Book IV Official Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Othin]

5 minutes ago, Sentinel07 said:

Guess it kind of depends on how IS views him. Like, do they view Gustav and Henriette as Book 3 characters, or are they more in the same category as Veronica and Bruno and such. They got the obvious Book 3 OC's out of the way with Lif, Thrasir, and Hel, but haven't budged on our new Askr characters.

I can see Henriette being in the Veronica and Bruno category, and it makes sense to save regular Gustav to join her even though he's no longer in the story. But I'd think dead Gustav would belong with the rest of Team Hel, at the very least being on this year's Fallen banner. I'm not sure what rationale they could have for delaying him this long.

Edited October 17, 2020 by Othin

[Sentinel07]

6 minutes ago, Othin said:

I can see Henriette being in the Veronica and Bruno category, and it makes sense to save regular Gustav to join her even though he's no longer in the story. But I'd think dead Gustav would belong with the rest of Team Hel, at the very least being on this year's Fallen banner. I'm not sure what rationale they could have for delaying him this long.

Honestly, I don't think dead Gustav is being treated as the same. I feel like that may have been just a one-time gimmick for story purposes, and that if/whenever he does become playable, he'll be in his normal King of Askr form or something.

I mean, if the art and/or weapon was completely different, I could probably see him coming as both, but his "dead" art is literally just a palette swap of his normal art, and his weapon is likely the same as he had when alive.

Edited October 17, 2020 by Sentinel07

[Othin]

11 minutes ago, Sentinel07 said:

Honestly, I don't think dead Gustav is being treated as the same. I feel like that may have been just a one-time gimmick for story purposes, and that if/whenever he does become playable, he'll be in his normal King of Askr form or something.

I mean, if the art and/or weapon was completely different, I could probably see him coming as both, but his "dead" art is literally just a palette swap of his normal art, and his weapon is likely the same as he had when alive.

Huh, is it just a palette swap? I thought there was a bit more to it.

My other hangup was the title. But I guess getting a functionally equivalent Gustav with a different title and slightly different appearance wouldn't be much stranger than getting Hel with a different weapon than the one she uses as a boss.

[Sentinel07]

9 minutes ago, Othin said:

Huh, is it just a palette swap? I thought there was a bit more to it.

My other hangup was the title. But I guess getting a functionally equivalent Gustav with a different title and slightly different appearance wouldn't be much stranger than getting Hel with a different weapon than the one she uses as a boss.

Yeah, it's just a palette swap. All that changed was that they made him a darker shade, and the blue gem in his axe changed to red. Other than that, he's exactly the same as normal Gustav.

And yeah, pretty much.

[Othin]

1 minute ago, Sentinel07 said:

Yeah, it's just a palette swap. All that changed was that they made him a darker shade, and the blue gem in his axe changed to red. Other than that, he's exactly the same as normal Gustav.

And yeah, pretty much.

Huh. That changes things, then. Good catch!

[Mercakete]

@Othin @Sentinel07

I agree that dead Gustav is a book 3 character, and that IS may not see him that way. Actually, I wonder if the delay in releasing Gustav is because they're not entirely sure how they want to release him. His story pretty much ended in book 3, and even though each book is self-contained (so far), I don't think he'll be making any reappearances outside of flashbacks/dreams/illusions/references. Despite each book being self-contained, they still have some continuity. We can see this especially in FB's. IS kind of put themselves in a position where they'll have to choose to ignore him (in the story from here on) or refer to his having been killed by Hel in book 3. That's more about writing than summoning, though, not that the two aren't related.

As for which form he'll wind up in, it depends on what IS plans on doing with him, but they don't really like wasting character art. Once they sort out whether they want Dead Gustav (which has a sprite already) or Live Gustav (which makes less sense to me if only because of timelines and continuity), we'll probably see him available for summoning/grails/etc.

[Sentinel07]

7 minutes ago, Mercakete said:

@Othin @Sentinel07

I agree that dead Gustav is a book 3 character, and that IS may not see him that way. Actually, I wonder if the delay in releasing Gustav is because they're not entirely sure how they want to release him. His story pretty much ended in book 3, and even though each book is self-contained (so far), I don't think he'll be making any reappearances outside of flashbacks/dreams/illusions/references. Despite each book being self-contained, they still have some continuity. We can see this especially in FB's. IS kind of put themselves in a position where they'll have to choose to ignore him (in the story from here on) or refer to his having been killed by Hel in book 3. That's more about writing than summoning, though, not that the two aren't related.

As for which form he'll wind up in, it depends on what IS plans on doing with him, but they don't really like wasting character art. Once they sort out whether they want Dead Gustav (which has a sprite already) or Live Gustav (which makes less sense to me if only because of timelines and continuity), we'll probably see him available for summoning/grails/etc.

Maybe we'll get lucky and that, in late November after Chapter 13 comes, we'll get a 2-person banner with Gustav and Henriette like Surtr and Ylgr from 2 years ago. Heck, that way they can shove in the usual Xenologue to set up Book 5 too. 😄

Yeah it's probably not happening but I'd be all for it if it did. 😄

Edit: On the topic of Live Gustav making less sense for continuity, I have an opinion on that. Personally, I think summonable story characters are only really in there for gameplay purposes rather than story purposes.

Like, even though we can summon Surtr, Hel, Lif, and Thrasir for our armies, I think that's only true for gameplay purposes, and that in terms of the story, they're not really there. Kind of like how, even though Lif and Thrasir appeared in recent Forging Bonds, they don't seem to be treated among the Order of Heroes.

Edited October 17, 2020 by Sentinel07

[Othin]

One thing that shouldn't be an issue is seasonal Gustav and Henriette. They have us seasonal Veronica and Bruno, after all.

Speaking of Bruno, he's another example of someone likely to get a title change for his playable version, so it wouldn't be just Gustav Even if he keeps the mask and art, he'll probably go from "???: Masked Knight" to something like "Bruno: Emblian Prince", along with getting a weapon upgrade.

2 minutes ago, Sentinel07 said:

Maybe we'll get lucky and that, in late November after Chapter 13 comes, we'll get a 2-person banner with Gustav and Henriette like Surtr and Ylgr from 2 years ago. Heck, that way they can shove in the usual Xenologue to set up Book 5 too. 😄

Yeah it's probably not happening but I'd be all for it if it did. 😄

God no, that'd be such a terrible waste. If they're going to do another OC banner, they should at least make it the usual 4+1 units rather than throwing away perfectly good unit slots. But there's no need for OCs to even take up any New Heroes slots now that mythics are a thing, anyway.

(Plus, the timing wouldn't make sense. That could have fit after Book 3, but an OC banner after Book 4 would want to have Book 4 characters.)

[Mercakete]

11 minutes ago, Sentinel07 said:

Maybe we'll get lucky and that, in late November after Chapter 13 comes, we'll get a 2-person banner with Gustav and Henriette like Surtr and Ylgr from 2 years ago. Heck, that way they can shove in the usual Xenologue to set up Book 5 too. 😄

Yeah it's probably not happening but I'd be all for it if it did. 😄

Hmmm honestly, I'd love to see a Mothers banner. Elena (FE9), Byleth's mom (FE16, obviously), Henriette, and Eliwood's mom (FE7) would be an interesting banner. Maybe we could even get a corresponding Fathers banner, too. (Griel (though we already have a Valentine's version of him), Jeralt, Gustav, and Elbert.) Certain spoilers can be an influence on these banners, too. I wouldn't be upset at all if this was a pseudo-seasonal (or actual seasonal) double banner, in fact! ^_^

Edit:

Spoiler

That is, various people being dead and others being mourners. Like, Mourners Henriette, Eliwood's mom, Griel and Jeralt, and Dead Elena, Byleth's mom, Gustav, and Elbert.

 

Edited October 17, 2020 by Mercakete

[Sentinel07]

I wasn't really being serious. It was just something that flashed through my head. 😄

On another note, I'm guessing this new chapter should wrap up Triandra's story (likely with her connection to Peony) and wrap up Kiran's whereabouts as well. I wonder if that'll leave Sharena's story for the finale.

[Othin]

2 minutes ago, Sentinel07 said:

I wasn't really being serious. It was just something that flashed through my head. 😄

 

Fair enough, I can have a hard time telling when people are or aren't serious.

[Mercakete]

Well, I just submitted feedback suggesting that paired banner I talked about with Book 3 (dead/Lif's) Sharena as a TT+/GHB/otherwise grails reward. (I want her and she fits the "loved and lost" theme.) I shifted it from moms and dads, though, to dead and mourners as the distinction between the banners.

[Sentinel07]

3 hours ago, Mercakete said:

Well, I just submitted feedback suggesting that paired banner I talked about with Book 3 (dead/Lif's) Sharena as a TT+/GHB/otherwise grails reward. (I want her and she fits the "loved and lost" theme.) I shifted it from moms and dads, though, to dead and mourners as the distinction between the banners.

Sharena from Lif's world would certainly be interesting. Too bad they probably won't do anything about it. :)

Honestly, it kind of reminded me of something. I really wish they'd make a new event that would explore extra stories in these worlds. Like, we're probably never going to visit Nifl, Muspell, or Hel again in any real capacity, yet there are probably things going on there even after the Order of Heroes is done. Like how things are in Nifl with Hrid ruling, Laevatein now Queen of Muspell, how things are in Hel with Hel herself gone....there's a lot of potential there. Heck, maybe even one centered on Eir finding the world she really came from since the main story will likely never address that again either.

Heck, it'd be a nice opportunity to introduce new OC's in that way. 

[DefyingFates]

On 10/16/2020 at 7:31 PM, SirErrant said:

it doesn‘t look exactly like Alfonse’s sword...

I'm thinking it could be an alternate version of Folkvangr (like Tyrfing/ Divine Tyrfing). Especially considering how outdated the original Folkvangr is at this point.

Then again, I wouldn't mind a "freebie" boss fight like the Freyr one.

On 10/16/2020 at 3:06 PM, Diovani Bressan said:

Ch 12-4

I...completely forgot what chapter we were on. It's pretty crazy we still don't have a concrete plan to defeat Freyja other than to escape. Either this book is going to be longer than 13 chapters or it may end on a cliffhanger by the time they get to the real world. Or the ending is incredibly rushed. Intriguing stuff!

[Diovani Bressan]

5 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

I...completely forgot what chapter we were on. It's pretty crazy we still don't have a concrete plan to defeat Freyja other than to escape. Either this book is going to be longer than 13 chapters or it may end on a cliffhanger by the time they get to the real world. Or the ending is incredibly rushed. Intriguing stuff!

Different from the others villains, Freyja doesn't look to have anything making her immune to death. I mean, the Order of Heroes killed Freyr without problems, and since she doesnt have his Power anymore... She should not be invincible. I may be wrong though.

[Othin]

4 minutes ago, Diovani Bressan said:

Different from the others villains, Freyja doesn't look to have anything making her immune to death. I mean, the Order of Heroes killed Freyr without problems, and since she doesnt have his Power anymore... She should not be invincible. I may be wrong though.

From that perspective, killing Freyr is kind of the equivalent to the rites in the previous books. 

[kradeelav]

I can see Freyja panicking and pulling out the nightmare!Summoner as her last trick up the sleeve, which figures into the teaser we saw.  Which would then nicely loop into a 'oh shit' cliffhanger with that whole confrontation, and then one last set of chapters as the Askr gang defeats that, (regular!Summoner pops back into existence?) and then goes after Freyja for good.

[DefyingFates]

2 hours ago, kradeelav said:

I can see Freyja panicking and pulling out the nightmare!Summoner as her last trick up the sleeve, which figures into the teaser we saw.  Which would then nicely loop into a 'oh shit' cliffhanger with that whole confrontation, and then one last set of chapters as the Askr gang defeats that, (regular!Summoner pops back into existence?) and then goes after Freyja for good.

So you're thinking this book will be longer than 13 Chapters? Given the ambiguous timing of the "midway" Trailer and the fact that each Book has been releasing later and later (not to mention how many people got impatient waiting for this one)...yeah, I can see that happening. Either that or Freyja just giving up and reforming at the last second, I suppose...

[Sentinel07]

42 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

So you're thinking this book will be longer than 13 Chapters? Given the ambiguous timing of the "midway" Trailer and the fact that each Book has been releasing later and later (not to mention how many people got impatient waiting for this one)...yeah, I can see that happening. Either that or Freyja just giving up and reforming at the last second, I suppose...

I doubt that, especially with how it looks like they're following the same formula. Thrasir and Lif were done in with the 3rd and 2nd to last chapters of Book 3, and it looks like Book 4 is going to do the same.

Each Book has been releasing later and later? Book 3 and 4 released around the same time. Early December. Only one to do different was Book 2 in Late November.

[Othin]

6 minutes ago, Sentinel07 said:

I doubt that, especially with how it looks like they're following the same formula. Thrasir and Lif were done in with the 3rd and 2nd to last chapters of Book 3, and it looks like Book 4 is going to do the same.

Each Book has been releasing later and later? Book 3 and 4 released around the same time. Early December. Only one to do different was Book 2 in Late November.

Even in Book 2's case, it launched with a story chapter featuring the characters from the early December New Heroes banner, which released about a week and a half later. The only reason the actual book went live a bit earlier was to go along with Fjorm's release on the first legendary banner.

Seems to be a pretty consistent formula.

[Sunwoo]

I feel like they're going to somehow justify Freyja being defeated in chapter 13. Maybe after both Triandra and Plumeria are gone she becomes more weakened or more vulnerable with less hold over the dream world and she'll just go down the next time we fight her.

If book 4 ends up being longer than 13 chapters, I'll be surprised. Not good surprised or bad surprised, just ... surprised.

[Michelaar]

That's actually a neat plot twist.

Spoiler

Kiran isn't Alfonse.... but Alfonse has been Kiran, this entire time.

 

[Sentinel07]

So, that chapter.

1. We begin with Veronica having to deal with more of Mirabilis' BS. You can so tell she wants to strangle that girl. 😄

2. So the human world is the World of Steel. Curious. Too bad I guess we're not getting maps on it but oh well.

3. Mid-chapter story surprised me a little. Guess Freyja wasn't manipulating Plumeria and Triandra as much as we thought. Even she was perplexed by how far they're willing to go for her.

4. Triandra is Peony's sister as expected. Gotta say, it was a little frightening seeing how willing Triandra would resort to killing.

5. That last part though. Damn was that a curve ball! Kiran dreaming about being Alfonse is expected, but the Creator himself making a move on Alfonse for killing Hel? Interesting!

[Florete]

I've gotta admit, this is the first time in FEH's existence I've found the story somewhat interesting.

[Medeus]

Well, Triandra's role was rather rushed. She only is relevant for two of the parts, and as soon as the fourth one drops we get a confirmation of her relationship with Peony and that's it. She's defeated and that's the last we hear of her.

The twist at the end was more interesting. 

Spoiler

We all figured that the Summoner was Alfonse thanks to the last chapter, but we didn't think the reason for that being was that he got smote by the gods for killing Hel. It actually adds an interesting element going into the next chapter as even if we beat Freyja (which will happen next chapter) Alfonse should still be lost, which means whatever happens after that should involve dealing with that fact and trying to reverse it.

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by Medeus