Book IV Official Speculation & Discussion Thread

[NeonZ]

On 6/5/2020 at 8:53 PM, Etrurian emperor said:

I don't think I'd really appreciate it if Sharena turned out to be a fairy. Sharena and Alfonse seem to have a pretty tight sibling bond going on between them and while any origins of Sharena wouldn't remove that I do think it would detract from it a little bit, while also giving an opening to make their relation a lot less wholesome. Plus it would slightly take away from Henrietta. She's designed after Sharena, her husband is designed after Alfonse. That wouldn't exactly work if Sharena is just some stranger that showed up one day. 

It's said that Sharena and the fairy looked the same and could replace each other by swapping outfits and hair styles.

if they go through with Sharena and the fairy really switching places, and the fairy that switched places with her being Peony (like suggested by the reflection in the trailer), I guess they'll explain that the current Peony's eye color changed when she drank the nectar that turns humans into fairies after she was stuck in the dream world, while Sharena probably will get an alt of some kind with an actual fairy appearance.

Edited June 8, 2020 by NeonZ

[DefyingFates]

According to the new trailer, Freyja's a green beast with some sort of duplication ability, though that may just be part of the nightmare thing.

[Michelaar]

17 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

According to the new trailer, Freyja's a green beast with some sort of duplication ability, though that may just be part of the nightmare thing.

I'm surprised she's a beast unit. If this is actually Freyja and not some sort of duplication/illusion, what could she turn into? And does this mean Freyr is also a beast unit?

[DefyingFates]

1 hour ago, Michelaar said:

I'm surprised she's a beast unit. If this is actually Freyja and not some sort of duplication/illusion

Funny you should mention that, because that's what my first thought was too. On the other hand, I wonder if IS would consider that unnecessary effort on their part, not to mention the fact that a lot of people would demand both versions of Freyja be playable in the future. But I'd be okay with this if the "fake" Freyja was added to the regular pool.

1 hour ago, Michelaar said:

what could she turn into? And does this mean Freyr is also a beast unit?

Assuming she is a beast though, I assume she and Freyr either turn into a giant butterfly/ dragon or that this is another Sothis situation and they just get the benefits of being flying beast (i.e. 3 movement, Beast buffing skills) without any of the drawbacks.

[Othin]

We've gotten duplicated characters before for story reasons, like Legion and Fallen Takumi.

Maybe Freyr will be a blue beast, for two fairies of each color?

[Humanoid]

For a novelty they could change to a random colour every time they transform.

Maybe Xane could do this every turn he's active too. 😛

[daisy jane]

11 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Funny you should mention that, because that's what my first thought was too. On the other hand, I wonder if IS would consider that unnecessary effort on their part, not to mention the fact that a lot of people would demand both versions of Freyja be playable in the future. But I'd be okay with this if the "fake" Freyja was added to the regular pool.

Assuming she is a beast though, I assume she and Freyr either turn into a giant butterfly/ dragon or that this is another Sothis situation and they just get the benefits of being flying beast (i.e. 3 movement, Beast buffing skills) without any of the drawbacks.

 

if that's the case then i'd like Freya again. 
('m team "Don't Like Beast" I might be very Beorc that way lol)

[DefyingFates]

11 hours ago, daisy jane said:

if that's the case then i'd like Freya again. 
('m team "Don't Like Beast" I might be very Beorc that way lol)

I'm sure you and Shinon would get along great xD

[Sentinel07]

At long last, a new chapter to finally sink into.

And I gotta say, I'm intrigued by Freyja's motive and the history of the dream world. And the bit we got on Triandra's backstory is intriguing. 

A little disappointing that it ended on the cliche "I could kill you all with a thought but I'll let you wander around first" bit with Freyja but I can't say I'm surprised. They seem to rely on the worst tropes at the worst times.

Edited July 20, 2020 by Sentinel07

[Etrurian emperor]

2 hours ago, Sentinel07 said:

A little disappointing that it ended on the cliche "I could kill you all with a thought but I'll let you wander around first" bit with Freyja but I can't say I'm surprised. They seem to rely on the worst tropes at the worst times.

I think they could maybe stand to make the villains a bit weaker going forward by virtue of Alfonse and co being stronger these days. In most books the heroes spend a lot of their time in flight or searching clues rather than outright face the villain. But this is the third time. Alfonse and co already defeated an immortal flame king and the Fe version of Satan itself while also defeating their elite henchmen. Surely they should be a force to be reckoned with by now. 

[DefyingFates]

Freyja's voice was a lot deeper than I expected, but I like it! It was nice to hear the theme from the trailer and Freyja's boss music as well. As for the chapter itself, we got some vague information about Triandra's past and Peony recognised the voices as well, so...then again I think we all know the two are connected by now.

As for Freyja, the whole reality warping thing is interesting and it seems more that she just wants to ensure the dream world stays safe after whatever calamity almost destroyed it before than just wanting to take over the world like the others. Also, she's a giant goat...thing? I wasn't expecting that in the slightest and I have to say I like the surprise! The ram horns in her human form make much more sense now. As an aside, she doesn't come with a dance skill yet. though this is probably because of the whole "multiple copies" thing. It'd be infuriating to face an endless supply of dancers, after all.

I was hoping Freyja would be stopped at the end by Sharena suddenly revealing her fairy powers but as cliche as it is, I can understand why she'd want to torture humans as much as possible. Then again, it's possible the next chapter will pick up exactly where this one left off and we'll get the escape later, but even if not it'd be neat if a while later we find out that they were always right under Freyja's thumb and she was just trolling them. Isn't there a saying that "a person feels the most despair right right when hope is stolen from them" or something?

Edited July 20, 2020 by DefyingFates

[Sentinel07]

5 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Freyja's voice was a lot deeper than I expected, but I like it! It was nice to hear the theme from the trailer and Freyja's boss music as well. As for the chapter itself, we got some vague information about Triandra's past and Peony recognised the voices as well, so...then again I think we all know the two are connected by now.

As for Freyja, the whole reality warping thing is interesting and it seems more that she just wants to ensure the dream world stays safe after whatever calamity almost destroyed it before than just wanting to take over the world like the others. Also, she's a giant goat...thing? I wasn't expecting that in the slightest and I have to say I like the surprise! The ram horns in her human form make much more sense now. As an aside, she doesn't come with a dance skill yet. though this is probably because of the whole "multiple copies" thing. It'd be infuriating to face an endless supply of dancers, after all.

I was hoping Freyja would be stopped at the end by Sharena suddenly revealing her fairy powers but as cliche as it is, I can understand why she'd want to torture humans as much as possible. Then again, it's possible the next chapter will pick up exactly where this one left off and we'll get the escape later, but even if not it'd be neat if a while later we find out that they were always right under Freyja's thumb and she was just trolling them. Isn't there a saying that "a person feels the most despair right right when hope is stolen from them" or something?

Yeah, there's not exactly much ambiguity as to Triandra's little sister, given the trailer basically spelled it out. 😄

And Freyja's motive definitely has me curious. It's another world conquering plot but actually has purpose beyond conquering just for the sake on conjuring.

[trainer_derp]

Just spitballing here, but if Sharena was with Peony, Triandra, and Mirabilis when they first became fairies, then she might be special in being able to resist or counter Freyja's powers by being a faerie who became human again.

 

Or the Fonse can smack another goddess. IS why couldn't you make Freyja red...? 

[Mercakete]

Playing through the new chapter now. Already (part 1), Triandra is showing a theory of mine to be right. "As long as I have the nectar Lady Freyja gave me I will not stop." Remember that special nectar Freyja gave the kids? Do you seeeeeeeee?!

As for part 3... The heck? o_O Well, they answered the question of what happened with the darkness. I guess people stopped dreaming or something, and that was destroying the dream world. So, they turned kids into fairies and now the kids will never be human again. Hard to tell what Freyr meant, too, when he talked about loving his sister. Could have meant either platonic or, well, how she feels about him.

As for Triandra's past, again, could be a lie. Freyja is manipulative as heck and doesn't mind messing with people's sanity for her own enjoyment. Also, that was ridiculously over the top as far as her description of Triandra's past life goes. Not sure I buy it.

And then... Uhhhh is Freyja a butterfly goat?

Edit:

Okay, so, I'm worried that this will wind up being extremely cliche. Like, "power of friendship" or "just realize that it's all just a dream and dreams can't hurt you" stuff. However, it's also possible that we find out that Sharena learned that she wouldn't be able to become human again if she drank the nectar, the other girls were all horrified like "I can't turn back!" or something, and so she didn't drink it. That'd be somewhat original.

What I HOPE happens is that, while running around in the nightmare realm, they find Sharena's changeling. And you know what would make this interesting? If Sharena drinks the nectar and becomes a fairy, sacrificing her humanity in order to defeat this new "darkness" (Freyja.) And, still having human Sharena in the barracks is explained by Sharena's changeling coming along with us. This would also make Fairy Sharena summonable. Or, could be that Sharena's changeling becomes the hero after having been banished previously (see the theory I posed with the previous chapter) and later becomes summonable. Anyway, in the end, I predict that the dark fairies' real memories will be restored to them (and are different from what Freyja says they are), making them plausible to be summoned.

Edited July 20, 2020 by Mercakete

[Sentinel07]

3 hours ago, Mercakete said:

As for Triandra's past, again, could be a lie. Freyja is manipulative as heck and doesn't mind messing with people's sanity for her own enjoyment. Also, that was ridiculously over the top as far as her description of Triandra's past life goes. Not sure I buy it.

I'm not so sure about that. Could very well be that she specifically targeted children from broken families as that might make it easier to convince them. If anything, I enjoy the idea of little Triandra going all Eren Yeager on her dad. 😄

I'm pretty sure what Freyr is talking about is that Freyja didn't used to be this obsessive and was a kinder being at one point, before she resorted to drastic measures to keep the dream world going.

Edited July 20, 2020 by Sentinel07

[Medeus]

I was very surprised that they made Freyja into a Beast unit that's a Goat, but after thinking about it I'm glad they did it. It's unique from the other villains since they're very few Beast units in that category (the only one we got is Naesala if you count him) and she gives us another Mythic Beast unit candidate after Soan and Deghinsea. Also, according to some speculators it may be based on an insult the Giantess Hyndla called Freyja (Heiðrún, which may mean she-goat), which is a pretty cute reference if true. 

As for the chapter I'm glad they're fleshing out the villains a bit with these past two chapters. Triandra and Plumeria being from broken circumstances and Freyja similarly suffering great loss before the events that seems to be driving her makes them more interesting. That said, I also don't like that they're pulling the 'I'm so strong now, I'm just going to let you do stuff while I mess around' with Freyja, it's a poor trope and robs her of any cunning.

[Sentinel07]

1 hour ago, Medeus said:

I was very surprised that they made Freyja into a Beast unit that's a Goat, but after thinking about it I'm glad they did it. It's unique from the other villains since they're very few Beast units in that category (the only one we got is Naesala if you count him) and she gives us another Mythic Beast unit candidate after Soan and Deghinsea. Also, according to some speculators it may be based on an insult the Giantess Hyndla called Freyja (Heiðrún, which may mean she-goat), which is a pretty cute reference if true. 

As for the chapter I'm glad they're fleshing out the villains a bit with these past two chapters. Triandra and Plumeria being from broken circumstances and Freyja similarly suffering great loss before the events that seems to be driving her makes them more interesting. That said, I also don't like that they're pulling the 'I'm so strong now, I'm just going to let you do stuff while I mess around' with Freyja, it's a poor trope and robs her of any cunning.

Yeah that ending leaves a particular sour taste for sure.

[DefyingFates]

5 hours ago, Medeus said:

insult the Giantess Hyndla called Freyja (Heiðrún, which may mean she-goat), which is a pretty cute reference if true.

Agreed, but it's also kinda messed up to base her off of an insult. It almost makes you feel sorry for her xD

[Nym]

Is no one going to mention how awesome Freyja's boss theme is? It's a mix of previous Fire Emblem titles in one single theme!

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Nym

[DefyingFates]

1 hour ago, Nym said:

It's a mix of previous Fire Emblem titles in one single theme!

Wait, what?! That's awesome if true, and would fit the whole reality warping thing she has going on too! Do you or anyone else have a list of which FE theme occurs when in the track?

[Nym]

2 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Wait, what?! That's awesome if true, and would fit the whole reality warping thing she has going on too! Do you or anyone else have a list of which FE theme occurs when in the track?

There's a few songs that a few people figured out already:

• Duma's theme
• Fairy's battle theme from Heroes
• One part of the song is a mix of Gaiden/Echoes, Path of Radiance, and Blazing Sword's attack themes.
• Tokyo Mirage Sessions
• Paths that Will Never Cross from Three Houses
• Sacred Stones' attack theme can be hear briefly

 

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Nym

[SirErrant]

That's super cool. And here I thought it sounded like something straight from Touhou... 

Freyja's boss theme is hands down one of my favorite tracks in the game now, especially knowing that it's a mashup of many FE battle themes but still manages to sound so unique.

[Sentinel07]

7 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Agreed, but it's also kinda messed up to base her off of an insult. It almost makes you feel sorry for her xD

I would guess it's probably inspired by more than that. The goat is commonly depicted as demonic in nature across many religions/myths.

[DefyingFates]

1 hour ago, Nym said:

There's a few songs that a few people figured out already:

• Duma's theme
• Fairy's battle theme from Heroes
• One part of the song is a mix of Gaiden/Echoes, Path of Radiance, and Blazing Sword's attack themes.
• Tokyo Mirage Sessions
• Paths that Will Never Cross from Three Houses
• Sacred Stones' attack theme can be hear briefly

Where is this being discussed, if I may ask? I can't find anything on the subreddit 😕

27 minutes ago, Sentinel07 said:

I would guess it's probably inspired by more than that. The goat is commonly depicted as demonic in nature across many religions/myths.

This is true, but that Freyja herself was called a she-goat is probably still a big part of it. And very clever at that, though the whole "insult" part still stands. Maybe it represents her going mad and choosing to embrace the worst side of herself? Though that's reading way too much into a FEH plot, I fear.

[Mercakete]

19 hours ago, Sentinel07 said:

I'm not so sure about that. Could very well be that she specifically targeted children from broken families as that might make it easier to convince them. If anything, I enjoy the idea of little Triandra going all Eren Yeager on her dad. 😄

I'm pretty sure what Freyr is talking about is that Freyja didn't used to be this obsessive and was a kinder being at one point, before she resorted to drastic measures to keep the dream world going.

Obviously, this could also be the case (regarding the dokkalfar.) I never said that she definitively is lying (even though I'm leaning that way because otherwise, it's poor writing by going over the top like that, especially with something as unbelievable as a little kid overpowering her father who is clearly being powered by adrenaline. Even if both have the boost (of adrenaline), the adult is winning just because of how young Triandra and Peony were at the time (which is viewable in the trailer. They were maybe 6. They did not have the kind of muscle mass to make the story feasible, even if it's canon, if he was going at them with the intention of killing them. Anyone can (but not necessarily would) kill anyone else under the right circumstances, sure, but these were not the right circumstances with the known factors involved.) Also, again, it was over the top "feel bad for these guys" which turned off at least my own sympathy. It just wasn't realistic. You could have gotten the same (if not better) result from describing something like parents that only used you to show the world that they have a happy family, but when no one was looking, they were neglectful (as opposed to openly displaying how bad they were at parenting by making their kids sleep outside the house) and abusive, and the kids couldn't do anything about it because no one would believe them/act fast enough to prevent their parents from punishing them for seeking help, such as locking them in a room for several days or something and only after that allowing them to have water again. This would be a lot more believable/feasible. And if the writers wanted Triandra to kill her dad, then doing so in his sleep or via poison, or when he's in a precarious position (such as cleaning the gutters or something) and making him fall are all a lot more believable. It turns self-defense into pre-meditated murder, but it's really the only way I can think of a 6-year-old realistically killing someone who was just angry (as opposed to falling-over-himself drunk or something) and had murderous intent towards his daughters.) Anyway, future chapters (and especially the conclusion of the book) will probably confirm or deny how honest Freyja's being with her subordinates. I'm not saying anything definitive yet because nothing is yet definitive. Also, it's not good to be happy that a 6-year-old killed her dad. 😕

As for Freyr, could be. It hasn't been confirmed by the canon yet, but the wording seemed kind of strong to me. It's definitely possible, though.

 

As for the goat thing, I figured it had something to do with the mythology of Freyja, but I didn't know what. It's cool to know. Though, as for it representing the devil, yeah, I was definitely getting those vibes. She's a lot more devil-like than Hel was. Hel was more like the grim reaper.

 

Edit: As for her battle theme, that's really cool! Though, it seems like it would be better-suited to bring that sort of thing out for the final boss of FEH (Allfador (or however they're spelling "all father"), maybe?), since FEH is the crossroads of all other FE games. They may have played that hand too soon for maximum impact.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Mercakete