Book VIII Discussion Thread

[ARMADS!!!]

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On 2/24/2024 at 6:35 AM, Mercakete said:

I'll respond to this right now since it's too noisy right now where I am to play the chapter. First, thanks for being so considerate and for responding to my uncertainty! 🙂 I like doing both, but if I write up a play-by-play reaction, then it shows my steps on how I reached my conclusions, like you said. This way, I don't miss details in the chapter as I'm writing it. However, it's more casual and less easy to follow, probably (since it's not as structured in form.) Anyway, I'm just glad that there's still someone out there who appreciates what I have to say on these things. ^_^ I'll try to get to it sometime after rollover tonight (providing the internet doesn't crap out again.)

Anyway, I appreciate everything you said here. Thank you! I'll read your responses in the rest of your post after I've played the chapter. 🙂

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Well, going through the chapter now. Kind of fun how the Black Fang theme is playing as Nidhoggr and Hrae are talking. I also find it fun how Hraesvelgr talks about "completing the operation" since she's designed after a surgeon. Huh. That's a new one... The map starts and the one with a meaningless thing to say is Sharena this time. Well, people keep saying they want her to get more lines in the main story (not that it's really any different from all the times she speaks in FB's...)

Oh. Interesting. So, Veronica is aware of an assassination plot against her mom. "I will refrain from asking how they obtained their intel." Have to say, that's diplomatic of Anna not to push for the Curse Directive's intelligence networking, despite the tenuous situation.

"The count at the head of their house would never allow the duty to pass to anyone else nor willingly accept help." Uhhh you're the next empress. Just overrule the guy.

Hmm this plot point about "I'm afraid that my mom's going to be killed but no one will listen to me and my mom is cold toward me" feels a little... Hmm the story hasn't built up enough backing to support its weight, and it comes off as another "be sympathetic towards this girl -- this is sad. Trust us" thing. I get that the story hasn't quite followed Veronica individually much, but there haven't been any scenes showing the two of them and I feel like something like this needs at least 3 prior interactions or something to show it. It's just dumped on the reader otherwise. It also cheapens Anna not prying into the Curse Directive, making all this feel like rushed plot convenience. "This way, we don't need to develop how the Curse Directive got their intel. Also, we don't need to show Veronica and her mom or the innerworkings of their governing system." (Granted, the first half of Book 6 was basically all about this (without actually showing much of it at all, though.)) Too much tragedy without enough buildup makes a work cheap and overly dramatic. Sharena beginning to cry and stuff only made it worse. It just felt way overblown. Keeping the dialogue tense and strategic would have been a better move. This kind of chat, however, would be more fitting about a month after Veronica's mom died, not with impending doom. And you know what? Why not just go to the count who's not doing his job and slap what Order of Heroes intel we have down in front of him? We have the commander right here; she should be able to corroborate the Curse Directive's intel in order to convince the guy to beef up security. As it stands, this just feels too "we want tragedy so we're setting up for it."

............ Uh, Rosado? We're in Embla.

At the very least, by the way, this is establishing that Veronica's mom is still alive and ruling Embla (though she's totally about to bite it.)

Ugh, Anna's being really dumb. You already know that the goal of the enemy is to ruin peace between Askr and Embla. But you, Askrans, want to convince the emperor that there's a real threat...by making an attempt on the emperor's life (even if it's a fake one.) This is going right along with the goals of the enemy. All the Emblians would need to do is find out half of the truth and there go your peace talks. They'll shut their ears and open fire. They already hate you. The enemy may have even already anticipated that you'd do this and could be setting you up to act in this very way (unrealistic for it to be this specific, but I could see the plot going that way since the boss of the Healing Hands is supposed to be really good at foreseeing how things will go down.) They could even just raise the Emblians' awareness and blow your cover and make it look like you were behind all the issues with the peace talks all this time. Don't do dumb things. Just present your evidence and corroborate your testimony with the Curse Directive's.

And then there's shock that the count was an agent of the assassins. Again, not enough buildup. If we'd gotten to know the guy over time instead of just "here's a list of qualities Anna knows about him and why this is shocking" it would have had a LOT more impact. It feels like IS was trying to do too much with this chapter without having properly set it up. At least they got some worldbuilding in and reestablished things like Rat's spy work. It was also good for them to include elements like the Curse Directive instead of letting them fall off the map.

All in all, the chapter was shoddily built, but I kind of get why. The format they have for releasing chapters isn't very good for building a solid piece. However, again, they did a good job at giving us a better idea of how Embla's government is structured and how Askr and Embla interact (both in the present and historically.) It also gave some interaction between Veronica and the Askrans, but that could've gone a lot better. It was overdramatized. Veronica was being in character, at least (in how she was handling things in a measured way, even though she was sad and uneasy), but... Yeah... "No one listens to me even though I'm the next ruler. Oh how lonely I am. My mom is cold towards me and would only think I'm the one behind her assassination attempt. The whole world is against me and everyone should feel sorry for me. Poor, poor victim me. Don't you feel like you want to protect me?" Ugh, it just comes across like this without the story building it out properly. Like, spotlight one element at a time, and establish this with citable, shown instances over time.

Anyway, I'm just waiting for Veronica to get poisoned now. Not because I hate her at all, but because that looks like the next thing from the trailer to happen. Now I'll read what other people wrote here. 🙂

 Oh you're welcome :). One thing I do too when I don't want to miss details on my post is: I play the chapter normally with my notes app opened on the phone and write some quick bullet points when someone says or does something I wanna rememberm then I write the post with what I remember and check the notes for the more missable points. Anyway, I think you're doing good anyway, it's not harder to follow and I think you're structuring these well.

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 (still answering to your post):

Hmmm I think Anna said she won't ask how the Curse got their intel just for saying it, in a "y'know, I'm showing I'm not dumb by voicing that I think they got the info by some shady way, but I won't press further cause it's not relevant now anyway and cause I know you wouldn't know the answer, but it's food for thought" way, cause Veronica isn't part of the Curse (like Alfonse and Sharena are part of the Order of Heroes) so she probably wouldn't even know, I think that Veronica can't just overrule the count too since he works directly under her mother. I do agree that Veronica's relationship with her mother should've been slightly more explored though, for this reason I hope she don't actually die now so we can see her talk to Veronica. For me it didn't feel like a cheap trick to make us sad too, instead felt like a very cheap trick to show how dangerous the Healing Hands' assassins are, but I'll excuse it cause I liked that they showed us that Askr can lose some battles in the war, it'd be bad if we were always one step ahead, specially since it's a battle of wits sort of thing, and cause it moved the plot forward. I felt like Sharena crying over Veronica's mom was a bit much too but I rather believe that it was because she sympathized with Veronica (as she too, had lost a parent) and was fearing for what would be of the peace deal now that the attempt wa suceed but that was probably not their intention. I actually think that Veronica's mom might not actually die now, not sure if they'll want to make Veronica the empress just yet, or maybe they will but I'll like it way better if they use this plot as introduction to her mother, well... Whatever way they choose, it'll never be more cheap, out of the blue and convenient than Nótt's death, at least Veronica's mom is a Fire Emblem parent so she is bound to die early (even if not NOW) Oh! Another reason for me to think that she will live for now is cause I think Henriette will die on this book and I'm not sure if they'll want to kill both of the regents now, and also cause I think that if they really wanted her to die, she'd have died now instead of surviving, I doubt that they'll make a whole sprite for her just to have Veronica have a sob conversation with her mom on her death bed and then die and never show up again.

 Oh yeah... They made Rosado comment on Askr's landscape but shoved him on the chapter we were at Embla. lol. I hadn't noticed that.

 If you put it like that if feels dumb but I think there's enough not being said to fill the spaces and turn it into a good idea, I assume that they at the very least changed clothes (like the we're gonna need disguises thing) but that the sprites didn't reflet it, they could've mentioned it briefly though to make it not sound dumb. Also the people of Embla didn't even see them and the empress would likely not assume it came from Askr (since she straight up didn't want to believe the thing was happening at all) and the Curse Directive (probably the only ones who could know they're from Askr) wouldn't disclosee, if anything, the curse directive could probably assure the empress that it wasn't Askr and maybe reveal a bit of the "secret info" that they gathered (and where they got it) to back it up. In the end the plan was useless, yeah, as the boss of the Healing Hands had a way to make the assassination happen anyway (whether he foreshought Askr's plan or not) but I doubt that the Askrans and Veronica would know this so I think they made a smart move, specially since it looks like Anna knows her stuff in black ops stuff. What I find weird is that the empress doesn't wanna hear the Curse Directive, they could've gone there to try to talk to her without Veronica being present, though I guess that'd end badly anyway since the count would probably put in her head that the thread wasn't real. Speaking of the count, I already said this in my other post but I really really reeealy wonder how he was used on the assassination plot, did Hraesvelg thretean him? Did Nidgoggr gave him some "mind/body control" like poison to make him obey her? Did one of them shapeshift into him or some shit? Maybe their Older Brother had been working infiltered in Embla as the count for years? Or is the count allied with the Healing Hands? Hope that's explained at least.

 I think that there was little buildup to the whole thing too but I think that it's because they want this to not be a major part of the story anyway, of course it'd be better if they (the empress and the count) had showed up for longer but I still think that the writing quality of the book is being excellent and that they're finding good ways of "bypassing" the limitations they imposed on themselves as writers (like making a decent story for this chapter with satisfactory worldbuilding in the minimum amount of time as possible since they have to use this 5-part-13 chapters- format), I'd rather what we got than if we were to linger on this part of the story for like 3 whole chapters.

While Veronica's thing does look a bit of a sob show, I liked that it's extremely coherent with how her character was stablished back in book I, she was always alone and angry because no one paid attention to her (to the point of summoning heroes from other worlds to be forced to "play" with her by attacking Askr and then got extremely sad when they left her and went "I'm alone, no one likes me, please don't abandon me") so it makes sense that she's treated like that by her mother. Speaking about that, was her mother the peaceful ruler that disagreed with Veronica's invasions or that was her father? And was she Bruno's mother too or it's the father that they share?

 

 Again, this is being my favorite book for now, only behind book III but I think it's possible for it to surpass it too. I'm already excited for the next chapter. Wonder if this book will also have a random mcguffin that the askrans will have to get to defeat Father.

[DefyingFates]

Not too much story in this one but it's still more story than other Books had at this point. I... actually like where this is going! Veronica wanting to attend the peace meeting despite being poisoned and coming to terms with all the trouble she caused in the past is some nice character development on her part too. I'm looking forward to what comes next and hope whoever wrote the plot this time around does a good job with the rest of it too!

[Etrurian emperor]

I compared Veronica to Bowser in the past but there's also some Vegeta in her. Namely the rival who spends most of the story getting beaten up by the villains so the heroes can save the day. Beaten up and kidnapped by Surtr, being nearly beaten up by Fafnir until Alfonse shows up, beaten up and captured by Letizia, beaten up and possessed by Embla, beaten up by Gullveig and now beaten up by the local drunk. 

Also nice to hear Xander is still sticking around in Embla even if he was sleeping on the job. 

[Mercakete]

Going through it now. I'm glad they're smoothing over the plot points, giving them more detail. For example, Anna bringing up "the people favor you and you have authority over the court, so they should listen to you." That was (half) something I'd brought up, myself.

"Askr is not the only beneficiary of the peace." I like this line. 🙂

Hey, nice! We get to see Veronica's room again! I think we've only seen it in animations so far.

"It numbs the senses and dulls the pain." Well, if she's planning to assassinate her, then at least that's not the cruelest way to go about it. Oh. She just used it to drug everyone guarding Veronica. That's too bad. Oh wow, Xander gets namedropped again. Ah, he was sent to protect her mom. That's nice, but, uh, that this is getting said by Nidhoggr makes you wonder if those two are still alive. Nicely written in.

"It seems...you're all alone." Well-written cruelty there. That's the thing that's been haunting her for...well, ever (mostly.) It was one of the things she had in common with Embla (bat.)

"The wicked deeds of your past are far too great to simply ignore, you know, Princess Veronica..." That's got to be another insecurity she's picking on (while also justifying the assassination and convincing Veronica to stop struggling and accept her fate.) Dang, okay, this lady is poisonous in every way. Also, this scene is very well-written. It's already really surpassed my expectations.

"But that is why I must change." Way to go Veronica, taking ownership and trying to make things better! Dang; nice!

And then a quick message from our sponsor, Rat, to give a reason for the Askrans to go there. XD Well, it worked, and worked well! This may be the part in the opening movie when she bursts through the window, but if the Askrans are camped nearby like I thought they were (so they can go to the nearby peace talks) then not?

Ah. Have to say, it must be hard running away when drugged like that. Thankfully, the assassin also is constantly eating that fruit so she's not in the best shape to give chase. And I'm glad they showed that. XD Not a bad little scene there. Pff-! Nidhoggr's in-map (humanoid) idling animation is all swaying and tottering. XD Nice touch. Ohhh and she's an armored unit. Okay, her previous chase with Veronica is throwing me back to that running (haha) joke where armored units can't hurry so well. X3

YES! She's a naga. I'd hoped so after seeing Hraesvelgr was a harpy! Also, I feel like my earlier theory just gained more credence: Nidhoggr hates having turned to assassination, and is always drunk because she wants to inhibit her memories/feelings on it. The new bit I'm talking about is her defeat quote: "Let me forget..."

Ah, Rat's reprising her role as a member of the healing hands, eh? Yes! Heal her, nurse squirrel! "My sister's poison has no mortal cure." Man, that's useful knowledge.

"When the ceremony comes, I will...show no sign anything has happened." I bet she could, too. She's been hiding pain for the sake of her role for a long time now. Man, this is such good development/exploration for Veronica this chapter.

OKAY all in all, fantastic chapter! I don't really see anything that needs to be changed, though I do wish that this chapter could have a whole animation. There's a lot in this one that, while implied, would do well to have its actual actions shown. But dang, Veronica recognizing her past mistakes and making peace with them and trying to move past them, asking a favor of fellow royals for the sake of peace between their countries and foreseeing how that's what is being threatened right now... You really get that feeling of duty, growth, and responsibility here, and that's fantastic.

I have to say, I'm curious about what will happen with these peace talks. Seems like we're getting close to Rat being discovered as a triple agent. Will a new character be introduced during the ceremony? Will the assassins stop with the pretenses and make their presence known? Will they target Henriette while peace talks are going on? Any of these could happen, and all of them would be big statements/plot points. It's about time for something heavy like that to drop.

Anyway, this one was nice! Veronica's really come a long way from being the self-pitying lonely girl with tea parties, dolls, and jealousy. She's downright regal now. Nice. 🙂

[DefyingFates]

And another chapter down! Not much happened this time, but we still got some meaningful developments and confirmation that Yggdrasil and the Askran + Emblians' power are similar enough to work together. Neat!

Also a bit of development from the Healing Hands. While Nidhoggr's line to Ratatoskr is a bit on the nose on the surface, the reveal earlier that she keeps trying to numb her emotions means it still says something about her regardless. Also their dad is getting involved. I assume he'll get teased next month and properly revealed with the midpoint trailer/ banner.

[Mercakete]

Alright, this time I played through the chapter and am now going to give my impressions instead of doing a play-by-play.

So, the plot's next big point is progressing as I expected. Like I predicted, it looks like the big guy himself is going to show up smack in the middle of the peace ceremony for a power play. Granted, this hasn't actually happened yet, but it sure looks like that's where it's headed. I have to wonder if Henriette will show up too, and maybe finally reveal the power she's been hiding. It'd be cool if she managed to stop whatever big move the big bad tries to drop during the ceremony.

I'm also glad that we FINALLY got to see some more of the Emblian royal line's power in action...complete with a pretty neat incantation. Have to say, I didn't see that one coming. It was a good plot move. (We have yet to see the Askrans open gates apart from the very first-ever FEH trailer (the trailer opens up with it -- it's that blue outline that reveals the trailer), but eh.)

Also, I feel like the positive response to Rat's funny freaked out pose may have gotten to IS' head a little. It feels like they're overdoing the "skittish and stuttering" aspect of her to the point of it getting gimmicky and out of character.

That family talk was sweet. I'd feel a lot worse if it wasn't for the fact that Rat's only betraying them in order to save them. Also, Nidhoggr going off on a tangent and forgetting her point was so realistic. Very nice. It's not too hard to see that she's only mean as a way of expressing the opposite of how she really feels, too. She appreciates all that Rat does for the family, and finds it sweet how she stayed at her bedside when she was unwell that one time...but since Nidhoggr's trying to pretend like she doesn't feel connections to people right now (because of the assassination stuff) she expresses her sentiments condescendingly instead. Disassociation.

I like the play on words with the Hand vs showing their own hand, too. That was a good line.

[Lemmy]

If there was a chance for the stuff Alfonse said in I Killed Him to haunt him, this would be the start of it.

Once again, Ratatoskr may be able to solve both the poison and the possession, but Heroes is not afraid to kill characters

[Diovani Bressan]

Random ideas I had:

• Henriette is on the Mid-Book Banner next month, as a normal hero like (Letizia in Book 6) or as a Attuned/Rearmed Hero.
• Henriette is May's Legendary Hero, as a Green Tome legendary.

[Etrurian emperor]

Given her valentine lies I doubt the queen will die quiet yet. 

And yeesh. Poor Veronica can't catch a break from villains trying to beat her up.

[Mercakete]

Well. I called most of that... As soon as I saw that it was Henriette who was going to be representing Askr in the peace meetings, it became fairly obvious that something was going to take her out of the picture. And with how she was acting around Veronica (and a little before, I think), I figured that Henriette wasn't Henriette. I admit that I didn't call the "taking over her heart" thing, but I wonder if the overarching story for the current FB is about that. If that's the case, then I haven't finished that yet, so I couldn't have had any guesses there. Another tell that things were going horribly wrong: the Askr trio's confidence that everything was going well. Their guard was dropped way too low (to the point of feeling a little out of character for Alfonse and maybe Anna.) Also, the huge gap in story advancement between the first and last parts. It was so quiet that it was obvious that the enemy was right where he wanted to be.

Anyway, Henriette drank poison, but that doesn't mean she'll for sure die. They left room for a "we have to find the cure" quest. However, if this means she'll rep Askr in these peace talks, then yeah, she's not surviving this book. Plot dictates that it's about time for the next generation to step up, so it'll be Alfonse and/or Sharena who concludes the book with Askr and Embla finally finishing this ceremony and gaining peace for their countries. (IS could try to pull a fast one and off Alfonse as well as his mom, but he's very much their main character, so I find this unlikely. HOWEVER, Alfonse being missing from some scenes in the opening movie makes me wonder if they're not using this book to prep Sharena as the new main character. She'd suck at it, though, so I hope not. If she became the new main character, all her solutions would be "let's befriend them!" and it would turn into a gross "by the power of our feelings with no thought or logic at all!" resolution to everything every time.)

[Etrurian emperor]

1 hour ago, Mercakete said:

HOWEVER, Alfonse being missing from some scenes in the opening movie makes me wonder if they're not using this book to prep Sharena as the new main character.

I remember IS prepping Sharena to be the focus of a book....and that they seemingly instantly changed their mind about that. So I certainly won't be expecting Sharena to take center stage anymore. 

Though recent developments would give a reason for Alfonse's absence. If Henriette's in a coma then someone must represent Askr at the peace gathering. 

[DefyingFates]

So we went back to just two cutscenes per chapter, but I admit using the second to pull an "Omae wa mou shindeiru" on Henriette was cool. Just don't make a habit of this Book VIII, you have a good thing going here!

[Mercakete]

Now that I've seen the midpoint movie in the Feh Channel, time to talk about it! (As well as some hints Feh gave us.) I'll start with the beginning of the movie, but primarily start with character introductions.

First off, kind of starts um... Well, the summoner wakes up laying on his side, facing Heidrun (the blue-haired (goat?) lady) whom Feh refers to as "the woman covered in bandages." According to Feh, she's a very, very powerful healer. In the trailer, we see her healing Kiran by making motes of light in the air, gathering them all into a berry-like mote, and gently poking it into Kiran's mouth. (IS, please stop with the weird player shipping.) Then, there's a little burst of light and Kiran acts like he's never been healed with magic or medicine before, being all surprised, either by the magic instantly healing him, or the ingestion of a healing substance instantly healing him. (Dude. Heal staffs are a thing. You've been living in this world for years now. How are you not used to this yet? Let alone all the other healing abilities and stuff.)

Anyway. Now, we move on to Eikpyrnir, who, based on his name, is probably an elk. Feh likes his legs I guess? (She's jealous of his muscles and says she wishes she had a bod like his. Must be the stick legs birds tend to have that's making her jealous.) Anyway, he's characterized by his strength. I'm guessing he'll be a high-def, high-atk guy (because we've never had a male unit with that particular combo before. (This is said with much sarcasm.)) Getting back on topic, it's true that he can just stomp and a localized earthquake happens, so there's that.

And now, we get to see Laeradr! (The leader of the Healing Hands turned Quieting Hands.) He's one I'm really interested in discussing. Though everyone from Ygdrasill can use the tree to warp around, he has this ability on a whole other level, and is called the tree's avatar (humanoid incarnation of something divine which normally couldn't interact with humans, to give a quick definition for "avatar.") According to Feh, he has the power to "bury hearts." Though exactly what that means isn't clear, we have some hints. I'll get into that later, though. For now, I want to focus on his ability to basically go wherever he wants to...and his hair. Yep. Check it. It has rainbow elements to it. What else has rainbow theming? How about the bifrost? That is, the rainbow road by which people can travel the nine realms, and connects Midgard to Asgard. Looks like a connection to me! FEH has a habit of twisting around things from the myths, including combining or splicing elements in order to make their own world. It could be that, in addition to Ygdrasil, the bifrost is woven into Laeradr's concept, since both are "roads." I expect so much movement shenanigans with him as a unit. IS has already played with warping and using allies like stepping stones, let alone things like Galeforce. I wouldn't be surprised if he had all kinds of benefits like those.

Anyway, story-wise, if Laeradr's sort of a combination of Ygdrasil and the bifrost, then that's big, since the bifrost is a really big part of the beginning of Ragnarok. I've been figuring this for a while now, but we're probablt only 1 or 2 books away from this pantheon's destruction and a new arc beginning (which is what Ragnarok is in the mythos, too - an endless cycle of gods and humans ruling the world, and the world itself ending and beginning anew.) So, Heimdall, Einheidjar, and Valkyries could very well be the theme of the next book.

Moving on the events in the midpoint movie!

So, as mentioned, Kiran wakes up next to Heidrun, but events-wise, that's not what comes first (if my guess is correct.) It sure looks like the first events are actually when Alfonse, Kiran, and Ratatoskr rush in and come across Eikpyrnir (seemingly) guarding Laeradr in Ygdrasill. (I wonder if that's his usual role - being his dad's bodyguard. Sure, Laeradr can warp around, but maybe his true body is vulnerable, and can't take hits very well? The guy's always avoiding attacks rather than taking them, and fights from a distance, as though protecting his body.) No question the guy hits hard with his summoned swarm of wooden hands, though. They seem to always come directly from wherever he's standing, so maybe the point of origin has to be his true body. He can also enhance his strength (it seems) by augmenting his physical arms with the wooden ones. He grabs Kiran by the wrist with one of these wooden augmented arms and hoists him up, holding him there until (this is important) Kiran drops Briedablik. Then, he throws him through the tree...and I believe it's from THIS attack which Kiran awakens next to Heidrun. She heals him from it at that point. (Feels like another Kvasir situation, where the summoner gets separated from the others and has some quiet time with one of the story characters, who heals him.)

Anyway, back to the fight. With Kiran flippin' thrown through a tree, Alfonse gets distracted and looks away from his opponent (dude, I know Kiran's your bestie, but you should know by now that you really, really shouldn't take your eyes off of the guy who is actively trying to kill you.) And then he takes the full force of a powered-up jump-punch from Mr. Muscle Elk, which sends him tumbling. Also, he drops his sword and is rendered unconscious. I mean, no flippin' kidding. Dude's shield wasn't even up. Anyway, Eikpyrnir raises his spiked barbell thing to deliver a fatal blow (presumably. I'm guessing one of those spikes was about to blast a hole through Alfonse's chest.) But then, Ratatoskr (who has been weirdly absent since her kick was blocked by Eikpyrnir at the beginning of the fight) rushes in and uses words (or, in this case, just looks all determinedly at him and he gets the message because it's a trailer) to try to stop her bro from killing her new friend.

AND IT WORKS! Kind of. His eyes go from hard to showing a broken resolve. The guy clearly doesn't want to hurt his little squirrel sister. Laeradr notices that his orders have stopped being followed by is one son, though and steps in. Before that happens, though, Ratatoskr is shown explaining to her staggered stag brother why killing Alfonse is not a good thing. And then Laeradr appears between his kids, first giving a disapproving look to his son (who still looks very hesitant to follow his orders) and then turning an angry look to his smallest daughter. And then he summons a bunch of wood arms to attack her. Like any normal dad would do when one sibling refuses to kill the other and her friends.

Then we see Ratatoskr laying on the ground without light in her eyes. She has what seems to be a bunch of flashbacks to hanging out with her siblings while they were still the Healing Hands, having fun, getting along, and just being fantastic to her. Like, she was clearly the doted-on little sister. And then we see tears falling from her eyes, but she otherwise doesn't have any motion or anything. She's also somewhere dark with a stonework floor instead of in the trees, and Laeradr steps up to stand over her, with a light shining from above.

And THIS is where I want to talk about his power to bury hearts again. I'm guessing what's meant by that is that he can suppress a person's consciousness. After all, he was able to do that to Henriette before taking over her body. Maybe it's a sort of "making room" for his own consciousness to enter and control people (or to just shut them up and get them out of the way without actually killing them.) Though, here's where I think it may be a bit different. It could be that something hurt him, and he "buried his own heart" in order to escape the pain, thus leading to the Healing Hands becoming assassins. Was it the death of Askr? Perhaps that's why he's so bent on making sure the countries of Embla and Askr don't form an alliance. Maybe he sees that alliance as forgiving something unforgivable, not treating Askr's (and maybe Embla's?) death(s) with the severity that he (Laeradr) does, as though they're being dismissive. He may even see the countries of Askr and Embla as being the direct cause of Askr's death. Askr came from Ygdrasill, after all. I still want to know what their relation is. Maybe they're brothers or something. Laeradr used to be a very kind and compassionate person, after all, and not even Ratatoskr knows what caused him to change (as I recall.)

So, where are the hearts buried? It could be that they're put into the tree, but the simpler explanation is that they're just repressed inside of their original owners (which also explains Henriette being unable to move her own body, and Ratatoskr in the trailer laying lifelessly on the ground like she was.) The setting in that scene could be symbolic of being repressed in her mind, which would also explain the lighting (this sort of thing is often depicted that way, in my experience, as though stuck deep in a pit with the light of consciousness far away and out of reach.)

Also, I'm sure this is what happened to Rat since Feh said "He wouldn't do anything like that to Ratatoskr, would he?" It basically is saying "yeah, this is what happens."

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the trailer. That said, I tend to delve more deeply into FEH characters than IS does. So, uh... We'll see what winds up being canon and what doesn't. (Also, unlike in the last trailer, Anna and Sharena are missing. Maybe IS just forgot Alfonse in those scenes before?)

[Etrurian emperor]

Well of course Alfonse and Ratatoks lost their fight against muscle guy. They left Sharena at home! 

[Mercakete]

Playing through the next chapter!

Ratatoskr mentions that anyone who enters the tree without Laeradr's permission will...something. She didn't finish that thought. I'm guessing it's a "become lost forever" situation, but I'd like to know more. Maybe she said it before and I'm just forgetting. When a root of the world tree extended out to them, Rat said that there was something weird about the root. I'm suspicious.

"Laeradr knows we Askrans can open the closed  doorways and enter at our will anyway." Quoth the Alfonse. I'm glad they're actually bringing this mechanic to bear. However, we have yet to see them open any gates. I hope that changes. Maybe, after Ratatoskr's heart is "buried" one of Alfonse or Sharena will "open" her heart back up to save her?

"By opening it, he's almost beckoning to us, inviting us in. 'By all means...'" Another quote from Alfonse. It feels like they wanted to put this in as an actual, spoken invitation from Laeradr, but couldn't make it make sense in the story/his evasive behavior, and so just had Alfonse sort of set that scene for them.

I'm glad we get an explanation to how the populaces are taking Henriette and Veronica's respective afflictions, too, courtesy of Anna.

Oooo the art for the root doorway is cool. Oh, and we get an Askran incantation after all! "By Askr's will, open the way. Open the roots of the World-Tree and their pathways between all the realms! To whatever land it goes, to whatever time it flows... Askr accepts all!" Man, I'm loving the parallels with Embla's incantation. ... I have to say, neither are good foundations for principles by which to rule countries, though...

Well, anyway, Alfonse had a neat aside to share with the summoner, too. That Laeradr's aim wasn't actually to kill Henriette, and that his true target is the summoner. But, uh... Couldn't he just directly go for Kiran if that was the case? Sure, everyone in the pantheon is all "that's a weird one" about the summoner, but I'm not really seeing what's pointing Alfonse in that direction. I could see Laeradr luring in an intended target, but...if the plot's going to make sense, there must be more to it than that. The summoner's no harder to take by surprise than any of the Quieting Hands' other targets.

*fast forward*

And Eikpyrnir appears! He refers to Rat as a traitor (which she is) and the Askrans as "Askr." I wonder if that was intentional... As though they represent Askr himself.... But aw, when he asks Rat to not call him "brother" he looks so troubled or sad. He seems like he lacks conviction to turn against his family. He must be having a hard time choosing between family members, but defaulted to obeying his dad.

He also defined his role. He guards the tree and fights intruders. However, he also says that his dad gave him that role, so maybe he had a different one when the focus was on healing... Maybe as a paramedic (as well as the ambulance itself)? According to his description (when you tap a character's name and title on his/her status page), "A member of Yggdrasill's Healing Hands who firmly believes that any illness or injury can be resolved through training the body and building strength." So...more of a fitness coach?

"I bear you no ill will, but I must kill you now." Huh. He's really being polite about that. And ah, yes. High def and atk, as predicted. Oh. He also has Fatal Smoke. Ironic, but that makes sense for the Quieting Hands. Oh. Also, he's an elk version of a minotaur (with several bushy tails, I think?). Okay. That makes sense. These guys (except for Ratatoskr) have all been Greek mythological humanoid creatures. Hraesvelgr is a harpy, Nidhoggr is a gorgon/naga, and now Eikpyrnir is shown to be a minotaur. So, I think Heidrun is going to be a faun. Have to wonder what Laeradr is going to be, though my guess is currently that he'd be a dryad. 'Cause tree. We may have even seen a glimpse of his transformed version in the key art: that mask-like face.

But dang. Okay. That ending was great. I like that dire music that was playing, too. Is that Laeradr's theme? Anyway, he basically invited foreign objects into his body so that his immune system could destroy them. Really neat and interesting approach. The poison thorns and misdirection were great. And that calm explanation of that was happening as he counted down... Very good! I'm really liking this villain! Actually, thinking about it, it sort of reminds me of when a doctor is calmly telling a patient how he's administering treatment so that the patient knows what's going on and has his/her nerves settled at the same time. Thinking about it, it's an approach which encourages stillness. You're quiet and attentive to the words, so the doctor can work without resistance, but it also helps the patient to remain calm and feel a sense of security and control, too. Dang, that's a good tactic, whether for treating or killing. Okay, mad props to whoever wrote that section. Also, I love that the chapter ended on the count of "three." It really was a great spot to end it. ... Uh, I mean end the chapter, not Kiran's life.

And now the differences from the trailer! 1. Eikpyrnir didn't KO Alfonse. 2. Kiran wasn't thrown through a tree. 3. Laeradr never showed up in his main body, but only spoke through the tree. 4. There was no "I'm disappointed in you, children." Other than that, it was fairly accurate. The next chapter will probably have us meet Heidrun. I have to wonder what will happen to the others in the meantime, though. Realistically, they should either be captured or killed, but that would end the whole story, so...looking forward to a realistic explanation. Please, IS?

[DefyingFates]

Yeah, this was a really cool chapter and the tree itself talking to everyone (and ending with that countdown) was nice and creepy too. While I agree that Heidrun will show up next month, hopefully it's not as simple as "she's the good one and the CYL 9 winner" or something. Her giving Kiran a second kind of poison to make them more pliable would be a cool twist for example.

[ARMADS!!!]

Hey, I haven't been showing up on this thread lately (mostly cause I had to unstall the game for some 2 or 3 months duo to lack of space, which caused me to play the story chapters late and didn't want to be spoiled, and then when I caught up the discussion here had piled up and i got lazy to read it all), right now I'll just post my thoughts on the previous chapters on a shortish way and then I make another post quoting the previous posts on the thread, answering anyone that quoted my previous post here (if anyone), pinging particular people and talking more in depth about theories and the midpoint trailer cause I have a bunch to talk about all of that (and I didn't even start to read the previous posts here yet) cause I'm seeing that if I keep trying to do it all on the same post it'll end up becoming GIANTIC, I'll never get the motivation to do it and when I do it I'll take hours writing it. 

Anyway...

 - First of all, let me make my surprise face and pretend it's a novelty that Henriette will die (she'll die on the last second before they bring her the antidote too, I bet).

 - At first I was wondering what Nidhoggr did to make that Embla's count attempt on the Empress, I thought she had just given him some mind controling poison(?) or whatever, but alright... It was Laeradr.

 - I found a bit stupid how they notice that Henriette was being possessed/mind controled by Learadr, in feh it sometimes looks like the characters just find out some stuff because it "has" to be found out, but on the past two chapters it was pretty notable, like "oh sorry I spaced out for two seconds" "...you're not queen Henriette.", I'm glad that this logic doesn't apply to real life otherwise there'd be 10 people accusing me of not being myself everyday cause I space out a lot. On the newest chapter we got a similar moment too when Alfonse says he has the impression that Laeradr wants Kiran, I know that Alfonse is the smart guy and all but where did he even take that from so suddenly? It was a pretty random guess (even though it's probably right, he shouldn't have deduced that out of nothing, it'd have made more sense if he had just wondered why Laedr is playing with them like that and said he has a feeling that something is wrong but can't tell what- or had elaborated the guess better like "He probably wants one of us, I know it's not me, mom or Veronica cause he could've gotten us sooner, so it leaves the Commander, Sharena and the Summoner"- specially cause we were gonna find out in a minute that Laeradr wanted the summoner anyway so making Alfonse point it out out of the blue and with no explanation makes him look straight up like a mind reader and not a smart guy, well in any case I appreciate little moments showing the characters caring about each other like that but I still stand by my point). Also I wonder if that's really what Laeradr wanted all along, cause if it were just this then why wouldn't he have just gotten Hreaesvelg to capture Alfonse during their fight and take him as a hostage so the Order would have to enter the tree to get him back? (And then he could take Kiran) or done something to us as Henriette to get Kiran on a vulnerable moment? Or sent one of the other girls to take the Summoner when he didn't expect (since even Ratatoskr was able to sneak on Alfonse, I think that the ones that are more experienced could've found a way of sneaking on Kiran)?(I'm sure there's other easier ways too but I don't wanna keep listing thousands of examples).

 - I wish we had seen Veronica's mother if only to see her and Veronica having an argument or anything... I get that it must cost money to comission Kozaki Yusuke to make more character art but if not now then wouldn't it have to happen later anyway? Or she's just never showing up? (I'm just illuding myself here, she's most definitively never showing up).

 - I seem to be complaining a lot about these chapters but I actually liked them a lot, I was just being nitpickey on these few minor points (it's just that when I play the story chapters I've been making small comentaries and theories about them on my phone's notepad to then put on these threads, but since I've not been posting here, a bunch of my questions, comentaries and such have been explained by now so it became useless to say them, these are most of the ones I have left).

 - I think that Laeradr has some major grudge against Askr/people with Askr's blood or strong opinions about how the country should work/how the powers of the Askr lineage should work (were he and Askr(the dragon) enemies? Did he not like that he gave away his blessing? Does he think that people started to use it wrongly? Was he Askr's friend and dislikes the idea of the kingdom Askr becoming allies with Embla because he disliked Embla(the dragon)? Is he pissed cause he blames the Order for Askr's death somehow? I remember that he said he couldn't let the peace happen between Askr and Embla some chapters ago so I think he is only targeting Embla to stop the peace with Askr but it could be that he has a problem with them too) I wonder what will his justification be, it has to be something strong enough to decide to stop healing people and turn his medic organization that is also his family into an assassin organization + running the risk of losing his kids (or rather, wanting to actually kill them later, since Ratatoskr joined us because she learned that her father was gonna get rid of Hreaesvelg and Nidhoggr), maybe he always planned on making them assassins and never actually cared about them but then I wonder why he didn't make them an assassin organization from the beggining.

 - Eikþyrnir's existence seemed like it was being... unecessarily oculted for some reason, I mean, Ratatoskr doesn't mention having a brother a single time (and he doesn't show up on this chapter's CG with Ratatoskr, Hreaesvelg, Nidhoggr and Laeradr, neither does the girl with the braids speaking of this, they only show up on Ratatoskr's memories on the midpoint trailer so we can assume the girl is part of their family too), she always says "my sisters" instead of "my siblings" (or straight up uses Hreaesvelg's and Nidhoggr's names). If the story of this game didn't show us every character that will on the book on the Key arts and Book trailers (or if I was playing it blind) my immediate reaction would've been "What? She has a brother now? Where did he even come from? He must have been oculted for an important reason right?" But the thing is that almost no one plays it blind and they WANT us to watch these trailers so it seems pointless to occult the existence of two characters for half a year.

 

 Well, that's it for now, I guess I didn't keep it that short after all, but I least shorts enough for me to be able to bring myself to do it. I'm hella excited for the next chapter already...

[Mercakete]

1 hour ago, ARMADS!!! said:

I mean, Ratatoskr doesn't mention having a brother a single time

Actually, she does mention having a brother. It's in one of her castle conversations, I believe. That said, yeah, she doesn't talk about him hardly at all. For some reason, it seems like a lot of the characters in this game mostly only care about their sisters. Sharena even says that she wishes she had a sister instead of Alfonse in one of her "let Sharena introduce you" sections (though I can't quite remember who for. It was an early one. Brutal, Sharena.)

Anyway, it was fun to read you thoughts again! Looks like we had some similar ones. ^_^

[ARMADS!!!]

37 minutes ago, Mercakete said:

Actually, she does mention having a brother. It's in one of her castle conversations, I believe. That said, yeah, she doesn't talk about him hardly at all. For some reason, it seems like a lot of the characters in this game mostly only care about their sisters. Sharena even says that she wishes she had a sister instead of Alfonse in one of her "let Sharena introduce you" sections (though I can't quite remember who for. It was an early one. Brutal, Sharena.)

Anyway, it was fun to read you thoughts again! Looks like we had some similar ones. ^_^

 I think Fjorm didn't mention Hríd many times too from what I remember (not to Ratatoskr's level but still), Reggin deserves the prize of only person in feh that notably gives a major shit about her brothers (partially joking cause I know Fjorm, Sharena and Veronica- and Freyja in a distorted way- obviously care about theirs too, but they never focus on very strong sibling bonds and sibling dynamics on feh when a brother is involved like they do with some sister pairs like Laegjarn/Laevatein, Peony/Triandra, Ratatoskr/Hreaesvelg and Nidhoggr to a lesser extent, Seidr/Heidr (even though Heidr is sort of her kid, the previous Seidr of the cycle would never know it), Nótt/Dagr,... Not even Veronica and Bruno have a very strong dynamic like this since they barely see each other, the only cases really are Sharena/Alfonse (even though she admitted she wanted a sister instead of him lol) and Reginn with Fáfnir and Ótr, Fáfnir/Ótr being pretty much the only male/male sibling relationship in the whole game! Now that I reflected on it, I'll start to wait for them to make another brother/brother dynamic on this game and will complain each time/book they don't... now I almost wish for Laeradr to be Askr's secret brother or something.

 * There's also Njordr and Nerfus for a sibling bond involving a brother I guess, but book VII was so bad that I remember it as sort of a blur, from what I remember they weren't very fond of each other, were they?

 Thanks! I'll read yours (and everyone else's) later too! I have quite a lot of fun with with this sort of threads. 🙂

[Mercakete]

On 6/8/2024 at 3:32 AM, ARMADS!!! said:

 * There's also Njordr and Nerfus for a sibling bond involving a brother I guess, but book VII was so bad that I remember it as sort of a blur, from what I remember they weren't very fond of each other, were they?

 

Quick and easy FEH siblings relationship chart! BAM! It took a bit to complete, but here's what I have. Also, I note dead siblings because, well, all that really remains are memories when a sibling dies. The relationship loses a lot of dynanicism since you're not making any new memories.

Askran Royalty

Alfonse and Sharena have a fairly casual relationship that is positive. Sharena once said that she wished she had a sister instead, but also (in her Bride version) expressed a protectiveness over Alfonse, wishing for (and working toward) his happiness. She follows him around in the Order of Heroes, even when he goes into danger because it doesn't matter if Henriette has a living heir remaining to succeed her? Why are we endangering both of them at once again? and they fight to protect one another.

Emblian Royalty

Veronica had a sister-like relationship with her distant relative, Letizia, who was also at one time betrothed to Veronica's half-brother, Bruno (who used to go by Zacharias early on in his friendship with Alfonse and Sharena.) Their relationship was positive until near the end of Letizia's life (which also kind of contradicts Veronica's "lonely little girl who had no one but dolls and a tea set" backstory?) in which she tried to kill Veronica in a bid for political power.

Bruno and Veronica were estranged for the most part (except for the Letizia stuff, I guess? Book 6 kind of retconned a bunch of Book 1 stuff, I guess?), but developed a closeness as they got to know one another (though Bruno was away most of the time, looking for a cure for Embla being able to possess those with her blessing.) Bruno dedicated himself to trying to save both Veronica and himself from the fate of their family (partially because he didn't want to succumb to the mindless bloodlust that came with it whenever he was around his Askran friends.) Weirdly, they became very dear to one another, despite not having much contact with one another...at all, honestly. Bruno's dead now, though.

Niflian Royalty

Fjorm loves all of her siblings, though her older sister, Gunnthra, is dead. Gunnthra loved her family, but (like her older brother and younger sister (Fjorm)) had a strong sense of duty to her country, and sacrificed herself for its preservation. Hrid feels very protective of all three of his younger siblings, partially (probably) because of hiw much responsibility has fallen upon him. With the death of his parents, he is now responsible for his whole country, and with Gunnthra gone, he likely has formed an especially protective mentality toward his remaining sisters out of a desire not to lose them as well. Ylgr is more focused on herself as an individual. She cares about her siblings, but they're sort of a fact of life to her.

Muspellian Royalty

There used to be a lot of them, but the weak ones kept being killed so that their dad could continuously perform the Rite of Flames, extending his life while maintaining his power. Laegjarn and Leavateinn worked hard to be strong so that they could survive, and a bond born of adversity and clinging to what precious little you can hold onto was forged. Then Laegjarn died protecting her sister, but then she came back so all's good, I guess? Leavateinn is a little posessive over her sister (as seen in the ninja seasonal banner's story.)

Book 4

Freyja is obsessed with her brother and extremely jealous for his affection. She hates humans because he loves them and she wants to be the only one in his heart. Freyr has a compassion for Freyja, claiming that she really is a good person deep inside, and explains away her horrendous and obsessive behavior with "she was teased for her birthmark when she was young." But "when she was young" is Eitr so we know what she looked like. Anyway, he's dead now too, and Freyja hates humans even more because they killed the brother she was infatuated with. (This was an extremely unhealthy sibling relationship dear gosh.)

Peony and Triandra were humans originally, and came from a very bad place. Then they turned into fairies, and even though one served on the side of nightmares and the other on the side of dreams, they never really got along poorly at all, nor resented one another. It doesn't make much sense.

Book 5

As for the Dvergr... This one is complicated as heck. None of them are even actually siblings. Fafnir isn't even actually from the same world. That said, they are siblings as "found family." Sort of. Otr is Reginn's relative, and saved her when the coup occurred. He was just a kid at the time. It could be that for a while, he sincerely cared about her. However, the testimony we got from the man himself is that he always despised Reginn, and blamed her for everything that happened to him. That said, it could be that this is actually a recent development in his mentality and is messing with how he remembers feeling in the past, distorting it from what it actually was. Fafnir took the two of them in and cared for them, but since he wasn't summoned properly, he deteriorated over time. So, both Reginn and Otr loved him and he loved them...while his sanity was intact. Eitri sort of poisoned this otherwise wholesome trio (having summoned Fafnir improperly and destroying Otr's mentality over time, turning his desire to remain by his brother into such an obsession that Otr suddenly felt he needed to control Fafnir), with only Reginn coming out of it with her sanity intact. (Ironic, given Eitri's whole thing about the royal family.) So, they used to be a tight-knit sibling group, but then it turned into Otr hating everything, blaming Reginn out of pain that surpassed his coping capabilities, Reginn sincerely trying to save both her brothers (even after Book 5, she loves them both), and Fafnir deteriorating over time until he was hardly even himself anymore. (Like, the gate was right there. Why didn't we just shove him through it, even later in the story? Alfonse and Sharena can open gates - why didn't we, as SOON as we knew where he was from, get him home so his health might snap back into place since displacement was the issue in the first place?) Anyway, Reginn's the only surviving sibling from that trio.

Ahem. Now. Onto the Giant Sisters. They have a fairly casual and friendly relationship with one another, and have had this since childhood, from what I understand. They also secretly admire one another's strength, and are competitive. So, when it was "fight for queenship" they turned on one another, partially out of respect for each other's strength, partially because they're competitive, and partially because (given their previously casual relationship) they were aware of weaknesses in each other that they didn't think would be good for the ruler of their people to have. So, they were also fighting to protect their people. These differences were reconciled quickly, however, when it came down to it, showing just how much they cared for each other. (It would take a lot longer and a lot more work if they didn't come from having previously had a very good relationship.) However, Nott died.

Goat Family

(Freyr and Freyja's relationship was explained earlier.)

Nerpuz and Njordr aren't officially enemies. However, they do not get along and do not like each other. This is primarily because of their vastly differing opinions. Nerpuz adores all that walk upon the land, while Njordr hates humans and is more of an ocean guy. They've stolen each other's power before, and likely have a history of this kind of antagonism, especially since neither really were too frazzled about the fact of their powers being stolen by the other.

Seidr is actually Heidr's mother, but they were raised by Njordr "like a pair of sisters." (Except that Heidr acted more like a patsy invested in Seidr's love life than a little sister and Seidr cared about Heidr's disease and got flustered by the topic of her love life, which is a grossly stereotyped and unrealistic version of "how sisters act.") But they're not.

Laeradr's family (as far as we know)

Though I'm pretty sure Heidrun is another of Ratatoskr's sisters, she has motherly vibes. Could be that she was the one sibling who refused to become one of the Quieting Hands, but there's too much mystery here, so I'll skip her. However, it's clear that she has some familial role, as she's shown in the flashbacks in the trailer when Ratatosker's remembering happier times.

Anyway, Hraesvelgr is trying to subtly protect Ratatoskr and believes in her, I think. Nidhoggr is constantly trying to suppress her true feelings, and very likely is heartbroken by what the Healing Hands have become (but can't refuse her father.) These three seem to be the ones generally sent out to help other people, while Eikpyrnir might have worked more with Heidrun in the past, and acts as the guard of the World Tree (whether or not this was his role previously.) In the past, these four (also maybe Heidrun, but it hasn't been overtly stated yet whether she's a sister or not) had a very close and loving relationship. I still think they all care very much for each other, but they also love and obey their father, and so are torn as to how they're supposed to interact with one another. This seems to especially be the case for Eikpyrnir, which may be part of why he's kept at home, near to his father and away from his sisters. (Laeradr doesn't want his son being all "This is wrong. I can't take this anymore." or whatever (shaken resolve) as may have happened with Heidrun previously. (Hraesvelgr and Nidhoggr have proven that they can handle the harsher tasks of taking life and hardening their hearts, and Ratatoskr was probably given to them to train and oversee, but Eikpyrnir seems like he gets completely disabled by questioning morality, especially when it comes to having to fight against Ratatoskr.)

Quote

Fáfnir/Ótr being pretty much the only male/male sibling relationship in the whole game! Now that I reflected on it, I'll start to wait for them to make another brother/brother dynamic on this game and will complain each time/book they don't...

Yeah, it's notable.

Quote

I have quite a lot of fun with with this sort of threads.

So do I! ^_^

Edited June 10 by Mercakete

[Mercakete]

Alright, we have a new chapter! So, basically, it began as I expected it would. Kiran was healed by Heidrun. And indeed, she's another of Ratatoskr's sisters. It's interesting that she was "tossed aside" by Laeradr because "all she can do" is extreme healing (via nectar. Also, her title is "the nectar," too. Though, with how she worded everything, it was a bit uncomfortable. "I am the nectar. Your organs were strained, so I gave you my nectar." It just feels... Like, they could've worded that better is what I'm saying), but when you decide the family business should be assassination and not healing, then that makes sense.

Also, Eikpyrnir, as it turns out, was trying to obey Laeradr without thinking about it because it was easier to just handle things that way. I get it. This family's twisted and suffering, and it's manifesting in different ways in its members. I appreciate how that's being handled in the writing.

But then Eikpyrnir has a tough time because half his sisters (Ratatoskr and Heidrun) have decided to oppose Laeradr, while the other half (Nidhoggr and Hraesvelgr) support him. (There's more to note timeline-wise, but I just want to say this here.) And then it gets dropped that Eikpyrnir only refers to Laeradr by name instead of calling him "Father" (even though he used to.) And when questioned about it, Eik got really short and closed off about it. You have to wonder if Laeradr did something to him or something... It's like Eikpyrnir only cares about his sisters anymore, and he's actually kind of hostile towards Laeradr. That was a surprise.

Now, here's another thing. We've been seeing little family memory things since coming to the tree, especially from Laeradr's point of view. He used to have a big focus on healing, as people keep saying. That leads me to the next thing of note: Laeradr's motivation. There were people he cared about in the past, and he was separated from. But now he may have found a way to reconnect with them, and Heidrun/Eikpyrnir think that this may have caused his drastic change in character. (Reminds me a little of Otr being desperate to stay with Fafnir, and Eitri being desperate to reconnect somehow with Nidavellir.) I keep thinking that Askr (and maybe Embla) have something to do with this. It could be that they are the ones whom Laeradr wants to reconnect with so badly. But what means has he found in which to do so? Does the tyrant mentioned in the flashback have significance, or was he just there to prove a point of what Laeradr used to be like? (After all, Laeradr went alone and in person to the guy in the past. He could've had a negative influence on him or something.)

And now we're going to the upper boughs of the world tree, where the air is so thin that Eikpyrnir and Heidrun wouldn't be able to breathe up there (but everyone else is okay?) and so are staying behind. Have to wonder what we'll find. I feel like Askr has something to do with this. Back in Book 6's key art, the area behind Ash looked like open sky. I don't know if that was a hint or if they're retroactively connecting it to the story here or if it has nothing to do with anything, but I felt it was worth noting.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Not gonna lie, I'm surprised they didn't kill Buff Deer Dude in this chapter. Granted, they could kill him off later, but I expected it now. Hopefully he'll be one of the few surviving male OCs, though.

[Tybrosion]

1 hour ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

Not gonna lie, I'm surprised they didn't kill Buff Deer Dude in this chapter. Granted, they could kill him off later, but I expected it now. Hopefully he'll be one of the few surviving male OCs, though.

Nah, Deer Dude needs to become playable at the end of this month first......and then they can kill him off in the August chapter. That's how IS handled Askr, at any rate.

Though, now I'm wondering if we end up getting Deer Dude and Ms. I Lost My Spine on this next Mythic banner. I don't know if it means anything, but Heidrun's Attack art, Special art and Damaged art accidentally got leaked. Reddit link: 

Spoiler

https://www.reddit.com/r/FireEmblemHeroes/comments/1e4hwk2/heiðrún_attackspecialdamaged_art/

If they do both show up, then Green and Colorless would likely look like this:

Green: Legendary Camilla [CONFIRMED], Attuned Azura, Heidrun
Colorless: Legendary M!Alear [CONFIRMED], Mythic Loki [CONFIRMED], Eikbyrnir

If they want to get all of the Healing Hands (including Tree Dad) out as playable units before the Book ends, they need to do two double feature Mythic banners (the usual one in November plus another one in any month before November).

[Sunwoo]

14 minutes ago, Tybrosion said:

Nah, Deer Dude needs to become playable at the end of this month first......and then they can kill him off in the August chapter. That's how IS handled Askr, at any rate.

Though, now I'm wondering if we end up getting Deer Dude and Ms. I Lost My Spine on this next Mythic banner. I don't know if it means anything, but Heidrun's Attack art, Special art and Damaged art accidentally got leaked. Reddit link: 

  Reveal hidden contents

https://www.reddit.com/r/FireEmblemHeroes/comments/1e4hwk2/heiðrún_attackspecialdamaged_art/

If they do both show up, then Green and Colorless would likely look like this:

Green: Legendary Camilla [CONFIRMED], Attuned Azura, Heidrun
Colorless: Legendary M!Alear [CONFIRMED], Mythic Loki [CONFIRMED], Eikbyrnir

If they want to get all of the Healing Hands (including Tree Dad) out as playable units before the Book ends, they need to do two double feature Mythic banners (the usual one in November plus another one in any month before November).

I'm actually guessing that we'll have a double mythic banner with Heithrun and Eikthyrnir at the end of the month, and that Heithrun will be green. Otherwise, Nergal and other green heroes get rerun too soon.

Also, since none of them had been given out as the midpoint mythic this year, and we have all four siblings and possibly Laerathr to get through, I'm assuming that the siblings will come in pairs. Heithrun and Eikthyrnir this month, the remaining two sisters the next time we have a mythic. Laerathr maybe on November, with someone else.

Edited July 17 by Sunwoo

[Tybrosion]

17 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

Also, since none of them had been given out as the midpoint mythic this year, and we have all four siblings and possibly Laerathr to get through, I'm assuming that the siblings will come in pairs. Heithrun and Eikthyrnir this month, the remaining two sisters the next time we have a mythic. Laerathr maybe on November, with someone else.

Alternatively, Laerathr can just be paired with whoever is the last one standing between Hraesvelgr and Nidhoggr. The sister who is defeated for good first could just be released on their own in September (like Thrasir, Plumeria and Otr were in the past).

September currently has one open spot on Blue and one on Green. Emblem Celica will have her first re-run then, and she will be joined by Mythic Lumera (her second re-run). Legendary M!Corrin will have his first re-run then, and he will be joined by Heidr (her fifth re-run).

September seems like an ideal spot to drop Hraesvelgr, but who knows at this point.