Three questions that always ate at me about this game's story (SPOILERS)....

[FionordeQuester]

I really dug the hell out of this story up till about Part 4 of the story...then things started happening that made me shake my head in confusion.

1) How did Sephiran not know that Micaiah was alive? Throughout the entire game, the Black Knight is periodically coming in contact with Micaiah, protecting her from harm and all that, and yet, Sephiran is stunned when he meets her, and finds out that she's alive. The Black Knight, Sephiran's servant basically, says that it's his mission to protect her, so I'm assuming Sephiran assigned him to protect her, but now at the end, he supposedly didn't know she was alive? Did it just not occur to the Black Knight to tell Sephiran this?

2) How was Naesala tricked into signing a blood pact? To begin with, I hated the whole concept of a blood pact, because it seemed like a really cheap plot device to make characters act in ways they normally wouldn't without having to think hard about why. It's something that causes all these awful things to happen without any explanation as to how something like that works. What gives it its power? It just seemed cheap that they threw something like a blood pact into the plot without trying to justify why it's so powerful.

But anyways, seeing as how Naesala is pretty much the king of cunning, the king of tricksters himself, shouldn't he be able to see stuff like that coming from a mile away? He's also shown to have extensive knowledge of the people of Begnion at least, so it's unlikely that he simply did not know of blood pacts, therefore didn't know to look out for them. He knew it was scum he was dealing with to, so it stands to reason that he would be on the lookout for tricks like that.

The whole thing just baffles me.

3) Ike's stupid ending. I'd be beating a dead horse if I went too much into detail here, so I'll just say that whoever has completed this game will probably know exactly what I'm talking about when I talk about this.

[BK-201]

I really dug the hell out of this story up till about Part 4 of the story...then things started happening that made me shake my head in confusion.

1) How did Sephiran not know that Micaiah was alive? Throughout the entire game, the Black Knight is periodically coming in contact with Micaiah, protecting her from harm and all that, and yet, Sephiran is stunned when he meets her, and finds out that she's alive. The Black Knight, Sephiran's servant basically, says that it's his mission to protect her, so I'm assuming Sephiran assigned him to protect her, but now at the end, he supposedly didn't know she was alive? Did it just not occur to the Black Knight to tell Sephiran this?

2) How was Naesala tricked into signing a blood pact? To begin with, I hated the whole concept of a blood pact, because it seemed like a really cheap plot device to make characters act in ways they normally wouldn't without having to think hard about why. It's something that causes all these awful things to happen without any explanation as to how something like that works. What gives it its power? It just seemed cheap that they threw something like a blood pact into the plot without trying to justify why it's so powerful.

But anyways, seeing as how Naesala is pretty much the king of cunning, the king of tricksters himself, shouldn't he be able to see stuff like that coming from a mile away? He's also shown to have extensive knowledge of the people of Begnion at least, so it's unlikely that he simply did not know of blood pacts, therefore didn't know to look out for them. He knew it was scum he was dealing with to, so it stands to reason that he would be on the lookout for tricks like that.

The whole thing just baffles me.

3) Ike's stupid ending. I'd be beating a dead horse if I went too much into detail here, so I'll just say that whoever has completed this game will probably know exactly what I'm talking about when I talk about this.

1) That is an interesting question that I do not have an answer to.

2) Naesala didn't sign the blood pact, the previous king did.

[FionordeQuester]

Oh, well that's good to know about how the blood pact got onto Naesala.

But now that I start thinking about it, another thing that really bothered me about this game is that it feels like they've changed some of the characters personalities from the previous game. At the end of Part 2, all of Elincia's friends and bodyguard are stunned at the very idea of allowing one of their friends to be sacrificed for their own good, when in the previous game, they were not only completely fine with that idea, but encouraged it!

Oh, and I say bogus to how Bastian is apparently this great master at the game of politics (remember, we're talking about the same guy who couldn't even see past Marcia's brothers scams in their support conversations...).

[Silith]

Tibarn mentions his suspicions on how Neassala suddenly became next in line to be king of Kilvas suggestign there were better candidates. NEassala might have signed the contract to ensure those that he couldn't beat in a fight would be "disposed" of.

[Narga_Rocks]

1) How did Sephiran not know that Micaiah was alive? Throughout the entire game, the Black Knight is periodically coming in contact with Micaiah, protecting her from harm and all that, and yet, Sephiran is stunned when he meets her, and finds out that she's alive. The Black Knight, Sephiran's servant basically, says that it's his mission to protect her, so I'm assuming Sephiran assigned him to protect her, but now at the end, he supposedly didn't know she was alive? Did it just not occur to the Black Knight to tell Sephiran this?

1) That is an interesting question that I do not have an answer to.

Best guess: He knew of the silver maiden and decided that it was important to his plans for her to survive. However, he did not realize that "the silver maiden" was the eldest daughter of sanaki's mother.

[Tables]

Oh, and I say bogus to how Bastian is apparently this great master at the game of politics (remember, we're talking about the same guy who couldn't even see past Marcia's brothers scams in their support conversations...).

I think you need to reread the conversation. Makalov is beaten at gambling by Bastian and also fails to trick him.

[Mikethfc]

Best guess: He knew of the silver maiden and decided that it was important to his plans for her to survive. However, he did not realize that "the silver maiden" was the eldest daughter of sanaki's mother.

Sephiran was trying to make the entire continent go to war, Micaiah was revitalising Daein's military. 2+2=4

(So basically seconded)

Edited May 14, 2010 by mikethfc

[FionordeQuester]

Makalov is beaten at gambling by Bastian and also fails to trick him.

Bastian doesn't fall victim to his ruse, that's true, but that's only because he already knew how to play the game Makalov wanted him to play. He never suspected that Makalov ever tried to con him out of his money, and refers to them as "the dearest of friends" throughout every one of their support conversations, even after Makalov tries to con him out of his money.

If Bastian was really this awesome political machine that this game hypes him up to be, he should've been able to see right through Makalov's act.

[dondon151]

I'm sure that Bastian is enough of a smooth talker that he doesn't want to make it obvious to Makalov that he sees through him. It is Bastian who tricks Makalov by pretending to be oblivious.

[FionordeQuester]

They still seem to be friends from what I can see at the end of the conversation. Bastian offers to give Makalov a lot of money at the end anyways.

[StinDuh]

From what I understand, they were trying to make it seem like Ike was a mysterious man after this.... Yeah didn't really work.

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

At least the ending for the main protagonist was different for once. In every other FE game the lords of the game pretty much end up ruling their countries the only other FE games that don't have that kind of ending is FE4 gen 1 and I guess you could say FE5 seeing as the ending of FE5 is pretty much the earlier parts of FE4 gen 2.

[Nightmare]

They still seem to be friends from what I can see at the end of the conversation. Bastian offers to give Makalov a lot of money at the end anyways.

You know what politics is, right? Bastian being friendly to Makalov (or just about everyone he comes into contact with) and all is also part of his politics. Besides, he's not really the kind to make enemies or dislike someone just because of an oddity or a bad habit they have. Bastian has a big heart. Or maybe that's also part of his political prowess.

Think about it, if he quickly showed his true feelings or intentions, he wouldn't be much of a politician, would he? There's a saying related to this but I forgot what it was.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Nightmare

[FionordeQuester]

I believe the saying is "a wise man doesn't say all he knows at once", or something like that. Or maybe it was "a wise man doesn't say all he knows to a stranger", I dunno. I guess thinking about his behavior from that perspective, that might actually explain his dialect (you know, so his enemies will underestimate him as a fool?).

I dunno, he was introduced as a somewhat silly, but still loyal and faithful knight, and then suddenly he's a political mastermind in Radiant Dawn, without any buildup or explanation to his methods. Whether his political mastery is unrealistic or not though, I don't think there's anything fake about his big heartedness judging by his determination to protect Elincia, and I don't think he would go out of his way to help a bum like Makalov either if he didn't.

[whase]

Oh, well that's good to know about how the blood pact got onto Naesala.

But now that I start thinking about it, another thing that really bothered me about this game is that it feels like they've changed some of the characters personalities from the previous game. At the end of Part 2, all of Elincia's friends and bodyguard are stunned at the very idea of allowing one of their friends to be sacrificed for their own good, when in the previous game, they were not only completely fine with that idea, but encouraged it!

Oh, and I say bogus to how Bastian is apparently this great master at the game of politics (remember, we're talking about the same guy who couldn't even see past Marcia's brothers scams in their support conversations...).

people change, you know. we're talking about 3 years here, you never know what might've happened in those years.

oh, and weak excuses are still excuses, IMO it doesn't make the story that much weaker.

[FionordeQuester]

Well, I guess you're right. I wasn't expecting Lucia and everyone else to do a complete 180 on whether or not it was justifiable to let one sacrifice himself for the greater good though.

And what are you referring to when you're talking about weak excuses?

[Nightmare]

I believe the saying is "a wise man doesn't say all he knows at once", or something like that. Or maybe it was "a wise man doesn't say all he knows to a stranger", I dunno.

I don't think that was it. Something related to those evil Brits. But it doesn't really matter.

I dunno, he was introduced as a somewhat silly, but still loyal and faithful knight, and then suddenly he's a political mastermind in Radiant Dawn, without any buildup or explanation to his methods.

I don't remember very well, but wasn't it at least hinted at in Path of Radiance? Someone has to check out the script.

[Cysx]

Tibarn mentions his suspicions on how Neassala suddenly became next in line to be king of Kilvas suggestign there were better candidates. NEassala might have signed the contract to ensure those that he couldn't beat in a fight would be "disposed" of.

Maybe it's just me,but I didn't understand this part of the plot the same way you did.

So there was that king of Kilvas that signed a blood contract.My guess is it was Naesala's predecessor.When his people died one after another,and he understood what was going on,he probably told everyone that all of this was caused by some terrible plague,(just like Ashnard did)because he didn't want some civil war along with all of this mess.Then he submitted to Begnion,but kept that and the blood contract a secret.

As he grew older,a new king had to take his place,and lots of candidates came to the castle(or whatever place he lived at);one of them was Naesala.The old king probably had to tell them about the blood contract at some point,as it would become their responsability as the new ruler.And the only one that had the guts to get the job done even after hearing the terrible truth was Naesala...

[whase]

And what are you referring to when you're talking about weak excuses?

2) How was Naesala tricked into signing a blood pact? To begin with, I hated the whole concept of a blood pact, because it seemed like a really cheap plot device...

Tibarn mentions his suspicions on how Neassala suddenly became next in line to be king of Kilvas suggestign there were better candidates. NEassala might have signed the contract to ensure those that he couldn't beat in a fight would be "disposed" of.

what? it is explained in RD Neasala would do anything to ensure the safety of his people! that wouldn't fit in his personality.

[FionordeQuester]

Ah, you were referring to when I mentioned the blood pact. It wasn't so much a weak excuse so much as it was a terribly obvious plot device whose powers functioned for no explicable reason I could think of.

[VincentASM]

It does seem strange that the blood pact only seems to benefit one side. Just a random theory, but perhaps it used to be part of a pledge of loyalty to a person or country? That's essentially what it did in RD, except Daein and Kilvas both signed it unwillingly.

[NinjaMonkey]

It does seem strange that the blood pact only seems to benefit one side.

Since it is being used as a way of controlling people, I don't see how it is that strange... In fact, it is kinda like a form of blackmail in that respect (except with far more serious consequences).

Edited May 17, 2010 by NinjaMonkey

[-Cynthia-]

I never understood the reasoning behind only Ike (and Greil) being able to wield Ragnell. Is Ike related to Altina? If so, they why can anyone wield Alondite, but it cannot finish off Ashera?

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

I never understood the reasoning behind only Ike (and Greil) being able to wield Ragnell. Is Ike related to Altina? If so, they why can anyone wield Alondite, but it cannot finish off Ashera?

I wouldn't be surprised if he was.

About Alondite though; I didn't understand that either. It should be able to finish off Ashera but the reason behind it is since Ike is the "leader" and when he steps up to attack Ashera there's a cutscene where Yune gives him just enough power to be able to kill her off because Yune believes that he is the strongest and just strong enough to be able to finish her with a small boost. And without that power Yune gives I don't think even Ike with Ragnell would be capable of dealing the finishing blow.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

There probably isn't any reason behind it and they just decided to lock Ragnell to Ike much like how they lock weapons to the lords and Holy Blood people which is the case throughout most of the series. Blagi Sword fucks it up with Fergus being able to use it and no knowledge of whether he has Holy Blood or not.

Edited May 18, 2010 by Speedwagon