[Hard] Radiant Dawn Semi-Blind

[Deltre]

Pretty tired atm so I'll come back and edit some proper responses later, but for now:

I was not prepared for this.

[BrightBow]

Unfortunately Astrid is basically Leonardo on a horse. Her only good growths are Luck and Res with everything else lacking.

It's such a shame that Pelleas is so underpowered as well. He only gets Dark magic and Thunder magic, both sharing the same accuracy issue. At least Dark magic is genuine strong but it's SS tome is a joke compared to the ones from the other elements. Normally SS tomes get a massive accuracy boost compared to the S variant. Meanwhile Dark magic gets a measly +10 hit. So even the Rexbolt is far more accurate then the Balberith with 95 hit vs 75 hit. And of course that +3 strength literally never matters.

 

Anyway, for the final chapter besides the forced characters the ones with the most boss conversations are the Laguz Kings (except for Caineghis) as well as Sigrun, Tanith, Pelleas, Astrid, Haar and Jill.

Edited November 19, 2017 by BrightBow

[Interdimensional Observer]

According to my Prima guide (which is kinda stupid and inaccurate in places) with reinforcements, the enemy total reaches 112 by the 15th turn in 4-4. Hence the reason for calling this decent but not the best of the three Armies for exp giving. The Grann Desert is why Micaiah's group is the worse- hard to get experience when the sands slow mostly everyone down.

 

As for Tormod and co. all RD players agree that was a glaring mistake, particularly when the Laguz Emancipation Army you'd think would get involved in Part 3. If they joined in 3-2 with Haar and the convoy group and co., and then left before or after 3-11 (the bridge battle) to return to Begnion for intel gathering reasons, they'd be so much more usable. 

And Vika actually is kinda Est like. If you add all her growths together, it comes to 400, the highest of any unit in the game. Said number is shared by Micaiah admittedly, and Ike has a 310, 300 is the lowest any Beorc has (Laguz generally have lower growths and the growth total can dip below 300). So how the growths are distributed matters (Micaiah's are lopsidedly Magic, Luck, and Res) and so does base stats (Ike and Micaiah have the same Speed growth, but Ike has a much better base).

 

IS made its own meme here. Seriously, Oliver's survival and exuberant personality comically treated personality is something that you'd expect fans to make up.

Since Brightbow brought up Duke Tanas's support lines earlier here are a bunch of goodies, I might have missed a few, but I think this is enough:

Spoiler

From Haar:

Type 4: Duke Tanas, if I die here… I want you to know I never liked you. Doesn’t mean I won’t help you, though.

Type 4: Duke Tanas, have you showered lately? You know, stink won’t fight ’em off altogether. Let’s team up.

Type 4: Duke Tanas, hey, you’re not so bad. Seriously, I’ll bet there’s someone out there who likes you. Try to live.

Reyson:

Type 2: …Duke Tanas, please go away. The very sight of you sickens me.

Type 2: Duke Tanas… For the moment, I’ll accompany you. I wish to see if you truly want to help us.

Type 2: Duke Tanas, I admit that I am surprised. Perhaps you have turned over a new leaf. Please, survive this war, so that I can be sure of your good intentions.

Shinon:

Type 3: Duke Tanas, I hope you’re OK, aside from your normal litany of complaints.

Type 3: Duke, it’s like you’ve never held a tome before. Seriously…where did you learn to fight? Just…let me handle this.

Type 3: You know, I really don’t care who lives and who dies. But, Duke Tanas, I’m thinkin’ you should live. You may be a big, puffy cheeseball, but at least you’re not boring, like everyone else here.

Wait, Tellius has cheeseballs?

One from Sigrun:

Type 4: You’re puffy and bloated–yes. Some would say you’re hideous–yes. But, I am strangely drawn to you. If only we could be together forever, Duke Tanas.

 

Two from Janaff:

Type 3: Duke Tanas. Here, let me stay behind you and watch your back…

Type 3: It’s kinda creepy, but no matter how fast I fly, you’re always right next to me, Duke Tanas. I’m not gonna ask why, but thanks. I hope you make it out of this alive.

Two from Lyre:

Type 4: Oh, Duke Tanas! You said that you protect beauty, right? Then, do you mind protecting me?

Type 4: Duke Tanas, I’m so used to you, I don’t even notice you anymore! Some people might say that’s not a safe attitude to have with you, but I think you’re great!

 

By the way, supports grow at different rates for different pairings. ShinonxMia, like most is at the normal rate, IkexSoren is accelerated, while IkexShinon is slower because Shinon hates Ike. Shinon hates Soren even more though, they grow at the slowest rate (at which point shoving one support partner by the other decreases accrued support points by 1). Oliver has by far the greatest number of lowest-growth support pairing (but they were too lazy to program it for everyone who should hate him), and not a single accelerated one.

 

On a more serious note. Rafiel and Nailah are married!  

It doesn't ever say this in the English version, I don't know if it does in the Japanese. But the Tellius Recollections say that some time after Nailah found Rafiel in the Desert of Death, the two made intersecting vows and became eternal partners. Spelling out simply on the Recollection character relations chart (do not look at the ingame one- not until the game is over!), it draws a line from Nailah to Rafiel with the word "Married" to describe the connection. 

It's odd since the two never act overly husband-wifey. More like liege and servant or something to someone who doesn't know the truth. But I like the pairing, it's a reversal on normal gender roles with the strong Nailah and fragile Rafiel. And the lack of stereotypical spousal behavior is refreshing (but I really wish we had real supports so we could see their intimate bond better). And there is no other such pairing in the game like it in terms of the races involved in it.

While it is possible for Laguz to interbreed with Beorc, and for Laguz to interbreed with different species their own Tribe (so CatxTiger, RavenxHeron, Red DragonxWhite). The game doesn't say anything about Laguz from different Tribes interbreeding, so we don't know if they can. But does marriage need to result in children? If Nailah and Rafiel love each other so deeply, why not let them be married?

Rafiel has no obligation to breed his dead Heron clan back into existence, Reyson and Leanne exist too if that must be done. And the Black Herons are already extinct. Herons in case you don't recall, came in commoner black wings and royal white wings (called Egrets in Japan). Only a couple royals survived the Serenes Massacre, not a single commoner did.

This Recollection PoR Height Comparison Chart shows exactly what Black Herons look like. I'm posting a link and not the picture itself because it's so big:

https://kantopia.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/162-163.jpg

Edited November 20, 2017 by Interdimensional Observer

[BrightBow]

The boss conversation between Micaiah and Pelleas against Lekain are actually different in our version. What they don't mention in our version is that Lekain can no longer invoke the Blood Pact since he technically "died" when Ashera woke up and turned him to stone along with everyone else. This is also why in an earlier Info Conversation it was said that the mark on Pelleas' arm is fading.

You also didn't bring Sigrun or Tanith, so I think this one is definitely worth posting (well, technically all of them are worth posting but this one clarifies some things):

Quote

Lekain: Hmph… Hello, Tanith. How odd to find you alongside these imbeciles, not to mention their imposter of a leader.
Tanith: Silence your filthy mouth! I will not brook such insults.
Lekain: F… Fi… Filthy?! How dare you slander the duke of Gaddos! I will rule the world in place of our goddess Ashera! Sanaki is not a true apostle or an empress. She’s a mere slip of a girl!
Tanith: There is no Begnion law that requires an empress to also be an apostle.
Lekain: Whaaat?
Tanith: Each apostle has thus far been seated as emperor only because that has been what served the senators best. Sanaki has ruled successfully without the benefit of divine inspiration for more than half her life. She is well loved by her subjects. Saying that she is not a true apostle will do nothing to alter that fact.
Lekain: Dogmatic rhetoric will achieve nothing!
Tanith: Very true. Empress Sanaki is my liege, and as her knight, it is my duty to destroy her enemies.
Lekain: Blasphemy! Striking me is no different than raising your sword to our goddess!
Tanith: Speaking of dogmatic rhetoric… Duke of Gaddos, farewell.

I also like this one:

Quote

Sanaki: Hetzel… I had thought that you alone might be above Lekain’s foul conspiracy! It saddens me to see you at his side.
Hetzel: N-no, Apostle Sanaki! I–
Sanaki: I didn’t ask for excuses! You fight alongside Lekain. That’s more proof than I’ll ever need.
Hetzel: …You are right, I fight with him. I had no choice. But…please, understand that I’ve always done my best to honor and respect Your Majesty.
Sanaki: Then how do you explain my confinement in Mainal Cathedral?
Hetzel: I-I didn’t do anything! It was all Lekain! I didn’t know anything about it, and only heard later…
Sanaki: And when you did hear of it, why didn’t you stop it?
Hetzel: I…couldn’t. Actually, I could have, but I…didn’t say anything. It was the same with Misaha, and the Serenes Massacre… I…
Sanaki: …didn’t say anything. In other words, you stood by as my grandmother and the Serenes people were killed!
Hetzel: P-please forgive me…

 

Edit: Also, remember how Astrid was meant to enter an arranged marriage? Maybe you ended up seeing this conversation after all but guess who her spouse was supposed to be? As awful as Makalov is, I suppose he is quite an improvement over Lekain.

Edit2: And you managed to trigger Ike's memory scene. I never managed to get it myself but I suppose that means you should get the extended ending. For the record Ike's memory scene can only be triggered on a second playthough. That must be the reason that this scene does not hide the identity of Sephiran, unlike the memory scene that triggers right afterwards which shows up on every run.

Levail's remaining boss conversations are with Haar, Sigrun, Tanith and Oliver. By contrast Sanaki,  Micaiah and the Herons can talk to him but I think these conversations also get triggered if you simply have them attack him.

Edited November 22, 2017 by BrightBow

[Deltre]

Okay, so I'm significantly ahead in the game compared to the last update I posted in this. As in, I beat the game haha. Life's been a lot busier than I expected lately, it was all I could do to get the videos out. Instead of dropping 4 videos in this one post, I'm just going to link the playlist here with Part 34-37. Part 38 (4-E-4 and 4-E-F) will be up lateish tomorrow night, with the epilogue the next day. I'll also go back so I can see all these alternate conversations for myself, since I hear there are some good ones in the Tower especially.

Part 34 (4-5) (Spoilers to avoid wall of text)

Spoiler

 

Finally a map that isn't a Rout haha. Izuka making his grand return was unexpected, but this map has some serious drama going on, especially if Pelleas should be spared. His conversation with Izuka was very enlightening. Bastian's appearance was also pretty exciting, since I love that guy, and Renning being revealed to be alive caught me off guard a bit. I'll be honest and say that I knew who Renning was (I think that was one of the oldest theories about Tellius besides the identity of The Black Knight tbh), but I was pretty sure he was dead until playing this one out. I found the story particularly interesting in this one, despite being mostly filler, which was a huge breath of fresh air after Ike's chapters which were mostly irrelevant.

The map is alright too, and gives a great chance to level up lower leveled units. I like that you have the option to just get on with it if you want. With a little bit of thought, you can beat the map in like 4 moves. Dragons are pretty scary as enemies, but thankfully there are only a few of them. Sure would be a shame if the game threw a map of nothing but dragons your way!

 

Part 35 (Prep and 4-F-1)

Spoiler

 

Holy crap, I spent like 45 minutes on preparation alone! I didn't show it all for obvious reasons, but with the sheer number of playable characters available to you at this point, it would take a good amount of time for all but the most experienced of players to sort through everything. In the end, I went with Jill/Lyre/Fiona/Astrid/Lucia/Ed/Naesala/Pelleas/Soren/Elincia, with Rafiel as the Heron of choice. Still, the sense of scale is nice, and I really appreciated the fact that there was some ingame justification (for once!) as to why you can't just bring everyone with you into the final battle. 

Lekain makes his last stand, which has been a long time coming. For as important as he thinks he is, you'd think he'd find it weird that he's allllll the way down there on the first floor, with 4 more after him. Still, it was definitely satisfying to take this guy down at long last, and he had lots of good battle conversations too. Naesala's was particularly interesting I thought, revealing that Kilvas was also part of a blood pact themselves. Of course, that really raises some questions about Daein's competency, since Naesala was able to outsmart the pact. Kinda just makes us seem unintelligent honestly, but Naesala is known for his cunning so I guess I can let that slide. The whole thing is confusing honestly, but it's moments like that where I can see a hint of something good buried beneath all sloppiness around that particular plot point. Also, ngl, Astrid's conversation with Lekain blew my mind.

Hetzel I have mixed feelings about. He's clearly not as evil as the rest, but still, he's a bystander in everything the current senate has done. A coward through and through, but I can at least say that he's the least detestable of all the named senators, besides Sephiran. Probably. The game doesn't paint him as overly sympathetic or anything which I'm grateful for. They make it clear that he has his regrets without handwaving away the things that he's done. He's handled well in my opinion, I only wish that he had maybe a little more spotlight earlier in the game to flesh him out a bit more.

The map itself is Rout again. On the other hand, the game just hands you Giffca/Caineghis as well as any other number of Laguz Royals on top of all the super powered units that you've trained yourself by this point. Not that I used any of those guys, but still, you have options to blast through this by now. The stage was surprisingly small, which again I like since it reduces the need for high movement units and gives a chance for your slower guys to help out. The cover/wardwood mechanic is interesting, and seeing it expand in use as the Endgame continues was interesting for sure. 

 

Part 36 (4-1-F/4-2-F)

Spoiler

 

Oh man, I knew Zelgius would be here. Kinda surprised to see him so soon honestly, but considering what comes after this is pretty fitting in hindsight. After 2 long games, Ike finally gets the chance to lay this rivalry to rest, and oh boy, is this fight awesome. I really like 1 on 1 duels in general, so seeing Ike vs. Zelgius now that Ike has honed his skills is just awesome. Of course, I didn't know about the Hammer until after the fact, so that only made it better. Zelgius reveals some pretty interesting things after the fight, namely about Ike's past and his own as well, revealing himself to be a branded. I also found the strengthening of the relationship between Zelgius and Sephiran to be quite interesting. Around this point I really started to suspect something was seriously up with Sephiran, though exactly what I wouldn't have guessed. 

As for the fight itself, I like it in theory. Honestly, I think that for most players this fight will go pretty smoothly. The idea of taking the rest of your army to fight a bunch of mooks and their general while there's a 1 on 1 duel going on elsewhere is really cool and exciting. Shoot, is pretty decent, if a little basic even. The only issue I have is unfortunately a big one, in that I think it's possible to lock yourself out of a win in this fight and have to start the entire game over again if Ike can't beat Zelgius.

Now, in fairness, I imagine that's not a very likely scenario, doubly so on Normal which you'd have to beat to even have a shot at HM Zelgius. Even so, I think there's something to be said for PoR, which gave you the opportunity to flee the fight if Ike wasn't up to the task. As low as the chance is that you'd get to this point without Ike being able to win (which he'd need 34 Speed or a Hammer to do in any kind of reasonable time frame) the fact of the matter is it's certainly possible to get here without one or the other, and that just sucks. I just barely hit 34 Speed on time, and my Ike has +Spd transfers! Once you know about the Hammer trick, it's a simple matter of just saving a few swings for this map, but I'm sure that there are at least a few people out there who didn't know any better their first time and got screwed as a result. An Ike that doesn't double or have the Hammer deals like 5-6 Damage per round because of Imbue, and that's just no fun.

 

Part 37 (4-F-3)

Spoiler

 

Oh man, here is one guy that I never wanted to fight. For all the hype surrounding Dheginsea, he actually manages to be even more of a badass than the game makes him out to be. His stats are off the chart, and he's out for blood. That said, Dheginsea's character is one that I can get behind. He always meant well, and had to suffer in silence a lot because of his stubborn nature. Still, when you've been around as long as this guy, you've basically seen it all. He knows better than anyone else the gravity of the situation, being that he once fought to prevent the destruction of the world itself. Despite his warnings, the world didn't listen, so he resigns himself to his fate. Maybe it's the influence of 4-F-4 and 4-F-E speaking, but I actually really admire what they did with Dheginsea across these two games. They spend a game and a half making him out to be a huge jerk, only to reveal that he was right the whole time at the very end of it all. It really puts his actions into perspective.

As for the map, Infinite use Siege Tomes. That is all. Yune's blessing rocks, and cutting down an entire squadron of dragons is fun. I really like when the game encourages you to be smart on Player Phase, which I feel it accomplishes here pretty well since the right combination of Dragons can 2HKO almost any non-royal character. To help with that, those special terrain tiles from before appear again to help give you the upper hand if you're playing smart. Dheginsea himself is far from a pushover, even sporting a map attack of his own, but unfortunately for him there's 15 of us + Rafiel, and only one of him. He succumbs to the standard FE boss issue, where you can just rush him down. Still, if you fail to do that, you can very easily wind up dead trying to take him on, and Ire makes it hugely dangerous to go after him without Parity or Nihil. As far as FE bosses go, he's pretty great, but sadly FE isn't really a game known for complex boss fights.

If you look at the whole map as the boss fight it does get better, what with him being surrounded by a dozen or so dragons that can back him up for a kill on the enemy phase if you fail to take him out in one round. If I were to make one change though, I'd set Gareth and Nasir adjacent to Dheginsea, to give him the White Pool/Blood Tide boosts. It'd be more puzzle-like that way I feel, and would actually give you a reason to shove enemy units for once (assuming you have someone that can shove them).

 

@Interdimensional Observer Geez, you weren't kidding! I looked up another video of 4-4, and oh my god, if I had been even one turn slower I'd have gotten swamped with enemies for sure! In fairness, the BEXP Turn Limit is 10, and the reinforcements don't get out of hand until after that. I'm all for anti-turtling incentives, but I think 12 Enemies per turn for 5 rounds is waaaaay too much haha.

I definitely agree about Tormod. It's a huge shame that the LEA doesn't show up in Act 3, especially because that seems to me like a really logical place to reintroduce them. As it stands, it almost feels like the Devs just forgot they were in the game to be perfectly honest. What were they doing in Tanas Manor anyways? Speaking of Tanas, those Oliver supports are gold. I kinda wish they would have ran with it though, and make the support partners hate Oliver from C rank through A rank, but that's a small price to pay for such an oddball character to make his return I suppose. I definitely need to do a second tower run to see his boss conversations, since I'm sure they're all great.

Rafiel and Nailah are married, huh? In a weird sort of way, I can kind of see it to be honest. Strange that they wouldn't mention something like that though, I love little details like that.

@BrightBow There sure are a ton of differences surrounding this Blood Pact between the two versions, huh? I feel that maybe during the localization process, they realized that as a plot point it needed some work. Sadly, I think that both the JP team and the NA team missed the mark a bit, but if you take what's there between both versions you get something closer to a decent plot device, albeit not quite. I think the implication was supposed to be that in the NA version, the pact was still active, which I honestly believe is the better way to go about things. This way, there's still some tension due to the fact that even saving the world from Ashera won't be enough if we can't beat Lekain as well. 

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

Wow, once again you amaze with how well you're doing. You brought some weaklings (Pelleas as only a Dark Sage, really?) into the Tower, but your team did smashingly, well the strong characters you brought did at least. Fiona pulled her weight quite well, no surprise here though, since everyone admits she has solid endgame potential, it was just everything else that made her hard to use/bad.

Yune's Blessings are awesome indeed. The Mantle penetration is not really needed from a gameplay perspective since you're only going to use the very best to chop the last three bosses anyhow, but from a plot/lore perspective, it's quite thrilling. The infinite weapon uses is very cool too and lets you hog out on siege tomes and SS weapons, like actual heroes of legend! On Easy Mode, you also get a green +5 to Str/Mag/Skl/Spd/Lck/Def/Res from the Yune's Blessings (so +35 cap ignoring stat points total, only FE4 Naga, Tyrfing and FE5 Forseti exceed this). I wish more FEs had this kind of thing come the final battle.

 

If you don't bring Calill or if she is dead, here is the dialogue for that one base convo. I italicized the stuff shared by the dead Calill version with the other version, to make it less noticeable: 

Spoiler

Innocent (*)

(Calill is alive and not in Tibarn’s party)

Amy: Oh! Queen Elincia!
Elincia: Amy! You’re safe! Oh, I’m so glad! It’s so good to see you!
Amy: I came here with General Geoffrey.
Elincia: With Geoffrey?
Geoffrey: I was outside on the day when the bright light engulfed everything. At first, I thought that time had stopped. Then I realized that time was normal, but everyone around me had been turned to stone. I rode around the city to investigate, and I found this little girl crying in Calill’s bar.
Elincia: Did you find anyone else? What about Largo?
Geoffrey: …
Elincia: No… How tragic. How am I going to tell Calill?
Amy: Mommy is here!? I want to see my mommy!
Elincia: I’m sorry, Amy. Your mommy is somewhere else.
Amy: Mommy isn’t here…?
Elincia: No, she isn’t. But I’m sure that she’s doing well.
Amy: M-Mommy… Mommy! Daddy! Sniff… Wahhhh!
Ranulf: Hey, don’t cry, Amy! Mommy told you not to cry, right? Remember?
Amy: K-kitty-cat man…?
Ranulf: Good, you remembered me! Listen carefully, all right? If you’re good and travel with us without complaining, you’ll get to see Mommy really soon. Does that sound good?
Amy: Really!?
Ranulf: Would I lie to you, pumpkin? And I’ll tell you a secret… If you’re patient, we’ll even find a way to get your daddy moving around like usual!
Amy: I’ll be patient! I won’t cry anymore! I promise!
Ranulf: Good. That’s my girl!
Lucia: Amy, it’s late. Let’s go to my tent and get some sleep. All right?
Amy: Um… Kitty-cat man, will you come, too?
Ranulf: Sure. I’ll even let you sleep on my furry belly.
Amy: For real? Yay!
Ranulf: Don’t tell anyone, but my belly is super comfortable. You’ll be asleep in no time!
Lucia: Wow, that’s great, Amy. Let’s get going.
Amy: Yes! Kitty-cat pillow! Kitty-cat pillow!
Elincia: …Thank you, Ranulf.
Ranulf: Don’t mention it. I’m a sucker for kids. And Largo and Calill have been good to me. I’ll catch up with you later.
Reyson: How unusual. I can’t believe a small child like that has been saved from petrification. Isn’t she the first?
Elincia: King Tibarn, Prince Reyson.
Tibarn: I’d assumed that only the people with a certain amount of power were safe from petrification, but I guessed wrong.
Reyson: I’m wondering if there are even rules at all.
Elincia: Hmm.

Innocent (*)

(Calill died)

Amy: Oh! Queen Elincia!
Elincia: Amy! You’re safe! Oh, I’m so glad! It’s so good to see you!
Amy: I came here with General Geoffrey.
Elincia: With Geoffrey?
Geoffrey: I was outside on the day when the bright light engulfed everything. At first, I thought that time had stopped. Then I realized that time was normal, but everyone around me had been turned to stone. I rode around the city to investigate, and I found this little girl crying in Calill’s bar.
Elincia: Did you find anyone else? What about Largo?
Geoffrey: …
Elincia: Oh, no… How tragic. This is terrible.
Amy: Mommy is here!? I want to see my mommy!
Elincia: I’m so sorry, Amy. Your mother is…
Amy: Mommy’s not here?
Elincia: I’m so sorry…
Amy: M-Mommy… Mommy! Daddy! Sniff… Wahhhh!
Ranulf: Hey, don’t cry, Amy! Mommy told you not to cry, right? Remember?
Amy: K-kitty-cat man…?
Ranulf: Good, you remembered me! Listen carefully, all right? If you’re good and travel with us without complaining, you’ll get to see Mommy really soon. Does that sound good?
Amy: Really!?
Ranulf: Would I lie to you, pumpkin? And I’ll tell you a secret… If you’re patient, we’ll even find a way to get your daddy moving around like usual!
Amy: I’ll be patient! I won’t cry anymore! I promise!
Ranulf: Good. That’s my girl!
Lucia: Amy, it’s late. Let’s go to my tent and get some sleep. All right?
Amy: Um… Kitty-cat man, will you come, too?
Ranulf: Sure. I’ll even let you sleep on my furry belly.
Amy: For real? Yay!
Ranulf: Don’t tell anyone, but my belly is super comfortable. You’ll be asleep in no time!
Lucia: Wow, that’s great, Amy. Let’s get going.
Amy: Yes! Kitty-cat pillow! Kitty-cat pillow!
Ranulf: I feel like a horrible person.
Elincia: Ranulf…
Ranulf: It’d be too cruel to tell her the truth now. I’ll apologize to her after we get Largo back to normal. Until then, please don’t tell her the truth. I’ll catch up with you later.
Reyson: How unusual. I can’t believe a small child like that has been saved from petrification. Isn’t she the first?
Elincia: King Tibarn, Prince Reyson.
Tibarn: I’d assumed that only the people with a certain amount of power were safe from petrification, but I guessed wrong.
Reyson: I’m wondering if there are even rules at all.
Elincia: Hmm.

About Bastian's language, his supports are very poetic, here is a third of them:

Spoiler

A support – addressing

Type 1: Friend ___, we as brothers have Crimea long served. Let our bond end not in mud at this wretched place. Together with the queen and lovely Lucia, let us raise a glass at war’s end!
Type 2: Fair ___, though all fate conspires that in sorrow and blood we shall perish, still do I hope. I cherish thee thou art a blessing as sure as any in tales! Let us live to laugh at war’s end!
Type 3: That songs of thine glory shall long echo in the halls of memory is assured, exalted ___… But what is memory but gilded life turned to mere dross? Together let us live on to see peace!
Type 4: Oliver of Tanas, you have been thrice blessed by the fates. Your health against all odds, your continued grace with the apostle, and that you yet see this day! Work me a miracle. Survive to see peace and laughter once more.
Type 5: Tales long told ’round fires to guard against the night speak of the lion as the foe most indomitable. Let us prove that fable once more trumps expectations. Let us live as a summer day, knowing no end!
Type 6: Prince ___, bloodshed is a curse we must endure to the bitter end. Yet should we perish, that would be more bitter still. Let us live to see peace dawn once more.
Type 7: Sworn in solemn words of old, your vows have the resolution of granite, General ___. This is plain. Yet it shall wither as war’s winter touch lays upon you, should you die. Protect that vow and live, General!
Type 8: Crows feast upon scraps left to rot, but fortune favors the bold and brave. None here be as bold as King Tibarn! To lose thy valor to battle’s fortune would upon my heart be like lead. Live, and let us laugh together soon!
Type 9: Long have time’s sands concealed the wolf queen’s domain as mere legend. Queen Nailah, you must live, that the histories will not make liars of us. Live, and tell all nations of Hatari.
Type 10: Tis easy for men of weak constitution to cry traitor when the mighty take wing in patriotism’s name. So does the raven king weather spoken barbs as a rock! I would that you live and tell them of duty.
Type 11: The storm of war casts men to shores fair bleak, yet do I endure by sweet Leanne’s sheltering wings. As the blooming poppy when armistice has come, live to see peace!
Type 12: Come now, Volke! Neither you or I have seen all that life has to offer us. Let’s not dine with the dead just yet.

The translators must have spent a week trying to get it right! They must be thanking Ashunera he only shows up at the end of both Tellius games. Could you imagine having to write his dialogue if he was present and chatting from PoR Prologue to RD Epilogue?

 

Izuka doesn't get a Tauroneo boss conversation sadly, which is strange since our favorite (and only) living Four Steadfast Rider had to put up with him in P1. This said, Izuka does give some good conversations. If you plan to go back and see the rest, you won't be able to see Zihark's because of where you put him, so I'll place it here:

Spoiler

Zihark vs Izuka

Zihark: Izuka the Cruel… You are the author of this atrocity against nature? What gives you the right to perform your vile works on the laguz!
Izuka: The sub-humans are perfect subjects! What could be wrong with using them?
Zihark: …She always told me not to let anger and hatred get the best of me, not the let them guide my blade… This will be my only exception.

[She who? Zihark's old Laguz girlfriend obviously. He'd have a lot of reasons to be angry at a world of bigotry and people on both sides who would deem their love an abomination.]

His Rewarp by the way has four destinations: center, upper left, lower left, upper/middle right. He can summon for like 40 turns before running out.

 

Oddly, Bertram didn't have a Bastian convo in PoR, but he did have these two:

Spoiler

Bertram vs Elincia

Bertram: ……Gu…guuoo…

Elincia: …Eeep…

Bertram: …Gu…oo…OOO… [As in "go my beloved niece- I don't want you to die!"]

Betram vs Ike

Bertram: …Perissssh…Perissssh…

Ike: So you’re Bertram, are you? Sorry, but I can’t perish right now.

Bertram: …Me… Kill…

Ike: What?

Bertram: Kill…me……KILL…M-ME…

Ike: What’s going on? Are you mad?

Bertram: …Gu, gu… GUAAAA!

Ike: Ah!!

Also, Volke's lone support with Bastian in PoR was clearly hinting as Bastian needing him for something- just what is never said. But the earliest you can get the A support is just after Bertram's chapter.

 

As for Astrid, her PoR Sothe support mentions her planned marriage, and why she didn't agree with it and ran away:

Spoiler

B Support

Astrid: Oh… Where am I…?
Sothe: …
Astrid: What… What happened?
Sothe: You passed out. I thought about just leaving you there, but that would have left a bad taste in my mouth.
Astrid: I’m sorry…
Sothe: I know it’s not my worry, but aren’t you pushing yourself a bit hard? You’re having a rough time just keeping up with the pack. You’re a wreck!
Astrid: I had no idea…how cruel and unforgiving war would actually be. Grueling marches…day in and day out. I can’t even sleep at night because I’m terrified of surprise attacks. It’s made me painfully aware of my frailty.
Sothe: Nobles aren’t cut out for war. As you can see, there are no chambermaids to attend to your every whim out here! I’m sure you’ve got a lavish and free life waiting for you back home.
Astrid: Lavish and free? Lavish, maybe…but certainly not free. I have no freedom.
Sothe: No freedom? What are you talking about?
Astrid: My parents have already chosen and arranged a fiance for me. I’ve heard he is thirty years older than me.
Sothe: …
Astrid: I volunteered for service with the knights of Begnion to live on my own terms. Of course, my family vehemently opposed the idea, but they figured it was merely a phase. They thought I would come home crying. I won’t give them that satisfaction.
Sothe: …Wasn’t trying to pry. Just asking, is all.
Astrid: I know… Thank you.

A Support

Astrid: Hello, Sothe. Thank you…for the other day.
Sothe: What, for talking? That isn’t worth thanking me for.
Astrid: No, you deserve thanks. I feel better.
Sothe: I thought you noble types were too good to thank anyone, but… You’re different…
Astrid: Am I?
Sothe: You are. Most nobles get rich by trampling on the commoners, then spend their lives basking in filthy luxury. I’ve known them to be that way since the day I was born. They’ve never seen a blister or sweat for a day’s meal in their lives. Do you know how lucky you are?
Astrid: But there’s no freedom! My brothers are the pride of the house. As soldiers, they lead glorious lives. But my sisters are traded like commodities, promised to fiances they don’t even know. They don’t know love. I receive letters from them once every few years. The pages are warped and stained from tears.
Sothe: You didn’t want to end up like them.
Astrid: No, I didn’t. That’s why I have no intention of leaving this war until I see it to the end.
Sothe: I see… You’re nothing like the nobles I’ve known. You worked hard… You’re just like the rest of us. Sorry for thinking you were just another pampered noble.
Astrid: Thank you…
Sothe: Keep up the good work. You’ve earned your freedom. Never let them take that away!
Astrid: I won’t!

 

 

Astrid made a bad choice in Makalov, but at least she of her own free will chose him. Lekain is listed in the Tellius Recollections as having an "apparent age" (age he was designed to look like, if not actually is) of 51. The apparent ages can be a little unbelievable at times though, since Bastian was designed to look like 24 in PoR, and 27 by virtue of 3 years passing in RD. That is the most egregiously wrong age listing, the rest are much better, only a few years off (in my opinion) if any.

 

I forgot the conversations that you get fighting Oliver as a boss last time:

Spoiler

Ike vs Oliver

Ike: You! You’re still alive?!
Oliver: The world simply could not bear to be without me. Your crude weapons have no force against true magnificence! Blessed with such beauty, I have no foes… only inferiors!
Ike: Glad to see you’re still barely clinging to that last shred of sanity. Just give it up, already.

Nailah vs Oliver

Oliver: S-sub-human! A hideous sub-human is attacking me! Help! Someone help me! I’m much too lovely for this!
Nailah: What a strangely shaped creature… Is this some rare subspecies of beorc?

Volug vs Oliver

Volug: Grrrrr!
Oliver: Ack! A sub-human! What a horrible monster, smacking his lips before dining on my delicate body! Someone, please help me! A man like me doesn’t deserve this!

Tormod vs Oliver

Tormod: Hey, chunky! Apparently we didn’t kill you enough last time! Time to try again!
Oliver: Yawp! Dear me! What a frightening young child.
Tormod: I am NOT a child!

Muarim vs Oliver

Oliver: Sub…sub…sub-human! Tiger! Tiger! Eyes burning bright! In my foyer late at night! Oh, my poetic soul! I’m much too delicate for this!
Muarim: Oh boy…

Vika vs Oliver

Oliver: Ho ho, what have we here? A fine little raven indeed! Please… Let me see the length of those wings. I’ll need to know, if I’m to take… proper care of them.
Vika: You Begnion nobles… Can’t you ever just say what you’re thinking?

Danved vs Oliver

Oliver: Oh, my– Quite the… striking… face you have. I seem to remember you from somewhere… Hmmm… It’s like my brain is in fog. I can never remember the ugly ones.
Danved: Danved is pretty striking. Don’t worry, Danved will show you just how striking he can be.

Others vs Oliver

Oliver: I have seen death’s vistas and returned an even wiser, more exquisite man! Take it in! Bask in the beauty!

Oliver defeated

Oliver: Aagh… Still so many beautiful things…that…I…don’t own.

 

On the topic of battle themes, Dheginsea's is called Wisdom of Ages, and Sephrian's Origin's End. Now here's a fun fact: compare the first with this, and the second with this. I thought it clever when I saw someone mention the first case, and then I noticed the second.

Dheginsea, I like him very much as you do. Partly his unflinching neutrality had good reasons behind it.

One, as strong as the dragons are, the game pretty much says you fight all but noncombatants of the Dragon Laguz. If your population was so small you can fit it inside just part of a giant tower, you'd be wary of getting caught up in conflict too.

Second and more importantly, his refusal to help his fellow Laguz was based on their future happiness. If fixing injustice in the world has the chance of waking Ashera, which warfare could do, then it isn't worth pursuing. For if Ashera awakes, everyone Beorc and Laguz are dead- no future at all then. Dheg held the hope that even if conflict and discrimination happened as long as Ashera hadn't woken prematurely, she would not destroy the world, let Yune back into her, and as Ashunera and she'd help fix the problems. 1000 years of suffering with the hope of a happy world beyond that, is far better when the alternative is an eternity as statues.

Even so, Dheginsea was pained by watching suffering, even personal suffering with Rajaion and Almedha, unfold in the world around him- he wasn't cold in his heart. It pained him too he made a mistake in tabooing the Branded. (That Nasir and Gareth base conversation about Dheg and Lehran is oddly 2nd playthrough only.)

The battle wasn't really necessary as you point out, Dheginsea was just being stubborn and mistook why the Medallion broke. But to be fair, the only reason Galdrar was used on the Medallion was because it was going to break from chaos- so really Dheg had reasons to accept Ashera's judgement. The battle itself is solid, a bit easier than I remember (nostalgia getting in the way), but it is amazing in atmosphere. Tellius wasn't build around dragons and dragon lore like some other games in FE, but they were handled quite well as just another group of shapeshifters in the Laguz family, albeit extremely powerful ones lead by a living hero of legend.

Why'd Dheg have to die though? Heck, why did Zelgius and Levail have to die? Sephiran's survival by the way was why you fielded the BK in 1-F and attacked him with Ike in 3-7. Always on a 1st playthrough, and unless you complete those two conditions on any future run, Sephiran dies. I don't get why those two requirements have anything to do with Sephiran staying alive, but they do. You also got the Ike's sealed memories scene and possibly could view the Tower Soren-Ike convo. But I guess Dheg, Levail, and Zelgius were all sane and willing to die for their beliefs, while Sephiran was pretty much suicidal and insane, yet held prospects of recovery.

I'll get to analyzing the Extended Script of 4-Final later, but there is this bit of dialogue unused in all versions:

Spoiler

Hetzel survives (unused)

Hetzel: I…I was only following Lekain’s orders… I never meant any harm. Please, my empress…forgive me… Please!
Sanaki: Your crimes will be punished in due time. Until then, just wait here patiently. I’m sorry it has to come to this, but I must go see the goddess and save the people of Begnion.

Wouldn't have been a terrible idea. Since he is neither totally evil, but certainly not good either.

[BrightBow]

Did you skip the Info Conversation with Nasir and Gareth in E-4? That one is kinda important.

[Icelerate]

25 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Did you skip the Info Conversation with Nasir and Gareth in E-4? That one is kinda important.

He did but edited it in after. 

It's very good that you're doing a second playthrough on your first try because all the Lehran memories are unavailable. It does do a good job in developing his character. 

[BrightBow]

Yeah, I really jumped the gun here.

Anyway, good job Deltre with beating this game on Maniac, on your first run no less. I would also like to ask if your Discord still exists? I tried to use the links on your old videos but they don't work.

 

Anyway, now I can finally bitch about what the localisation did to that final cutscene. Maybe you might wonder why that final exchange between Ike and Yune has him going on about humans need the gods to have something to aspire, when the entirely of Part 4 was about how the gods are just as flawed as their creations. So I'm glad to say that this this inspiration stuff is something that is entirely made up by the localisation. A more accurate translation would be this:

Spoiler

 

Ike: “Are you going to disappear as well?”

Yune: “Yes, but it’s probably for the best. Absolute beings like us only serve to distract mankind and restrict their evolution. So, I… I’m already…”

Ike: “It wasn’t so bad before.”

Yune: “Huh?”

Ike: “You were like a mother to all of life– Your children still require a mother like you. When you watch over us, we don’t always do things that make you happy and sometimes we even disappoint you. Still, I think we would like you to continue watching over us. How about it?”

Yune: “But it would be difficult… Could we really coexist? Does it not bother you that I’m an imperfect being?”

Ike: “You forgave all the mistakes that we made, so how could we not forgive you.”

Yune: “Ah…”

Ike:“We all need to work hard to accept each other. As long as we don’t try and run away from our mistakes, then I’m sure we’ll be able to see each other again one day.”

Yune: “Yes… One day… We’ll be together again…”

I would like to note that this translation is from the page containing the translations of the extended script but it's not actually part of the extended script (being cutscene dialog and all). It's just that whoever translated these would sometimes also throw in stuff unrelated to the extended script when there are differences like this one.

Honestly, I would really like to know what happened here. The best guess I can come up with is that the localisation didn't want Ike to refer to a little kid as "mother". ...which would be amazingly ironic considering the shameless lolicon pandering in recent games. But whatever their reason may be, I'm amazed by how the end result is so at odds with the theme of Part 4.

 

Anyway, if this was your first run Sephiran would have died for real just like it was the case with Pelleas. Getting Ike's memory scene and keeping Sephiran alive is what all this cryptic stuff like having Ike attack the Black Knight in 3-7 was for. Consequently you also wouldn't have gotten to see the scene about the return of Ashunera. The vocal theme during the credits also only plays if Sephiran survives.

Ashera actually has a few boss conversations... but there is something weird going on with them. They don't actually trigger if you attack her. They only trigger if Ashera attacks someone with a single target attack. She has conversations with Ike, Kurthnaga, Micaiah and Lehran. The last two are completely impossible to trigger because Ashera cannot actually target them. She cannot directly attack Micaiah, Lehran or the Herons. It's a shame too because Lehran's is pretty nice.

Quote

Ashera: Lehran, you have joined my enemies?
Lehran: My goddess… Never before have I defied you in even the least thing. But I have seen the error of my ways and wish to save the people whom I once desired to destroy. I am one man, and my life is precious. How much more precious are the lives of the countless multitudes?

I suppose now I could also link directly to the page containing the available translations of the extended script...

https://serenesforest.net/radiant-dawn/scripts/game-script/

as well as the page with the Boss conversations...

https://serenesforest.net/radiant-dawn/scripts/game-script/miscellaneous/boss-conversations/

...and while I'm on it I'll also link to the page about units who won't attack each other. That should be pretty interesting trivia if nothing else.

https://serenesforest.net/radiant-dawn/characters/non-attacking-units/

 

Edited November 26, 2017 by BrightBow

[Icelerate]

Sephiran seems to be one of the villains with shaky resolve. It's pretty refreshing honestly when most final villains are extremely committed. 

 

Edited November 26, 2017 by Icelerate

[Interdimensional Observer]

Brightbow already linked the Extended Script, but I'll point out a few differences:

One, the English added Micaiah's dialogue with Lekain. These

Spoiler

[Note: The lines involving Micaiah and Lekain were added in the English version]

Micaiah:
“Lekain… We’ve been looking for you for a long time. You bound Daein to your awful pact, hounded noble King Pelleas, and stole countless lives in your appalling war. You are…beyond redemption!”

Lekain:
“Beyond redemption? My, that does sound dreadful. Whatever will you do with me? Oh, and let me remind you, the blood pact is still in effect. You would do well to remember that. I think you know what will happen to the people of Daein if you should dare oppose me.”

Micaiah:
“Enough. We fear your threats no longer. No more will we bow to your every whim. Now that we’ve found you, we will exact justice upon you, then destroy the blood pact itself, ending its power over us!”

Lekain:
“So you figured it out, did you? Heh, heh… It matters not. This changes nothing, do you hear me? Here is the scroll for which you’ve been searching so diligently. Right here in my hands.”

Micaiah:
“Ah!”

Lekain:
“And yet, none of you will ever lay one grimy little finger upon it. I”
have been blessed by the goddess herself. Her protection will not allow you fleas to even approach me!

Two, here is what Brightbow meant about the Blood Pact fading:

Spoiler

(Micaiah vs Lekain)

Lekain:
“Ah, the so-called Silver-Haired Maiden. Both dark goddess and Daein general… Tah ha ha, I’m sure [you already know/Pelleas told you] about the blood pact, am I correct?”

Micaiah:
“Lekain, Duke of Gaddos… You crushed the people of Daein beneath your unjust rule and dragged us into a futile war. [You trapped King Pelleas in a corner, where death was his only option.] How do you live with the guilt of your sins?”

Lekain:
“Silence, I’m the one asking the questions here. So long as the blood pact exists, you must bend to my every whim. If you dare to oppose me, Daein’s citizens will all perish!”

Micaiah:
“No, they won’t. You’re lying.”

Lekain:
“Wh-what are you blabbering about?”

Micaiah:
“I don’t know why you are, but I know you’re lying. You may try to hide this fact, but you cannot deny it. The blood pact has lost most of its power… right now, you aren’t capable of invoking the curse.”

Lekain:
“Grrr… You impudent brat!”

(Pelleas vs Lekain)

Pelleas:
“Vi-Vice-Minister Lekain…”

Lekain:
“Hm? Ahhh, still alive, are we? I suppose that I can still find a use for you… I know! Go and attack the enemy general.”

Pelleas:
“Um…”

Lekain:
“Why are you not obeying, fool? That look on your face… Don’t tell me that you’ve forgotten about the blood pact already?”

Pelleas:
“Your empty threats no longer intimidate me. The citizens of Daein have all turned into statues. Besides, I don’t understand why, but the proof of the blood pact on my arm has began to fade. This can only mean the blood pact is starting to lose its power. Lord Lekain… pray tell, is it because you died once before?”

Lekain:
“Tah ha ha… It seems I couldn’t hide the truth from you. However, even if the mark has faded, is it not true that the blood pact still exists? If you dare to oppose me, Daein citizens trespassing on my fair homeland may die. Are you truly willing to take the risk?”

Pelleas:
“Yes, I am actually.”

Lekain:
“Whaaat?! Did I hear you correctly?!”

Pelleas:
“I said I will take that risk. The companions who fight alongside me all survived the light of judgement; this is proof that they are the strongest of men. So if somebody really will die, then that somebody can only be the weakest link, me. So there’s nothing for me to fear!”

Lekain:
“Grr… D-don’t act all proud of yourself! If it’s death you seek, then death you shall have!”

As for Naesala, as you saw, Sephiran, probably after Naesala betrayed the Laguz Alliance, was informed Sephiran somehow (with all his magic, sneaking out of jail for a moment sounds quite possible) of the loophole. Now Kilvas got its blood pact years, decades, maybe centuries before Daein. The Blood Pact must have been worded differently, Daein's lacking the loophole.

Kilvas's Blood Pact isn't ripped with Lekain's death, so presumably the other party to the pact who must die isn't him. Think of it like this if the Kilvas Pact said "Kilvas shall obey the Theocracy of Begnion" and Daein's "Daein shall obey the Senate", then the active head of the Senate is Vice Minister Lekain since Sephiran has been removed from office, while Sanaki as the Empress is the leader of the Theocracy. Hence, I guess Sanaki would have to die to break the Pact. Now if Sanaki on her deathbed of natural causes was stabbed by someone while the Blood Pact was being destroyed, then Kilvas would be free, and thus Naesala has reason to be optimistic about Kilvas's future since Sanaki would agree to free Kilvas of its burden.

 

Speaking of Lekain, this line got cut in the English after everyone is done celebrating the Blood Pact's end:

Spoiler

Yune:
“Humans are so strange… Is being chosen by the goddess such a huge deal for you humans? If you’re not chosen, does that mean that you can’t obtain happiness? That man [Lekain], in order to make himself become chosen, hurt and manipulated so many people. If doing that led him to happiness then I might understand… However even in the second before his death, his heart was filled with doubt and unhappiness.”

There are these two lines post-Zelgius death that got cut:

Spoiler

Yune:
“Micaiah. You’re sad, too, aren’t you? That knight treated you warmly. You wished that he could have stayed by your side.”

Yune:
“But he’s no longer with us. Zelgius is gone… And now the soul that remains is once more alone…”

Yune's Ashunera and Three Heroes story has a few extra details in the Japanese:

Spoiler

“In the very beginning of this world… there was only water, until one day a girl appeared. The girl was very clever, and she forged the first land…then she made trees and flowers, and then she created beings. Fish, beasts and birds… She created so many creatures in one go.”

Yune:
“The goddess loved the Zunanma dearly. To make their lives more fulfilling, she shared with them much knowledge and ideas. The Zunanma rapidly increased in number, giving rise to a variety of races and tribes across the land. Naturally, each of the races thought their own was superior to the others, and conflict arose between them.” [Note the English here tweaks the wording to include the word "evolve" once to described what happened to the Zunanma.

Yune:
“In their natural state, the attacks of mortal creatures have no effect on divine beings. Ashera and I can also not harm eachother. So when Ashera decided to destroy me, she used humans as her weapons.”

(Image of the Three Heroes)

Yune:
“She gathered her strongest warriors and bestowed on them some of her power. This is called the Goddess’s Blessing… She empowered the dual swords of the beorc swordswoman, Altina. The laguz warrior, Soan, and Dheginsea, the leader of the dragon tribe, were also blessed. I blessed my soldiers’ armor to combat them… But it was completely useless before their might.”

You know how Dheg criticized Naesala when he appeared? That was added in the English, he does it with Caineghis and Tibarn too. His Sephiran memory has a few tweaks too:

Spoiler

Dheginsea:
“…All we can do is watch. Even though they are currently enslaved, Laguz are still living. So there is no reason for us to escalate the conflict. The goddess has not yet slept one hundred and fifty years. In the past, there were periods when the Laguz dominated the Beorc. There are still eight hundred and fifty years remaining until the goddess awakens… Following the flow of time, the situation will definitely change. So Goldoa will not move. Since the very beginning, when I chose to isolate my nation, I had already made my decision. If either Laguz or Beorc are destroyed… or when the continent is engulfed in a large-scale war. Only when it becomes an issue of survival will Goldoa move.” [The non-bolded wording is a little different too.]

Also that "Hold! Hold I say!" line is an English addition. An important one since Sephiran didn't leave Goldoa until centuries later. The Japanese makes it sound like he left much sooner. That Kurthnaga talk you didn't see kinda suggests this.

At the end of the memory, this line is different too:

Dheginsea:
“So that’s why…? Old friend… That silver-haired girl… is your… No wonder… Goddess Yune would… I see… I finally understand… It seems… there is still… hope… My queen… Rajaion… I will soon join you. My lovely Almedha… Cherish…life…”

Two tweaks before the Sephiran battle:

Spoiler

Yune:
“…Ever since we entered the tower, I’ve strongly sensed Ashera’s presence. More than that, I’ve felt some of her thoughts. Ashera may have changed since before her slumber. That may be the reason why she betrayed her covenant with humans… and turned everyone to stone.”

Yune:
“During the time of our separation, we left behind a powerful influence on each other’s bodies. However, as the years and months passed… Ashera became a being of complete order… Order and chaos are meant to naturally balance each other out. If you take one away, balance is lost. I don’t expect Ashera to have the merest shred of compassion. Talking to her will likely do no good.”

Yune:
“Yes, but there was also your mother Elena… and when she passed away, Mist sang for me. Their song didn’t have the same effect as galdrar, but more important than the song itself, I was never alone. There was always someone, singing comfort to me.”

Sephiran:
“…It seems the king knew that the Black Knight was not completely loyal, yet he allowed him to remain by his side. According to Zelgius… Ashnard actually seemed to enjoy leaving a blackheart at his side, so that he would always have the feeling of his life being at risk.”

Sephiran:
“It was mine… I planned to retrieve the medallion and hand it over to King Ashnard.”

Ike:
“Why? What reason would you have for doing that?”

Sanaki:
“You did it to gain the king’s trust, to show that the Black Knight would faithfully follow the king’s orders, right? You never intended on killing Ike’s father… Is that right? Please tell me I’m right, Sephiran!”

Sephiran:
“Lady Sanaki, your theory is half correct… and half incorrect. Sir Ike, I’m afraid your father’s death was an unfortunate result of Zelgius’s own personal agenda. I must admit that I did ask him to seize the medallion and hand it over to King Ashnard, but it was not to gain Ashnard’s trust.”

Sanaki:
“Then why?”

Sephiran:
“Because originally the medallion belonged with me. 23 years ago, I placed it with Princess Lillia of Serenes.”

Sanaki:
“… Come again?!”

Ike:
“You…!”

Sephiran:
“You see, everything was planned by me, Sir Ike. Attend and learn…”

Also, there is serious change in Sephiran's memory of the Serenes Massacre:

Spoiler

(Flashback)

[Note: This flashback scene is slightly different in the English version]

Civilian:
“What? It can’t be true! Our apostle…”

Civilian:
“Can’t believe it myself. But the senators made an announcement! It must be true!”

Lehran:
“Pardon me? Has something happened to the apostle?”

Civilian:
“Oh, my lord sage! The apostle! She’s…she’s dead.”

Lehran:
“What? How?”

Civilian:
“It’s still a recent announcement… we don’t fully know what’s happened!”

Civilian:
“She was assassinated! It was the doing of the Serenes herons!”

Civilian:
“What?”

Lehran:
“Peace, friends! This is simply not possible. The heron tribe could never assassinate anyone, they…”

Civilian:
“Everybody in the city is heading for Serenes Forest. Quick, grab a weapon!” [The English adds the "grab a torch and burn the forest" lines]

Lehran:
“…No, you mustn’t…”

Civilian:
“We must avenge the Apostle!”

Civilian:
“She’s dead, isn’t she? Those damned sub-humans… Every last one of ’em’s got to die! For the apostle!”

Civilian:
“That’s the truth! They’re nothing but monsters! Oh, I wish I could kill them myself!” [These lines got moved in the English a little earlier]

Lehran:
“How could this…”

Civilian:
“What’s wrong, my lord sage? You don’t look well. Are you feeling all right?”

Lehran:
“Ungh!”

Civilian:
“GWAAAAAAHHHH!”

Civilian:
“Wings! From the sage’s back! Wings… He’s one of them! He’s a monster!”

(Image of the burning Serenes Forest)

(Image of Lehran standing near an unconscious Lillia) [the CG in case you couldn't see it clearly- I never did until now, had a heron girl in front of Sephiran and the altar]

Lehran:
“The medallion must be quelled… or there will be disaster… That girl…” 

[The English of the above line is “The medallion must be quelled. I cannot allow this madness to come to pass! Judgment…the goddess’s judgment… NO! What have they done? The forest… the trees… The herons were innocent… Why?”]

Civilian:
“I found them. They’re hiding up here.”

Civilian:
“Kill them! Don’t leave any alive! For the Apostle!”

(Image of the medallion on the altar)

Lehran:
“The medallion… I must quell the chaotic energies! Must…calm them…”

Lehran:
“Ungh! NO! Chaos…”

(Several voices appear in Lehran’s mind)

Dheginsea:
“You, who have lost your birthright?”

Misaha:
“And yet, now that I’ve met you, I understand. There is no shame in my heritage. None at all.”

Ashera:
“In deference to you, I will place my faith in your kind one last time.”

Altina:
“You… are the gentlest soul of them all, my sweet Lehran…”

Lehran:
“Why? Why did I lose my power? Why? Why was my tribe stolen? Why, why, why?”

(Image of Lehran holding onto the medallion)

Civilian:
“Huh, what’s up with this guy? He’s been standing there frozen for a while.”

Civilian:
“We won’t allow you a painless death. You need to know what true pain feels like…”

Civilian:
“Yeah, you don’t take blows very well. We just hit you a few times and you drop dead… How can we punish them like this?”

Civilian:
“We can’t let the Apostle’s killers get away so easily… We should torture them, make them bleed until they beg… Then we kill them!”

Lehran:
“…Humans… 350 years still remain. But there is no need to continue waiting. This world does not need beorc. And neither does it need laguz…Both are deeply flawed. Please awaken! Oh, Goddess. Awaken…and judge.”

Sephiran was hallucinating during the Massacre- it got that bad for him. As for the civilians, it doesn't say what happened. But an angry mob vs. a 40 Magic 40 Spd Servant of the Goddesses with Mantle- they'd lose. I'm guessing Sephiran killed them.

As for the exact scope of Lehran's manipulation: he let the Senate stay corrupt, he gave Ashnard Lillia, the Medallion and the Black Knight. He sent the BK to Micaiah to get Daein independent again (because an independent Daein can fight- good for chaos making), he kept Ashnard's troops from pursuing Elincia at Port Toha and then vouched for her in Begnion to intensify the war against Ashnard. He told Naesala to free Sanaki, probably out of fatherly love, but also to make more chaos by splitting Begnion's forces. He may, we have no official evidence, but Sephiran likes traveling in disguise, is a master of magic, and needed Ashnard, may have also been the traveling wise man who gave Ashnard his Blood Pact used to clear the way to claiming the Daein throne.

Sephiran did not expect things like Kurthnaga fighting or Rafiel coming with the truth of the Serenes Massacre (which caused Part 3 to happen)- those were lucky breaks in his scheme he had no control over. He got lucky when Kurthnaga went to Almedha, he was unlucky when Ashnard got killed too fast for the Medallion to break.

As for how Sephiran got Lillia to Ashnard- he probably used a sleeping spell to knock her out- Leanne was under one for 20 years. Ashnard, Tanith says in a Base Conversation in PoR, was famed on the battlefield for defeating an entire Begnion squad on his own, he wasn't a total nobody. As for what Sephiran wanted from giving Lillia to Ashnard, well she couldn't break the seal since she isn't his Branded descendant (a descendant of Altina is a descendant of Lehran, he from whom the Apostles received their powers- including the Galdrar of Release, but of course, this was hidden). Throughout Part 3 however, the Herons are using Galdrar to suppress the Medallion's chaos, but they can't stop it if it comes to it. Presumably, singing the Galdrar of Release over and over would make the Medallion easier to break, that is my only guess.

 

Also, Ashunera and Yune were in PoR. Where? The game's data, inaccessible to the normal player, has a list of names:

These names have no physical data (other than their name) and include Hauteclaire, Fire Emblem (both appear towards the end of the swords list), Yune, Monica (appears between Calill and Largo), Glice (probably a boss), Astarte (known as Ashera in the English version, appears after Reyson and Leanne and before some generic soldiers) and Astartyune (seems to imply some relation between Ashera and Yune? It appears after all the Light magic).

Astarteyune is the Japanese for Ashunera. 

[Icelerate]

@Deltre

Now that you've played through both Tellius games, how would you compare the story with each other and against other FE games? 

While PoR has better writing, the plot of RD is much more intense with twists and turns which makes the game a lot more engaging so I'd have to give it to FE10. 

@Interdimensional Observer

Considering how powerful Sephiran is and the fact he has mantle, why does he get captured all the time? Deltre made a joke about the thought of the Black Knight getting captured but it's even more silly for Sephiran to get captured. The guy has access to warp magic, the ability to wipe out memories and immortality. 

If you claim that he wants to get arrested, then why does he escape after people come in to free him? 

Edited November 28, 2017 by Icelerate

[Interdimensional Observer]

4 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

If you claim that he wants to get arrested, then why does he escape after people come in to free him? 

I'm not saying he wanted to be arrested. But at the same time he was in no rush to escape in PoR and RD. In PoR, he gets arrested because Ashnard invaded Daein and one of his pawns captured him helping Crimean militiamen. In RD, he gets arrested because he and Sanaki oppose war with the Laguz.

In both cases, everything is already rolling towards judgement day he believes. Ashnard has already started a continental war, it just needs time to expand, but Sephiran trusts that it will expand because Ashnard is so strong and devoted to his goals. In RD, the Senate can be corrupt without him- if it couldn't the Serenes Massacre wouldn't have happened. Daein was already under the Blood Pact, Gallia and the Bird Tribe was already at war, and he probably imagined that Crimea could and would get involved later. The Senate had all of Begnion's massive resources at its disposal, it could fight on for years without stopping- long enough for a Medallion break.

And what did Sephiran have to fear behind bars? Torture? His life has been torture- he broke 20 years ago, death he yearns for.

Being killed before the judgement happens, and thus if it doesn't come in spite of his plans, he'll have died his goal unfulfilled? It'd be a laugh to watch a guillotine fall on his neck, only to break up on contact with his goddess blessed flesh. He can't die by ordinary force because of Mantle, he already tried over 800 years ago. Dheginsea alone perhaps can kill him in his blessed state- and Dheginsea would refuse such a request as mad. 

Zelgius doesn't "rescue" Sephiran, though he expresses such a sentiment before people who shouldn't know the secret truth of Sephiran (aka everyone), as he "rendezvouses" with him. He finds a convenient excuse to reunite with his master, relay new information, and get new orders.

[Deltre]

Well, this playthrough was one hell of a ride.

@Interdimensional Observer Those Bastian supports are all gold. You're not kidding though, keeping that up for an entire ~50 hour adventure would be maddening. The Oliver conversations are of course phenomenal as well. 

I find Astrid to be a surprisingly interesting character (not so much as a unit, but I digress) so thank you for posting her PoR supports. It seems like she really does most of the things she does because she absolutely hates the life she was born into. I'm sure being a noble has its perks and all, but her whole life was essentially planned out for her, leaving little/nothing to her own decisions. It makes sense why she would latch on to the first few choices she was able to make as her own person, which would explain why she's committed to being a knight. That, and Makalov in general. I might give her crap, but I think she's handled pretty realistically, actually.

That's a neat little detail with those battle themes. I love when games do that, and I feel that it helps the soundtracks feel more whole in a way. Caineghis obviously has a similar thing going, and so does Naesala though his is a more drastic remix.

I'll be honest, I have a totally different interpretation with the Kilvas Blood Pact. I guess you could chalk it up to the Blood Pact being very unclear (again!), but that explanation makes me question a few things. For example, if Kilvas had a Blood Pact all this time, then wouldn't that mean that the person who laid the curse is still alive somewhere? If that's the case, then why would Lekain have it? And if the pact-maker is dead, wouldn't it effectively be a scrap of paper with no way to invoke the curse? If not, then does that mean that by stating that Kilvas must obey Begnion, anyone can invoke the curse? If Naesala was really cursed all throughout PoR, wouldn't Begnion invoke the Blood Pact when they realized Kilvas was pillaging their ships for God knows how long? I get that the story Lekain told to Pelleas was meant to be about Kilvas, but the way I understood it in relation to Naesala was as two separate events. It seems kinda messy to say that Kilvas was cursed all this time.

Interesting that Lekain would be empty on the inside. I guess his actions ate away at him more than he let on, which is a pretty cool angle to take. None of that redeems him, of course, but it's still kinda neat to see that the lifestyle he lived had some effect on his conscience, however small it may have been.

Hetzel is a bit more disappointing. While he was definitely in the wrong, and cowardly to boot, the option to spare him would have been cool in my book. Maybe make it like the Shura choice in Fates or something. Unlike the other senators, I'm not convinced that Hetzel was beyond any redemption, though it would have been a long road for sure.

That change with the Lehran flashback is huge. Most of the tweaks (like the Sephiran/Ike convo before 4-F-4) all had one theme: keeping the mastermind's true identity and motives more mysterious. The flashback scene is a glaring omission however. Maybe they wanted to make Sephiran seem more sympathetic? After all, that mob was going to try and kill him, and yet we clearly see that they failed. Either they gave up and went home, or Sephiran slaughtered them.

@BrightBow 

https://discord.gg/Gp6M2Tz

I was under the impression that Ike was referring more to Asunera rather than Ashera or Yune separately in that final scene, but I have to admit that all things considered it sounds better in the original script. I'll be honest though, what we got doesn't really bother me either way.

That's too bad about Ashera's conversations, though I feel like should could have used even more than that. It'd mostly be fluff, sure, but since they didn't give everyone a line or two before the battle (like Light or Together to the End), some boss conversations would have been appreciated. It's an even bigger shame when you consider that 95% of the playable cast can talk to Ashnard, despite literally not being able to damage him. 

I still stand by my statement that all the Second Playthrough stuff should just be available from the start. Lehran as a playable character I could go either way on keeping him a second round exclusive, but all those story bits should be in there for sure. Their cryptic nature already ensures that you're likely to miss it on a first playthrough anyways unless you use a guide, so it's not like they're hurting replayability. And for God's sake, I get that they worked hard on these animations, but just let people turn them off from the start. 

@IcelerateI talk about that a bit in the last video, but as a whole I have to give to PoR for story, but not by as much as you might think. I'm the kind of person who enjoys seeing how the characters in a story play off each other, react to the world around them, react to the plot etc. and PoR has that in spades. Side characters felt more lively, and frequently made themselves relevant one way or another. While I find the casts of both games to be charming, PoR fleshed out the characters just that extra bit more to make them truly feel alive at times. That's not to say that RD doesn't do any of these things, or that PoR wins every category though. There's little doubt in my mind that the story of RD is far more grand. The stakes are high, there's tons of memorable story moments in this game, and even though I'd give the edge to PoR overall, I believe that if you take characters out of the equation, the plot of RD is more engaging, and the ending for RD was far more satisfying.

This is just opinion of course, but if you were to put me on the spot for a top 5 stories in FE, it'd probably be 9>10>TRS(it counts I swear)>15>4/5. You can probably tell, but I really do value the characters in these games quite a bit. 4 vs 5 is an interesting one for me, since I look at it in a similar way to 9 vs 10, but that's a whole different discussion

Part 38 (4-F-4 and 4-F-E)

Spoiler

 

Part 39 (Epilogue)

Spoiler

 

I've had some time to sit on it a little since recording the last parts, and I still think this is a fantastic game. Absolutely worth playing, though if you were going to play this yourself I'd have to recommend grabbing a save file with the second playthrough content unlocked. My thoughts haven't really changed that much, so I'll let the videos do the talking.

And if anyone wants to see how right (or dead wrong) I was about some of the units I used, here's this little bonus that one of my subscribers had suggested

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Deltre said:

I'll be honest, I have a totally different interpretation with the Kilvas Blood Pact. I guess you could chalk it up to the Blood Pact being very unclear (again!), but that explanation makes me question a few things. For example, if Kilvas had a Blood Pact all this time, then wouldn't that mean that the person who laid the curse is still alive somewhere? If that's the case, then why would Lekain have it? And if the pact-maker is dead, wouldn't it effectively be a scrap of paper with no way to invoke the curse? If not, then does that mean that by stating that Kilvas must obey Begnion, anyone can invoke the curse? If Naesala was really cursed all throughout PoR, wouldn't Begnion invoke the Blood Pact when they realized Kilvas was pillaging their ships for God knows how long? I get that the story Lekain told to Pelleas was meant to be about Kilvas, but the way I understood it in relation to Naesala was as two separate events. It seems kinda messy to say that Kilvas was cursed all this time.

I'm guessing the Blood Pact can endure across generations? Just as the Blood Pact marking passes unto Micaiah if Pelleas dies, the pact-maker's role can pass on from person to person? I guess this would be the case as long as the document survives.

Remember that back in 3-2, Tibarn asks Naesala how he mysteriously became king- he probably inherited the BP marking and conceals it very well. Since Sanaki doesn't get stoned, she never "dies" and thus the Pact endures on him. But then why does someone have to die to break the Pact? Why doesn't destroying the document solve everything? I feel that was an unnecessary detail. Lack of explanation once again gets in the way of things.

As for Naesala in PoR, I think the Blood Pact probably didn't exist when they were making that game, which makes it one of the very few continuity issues between PoR and RD, which is something amazing that they don't have more.

Alternatively, the Senate could have been largely tolerant of Kilvas piracy, since they are selfish pigs in RD, as long as it didn't get too harsh. Or so as long as it affected them roughly equally, here is a little line from Chapter 15 PoR, the scene where Oliver sees Reyson and then asks Naesala to capture him.

Naesala
Duke Oliver, can we please discuss the business at hand? Per your request, we have appropriated several pieces of art from the ships of Duke Gaddos.
Naesala being an opportunist, he probably had raided ships for other Senators too. And the Senate being of many Senators, if one whined about being pillaged, you'd have plenty of others stopping them from doing anything about it.

The Senate was possinly not overly enthusiastic about going to war with Daein in PoR- we never see their reaction however. So if Kilvas sided with Daein, they didn't care so as long as they themselves weren't being affected. Obviously in their self-interest, they never told Sanaki about a magic piece of paper that gave her dominion over the Ravens.

 

Also to leave this talk of the BP behind. The Recollections have these geography notes of the various countries:

https://kantopia.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/178-179landscape.jpg

https://kantopia.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/180-181laguzlandscape.jpg

Begnion's profile is quite inaccurate since Noad and Razia don't exist, it's based on PoR in its development stages, when the map looked very different.

Some political notes exist too, but they have more inaccuracies from the final games- like a few hundred Herons surviving, Gallia being 20% Beorc, and Laguz being able to walk around in open daylight in Crimea, which is totally wrong in PoR- remember the scene where Ranulf got shoved by a bunch of civilians? They're not totally useless, Dheginsea having a "one mind" policy not tolerating internal dissent and Goldoa asserting a form of racial superiority over all others (the RD scene where Dheg says Ike wouldn't understand being so short lived a species). But they're not as trustworthy as the geographical notes.

 

The Recollections also mention that Dark Magic is associated with "the Dark God"/Yune, which is partly why it is so rarely practiced- that isn't a good thing to be associated with the world flooder. Water Magic it says isn't a thing because of an ancient association between Ashunera and water (since she emerged from a watery chaos probably) which has somehow endured despite Ashunera being forgotten, and hence nobody practices it because it is too sacred to touch. No explanation on why no Earth Magic though.

The Recollections also imply that Ashera and Yune first split inside Ashunera's body- like a mental split into two personalities. Being ignored and isolated by her Orderly self who takes control of their body to try to end the increasing conflict between Beorc and Laguz, the Yune half of Ashunera causes the Great Flood and the Goddess of Dawn splits physically into two.

 

One final offering, I know I have offered you far too much already in the course of this whole LP, here is a link to a series of 3 videos showcasing every single Critical and Mastery animation in the game. If you haven't watched them yet, have fun doing so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLoNkLC5FIU

[Icelerate]

On 10/27/2017 at 5:16 PM, BrightBow said:

Nephenee, Brom and Haar joining makes absolutely zero sense. This war doesn't even involve Crimea. Doing favors for an old acquaintance only gets you this far. Nevermind that these three have other duties back at home. I don't want to complain about it though because that way you can actually use them... but yeah, it's just plain dumb. Brom and Nephenee don't even have an info conversation to acknowledge their presence.

Haar makes perfect sense because he has a hatred of Begnion. Haar doesn't help Daein in part one because he dislikes both Begnion and Daein equally. On the other hand, he knows for a fact that Ike stands for justice. Nephenee and especially Brom don't make much sense since Brom is a rather peaceful individual who hates fighting. The worst case is Heather who makes literally no sense at all. 

Edited January 4, 2018 by Icelerate

[BrightBow]

Sorry for posting so long after the run has concluded but I would really like to mention a few things about the game's soundtrack.

First of all, the Soundtest is actually incomplete for some reason. For example that track that always plays in the final chapter whenever Ike points his sword at the new boss isn't on there. The upbeat version of Elincia's theme that played during her reappearance in Part 3 is also left out. As well as several boss intros.

But more importantly, the game has quite a few completely unused tracks. Like this boss theme for example:

https://serenesforest.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/107-Boss-Theme-3.mp3

You know, whatever this theme may have been originally intended for, I find it really strange that they repurposed "Finale in Fear" as a boss theme for Ike and Micaiah when they had this boss theme still lying around.

Anyway, other examples include a dedicated desert map theme,  a new recruitment theme, several versions of Tibarn and Naesala's themes from PoR and a remix of Alm's victory theme from Gaiden. I suppose that last one was intended to be used for a Trial Map mode. PoR and FE6 both remixed old map themes for that mode, so this would fit right into that pattern.

Btw, I hope you also listened to Zelgius' boss theme "The Strong". It's such a shame that you never get to hear that song properly because that one gets super intense.