Mercakete

Having thrown enough summons in (this time) to get a 6.33% pity rate, using (I believe) over 100 orbs...I FINALLY got a year 1 summer unit Axe Valor! 😄 Now I have them all! (Valor skills, that is.) I can finally train up my axes in peace. ... Well, since training them up includes actual combat, maybe "in peace" isn't the right wording, but you know what I mean.

Glad to see another of these. Still, I'm surprised it's not "Dreams and Nightmares." Did IS suddenly decide to change Book 4's theme, when so much "nightmare" was thrown around before? Anyway, guess this means we'll get Ascended Peony since the description mentions her by name. I hope this also addresses Freyja's coma. Maybe have Goat Aunt show up?

Wut. Uhh okay, so all girls except Donnel (I think) (of all people) is the freebie. Well. Guess I can skip. Glad Fjorm's joining her sisters and Nifl, but still no Hrid. Really thought her silhouette was Mist, which got me hopeful. Also, Ivy's here alone. Guess they really wanted to make Summer Ivy, whether or not she fit on the banner. Hopefully this means we'll get other Engage units someday? Maybe IS is just overcompensating from when the fans were all "No more Fates royals!" and "No more 3 Houses!" and are thinking "Dang, we need to slow down on new games." And then this happened. Anyway, onto the positive impressions. Utility-wise, Ivy's great. I have a couple of speedy fliers (specifically, Bunny Ashe and New Years Elm) who want to take advantage of that Guidance skill she has. Also, her lines and delivery are just so good. XD And then there's Tharja. Okay, so, she's pretty random, but the way that line was delivered was hilarious. XD It's like "If this doesn't work, I'll kill whoever started that rumor." Also, she sounds like she's at her wit's end (maybe because she saw Groom Robin.) The way her intonation shifted from "whatever. I don't know" to threatening/crazy was great. Also, her weapon seems like it makes Ideal/push skills more viable. Interesting that Ymir and Eir are here. I happened to free pull (with a ticket, I think) my first Ascended Eir on that last banner she was on (and I already have regular Ymir.) The "pushing up sunflowers" thing is funny. That said, I don't think I'll aim for them. So, I guess if I happen to get Ivy, cool. Otherwise, I don't care about this banner, personally. Edit: Pff. I just saw Fjorm's damaged art, and I like how it implies that Fjorm accidentally sliced up her water squishie of Feh herself. X3

Hold up. Is that Mist on the right? Left looks like... I don't know - someone busty with either a headpiece or horns, and hair that cuts straight across the bottom. Okay, now that I have my initial guesses out there, I can read other peoples' comments.

I think a beast weapon would make for a cool one, especially since I don't think there are any good inheritable beast weapons, and because it's those weapons which trigger transformation. If they're going to do it, I'd say Gullveig would be a good unit to introduce it on since the golden serpents are contagious. What if you could inherit a transformation that turned the unit into a big ol' golden snake? (Separate from Heidr succumbing to the curse. Less hydra, more snake.) That said, I find it largely unlikely that they'll give us an Arcane Beaststone. They seem to like keeping those uninheritable (even if they could just use the same beast sprite again and again for the transformation and all beast units already have their own transforming animations. Just change the beast sprite they turn into.)

(I have a late comment on Nina's art.) Looking at Nina's damaged art, I can't make sense of what the heck is going on in the left book, but the right looks like Marth's Falchion x ... I should know this, uh... Is that Tyrfing? Well, we already know she ships inanimate objects after deciding that they're all dudes. But seriously Nina, if you're going to wear a short skirt and tights, wear a slip or shorts underneath. (You can see her butt between the petals of the ravaged skirt. Bold of the artist, and I guess it was gotten away with.)

I think I'll start with Joshua, and if he loses, join Ignatz. Maybe Ena after that? I don't really have a strong connection with anyone here, but I at least have some positive feelings toward Joshua and Ignatz, I suppose.

Ahh I see! Like, always in work mode. I get ya now. 🙂

Are you sure you don't mean Catherine? She's the impassioned one. Shamir has nothing but cool, even when she's scared.

Ah, I forgot about that (and IS may have, too. I think they were more focusing on Catherine's extreme perseverance and Shamir's more blunt, practical nature.)

Ah, okay, was still posting guesses before seeing the banner trailer. Well, Innes waited long enough to compete with Ephraim. Heck, even Eirika, Seth, and Lyon got in first! But finally, I feel like that group is complete. Also, dang. Ephraim wants to be alone in battle, and goodness is he good at tanking physical blows and crushing his foes afterward. Will pull for him. Shamir: It's so hot... Catherine: Baby. XD Okay, these two are funny. I like the chemistry. Also, turns out it was F!Shez after all! And the free unit is...M!Shez. And it looks like he's kind of a clone. Surfboard and all. ... Oh well. I'll wait to see more of his design than his battle sprite before judging that too harshly, but it is kind of boring, imo. Oh, and L'Arachel is the 4* and completes the Magvel summer royals group (except maybe Myrrh?) So, we might get another summer dragon next year (I don't think she'll be on next month's banner.)

Waitaminute. I noticed that the silhouette on our right has a parasol/umbrella in her left hand (pointed downward) but I didn't feel it was worth pointing out before. That said, in silhouette form, Constance kind of looks like L'Arachel, right? With the short, styled hair looking a bit like L'Arachel's crazy bun thing? That could be Constance. The silhouette is holding a drink on her right hand, and those sorts of things are usually the summer weapons, so, could be.

PFF XD I meant the lady, for clarity's sake (though now I want that to be Marcus as a joke.) Cecilia or whatever. But then I saw her while running through the game and was all "That's longer than I remember." Anyway, I don't have much of a guess for the left one; there are a lot of people it could be.

L'Arachel on the right. Someone with long hair on the left. I've seen some Shez guesses floating around, but that's obviously a flower pin in her hair, so I'm thinking someone with a hairstyle more like...uhhh FE6's Jeigan. Can't remember her name. Anyway, long, unstyled hair.

I'm observing based on what IS is likely to do, not what would actually be smart. And as for Kiran, I'm observing based on what IS has done, not what the players have done. In the end, this is IS' intellectual property, and they've proven that they'll make whatever choices they want to regardless of the playerbase's feelings. That doesn't mean they don't take it into consideration at all, but they certainly don't let the players have the final call on the details of their choices.

Yeah, I was thinking something vaguely similar (emphasis on the "vaguely" -- my thought process hadn't quite gotten there yet. I was more focused on the concept and design of Brave Gullveig than the movement type or weapon quite yet), having noticed the color tome differences. As for the players voting for Gullveig, I think that, ironically, a good number were wanting a snake beast version (which would be Heidr, not Gullveig, as it turns out.) Blue makes sense, though, especially with the concept I was thinking they might go in: Gullveig free of the curse. So, basically older Seidr, minus all the gold and snakes. They revealed her true identity already, so an "alternate future not-cursed serene waifu Gullveig" wouldn't be surprising. If they give her attire based on someone close to her, too, her clothes may be modeled after Kiran's (though I think it would be cool if design inspiration came from all 3 of her time forms -- Kvasir, Seidr, and Gullveig.) But yeah, I thought of that too: how it's ironic that the fanbase kind of accepted the canon waifu (not that I'm personally in agreement with that sentiment. She is very, very not my type and I'm not on board with being killed and soul-ra...vaged. There was no consent. That said, usually it's the ladies who suffer that kind of thing irl, so it's intellectually an interesting inverse (even if I'm not for that kind of thing in any way, shape, or form, no matter who it's done to -- violent crimes are bad), since I guess most of the players are men? Can't be a huge difference in percentage, but I personally see Kiran's canon gender as male, since one time towards the beginning of the TT runs, Kiran was referred to as "he" (probably by accident) and the 3D model for Kiran leans male.)

@vikingsfan92 (Not sure why it's in spoilertags but I'll follow suit.) Something I forgot to say was that I was pleased to see the reference to the snake eating its tail/pair of snakes eating each other's tails in this chapter. It's a symbol of infinity, in a way: complete cycles. It was clearly the inspiration for this story, too, not only because of the Golden Serpent curse, but because of the time loop and inevitability themes. So, no worries, @DefyingFates, there's still some mythology they're sticking to. 😉

The major issue with your theory as stated is that Heidr is the curse. However, she was created as her own person, and has her own opinion about things. If she was the curse itself, how she behaves would reflect the curse's own aggression more. Plus, the curse has shown to cause Heidr physical pain and unhealth (especially shown during the "present" arc). If it was just a process of coming into its own power instead of needing to overcome a host (like a disease or parasite), then it would be becoming more healthy, not less. Plus, the mechanics of creating a child was already shared with the player. So, Heidr is not the curse, but is certainly a carrier of it. (Unless you have a counter explanation that makes sense with all these points.) However, is she still half of Gullveig in a more literal sense than just being her kid? That's not been clearly stated yet. Regarding Briedablik, it's not surprising that it needs to get a new power in order to beat the big bad (this has happened several times before, most notably (to me) in books 2 and 3.) Just basing things off the trailer (which isn't always meant to be taken literally -- it uses a lot of metaphor) it's Goat Aunt who gives Briedablik that power when she guides the summoner's hand. To echo a theory that's been said by someone else on here in the past, the glowing Briedablik Kvasir has in the past is probably a memento she kept from the summoner in the future after killing him. So, Briedablik hasn't been empowered by Goat Aunt yet, but will, and is why the glowing one is also present in the past. On that note, I'm still suspicious of Njordr. The one who gave Seidr the instruction to make Heidr (though he only told her to make a kid) was Njordr. Plus, the Ar (where Seidr got her time powers) was his. Additionally, Goat Aunt's power seems to be able to counteract the golden serpent curse (if only because she seems to be the source of this book's Briedablik power-up McGuffin, and, 1. the shot fired at Seidr in the midpoint trailer seemed to have had a repelling effect on the golden snake monster, and 2. the golden serpent curse is our main obstacle right now, and Briedablik is usually the key to beating that somehow.), and her powers directly counterbalance Njordr's (being gods of the earth and sea and hinting at their duality already.) Breaking that point down, if the power that directly opposes the Golden Serpent Curse is Goat Aunt's, then the Golden Serpent Curse is Njordr's power because his power is the opposite of Goat Aunt's. The main argument against this theory is the midpoint trailer showing Njorder looking like he's trying to heal Heidr and is ultimately unable to, and is very broken up about it. That's all interpretation, though, and again, these trailers aren't always completely true to how the stories actually wind up playing out. These are just things making me think in that direction, though, so of course, we can't know for sure until the whole story is out there.

Oh holy dang goodness. So... Gullveig destroyed the summoner (and our world) in the future (after our "vision" at the beginning of the story, which was the end), stole some soul, and made Heidr, who is her kid with the summoner because of the stolen soul bit. Then she sent Heidr to be her sister in the past and rewound herself in order to become Kvasir in the further past. So... Uhhh yeah, those are some implications involving the summoner being..."used" and killed. And Gullveig cursed Heidr in the future in order to become cursed herself in the past in order to become Gullveig. So Gullveig really was the big bad all along...maybe. There's still more story to tell, but that's what it's looking like right now. As for Njordr, I feel like we're going to learn more about/from him later. But who put this cycle into place? Seidr brings up a good point of wondering where the words in her heart came from. Could be from Heidr, Njordr, Goat Aunt, or the summoner. Hard to say right now, but that will probably be answered in the future. ... Like, our future, not the future portion of the story. Edit: @Diovani Bressan Could be. Could also just be that by "other half" she means that Heidr's half her and half Kiran (because kids take genes from both parents.) I wasn't sure which way that was meant to be taken, so I decided to let it sit for now. IS doesn't always make text as meaningful as it first reads. I think the main thing about the curse, though, is what we've kind of known all along: it's really, really contagious. So, she infects Heidr who will then infect Seidr in the future to make her Gullveig, not that the two are literally two halves of Gullveig. Still, your theory could be correct. This is just an alternate interpretation, and we can't know which way IS will go until the story's done. Edit again: Happened to pull Heidr on my first ticket, dang. OK, Heidr. Guess I'll take custody here and protect you from your crazy mom (not that I consented to the process to make you.) Also, she's +spd, -atk. She doesn't want to fight, she just wants to run away, the poor thing.

One thing the trailer did illustrate is what Kvasir already told us: that Gullveig becomes her. So, I think this is less "there are 2 timelines" and more "this is a time loop and this is how it happens." So, both Heidr and Seidr are cursed, but I think Seidr just has overflow from Heidr because Gullveig has snake hair and sand scars, but didn't go full serpent monster like Heidr did (except, I think, with a random human arm attached, if I'm remembering that right?)

Well, from what we can tell from the midpoint trailer, yes, Seidr is Kvasir and Gullveig, like @vikingsfan92 and I guessed, but Heidr is also cursed and probably is the main holder of the golden serpent curse, and you're supposed to shoot Seidr? ('Cause Goat Aunt tells you to, I guess?) Also, Njordr looks distressed. That said, the trailers aren't always super duper accurate in terms of details (Ash attacking with her cowbell polearm and never transforming, for example.) So, I'm taking this with a grain of salt.

Well, guess supercharged Robin needs to fight a little kid on a wyvern now. (This is so weird. XD) Decided to join Robin because I don't actually care anymore.

Well, with Chrom down, I'm glad I supported him while his team was available. Onto supporting Anakos! (I actually do have him. In the cheering squad (the other 3 slots for the 4-person team, even though only the first one is used for combat) I have Fallen M!Corrin, Fallen Ninian, and Fallen Rhea! (Unfortunately, I don't have Fallen Lilith, or she'd be on there in place of Rhea or Ninian.) ... And I came across a Naga with Grima's arcane dragonstone. There's some irony for ya.

I guess I'll join Chrom. If he loses, hopefully Anakos will still be in the running.

So...she just kind of made her brothers irrelevant, eh? Dang Heroes hates men. Good thing she's a legendary hero -- it would be a pain for her to show up on maps I'm just trying to clear. She has amazing mobility, to the point of making ranged cavs not even make sense to use. Kind of hope she has poor stats for the sake of there being a reason for others to exist. In the end, though, I'm actually really indifferent here. The only unit I'm remotely interested in is Dagr. So, I'll free pull green, but that's it. Easy skip.