Marty

From a story standpoint, I just assume they work solely as a special charm that allows them to change jobs or something at the shrines, nothing else. And I don't really mind, it's not like they always explain gameplay-related items like the seals. From the gameplay side of things, absolutely not. I love how accessible they make the game because it offers the perfect opportunity for a casual player to transition into classic mode, and to generally just enjoy the game on your own pace without being annoyed by all the artificial difficultys that come with classic mode. I wouldn't mind an achievment that can only be obtained by playing through the game without using it, but all in all I like that there isn't one because lately the FE fandom has been more about bragging rights than actually enjoying the games.

Not really. I thought about this before and thought about how little time there is for an announcement till the game comes out but then I went back and checked the time period between fates announcement and the japanese release + some other nintendo games and realized there's nothing to worry about. We're definitely getting info by the next big smash announcement since they are definitely putting the protagonist from the new FE there, if not as a playable character then at least as an assist trophy or something. They wouldn't want to loose on cheap marketing specially with all the attention FE got in sm4sh. I feel like sm4sh is coming out around july~august (it's smash, it's not like they need a holiday for it to sell) while FE and Metroid Prime 4 will come out during winter holidays.

Wrong. The thing about the timeline discussions of Zelda is that the story has very little to do with it. Besides SS, Zelda was never really about story, yes, but the series has always about it's world. Hyrule is so magical because it's locations are so clear throughout the games, and considering the focus of the franchise is our adventure as we go through it's reimaginations through the years, some things stand out more than others and everyone is bound to make a connection. Not everyone who played Zelda before Hyrule Historia came out cared about the timeline, but we all recognized Lake Hylia or the altar of the Triforce and made a mental note of it's differences and similarities in each game. I feel like this is quite a common misconception because people always interpret story as the actual plot we see in cutscenes and dialogue, but worldbuilding also plays a role in that and that has always been a constant in TLoZ. Agreed. I'm quite new to the FE fandom, but whenever I see someone arguing about an unified timeline they usually start by saying it's purely out of fun to see how they could fit the games together, I've yet to see someone go as crazy over it as TLOZ fans does- and I've been into TLOZ theorys since before Hyrule Historia came out. I'd also go on to say its the contrary, honestly: we fans aren't asking for connections or a timeline or whatsoever, we are happy with sequels and prequels and so on whenever we get them, but it's mostly Intelligent Systems who has been pushing out the connections as of lately since the Archanea saga is obviously more popular than it's other games and they don't really know how to handle the series immense growth in popularity besides exploiting it.

First reason would be the characters, the second is how accessible it is. Fire Emblem is one of the few RPG's I've came acrossing where you can pick it up and start playing at any point. The systems are intricate, yes, but it doesn't take long for one to understand the basics enough to have fun playing the game. And it's also made with non-grinding in mind (although later titles offer that option), so besides the lack of casual mode in older games, I can play through the game as intended progressing purely out of my skill alone and not because I decided to spend x hours leveling my characters. It's also fun that the franchise is quite history-heavy but not due to the history itself (I'd say only 4, 9&10 have a bigger story honestly), but because the games are so character driven. You can complete the game without bothering with the plot at all but if you stop to explore each character and get their supports you end up finding out a lot about their world, and which ends up inciting the want to replay the games to try a different strategy and get the supports you lacked in the previous playthrough, etc. I'd put it right alongside Zelda as one of these franchises that keeps on giving as long as you want to get more into it.

Yeah, that whole sequence never really made much sense to me. I'd imagine he defeated her somehow in Mila's Temple and then they took her to Duma's Temple where she assumed her Divine Dragon form, but that still doesn't explain how the Falchion ended up with her (since I assume Rudolf didn't just handle it to her voluntarily). Unless she was defeated in her temple and they transported her actual sealed-dragon-corpse all the way to the far end of Riguel. lol

Rudolf did not kill Mila. She sealed herself with the blade so it wouldnt be used to slay her brother.

The Royal Sword showing up in the plot as Alm-exclusive is directly related to the plot as a hint of what's to come, and the event is completely optional as well (I assume, since I never skipped the chest to see what would happen lol). In case of the Falchion, Alm is the only one (besides Celica) who can access the are that leads to it, so it's pretty self assuring, I guess. But It does raise a fair point on wheter or not anyone can wear the Valentian Falchion. I haven't played FE1/11/3/12 yet, but I read in discussions before that one of the antagonists holds the Archanean Falchion before it gets to Marth (although he doesn't actually fight with it), so I'd assume anyone can hold it? After all, the intention behing it's creating was giving Valentia a weapon to end Mila and/or Duma in case they went through the degeneration.

I see. I haven't played Genealogy yet so I wasn't sure how major/minor blood work, but that sounds pretty messy. But I agree that the retcons to make Echoes fit more with the rest of the Archanea saga are a godsend. On another note, I really want to see what they could do with the genealogy remake in that regard (retcons). I assume they would explain the whole holy blood ordeal more since they've beeb referencing it in fe13&15.

Huh, so I suppose all kingdoms in the Archanea series must have a ruler with dragon blood in them. Boring. But yeah, I'd say major/minor blood and the appearance of brands in Archanea doesn't work in the same way as Jugdral, even though both exist in the same world and share Naga as the major divine dragon. It makes no sense for Lissa to have no brand even though she shares the same parents as Chrom and Emmeryn. Plus both her son Owain, Lucina and any other kids Chrom gets also get the brand, even though all of them have minor blood (although it's possible for them to have Grima blood in them too if you have Robin as the parent, which is fun I suppose) Going even further, there's also the Valentia mess. We have no idea who Alm's mother is, but it's feasible to assume that Berkut has at least minor Duma blood. Then there's Celica whose mother most likely had no Mila's blood (unless Mila just mad a pact with any of her priestesses?) making her have minor Mila blood, just like her brother.

Chrom, Lissa and Robin definitely do, although Lissa's brand never surfaced (which imo is just some bad writing for cheap supports because it makd absolutely no sense and they never explained why, it's just there for support convos). Grima being artificially made doesn't mean anything as he is still considered a divine (albeit fell) dragon, Naga herself refeers to him as an equal. It's just that his bloodline was convoluted. However, I don't remembered being stated that Validar did not have the brand- it's just said he can't handle hosting Grima. Regarding Alm and Celica, I don't think neither of them have any divine dragon blood at all. Duma and Mila never made a blood pact with anyone, the brands are just results of a prophecy, and they don't seem to fade after both dragons are defeated like Grima's. But I'd say it doesn't really mean much because the brands in new games were probably only meant to be references to Jugdral and aren't really developed in the same fashion they did there.

That depends. Everything that happens in Heroes isn't canon (like Roy and Lilina meeting young Elliot and Hector in tempest trials/paralogue) but we can take the interactions themselves as canon regarding the characters personality and how they would act around each other. At least that's how I see it. Also, Walhart not being able to equip Chrom or Lucina's falchion doesn't mean anything. They can't wear each others weapon either, plus Lucina's says Marth's Falchion even after chapter 15, so it's just a gameplay thingy. For all we know, Walhart is a valid descendent of Alm who could wield the Falchion.

Thabes labyrinth is definitely canon, but I do agree that Alm and Celica going there is debatable (after all, they had a whole continent to fix and rule). I personally believe that it happened in some fashion and Alm's falchion was used to seal away grima, but it's power was already weakened from fighting Duma so the sword was lost when Grima eventually resurfaced and caused the Schism, either by breaking or just loosing power. And the tale of the Falchion was not as well know in Valentia compared to Archanea, so when Grima showed up no one really tried to get it. It's definitely a plot hole in Awakening, but it surprised me that they never addressed that in Echoes, unless they wanted to imply that it's in Thabes.

Although it's not really implied in the story (although it's not hard to see it if you so want), from a developer stand point I'd say Alm being raised in Zofia was also to give him a bigger grasp on everything. It's kinda like what they did with Corrin in fates except done correctly: He's a Rigelian Prince raised within Zofia, and although he does exhibit some unusual traits (like how he doesn't find Rigel cold while the rest of his army does), it reflects on how he would rule later on. It's not that hard to headcanon that this is what Rudolf envisioned when he gave him away to Mycen. A Prince raised as a commoner in Zofia would understand them and would be more prone to unite the continent after he ascended onto the Rigel throne: the people of Rigel would accept the heir regardless of where he lived since he was still the heir apparent, while the people of Zofia would still need convincing. Alm's actions had the people in Valentia whispering about him becoming the next king even before his royal blood was made public, we hear about it in Celica's route and, if I'm not mistaken, in Alm's too when they go into that one village close to Nuibaba's Abode. Plus, it's not like he just waited until things happened by some magic string of fates. If Rigel didnt extend an offer for Desaix then the whole coup in Zofia wouldve never happened, so no Deliverance for Alm to join and eventually lead. If Mycen wasn't aware of the plan, he would probably have joined them and Alm's role standing out for him would not have been as big. Heck, the whole reason he was so adamant on not letting Alm leave Ram village was so he would stay safe there until the eventual war broke out. I don't think he expected Alm to rise as much as he did; that was probably just some really good luck on his side. But he did lay out the events that would allow his growth as a soldier.

That would only be the case if Robin was a blank slate in which we can build a personality through those choices, but they aren't They're placeholder characters with a defined personality (although quite bland) and the only thing we have actual control over is their appearance (support doesn't count because every character has supports, they just have more options). I never once projected myself on my Robin because I always saw him as his own dude, I didn't even play with his appearance. Their personality is expanded more on Heroes and Warriors as well.

The fire emblem is portrayed as a possible weapon in Awakening as its said to be able to change the coursw of the war and has the power to free Grima. I'm pretty sure there's at least one mention of it being able to grant a wish or something in the early game?? I agree with you otherwise though, the choices are as relevant as me saying Robin liked to sunbathe in Plegia. It's never shown so it's only a headcanon.