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Book 3 Chapter 4 and its ending (Spoilers!)


Nym
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So I just finished the brand new chapter for Book 3 and I wanted to talk about it and its ending.

Warning, there's spoilers ahead if you didn't read the title. Also a rant.

Spoiler

I can imagine most of us saw that ending coming. That they waited so long to introduce Gustave and Henriette was already a big red flag in front of our face since we have seen parents die before (Greil, Mikoto, etc). But come on now, they could have try AT LEAST a different scenario. I know Alphonse is a main character, and making him die wouldn't make any senses but I would prefer if they tried to trick us. Especially because the "red screen" always means death, making him "die" then maybe throw him as an enemy Alphonse later in the book as a surprise dead general like Lìf would have been an interesting twist, especially if they would add interesting dialogue between him and Lìf, you know his ancestor and role model? But noooo, let's throw the "parent will die" card, we didn't see that one since 2015. Surely it's long enough to excuse us for being lazy?

And I know this is still early in Book 3. But to be honest, first impressions are everything. They started good with the trailer but ever since chapter 3, it went downhill. They didn't try to find a new reason to add the brand new heroes into each map. Instead they recycled the contracts again which make even less sense because Hel is THE RULER OF HEL, the kingdom of the dead! She doesn't need contracts, she has an army of undead and surely not all of them are generic enemies.

Honestly, this doesn't reassure me in the slightest. I'm dissapointed.

 

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Yeah, I was confused, mainly because the opening movie showed Sharena dying in Alfonse's place, not Gustav. Unless Sharena's death just happens to come later, they just went completely against what the opening movie suggested, which makes no sense.

And yeah, deaths of lords' parents is kind of getting old. I mean, I get that it's a way to help the lord grow more, Greil even points this out himself about Ike, but there are other ways for the lord to grow too.

Edited by Anacybele
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My favorite part of this chapter was that Lif had zero lines of dialogue despite being the chapter icon character. Yup, he definitely deserved that 16th place in CYL3. Meanwhile, his cohort (Hot Topic Veronica) was just nowhere to be found at all. Truly excellent job on trying to sell us on these new OCs so far, IS.

Also just to put this out there, I'm pretty sure there are only three instances of a parent of a lord surviving to the end of their game if they were alive at the start: Eliwood (6), Eleanora (7), and Yelena (Warriors). That's it. The mortality rate of an FE lord's parent(s) is so bad it may as well be in the negatives.

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I actually liked how they handled this chapter. Gustav shows how he is as a king and a person, and the scene with him and Alfonse is really nice. I was expecting Hel to ultimately claim Gustav's life.

However, here's where things might make sense with the trailer.

Is Hel bound to give only a single curse? How many times can she curse someone? Now it was Gustav, and next it might result in the mother's death, and finally Sharena's. 

Alfonse might very well be in the midst of having to deal with losing not just his father, but his entire family, all because it's the only way to protect him.

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8 minutes ago, Tybrosion said:

The mortality rate of an FE lord's parent(s) is so bad it may as well be in the negatives.

If it was in the negatives, we’d actually have had more and surviving parents.

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Eh, Gustav dying is fine... that sounds horrible now that I think about it, but I'll roll with it. I was wondering how they would have Alfonse's death affect him as a unit in the player's barracks, but they didn't have him die, so I guess we won't know until Sharena inevitably kicks the bucket. I expect Gustav to show up as an enemy unit of some kind later in the story.

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13 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Yeah, I was confused, mainly because the opening movie showed Sharena dying in Alfonse's place, not Gustav. Unless Sharena's death just happens to come later, they just went completely against what the opening movie suggested, which makes no sense.

Exactly.

15 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

And yeah, deaths of lords' parents is kind of getting old. I mean, I get that it's a way to help the lord grow more, Greil even points this out himself about Ike, but there are other ways for the lord to grow too.

It's almost as they think lord need emotional trauma to become stronger mentally. And the only way is apparently dead of a parent.

12 minutes ago, Tybrosion said:

My favorite part of this chapter was that Lif had zero lines of dialogue despite being the chapter icon character. Yup, he definitely deserved that 16th place in CYL3. Meanwhile, his cohort (Hot Topic Veronica) was just nowhere to be found at all. Truly excellent job on trying to sell us on these new OCs so far, IS.

Lol that too. And the beasts again just introduced themselves until Velouria mentions they are bounded by contract. Original.

15 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

I like how this chapter parallels the paralogue chapter with Ike and Greil. This new story is taking inspiration from the Tellius games which I like. 

For me it's more recycling... but instead of him dying to a lethal wound, it's a curse.

9 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

I actually liked how they handled this chapter. Gustav shows how he is as a king and a person, and the scene with him and Alfonse is really nice. I was expecting Hel to ultimately claim Gustav's life.

However, here's where things might make sense with the trailer.

Is Hel bound to give only a single curse? How many times can she curse someone? Now it was Gustav, and next it might result in the mother's death, and finally Sharena's. 

Alfonse might very well be in the midst of having to deal with losing not just his father, but his entire family, all because it's the only way to protect him.

Oh yeah that dead stick I forgot, this will definatly not be a convenient plot device later on.

The way this is going, it's going to be a ritual similar to Book 2. Another recycling that I forgot to mention is the main bad character by invinsible for some unexplained reasons (even if it makes more sense, being a specter but still).

10 minutes ago, indigocean said:

Eh, Gustav dying is fine... that sounds horrible now that I think about it, but I'll roll with it. I was wondering how they would have Alfonse's death affect him as a unit in the player's barracks, but they didn't have him die, so I guess we won't know until Sharena inevitably kicks the bucket. I expect Gustav to show up as an enemy unit of some kind later in the story.

Events for the story never affect units in the barracks. That also ruin the urgency of Alphonse's curse, back when he only had 9 days to leave. Then we spend the next month with him, still warming the bench.

Gustav as an enemy would be predictable unless he somehow manages to fight back.

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3 minutes ago, Nym said:

Oh yeah that dead stick I forgot, this will definatly not be a convenient plot device later on.

The way this is going, it's going to be a ritual similar to Book 2. Another recycling that I forgot to mention is the main bad character by invinsible for some unexplained reasons (even if it makes more sense, being a specter but still).

We're talking about the embodiment of death itself. Rather than having a BS mcguffin or ritual, we have a literal god of death coming at us. You cannot defeat death. Death is literally a way of life. 

Everything about Hel being able to cast a curse of death and being immune to harm makes perfect sense. 

5 minutes ago, Nym said:

It's almost as they think lord need emotional trauma to become stronger mentally. And the only way is apparently dead of a parent.

 

33 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

And yeah, deaths of lords' parents is kind of getting old. I mean, I get that it's a way to help the lord grow more, Greil even points this out himself about Ike, but there are other ways for the lord to grow too.

Enduring suffering is how someone learns to become stronger, as that is the point where they are pushed to their lowest. And suffering is always at their highest when its done with a loved one. 

Not only that, but it's also Alfonse's development to becoming the next King of Askr. The passing of the torch. 

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4 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Enduring suffering is how someone learns to become stronger, as that is the point where they are pushed to their lowest. And suffering is always at their highest when its done with a loved one. 

Yeah, but does that suffering always have to be a parent's death?

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1 minute ago, omegaxis1 said:

Death of a loved one. And passing of the torch. Alfonse loses not just his parent, but now must bear the responsibility of being king.

You still didn't answer my question. It seems to always be a parent. Not a close friend or sibling or something else. A parent. Why?

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8 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

We're talking about the embodiment of death itself. Rather than having a BS mcguffin or ritual, we have a literal god of death coming at us. You cannot defeat death. Death is literally a way of life. 

Then as I said, that stick is either going to be BS plot device or a ritual of some kind is going to be needed.  This is what happened  when your antagonist is literally invinsible, either the hero loses or by some stupid ways you managed to make them win against the invinsible antagonist. This is writing suicide.

12 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Enduring suffering is how someone learns to become stronger, as that is the point where they are pushed to their lowest. And suffering is always at their highest when its done with a loved one. 

Not only that, but it's also Alfonse's development to becoming the next King of Askr. The passing of the torch. 

Again, this is recycling. No matter how much meaning is behind that scene, you cannot ignore the fact that we have seen that way of character development before. Not just in previous games, even in Book 2: Gunthrà, Laegjarn, Hellbindi, the King and Queen of Nìlf, even Fjorm possibly gave her life for a convenient ritual that makes the invinsible guy lose his convenient ritual. All of them died to make the Summoner, the Askr trio and Fjorm stronger. 

This is nothing new, this is recycling. I'll insist on that.

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14 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

You still didn't answer my question. It seems to always be a parent. Not a close friend or sibling or something else. A parent. Why?

How else is ALfonse to be king? Can't really be king with the king still being alive, yes?

2 minutes ago, Nym said:

Then as I said, that stick is either going to be BS plot device or a ritual of some kind is going to be needed.  This is what happened  when your antagonist is literally invinsible, either the hero loses or by some stupid ways you managed to make them win against the invinsible antagonist. This is writing suicide.

3

We have yet to se, but I doubt (or hope) that is isn't some ritual that empowers Hel. If anything, the key lies with Eir.

3 minutes ago, Nym said:

Again, this is recycling. No matter how much meaning is behind that scene, you cannot ignore the fact that we have seen that way of character development before. Not just in previous games, even in Book 2: Gunthrà, Laegjarn, Hellbindi, the King and Queen of Nìlf, even Fjorm possibly gave her life for a convenient ritual that makes the invinsible guy lose his convenient ritual. All of them died to make the Summoner, the Askr trio and Fjorm stronger. 

This is nothing new, this is recycling. I'll insist on that.

Then this is something you can criticize for all of Fire Emblem. Tellius, Archanea, Elibe, etc. They do this for all of them. It's nothing more than recycled cases.

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At the very least, I like all of the development Alfonse is getting. It was interesting to see this kind of father-son relationship since usually lords and their dads either get along or we don't get to see them interact much. But yeah, not the most original story beat.

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20 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

How else is ALfonse to be king? Can't really be king with the king still being alive, yes?

Who says he needs to be king now? Why can't it be later? Why can't he grow into someone who could be a fit king without his dad dying?

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1 minute ago, Anacybele said:

Who says he needs to be king now? Why can't it be later? Why can't he grow into someone who could be a fit king without his dad dying?

Since when does Fire Emblem lords ever have someone grow naturally into the position of king?

Also, you expressed confusion over how it was supposed to be Sharena's death. But notice how there was a scene in the opening movie where Alfonse stood over two bodies. Those are very likely his parents. Sharena is likely the last one to die. So the opening movie didn't go against it. Rather, it's more that it's going to happen, but her death will hurt the absolute worst because she's all he has left, and that would crush him. 

58 minutes ago, Nym said:

Lol that too. And the beasts again just introduced themselves until Velouria mentions they are bounded by contract. Original.

I agree that it should have been another way, but maybe there can be a "people that died banner" later.

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1 minute ago, omegaxis1 said:

Also, you expressed confusion over how it was supposed to be Sharena's death. But notice how there was a scene in the opening movie where Alfonse stood over two bodies. Those are very likely his parents. Sharena is likely the last one to die. So the opening movie didn't go against it. Rather, it's more that it's going to happen, but her death will hurt the absolute worst because she's all he has left, and that would crush him. 

I thought those figures were Sharena and Fjorm. Neither looked anything like Gustav either. But I did forget about that particular scene.

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15 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

I thought those figures were Sharena and Fjorm. Neither looked anything like Gustav either. But I did forget about that particular scene.

There were two bodies in front of Alfonse, with a male body farther away. This is likely going by the order of which they died. Gustav first, the mother second. 

Actually, this makes me look forward to Alfonse's reaction. Someone burdened with the responsibility of king, watches his father, mother, and finally his sister all die because of him. Does he fall to despair? Go insane? I wanna see how he progresses.

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I really did like this chapter as it gave alfonse a lot of development he needs to be a fully well rounded character. The whole point of his character is that he needs to grow into the leader his kingdom needs. One can only grow through hardship and it is through failure, loss, and pain that a person can truly grow. Gustav dying is pretty much the catalyst for that hardship. Cliche? Probably, that’s cause it works. The pain of losing someone close to you is a feeling most, if not, all of us can either relate to or at the very least sympathize with. Death is a part of life but that doesn’t make it any less painful to those left behind and since the whole point of book three is death itself it makes sense for this kind of plot point to be a major part of the story and character arc. The theme of this book is about death and how the reality of its inevitability effects people and how it can drive us insane with fear and grief. It’s an interesting idea to toy with and I’m liking where it’s going so far.

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4 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

There were two bodies in front of Alfonse, with a male body farther away. This is likely going by the order of which they died. Gustav first, the mother second. 

Actually, this makes me look forward to Alfonse's reaction. Someone burdened with the responsibility of king, watches his father, mother, and finally his sister all die because of him. Does he fall to despair? Go insane? I wanna see how he progresses.

There was no third body in that clip. You don't know what you're talking about. There were only two bodies. Sharena and Fjorm.

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jesus calm down ana

image.png.d96c28141ff40a3d09e6ed4118d60b10.png

yes 2 bodies, no that is 100% not fjorm (she isn't relevant at all anymore, there is 0 reason it would be her)

blue hair on farther person seems to support gustav, blond hair on closer person without the little hair pin seems to support the mother

Edited by Chocolate Kitty
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21 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

There was no third body in that clip. You don't know what you're talking about. There were only two bodies. Sharena and Fjorm.

What @Chocolate Kitty said.

And Sharena is the LAST to die. Her death is shown in a more direct way than the others to show how her death holds far more meaning than the parents' death.

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10 minutes ago, Chocolate Kitty said:

jesus calm down ana

image.png.d96c28141ff40a3d09e6ed4118d60b10.png

yes 2 bodies, no that is 100% not fjorm (she isn't relevant at all anymore, there is 0 reason it would be her)

blue hair on farther person seems to support gustav, blond hair on closer person without the little hair pin seems to support the mother

Calm down? What do you mean? I've been calm. Anyway, how can you tell that the farther body has blue hair? This image is all grayscale. Plus the back of the head looks to be lying in a shadow, giving it the impression that it's dark hair. It could still easily be Fjorm and the closer body to me looks like Sharena. She's short, and Henriette is not that short.

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