RD Chapter 4-3 Preparations: The greatest lie never told

It's implied here that the Disciples of Order attack each group more than twice* each. They know they're stretching themselves to fit six battles in total, best not to burden us with more.

Now that Yune can act more openly, Farsight is back in full force.

...Who's dying? I was told there would be no generics.

I wonder why they chose to go through Grann at all. Perhaps Sanaki thought she could check in on Tormod.

Judgment Day didn't make the desert any nicer of a place.

Today, we're going to be looking at some distortions of the truth, which is what this is referring to.

After the first round of Disciples, we get a check-in on Lekain and Hetzel. This is actually our first time seeing Hetzel in person- although he did appear in the opening of 3-P on the map narration.

Hetzel was in PoR too, remember! He had one line. With that in mind, his general appearance and personality seem to have translated just fine into this cameo appearance. Funny to think that Hetzel has so few appearances in RD itself, though. At the very least, I thought he spoke up sooner than this.

...How long did it take us to get into Begnion? It's your land that's right next to Daein!

Lekain has forgotten why he stays in his castle and complains while Zelgius does all the work. That is to our benefit, though.

There are a number of characters that can be described as "doormats". Hetzel makes even Kif Kroker look like he has a spine.

Lekain:

よいか、へッツェル殿。
女神に逆らいし暴徒どもは、
我らが差し向けた兵団をことごとく打ち破り、▼
ベグニオンに歩を進めておる。
このままでは、いつ
女神のご不興を買うやもしれん。
こうなれば我らが直々に
兵を率いて…
あやつらの息の根を止める他ない。

Hetzel:

……わ、私が…
兵を率いるのですか……

Lekain:

何を怯えておられるのだ。
我らは女神に選ばれし者なのだぞ。
我らこそ神の代理人。
我が意思こそが、
女神の意思にほかならぬ。

This appears to be Hetzel's first time in military command, judging by his sheer nervousness. Lekain barely cares.

You all disgust me.

うむ。では、まず私が出陣しよう。
使徒の調べでは…偽神使サナキのいる隊が
グラーヌ砂漠に入ったらしい。
くくく　あやつらめ、熱砂に足をとられ
思うように進むこともできまい。
どこへなり自在に空間移動する私の前に
あの生意気な小娘はひれ伏し、
涙を流して命乞いをすることだろう。
くく…くくくく
では、へッツェル殿、
後のことは頼みますぞ。

Lekain's speech here at least alludes to the fact that some people move less freely than others in Grann Desert, a tutorial that is relatively absent from the rest of the chapter. Even he does it somewhat poorly.

With Lekain presumably out of earshot, Hetzel comments on the fact that his grand speeches about the goddess's favour appear to just be Lekain's opinion, and not verifiable by a third party.

Hetzel is self-aware enough about the massive list of crimes the Senate has been up to to know that, if the goddess has chosen to favour them, she has made a pretty messed up choice.

……ルカン殿は
天啓を授かったというが……
この耳には何も……何も聞こえぬ。
もし、女神アスタルテが
聖典のとおりの存在であるならば、
なぜルカン殿や私が選ばれたのか…わからぬ。
この世の誰より……
罪深きは我々だというのに。
しかし……女神のご降臨は事実。
であれば、ここはルカン殿に
従っておくしかない……
神使様はお可哀想だが…
あの方にはもう…勝ち目はない。
ベグニオン帝国には、
神使親衛隊を除いては他に…
誰１人としてあの方に
お味方する者がおらぬのだから…

Hetzel's soliloquy is much longer, and includes him justifying himself by saying that the things that have occurred have occurred, and Sanaki is clearly in the wrong because less of Begnion has sided with her compared to the Senate.

We're going back to the party, though.

Micaiah has some words for Sanaki. Sanaki's been trying to set this thing up.

Despite opening with "Empress Sanaki", Micaiah tries to get out of being called a title herself. Although perhaps "Silver-Haired Maiden" is too formal.

It appears Micaiah took the matter into her own hands- she's shifted over a position between shots of her own accord.

Micaiah:

はい、ミカヤです。
あの…わたしもこの岩陰に
入っても構いませんか？

Sanaki:

好きにすればよい。
わたしは、水を取りに
輸送隊へ行くのでな。

???:

あら、いけませんわ。

Sigrun:

お水は私が取って参りますから。
サナキ様はどうぞそのまま。

Sanaki:

シ、シグルーン！

Sigrun:

ミカヤ様、どうぞごゆっくり。

Micaiah:

ありがとうございます。

When Micaiah tries to sit next to Sanaki, Sanaki attempts to excuse herself by going to fetch some water. Sigrun immediately butts in, tells Sanaki she'll collect the water, and Micaiah should spend as much time as she likes with her. This has become one of my favourite Extended script finds.

Micaiah knows there's something in the air, but hasn't the foggiest what.

Sanaki has no quarrel with Micaiah as a person. Well, aside from the whole "she killed thousands of people" thing. Water under the bridge. Sanaki is scared of what Micaiah represents.

The idea that Sanaki might not be who she says she is.

Micaiah shows off this heron power.

It's not mind-reading, but it can be used as such if you put enough effort in.

Sanaki:

そなたは心が読めるのか！？

Micaiah:

あ、別にずっと
誰が何を考えているかって
覗き見しているわけではなくて。
すごく強く思われていることが
近づいた時に自然と
伝わってきてしまうんです。
自分に向けられた思考であれば…
特に鮮明に………

Sanaki:

そうなのか…

Micaiah:

あ、いま
羨ましいって思いましたね？
こんな力、持ってても
いいことなんてほとんどないですよ。
食べるために占い師の真似事が
できるぐらいで…

Micaiah uses her heart-reading, not Farsight, to make her living as a fortune teller. Just the way she goes "imitate a fortune teller to eat" put it here.

Imagine how much easier dealing with the Senate would be if you could judge their mood. Granted, in that particular situation, I don't think the Senate's moods actually differ from one another as far as Sanaki is concerned.

So if there's this goddess-given power running around, why is it in some random street urchin and not the foremost power in the large theocracy?

Because it's not goddess-given.

Wow, Ike really was ahead of the curve in dropping "dark god" back in the Intermission.

No better candidate than the thing that was sealed in the medallion in the first place, right?

No idea. Honestly, Yune isn't a particularly smart character. She's capable of making logical deductions to continue a conversation and has probably the most solid grasp on the premises the story, but she's not that interested in following loose threads or planning more than one step ahead. She's the goddess of Chaos, that sounds right.

わからない。
ミカヤ自身も知らないの。
私はミカヤが『謡える』と
わかったから近くにいただけ。

This is the story of how Micaiah and Yune met. I don't feel like I understand it from the machines.

I draw your attention back to 2-2, where Brom said "nobody's perfect, except the goddess of course."

Yune is not the solution to all our problems. If she was, we'd have finished 65 chapters ago.

"How did life begin" is a complicated question that even we- that is, the real world- doesn't fully understand. We know quite a bit about how we advanced from the first stage of single-celled organisms to ultimately become sapient mammals capable of destroying planets, but we have no idea how Earth developed that first step.

In this universe, Yune and Ashera did prove themselves capable of creating life. We don't have a detailed list of "things they can do and humanity can't", but we can get a general impression from what they have done so far. I was tempted to put "turn people into stone" on that list, but Nailah can do that.

This. This is huge. This is huge for Fodlan in particular. The conflict there revolves a great deal about the existence of a goddess and whether she is capable of solving the problem that is "Fodlan, full stop". The available evidence leans very much towards "no she can't".

Yune is prone to temper tantrums and bouts of egocentricism and basically any of humanity's other vices.

When Yune fucks up, the whole world pays.

Proof of concept:

Sounds like the weight of all the lives lost in the Great Flood weigh heavily on Yune's mind.

There's a bright white flash to kill off the sandstorm here.

It's an extension of the usual Yune/Micaiah switch, since they also have to kill off the sandstorm effect. I wonder how this anger is manifesting until Yune comes back.

Even the audience doesn't fully know the answer to that one. She seemed pretty happy to jump to "turn the whole world to stone", but apart from that...

Well, since we're probably going to have some serious words with her to solve that, we're probably going to get some personality out of her too.

Yay Lucia!

Two Base conversations today. One with Sanaki, the other with Micaiah.

Sanaki sent Sigrun looking for goodies.

For some reason, she seems to think that the S Rank tome of fire is a dud find. What were you hoping for, Sigrun, a Master Crown I now have legitimately zero use for?

Sigrun in general doesn't seem to be feeling her best.

...Now, I'm tempted to push back against her for this, but Sanaki is also 13 years old, almost the youngest playable character in the series to date if not for Rolf stealing her title last game, and Sigrun has spent more than half of Sanaki's life being her mother figure. I think Sigrun's emotions are largely being driven on this front and not her as an Empress.

"Is that still bothering you?" Sanaki really is 13.

I never got the impression Sephiran would scold Sanaki for this.

...Sephiran hasn't really done much on-screen, though.

Sanaki wonders what Sephiran and Zelgius are actually up to.

...Sigrun, I was hoping they'd be more active.

The idea, however, is that these two are not petrified.

These two would take more than that to knock them down.

Sanaki is even more emboldened to be reunited with her father figures. With Sanaki and Sephiran reunited, Lekain and Ashera are child's play to overcome!

We are surrounded by teleporting goddess-blessed soldiers and you think not giving Sanaki some stats will make her more safe?

Sanaki tells her that more diplomatically.

This also doubles as your gameplay hint that the desert map will have lots of hidden goodies if you dig around for them. Considering Radiant Dawn has hidden goodies all over the place, this isn't particularly unique, but the desert has a massive five unique items, two Coins and a sixth special space. Although most deserts usually have more treasure, come to think of it...

This line, though, doesn't feel right to me at all. Let Sanaki play in the dirt, Sigrun, she's 13 years old! This world might be full of Order, but maybe it's still good for her immune system! Maybe she'll find something valuable!

The S Rank anima spells are the main thing you're building tome ranks for, but honestly, they're not that worth it in the end, I just like building weapon ranks. Bolganone is the most powerful, since Fire is the strongest anima magic as a rule, but Sanaki has Cymbeline...

Micaiah gets to have a chat with Naesala. This is a pairing I'm very interested in, but the reasons why haven't actually been revealed yet, so this conversation doesn't fully live up to that potential. Ah well, plot's moving too fast once we learn that plot point to get room to have another chat.

Both Micaiah and Naesala are without their usual hangers-on: Leanne and Nealuchi for Naesala, Sothe for Micaiah.

Micaiah gets very defensive of Sothe.

She means business. Not that fond of Naesala's "only joking" defence.

With that said, "Naesala and Skrimir" isn't a million miles away from "Micaiah and Sothe" as describing their personalities separately. Micaiah would do any war crime for her country, and Sothe would charge in blindly for the sake of his people. The comparison falls apart when you try to pretend Naesala and Skrimir enjoy each other's company.

This relationship, on the other hand, is very close. Almost closer than the obvious "both are romantic couples" comparison- both met while one was mentally much younger, and weird lifespan shenanigans have resulted in them becoming more equal, although Sothe and Leanne still have clinginess and naivete to work around before one can call them functional adults.

Naesala wonders how Micaiah knows he loves Leanne.

Emotion-reading, she says. I wonder who else knows but decided not to mention aloud.

This is probably some privacy violation in modern times, it's probably a good idea for Micaiah to not make a habit of it-

Naesala gets more defensive. The man has more secrets to hide, and is eager to make sure they stay that way.

His feelings for Leanne were just more obvious. I wonder if Micaiah's emotion-reading is powerful enough to identify what his deeper secrets are.

"You're a lot like me" thrown in awfully casually for a story not currently lingering on what these two have in common.

Naesala leaves by ominously hinting at this comparison. With all this talk of Micaiah and Naesala's similarities, I wonder what Naesala knows about the comparison.

Micaiah is caught off-guard by Naesala's departure.

I think this is two blink frames in a row. But yeah, Naesala brought Micaiah a present.

This is because of Yune. Yune seems to be at least partially the motivation for a lot of characters to care about Micaiah other than "she is a human being". Which, admittedly, kinda fair, Micaiah doesn't really do a whole lot for sympathy.

Micaiah is keenly interested in what Naesala's deal is. As are we all.

I bet you were waiting for this to come back from PoR since the first time I mentioned "we have female Light magic users now". Nosferatu is a 6 Might (weaker than Shine, but stronger than Ellight) S Rank spell that heals the caster for the damage dealt. Micaiah and Sanaki are going to get along just fine with this beauty. Well, Sanaki needs some more weapon rank and Micaiah shouldn't be getting into fights right now.

It was open.

Muston continuing not to impress. How much Olivi Grass could one person need? One of these days I'll watch an all-laguz run.

With Laura finally removing her Discipline scroll, Sanaki can equip it and become a master of magic. Other than dark. She hasn't sold her soul for power, that's Lekain's job.

Sigrun picks this up, for an idea I have. I don't think I ever actually do this idea.

Jill has some happy times ahead when it comes to her BEXP potential.

She's already got five stat caps, so with this...

Six stat caps. And able to omnicap even if she gets one stat levels the rest of the way. There are worse outcomes than not having all her Skill.

It was a tough choice between this and putting Paragon on no one, saving it so the Hawk Army could use two in their mission, but I ultimately went with more Leanne goodness. Even if this is still kind of overkill for her right now.

Sothe is slightly less jealous of Yune's arrival, more interested in her lore nuggets.

Why is that interesting? There is an answer, but honestly, I don't actually know why it's interesting to the characters now. Technically, this is what they already knew.

We have a fight scene to deal with, though.

Naesala:

めずらしいな、デインの巫女。
あんたが気づかないとは。

Micaiah:

…危機を察知するほうは、
ユンヌが知らせてくれるだけなんです。
彼女はいま、ちょっと取り込み中で。

Naesala is surprised Micaiah is suprised. Micaiah admits she's leaning on Yune's warnings, and since Yune is off pouting for now, this slipped her by.

One of these soldiers has a name and a face and a...

...It's everyone's favourite individual!

And his trusty sidekick, teleporting around to show off how he can.

Lekain and Sanaki are back on screen at the same time. Since the last time they met as teeth-clenched political allies, all sorts of truths about one another have come out, and Lekain no longer feels the need to pretend to be a nice person to Sanaki. And he openly calls Sanaki a liar, to boot. The Senate is really fond of this rhetoric.

Righteous in name only, you wretched sack of lard.

Sanaki honestly doesn't really win the insult war with Lekain. Despite being a child, she doesn't even get to call him a smelly doo-doo head.

Lekain:

くくっ　あなたの許しなど
１ゴールドの価値もない。
私は女神のしもべ。
女神の審判によって、
生きる価値を認められたのだ。

Sanaki:

何を…世迷いごとを！
そなたたちは、女神アスタルテに
利用されておるだけじゃ！

Lekain:

『利用される』とは……
なんと不遜な態度か。
女神アスタルテのご意向に従うことは
すなわち、最大の喜びであるはず
違いますかな？

Lekain brags about how he is the Chosen of Ashera, and Sanaki warns him that Ashera is just using him for her own ends. Lekain latches onto this assertion to prove that Sanaki is false, since she should be teaching that Ashera is Good. I have to say this argument is a good one, but I am going to go barf afterwards.

I was just thinking that forgiveness in your general direction is hollow and a waste of breath.

I had never really paid much mind to this line before, but when I saw it for the purposes of this blog, I laughed out loud for half a minute. I think this might be top ten lines in the whole series for me.

Sanaki is interested in answering a question that has gone unasked since 3-10: Where is the Senate coming off calling Sanaki a fake?

Ever since the third Empress and first Apostle of Begnion, Yoram, heard the voice of the goddess, the line has remained within Altina's noble bloodline, and the goddess has blessed each and every one of the blighters.

Sanaki, on the other hand... has never demonstrated the slightest hint of goddess blessing.

That's because she's not old enough, though, right? How old are apostles supposed to start hearing the voice of the goddess, then?

...Lekain, what are you gettting at?

Lekain, have you been, fake gasp, lying?

 そう、認めましたとも。
信仰こそが帝国の民を制する杖。
人は神には逆らえぬ。
どんな正論も、信仰の前には勝てぬ。
だから偽者と知りながらも…
あなたを神使と認めなければ
ならなかったのですから。

Lekain admits not only that Sanaki is not the true Apostle, but that he appointed her as such while fully aware of this. Not a good time to admit to that, Lekain.

Well, he's about to explain himself, and I'm about to go off on a bit of a tangent of minimal relevance.

I call bullshit.

The first thing to get out of the way is that I fully agree with the plot point that Sanaki is not actually the 35th Apostle of Begnion, and the title instead belonged to someone else. This plot point is incredibly important in the grand scheme of the story, drives the best parts of Sanaki's character, and is required to really sell how the story is built.

And this is where I think the problem lies. The assassination of Misaha not only killed the beloved Empress of Begnion, but also the true Apostle. This event, by the way, was twenty-three years ago.

Sanaki, a thirteen-year-old, was the person they picked as replacement. This opens a massive black hole that I referenced vaguely back in PoR Chapter 17: what the hell are Sanaki's parents up to here? It is clearly stated later that they were not chosen to do Sanaki's job, magic powers or no. The sheer amount of contrivance necessary to get Sanaki on Misaha's family tree is too much for me. Honestly, were it not for Lekain's claim here, I would be willing to overturn all evidence to the contrary and say that Sanaki is some random girl they plucked from the streets, or at best a daughter of the non-Altina spouse in that middle generation- so, half-sister to the rightful Apostle.

I would remind the reader that "all evidence to the contrary" includes Sanaki's first appearance in Fire Emblem Heroes being defined by the fact she is the sister to somebody. And also the artbook. Hey, they got the size of Tormod's army wrong...

I think we're long past humouring the idea that the heron clan so much as assassinated the mosquito that bit Misaha three nights before her untimely demise.

Well, with all of the above said about Lekain's story, I will say one more thing: I don't make the decision to set aside the creator's decision lightly. I think it's a stupid-ass decision and I'm electing to ignore it, but I do so knowing what I am ignoring. And to be honest, Sanaki might as well be some street urchin, for all the good being the True Apostle's little sister does for her self-esteem.

くくく…　実によい気分だ。
わざわざここまで
足を運んだ甲斐があるというもの。
この数年間は、そいつのお陰で
何もかもが上手くいかなかった。

Appointing Sanaki was a mistake in Lekain's opinion, since Sanaki did so much damage to him over the past few years, and Lekain is glad to finally have that mistake corrected.

Speaking of Sanaki's self-esteem, you may notice she has fallen to her knees after that last line. Part 4, or at least the parts of it that have Sanaki on screen, are an exercise in breaking her world to pieces. Between her force-deployed status in Endgame and the fact she is as emotionally engaged to the final bosses, if not moreso, than Ike and Micaiah, I'm almost tempted to call her as much the Lord of Part 4 as Elincia is Lord of Part 2. For as much as the words have meaning.

Imagine if reality really worked such that a battle to the death would result in the winner's beliefs becoming truth.

And he teleports back over here. Because walking is for the working class.

Micaiah trying to stay relevant to Lekain by pointing out the fact he possesses the Blood Pact she desperately needs to destroy.

Micaiah:

許せない……
あんな風に人を傷つけて
笑っていられるなんて。

Sothe:

…この戦いに勝って、
思い知らせてやればいい。
どんなに神の名をかざそうとも、
ここで戦ってるのはみんな、
ただの”人”同士だってさ。

Micaiah:

そうね。…やりましょう。

As usual, this is not talking about the Blood Pact, but there is indeed a Micaiah/Sothe bit here. Micaiah is angry as hell that Lekain bullied Sanaki into the dirt and laughed to her face about it. Sothe is fully on board with proving Lekain's godly blessings mean nothing with a heart like that.

Right behind you!