Shadows of Valentia's story: how to fix it

[blah the Prussian]

In my opinion, Shadows of Valentia is the best written FE game. It has the most potential of any game in the series to have a great story. This, of course, makes it all the more tragic that it ultimately fell short. So, here are my ideas to improve the story.

1. Give Alm an actual character arc. Have him demonstrate some strategic ability. Have his more aggressive nature actually clash with Clive and Lukas's more strategic personality; Alm develops into a genuine war leader, who is prepared to make sacrifices. Probably the biggest thing to do would be to keep Fernand with the Deliverance, and don't make him such a consistently classist asshole. Actually have him criticize Alm's strategic decisions. At least make it so Alm needs to prove himself as a commander by liberating Castle Zofia, rather than having everything handed to him. Ideally, I'd have him hate Rigel preparing for the invasion, and by the end of Chapter 4 understand their motives for going to war due to the extreme poverty.

2. Jedah and Rudolf. First order of business: keep Rudolf's plan, but make clear this plan is flawed. I'd make Rudolf like Ashnard except not sadistic; a pure social darwinist who believes that any help from the Gods is an abomination. Jedah, meanwhile, should be a more sympathetic misanthrope; he genuinely believes that humanity can't govern itself and its for our own good if the Gods do it for us. Then, the theme of strength and kindness finding middle ground could be reflected in finding a balance between over reliance on the Gods and completely destroying them. Then, change the ending. Don't have Alm make such a drastic decision to kill Mila and Duma; I thought he came off as a dick there, like, yeah, Mr. Emperor of Rigel who will never realistically want for anything, easy for you to say, how about Joe Peasant who will have to work even more to live? DIckish of Alm to make that decision for everyone. 

3. Make Celica's story less, you know, sexist. I'd probably just change Jedah's plan here to be ike "when both bearers of the brand are in the same place Duma will awaken"; that way Celica doesn't have to act like a moron.I'd also give Celica a spell that can also hurt Duma, to make her more of an equal to Alm and less of a de facto supporting character.

4. Berkut. In my opinion Berkut is the second best written FE antagonist. Unfortunately, he is given practically nothing to do. So, my idea for Berkut: Jedah uses him as a partial vessel for Duma. Here, Jedah wouldn't want Duma specifically, just a God. It would also make sense as he deliberately entices Berkut with power. I'd also make it ambiguous how much of the final boss is Berkut and how much is Duma; Duma should represent more a lust for power than any real, decisive character. So, Jedah gives Berkut the power of Duma for him to be the new God of Valentia. Berkut genuinely wants to improve things, he just also hates Alm; give emphasis to how Rudolf created this monster, too, for parallels; Alm and Berkut both were created by Rudolf. This also shits on Rudolf's plan more, which frankly cannot happen enough. I'd also show Berkut both being a good commander and a good person. Have him be the one to defeat and capture Matilda; this not only shows him to be a threat, it also makes Matilda look less pathetic losing to Desaix(seriously, how do you do that?). Berkut's introduction should also be this: some soldiers are harassing some noblewoman they captured; Berkut stops them. This shows him to be an honorable guy at the start, one corrupted by his desire for power. Making a Berkut possessed by Duma be the final boss would overall make for a much better narrative.

5. A minor point, but how about making Desaix sympathetic? Have him usurp Lima IV after Berkut has smashed the Zofian army and Lima wants to continue the fight that Desaix views as pointless; Desaix doesn't like being a puppet of Rigel, but figures it's better than full annexation. Yes, this is inspired by Lebello in Legend of the Galactic Heroes

So, what do you all think? Anything I'm missing?

[Jotari]

Keep Rudolf's old design. Or at least you know, make him look like a villain. Rudolf is not supposed to be sympathetic in the original. He's still a villain. Alm outright calls him evil even after finding out he's his father (now he's not meant to be seen as entirely evil I think, more controversial in his actions). Give him those dark eyes and bad ass stache. Also keep him younger. The kindly grandfather look just doesn't work imo. Alm's supposed to be his son. I know you can have children pretty late in life but really Rudolf has no reason to wait so long, especially given he's a monarch. The whole Walhart parallel doesn't even have to be thrown out since that's purely in the armor.

Edited October 18, 2017 by Jotari

[SavageVolug]

Conrad might need to be outright removed or adjusted somehow as his frequent appearances steal the spotlight from Celica and his always saving her WHEN SHE IS PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF RESCUING HERSELF. Something that bothered me is that on multiple times the game had a setup for being eerie and unsettling but, they tell you what's going to happen. A good example is the first Cantor battle, while it makes sense that Celica would know of other types of magic casters it ruins the drama and suspense of this map that the original had.

 

[Jotari]

3 hours ago, SavageVolug said:

Conrad might need to be outright removed or adjusted somehow as his frequent appearances steal the spotlight from Celica and his always saving her WHEN SHE IS PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF RESCUING HERSELF. Something that bothered me is that on multiple times the game had a setup for being eerie and unsettling but, they tell you what's going to happen. A good example is the first Cantor battle, while it makes sense that Celica would know of other types of magic casters it ruins the drama and suspense of this map that the original had.

 

My problem with Conrad is less that he saves Celica and more that he doesn't really actually do anything in the plot. What was the point of him? When I found out who he was I was like "Cool, does this mean Celica's not the heir now? Wonder if that will cause some political turmoil. Maybe they'll kill him off in the last act for some drama." But instead he's just there...doing nothing of importance to the plot. Like could you imagine if they randomly gave Ike a brother in a remake? Or Eirika and Ephraim? Maybe if he was just hanging around from the start as part of Celica's entourage like Lachesis or Mist (or probably even better a comparison, Faye) it wouldn't be weird. But they play his role up in the story and don't do anything with him at all. He's basically the allied version of Berkut. 

Edited October 18, 2017 by Jotari

[Interdimensional Observer]

6 hours ago, blah the Prussian said:

So, what do you all think? Anything I'm missing?

You forgot- "Remove the Archanea connection", Mila and Duma are better off as not Divine Dragons but plain old gods, Kaga suggested real gods existed in Archan-valen-dral. Make them gods that have gone mad down their idealistic paths, but gods nonetheless.

And it looks hypocritical if Naga permitted Mila and Duma to interfere with humanity in Valentia, but wanted to curtail Forseti's desires in Jugdral, when all he wanted to do was stop an Archanean Earth/Shadow running amok there.

[HK Motendra]

One thing that i wish had happened was that the new characters, Berkut, Rinea, and Conrad, appeared on both sides of the story. Idk how it'd play out, but it'd give a chance for Rinea to have more screen time as a character, if she had a little dialogue with Celica in regards to Berkut.

As for Conrad, I'd say he could have been an intermediary between Alm and Celica before ultimately joining Celica's side

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

And it looks hypocritical if Naga permitted Mila and Duma to interfere with humanity in Valentia, but wanted to curtail Forseti's desires in Jugdral, when all he wanted to do was stop an Archanean Earth/Shadow running amok there.

I believe thats less so Naga allowing them to do so, and more so that they did it of their own accord, without Naga knowing. After all, the two of them were exiled, so as such, what they do shouldn't even matter to her. The only question mark with this is the question of when mankind came to be in Valentia, since for all its existence, the continent relied on them for life, as opposed to Archanea

[JimmyBeans]

Let's talk about Desaix for a moment... I'll be honest and say that I wouldn't change anything about his character, but would make his motive, actions, and personality more story prevalent and not have to find memory prism/talk to random people/actively search on the internet, etc, Just to find out how much of a decent character he is. Without all the previous mentioned he is just your average power hungry evil chancellor.  and If you put all those elements into the main story, and not make his lore dark souls levels of hidden, you have a cunning, deceitful,  and a manipulative man who doesn't fear or suck up to the gods, but wants to bring power and prosperity by his own hands. Even though his methods and Morales are bad, he defies the gods in his own way and brings others to his side through his cunning words whether he cares about them or not, such as Slayde. 

I will say that I like your ideas though on the other hand, but also that it's not a crime to make someone evil and not tragic, as long as they are relate-able to a degree. And given how the other characters could pull of being tragic better than Desaix, He could of made for an awesome villain and had tons of missed potential. The worst part is that it was all there for him, they just saw him as minor in the grand scheme of things, and didn't put a lot of effort into his presentation in the main story.

Desaix had big goals and big dreams, and wanted something bigger than sitting under some supreme beings thumb, and that is understandable to a degree as far as i'm concerned.

[Interdimensional Observer]

24 minutes ago, Motendra said:

I believe thats less so Naga allowing them to do so, and more so that they did it of their own accord, without Naga knowing. After all, the two of them were exiled, so as such, what they do shouldn't even matter to her. The only question mark with this is the question of when mankind came to be in Valentia, since for all its existence, the continent relied on them for life, as opposed to Archanea

True. This raises the question of did Mila know about Valentia and whether it had humans on it? Perhaps she would have intervened had she known, she did intervene in Jugdral once Forseti brought it to her attention. 

Also, where does it say that Valentian humans always had the gods? That could be exaggeration and there is a pre-literacy prehistory to humanity in Valentia, which couldn't be recorded. If it isn't exaggeration/a pre-dragon god history, then we have to assume they came over after -1244 VC at the latest. Why? I did the math in my little fanfict history of Valentia using the canonical timeline number we've been given.

Around the year -704 on the Valentian calendar, which corresponds to year -500 on the Archanean calendar, Naga died at Thabes. Knowing this, and knowing that the Earth Dragons and their allies struck out against humanity around the year -700 (-944 Valentian), and that the dragons began to decline around -1000 (-1244 Valentian), and that Mila and Duma migrated to Valentia prior to the dragon decline, we can thus place their arrival in Valentia as being before -1244.

Edited October 18, 2017 by Interdimensional Observer

[HK Motendra]

4 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

True. This raises the question of did Mila know about Valentia and whether it had humans on it? Perhaps she would have intervened had she known, she did intervene in Jugdral once Forseti brought it to her attention. 

Also, where does it say that Valentian humans always had the gods? That could be exaggeration and there is a pre-literacy prehistory to humanity in Valentia, which couldn't be recorded. If it isn't exaggeration/a pre-dragon god history, then we have to assume they came over after -1244 VC at the latest. Why? I did the math in my little history of Valentia using the timeline number we've been given.

Around the year -704 on the Valentian calendar, which corresponds to year -500 on the Archanean calendar, Naga died at Thabes. Knowing this, and knowing that the Earth Dragons and their allies struck out against humanity around the year -700 (-944 Valentian), and that the dragons began to decline around -1000 (-1244 Valentian), and that Mila and Duma migrated to Valentia prior to the dragon decline, we can thus place their arrival in Valentia as being before -1244.

I don't believe it was outright stated, moreso that it is implied by the intro of the game where it says:

Quote

Once the gods, themselves walked these lands. Our continent of Valentia was home to two of them: sibling gods named Duma and Mila

Naturally, it wouldnt be much of a stretch to assume as such, buuuuuuut, I can't deny the possible credence of your timeline. I'll have ot look into it later, cause class calls for me

[Jotari]

5 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

True. This raises the question of did Mila know about Valentia and whether it had humans on it? Perhaps she would have intervened had she known, she did intervene in Jugdral once Forseti brought it to her attention. 

Also, where does it say that Valentian humans always had the gods? That could be exaggeration and there is a pre-literacy prehistory to humanity in Valentia, which couldn't be recorded. If it isn't exaggeration/a pre-dragon god history, then we have to assume they came over after -1244 VC at the latest. Why? I did the math in my little fanfict history of Valentia using the canonical timeline number we've been given.

Around the year -704 on the Valentian calendar, which corresponds to year -500 on the Archanean calendar, Naga died at Thabes. Knowing this, and knowing that the Earth Dragons and their allies struck out against humanity around the year -700 (-944 Valentian), and that the dragons began to decline around -1000 (-1244 Valentian), and that Mila and Duma migrated to Valentia prior to the dragon decline, we can thus place their arrival in Valentia as being before -1244.

How can Mila and Duma have been exiled before the decline when they were given Falchion for the express purpose of dealing with each other should they succumb?

[Interdimensional Observer]

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

How can Mila and Duma have been exiled before the decline when they were given Falchion for the express purpose of dealing with each other should they succumb?

Well if that is the case, fortunately for me it doesn't affect my fanfistory. And for everyone else, it means we have a better idea of when Mila and Duma had to have left Archanea. Roughly -1244 VC or later becomes the time when they had to have left if degeneration was known. Of course, Naga should have been more stern with them about the dangers of degeneration given the dragon tribe started to war with each other. This started at -740 AC, which is the same as -984 VC. so perhaps Mila and Duma left Archanea before then when Mila would have scolded them more, but after degeneration, between -1244 and -984 VC. A nice timeframe to work with.

Edited October 19, 2017 by Interdimensional Observer

[Acacia Sgt]

3 hours ago, Jotari said:

How can Mila and Duma have been exiled before the decline when they were given Falchion for the express purpose of dealing with each other should they succumb?

It was more of a "in case they are needed to be strucked down" general case, not specifically about the degeneration. The sword was meant to be given to whoever lived in the place they moved to after being exiled, after all. So yes, they were exiled long before the Era of Decline began.

Edited October 19, 2017 by Acacia Sgt

[Jotari]

6 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

It was more of a "in case they are needed to be strucked down" general case, not specifically about the degeneration. The sword was meant to be given to whoever lived in the place they moved to after being exiled, after all. So yes, they were exiled long before the Era of Decline began.

Nope. Straight from the lips of the god herself

Quote

Mila: See well Falchion, which you now hold. It was carved from the fang of Naga, ruler of dragons, to sever the gods. For Naga knew there was but a creeping madness waiting at eternity’s end. It is a ruin all dragons share. And the only end is one of total destruction. Thus it was that Naga bestowed Falchion upon Duma. She did so to prepare for the day our madness would drive the land to ruin, that the people might have a means to destroy us. That Falchion might become the fangs they lack…and the hope they deserve.

The decline wasn't an overnight affair. It took a long time to come about. So after they started to notice it but before the Earth Dragon War makes sense. Additionally regarding Jugdral, it's very possible Naga had a change of opinion over time about how much influence Dragons should have on humans (maybe Duma and Mila's war was what caused her to be so strict on Jugdral's interference, if those dates match up). Mayhaps she was fine with Dragons ruling as gods (her tirbe is called the Divine after all) but then later saw how destructive that could be so changed her stance but by then Mila and Duma were well established with a peaceful truce and over throwing them would just lead to more interference (once again if those dates match up. Can't be assed to check right now).

Edited October 19, 2017 by Jotari

[Acacia Sgt]

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

Nope. Straight from the lips of the god herself

The decline wasn't an overnight affair. It took a long time to come about. So after they started to notice it but before the Earth Dragon War makes sense. Additionally regarding Jugdral, it's very possible Naga had a change of opinion over time about how much influence Dragons should have on humans (maybe Duma and Mila's war was what caused her to be so strict on Jugdral's interference, if those dates match up). Mayhaps she was fine with Dragons ruling as gods (her tirbe is called the Divine after all) but then later saw how destructive that could be so changed her stance but by then Mila and Duma were well established with a peaceful truce and over throwing them would just lead to more interference (once again if those dates match up. Can't be assed to check right now).

Well, according to the Archanea calendar, the Era of Decline began around the year -1000. With Marth's games happening in the early 600's, that's around 1600 years ago. Duma and Mila were said to have arrived at Valentia 3000 years ago (doesn't matter the Valentia calendar doesn't match up date-wise, what matters is that their years last the same, something admitedly doesn't really fully confirmed). Even if we assume that "around -1000" is when the effects of the decline were fully understood, then it falls under one's opinion if the effects really began to appear (and be noticed) more than 1400 years ago (timeline says -1000 is when the decline began, for what it is worth). Personally, I doubt that. So around -2400~ should still be the middle of the Golden Age. Good for Naga then to really have that foresight.

The thing is, by the time Naga found out about Jugdral, it was long after she decided interfere. After all, centuries before she had saved humanity from the degenerated Earth Dragons. Before all that, she was content letting them be (it was, after all, the whole reason she and Duma argued; he wanted direct interaction and interference, she wanted to not interfere and let them be). And considering how she didn't let Forseti stay,  or that she hands over stuff rather than acting directly (Falchion, Shield of Seals, Book of Naga), it shows she still clung to non-interference to a degree. So no, she never thought of dragons actually ruling over humans, even whe she relaxed her non-interference policy slightly. She would probably had still said something of what Duma and Mila did, even long before their feud. But that's the thing. Does Naga even knows what Duma and Mila did after they left Archanea?

Edited October 19, 2017 by Acacia Sgt

[SavageVolug]

22 hours ago, Jotari said:

My problem with Conrad is less that he saves Celica and more that he doesn't really actually do anything in the plot. What was the point of him? When I found out who he was I was like "Cool, does this mean Celica's not the heir now? Wonder if that will cause some political turmoil. Maybe they'll kill him off in the last act for some drama." But instead he's just there...doing nothing of importance to the plot. Like could you imagine if they randomly gave Ike a brother in a remake? Or Eirika and Ephraim? Maybe if he was just hanging around from the start as part of Celica's entourage like Lachesis or Mist (or probably even better a comparison, Faye) it wouldn't be weird. But they play his role up in the story and don't do anything with him at all. He's basically the allied version of Berkut. 

Yeah, I absolutely agree with you there, it's something my brother and I have discussed on a variety of occasions that Conrad in addition to taking the focus away from Celica, he himself also is not needed at all, There is not anything that his presence contributes to the story, furthermore instead of the setting being that Celica is the sole heir to the Zofian throne there is now Conrad who is likely also an heir to the throne. So that presents a dilemma there. Now on Alm's route you have Faye who like Conrad is an additional character that has been added and does not contribute to the flow of the story, the difference is that the player is perfectly free to not even take Faye essentially completely ignore her existence. The same cannot be said for Conrad, if they were going to essentially make a 3rd protagonist which is what it almost feels like Conrad is. He's in this weird spot where he's not the protagonist but you also aren't allowed to forget about him either, which if they were going to add a 3rd major character I would have rather had Valbar be that character. He was even on the boxart of the original game, now he still wasn't a major character but still there would have been more basis of making Valibar a more plot important character than adding an additional new character.

[Shiki]

To 2:
The thing is that Mila and Duma are already suffering from the "madness syndrome" that their kind are known for. Mila explains that after the Falchion scene. Not sure if you can get away without killing them, otherwise you would need to find some cure for them. It would also screw over the timeline for Awakening as well since Mila and Duma are gone at that point.

To 3:
Actually, Celica's decision makes more sense in the Original. In SoV the battle at the dragon maw is entirley optional. Even if you do it you cannot advance unless you finish Celica's portion. However, in the original, Alm's group is almost wiped out by the infinite amount of Zombie Dragons and Jedah threatens Celica with his demise. Only then Celica relents to Jedah's demands.
I don't know why they changed this. Yes, it's cliche but it's infinitely better than making Celica an overly naive child.

To 1&4:
If you do point 4, you already resolve most of the problems with Alm. Having Berkut as a proper foil to Alm would give him the necessary push to reflect and actually grow as a character during Chapter 3. This is actually pretty easy to do in the game and I'm not sure why they didn't do this.
During the first battle with Berkut, give him the Draco Shield (which he should have from Desaix by the way) and make it into a similar situation when facing Jedah in Celica's Route for the first time. Make it so that at the end of the chapter Berkut spares Alm's group in his arrogance. This will still give Alm the loss and it will tarnish his perfect image up to that point, giving more justification to Clive's ramblings regarding Alm's decisions.

To 5:
Nah, sticking Desaix' head on a pole is still too much fun.

Otherwise, pretty good points to the plot.

[blah the Prussian]

It doesn't neccesarily have to be keeping them alive, but charging in without even knowing how much agricultural damage this will do is reckless. Maybe run with the idea of the Gods being spirits, and having them possess new people, and leaving it to new generations to start the cycle a New?

[Azz]

6 hours ago, Talandar said:

To 3:
Actually, Celica's decision makes more sense in the Original. In SoV the battle at the dragon maw is entirley optional. Even if you do it you cannot advance unless you finish Celica's portion. However, in the original, Alm's group is almost wiped out by the infinite amount of Zombie Dragons and Jedah threatens Celica with his demise. Only then Celica relents to Jedah's demands.
I don't know why they changed this. Yes, it's cliche but it's infinitely better than making Celica an overly naive child.

Was that not from the manga? I may be misremembering but I had Alm promoted before the Dragon Maw in the original Gaiden.

[Shiki]

1 minute ago, Azz said:

Was that not from the manga? I may be misremembering but I had Alm promoted before the Dragon Maw in the original Gaiden.

Pretty sure that happens in the game.
Also Alm's promotion is tied to reaching the Sage's hamlet, isn't it?

[Azz]

4 minutes ago, Talandar said:

Pretty sure that happens in the game.
Also Alm's promotion is tied to reaching the Sage's hamlet, isn't it?

Yes, which you can reach before even starting Alm's portion of Ch. 4.

[Shiki]

Yes, but once you do the Dragon's maw with Alm, the game doesn't allow you to move until you reach Duma's tower with Celica.
If you do Celica's route first, it will immediately end after you met Jedah. You can get the promotion but you are still forced to play 1 battle in Dragon's maw, after that you get the cutscene with Jedah in Duma's tower.

Scene in Mageknight's walkthrough.

[Azz]

10 minutes ago, Talandar said:

Yes, but once you do the Dragon's maw with Alm, the game doesn't allow you to move until you reach Duma's tower with Celica.
If you do Celica's route first, it will immediately end after you met Jedah. You can get the promotion but you are still forced to play 1 battle in Dragon's maw, after that you get the cutscene with Jedah in Duma's tower.

Scene in Mageknight's walkthrough.

Ah, I see. Thanks for correcting me, it's been a while since I played Gaiden.

[Kalken]

1. The Black and White portrayal of Duma's worshipers against Mila's (Team Duma only has token Halcyon compared to how Mila Church is not held accountable for the state of Zofia) when combined with how Mila is portrayed in a much more positive way than Duma.

2. Rudolf's ridiculous plan when combined with how the game tries to both make him sympathetic and suggest his plan was needed.

3. Jedah's incoherent characterization (he claims to seek a world of chaos, yet what we know of Duma suggests he wouldn't approve such a plan AND that his goal would be better served by keeping Duma as the degenerate corpse he is today) when combined with Celica with going along with his scheme. His looks don't help.

Throwing these in. These are also open to fixing (as in rewriting Mila and/or her church to be more complicit in Zofia's state, rewriting the whole thing with Rudolf,  Rewriting Jedah)

Edited October 19, 2017 by Kalken

[The Snek Lord]

I think the story were better if these played out. Rudolf being the Emperor of Rigel decides enough is enough and with his armies charges Duma tower. Rudolf being a good leader and smart knows there is a chance of failure, so he entrusts Mycen with his son if he were to fail (Rudolf going up against a God). Rudolf fails and becomes a puppet, which then is used to kill Mila. You can image Mila getting more upset at Duma knowing full well that Rudolf is a puppet. This would get rid of the whole prophecy and give a good reason for Rudolf to send his son (Alm) as far away as possible. 

[vanguard333]

2 hours ago, The Snek Lord said:

I think the story were better if these played out. Rudolf being the Emperor of Rigel decides enough is enough and with his armies charges Duma tower. Rudolf being a good leader and smart knows there is a chance of failure, so he entrusts Mycen with his son if he were to fail (Rudolf going up against a god). Rudolf fails and becomes a puppet, which then is used to kill Mila. You can imagine Mila getting more upset at Duma knowing full well that Rudolf is a puppet. This would get rid of the whole prophecy and give a good reason for Rudolf to send his son (Alm) as far away as possible. 

Wow;  that's a really good idea, and it's about changing the story so that the conqueror villain is possessed... After Fates, I did not expect anyone to say a story would be better if a villain were possessed by a maddened dragon. And yet, it is a good idea.

One thing I think would really help with the story of Shadows of Valentia has to do with the Duma Faithful:

Witches, cantors, and summoning monsters were never the original practice of the Duma Faithful; they were just to serve Duma in helping the people of Rigel be strong. Over time, their spells became more pragmatic, but never did they take power directly from Duma. But then, they started seeing the signs that Duma was growing mad, and his ideology of leadership by strength, was turning into a mad obsession with power. Halcyon saw Duma's end as unfortunate, but inevitable, and wanted to warn the people of Rigel that Duma was going mad, and try to let Duma's end come quietly and gently. But Jedah believed that Rigel would not survive without Duma, and soon Halcyon and those still loyal to him were cast out; only spared because, at the time, Jedah and them wouldn't have been strong enough to defeat them. However, Jedah and them had no means of saving Duma, until they found a way to make sacrifices to Duma for power, but it only made Duma's madness worse, and the Duma Faithful became mooches; drunk on Duma's power and the terrible magic they had originally adopted in an attempt to save Duma. 

To this end, Jedah's motivation changes. He is still evil, but not cartoonishly so, as he has reduced himself to nothing more than a parasite; feeding on Duma's power. He has no ambition beyond keeping Duma alive so he can keep feeding on Duma's power. He has no plans to "create a world of chaos". Instead, that's what he sees will come from keeping Duma alive, and has resigned himself to that fate if it means Duma remains alive. He does not treat his deal with Celica as a deal, but instead treats it like every other time a villain holds something the hero cares about as a hostage. Celica, in response, does not intend on accepting the deal, and, to an extent inspired by Alm, hopes to free Mila herself. But then, once her forces scale Duma Tower, she finds Jedah, standing there, waiting for her, and she realizes that Jedah planned ahead, and she and her army are immediately surrounded. To make matters worse, Jedah shows Celica an image of Alm's army, either stuck in the canyon, or fighting Rudolf; exactly as she had seen in her dream. Jedah reveals that he, through Duma's magic, planted the Red Herring nightmare in Celica's mind to get her to leave the island and begin her quest. Seeing no other way out, Celica offers her soul to Duma so long as her companions will be allowed to leave (this makes her decision one to save everyone, and no longer stupid as she tried a way around the deal). Jedah promises to "send them downstairs", and does so (exact words), sending them to the basement so they won't be able to warn Alm (rather than just for being evil).

Edited October 20, 2017 by vanguard333