as they thought they would not develop an entry for the Game Boy Advance following the conclusion of the Elibe duology. Production on the three titles ran parallel to each other, and the resulting time and budget restrictions resulted in many featuers and story beats in the sequel being cut. To save on time, the majority of gameplay mechanics and user interfaces from the Elibe duology were carried over for The Sacred Stones, and the mechanics used in The Sacred Stones were recycled in its sequel due to time and budget considerations. The cast of The Sacred Stones is also carried over, with a few new characters added and a couple returning characters made unplayable. In contrast to the Elibe duology’s two-generation save transfer system, similar to Crusaders of Light, the Magvel duology is set in a single generation with mostly the same cast, and data transfers mostly give characters in the sequels a small stat boost and inventory adjustment based on their progress in the first game. Still, save data reaching as far back as The Binding Blade can affect content in The Sacred Stone, although it is mostly in the form of extra items or concept art and bonus music tracks.
Magvel (with some outdated names)
The idea to set Magvel in a completely different world from the previous setting, which included the continents of Archanea, Valentia, Jugdral, and Elibe, was highly debated by the staff, some of whom had wanted to expand more on the shared continuity’s lore. However, the scenario writers emphasized the increasing ridiculousness of a world with so many large continents, each with varying climate biomes that barely make sense on their own, let alone match up with each other’s climate biomes. There was already plenty of fan mail from people trying to calculate the force of gravity and climate patterns on the planet containing the four continents. The developers acknowledged they could not keep explaining away all of those inconsistencies with dragons and magic and thus decided to stop working in that continuity. Furthermore, they did not want to continue expanding on a continuity that was still largely tied to the work of Zhao Jiahe, believing as the creator of the continuity only he could envision where it would go. As part of the split from the previous timeline, Magvel was made completely original, with a new cast, new background lore, new countries and peoples, and almost no inspiration at all from real world sources aside from generic medieval European settings.
Reception
The Sacred Stones sold modestly well, and although no exact total sales figures were published, Rentiantang claimed it was one of its most successful Game Boy Advance titles of the year. The sequel sold slightly fewer copies than The Sacred Stones, although it was also a success.
Critics praised the story, especially the characters and their interactions. Although some were dismayed by the clean break from the Archanea continuity, they did note the characters more than made up for it. The gameplay’s balance was also much better than in the previous game, which was dominated by save-transferred Roy, Lilina, and Sue. Here, although players could easily defeat entire maps by relying on characters like Seth and Ephraim, other characters weren’t made obsolete, and Seth’s and Ephraim’s strength are also explained in-universe, to some degree.
Most fans generally liked the story and character interactions, although they considered the gameplay and difficulty a step down from the previous game, despite the better balance. The new class promotion system and explorable world map was received well.
The sequel received mixed reviews. Most critics noted how the story attempted to be more complex than the first game’s, taking cues from Book 2 of Mystery of the Emblem, but a lot of character motivations and personalities had to be changed to make it work.
Plot
Magvel is divided into six nations. Several centuries ago, five of these nations were each given one of five magical gemstones called the Sacred Stones, which were used to seal away the soul of the Demon King Fomortiis at the end of a war between humans and monsters. Since then, the continent has remained at peace. However, the peace comes to an end when the Grado Empire, the dominant power on the continent, unexpected invades its neighbor and ally Renais. Taking by surprise, Renais is easily defeated. Soon, Grado soldiers storm Renais Castle. Fearing the safety of his daughter Princess Eirika, King Fado sends his paladin Seth to take Eirika to safety, while he sacrifices himself to buy her time to escape. On his way out, they are attacked by Valter, a Grado wyvern general, who seriously injures Seth. Pushing on, Seth continues on to the border between Renais and Frelia, where they rescue Frelia’s Princess Tana, Eirika’s close friend. Heading to the Frelian capital, they meet Tana’s father King Hayden, who urges Eirika to stay in Frelia until the war dies down. But Eirika insists on heading back out to the battlefield and finding her twin brother, Ephraim, who had gone missing soon after the war began.
The protagonists Eirika and Ephraim
As they travel past the village of Ide, where they meet retired Renais general Garcia and his ambitious son Ross, who join them, Eirika's bracelet is stolen, and Seth insists they recover it at all costs. She retrieves it from Colm, a snide young thief, who had gone to a bandit hideout to steal from them and support his village. With his help, Eirika and her companions locate the hideout and eliminate the bandits. Meanwhile, generals Duessel, Selena, and Glen of Grado talk about the strange behavior of Grado’s Emperor Vigarde. Normally, Grado would never attack its longtime ally Renais. Vigarde dismisses their questions and introduces three new generals to help in the conquest of the continent: Riev, Caellach, and Valter.
In the Za'ha Woods, Eirika finds monsters of old legends have appeared. She also meets a lively young woman named L'Arachel, who introduces herself as going on a holy crusade to defeat evil and leaves quickly. Her army approaches Serafew, a border town of Renais and Grado. They meet the cleric Natasha, who has been branded a traitor but is saved by a gambling mercenary named Joshua. After the battle, Natasha tells Eirika and Seth that Vigarde plans to destroy the Sacred Stones. According to her, the emperor has changed, and the holders of the Sacred Stones must be warned.
Meanwhile, Ephraim approaches Grado-controlled Fort Renvall with his two loyal knights, Forde and Kyle, along with the paladin Orson. Against Orson’s advice, he decides to recklessly attack the fort with only the four of them, fully expecting the enemy to not expect such a stupid and suicidal attack. He is proven correct when he manages to take the fort, but he is forced to escape when enemy troops surround the castle.
At the same time, Eirika continues on, meeting a Grado general who tries to bribe her into giving him her bracelet, but Seth refuses. The Grado general then takes a nearby villager family hostage and attempts to feed them to a monster spider. After Eirika rescues the family and kills the Grado general, Seth tells her of the bracelet's significance: it is half of a key to the chamber that holds Renais's Sacred Stone. Ephraim's bracelet is the other half.
Eirika reaches Renvall to help her brother. She battles to get into the fort and reach her brother. As they arrive, Orson meets them, but he reveals he has defected to Grado. Eirika has no choice but to fight him and his soldiers. During the battle, Ephraim, Forde, and Kyle return to help her, and the twins reunite. Orson escapes after the twins retake the fort.
After the battle, Ephraim introduces Myrrh, a little girl with indigo hair and dragon wings, who says a great darkness is approaching. Returning to Serafew, Eirika and Ephraim reminisce about Lyon, their childhood friend and Vigarde’s son and heir. They wonder what he thinks of Vigarde’s actions. Eirika also discusses their father’s death, and Ephraim is shocked to hear about it. As soon as the war began, he had aggressively marched out to the Grado border to take on Vigarde’s army, but he was so blinded by his lust for battle that he didn’t notice another army marching past him and taking the capital, killing his father and forcing Eirika to flee. He realizes he should have just stayed in the capital to defend it alongside his father. He apologizes for ignoring his family and his country and promises he will do better when he ascends the throne.
Lyon
They return to Frelia, where Tana and her brother Innes, who has just returned from the front, greet them. Ephraim introduces Myrrh to Hayden. The king identifies her as a manakete, a dragon who can transform into a human and back. Myrrh explains she and her people had felt a dark wave of energy from Grado and went to investigate. However, she was captured by Grado until Ephraim came to rescue her. Suddenly, Caellach and Selena invade the capital in a surprise attack and storm the Tower of Valni, easily overwhelming its defenders and destroying Frelia’s Sacred Stone. After they retreat, the tower becomes overrun with monsters. The princes and princesses devise a plan to save the remaining stones and defeat Grado. They will split up. Innes will head to the Kingdom of Jehanna in the east, Eirika will head to the Theocracy of Rausten to the north of Jehanna, and Ephraim will invade Grado itself. Just as in The Blazing Blade’s Ilia and Sacae routes, the player can now split their army in two between Eirika and Ephraim’s commands. However, the pace at which they advance Eirika’s or Ephraim’s routes is up to them, much like how Waiyun handled Alm’s and Celica’s separate routes through Valentia.
In Grado, Vigarde orders Glen to find Eirika, Valter and Duessel to find Ephraim, Caellach to take Jehanna's Sacred Stone, Riev to take the Stone of Rausten, and for Selena to wait in the capital for new orders, much to her dismay.
Eirika goes to Port Kiris to find a ship to Rausten. Tana joins her, saying she will not be left out while her friend risks her life. Seth learns no ships are leaving port and advises her to take the overland route. There is a sudden conflict as mercenaries and Grado soldiers attack. Eirika and Seth fight off the enemies. Afterwards, she learns the mercenaries are from Carcino, meaning that the alliance between Carcino and Frelia has been broken. Since Innes is going through Carcino to Jehanna, Seth realizes he is deep in enemy territory, and they hurry to help him.
In Grado, Glen confesses to his brother Cormag that he had met Eirika before, and she seemed a kindhearted, gentle woman, not the type to go around conquering and committing war crimes like Vigarde claims she is doing. However, he has to obey the emperor’s orders.
In Carcino, Eirika arrives in time to find Innes and his men surrounded by Carcinan troops, which Seth and his knights defeat. She confronts Klimt, a member of Carcino's republican Council of Elders, who claims that only some have sided with Grado, while others have declared neutrailty in the war or support Frelia. He urges them to leave as soon as possible though. Acknowledging the sea routes are closed to them, Eirika and Innes decide to travel over land to Jehanna and Rausten. They cross a mountain pass crawling with monsters and encounter General Glen. Eirika manages to convince him of her innocence, and he retreats. When he flies back to confront Vigarde, Valter kills him.
Continuing through the mountains, even more monsters appear. A local village elder tells Eirika the Great Dragon had helped to seal away the Demon King, instead of just the hero Grado with the Sacred Stones. She says the Great Dragon watches the bones of the Demon King and ensures it does not revive. However, recently the Great Dragon has disappeared. When Eirika talks about the manakete Myrrh, the elder reveals Myrrh is the current form of the Great Dragon.
Valter tells Cormag of Glen's death and that Eirika killed him. Cormag angrily decides to avenge his brother and flies off to find Eirika, with Valter expecting him to die in the process. Cormag and his troops ambush Eirika in a narrow canyon, and she attempts to hold out until Rausten reinforcements arrive. Eirika meets Cormag and also manages to convince him of her innocence, and he decides to defect. At that moment, Rausten troops arrive and help Eirika rout the remaining Grado troops. They continue on to Jehanna. Eirika thinks about Lyon again, remembering him as one of her and Ephraim’s closest friends.
However, when they arrive at Jehanna, Innes’ scouts report Jehanna Hall has been overrun with Grado troops, led by Lyon himself. Queen Ismaire is being held captive by Carlyle, her formerly most trusted commander. Caellach arrives, takes Ismaire, and goes to find the Sacred Stone. Eirika is shocked to find Lyon leading the enemy forces, but he refuses to give her any reasons for his actions and leaves. Seth kills Carlyle, who admits he only betrayed Jehanna because he was in love with Ismaire. However, before Eirika can get any farther, Caellach fatally wounds Ismaire and destroys the stone before leaving. Ismaire, dying, calls Joshua to her side, revealing he is the prince of Jehanna. With her dying breath, she entrusts the party with Jehanna’s legendary weapons, the sword Audhulma and the wind magic tome Excalibur. Joshua admits to Eirika that he left palace life behind to see the world as a man, not a prince, and wanted to escape his duties as a royal. By now he regrets his decision, and vows to defend Jehanna. They escape the palace after learning two Grado armies led by Caellach and Valter are coming their way.
Meanwhile, Ephraim had been launching an invasion of Grado with his men. He manages to capture Fort Rigwald. Captured Grado soldiers tell him Duessel is opposed to the war, and Vigarde was convinced to start it by Lyon himself, which Ephraim refuses to believe. When they leave the fort, Ephraim tells Myrrh that she must return to Frelia, but she insists on going with him because her dragonstone is in Grado, and she can’t let the dark energy continue. In the capital, Vigarde orders Selena to execute Duessel, currently in the field, for doubting his orders. Selena meets Duessel at the battlefield just as Ephraim’s army approaches. Duessel intends to negotiate with Ephraim, but Selena orders him to attack. When he refuses, she mobilizes her troops against both him and Ephraim. However, right after the battle starts, Valter comes to Selena and tells her Vigarde has declared her untrustworthy and she must go back to the capital. She returns to the capital to speak with Vigarde herself.
Ephraim successfully saves Duessel from the Grado onslaught and holds out until the enemy commander decides to retreat, having taken too many casualties. Duessel tells Ephraim of the mysterious Dark Stone, which has somehow changed Vigarde. Myrrh concludes it is the source of the dark energy coming from Grado, and Duessel explains he always seees Lyon carrying this stone with him. Suddenly, L’Arachel appears to help Ephraim. She tells Ephraim there are rumors of a monster-crewed ghost ship terrorizing the seas and they should travel by land. Dismissing the rumors, Ephraim gets on a ship and sails out anyways.
In Grado, Vigarde asks Selena why she did not execute Duessel. Ignoring an explanation, Lyon orders her to go to the Za'albul Marsh and find Myrrh's dragonstone. On the sea, Ephraim’s ship is suddenly attacked by the monster ship, but he simply kills the monsters with L’Arachel’s help, and in the process, she reveals she is the princess of Rausten.
Ephraim lands in the town of Taizel, where Grado soldiers immediately attack him, led by General Caellach, who quickly leaves when Riev tells him Jehanna is being taken by Eirika. Riev leaves and summons monsters to attack Ephraim. After the battle, Myrrh appears to fly off to the east. In the morning, Ephraim finds she is missing, and heads to the east to find her.
Myrrh arrives in a village where Selena has already found the dragonstone. She asks the general to return it and explains the Dark Stone to her. Selena notes that Vigarde has changed lately and could be a candidate for being under the Dark Stone’s control. But she admits she can’t disobey her orders now and give Myrrh the dragonstone. She urges Myrrh to go back to Ephraim for her own safety. They must take the dragonstone from her by force.
After Myrrh returns to Ephraim, Selena attacks Ephraim’s army, and Ephraim fights back and kills her. Myrrh gets her dragonstone back, but asks why she was killed when she didn’t appear to be a bad person to her. Ephraim apologizes, but admits that he does not know how to prevent more losses of good people and vows to find out what is happening.
Ephraim arrives at Grado's capital and reminisces about a time when he met Lyon two years ago. Pushing the memories aside, he approaches the palace, easily pushing aside the city garrison, and sends a message ahead demanding Vigarde give him answers about the war. When no answer predictably comes, Ephraim attacks. His men storm the palace and kill Vigarde, whose body disintegrates upon being killed. Confused, Ephraim runs downstairs and finds Lyon, demanding answers from him. Lyon reveals he had orchestrated the whole war and had been planning it his entire life. He only befriended Ephraim and Eirika to get information on Renais’ defenses so he could invade and kill Fado. He laughs and teleports away.
A prisoner, Knoll, explains to Ephraim that Vigarde has actually been dead for a whole year. Lyon fell into despair and delved into forbidden magic to resurrect him. By working with Grado's Sacred Stone, also called the Fire Emblem, he managed to turn it into the Dark Stone. The Fire Emblem broke under the strain of the experiments, and Lyon changed. The war began, and Lyon ordered the execution of anyone in his way, including Knoll. To help, Knoll entrusts Ephraim with the legendary weapons of Grado: the axe Garm and the dark magic tome Gleipnir. Finally, a messenger arrives, telling Ephraim that Eirika is in a dire situation in Jehanna, under attack by forces led by Caellach and Valter. He hurries to Jehanna to help his sister.
As Eirika and her companions exit Jehanna Hall, a battle breaks out. Early in the battle, Ephraim arrives with Duessel and Knoll and helps Eirika defeat Caellach and Valter. He tells the others he has managed to seize Grado's capital and defeat Vigarde, but Lyon is the real enemy and the one controlling the Dark Stone, although he himself barely believes it. L'Arachel suggests they can still conquer evil with the remaining Sacred Stones, although she has no idea what kind of evil that might be.
Eirika and Ephraim return to Renais, which now suffers under Orson’s increasingly unhinged and tyrannical rule. When they enter the capital, Myrrh vows that she will start to fight as well. Inside Renasi Castle, Orson dotes on his "wife", Monica, who is thankfully left offscreen for the player’s sake, and neglects his duties as a leader, letting his Grado administrators torment the people as brutally as they want. Riev tells him Eirika and Ephraim are marching toward him, and he threatens to kill Monica if he fails to succeed in keeping them out. However, Eirika, Ephraim, L’Arachel, and Duessel retake the castle and kill Orson. Searching the castle for any holdouts, they find "Monica" was a reanimated corpse, just like Vigarde. They immediately put her out of her misery.
Taking out their bracelets, Eirika and Ephraim go back to the throne room, where they use the bracelets to open the secret chamber containing the Stone of Renais. They also find their kingdom’s legendary weapons, Sieglinde, the Thunder Blade, and Siegmund, the Fire Lance, which they take for themselves, getting promoted to their advanced Great Lord class as well.
Eirika's army crosses the Narube River on the way to Rausten. Lyon then appears to the group, trying to act kind and friendly to Eirika. However, when Ephraim demands he answer why the stones are being destroyed, he switches to a darker personality. “Lyon” reveals himself to be the resurrected Demon King and attacks them. With the help of Frelian reinforcements, who bring the twins their kingdom’s legendary weapons Nidhogg, the Serpent Bow, and Vidofnir, the Winged Lance, they defeat Lyon and the monsters he summoned, and Lyon retreats. The twins order their army to give chase.
Eirika and Ephraim journey through Mount Neleras, a volcano of extreme heat and sulfur, on Lyon's trail. It turns out Lyon has led the army into a trap by bringing them here, as it is full of dangerous lava and gorgon eggs. After safely making it through, they find Lyon on the ground near the exit, apparently having regained control of his body from Fomortiis. He struggles to resist the Demon King’s influence and begs Eirika and Ephraim to kill him before the Demon King regains control. Although Ephraim instantly readies Siegmund, Eirika hesitates, not wanting to kill her old friend. At that moment, Lyon exploits Eirika’s hesitation. He freezes their bodies with magic and takes the Sacred Stone of Renais, crushing it in his hands. Afterwards, he requests Ephraim and Eirika come to the Darkling Woods and try and stop him before teleporting away again. Eirika asks L'Arachel if there is any way to bring back Lyon. L'Arachel tells her, unfortunately, that Demon King probably killed him to possess his body. Eirika accepts Lyon is gone and vows to avenge him.
In Rausten, the twins meet Mansel, the Pontifex. Eirika and Ephraim explain their situation and what L’Arachel is doing with them. Suddenly, Riev attacks, and his troops surround the palace. The twins hold out until the enemy retreats and Rausten reinforcements arrive. In gratitude, they receive the Sacred Stone and the legendary weapons of Rausten, the light tome Ivaldi and the divine staff Latona.
Deciding they must put an end to the Demon King before he is fully resurrected, Eirika and Ephraim head for the monster-infested Darkling Woods, where the Demon King’s old stronghold the Black Temple is hidden. There, Myrrh’s father Morva, accompanied by several dragons, attacks Lyon, only for Lyon to kill them all and resurrect Morva as a necrodragon. The twins fight their way through the forest, battling many monsters as well as Riev and Morva, whom Myrrh reluctantly kills. Lyon runs into the Black Temple, and Eirika and her army follow. They enter the temple and fight through still more monsters to get to Lyon, who has begun a ritual to resurrect the Demon King. Putting aside her old feelings, Eirika raises Sieglinde and fatally wounds Lyon with it. However, Lyon simply laughs, saying he expected them to do that, and his death will only provide the magical energy needed for the Demon King’s resurrection. Fomortiis’ true body is reconstituted in front of them, and the Demon King declares an age of darkness has begun.
In between killing Lyon and the Demon King’s resurrection, a flashback is shown of Lyon with his dying father. Lyon says that he and the court mages keep seeing a vision of countless death and starvation in Grado. Vigarde tells Lyon that he must protect his country, but after Vigarde passes away, Lyon says he cannot do the task. Then, Lyon and Knoll are shown in the chamber of the Sacred Stone. Lyon orders Knoll to open the chamber, for according to him, the stone can save countless lives. After the flashback, Lyon is shown saying his plan is in place - he will sacrifice himself and the disaster will be averted. In the present, the Demon King mocks the real Lyon’s sacrifice, saying it never would have changed anything.
Eirika and Ephraim prepare to fight him. L'Arachel tells Eirika that although all but one of the Sacred Stones have been destroyed, they can still win. The power to truly defeat the Demon King does not come from the stones, but from their willpower, and if they are strong enough, they can prevail. She holds up the Stone of Rausten and imprisons Fomortiis’ soul in it. Now they must kill his body to complete the sealing. The twins and their troops prepare for battle, and the Demon King prepares to summon his own army of powerful monsters. However, this battle is typically very anticlimactic as the player can just have Tana kill the Demon King instantly with a legendary weapon boosted by the Triangle Attack’s guaranteed critical hit, or they can just have Seth do the job.
After the Demon King’s death, the army disbands and returns home. Eirika and Ephraim finally make it home to Renais after saying farewell to everyone. They promise to help rebuild the continent and help its people heal from the scars of war. That was what Lyon would’ve at least wanted them to do.
In a post credits cutscene, Ephraim tells Eirika there has been a calamitous earthquake in Grado, which is being administered by Duessel following the deaths of Vigarde and Lyon. He tells her to stay in Renais to protect it while he goes to Grado to help. This leads into the sequel.
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The sequel picks up with a description of Magvel’s political situation. Due to Orson’s rule, Renais has been completely devastated, and King Ephraim spends much of his early reign focusing on rebuilding his kingdom. With the death of the main line of the royal family after Vigarde’s and Lyon’s death, Duessel declares himself regent until a suitable heir can be found, but he too has his hands tied with an earthquake which has devastated the capital. The other five countries also demand reparations from Grado for its role in starting the war, invading and brutalizing all of them, destroying almost every Sacred Stone, and almost resurrecting the Demon King. The already weakened Jehanna remains wracked with unrest, and the inexperienced King Joshua lives under constant threat of assassination due to the decimation of the royal guard in the war. Carcino descended into civil war after its councilors, who had previously divided into pro- and anti-Grado factions, turned on each other, while Frelia has steadily brought its remains under its sphere of influence. Only Rausten and Frelia survived the war largely intact, and only Rausten still has its Sacred Stone. The two countries thus become the dominant powers on the continent but immediately enter into a power struggle for influence over the other four countries.
King Hayden abdicates the throne due to a severe illness, and Innes is crowned king, while L’Arachel becomes pontifex of Rausten. Her first act as pontifex is to send aid to Jehanna, reducing the effects of a regional famine and providing troops to protect Joshua. But this only increases Joshua’s perception as a Rausten puppet. Innes’ first act is to increase reparation payments from Grado, which Duessel protests as most of his treasury is already drained handling the earthquake. In response, Innes cuts Frelia’s earthquake relief aid, which sours relations with the more helpful Rausten.
Meanwhile, Eirika journeys to Grado to help suppress bandit raids in the ruined country, only to run into more monsters. She is shocked to see the monsters, as she believed they all went away when the Demon King was defeated. She shares her findings with Duessel, who concludes they may not have fully defeated the Demon King.
The Carcino civil war continues. Tana goes to Renais, hoping to ask her friend to send more troops to reinforce the pro-Frelia faction. This puts Eirika at odds with Ephraim, who is obviously infatuated with L’Arachel, who has supported pro-Rausten factions in Carcino. Eventually, Eirika decides to disobey her brother’s orders and travel to Carcino to help Tana. In Carcino, Eirika and her troops link up with pro-Frelia forces and take the capital from pro-Rausten forces, reuniting the country. Carcino’s surviving councilors then petition for annexation by Frelia, and Innes accepts, angering Ephraim and L’Arachel. When she returns, Ephraim chastises his sister for upsetting the balance of power, while Eirika blames Ephraim for abandoning their old Frelian friends in favor of L’Arachel. In respnose to the annexation, L’Arachel orders an embargo placed on Frelia and the new Frelia-Jehanna border closed. She asks Ephraim to help enforce the embargo, and he sends troops to the border, only to come under attack from an anti-Joshua rebel group. Investigating further, he learns of a conspiracy against Joshua and barely stops an assassination attempt on him. He follows the assassins’ paper trail back to Carcino, which implicates Frelia. Enraged, Rausten and Jehanna declare war on Frelia. Renais is split in two between Ephraim, who supports L’Arachel, and Eirika, who supports Innes. The player now chooses which sibling they want to follow for the next few chapters.
If the player sides with Eirika, she apologizes to Ephraim and takes her knights to Frelia, where she meets up with Tana and her pegasus knight corps. They march east to Carcino and repel a Rausten/Jehanna assault in the eastern mountains, only to come under attack from more monsters along the way. Eirika, Innes, and Tana fight off the monsters and advance into Jehanna.
If the player sides with Ephraim, he watches Eirika leave and blames himself for being too rash, just like when he left her and Fado behind to fight Grado. L’Arachel arrives and asks for his help in Grado. Duessel requests assistance against a rebellion in the east which seeks to overthrow him and establish a Carcino-style republic. Ephraim and his knights head south to Grado, where they find the main rebel army under attack by monsters. Exploiting their situation, they charge the enemy lines and rout them. However, as he returns to Renais, Ephraim wonders why the monsters didn’t attack his army as well. L’Arachel sends Ephraim another message and apologizes for inconveniencing him again. She now needs him to go north to Jehanna and repel a Frelian invasion.
In Jehanna, the Frelian forces, led by Innes, Tana, and Eirika, advance on Jehanna Hall, which is guarded by Joshua and his troops. Joshua lures the Frelians into the desert, where L’Arachel and her Rausten troops attack them from the north and Ephraim attacks from the south. However, when Eirika and Ephraim realize they are on opposite sides of the battle, they refuse to keep fighting and withdraw their forces, angering Innes and L’Arachel. Innes is later wounded and forced to retreat, while a mutiny in Joshua’s ranks also forces him to retreat. Having taken too many casualties, L’Arachel withdraws her forces, ending the battle in a stalemate. The Jehanna mutiny spreads, and soon the kingdom is engulfed in its own civil war. The twins, aided by a sympathetic Tana, decide to fight the rebels and protect Joshua, realizing his death will only cause more chaos in the region. As they clear the kingdom of rebels, they encounter more monsters which attempt to attack civilians, but they drive them off. The monsters appear to flee south to Grado, which makes Ephraim very suspicious.
Seth suddenly appears and tells them Renais has fallen to a Grado army again. Eirika is shocked Grado would do such a thing after everything they’ve gone through, while Ephraim demands to know how they raised an army strong enough to break through his defenses. Seth informs them a substantial portion of the military and general public even welcomed Grado, tired of Ephraim’s aggressive attitude and hoping to benefit from overthrowing him. Another Grado army has invaded Jehanna as well. There are reports of monsters among the Grado ranks. Eirika realizes Duessel had orchestrated the tensions between Frelia and Rausten the whole time, manipulating Innes and L’Arachel into starting a war. Ephraim realizes Grado is probably going after L’Arachel and Rausten’s stone and hurries north, while Eirika stays behind to evacuate Joshua and the capital’s citizens. Jehanna falls within weeks, and Eirika and Joshua escape to Carcino, Tana barely convincing her brother to grant them asylum. Ephraim reaches Rausten and warns L’Arachel about the new threat, urging her to call a truce with Innes. L’Arachel, instantly recognizing the new threat to the stone, agrees to send diplomats. However, Innes refuses to agree to a ceasefire, demanding she recognize all of Frelia’s gains.
Eirika and Tana attempt to head to the Frelian capital to talk to Innes about the invasion, but they find Grado has also overrun western Carcino, cutting them off. Tana suggests taking a boat to get around them, but Eirika instead decides to go to Renais. She admits she and Ephraim haven’t been the best leaders for Renais lately, but she will show the people she really cares about them. She marches into Renais and in a surprise attack routs the Grado forces. In an act of mercy, she grants amnesty to those who had sided with Grado if they swear an oath of loyalty to her. This earns her back the support of the people, who drive out the remaining Grado troops. Eirika and Tana then march north to Frelia, relieving the capital from a Grado assault. Innes, realizing his stubbornness had only plunged the continent into war and almost gotten him killed, decides to abdicate in favor of Tana. Tana then orders the Frelians to withdraw from Carcino, sign a ceasefire with Rausten, and march south to the Renais-Grado border.
Simultaneously, Ephraim and L’Arachel march south from Rausten and attack the Grado troops occupying Jehanna, liberating the kingdom. They link up with Eirika’s forces on the border, where Innes apologizes to L’Arachel for his actions and the twins wonder about what could have driven Duessel to do this. The combined Frelia/Rausten army invades Grado, fighting through wave after wave of monsters after defeating Grado’s relatively small human army. Many locals flock to the army’s banner, having lost all support for Duessel because of the monsters pillaging their villages and slaughtering them. They reach the capital and storm the palace, where Duessel awaits them.
Duessel explains how Grado had been devastated the worst of the six nations, first by its role in the war and second by the earthquake. At first, all he wanted was to get food and resources so he could rebuild Grado and his people wouldn’t starve. But then he found Lyon’s research notes and the Dark Stone, hidden deep in the castle vaults. He was tempted by the Dark Stone’s power and decided to use it to ease his people’s suffering. But the Dark Stone took advantage of his negative thoughts. It amplified his frustration with Innes, who had withdrawn the earthquake aid when Duessel protested the reparations, and with L’Arachel, whose haughtiness and hypocritical enforcement of religious morals (especially with regards to Ephraim) irritated him. Eventually, the Dark Stone took him over as well, and he began raising an army of monsters while he manipulated Frelia and Rausten into fighting each other, so he could invade the distracted Rausten and destroy its stone. With all of Magvel under Grado’s control, its people would no longer be divided by borders. There would be no countries to withhold aid from each other. The people would be able to rebuild, with the help of others.
He laughs madly before temporarily regaining control, begging them to kill him now before the fragment of the Demon King’s soul which has possessed him can escape. Ephraim obliges and kills him on the spot, only to realize too late this was again what was needed for the Demon King to seize full control over Duessel, whose corpse now powers up with demonic energy. The Demon King declares he has been reborn again, and once he takes Rausten’s stone and destroys it, he will return to full power. Ephraim and Eirika declare he will not get the chance and attack. The twins and their allies battle the Demon King once again throughout the castle, and although he is in a weakened form, he still puts up a serious fight. Eventually, he is defeated once again, and Eirika shatters the Dark Stone.
With the Demon King defeated again, everyone returns home to rebuild a second time. Recognizing his flaws as king, Ephraim decides to abdicate the throne to Eirika. Eirika sends aid to Grado, this time properly helping them rebuild, while L’Arachel, with her new husband Ephraim at her side, restores Joshua to the throne and sends aid to stabilize his kingdom. Tana withdraws all remaining Frelian troops from Carcino and grants it independence, and she cancels Grado’s need to pay reparations. With the support of the other nations, a distant relative of Vigarde is chosen as the new emperor of Grado. Although the continent will remain scarred by the war for decades to come, its new rulers vow to work as hard as they can to restore the peace and make sure another war like it doesn’t break out. If Eirika and Tana get an A support, the epilogue mentions they marry and bring Frelia and Renais together in an alliance that eventually leads to the two countries’ unification.
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In the Annionaverse, the sequel does not exist. Issues with Path of Radiance’s 3D graphics and overseas localization put immense strain on Intelligent Systems’ developers, who decided to scrap the GBA sequel so they could focus more on Path of Radiance.
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I admit I ran out of ideas for the sequel.
A bit of a short update today as I really don't have many ideas for this game and its completely original sequel, but I'll balance it out with Path of Radiance, which even though I cut out lots of content (including two character side-arcs for Marcia and Jill) is still quite plot heavy.
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