We're zoomed in on Crimea now, and will be for more or less the rest of the game.
You think he ever considers searching for another one?
Not the best thing to be pinning on one woman.
Uprisings all over the country! Please don't be killing the civilians.
That's basically how this'll go down.
This will be our map, Delbray Castle. The ballistae in the middle of nowhere are random, assuming you don't notice the context that this is about to be the map we'll be playing on.
This is Geoffrey, Lucia's brother and the army commander to her spymaster.
Joy cookies!
Apparently, nearly a year, perhaps more.
Bastian prepares to defend Elincia, for the people that died to keep her safe.
But first, a celebration!
...Cart before the horse, don't you think?
This exchange is just amusing to me, for some reason.
We dine using Ramon's silver spoons!
La Resistance, eh? I wonder what this lot wound up doing.
And what methods they used to exchange messages.
Well, beats actually investigating these people for soldiers. You know down that path lies witch hunts.
Does polished armour actually benefit you, or is it just for aesthetic?
Bastian is a keen mind, but he isn't very serious.
I think Dragon Quest jugglers look like Bastian does.
"Now, one red ball in the air means the Daeins are active in Pinell, two means Nados."
"It's bloody hopeless, Mitnala, I can't count how many balls that man is juggling."
"Next time I see Bastian, I'm demanding he come up with better codes."
He measured his spine with a protractor. And then asked what it was.
Elincia, after the fact: "I'm so exhaused... who knew laughing took so much energy..." phut
Elincia and Lucia are thick as thieves, of course.
I wonder how much so. She's clearly more at home with Lucia, but she does kind of like you.
Her apparent age is 18.
Is it?
Well, this is a true statement.
So is this. Although in our modern world, plenty of people try.
Jill took the rear excellently.
...Pardon me? There is an Info Conversation (there always is), but to get it, we need... Makalov.
This title couldn't be more false.
This is the most hilarious blink frame.
Ike has the reflexes to flush him out. Once again I ask how Ike is holding him.
What now? Didn't Ike say he was going to put a stop to this nonsense?
...Yeah, uh, fuck this man. Well, please don't.
Anything to get you to straighten up and fly right.
What evidence could you possibly have for this?
So who told her Makalov is dead, and is her mood better or worse? Against all odds, I'd say the question is a coin flip. At least this woman can be proud she produced Marcia.
That is the least of her worries.
...Please tell me the latter is as true as the former.
Keep at it, Marcia! He can't run away from responsibility like this!
...Ike?
Worry? That's what you object to?
Please. Grow some decency.
...Promise?
Marcia is at the end of her rope.
...
You could've used your powers for good, Ike.
Except he has to survive the plot of Radiant Dawn, for some reason.
...
You said this earlier.
...That was a laugh? Sure, I guess.
If only.
He was gone. For FIVE. FRAMES.
And then Makalov was murdered in this file too. Sadly not, but...
Also I get Lethe/Ranulf C for the purposes of getting that screenshot I wanted. Here's a perfect image to follow that up, and just to use in general.
Ilyana capped Speed, Jill capped Skill and Speed.
I finally decide to assign this to someone. Nephenee needs to hit level 20 most badly of the infantry and she hasn't gotten any EXP in ages.
It's started aesthetically raining. Thank goodness mechanical weather stayed in FE7.
Bastian reckons it makes the reunion better.
Geoffrey gets impatient.
...Again.
Bastian suggests he demonstrate some decorum before asking a fifty-ninth time.
Knighthood is pleasant... knighthood is sane...
Didn't work. Ah well.
Good question.
Geoffrey leaves the castle and spots us!
...He thinks.
Show us, too, if you don't mind.
...How do you confuse us with Daeins?
...Well, OK, it is really foggy.
We're blissfully unaware of this development.
Which makes this line just hilarious.
Well, surrounded on two sides. Ish.
...We killed Petrine and are going to run from... how many Daeins?
How many hiding places do you even have?
Elincia is baffled. Honestly, after having Ike as her advisor, people telling her she can't do something must be quite the shock.
You came to this decision remarkably quick.
Look, if you want this woman as your Queen, listen to her bloody opinion.
Lucia, how much danger do you think she's been in with us so far?
Maybe Bastian will listen to reason.
FORSOOTH, WE ARE NOT FUCKING LETTING GEOFFREY DIE FOR HIS HONOUR!
You'd think these two would take a hint.
Lucia tries appealing to authority. Over her future Queen.
What did you expect?
I'm also not sure what Lucia expects she can do about this decision.
You know, like we've always done.
You have spent way too much time as La Resistance.
You spent too much time with Elincia and not enough time noticing Jill, Marcia, Mist...
We have an army now. We have an actual chance against Daein. And a pretty high one at that.
...And if we can't fight these guys, I mean, what chance do we have against Ashnard?
I will not say this again. General of Crimea. Queen of Crimea. Which is the higher ranked?
Ike is not taking responsibility for this trainwreck.
But he is doing what he is supposed to be doing.
And that is what the person paying his wages wants.
And I think we can all get behind that objective.
End. Of. Discussion.
Snorts.
Their idea of this leaves a lot to be desired.
This map is not Fog of War even on Difficult. I'm just imagining how terrifying it would be if it was, though.
Let's get going!
Well, we're benching someone again. Lethe...
Astrid is 3 levels from 20 and has Paragon, you get to come this time.
Our goal is to Arrive at Castle Delbray within 15 turns. Except this time we don't have the livelihoods of Daeins riding on us if we lose.
Geoffrey is standing in front of the castle, and will not move under any circumstances. Yes, that is the game's Brave Lance he's holding.
All of the lance users have throwing spears. The Snipers have Longbows.
And this lovely lady is the only Valkyrie in the game other than Mist. This is what they're supposed to look like. Mist has spat on that impression.
This is the boss, hiding down in the south. That hairdo is making me vomit. He's hard to kill and not that remarkable other than having the Parity skill and negating your Supports. If you had them. We'll talk about that factoid later.
Holy area denial, Batman! Jill and Tanith are going to have a bad time in this mess! Tanith moreso, Jill can shrug off ballista bolts, Full Guard or no.
...Ike, why do you have things?
What do you have to say for yourself, generic boss?
Yeah, your luck just turned terrible.
Yeah... sorry, you messed with the wrong-
...A general after Ike's own heart. Still dead.
For honour and glory!
The soldier has noticed that Elincia has decided not to use his terribly bad plan.
Geoffrey has not been told why it was a bad plan.
Let's give Daein what for.
...The perfect next image. These guys will be ballista bait.
The fliers are going straight to Rikard's area.
This is ballista range. Not sure what that lump behind Marcia is, though, but Jill and Tanith are out of it for the moment.
Ballista range big. And... wait, is that the range of the ballista on the left? Reaching that far?
We cannot set the Holy Guard to fly over the river, so here will do.
They fly this direction to do so.
Calill handles this ballista just fine.
...This wyvern picks a fight with the Holy Guard and gets crit. Dammit, I wanted that kill!
Not that Marcia killed the other one.
Mist is getting closer...
The stabbings have begun.
The greens can do some heavy stabbings back. Especially Geoffrey (he also has a bow.)
Lucia and Bastian have changed their minds.
They realise how dumb they were being, apologise, and square up to help Ike do the right thing.
Elincia has some choice words for them.
Everyone is going to survive this. Looks at Lucia in particular.
There is no point winning if it comes at the cost of her dearest friends.
If it helps, there is also a mechanical benefit for keeping these three alive.
...Sometimes, I feel like you say words just to fill a wordcount. Then again, you are mimicking the authorial style of people who got paid by the word and decided to exploit that fact.
Bastian and Lucia join up as blue units. Which means we get a new unit ourselves!
Bastian does a naughty and Shoves Lucia into his starting position. That'll be his one contribution, don't you worry.
Ike shifts closer to the action, and Lucia walks to this square to Talk to him.
She apologises to Ike, and Ike's like "look, I don't care, just do what you're about to say you're going to do already."
Ike doesn't care about platitudes. He cares about results.
That's a more productive attitude!
Lucia steals all of Ike's stuff and finishes off this cavalier Mist weakened.
With a crit, of course.
This is Lucia's stat page- she started with the Silver Sword, Laguzguard and Vulnerary. She takes after Tanith in not really having the Strength to stab things like Mia can, and her high level means it'll be hard to make that back up. You can't bring every female unit into Endgame and Lucia is usually on the bench. We won't abandon her immediately, though. (Also, Parity sucks- those Supports and Terrain bonuses you take away? You also lose them too.)
...Why does she have a Laguzguard in a map with no laguz? Jill gave us our other one, and we don't need two that badly...
This Killer Lance guy takes two Blizzards, but he could do with not being a threat to my army.
Snow day!
Marcia kills one of the cavaliers with a quick hit and run.
Tanith finishes the wyvern and flies into Support range.
Mist is starting to overkill things with the physical swords.
Don't you just love using Mist as bait?
The Holy Guard becomes bait.
Marcia is a much worse target. For them.
Mist crit this guy.
FOR DAD!
I love using Mist too much.
I should probably have moved Nephenee second so Calill could equip something else.
This cavalier hops into the water to miss Jill. He could have made several better decisions.
Well, sure, but you're never gonna kill her.
Uh, guys? You see that myrmidon that's right next to your castle?
Have you considered doing something about him?
Berserker with a Killer Axe! We should stay on our toes here.
Lucia makes her way up. For some reason.
Bastian passes the time by talking to Ike too.
And yet he becomes one of Crimea's best smart people for Radiant Dawn. Maybe this wasn't so humble after all? Or maybe he just got lucky.
Yeah, aside from the not being competent in battle.
Do not formally ask permission to join battles.
That could be the difference between life and death!
...I'm not quite sure what Bastian is getting at here.
Nephenee stabs this guy.
And Calill leapfrogs her to deal with enemies in this chokepoint. Despite the screenshot, Calill sets the swordmaster on fire.
Ilyana zaps this guy. I've been having a lot of fun with Bolting this run, I normally never use the Siege spells.
Tanith gets rid of this ballistician. Fliers are now pretty unmolested.
Marcia clearly didn't attack Rikard, since you can't use an Items command on an ending movement.
Jill gets the other cavalier.
And Stunned it while she was killing it. Jill's been so powerful I don't think she's ever hit anything that hasn't died since she got Stun. Maybe Ena.
Jill decides she's better off heading to other fronts on her way up.
Lethe has been working on that "wincon" thing. Because someone has to actually go and Arrive. Thank goodness it doesn't have to be Ike.
I could not have picked a better visitor.
Yeah, of course you can. So long as you're not Toha.
Well, you can start by-
Saviour allows the unit who possesses it to Rescue people without suffering the Skill/Speed penalty.
This guy is hiding in a Healhedge. Yes, you haven't noticed any Healhedges since we stopped being in Crimea maps.
The warrior can miss Calill, which the swordmaster probably wouldn't.
And a Crimean down! What kind of formation do they think they're keeping?
Rikard takes a potshot, not that he can hit. Somehow.
This guy goes even further out of position to Elixir.
This guy goes over here to Vulnerary. GUYS! CASTLE! You are the worst decoys ever.
Geoffrey gets another kill. These all count as Geoffrey kills when we reach the scoreboard, but, well...
These two wyverns pull the same trick of arriving at the same time and the camera splitting the difference on where to focus.
Mist, of course, has an Effective sword.
The Berserker is in the water and not in range of the sword units. Well, then he gets to choose his fights.
Mia decides to go kill this guy instead.
Some level up.
Lucia will be the one to bring out a Killer. She needs the extra crit.
Titania considers helping Mist out with the Berserker, but then realises that she'd probably be worse off than her.
This seems more her speed.
"Hi guys. Am I late to stopping you all dying a terrible death?"
Rikard is hiding out of sight of Calill's Blizzard tome. One thing about Rikard is that there is a very inconsequential fact about Path of Radiance I would like to show, but Calill has to be the one to attack him.
Nephenee breaks out Reginleif for a one hit kill. She still has that.
Calill Blizzards this guy and hopes the Crimeans start making better plans. The things I have to use Blizzard on...
Why am I tempted to say more than Lucia has ever done?
For me?
Well, OK, I mean...
Nihil is a cool skill and all, but it's not that helpful for us. There are two important Skills we can Nihil coming up total. I think.
Now Marcia stabs this guy.
And continues to bait him north. And also hopefully get those cavaliers to stop harassing Geoffrey.
Jill also turns up the heat.
...Oh, right, these guys. I have no plan for these guys.
Lucia is making use of her Killing Edge.
And not her thicket.
That could've gone better. Although it does block a space from-
Never mind.
This guy is critted.
The other Valkyrie stabs something!
Well, so much for keeping Geoffrey out of trouble.
Please stop doing that.
And we lose two uses of the Brave Lance. Honestly, this is the most in trouble I think Geoffrey has ever been for me.
And this guy throws hands with Rikard.
Jill shows off by killing this guy from Support range with Lethe.
And Lethe is so close to getting in the castle. I'm not sure, I think you can get in there on turn 5? There's something important coming up next Enemy Phase, though.
Lucia's best sword and she can't finish this guy off.
Back to rolling the dice.
Bastian and Ike cower in her corner from the wyverns.
Mist heals Lucia on her way out of her corner.
Marcia tries to pen Rikard in to getting closer to Calill.
And now they're hassling the Valkyrie!
There goes that guy.
Well then...
That we have. But this is still the Black Knight.
Spoiler: He won't.
Ike notices and panics slightly.
Lucia gets out of the corner and gives Mia a push.
Mia uses her own Killing Edge to take out this wyvern.
Anyway, Rikard wandered into Calill's range, so I get to show this off! First, note that Calill has 28 Atk and Rikard has 16 Res, so Calill is entitled to do 12 damage.
13? Well, that's all right, Nephenee is two spaces away, Calill is getting Support bonuses... wait, doesn't Rikard have Parity?
In Path of Radiance, Nihil negates Parity and the Nihil user can benefit from bonuses Parity is supposed to block. Calill versus Rikard is one of, if not the only, case in which you might ever encounter this edge case behaviour. We got our own Nihil scroll in this map, and Kayachey (the boss with Nihil) was before we had our own Parity people.
Marcia gets the kill. I probably would've done that sooner if I didn't want to show that off.
Skill cap.
Here's the other wyvern in the south. I think Tanith helped to drag him over this direction. Clearly didn't work for the other guy.
Yeah, let's not put Tanith in range of the Black Knight.
Jill finds the last kill.
Here's a Stun frame. Aside from the five Steel Axes, Jill's waist looks disconnected from her hips.
I had a look at these two before finishing up. I can finish on this turn and Mia doesn't have to actually take this risk, but Mia could survive if required.
Take this heal, random Crimean, and give some EXP!
Let's leave before these idiots cause me any more headaches. Also I can't Shove Geoffrey, is he just that heavy?
Geoffrey has four conversations, with Ike, Lucia, Bastian and Kieran (Geoffrey was Kieran's direct superior before his capture).
Ike: Are you Sir Geoffrey?
Geoffrey: Eh? Who are you?
Ike: I'm Ike. I'm leading the Crimean army for Princess Elincia!
Geoffrey: The princess, where is she?
Ike: Don't worry. I didn't bring her to the battlefield with me.
Geoffrey: I see... Thank goodness...Thank you for that regard!
Ike: Are the other soldiers inside the castle?
Geoffrey: Yes. I'm sure they're staving off any attacks by enemy infiltrators.
Ike: Good. I'm glad we made it in time. Let's combine forces and finish this!
Enemy infiltrators? Really?
Kieran: Crimean Royal Knight, Fifth Platoon Captain Kieran reporting for duty, sir!
Geoffrey: Kieran! You live?
Kieran: Yes sir, General! I was taken prisoner by Daein and held in the dungeon of Canteus Castle. Oh, it was a vile place! They tried all manner of terrible tortures on me...but I resisted to the last! Then I was freed by a company of mercenaries in the hire of Princess Elincia! Since that time, I have been faithfully at the side of the princess protecting her from all harm!
Geoffrey: Is the princess in good spirits?
Kieran: She is! General Geoffrey, it is her great wish that you live, so that she may see you once again!
Geoffrey: Is that...so? Very well! Now that I've heard that, I must stay alive at any cost! Rally your hearts, men of Crimea! We will fight and we will win! The princess needs her castle!
Lucia and Bastian only have relatively short lines about it, but Kieran really seems to have gotten through to Geoffrey, somehow. When I'm praising Kieran as one of the most rational characters, you need to reassess yourselves.
The Black Knight doesn't seem all that bothered about that "we beat Rikard" thing.
Sure you do, sir.
I'm not entirely sure this is the right way to phrase this.
I think he's moreso talking about Lucia and Bastian changing their minds.
You and me both, Ike.
Geoffrey and his Brave Lance both. Sorry about the idiots who didn't know their limits or the basics of formation crafting.
Yeah, nice to make ourselves acquainted.
Elincia has one more thing to say to Ike.
Elincia would no sooner lose Ike, Mist and the company than she would Lucia and Geoffrey.
Ike accepts it on the chin. It is just impossible to gobsmack this boy.
Geoffrey is feeling the twin relief from surviving his decoy plan and having Elincia back. He hasn't seen her yet.
Elincia urges him to not try and kill himself saving her life again.
Please do not put your country's existence on a single princess.
Hopefully they learn from this.
The rain has stopped! Let the symbolism commence!
Yes! Our one true ruler! Her!
And back to swearing their entire lives to her.
I like to think that this is Lucia telling Bastian that. I do not like the odds of it being true.
And Lucia, Bastian and Geofrrey kneel before their Princess. in true knightly fashion.
...Dear gods, I just noticed Bastian's shoes.
Fun fact, we will be relying on zero of these people. Geoffrey isn't terrible if you're allowed to use men, though.
Are you swearing your life to Elincia again? Tut tut.
Ike leaves to go see what the Black Knight is up to. Because he has a death wish.
(Apparently, if you have Ike survive a round with the Black Knight during the mission, the exposition that the Black Knight delivers in this scene occurs after that and this part is skipped. I wish I found that out sooner so I could've tested it myself.)
The Black Knight is surprised things got delayed so much. Honestly, this isn't that long after he appeared.
Ike is growing up.
He has to do his job for Elincia no matter what.
That is probably the best Black Knight boast in the game, and a contender for one of the top ten boasts in the series.
"I've been nothing but ready!"
And Ike is totally screwed.
Now how do you know how to do that, Ike?
NO DAMAGE
There are multiple instances of the Black Knight in this game's events. This one is an example of MPID_BLACKKNIGHT, who has a special debug skill that prevents him from attacking, even if he initiates combat. This was presumably done to make this cutscene of Ike attacking the Black Knight and the Black Knight not even swinging back work.
Yeah, where did Ike get that weapon? He gave all the ones he started this map with to Lucia.
Because you have less Strength than Shinon. Shinon.
Well, isn't that just peachy? This plot point is one of the weaker parts of the Tellius duology, even if it does serve Path of Radiance on its own decently well. In the greater context of the world, though...
Actually, what even is this armour? Why would a goddess make armour that can only be pierced by her own weapons? (There's an answer to this question, but it only raises several others.)
Well, while we have to deal with it.
The what? Ragnell, incidentally, is Ike's iconic sword. So how would we go about procuring it?
...Oh. Yes, if you're well versed in identifying Fire Emblem swords, you might have recognised Ragnell as the blade the Black Knight tossed Greil and bid him use.
Well, time to go to Gallia!
The Black Knight lets Ike live so long as the next time they cross paths, Ike is wielding Ragnell. Right now, this is an odd choice for a General of Daein to make. I think the Black Knight is just working on the whole "kidnap Leanne" plan.
So long, Black Knight. You'll be disappointed with Ike when next you meet.
We're really kicking the game's expected turncounts in the tail. Also starting to amass a stockpile of BEXP again.
Next time: We'll be going round the mountain when he comes!
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