The treatment of the "Heroes" of the Scouring

[BrightBow]

Well, since the Elibe games are the ones that people on this board are most familiar with, you probably know what is written in the opening of both FE6 and FE7 but just in case:

Humans and dragons lived peacefully together 1000 years ago, until humans started a war that ended up killing all the dragons that couldn't save themselves into other realms of existence.

So am I missing something or is this never brought up outside of the opening? And are the "Heroes" of the conflict ever treated as something different then shining pillars of human virtue?

I mean, it's mentioned in the openings of both games. Someone of the writers must have thought this was a very important piece of information to understand the setting and the conflict driving the story.

But it's completely absent. In fact if you didn't watch the opening you would probably assume that the dragons were the bad guys, the "enemies of mankind" as Niime calls them.

And in the final chapter it's at it's worst: The narration promises that Roy would learn the truth about the Scouring but the chapter doesn't mention who started the war either.

Instead they go on about how the dragons captured a little divine dragon girl named Idoun and turned her forcefully into the Dark Dragon, destroying her soul in the process. And the "heroes" when confronted with Idoun and had pity on here and didn't kill her.

The only thing mankind did wrong according to the chapter, is that they created weapons that turned the laws of nature upside down. (Which probably explains why Shamans use dark magic now or why miniskirts protect you from the cold climate in Ilia.)

By leaving out the part where mankind started the whole war they make the dragons look evil while the humans look like the good guys because they pitied the poor dragon girl.

So the dragons are evil because they sacrifice one person because to safe their whole species. Fine whatever. You could argue a lot about what means you can use in desperate situations.

But the humans are good because they didn't kill said dragon? I mean, the dragons were wiped out completely during the Scouring, humans must have killed thousands of them (low reproduction rate be damned) so they would have killed Idoun as well when they would have meet her before her transformation, but because there is one single dragon they are good?

Did I miss something? Does the game ever loose as much as a critical word about them outside the opening?

Edited February 10, 2012 by BrightBow

[Narga_Rocks]

Well, since the Elibe games are the ones that people on this board are most familiar with, you probably know what is written in the opening of both FE6 and FE7 but just in case:

Humans and dragons lived peacefully together 1000 years ago, until humans started a war that ended up killing all the dragons that couldn't save themselves into other realms of existence.

So am I missing something or is this never brought up outside of the opening? And are the "Heroes" of the conflict ever treated as something different then shining pillars of human virtue?

I mean, it's mentioned in the openings of both games. Someone of the writers must have thought this was a very important piece of information to understand the setting and the conflict driving the story.

But it's completely absent. In fact if you didn't watch the opening you would probably assume that the dragons were the bad guys, the "enemies of mankind" as Niime calls them.

And in the final chapter it's at it's worst: The narration promises that Roy would learn the truth about the Scoring but the chapter doesn't mention who started the war either.

Instead they go on about how the dragons captured a little divine dragon girl named Idoun and turned her forcefully into the Dark Dragon, destroying her soul in the process. And the "heroes" when confronted with Idoun and had pity on here and didn't kill her.

The only thing mankind did wrong according to the chapter, is that they created weapons that turned the laws of nature upside down. (Which probably explains why Shamans use dark magic now or why miniskirts protect you from the cold climate in Ilia.)

By leaving out the part where mankind started the whole war they make the dragons look evil while the humans look like the good guys because they pitied the poor dragon girl.

So the dragons are evil because they sacrifice one person because to safe their whole species. Fine whatever. You could argue a lot about what means you can use in desperate situations.

But the humans are good because they didn't kill said dragon? I mean, the dragons were wiped out completely during the scoring, humans must have killed thousands of them (low reproduction rate be damned) so they would have killed Idoun as well when they would have meet her before her transformation, but because there is one single dragon they are good?

Did I miss something? Does the game ever loose as much as a critical word about them outside the opening?

It's hard to read that without laughing a little because of the scoring/scouring problem.

[BrightBow]

Thank you. I have fixed it in the text but I don't know how I could fix the topic title. If it needs a moderator could you do it, please?

Edit: Btw, I know that my English isn't quite what it should be and I would like to improve so I would appreciate it if people point out mistakes or if it just doesn't sound good.

Edit2: Thank you for fixing the title.

Edited February 10, 2012 by BrightBow

[Sunwoo]

Truthfully, I haven't played FE6 but I have read through the translated script on this site. In FE7, though, Ninian and Nils talk with Eliwood after you defeat the Fire Dragon. I can't remember the exact words of the conversations, but Ninian does say something along the lines of, "Even after humans invaded and drove us out ..." Eliwood follows up by saying, "We humans, we took control of the continent like it was our right. We never considered who or what we drove away. Ninian, Nils, the blame for this was never yours alone."

I'd say that it's there, the context that humans were the ones who started the Scouring and not the dragons, but it's pretty much in the final chapter after the final boss. But still, it's there, even though it's not a big part.

[Paper Jam]

I'd love to know more about what started the Scouring myself. For all we know, the majority of dragons at the time may have thought more along the lines of Yahn than of Aenir. (At least, I assume that since Aenir had a human mate, she must have had a fairly good opinion of humans and a good relationship with them, and Nergal likewise with regard to dragons.)

For all we know, couples like Aenir and Nergal were quite unusual, and in general the coexistence between humans and dragons was never more than an uneasy truce.

[BrightBow]

I don't really think it was an uneasy truce since the FE7 opening referred to it as "a peace forged in wisdom" until mankind invaded, so it considers the peace as a good thing. This contrasts people in-universe like Niime's in her B-support with Fa where she paints the dragons as the aggressors so I think the opening roll is accurate since it isn't just a reflection of what people in-universe are thinking.