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I rarely post but I found a video that seems to show all the Golden Deer post timeskip in battle for anybody who wants to see all the glow-ups. There are only fleeting glimpses of Leonie but you can see everyone else pretty well. I think it is from a debug mode or something because all the character portraits are pre timeskip and everyone is level 1. Just thought it was interesting.

If you want to go in blind or avoid spoilers, turn back now!! .... .... .... ..... ..... Anyways Thanks to Nintendo's NYC store displaying the Seasons of the Warfare Edition's artbook, we were able to catch a glimpse of two characters that we haven't seen before in the promo materials. Here they are: Thanks to catpawcatwall on the Fire Emblem subreddit for making the post: Source: According to the OP on Reddit, the characters' names are:

In the video attached, it is possible to see the models(but not portraits, oddly enough) of certain Golden Deer students. It seems that some changes are rather subtle, but the character models are visibly different regardless. Additionally, every character seems to be in their unique outfit instead of a class outfit. Maybe this is the result of hacking, as Lysithea can oddly enough be seen as a level one unit.

Whenever I replay Awakening, I hold off on doing Paralogue 4 (the one where you recruit Anna) until after chapter 10. I also don't do any supports between chapters 9 and 10. So...do other people do this or something similar, or am I just weird?

I'm sorry this is so messy, I typed it in a hurry. Let me know if I missed anything. According to Claude in one of the japanese commercial trailers the church is hiding something, Seteth refers to (possibly the protagonist) as having "dangerous blood" (more likely than not a reference to Nemesis), and the adoptive father of Ashe, Lord Lonato, is leading a rebellion against the church. You'd think this would be a no brainer right? A church in a JRPG? Of course it's secretly evil right? That's what I thought, but then I started taking a closer look at things and the conflict seems a lot more complex than I thought it was at first. The Flame Emperor, the man who orchestrated the bandit attack on our three MCs at the beginning of the game, is also working against the Church of Seiros. We don't know the true goals of him OR his Death Knight subordinate who reportedly kidnaps people at night, but we do know that they aren't friendly to the Church of Seiros either. Now if the "good" and "bad" sides of this were unambiguously so then why would the strict but loving adoptive father of Ashe decide to rebel against the same target that our resident homicidal asswagons have in mind? There's no doubt that Lonato has a decent motivation for doing so since an out of nowhere heel turn makes no sense, but if that's the case and the church has done something to warrant people rebelling against them than why are Red Mask and Skeletor doing the same? Only time will tell I guess. Then we have "Those that slither in the dark" or the "Nightcrawlers" or whatever. What's THEIR deal? Are they working with the Church of Seiros, that's highly doubtful. They look like your typical Fire Emblem dark mage schemers complete with dark clothing and abnormal physical appearances. It's more likely that they're trying to resurrect Nemesis given what we've seen in the japanese commercial trailers of him busting through a wall and pulling apart some chains and I highly doubt they'd resurrect the man that once did battle with Seiros if they were working with the church, but at the same time we also see Byleth doing battle with him out of context with what appears to be an energy arrow shot by Claude in his arm. I doubt Nemesis is pure evil though given his wide eyed shock at Seiros referencing "The Red Canyon", could this be a look of remorse in his eyes? We ALSO see Rhea falling in slow motion in what appears to be the world's best Emmeryn impression, I don't know about you but that looks like a death to me and a dramatic death like that wouldn't be given to a villain now would it? All of this information and what little context I have to piece it all together leads me to believe that: The "true" antagonists will be determined by whose house you choose in some way (obviously). The villains of this game may have more focus placed on their motivations, since the conflict is seemingly more complex this time around. I don't have a third thing.

I haven't seen this footage around and it seems to only have been uploaded in the past hour or so, but it looks fairly like raw footage from someone has the game. Other videos I have come across: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIKO85Ib5gs (tutorial footage) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GkvAuD7VL0 (early footage also including tutorial and cutscenes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDE3wClZQJk (video showing tutoring sometime later in game)

I watched The Hidden World yesterday and I think it was a lovely ending to a overall well done trilogy. Apparently the author of the original books, Cressida Cowell, named Hiccup and Astrid's kids Zephyr(girl) and Nuffink(boy). Omg I squeed. I love it when things show a canon romance develop and then show the resulting kids. I've loved dragons since Spyro, so of course I had to watch the first movie when it came out. Loved it. Some of the "dragons" don't really look much like dragons imo but that's not a big deal. Ruffnut and Tuffnut reminded me of a couple Fire Emblem OCs I've had for awhile: twin wyvern riders, one male and one female. As time went on they started to show some differences. Most obvious one is riding one two headed dragon instead of two separate ones. And now I'm seeing that my Cerai is a bit smarter than Ruffnut, but I can see her annoying her way out of a prisoner status too. Difference is she wouldn't lead the villain right to where he could strike, she's smarter than that. Villains/antagonists seem to be less memorable than the heroes' side. I remember the Red Death and Drago in name alone basically. Grimmel is probably gonna be the same way. Most memorable thing with him even now is how he died. That had to be planned. Hiccup lost a leg and got a metal replacement in the first movie, and in the last movie he detaches it to make Grimmel fall to his death. Nice. Stoick's death was touching, even if I forgot who killed him/how. I want to say Drago but not sure. Valka is badass momma. EDIT - I was reminded what killed Stoick.

Sonya's ending states that she tried to find a cure for witches and goes on to imply Sonya becomes a witch herself. But isn't Falchion the cure for witches? Also, witches in this game had their soul sacrificed to Duma. Would killing Duma not kill all the witches? And how could Sonya even become a witch if there was no Duma to sacrifice her soul to?

So, I finished SoV yesterday. I didn't own the game at launch but I've been playing off and on for the better part of a year/ year and a half. From what I've read before I bought the game, I went in with very high expectations. Now that I've finally beat the main story, I kinda wanna gush and gripe about the game. Foremost, visually the game is stunning. It's easy to tell a lot of thought and dedication went into giving this game an appealing and cohesive artsyle. The portraits are gorgeous and detailed and the models have vastly improved since Awakening. All of these visual spectacles complement the impressive voice acting performances making SoV probably my favorite FE title aesthetically. Like, getting really nitpicky, the only thing I could think to complain about is that Alm amd Celica's touch screen portraits dont react to when other characters are speaking to them. I'm not gonna talk at length about the story because there's not much to it. It's simplicity is a refreshing break from Fates' convoluted narratives though Berkut's death scene is probably the worst thing I've seen out of the FE franchise. Going off that, I'm glad the developers kept the game fresh by adding characters that do not appear in Gaiden, but like, I wish there was more to them. Besides Berkut, all of the new additions are static (not gonna count Fernand's death revelation as dynamic characterization) and even Berkut's ending doesn't feel earned. And I love Conrad but his character does more for Celica then it does for himself. However, I do think the a lot of the main cast are strong. A lot of the characters (most notably the village boys) grow from their time at war and even in their supports. Speaking of, I think this game comes close to finding a balance between a few, well written supports and many supports that are 'meh' in quality. I feel bad that Slique's only support is Faye, especially since it's more about Faye being dismissive than it is about Silque. I think Lukas could also benefit from another support partner as I think his 'cold, calculated' demeanor could be expanded on. I could also make a case of giving Kliff a support with maybe Luthier or Zeke to expand his horizons. This leads to the characters' endings. I'm gonna be brief and just say I like Kliff's and Delthea's along with Tatiana and Zeke's. I dislike Sonya's and believe that Leon's, Mathilda's, Faye's and the Whitewings' were just bad. I'll elaborate if anyone asks. Now, onto the gameplay. The maps look pretty but the design itself seems rather uninspired besides being based off the originals in Gaiden. And I know I'm gonna get some shit for saying this (I haven't played 4 or 5) but this is the most Movement Emblem game I've played and it's agitating. From Alm's long, open maps to Celica's cramped, terrain infested ones, if you're not using a horse/wings/ Dread Fighter boots you're gonna have a bad time. It's hard to comprehend how a game that balanced archers so well couldn't do the same for Barons and Sages/Priestesses. And this sucks because none of those classes are bad! They're unique in the fact that they benefit the most from shields and rings but they're so incapacitated by 4 movement spaces that the strategy it takes to incorporate them into gameplay is often not worth it, especially when the 7/8/9 movment units can accomplish map goals (all 2 of em) that much faster. However, these 'slower' units have an easier time in the dungeon aspect of the game. The smaller maps and limited unit pool allow normally unfavorable units to shine. I think the dungeon crawling in general is one of the better aspects of SoV and really differentiate it from other FE titles. I mentioned at the beginning that it took me quite a while to beat this game. And I think this is mainly attributed to the gameplay. I often found myself bored and not invested enough to play the game consistently. I wanna partly blame this on the story, but Fates' plot was a lot messier and I just had more fun experimenting with units in FE 14. Maybe I should've played SoV on hard mode but I was initially worried the gameplay would be drastically different than what I wad used to. I also think this game is less strategy and more annoying gimmicks to inflate the difficulty. Conjure/invoke is cheap on both sides and are very rng reliant, along with the teleporting witches. I did have fun playing the game and would still recommend it, but I was pretty underwhelmed with most aspects of the gameplay. Questions: When exactly does Jedah learn Alm has the brand and why does he still focus solely on Celica after the fact if his main goal is to feed Duma a branded soul? Do you think the new characters added or subtracted to the main story? How are you supposed to make money in this game??? There's nowhere near enough gold to max out and create all the weapons, even for a handful of characters. It's a little ridiculous. For those whose favorite or close to favorite FE game is SoV, what draws you to this title? I think it's an enjoyable experience but, personally, I think the replay value is pretty low. What units were most useful to you(or were your favorite)? I heard good things about Mathilda and the Whitewings but most of my cavs fell off late game (my best cav was actually Lukas lol) and my only pegs that made it to endgame were Claire and Catria (and Cat barely got in). If you've played or experienced Gaiden, is SoV a faithful remake? Is there more that could've been done to modernize the game without compromising Gaiden's integrity (like maybe add Anna)? What were some other issues, nitpicky or significant, you had with this game? Lastly, would you still recommend Gaiden to someone if they've already played SoV? Why or why not? Sorry, if this got a little longwinded, I'm excited i finally beat this game and can finally focus on 6 and 11 before Three Houses is released.

In case anyone didn't see the tags, beware those who enter, here be spoilers Longtime reader, first-time poster. Thought I'd give my crack theory followed by a genuine discretion about Byleth's crest (called it the mark of Byleth so that the title was marginally less spoilery). So now we know that Byleth has not just a major crest, but a crest of ???. This crest is also seen on the "Nemesis the Liberation King" who is depicted in the flashback fighting the armies of Seiros with his bone sword. It is also seen on Sothis' clothing. Byleth's aura has been shown to be dark/shadowy. Now some wild speculation but with all the comparisons going around between Genealogy and Three Houses right now due to Crests seeming to mirror holy bloodlines, I have been thinking about who the Genealogy equivalent of Byleth might be. Let's see, we have a dark bloodline with a dark past that was suppressed by the holy church/bloodlines. We have a dark, shadowy aura. We don't know who Byleth's mother is. We have an extremely powerful dragon deity of unknown alignment whispering in our ear. But that doesn't sound right, does it? Unless... And it came to me: Byleth is Arvis. I mean he probably is could be the whole mysterious chosen one who could ruin everything if he goes down the wrong path Corrin/Robin style, but just think about it. We are the dark bloodline. And while Seiros, like Ashera, may not be as pure good as she first appears, that doesn't necessarily make us good either. If so, it seems that Byleth may have to arrange an academy barbecue. I feel so, so... dastardly _________________________________________________________________ But more seriously, what do people think that Byleth's Crest is? Is it basically the Mark of Grima (evil but protagonist doesn't want it and actively fights against it)? Is it the mark of the chosen one (indicates power and goodness)? Is it like the blood of Loptyr (evil, and can corrupt its bearer or cause them to unwittingly bring about a new age of darkness) Or is it something else entirely?

https://old.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/bovt8v/three_houses_spoiler_thread/ A fairly credible Reddit user is currently doing a AMA claiming to have insider information on 3 Houses. As with any leaks take everything said with a grain of salt. TL;DR main leaks:

SPOILERS LAY AHEAD! (Used to explain idea process) Hey there everyone, so to sum things up I'm a little new to Fire Emblem. I've played some of the games in the past and have just started getting into the lore but I enjoy the role playing aspect as well. My specific question is based on looking into the creation of an OC who is descended from a Laguz line of dragons or a Wolf Laguz. I wasn't sure how to go about this and was wondering if it could fit into the timeline of Awakening or if I should base my OC on something else. I kind of wanted the OC to be a descendant of Rajaion and/or Ena's line since they were the only canon Laguz dragons to have an Unnamed Child which could lead to a Descendant but the likelihood of any of them surviving to Awakening's point is slim to none (As shown with Panne's supports and the persecution of Taguel) at the same time the Dragon Laguz bear enough resemblance to humans/Beorc to pass as one in a human/Beorc form so I believe there could be a slim, if somewhat far fetch'd, possibility of this working out. Priam was another source I looked at since he is a descendant from Ike, a character from Rajaion and Ena's time, as well. This isn't really based on game play mechanics (As I don't believe Robin can class into a Taguel or Manakeet form) but rather on the idea of creating a fun OC to play as in Fire Emblem Awakening Role Plays. I'm willing to make a different character of course which is more human/Beorc based but I enjoyed poking at this idea and was wondering what you guys thought :3 Would it work out? Why or why not? How would I manage such a character to fit into Awakening's story and lore without making it a Mary Sue or Gary Sue? Other questions I worried about was whether or not Laguz could be considered as the ancestor of Taguel and if the character should be a Taguel instead. Manakeets and Dragon Laguz aren't related as far as I know so I didn't see that idea working out to well. But again, I'm open to all sorts of ideas and or interpretations of this :3

Hey Folks! So I've been running through Thracia for the first time using the Translation patch and have hit something of a roadblock on Chapter 23 Cyas is Recruited at the beginning of the chapter and every guide says if you don't choose Sety then Cyas joins you (if you choose Cety Cyas leaves at the end of the chapter). Sety Enters the map and kills the boss when someone from your army enters the green square; however, if you kill the boss guarding the castle before the NPC turn he doesn't appear at all. Heres what I tried, Killed boss on the first turn and seized the castle. Cyas left at the End of the chapter for the Tower of Blagi rather than joining my army signifying that I'd recruited Sety Instead (though I didn't). When that didn't work I baited the green square with a Dracoknight and Sety appeared. I brought him to the upper right corner with a Draco later on, but didn't recruit him. I finished the chapter without recruiting Sety and Cyas still left. Am I missing a detail to his recruitment here? Has anyone else had this problem? Is this perhaps a glitch?

When I looked back on the story of Shadows of Valentia, I realized something that confused me: how does Desaix know Alm is Rudolf's son? Rudolf gave Alm to Mycen to protect Alm; his very existence was supposed to be a secret known only to them. Sure, the fact that Rudolf and Mycen were old friends was fairly common knowledge, but Rudolf having a kid at all was supposed to be a complete secret. And yet, when Desaix hears from Fernand about a kid named Alm that's Mycen's grandson, he has this to say: Desaix: …What? Mycen’s grandson?! Fernand: Indeed. Clive has thrown all of our ideals at the feet of the unworthy. He’s made the boy a figurehead just to leverage some decrepit hero’s name. Well, I say damn them all! There. You have my story. Now kill me and be done with it. Desaix: But this doesn’t make sense. Mycen didn’t have any… Ah… Now I see this for what it is. Rudolf, you villainous dastard… I understand knowing Mycen never had kids and figuring something was up, but immediately concluding that Rudolf has something to do with it is rather odd. It could be excused as just him thinking Rudolf's sabotaging him and not that he's figured out Alm's true heritage, but, when you defeat him in Act 3, he says this: Desaix: Damn you, Mycen… You think to…hand Zofia over to Rudolf’s pup…? T-traitorous dastard…! How does he know? It's strongly implied that Jedah doesn't know until he hears about Alm having the brand. Yet Desaix is able to figure it out? How does one jump from "Mycen never had kids" to "this kid is Rudolf's secret son that no one knows even exists".

After finishing Echoes, one of the cutscenes in particular moved me so much, I felt compelled to write it out myself, as a sort of writing warm-up. That's why I'm calling it a semi-fic. I have added some dialogue and small actions to the cutscene, but not much else in the way of extras. I'm not a hundred percent sure content like this would be accepted on fanfiction.net or AO3, so I figured this was the ideal place for feedback. I'm most interested in how I did on a technical level- things like do I have a good range of vocabulary, are my descriptions effective, can you visualize what's going on? So, if anyone wants to give this a read, I would be very grateful and also probably willing to read something of yours in exchange (provided it's roughly the same length). Two warnings here. First one is for spoilers, if you haven't finished Echoes and think you may want to play it someday, don't read this. It's one of the best moments of the game, possibly objectively, and knowing what happens beforehand will spoil your experience. And second, I am warning for some violence, but nothing too graphic, so I'd say 13+ is appropriate (though if you're under 13 you're probably too young to be on this website afaik). Anyway, click below for the piece. Word count is 1336.

Whenever people talk about villains, characters who are under the influence of an evil force such as Lyon, Julius, Hardin are talked about. But if they're being mind controlled, possessed or brainwashed, than that is no longer them. A villain is someone who is contemptible but a possessed person is not deserving of scorn because they have no agency when they do their actions. That's like saying Celica was a villain when she fought Alm but no one calls Celica at that point in time a villain because she was possessed and had no free will. So why is Celica, in that moment, not considered a villain but characters like Julius are even though Celica is more responsible for getting possessed than Julius who just happened to touch some book and had no idea what he was getting into?

These are thoughts I had while replaying Genealogy and watching a let's play for Thracia 776. I love discussing the lore of Fire Emblem, and especially Jugdral, my favorite continent in the series. I am dabbling with writing a fanfiction about Cigyun, and this is an aspect of Jugdral law and culture that I became a little confused about. I would love to start a conversation about this with anyone else who is also passionate about discussing the lore of Jugdral. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE ENDINGS OF BOTH GAMES. As we know, in the ending of Genealogy of the Holy War Seliph becomes the king of Grannvale (and assorted other kingdoms, depending on your pairings and character deaths) and Leif becomes king of the New Kingdom of Thracia. This seems natural at first glance, but upon further reflection, they may not be the characters with the best claim to their respective thrones. SELIPH At the end of Genealogy of the Holy War, this conversation occurs: Lewyn: The crusaders' heirs will be returning home to assume their rightful thrones. And with the proper leadership, they can pool their strengths again to build a world, one where all can live in happiness. Seliph: A new world, you say... Lewyn: Yeah, Seliph.. a new world. And your role is the most crucial of all. You'll remain here in Belhalla, and you'll guide the rise of this new world as the King of Grannvale. Seliph: Hold on. I'M to be the king?! Lewyn: Mm-hmm. After all that's happened, you and Julia are the last living heirs of the blood of Grannvale's kings. The two of you have inherited the last will of all who lost their lives on this path. These souls watch over you, even now. You mustn't forget the light for which they strove. Seliph: Mm... I understand, Lewyn. So long as I have the power, I'll do all I can. Lewyn: Now, Julia. What do you say? Julia: I agree, of course. I wish to aid Lord Seliph, no, my lord brother, every step of the way. I know this path will be a grueling one, but that's all the more reason to give it my all. (Epilogue, Genealogy of the Holy War) Seliph is the oldest child of Deirdre, who was the heir to the throne. However, he did not inherit the major blood of Saint Heim, or the ability to wield the tome of Naga. His younger sister, Julia, was the only child of Deirdre to do this. It seems here that because of this, Lewyn appoints them to rule side-by-side. However, the epilogue states: In the royal capital of Belhalla itself, with overwhelming support from the public, Seliph was officially hailed as their king. The newly appointed king Seliph devoted himself to rebuilding his land and bringing peace to all, his goal nothing short of a prosperous world free of oppression and bigotry. And by his side, one would always find his loving wife, [wife], and his sister, Princess Julia, regarding his toil with the warmest of eyes... Here, Julia's role as a ruler alongside her brother Seliph, and her conviction to "give it her all" to be a good ruler for Grannvale, is reduced to simply watching over the progress of King Seliph "with warm eyes" as a princess. This seems strange to me, when she is the sole, rightful inheritor of the power of Naga and major holy blood of Saint Heim. According to King Azmur: "Lord Naga's lineage through Saint Heim must not be allowed to perish! I want the two of you to bear a son as soon as possible! If the child inherits the power of Naga, he shall be Prince of Grannvale. And once I pass on he'll become the King of Grannvale. Lord Arvis, until the boy is old enough to rule, you shall be the provisional king. Do raise him well." It seems, according to this, that inheriting "the power of Naga" (which I interpret to mean the power to wield the Naga tome, or major Heim blood) is a necessary precondition to inheriting the throne of Belhalla and thus, Grannvale. Azmur says that IF the child inherits the power of Naga he shall become King of Grannvale. That indicates that if their child does NOT inherit the power of Naga, he will not become King of Grannvale. From this quote alone, it seems that of the three children of Princess Deirdre, Julia alone would possess the right to the throne of Grannvale. However, I also noticed that King Azmur specifically asks for a great- grandson, and only makes reference to a male child inheriting the power of Naga. He doesn't make provisions for a potential great-granddaughter inheriting the power of Naga, which is what he gets in Julia. This seems strange, since he knows female children can inherit this power as well, such as Deirdre. It could be an indication that the Houses of Grannvale practice male-preference primogeniture, although I am not sure how this can exist alongside a system in which it is necessary for a child to possess the power of Naga in order to inherit the throne. It's also interesting that he doesn't name Deirdre Queen of Grannvale, but rather names her husband, Arvis, "provisional king." Even in cultures which practice male-preference primogeniture, it is preferable to have a female heir of your bloodline rule rather than pass control of a kingdom to another House, such as her husband's. (We see this in real world examples such as Queens Mary, Elizabeth I, Victoria, and Elizabeth II.) Does this indicate that in Grannvale women cannot legally serve as monarchs or leaders of Houses? This could be the case, although their neighboring countries don't seem to have the same restrictions, since Queen Rahna ruled Silesse for many years in Lewyn's absence, and Linoan serves as Duchess of Tahra for most of her life. Maybe only single/widowed women can rule countries, but if they marry their husband takes the reigns? Even if this is the case, should the seat of King of Grannvale have gone to Julia's husband and eventual child rather than Seliph, since she was the inheritor of the power of Naga? After all, none of Seliph's children will ever be capable of inheriting major Heim blood, or wielding the tome of Naga, unless he practices incest by marrying Julia (which I do not accept as possible canonically, since it is purely a mistake that this is even possible in the game) or perhaps marries someone else with minor Heim blood, such as Linoan (who is said to have never married in her lifetime). However, it is more than likely that Julia will bear a child with major Heim blood if she ever marries. Would that child not pose a threat to Seliph and his children's claim to the throne of Belhalla? Would this lead to a civil war in the future of Grannvale? As I see it, there are four options for why Seliph becomes the King of Grannvale over Julia: 1) Right of conquest: he led the liberation, he conquered the Empire, therefore the throne is his, and he chooses not to give it up to the rightful heir. 2) Absolute primogeniture: despite King Azmur's words, the eldest child of the heir always inherits the throne of a Kingdom or House, in spite of holy blood inheritance patterns. 3) Male-preference primogeniture: despite the fact that his sister inherited the power of Naga and he did not, the kingdom cannot legally be ruled over by a woman, and so must pass to a male heir. 4) Will of the people: it is stated in his ending that the public overwhelmingly supported his right to rule Grannvale. He was more popular with the people as the "Inheritor of Light," while she carried the stain of her relation to Emperor Arvis and Julius. Whatever the case, with this act, Seliph has essentially changed the ruling House of Grannvale from the House of Belhalla to the House of Chalphy, with the "true" inheritor of the House of Belhalla serving only as an advisor. His children can only inherit major Baldur blood from him, and can only wield Tyrfing, while Julia's descendants will continue to pass down major Heim blood and the ability to wield the tome of Naga. Could this spell civil war for the future of Grannvale? LEIF A similar, indeed, nearly identical, issue happens in the Thracian peninsula. After the liberation army sweeps through, despite discovering and reuniting with his elder sister, Leif takes the throne of Northern Thracian, and eventually the New Kingdom of Thracia. Finn: Lord Leif, the only nation in Northern Thracia that has a male heir is Lenster. The people want you to take the throne and unite Leonster, Alster, Conote, and Manster under one flag. (Epilogue, Thracia 776) Leif's older sister, Altena, simply "helps" him rebuild the country. Leif: I know my sister, Altena, wishes dearly for a restored Thracia as well. Seliph: Indeed. This war has lain waste to Thracia, and I can only imagine the burden laid upon you, the king-to-be of a united peninsula. I pray you give it your best, no matter what happens. Leaf: I will. Seliph: So you're destined for Thracia as well, Princess Altena... Altena: I am, sir. I've got to help the new king in his quest to give rise to a united Thracia. At the very least, I ought to atone for the legacy of my adoptive family... Travant and Arion. Seliph: How wonderful it would be, if Arion were to work together with you... Altena: I...I don't believe that could happen for the time being, sir. But perhaps someday, he'll feel the time is right... (Epilogue, Genealogy of the Holy War) Altena is the oldest child of Quan and Ethlyn, and also the inheritor of major Njörun blood and the Gáe Bolg. It is heavily hinted that Altena eventually marries Arion, inheritor of the blood of Dain and wielder of Gungnir. It seems like this uniting of the two bloodlines that have ruled Thracia for centuries would be the perfect opportunity for the countries to unite under a single House. Years from now, there will probably be Altena-Arion children running around, who have major blood of both Thracian houses in their veins, yet they yield the throne to Leif and his descendants, who only possess minor Njörun blood (and most likely minor Hezul blood, but that's irrelevant to Thracia). This time I see only three possible reasons for this outcome: 1) Right of conquest: like Seliph, Leif lead the liberation army that conquered Thracia, and so has the power to take the throne, regardless of previous traditions of inheritance. 2) Male-preference primogeniture: regardless of the inheritance of holy blood, male children are always given preference to rule over female children. This is supported by Finn's statement that Leonster is "the only nation in Northern Thracia that has a male heir." 3) Will of the people: Finn states that the people if Northern Thracia want Leif to unite the kingdoms there and be their king. This does explain how he could be given right to rule over Northern Thracia; however, I doubt the people of southern Thracia would choose Leif when Arion and Altena still exist. In fact, in Altena's ending in Genealogy of the Holy War, it is stated that Leif "entrusts" the lands of southern Thracia to her. It is not clear what this means, since he still rules over The Kingdom of New Thracia. Perhaps she is a kind of governor figure in the south? Arion's involvement is not mentioned. CONCLUSION These two instances alone seem to suggest that male-preference primogeniture is the established system for inheritance in Jugdral instead of absolute primogeniture or major holy blood/branded children as inheritors. However, with everything else we know about the world of Jugdral, this seems an unlikely form of inheritance for the crusader Houses. How is it that nearly every Duke or King we see in the game has major holy blood if male-preference primogeniture is the practice? It seems unlikely that every inheritor of major holy blood from the crusaders till the time of Sigurd happened to be male. How did the bloodlines continue when we know that children with minor holy blood cannot pass on major holy blood to children (without incest)? Perhaps holy blood preference is the usual system in place, but in these two instances, Leif and Seliph seized thrones only by right of conquest/will of the people. Why do they never bring up the fact they are disinheriting their sisters? What does this say about them and their hunger for power? Could this all come down to the game developers thinking that the only satisfying ending for the player would be to have their main lords become kings of their respective countries? That they thought the players would be disappointed if the ending was "Seliph ceded the right to rule to Julia, inheritor of the power of Naga, and Altena and Arion married and together ruled over a united Thracian peninsula." I don't see a logical reason for these endings when you consider how things must have been done in Jugdral for centuries, and the importance of major holy blood and holy weapons to these ruling Houses. What does this mean for the future of these countries? Several years down the line, would there be civil wars and faction battles? What are the roles of the inheritors of the holy blood of Heim, Dain, and Njörun in the future? What do you think is the best explanation for why things ended the way they did? In possible remakes of these games, do you think the disinheritance of Julia and Altena/Arion should be addressed? Would you want the endings to change, or stay the same?

mostly just an observation, but all the gen one mages from genealogy ended up some of the most fucked characters in the game. so yeah. thats my """"""""""thesis statement""""""""""". not much more to say edit: it might be that Kaga just really hates mages, or something like that, or maybe he's trying to invoke the mindset of witch-hunting that took place in the middle ages, by making the mages unlucky or something? i dunno. more an observation than anything

This is mainly for data that I'm collecting for a written work I am constructing, but it's also interesting to hear what people think of antagonists that go under the radar and what effect they can have on the plot. Of course there are more than these 4 but I only wanted to focus on these for now. (Good/Decent is together because minor antagonists almost never get enough progression and depth to be anything over decent, but that's all subjective). My thoughts are..... Fernand: Extremely underappreciated, the man had his entire family killed because a peasant insurrection accused him of hording food from them during the drought. He is a product of the conflicted state of the world, and you can honestly say he is yet another victim whos blood is on Rudolph's hands. (Also DLC characterizes him more, a shame it's locked behind DLC though.) Desaix: Comes off as your common power hungry cartoony evil guy, but the more you look into him the more cunning and intelligent he becomes (never mind his ability to somehow know who Alm really is which never gets explained). Behind his Evil appearance is a man who is tired of relying on gods and wants man to be strong based off there own merits. This can be found in exposition with people in the castle/deliverance hideout and with the memory prism starring him and slayde (definitely some missed potential with him). Grieth: Through exposition we learn how big of an impact Grieth has had on Zofia and even as far as Archanea, sad part is it's just greed and nothing more. What a shame.... Slayde: Right at the end he makes an interesting comment about his philosophy about survival and then proceeds to get roasted by clive, they were on to something with him at the end there but definitely missed potential yet again.

From what I've seen on the forums Alm's character had negative reception on his character for the most part. This includes criticism on his ability to conquer his problems with little to no experience (insert mary sue accusation), his ideal being the perfect and flawless one in a game where both paths were supposed to be of equal importance, and that is personality is just downright boring. With this being said i'm not 100% sure what the majority thinks of Alm so the poll above is for me to gather some more data on the subject before i start pointing fingers. Also this Post does contain major spoilers to the plot of SOV so keep that in mind. As for me personally I very much like Alm and found him very refreshing as a Lord given my negative reception on the last 2, and before the thought plagues you i have played all the previous US released fire emblem games and I know that Alm isn't the best writing wise. So in this post I will be defending him (my first idea for the title was "In defense of Alm" but I didn't want anyone to think that they were wrong for not liking him and that these are just my thoughts). Most of his criticisms I heavily disagree with and I'm going to start with the idea that his whole path is perfect and that Celica was wrong and Alm was right. My main problem with this is that saying Alm ideal is flawless is saying that personally putting your father and your cousin to the sword is not a detriment to his ideal at all. This war not only brought many consequences to the land and citizens, but had many personal consequences on Alm himself as the path he took is the sole reason he had to kill his remaining family (This personally makes me wonder what Berkut's parents are up too and how they would interact with Alm after the conflict of the game ends), When Alm learns the truth of his lineage and who the emperor was who he had just killed he shows a color very similar to Eliwood where he breaks down showing weakness but then is able to pull himself together to do what is needed, putting those feeling away and fulfilling his oath to Mycen he made all the way back in Zofia castle ( If you don't remember Mycen asked Alm if he was ready and that there would be no turning back no matter how painful it would become, to which Alm replied that he was ready, and stayed true to that all this time). This shows strength on his mental fortitude while the tragedy makes him more human, having these together may be cliche, but it is an effective way to make a character relatable and a strong leader/individual. Eliwood for example pulls this off well and it makes an excellent difference between him and Hector, as Hector is the strong one who was not only devastated his fathers death, but that devastation affected for a much longer time, you have to remember that he even for a while cut all ties with Oswin. And while Eliwood was physically weaker his mental fortitude was superior to Hectors. While it's no surprise that Eliwood with that difference pull it off better than Alm does making him in my opinion a great character and one of the best lords, it salvages Alm a ton as well in my opinion especially because of the emphasis Mycen put on him early about tragedies that will happen giving moments the player get to see that will help him move forward. On him being a Mary Sue I have to say that to stay true to the original Alm had to become the leader of the deliverance at that time, but there is one key factor that I feel like a lot of people miss because I find myself very confused that people criticize this part so hard. Clive wants Alm to be leader to raise the soldiers morale because his "lineage" is a spectacle to the men. Clive even says that he will handle all the day to day affairs and that Alm is required to do one thing and one thing only; Lead. This means he just has to point and say charge, and deliver the occasional speech. This part is extremely similar to when Michiah is made leader of the Daein Rebellion army in part 1 of RD and Sothe catches on and isn't a fan of the idea because she is being made a spectacle. What Pelleas and Izuka had planned is almost identical to why Clive made that decision as well, and I baffled that Alm becoming leader of the deliverance is criticized and that the same scene in RD gets not even a bat of the eye. I for one think Clive's plan is very reasonable. Also Celica's plan wasn't a complete flop, Celica's decision and sacrifice is what convinces the earth mother Mila to unseal falchion and let Alm use it, she was planning on holding it forever to protect her brother until Celica showed her that Humans were strong enough to not rely on her and Duma. So Celica is the only reason Alm was able to get the Falchion to destroy Duma. Both were very essential to the conclusion of the game. Criticize the writing all you want as the final act in many parts was a mess, but Neither was right or wrong completely, and neither flawless. I could talk about this stuff for hours and write pages on why I think Alm is not a bad character but I'm starting with this and I would not want the first post to be this long. So tell me your expressions of Alm, and if you disagree with my points please let me know as this topic is a very subjective one.

I heard from a friend recently that in Gaiden, it was possible to kill off three of Alm's units, and then revive them on Celica's side using the revival spring at the dragon shrine. Apparently they stay in Celica's army if you do this. Hypothetically it would work with the Fear Mountain spring too. So if you wanted to send Clive to the temple of Mila, then give Nomah to the Deliverance, you could. I've tried googling this but I'm having a hard time finding results. Has anyone tested this to see if it works in Shadows of Valentia? Is anyone inclined to?

Hello chaps. The new demo for Octopath Traveler is out, letting us play with all eight of the playable characters. However, the demo only lasts for three hours. So, who will you/have you start(ed) with? I personally went with Tressa, then moved on to recruit Cyrus. The gameplay is stellar and the music as well, but I felt the writing was a little too plain. However, these are just the prologues, so I could see them having simple premises to get on to the recruitment of the rest of the characters. However, so far there has been no conversation between Tressa and Cyrus, which makes their journey together feel really awkward. With any luck, that'll come once you move past chapter one.

SPOILERS FOR FE 4 CHAPTER 3 AND BEYOND (just getting that warning out there, I'm not spoiler-tagging this post, so if you don't want to know stuff, now you know to walk away) So I've finally been playing Genealogy of the Holy War. The Prologue and Chapter 1 were fun, I really love the large maps, the different gameplay elements (seeing mounted units able to move after acting is wonderful, I thought Path of Radiance was the first game to do that, and I LOVE that feature), etc. Sigurd is a BEAST, those stat growths are unfair. But what's really started grabbing me since Chapter 2, and now almost through Chapter 3, is the story. I'd heard good things about it, but early on it just seemed like "hey look it's really big and epic and there are a bunch of names and stuff" but there wasn't much of an emotional hook. Stuff just happened, move on. But now it's started to become so heartbreakingly tragic that I can't wait until I finish the game to talk about it. First, in Chapter 2, there are the little hints and dialogue here and there - Prince Kurth and his affair, having no heir or wife because of heartache and not getting over his one true love, and then he goes to Isaach to try and stop the war, but he's assassinated. That's all distant stuff, but it hit me all the same. We also get these great moments between Sigurd, Eldigan, and Cuan (Quan?), talking about their past as friends and in the academy, and how they swore they'd help change the world together. Then we get to Chapter 3, and the set-up rockets into so much payoff already, all in the tragic, painful kind, but in a good way from a storytelling perspective. Sigurd is pitted against his best friend, and there's just no way out of it for either of them - neither will disobey their orders, and both are determined to do things the honorable way, the best way they can, so neither can sway the other. I had Lachesis talk to Eldigan so he'd leave - I couldn't stand to have Sigurd fight against him - and THEN HE'S EXECUTED ON THE SPOT. Lachesis loses her brother, Sigurd loses his best friend, and the failing nation of Augusta loses the only hope they ever had for possibly regaining their former glory. Backtracking, before that, unbeknownst to Sigurd, Deirdre is kidnapped. And when Sigurd finally claims Seilvi (spelling?), first he sees Eldigan's head. Oifey tells him not to lose heart yet, AND THEN SHANAN SHOWS UP TO TELL HIM HIS WIFE IS GONE. His best friend murdered, his wife vanished, and also finding out that his father is the prime suspect in the assassination of Prince Kurth. Sigurd's whole world is collapsing around him, and all he's done is follow orders and do his best to do the right thing. Then we have the little scene with Ethlyn and Cuan, where she gives him the Gae Bolg. There's brief mention of the tragedy surrounding it, and notes that tragedy is likely to follow whoever wields it, but Cuan dismisses that as just a legend. But, at least for me, since I'd read a bit of what happens later, that moment just hit me, because I know that, not long from now, Cuan is going to die trying to defend his children, and have his only daughter (who's mentioned in this scene, as well - strong foreshadowing there, IS) taken from him. And Chapter 3 isn't even over yet! I was already enjoying FE 4, the gameplay is so solid and these giant maps, while exhausting, are also so exciting and epic. Being able to save every turn is a big plus, something that really is necessary with the size of these maps, and it's forced me to get out of the mindset of "beat a chapter in one sitting" because these ain't like your other FE chapters. But now the story is just hitting all the high notes for me, I'm really into it, and excited for what comes next. While I know a bit of what else happens - Cuan and Ethlyn's fate, their daughter being taken, and Sigurd dying in a fire (so many memes, that's the one FE 4 spoiler that no one can avoid), Deirdre and Arvis making evil (and not so evil) babies - actually watching things unfold is a whole different thing. It's also why I put a spoiler tag up above. While I knew some of what was going to happen (like Eldigan's entire in-game story), watching it unfold is totally different and totally worth it. For those who have played this far or farther, feel free to discuss the story and these specific moments. If the story was one of the high points for you, what about it made it start clicking with you and why does it resonate with you so much? Also, what happened to the good writers at Intelligent Systems? I still enjoy Fire Emblem, even the newest games, but the stories are the main things that, for me, have steadily declined in quality. It's sad to see, but also makes going back to one of the older games, and one I've never played, such a fresh treat.

So the spot where Mila died (was it on Duma's tower or was the body transported to Mila shrine?) turned into a giant tree which the Mila Tree battle in Awakening took place, the volcano where the necrodragons spawn became Demon's Ingle (or was it where Duma died) and Alm & Celica's bloodline sired Walhart (umm... ok?) , is it strange that I find all of this to be very depressing? I have a lot of emotions after finishing the game and I only got depressed when I found out Valentia became Valm in the future. I don't know how should I express it, I feel like sequels mostly shat on a previous game's history with its own story. And what got me more disappointed was Valm became the villains ( or antiheroes for trying to destroy the Grima religion by invading ) in Awakening, disregarding Alm and Celica's legacy. Sorry, just ranting here. It's like the feeling when you find out FFXII's Ivalice world of technological wonders all came to ruin eventually, all races save humans killed society and became a corrupt medieval religion in Tactics. And Espers became super demons or something