Thoughs about Lyon

[Ike's True Descendant]

I had some confused though about Lyon. I wanted to see what others though about him. In Eirika's route Lyon seems more out of control, trying to feed on Eirika's previous friendship with Lyon to get the Sacred Stones, but on Ephraim's route Lyon claimed he was in more control and was aware of his actions of destorying the stones. I was unsure if Lyon was truely taken over in both routes or if the story changes depending on which route you take. Could someone please clear up this question for me?

[Augestein]

There are plenty of ways to interpret this: overall, they aren't quite the same Lyon in both Eirika's route and Ephraim's route. I believe this is done to make each character a bit more of the "lead" on their routes respectively. However, here's the thing: they still are kind of the same Lyon despite some of their differences. It's easy to get lost in a sea of text because of how differently some things play out because of Ephraim and Eirika's personalities (I know some people like to call the twins one-dimensional, but it still comes into play ).

The main deal is this: Grado is going to collapse underground and Lyon wants to stop it. He starts messing with the dark stones and gets involved with the Demon King. As a result, the DK starts corrupting Lyon. However, Lyon still wants to fight back and try to deter Grado's fate. Because of the type of person that Eirika is, DK wants to get those stones from Eirika, as he knows she's collecting them and hasn't been able to successful prohibit Eirika from trying to gather the stones to stop him. So what does he do? Appeal to Eirika's senses. Eirika is a kind soul and even amidst the war she's still willing to make nice with people. You can see this with people like Cormag, Glen, Amelia... Pretty much everyone she interacts with. Even with people like Seth, she gets down on her knees to request that they protect Ephraim on his route while Ephraim basically pulls rank on them and tells them to skedaddle. Even with his soul being eaten away by the DK, DK knows that this will hurt Eirika more, and still helps to place seeds of doubt within her heart. Since Eirika is the lead, this aspect is played up more. The part where he feels that he's powerless to stop anything-- which ironically enough, is expanded more on Ephraim's route, because I don't think you actually learn about the earthquakes and the like on Eirika's route. But it makes him seem more sympathetic and understandable in this route, as opposed to Ephraim's route where he's just mean.

Versus Ephraim's route where the game concentrates on the fact that Lyon DID in fact, harbor some begrudging respect towards the twins. He was smitten with Eirika and jealous of Ephraim (even if he DID like Ephraim, he still harbored some dark thoughts towards the man). In this route, you see Lyon and he has NO REASON to make nice as Lyon because Ephraim is still going to stop him regardless of how "nice" Lyon is behaving. So the DK doesn't even bother to try to be nice. And what we see is the darker half of Lyon. The side that was angry with the fact that the twins were great in combat, knowledgeable about the lands etc. Everything he felt that he wasn't.

That's how I felt about it. I felt like this was done so you could get a better characterization of Lyon. Rather than have certain aspects appear for a chapter and then become something else, they use the routes as a way to complete his characterization.

[feplus]

Make no mistake, Lyon is Fomortiis' puppet on both paths. But the Demon King manipulates Lyon in different ways depending on who the main lord is. He gives Eirika false hope, playing up the "struggle" for Lyon's body -- but of course there is no struggle, as Fomortiis long ago claimed his soul. With Ephraim, however, he offers no hope. He insults Ephraim's father, he mocks Lyon, he makes himself out to be an irredeemable monster.

(Interesting to note that when the twins ask for L'Arachel's advice, her response changes depending on the path. She tells Eirika about Saint Latona, who did overcome the influence of Fomortiis; this further reinforces Eirika's false hope. Ephraim, however, is told unequivocally that Lyon's soul is gone.)

This plays into each of the twins' great weaknesses: Eirika's naivete and Ephraim's headstrong nature. Eirika hands over the stone when confronted by "prince" Lyon "struggling" to reclaim his body, because she has faith and because she trusts Lyon's word. Ephraim foolishly confronts the Demon King alone and falls into a trap.

Think of it this way: would Eirika have given up the stone on Ephraim's path? or would Ephraim have given up the stone on Eirika's path? Certainly not. Eirika is not the kind to rush into battle, and Ephraim is not the kind to be seduced by honeyed words.

And once the Sacred Stone is destroyed, the Demon King does a complete reversal. On Eirika's path, he reveals that Lyon is gone forever and that no hope remains; on Ephraim's path, he reveals (well, lies) that Lyon has fought off the Demon King, retains his own consciousness, and decided to invade Renais on his own. Why is this important? Because it undermines the lords' motivation. Eirika is motivated by hope, and now no hope remains. Ephraim is motivated to avenge his friend from a monster, but now Lyon is a monster of his own making. Ultimately both lords overcome their struggles and defeat Fomortiis, but it was a brilliantly calculated and nearly-successful plan.

People praise Lyon's character to no end, and that praise is warranted. But the Demon King doesn't get the respect he deserves. While his motivations may (to quote Lyon) be "crude, but uncomplicated," he is an absolutely fantastic manipulator.

Edited April 14, 2015 by feplus

[Ike's True Descendant]

I had a unsure feeling that Lyon was destoryed by the DK and that the DK was tring to manipulate Eirika on her route about possiblely saving him, but on Ephriam's route I though that Lyon expressed his hate and jealousness toward Ephriam showing that he wanted to improve his kingdom but destorying his enemy-Ephriam. Now that you both gave your thoughs on this question I belive I understand what truely happened. Thanks