Well, no real surprises here. Just us, a rather large quantity of Disciples of Order, and miles and miles of sand. Apart from the cliffs, there's nothing here but deep dirt. If you're not familiar with desert maps in Fire Emblem, they slow infantry to a limp and cavalry to a crawl, but permit fliers and mages soar freely. The explanation of this gimmick goes unmentioned, maybe because they felt PoR 15 was enough for an RD player, and maybe because the chance to actually do something about this advice passed the player by back in the Intermission. Hope you stuck some good fliers and mages on this team! The game gave you Micaiah, Sanaki, Sigrun, and Naesala!
Oh, hello, it's so wonderful to see you here! Who is this guy?
Why, it's Senator Numida, the man who ran the Imperial Occupation of Daein! Seems like such small potatoes now. He's about as good at leading an army now as he was back then (not at all), and he's good for 5 Purge shots before he's just another bishop to whack with anything that attacks Defence.
Lekain accompanies him, and I refuse to believe that canonising under duress counts. Considering he is holding a Rewarp staff only (a Rewarp staff that is in full repair and not dented by his showing off), he doesn't seem long for this map. Pity. We'll see if we can't entertain him nonetheless.
Starting the map, Unending Task appears to have stopped now: we're switching to Dark Traveller. Unending Task was probably a little depressing for the whole part, I guess. Plus, the second battles are more narratively interesting than the dismal "empty world" of the first battles.
Micaiah opens by weakening this guy.
Sanaki spawns at the back of the formation and needs to use a Siege spell to damage anyone as her first action. Might as well kill something.
Jill has her eyes on those wyverns. Free movement applies to them too.
Sothe still has Celerity- if Leanne didn't have Paragon, she'd have Celerity instead and Sothe would have to hoof it. With Celerity, Sothe can cross four tiles of sand in one move. It gets him places, but he will have to be picked up if I want a good turncount and all the treasure.
There's a wyvern with a Short Axe that Marcia is baiting by performing this move. Fun fact: desert movement chokes Swordmasters so badly that Marcia is in range of neither of the two north of her.
Yes, that's a HP and Spd cap.
Sigrun stands here in the hopes of digging up the treasure on this tile, btu I don't think it works that way. Pity.
Her level up wasn't much better.
Sigrun and Tanith have a chat. I really don't think these two are getting A Rank...
Tanith can oneround a Halberdier with a Javelin.
Well, of course she can with that.
Defence cap. Honestly, despite having three caps, Tanith is in kind of a weird position when it comes to the rest of her stats- she's waiting on at least 5 points in all of them except Magic.
Leanne Vigours Sothe and Tanith.
Sothe moves here, and finds the first treasure of the desert: the Dragonfoe skill, which gives the unit it is equipped to Effective damage against Dragon Tribe Laguz while using any weapon. It also ought to give us the same perks against wyvern riders, but it is impossible to have this Skill equipped while those are enemies. Possibly intentionally.
Off-screen, Sothe loaded his inventory with the most useless possessions I have, and upon receiving the Dragonfoe scroll, is forced to send it to the convoy, where it will be available for the other armies to have. For Dragonfoe, this is a good decision, but not necessary. Sothe will dig up an item that I need sent to another army, though, and this is just a bonus.
Tanith uses her second turn to murder a guy. Important, but goes without saying.
The fact this is his line leans on the fourth wall a little bit- Numida is only now acting because it his now his turn in this turn-based combat system.
The Senators are all mindless sheep at the feet of Ashera now. Whatever gives them power...
Here's our Short Axe guy.
Marcia is not able to ORKO him. Full disclosure, on my first run, he killed Leanne Turn 2.
That had a few knock-on effects, one of which was forgetting to trade Sigrun's weapon off Short Spear. Minor details.
Some wyverns come up to play with Jill.
Jill doesn't kill this one, though, she had a one-use Steel Poleaxe up.
This batch of enemies here is what I affectionately like to call the No Fliers Zone. Three crossbowmen and an Archer, all tightly tied together at the hip. That mage to their right (over with the axemen) also has Arcwind. We have Jill anyway, but you know, good to make sure we treat this group with respect.
...Oh yeah, this is a thing. On the first playthrough, this Sleep spell hit. This time around, though, it missed somehow. Go Sothe.
Incidentally, this is not actually Sleep, but Elsleep, a distinction without a difference. Well, OK, that's not really true, 1-30 range is massive compared to 1-Mg/2- this Bishop should only be able to shoot 11 squares away, which considering his position, is just barely further than Numida can Purge and somewhere we won't be standing until Turn 3 or 4. I've seen Elsleep work on characters in the starting positions. At least it has one less cast.
His friend has an Elsilence, which is basically the same thing but for Silence. Like Rewarp, these staves were designed by the Senate (or more likely designed by clerks and stamped with the Senate's name after the fact). They have the same crit rate as their normal counterparts, but for some reason, increased EXP and WEXP. They also passively cure the wielder of the afflictions they are designed to inflict, like the normal counterparts.
If Sothe was Elslept, Micaiah would use Sacrifice to perk him up and move on. Without this, Micaiah is free to Shove Sanaki over. Honestly, I think I could accomplish the same thing moving Sanaki first and Micaiah second. Not that Micaiah is under any time pressure to arrive at her destination except that she should do so before I finish the map.
Sanaki uses some Thunder magic this time. Seemed appropriate, since it's Effective on this guy. (All Sanaki's spells probably could've finished him off, especially with capped Magic.)
Overkill on Strength, are we? No matter, there will be value in those extra points in Strength coming up. Skill and Defence is pleasant enough.
Jill comes down to murder this guy. He has a Bowgun, that's reason enough. Never mind the Killer Bow she could also deal with from this position, that's honestly child's play.
Skill/Def levels are nice, but she can omnicap all the same as long as she gets to level ~19. Just as long as she doesn't get Def only.
Jill moves here, because I think Sanaki fighting that Killer Bow is a shade too much.
Sigrun not only has to worry about her baby girl Sanaki doing reckless things, but Tanith would gladly get into more fights than Sigrun would like. No wonder this girl looks so melancholy by Radiant Dawn.
Sigrun does not double Swordmasters. Of course she doesn't.
This one can throw his sword, so I prioritise him. Not sure why she's using a Javelin, unless she can't get closer.
Working on those backup stats.
Marcia decides not to kill the Short Axe wyvern, instead dealing with an archer and preparing for the other wyvern down there.
The archer dropped this one.
And Ilyana takes the chance to get some healing.
That's because Leanne is going to finish the swordmaster.
Daemon Cards are super impressive, although this one's clipping into the sand's odd contours.
With Magic capped, the goal is to help out the rest of her stats haphazardly. Leanne's stats have strange priorities, because of the way she works as a combat unit. Anything I can get her will do just fine, although I think Skill might be the most practical thing I can get her. HP, Avoid and Defence aren't going to save her, and her Speed untransformed is... not really avoiding-doubles great.
Skrimir has a goal, but with that Short Axe wyvern in the air, it's not a very doable goal.
Jill blocks this Killer Bow with ease.
The Short Axe guy is still going for Marcia.
And Sanaki got plinked by this archer.
Good thing she got that point of Defence!
Sigrun keeps up with the bare minimum.
And Sigrun not killing that guy means this Killing Edge guy doesn't get to attack us. Well, that's going to cause issues.
Also this guy.
This guy isn't going away unscathed, but it's not going to deal with him.
And the wyvern that just got attracted isn't exactly about to become-
...Right, this is a thing that can happen.
I'll take that.
Sothe, I have no idea what the accuracy formula is on Elsleep compared to Sleep (Sleep staves become less accurate the further from your target you are), but you are doing just fine.
Yay?
Sanaki takes the easy move: she's going to be sticking to this right side and has no ability to influence that massive knot of enemies in the middle regardless of what she does.
Sanaki's doing her job well.
Marcia continues to not attack the wyvern, instead going for this guy. Note the crossbow platoon- next turn, that's going to be a No-Fly Zone that's actually in my way.
Javelin the Killer Edge guy in melee, why don't you?
Tanith wants to take on that No-Fly Zone. Standing here is the correct position.
Ilyana's got one of these guys covered.
Speed cap, that's 5 caps all up. 2 more levels of BEXP to cap Mag/Skill, then it's all Resistance left.
Sigrun takes this Warrior.
She can't get any closer to Tanith. That tile is in range of only one crossbow, but that's one crossbow too many for Sigrun. Marcia can dance with danger, not her.
Leanne can cover this guy still.
Here's a shot of the swirling daemon power when it actually hits.
Yay, bulk? The odds of Leanne omnicapping are actually not in her favour, for potentially obvious reasons.
Jill takes out this archer, but spares his buddies for a later initiative.
Skrimir wants to go to that treasure near that "L" shaped cliff, but the Short Axe guy is in his way. That's not likely to change.
Oh yeah, the Arcwind guy. Low hit odds aside, that's a lot of damage for a pegasus knight.
Time for this lot.
They're no threat to Tanith.
Just her levels.
Unfortunately, however, Tanith couldn't finish those guys off. Warriors are sturdy, and Javelins aren't the best of weapons.
Marcia deals with this guy, taking more potential damage than Sigrun. This Arcwind guy is good.
But not good enough.
Strength/Magic cap.
Marcia's also going to be dealing with these guys, circumstances permitting.
So just Skill/Luck/Res to go. 2 BEXP levels to cap Res, but Skill and Luck are pretty close margins.
Leanne, disrespecting crossbowmen. Again.
Very nice.
It is not strictly necessary to have someone resistant to crossbows land the final blow, Jill just had little better to do with her turn.
Perfect.
Jill stands exactly here.
Sigrun attacks this guy at range. 100% accurate anyway, but the choice in Short Spear has consequences.
She also digs up this treasure over on this tile.
Ilyana continues her own rampage on these guys. Never die, Crityana.
Tanith found her own way of having fun.
...Adorable, cathartic, where the hell are my conversations, game?
(Perfect level up.)
Lekain will flee of his own accord if you don't kill him fast enough, killing him just hastens his departure.
I'm fairly sure no world is better for having you in it.
I'm sure it does, Lekain. Now, under normal circumstances, the Rewarp glyph is supposed to appear under his feet right about now.
If you skip the "cutscene" of his departure using the + Button (or whatever button your controller uses to skip cutscenes), Lekain will not Rewarp away, but instead fade into white like most people who die do. This is purely cosmetic, he'll be back later, but this is really cathartic. His boss quotes, of course, come with his later appearance.
Sanaki continues to handle this entire wing by herself.
Tanith gets shot at by an archer, but she's the Nullify bearer, all is well.
Numida also takes a shot at her, triggering their dialogue. They don't have that much to say to one another, turns out.
Numida also has surprisingly little bite to his bark.
The Short Axe wyvern from Turn 1 has now engaged Jill, meaning he no longer has any slack to flee. I can now deal with him in an effective matter!
To explain the method to my madness, Sigrun having the Short Spear equipped this turn means that this guy wants to find someone in range who won't hit him back- and Jill is in his range with a Steel Poleaxe out. You can make the AI dance like monkeys if you know what they'll prioritise.
Marcia has attracted the wyverns behind Numida. I kinda had designs on Sanaki being the one to do that. At least she got one.
The same can be said to refer to Sanaki getting one of the wyverns, too.
Sanaki joining Ilyana in the crit factor. My little girl is growing up.
Marcia's still got her Halberdiers to get through.
...Not the right stat.
With so much of the map cleared and the most problematic issues dealt with, Micaiah succumbs to a bout of hopelessness. Even on Normal Mode, this is uncalled for.
The Black Knight shows up out of nowhere to heroically save the day. He will find enemies and he will kill them- and on Normal Mode, you're likely to be in a position in which this actually means something. For us, he just exists. It's also worth noting that, similar to 1-9, the Black Knight will refuse to be Rescued.
Micaiah's line seems to have been added by the INT version. Lekain also gets the hell out of dodge when the Black Knight appears, for obvious reasons.
Well, OK, he's got some words with three of our party members.
Sothe is too busy right now, he's just found the SS Rank Knife.
This is +10 Might over anything but the Silver Dagger and the S Rank Knife (which it is +6 and +5, respectively) over. With a massive 50 uses, it is no surprise that I plan to have Heather make the most of this.
Sanaki melees this guy so as to allow the other one to take a swing at her.
This goes literally as poorly as possible.
This level up looked good, but honestly, it's not that great. I do still like the Speed/Def.
Ooh, Thunder's done.
...Ah great, now she needs her tome changed on top of solving this problem.
Jill's going over here now. This was a mistake, but I can fix it.
This was the guy who got Leanne killed turn 2 of my original attempt at this mission- still several minutes into the run, and highly discouraging. Making sure Leanne killed him in the successful run is not normal.
But who's going to stop me?
Leanne could have moved further than this, but this happens to exactly be outside Numida's range. I wasn't actually sure where it ended, but happened to correctly identify which position I needed to be to avoid him.
As a consequence, this guy needs to be overkilled.
That Speed is really going to help. Poor Sigrun is slow.
Marcia helps out with Sanaki's tome situation.
And Ilyana helps with her HP. Yes, that was a lot of effort for one unit.
Worth it.
Get rid of one archer, but the other one is still lurking up there. Can't hit my fliers, but Ilyana has got him moving.
Another servicable level. Although that Resistance is starting to worry me (she can no longer naturally cap it).
Ilyana is always full of surprises.
Numida's dialogue with Sigrun is a little meatier.
Not really any more interesting, though. Sigrun and Tanith are certainly loyal to the end for Sanaki despite Lekain's claims, and all the more power to them.
Numida proves himself just as impotent dealing with Sigrun as he was with Tanith. I think he does, at least, deal some damage.
Crityana is not held back by such trifles as "using a staff and not a thunder tome!"
...OK, it does stop her killing the guy.
Sanaki picked up her Light rank from the other warrior. Just Wind to go!
Micaiah moves onto this exact square, and who should show up but our enigmatic friend from the dunes? Like the mechanics of desert movement, there is no exposition that hints to his existence other than that of PoR. However, RD does have some clues, but they're retroactive (ie you have to have missed your chance to get Stefan to get the clues).
Micaiah, who doesn't know about Stefan, is as perplexed as anyone ought to be on first meeting Stefan.
OK, it turns out someone else can identify Micaiah's Brand without seeing her mark. Perhaps it's in her bearing.
Stefan is a Friend To All Branded, and without knowing anything about what is going on, decides he's going to lend a hand.
...Before we move on, I want to linger a little longer on one part of that sentence: "without knowing anything about what is going on". Stefan being ignorant of Ashera's Judgment is a surprisingly important part of the lore for a character the game is well prepared to expect players to miss.
Stefan is back to his usual antics in this regard, however.
Stefan is always a fascinating character because his importance to the lore is so much greater than his actions indicate. His epilogue title and actions alone do as much to characterise him and expand his lore as anything he might happen to say.
Lethe: “I remember you!”
Stefan: “What a pleasure to see you again, noble dame of Gallia.”
Lethe: “It’s Lethe. I see that you were spared from petrification. I’m glad.”
Stefan: “Petrification? I’d like to hear more about that, but there seems to be some sort of battle on.”
Lethe: “We only seem to run into each other when I’m fighting for my life. Sorry I don’t have the time to catch up.”
Stefan: “Ah, well, that’s easily fixed. I shall help you win the battle, so we can talk properly. How does that sound?”
Lethe: “Sounds just like old times. It’s good to fight with you again, Stefan.”
Mordecai: “Stefan! What are you doing here?”
Stefan: “That’s what I was about to ask you! I came to see what all the noise in my desert was about.”
Mordecai: “Ah, so you didn’t get turned to stone! That is very good!”
Stefan: “Stone? What are you talking about? I suppose you’ll have to fill me in later. Let’s fight off the enemy together.”
Mordecai: “Good! Mordecai is happy to fight with Stefan again!”
Stefan: “And I as well, Mordecai.”
Lethe and Mordecai are more explicit about the fact Stefan has somehow not seen anyone turned to stone. This bit especially is why it's important to know Stefan is clueless.
It may be possible to get these conversations with Talks after the fact, too.
For us, however, his main value will be in the fact he is carrying this weapon. Well, OK, he'll hand that over to anyone who stands on his tile and is not Micaiah (or, with Transfers, Lethe and Mordecai), but the Vague Katti is... well, OK, it's still the strongest Sword in the game, and nearly the most accurate (Slim beats it), with a +3 Def bonus to boot. I dunno, though... 5 Crit after PoR's 35 Crit on Vague Katti (even if it didn't have the "strongest sword thing" to it in that game) kinda makes it feel a little disappointing. Ah well, Crit doesn't matter as much.
Sothe makes his way south. He's gotta be picked up right now, because I don't think it's sane to keep him on foot for this next step.
Jill takes out the archer. That's important.
Sigrun finally uses that Saviour.
Sanaki chooses to Wind this guy from this position.
That's because Leanne has remembered she's supposed to be giving other people turns.
Ilyana weakens so Sanaki can finish. I want Sanaki to end this turn on this square.
Another happy level up.
Speed/Luck capped! Combined with her Strength, and this is as dodgy as Sanaki can be. Especially since she's on a biorhythm upper right now.
Jill was supposed to be over here killing off Numida.
Numida has plenty to say to the victims of the Imperial Occupation, but bafflingly, not to Jill. Nevertheless, his generic boss quote is plenty hateable enough. Apparently we're lesser for beliving in a different cause.
I hope Stefan will forgive me for splattering you over the next ten squares.
I'd tell you to make up for this, but the best outcome for Jill is two stats.
Well, you see, when you bring a siege tome to a wide open desert map...
Micaiah: You!
Numida: Who are you, girl?
Micaiah: Duke Numida! I will never forget your oppression of the Daein people, or your cowardly flight from justice!
Numida: Ah, you’re from Daein. you should know that I had nothing to do with that unpleasantness. That was all General Jarod’s doing.
Micaiah: General Jarod was a scoundrel and a fiend, but at least he had a soldier’s honesty in his villainy. You black-hearted senators nauseate me, weaving a dense tapestry of lies that you yourselves believe!
Micaiah kicks ass in her boss quote, at least. Especially with that ending line. Poor Numida, thinking pawning everything off on Jarod is going to protect his sorry ass...
Numida: So, child, what the vice-minister said was true! Wicked infant! How dare you pretend to be divinely inspired while you heard absolutely nothing from the Goddess!
Sanaki: I…
Poor Sanaki is really struggling with the whole "not the true Apostle" deal.
Numida: Ahhh! What a fearsome beast! Only the dark god could create such a monstrosity!
Skrimir: What’s wrong, little beorc? Frightened? If you cannot look upon me, you cannot hope to defeat me!
Skrimir is in his element against the Disciples. I can not only believe Skrimir in these shoes, I'm rooting for him despite the fact he's a non-zero amount of crazy. Aren't we all a little crazy?
Naesala: Duke Numida…I wonder why a coward like you was turned back from stone? Especially considering some of your more… impious transgressions.
Numida: W-what are you talking about? I am a Senator in high standing!
Naesala: My country provides me with excellent spies, your grace. I know every atrocity you committed while in Daein. I hold information that would ruin you if it were made public. It’s rather a shame all that work will be wasted, since this is the last day of your life.
I wonder exactly what Naesala has in mind that could ruin Numida in particular. I don't doubt that the Begnion Senate has skeletons in their closet, but there's an element here that makes Numida seem special in some regard.
Numida: Fool! Do you honestly believe that your dark god can triumph in the face of Ashera’s divine majesty?
Sothe: She’s not my dark god. To be honest, I don’t care about the gods. They have nothing to do with me.
Numida: What?! Then who do you fight for?!
Sothe: I fight for my family, and I fight against tyranny. That is enough.
Edward: This is for the free people of Daein! Haaaa!
Numida: Don’t you idealistic twits ever give up?
Leonardo: You crushed freedom in Daein for years! Do you even have a conscience?!
Numida: Daein gutter trash! I should have had you all killed when I had the chance!
Nolan: No one escapes from their past, Numida. We all have to answer for our crimes one day. Today is that day for you.
Numida: Silence, cur!
Remember what I said about the Daeins having a lot to say? No matter which Dawn Brigadier is your favourite, you'll get an impressive one liner for your efforts.
Laura: You have caused more suffering than any being I’ve ever met. Did you not learn that the goddess will someday punish those who harm others?
Numida: Peasant! How dare you preach to me!
Numida: Aargh! Where are my guards? Why do I have to be the one to fight?!
Aran: That’s right, I remember who you are. You let others do your dirty work while you run for safety. Looks like you’re running out of places to run, Senator.
Numida: Disciples of Order! Hurry up! Destroy them!
Fiona: Why would you want to step on the people of Daein? You are long overdue for justice. I truly feel blessed that I’ll be the one to give it to you.
Even these three get a quote! The theory behind Zihark and Jill not getting theirs is because they are assigned to different armies by default. Zihark has a boss quote with the Hawk Army's second opponent, and I can buy trying to keep mutually exclusive dialogue to a minimum, but considering how good Jill is on this map and how she's a former Begnion looking after a Daein territory that Numida mismanaged...
Black Knight: Your time is done.
Numida: Damn you, ghost! If you had just stayed dead, I could have done whatever I wanted to Daein!
Your jig was up long before BK popped up, Numida.
Numida: Wh-who are you?!
Stefan: I am the desert, and I brook no intrusion. Make peace with your goddess.
Stefan gets one boss quote, and he knew exactly what he wanted to say. Shame he doesn't get one with a later boss, though.
Marcia is going this way to handle the enemies.
Tanith got this guy. Skrimir has been trying to find an item and failing because he's on a downer, and Tanith's got an upper to help out.
Sanaki managed to get hit still. Tch. At least the second guy had no real hope.
Plus, there's always Flare.
More guys over here!
Oh dear, Jill, we're going to need your dragon.
Sanaki's going to make a start on these guys. They need to die too, it's in the mission statement.
One more point of Strength and Sanaki can handle Rexflame all on her own!
WIND MASTERY!
Marcia's got a limited number of places to stand without attracting attention.
...Ilyana gave Sothe a push. Here I am wondering when he got put down. Probably Marcia's movement.
He's picking up this lovely item.
The Laguz Gem induces Formshift on the user, permanently transforming them. I'm not sure if you can manually revert later, but still, in the endgame, this is something invaluable if you're using any laguz without Formshift. You get three total, although one of them is a little late. You bet I have plans on using this early.
Sigrun takes care of this guy.
Leanne helps Sothe start making his way back to the Black Knight for that conversation.
Sending Tanith here was the only real solution, but it feels so wasteful. Ah well, Leanne will appreciate it. Maybe.
Marcia's getting some of these guys.
Nice and solid, but Skill is what she really needs. Resistance cap, though.
Whew, these are starting to go by the wayside.
And some more reinforcements. This is getting exciting.
This is necessary.
One more level to get a double-up on.
Another one to take out.
Ilyana Physics Tanith up because why not?
[By the goddess… You!]
In case you've forgotten, the Black Knight kidnapped Leanne in PoR Chapter 25.
He doesn't really regret it, he just dislikes that it had to be done. I think this was more of an Ashnard order.
The Black Knight won't force Leanne to do anything she doesn't want to do, however. So... Green unit is about right.
[Nothing good can come of his being here. He’s a walking nightmare…]
To his enemies. To us... eh?
Well, let's look at these guys. I've got enough sword arms.
I don't highlight it because I didn't realise how much of a big deal the move was, but after killing this guy, Sigrun moves in range of the last enemy of the map.
The Black Knight just doesn't die! You think a think like the apocalypse is going to stop him?
The Black Knight can be so cheeky when he wants to be.
How nice of Sothe to have so much faith in Ike even after being on opposing sides. I guess Ike being so overpowering that Daein didn't stand a chance helped him come to that conclusion.
The Black Knight brushes off the news that he's due for a fight to the death with the one man on the continent more resistant to being crushed like a gnat.
Sothe is very mildly concerned by the Black Knight's optimisim.
Well, in this playthrough, we should actually be somewhat concerned. Somewhat.
Jarringly, only the conversation with Micaiah plays the Black Knight's theme.
Micaiah is still almost entirely divorced from the Ike vs Black Knight dynamic, and is genuinely and unquestioningly pleased to see the Black Knight appear.
On the Black Knight's part, though, this seems to be emotionally reciprocated. The Black Knight likes Micaiah, insomuch as he can from his position.
Honestly, I look at this conversation and think of the Black Knight as Micaiah's Tuxedo Mask. In this playthrough, you even get the "but you didn't do anything" angle.
The Black Knight is not here to save the Silver Army, though.
The Black Knight is only here for Micaiah.
That's... a question, isn't it? We, the player, "know" who the Black Knight is, but neither the Black Knight nor Zelgius seem to be the sort of character who would make this call.
This conversation comes up after the battle regardless. I think at least some of the Talk gets moved to the ending if you didn't trigger it.
Micaiah heals up Leanne for literally no reason.
Now then. This is the last enemy on the map. You might remember that Sigrun doesn't double Swordmasters. If this guy doesn't die this turn, reinforcements will appear in the north-east part of the map and I have no units up there.
That was the best outcome I could've hoped for. It wasn't the first outcome I rolled (hence how I knew about the reinforcements), but I wasn't expecting a Stun outcome to be followed by a level like this.
Well, "after the battle" wasn't so far away, now was it?
Ah yes. The Black Knight's master. Since we know he's a Begnion general in disguise, this "master" could be on any side.
Who is his master? Well, after the whole shenanigans with the Part 3 war, it could be anyone, but it should be Sephiran. Not that knowing who he is tells us much.
Warp Powder working with Side-Along makes sense, considering the Black Knight presumably used it to kidnap Leanne, but it does raise the question of how it works. Not that we actually know what the Black Knight does with Warp Powder to make it warp him.
Micaiah maintains her duty to the Silver Army.
...This raises so many questions and red flags at the same time.
Micaiah lights up on the most obvious of both- the fact that Ashera is planning on another Judgment and wiping the rest of us out. And we still don't even know the rules for how the first one worked!
He doesn't come back again, on-screen at least. I think he just wanted an excuse to eject from the conversation.
- Black Knight:
- 乙女よ、よく考えるのだ。
そなたは他の者たちとは違う。
そなたも私も…
石になることはない。
- Micaiah:
- どうしてなの…？
あなたの話は読めない……
その鎧で覆って
何を隠しているの！？
The Black Knight drops a big hint at a later reveal, by asking Micaiah why it is the two of them will be spared by the goddess's Judgment in particular. Micaiah even asks what he's hiding under all that armour.
Right now, though, I think that's the least of our problems.
That is (technically) true, but I have no idea if that was supposed to be what Micaiah intended on raising.
That's the conversation we're sticking with.
As long as Lekain is giving us the chance, we will rise to meet it. As long as we can get our hands on that goddess-forsaken piece of paper.
Again, not in the JP version. The INT writers really wanted to keep this thread going.
With the battle over (and perhaps a great deal of time passed, considering the night-time background), Sanaki is ready to unpack the question Lekain posed.
Tanith is an optional inclusion in Silver Army, and if she is in some other army, this conversation will occur just fine with Sigrun alone.
Oh, good, just sneaking a mention here. You'd think, if this was such a big deal, Misaha's daughter would be on the throne at least warming the damn seat.
The goddess's voice, at least, is a huge absence to the stability of the theocracy.
Sanaki, being the promise of the return of that voice, patched that hole tremendously.
Sigrun has memories of that day.
Recall, when we come to the topic of Sanaki's coronation, that Sanaki was coronated at five.
And yet she has the inner-ear balance of Maggie Simpson. If her cape is anything like the one she's wearing now, I could believe a five-year old struggling to handle it, but by five, most kids are capable of walking on their own.
...Although I have a sister who would beg to differ...
As funny as it is Sanaki was completely unsuited to taking the throne when she was crowned, now is not the time.
- Sanaki:
- わたしが神使であるおかげで、
ベグニオンは
安泰となったと言われても…
わたしにはよくわからぬ話じゃった。
しかし……どこを向いても、
皆が喜んで笑顔を向けてくれるのが…
子供心にとてもうれしかった。
- Sigrun:
- ええ…そうですとも。
私もタニスも、やっとお守りすべき
お方をお迎えできたのだと…
どれほど誇らしかったことか。
Before the next line, Sanaki talks about how everyone loved her as Apostle (as we often hear), and Sigrun adds that they loved the fact they had someone to protect as their duty. I'll leave it to a language expert to tell me if that's strictly an "Apostle + Holy Guard" thing or you could have it as an innuendo for a gay couple adopting a child.
So yeah, the whole "messiah who will save us from the horror of not having the goddess's voice whisper in our ear" thing? Total lie. That Sanaki's been unknowingly peddling for more than half her life.
This hasn't come out of nowhere for Sanaki, but it's still...
Sigrun tries to discredit Lekain, because why wouldn't you ignore what Lekain said? One often says to let the opinions of bullies slide and walk on in spite of their words, but the key word there is "opinions". Lekain's assertion that Sanaki is not the Apostle is not an opinion.
Sanaki strongly believes in her role as her people's Empress. But if she's been lying to them the whole time...
Sanaki seeks reassurance.
And receives it.
Sanaki is not just a seatwarmer.
Sanaki is the Best Damn Empress Begnion ever had, and even with the strength of conviction Elincia now possesses, is still a candidate for the Best Ruler Tellius has right now. Whether the throne is her birthright doesn't matter in the face of what she has done. The real Apostle has one heck of an argument to make if they want to replace her.
This is the Fire Emblem theme. Loyalty to your friends, the strength of will to stand for humanity, and the courage to beat the odds no matter who they may be.
And I would gladly follow Empress Sanaki to the end. There's a reason this girl is my favourite.
The time limit is 10 turns, and I did it in 8. If Sigrun failed that kill, 10 would be difficult to do.
Next time: Slaves and liberation.
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