Bethany Plays: PoR Chapter 27 Battle: Running from destiny

Well, we can bring all of the characters I have any hopes Transferring, but we also need to bring Elincia, because no reason, and Titania, to get that A Support (yes, still).

Mia and Lethe will not be Transferring.

Only 19 here. There's a few more behind the doors.

Also we grab some Chest Keys. No way am I burning a spot on Sothe. For one thing, too many Siege tomes.

If we want the enemy thieves to help out, this one will not be of use- he's already got something to drop! The Double Bow is the S Rank Bow, and I'm not 100% certain, but I think it's also locked to Rolf and Shinon.

These two have empty inventories, so they can help if needed.

This guy has Bolting and Physic. There are more Siege tomes behind the doors.

Ike will be riding on Mist's back again. Riding into that battle with the Black Knight.

Jill kills a General and forms a defensive line with Calill in it. Two of his companions are Knights. ...Why are those here?

Nephenee goes north, to take on a small army of foes. This cat does not deal any damage to Nephenee at all.

Titania and Astrid join everyone over here. I'm almost wondering if this was too many.

Elincia heads left, and deals with this archer right off the bat.

Annoyingly, when Elincia attacks, her position shifts slightly, so she can't actually deal four blows consecutively. She has to readjust her pegasus for the fourth hit.

I have this cunning plan to adjust Tanith and Marcia's movements so Tanith kills this guy and Marcia kills the guy in the middle, with his Killer Axe, using the defensive Bond.

Whoops. Tanith could've attacked the Killer Axe guy, so this was all on me.

I feel like this is my first time showing the Bolting animation, despite how many enemies Ilyana has deleted with it.

Look at these Knights. At least Calill isn't eating a ton of EXP.

Yeah, this is me paying for my insolence.

Elincia takes him out, at least. I'm not sure if the risk or losing the kill hurts more.

Nephenee is set over here.

A correctly applied Vantage + Guard proc! When you get it, it's so satisfying.

Look, Nephenee could not be further from Wrath if she tried! Well, OK, being inside a generic Daein's crotch might cause some Wrath-adjacent behaviour, but that was after the crits!

Literally could not care. Except not really, that point of HP is surprisingly important. Ish.

Not even Reginleif gets her this kill, sadly. Yes, that is a Swordmaster up by the left wing she's baiting. He has a Door Key, and I didn't hand those out diligently.

A swordmaster with a Longsword drew near, but we all know how much Mist gets along with those.

Calill shoves a Thief. For all the troops on this side, Calill is the only one who can Shove.

Ilyana scores the kill for the Double Bow.

We never find out who this non-Shinon master craftsman is.

Marcia finishes off the tiger on her way up.

Physic staff!

And Nephenee attracts this guy's attention.

This guy seems to have died in the end, Physic or no.

The swordmaster on this side has a Brave Sword! If Neph had a Door Key of her own, she should've come over here.

Astrid considers whether she can bust down this door.

Nope. New plan.

I call this a defensive formation. Not just for the Brave Sword, but for the enemies behind the door the thieves are preparing to open.

Nephenee opens her door with a key.

So does Tanith. I think I did think to give her one.

All the roofs clear at once to show our remaining forces.

And here they are on the map. We can also now see the Arrive tile, and the boss standing on it.

Also the siege tome users I promised. Yeah, not bringing Sothe.

A Silence staff user? I honestly don't think I've ever seen him use it.

This guy has a Brave Bow, but I don't think I've ever seen him move. Although I think I'm just normally careful not to bait him. I hope he isn't set to be stationary.

Here's the boss! A 19% chance to extend things longer than you hope, the best throwing spear and a candidate for the best melee spear, and a Knight Ward for that extra bit of resilience. No, we can't steal the Knight Ward, that's an equipped item. However, if you tempt him into equipping his Spear, you can steal that Brave Lance. If you're using Volke, this is the culmination of that work.

Well, this side is going to get worse before it gets better.

Elincia decides she's not interested in what this guy is selling.

Ilyana does the same... in a more direct manner.

This guy swings so fast with his Brave Sword that both MISS! texts are still on screen at the same time!

Mist swings twice and does not miss.

This tiger doesn't go down. Probably for the best I Silenced the guy with the Physic staff behind him.

I moved Marcia backwards in order to minimise the amount of problems I'd be stuck with. This Thoron sage going for Tanith has made the opposite occur.

Not that he hits. Somehow.

And here come the Ferals.

But not this guy. Well, he comes, he just doesn't hit.

The Ferals go for Astrid and Jill.

And don't die.

Well this is awkward. Calill can't Shove that Thief out of the way of the door, and whichever mounted character kills a Feral to help her out can't enter the room.

Let's solve this side first. Tanith breaks out the Short Spear to get this guy out of the way.

No, Elincia cannot take this guy out for us.

Ilyana can still one round the Generals, which is good news for the pegasi.

She found a Chest Key on his corpse. There's plenty of Chest Keys to go around up here.

Enough that, with the spare we got from an earlier mission, we can open all the chests ourselves. It's just a question of how quickly.

Elincia opens the first chest, and hell yeah. We need this.

Marcia can finish off this last guy, of course.

And I keep her here because I haven't gotten bored of the defensive Bond yet.

Unfortunately, Nephenee can't get into the room after finishing this tiger off yet.

Calill eventually decides to kill this Thief. It allows everyone else access to the room, at least.

Astrid takes one cat. The Ferals are good fonts of EXP and should be fed to the higher levelled characters, and Astrid's Paragon helps her be one of those.

Unfortunately, she takes Jill's parking space.

Mist takes the other one, because somehow Mist is one of the highest levelled characters.

Titania follows everyone in.

I was honestly moderately concerned here, and that's saying a lot.

And the Short Spear finally breaks on this guy. Would you believe this is the same one that I used in Chapter 18?

Ooh, replacement!

I don't think I can really say it's surprising Mist is my highest levelled character when I have her pull stunts like this.

The exactness of a kill is always satisfying.

Astrid gets the Spear off this guy.

And forms a wall up here with Jill.

Mist finally takes out the Tiger now that Jill isn't helping, for some reason. I'm not 100% clear why.

It was this, Skill or Def. Sadly, she can't cap her HP.

...Titania doesn't have a Chest Key right now, dangit. I'll need to finagle one for her from Jill.

Roast Tiger, my favourite!

Elincia finds another Bolganone for Calill. She hasn't even started on her first!

I break out Luin to get Marcia to clean up this position.

So Ilyana can come in and finish the other general. Elincia is too close to spare these two.

Ilyana resumes the redundant crits.

And this guy is still Silenced, but it's best to knock him out now anyway.

I had Astrid switch to her bow so she could counterkill this guy. Something about him having a Silence staff for Mist or Calill?

Defence cap.

The downside of getting rid of the Silence guy is that these melee enemies get a free hit.

Also Nephenee struggles with these archers. The other one has a Longbow anyway, admittedly.

Remember when these had a chance of being nasty?

Tanith gives Ilyana the Door Key she has.

Ilyana needs to let people in here.

I don't commit to this attack, just ready myself for what numbers to look out for. Look at how much damage Jill, with capped Strength and the best throwing weapon, is doing to this man.

As long as I can oneround these guys now, I can survive them not getting attacked by Astrid last turn.

Titania finally gets a key, but can't open the chest yet.

Astrid comes down here to start shooting the archers.

I ran out of characters to kill this guy with, so Jill will handle it with the Tomahawk.

She seems concerned about making sure it lasts as long as possible.

Yeah... sure.

Another Chest Key for these two. Now just to open the chests.

Elincia Physics Mist for some kind of EXP.

And uses it well.

Hafedd throws a Spear at Jill.

He's actually a pretty good man, all things considered, except for the fact he's on board with Ashnard's philosophy perhaps slightly more than strictly healthy. The chance to fight is not a gift, man.

Jill doesn't crit this time.

Nephenee acquires the Silver Lance from this chest,

Astrid takes the Key,

and Marcia and Elincia continue the chain. I can't finish it, though, so there was no point in Elincia trying to help.

She can't even reach the chest- if she could, she couldn't open it.

Now this is a Staff. This A Rank Staff heals all allies in Physic range.

Eh, sure, I guess.

Ilyana rides up and finishes Hafedd. She has the Nihil skill, so she will kill on the first hit.

Hafedd only has the basics for boss conversations, but he's got some nuggets.

Ike: Is the Black Knight in there?

Hafedd: Yes.

Ike: Step aside. I have business with him.

Hafedd: Aha… It would seem you and Sir Knight have some connection! My curiosity knows no bounds, but… Before you reach Sir Knight, you must first vanquish me!

Why not ask the question?

Hafedd: A hawk! Which means you hail from Phoenicis. Yesterday, we lost a virtual mountain of men to your king! Now then, if I may be so bold, I would be grateful for the chance to test the power of his subjects.

Yeah, no match for Tibarn, but still more than a match for you. Ish.

Hafedd: Aha, you are one of the Serenes nobles I’ve heard whispers of… If only this were not war, I would request a song of you… What a shame.

Hafedd's one of the few Daein generals to feel regret that Reyson has to die. Not, like, a lot of it, but still a non-zero amount.

Hafedd: Leaving Daein and siding with Crimea is not unheard of. Soldiers are human, after all. However, the penalty for treason is steep. And now you must pay!

And he understands Tauroneo, even if he has to oppose it.

Strength cap.

Mist takes the chance, while we stall out the last turn, to get her own Physic staff uses.

Elincia gives the Key back after her own.

So Marcia can get another spare Physic. We actually didn't have enough for Ilyana to keep one for herself for this mission.

So it comes down to this. Ike versus the Black Knight.

Soren's having none of it.

Titania tells him that that's how it is.

Sure, I guess.

Soren's worried about him. As any good romantic interest has a tendency to do.

Translation: "I think Ike has grown enough to recognise if he's outmatched."

...Translation: "If he hasn't figured that out by now, he's never going to."

Sometimes, you just can't teach a man to fish.

Titania trusts that Ike can do the job.

This isn't the Ike we have anymore. Ike will come back to us, even if it means facing the dishonour of retreat.

Does Soren have the same faith?

...Soren, of course, doesn't have much in the way of faith in anything. He's more of a hard facts kind of guy.

Father will be proud.

Ena is still alive. The Black Knight has been stalling.

The Black Knight asks why Ena got into trouble rather than head back home.

She is determined to get to Ashnard.

But her quest ends here.

And Ena gives up.

There's no use fighting to the last against the Black Knight, after all.

Ena wants nothing other than this one ambition, and with it denied to her at every turn, she lays down her arms. Considering later... developments, I almost think less of Ena for this decision, relatively speaking. It's a complex matter.

"Any last requests?"

The Black Knight demonstrates a sense of honour and courtesy here that is relatively absent during his talks with Ike in this game.

And Ike was too late to prevent the stab.

So long, Ena.

"It's about time you showed up."

Theory 1, Ena procced Miracle. Theory 2, something something "My sword is not made for killing those who will not raise their weapons." I'll explain later.

"You appear to have brought no sword."

Ike is ready!

Time to begin.

Wait, what's this?

Turns out not everyone was prepared to let Ike go it alone after all!

Ike insists Mist get back to safety.

But Mist, too, is after the same thing Ike needs.

And also she really doesn't want Ike to die while she's powerless to prevent it.

Just look at this line. How much more classic villain could you get? (I think it joins the other lines in which the Black Knight acknowledges Mist in being a localisation invention.)

Well, about that...

First thing's first, starting here, Ragnell just... appears in Ike's inventory. If your weapon's inventory is full, it will replace the thing you have in your fourth slot, but I don't know if that gets sent to the convoy automatically or it disappears.

And such a shame for that. Ragnell is an awesome sword, though. 18 Might, 1-2 Range, and a little bit of crit for fun, not that that last bit is really relevant where it is necessary. It also passively blocks critical hits, much like Alondite. An Ike with an actual sword arm will make a lot of good use out of this.

Our Ike, on the other hand? Yeah, uh, we're not going to be defeating the Black Knight in this playthrough.

Just for fun, though, let's ask ourselves how much damage Mist could do if the Runesword worked on the Black Knight. 41 Atk - 22 Res = 19 damage a hit, to 60 HP, Mist has a fairly good shot at beating the Black Knight without relying on Skills.

Shame about the armour's blessing. These aren't the worst odds in the world, but I think I'd like Mist to have slightly more bulk (if the Black Knight procs Luna, Mist is oneshot from full health) and Skill (a hit rate printed at 79% is actually 91.39% likely to land because of a thing called "True Hit", but that's still a 1/10 miss chance) before saying she's got this in the bag.

Incidentally, even if Mist could use Ragnell, 20 Strength cap means she's only dealing 3 damage a hit. The Black Knight has Renewal for 6 HP recovery a turn.

Mist has dialogue if she challenges the Black Knight!

Lore-wise, Mist is no match for the Black Knight. And honestly, I wouldn't say the mechanical version is that far off.

I find it interesting, the way this dialogue almost feels written for a case where Ike is dead and Mist, in a last-ditch desperation effort, charges at the Black Knight. The player will never see it in this context, because Ike's death is still an automatic Game Over here.

Not that Mist has a trivial amount of both of these emotions.

Yes, of course I used the Steel Blade instead of the Runesword.

I think we can walk away proud that we did our best.

Ike walks onto the Escape tile and... hesitates.

On Turn 3 fighting the Black Knight, these three enemies will appear. I wanted to catch footage of them for the blog.

They will not attack Ike-

But will feel happy to harass Mist. If your Mist has fallen behind, this will complicate your efforts in fighting the Black Knight proper.

Yeah, uh, this is a true statement. So, about the whole "just getting footage" story...

I realised that there was nothing stopping me from having Mist kill these reinforcements for EXP. Not a lot of it, but it's literally free. (Well, it costs ~6 Steel Blade uses.)

These two guys have Physic staves. I have lost an attempt at the Black Knight when they decided to use them on him. Screw these two bishops in particular.

This one doesn't even cost me a second Steel Blade use!

That's enough complete and utter nonsense, time to do what I should've done 4 turns ago.

The Black Knight needles at Ike for making this call.

And it... seems to have worked.

Nasir! Wait, Nasir?

"Aren't you an escaped POW?"

...I... I don't get it.

Ike points out that we need Ragnell to pierce the Black Knight's armour.

But Nasir has other ideas.

...Nasir?

Even the Black Knight is surprised.

Ena gets to her feet, after a few turns with Renewal.

And spots Nasir too.

HOLY CRAP WHITE DRAGON

Nasir stands against the Black Knight.

The Black Knight scores a crit.

So does Nasir.

And the Black Knight falls to his knees.

Come again?

...The castle starts shaking.

I do not know the reasoning for this. Nasir's breath can pierce the Black Knight's blessing, so maybe he got a good hit in.

Nasir!

Everyone else has the same mind.

Oh dear!

Down goes Nados. Poor Crimean taxpayers.

Ike, Mist and Ena got away.

And now we have Ena in our custody.

To Ena's confusion.

That doesn't answer the question, Ike.

Yeah, uh, if you run away from the Black Knight (or take longer than 5 turns to beat him), Nasir dies so Ike can live on while the Black Knight is taken out by a collapsing Nados Castle in order to continue the plot.

Nasir appears alive and well in Radiant Dawn, so it is very obvious that Ike claiming victory is the canonical outcome.

Since the Black Knight's death is canon, the lose condition needed to have a way to write him out of the plot too.

Ena seems to remember this, but doesn't quite realise it was no dream.

Ike asks who she is.

This is a start of the explanation.

Ike is surprised to find out Nasir is a grandpa.

The dragons are old. I mentioned that we don't know Gareth's age back in Chapter 12, but that was because we didn't know Nasir and Ena were dragons yet. These two, I want ages on.

A dragon who is a thousand years old today could watch all of history since the goddess's slumber pass before him.

Ena knows we know Nasir is the Worm.

Which is what's confusing her about Ike coming to her aid.

Clearly helped him when you locked him up for it. But yes, the exact things he did for his betrayal aside, Nasir has been profoundly helpful in other regards.