Come up with a Three Houses style paralogue for other games in the series

[Jotari]

Three Houses has a somewhat more formulaic approach to paralogues than other games in the series, wherein they were kind of randomly distributed. In Three Houses everybchaeacter has a dedicated paralogue. And with the exception of mahor characters like the lords, all of them are shared with one other character. It's simple, but seems well received and might be a standard from here on out. So, what if this approach was used for earlier games in the series? What characters would you group together, what problem would they face and when in the story would they face it?

Just as I post, I think I remember us having this thread before. Uncertainty remember people theory crafting it in regards to Shadows of Valentia (whose map would be particularly useful for such a thing). But eh, im sure we can duscuss it again as that was probably a long time ago and not full series focused.

[Acacia Sgt]

Blazing Blade's Night of Farewells was pretty much a "Jaffar and Nino Paralogue", as it were.

Hmm, this is an interesting exercise, let's see if I can think up something...

[Use the Falchion]

Awakening: 

Say'ri, Virion, and Cherche - Liberation - They go on a mission to liberate Roxeanne. 

Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa - For the Living, For the Dead - After Emmeryn's death, Chrom goes out on a "scouting mission" in enemy territory, searching for Emmeryn's remains. Frederick joins him, and the two reminisce about Emmeryn, their meetings, and the war. While out, they find Lissa, who had the same idea as Chrom, captured by enemy soldiers. Instead of continuing to search for Emmeryn's body, the two free Lissa and escape. For all of them, this becomes turning point for their grief. They'll never have Emmeryn back, but they have each other and will care about the now and the future instead of clinging to the past. (I almost made this a mission where they find and rescue Phila. I still want that, but I don't know where to fit it.)

Robin, Tharja, Henry - Bloodlines Part 1 - Robin wants to learn about their Plegian roots, and so Tharja takes them to a festival. Henry tags along because he's Plegian too and doesn't want to be left out. 

Nowi, Tiki - Divinity - Tiki tests Nowi's strength as a Divine Dragon. 

Stahl, Sully, Panne - Inquisitorious - Panne finds word that more of her kin may be alive but held as captives by a nobleman in Ylisse. Chrom sends his best knights to investigate and save the Taguel, if the rumors are true. 

Lissa, Maribelle - Girl's Night - The two go on a girl's night out. 

Miriel, Tharja - Miriel and Tharja vs the Evil Librarians - Tharja is tired of Miriel's constant questions about Plegian magic and science, and so she takes the girl to a renowned Plegian library. Unfortunately, Tharja's defection has soured the librarian's opinions of her.

Robin, Tharja, Aversa - Bloodlines Part 2 - Robin, with a slightly clearer picture of their own past, asks for Tharja's help once again in finding more about themselves, this time their mother. Aversa joins in, as she knows more about the subject than she'd rather let on. 

Robin, Chrom, Walhart, Priam - World's Finest - Walhart and Priam have found the time to finally settle who is the best, only for Chrom and Robin to stumble on the fight...and into an infamous bandit camp. Now, the four must fight their way out of the bandit camp, with whoever kills the most bandits being praised as the strongest for now. 

Gaius, Sumia - Mission: In Pies? Able! - Sumia's father, a mid-level noble, has a favor to ask of Gaius. Sumia tags along. 

Virion, Gaius, Ricken - High Society - A member of an Anti-Exalt Family faction of Ylisse's nobility may be making a move to sieze control of the army and treasury. Ricken's family is stuck in the crosshairs, so Ricken asks Virion and Gaius for help in settling this quickly and quietly. 

Donnel, Nowi, Lissa, Ricken - Kid's Club - As the youngest (or youngest looking) members of the Shepherds, these four set out to prove themselves. 

Libra, Tiki, Say'ri, Tharja - Holy Guard - No idea, but something about Naga and the other gods would be the theme. 

Cordelia, Chrom - All's Fair in Love and War - Chrom is drugged by a love potion from an obsessed village girl, and Cordelia must defend him when news of this leaks to enemy assassins. (At the end, the village girl, if still alive, will become obsessed with Cordelia instead.) 

Emmeryn, Aversa, Validar - ??? - Something about them all getting over their hatred of one another and self-loathing because Emmeryn's goodness shines through even after her memory loss. 

 

Fates: 

Kaze, Saizo - 

Ryoma, Takumi, Hinoka, Sakura - The visit their parent's grave

Xander, Camilla, Leo, Elise - They find a sibling who survived the "Concubine Wars" and may cause a succession crisis. 

Sakura, Elise, Hinoka, Camilla - 

Sakura, Camilla - 

Elise, Hinoka -

Laslow, Selena, Odin - 

Silas, Kaze -  

Peri, Felicia - 

 

 

I'm sure I'll think of more later. 

 

 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

I can't tell you how badly I am resisting the urge to write a super interesting paralogue for one character, then have another, unrelated character step into frame and say "Hi! I don't have a paralogue. Can I join yours?" Could we really call it a Three Houses system without three or four missions just like that? 

Fire Emblem Sacred Stones - A Friendly wager "Responding to a monster invasion at Taizel, Ephraim and Innes make a friendly wager. But the prince of Frelia has a trick up his sleeve." Unlocked after chapter 15 when the armies reunite, the plot is about how Ephraim now must assume responsibility for the welfare of Grado's few remaining cities. Innes disagrees with this responsibility, and says that if he has to be involved then he wants it to at least be interesting. They're going to mark up how many enemies they each kill and compare at the end of the map. The map is chapter 12 B, and you start at the docks. Ephraim is at the left dock while Innes is force deployed on the right. The secret Innes is hiding is that before they left he had sent for the Frelian sacred treasure, Nidhogg. And by playing this map you get to unlock it from the start. If Ephraim nets more kills, the player gets a strength booster from the grateful townspeople. If Innes gets more kills, the player earns a speed booster. And of course the dialogue changes to reflect the player's decision. But in either outcome, Innes realizes that his rivalry with Ephraim needs to end if he's going to be a leader that people will find worthy of respecting and Ephraim finally acknowledges Innes' value in battle.

[Jotari]

8 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

For all of them, this becomes turning point for their grief. They'll never have Emmeryn back, but they have each other and will care about the now and the future instead of clinging to the past

Ha. Until the DLC is released and ruins everything XD

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Blazing Blade

• Lyn and Rath. They connected in Lyn Mode, so let's see an exploration into Sacae a little bit with these two. Maybe expand a little bit on the prejudice that Lyn and Rath faced.
• Kent and Sain. Maybe go more comical with this one and have Sain get scammed by a pretty lady, have he and Kent go after her for whatever the scammer took or something.
• Wil and Florina. Have Wil help her a little with her fear of bows.
• Dorcas and Bartre. Go surprisingly deep here, have Dorcas give Bartre a little tender and romantic inspiration as Bartre wonders if he'll ever find love...foreshadowing his relationship to Karla, perhaps.
• Erk and Pent. A student-teacher story of some kind. Maybe explain why Erk isn't Mage General later in life?
• Serra and Oswin. Maybe another comical one with Serra's selfishness having bad comical resualts with some bandit?
• Matthew and Guy. Matthew could drill into Guy a little bit about his (Guy's) dreams and goals, do something with that I guess, I dunno.
• Lucius and Renault. We get a little bit of shared backstory with these two, but REALLY explore it here with themes of PTSD (Lucius absolutely has it) and forgiveness.
• Nils and Ninian. A little sibling story that maybe expands upon their mother a little.
• Wallace and Hawkeye. Two of the older dudes in the army sharing experience or something I dunno these two were hard to pair.
• Eliwood and Hector. Seems fitting for the two best buds to share a paralogue, I'm just unsure of what the story would be.
• Marcus and Lowen. Training Lowen to become the next great knight.
• Rebecca and Dart. Go deeper into the "long lost sibling" connection they share.
• Priscilla and Raven. Go into deeper detail about the ruin of their house.
• Canas and Nino. Explore their relationship more, specifically how they're actually relatives.
• Fiora and Louise. We know Pent hired Fiora and her whole squad was killed and we get some of that in her supports with Pent. Now give us something with Fiora and Pent's wife, Louise. Go deeper into Fiora's relationship with Louise.
• Legault and Jaffar. Two former Black Fangs. Do something with it, expand upon their supports.
• Isadora and Harken. Go into their relationship more, because the supports and Harken's suicidal schtick only gets a brief surface-touching.
• Heath and Vaida. Maybe give them a little friction. Vaida is fiercely loyal to Zephiel and Bern, but Heath had no problem abandoning his former commander. I know they have the possibility of a paired ending, but still, give us something.
• Geitz and Farina. Geitz can support with Fiora, but I feel like he'd have more things to talk about with Farina, more money-making things and such.
• Karel and Karla. Their supports are actually quite good, but go deeper. Explore what really happened in their past, show it explicitly.

Athos is the only one on the entire roster who doesn't get a paralogue, due to their being an odd number of playable units and the fact that he isn't recruited until the very last  chapter.

[Jotari]

3 hours ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

Blazing Blade

• Lyn and Rath. They connected in Lyn Mode, so let's see an exploration into Sacae a little bit with these two. Maybe expand a little bit on the prejudice that Lyn and Rath faced.
• Kent and Sain. Maybe go more comical with this one and have Sain get scammed by a pretty lady, have he and Kent go after her for whatever the scammer took or something.
• Wil and Florina. Have Wil help her a little with her fear of bows.
• Dorcas and Bartre. Go surprisingly deep here, have Dorcas give Bartre a little tender and romantic inspiration as Bartre wonders if he'll ever find love...foreshadowing his relationship to Karla, perhaps.
• Erk and Pent. A student-teacher story of some kind. Maybe explain why Erk isn't Mage General later in life?
• Serra and Oswin. Maybe another comical one with Serra's selfishness having bad comical resualts with some bandit?
• Matthew and Guy. Matthew could drill into Guy a little bit about his (Guy's) dreams and goals, do something with that I guess, I dunno.
• Lucius and Renault. We get a little bit of shared backstory with these two, but REALLY explore it here with themes of PTSD (Lucius absolutely has it) and forgiveness.
• Nils and Ninian. A little sibling story that maybe expands upon their mother a little.
• Wallace and Hawkeye. Two of the older dudes in the army sharing experience or something I dunno these two were hard to pair.
• Eliwood and Hector. Seems fitting for the two best buds to share a paralogue, I'm just unsure of what the story would be.
• Marcus and Lowen. Training Lowen to become the next great knight.
• Rebecca and Dart. Go deeper into the "long lost sibling" connection they share.
• Priscilla and Raven. Go into deeper detail about the ruin of their house.
• Canas and Nino. Explore their relationship more, specifically how they're actually relatives.
• Fiora and Louise. We know Pent hired Fiora and her whole squad was killed and we get some of that in her supports with Pent. Now give us something with Fiora and Pent's wife, Louise. Go deeper into Fiora's relationship with Louise.
• Legault and Jaffar. Two former Black Fangs. Do something with it, expand upon their supports.
• Isadora and Harken. Go into their relationship more, because the supports and Harken's suicidal schtick only gets a brief surface-touching.
• Heath and Vaida. Maybe give them a little friction. Vaida is fiercely loyal to Zephiel and Bern, but Heath had no problem abandoning his former commander. I know they have the possibility of a paired ending, but still, give us something.
• Geitz and Farina. Geitz can support with Fiora, but I feel like he'd have more things to talk about with Farina, more money-making things and such.
• Karel and Karla. Their supports are actually quite good, but go deeper. Explore what really happened in their past, show it explicitly.

Athos is the only one on the entire roster who doesn't get a paralogue, due to their being an odd number of playable units and the fact that he isn't recruited until the very last  chapter.

Renault only being recruited in the second last chapter also puts him in a bit of an awkward position timing wise. As you're essentially in the middle of the final battle already, so it needs to the in somehow to fighting Nergal. Fortunately Kishuna's final chapter already exists and Renault has (iirc) some connection to Kishuna.

[Acacia Sgt]

6 hours ago, Jotari said:

Ha. Until the DLC is released and ruins everything XD

I've long held the opinion that it actually fleshes it out... if you feel like being a bit sadistic.

Since they don't really get their sister back. Just the shell of a woman who looks like her... and thus, serves as a living breathing constant reminder of their failure to save her. If you subscribe to considering the death of identity as the death of the person, then yes, Emmeryn is still gone.

Edited July 10, 2022 by Acacia Sgt

[Jotari]

17 hours ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

I can't tell you how badly I am resisting the urge to write a super interesting paralogue for one character, then have another, unrelated character step into frame and say "Hi! I don't have a paralogue. Can I join yours?" Could we really call it a Three Houses system without three or four missions just like that? 

Fire Emblem Sacred Stones - A Friendly wager "Responding to a monster invasion at Taizel, Ephraim and Innes make a friendly wager. But the prince of Frelia has a trick up his sleeve." Unlocked after chapter 15 when the armies reunite, the plot is about how Ephraim now must assume responsibility for the welfare of Grado's few remaining cities. Innes disagrees with this responsibility, and says that if he has to be involved then he wants it to at least be interesting. They're going to mark up how many enemies they each kill and compare at the end of the map. The map is chapter 12 B, and you start at the docks. Ephraim is at the left dock while Innes is force deployed on the right. The secret Innes is hiding is that before they left he had sent for the Frelian sacred treasure, Nidhogg. And by playing this map you get to unlock it from the start. If Ephraim nets more kills, the player gets a strength booster from the grateful townspeople. If Innes gets more kills, the player earns a speed booster. And of course the dialogue changes to reflect the player's decision. But in either outcome, Innes realizes that his rivalry with Ephraim needs to end if he's going to be a leader that people will find worthy of respecting and Ephraim finally acknowledges Innes' value in battle.

It would be nice to have some more pageantry with getting the sacred twins. Frelia in particular it's just like "BTW I asked my dad if we can have the uber weapons he was hoarding for no reason and he said yes."

2 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I've long held the opinion that it actually fleshes it out... if you feel like being a bit sadistic.

Since they don't really get their sister back. Just the shell of a woman who looks like her... and thus, serves as a living breathing constant reminder of their failure to save her. If you subscribe to considering the death of identity as the death of the person, then yes, Emmeryn is still gone.

Potebtially if that was something they were actually setting out to explore about the relationship, like Casca in Berserk. But her family doesn't even have supports with her. She just exists so Robin can fuck her. Which is also deeply uncomfortable to me given they actually do a decent job writing her like a genuinely mentally disabled person.

[Etrurian emperor]

Binding Blade: Yodel and Niime

The two come across the bandits who killed Yodel's sister but there are some complications. One: the bandits have already redeemed themselves and are now heroic rogues defending a little village. Two: Bern's trying to burn said village to the ground. So the former couple needs to protect people they have very mixed feelings towards and come to term with the past. Oh and Hugh's there too, wondering whether Yodel's his grandpa or not.

Radiant Dawn: Laguz Emancipation army and the Begnion guard

Somewhere during part 3 Sigrun and Tanith join forces with team Tormod to storm the Begnion palace and save the imprisoned Sanaki. It would explain how Sanaki escaped from the Senators, and Tormod staying behind to fend off Lekain would explain his absence. At the climax of the fight Lekain might air the dirty laundry about Tormod's parentage to spook Tormod and punish the boy for defying him.

Binding Blade: The Orphan amigos.

Lugh's been taken by a shady bandit and Chad and Raigh respond by putting their bickering on hold to rescue him. Except Lugh isn't in the nearby bandit hideout, and the two end up cornered by bandits. Turns out Lugh wasn't kidnapped at all, but just met uncle Jan, and the duo most hold out until Lugh and the Black Fang bail them out. 

Echoes: Saver and Sonya

The two come across a Rigelian village where the Duma cult is kidnapping woman to turn them into witches. Its also Saber's home village so he goes to save his sister, with Sonya tagging along to thwart her father's latest scheme. 

Blazing Sword: Eliwood and Markus.

Erik of Laus is up to no good again. He attacks Pherea while he thinks Eliwood's away only to find out Eliwood isn't that far away.

Three Hopes: Holst and Count Bergliez

The bromance of the century decides to team up rather than fight each other. Holst and count Bergliez invite(forcefully) all the strongest figures in Fodlan to test their mettle. Its just them against Catherine, Jeralt, the Death Knight, Byleth and even Rhea. 

[Use the Falchion]

10 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I've long held the opinion that it actually fleshes it out... if you feel like being a bit sadistic.

Since they don't really get their sister back. Just the shell of a woman who looks like her... and thus, serves as a living breathing constant reminder of their failure to save her. If you subscribe to considering the death of identity as the death of the person, then yes, Emmeryn is still gone.

I'm certainly not one to say for sure if that's really her or not (although her death quote implies that she can remember who she was, so it's not really the permanent death of identity), but I saw it as a bittersweet ending. She got her martyr ending, she has her family and can interact with them (although sadly not to the degree either would like), and she gets to live happily without the burden of peace or the weight of the world on her shoulders. It's a sort of blissful ignorance happy ending. 

 

16 hours ago, Jotari said:

Ha. Until the DLC is released and ruins everything XD

Eh, I'd probably just have another paralogue. I'd be harder to unlock, needing an annoying set of requirements, but completing it would allow players to have Emmeryn be fully restored to normal. 

[Acacia Sgt]

1 hour ago, Use the Falchion said:

I'm certainly not one to say for sure if that's really her or not (although her death quote implies that she can remember who she was, so it's not really the permanent death of identity), but I saw it as a bittersweet ending. She got her martyr ending, she has her family and can interact with them (although sadly not to the degree either would like), and she gets to live happily without the burden of peace or the weight of the world on her shoulders. It's a sort of blissful ignorance happy ending. 

Sure, that can happen, but if it's only as a shock reaction due to death, then can it really count? Specially when her normal ending states: "Sadly, Emmeryn's fractured memory never fully returned." which means on its own she'll never make a full recovery.

But yes, at its best it is bittersweet. Since at some least some part of her is still there.

[Jotari]

6 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

Eh, I'd probably just have another paralogue. I'd be harder to unlock, needing an annoying set of requirements, but completing it would allow players to have Emmeryn be fully restored to normal. 

I really don't know why they didn't use the Yen'Fey method for all of the spotpass characters. Ie, parallel timelines. It's an established aspect of the game already, and knowing which characters survived and died in the original timeline gives us a better glimpse into Lucina's future and what went down in it. It's not only an easier excuse, but it's more fun too and gives better reasons for the villains to heelface turn so drastically (I'm particularly looking at you Aversa, as canonically the heroes dight her just before they fight Grima when she is still fully on board with the whole thing even though Validar is dead...and then she does some random soul searching by traveling across half the known world and the heroes randomly abandon their mission to fight Grima to also wander around until eventually they bump into each other).

[Acacia Sgt]

If Awakening had a proper postgame (ala SoV Act 6), then Aversa's Paralogue would've fit better, yeah.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Acacia Sgt said:

If Awakening had a proper postgame (ala SoV Act 6), then Aversa's Paralogue would've fit better, yeah.

A proper post game is really warranted for Awakening. Or at least pretending some of the DLC came after the post game. Seriously, by the time Chrom faces Grima above Origin Peak, he's already taken a detour to defeat a more powerful Grima in an alternate world XD Not to mention all the festivals and hot springs stuff he's inexplicably been enjoying.

[Acacia Sgt]

23 minutes ago, Jotari said:

A proper post game is really warranted for Awakening. Or at least pretending some of the DLC came after the post game. Seriously, by the time Chrom faces Grima above Origin Peak, he's already taken a detour to defeat a more powerful Grima in an alternate world XD Not to mention all the festivals and hot springs stuff he's inexplicably been enjoying.

Personally, since it is related to some fanfic ideas I have, I've headcanon that at least when it comes to the DLC, that some of them were done during the time skip. Mainly the Outrealms stuff. In fact, the time skip would've been a good timeframe for TH-style paralogues.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Acacia Sgt

[Use the Falchion]

14 hours ago, Jotari said:

I really don't know why they didn't use the Yen'Fey method for all of the spotpass characters. Ie, parallel timelines. It's an established aspect of the game already, and knowing which characters survived and died in the original timeline gives us a better glimpse into Lucina's future and what went down in it. It's not only an easier excuse, but it's more fun too and gives better reasons for the villains to heelface turn so drastically

Technically they kind of did for Priam. But him aside, I assume it's because Awakening plays by some pretty strict time travel shenanigans outside of the fanservice stuff. There are 2-3 main timelines: 

Lucina's timeline, which is where all of the kids + Grima and Yen'Fay come from.

The timeline we play in.

Morgan's timeline, which we have some implications and can speculate about, but is weird at the best of times. 

The Spotpass characters would have most likely had to come from Lucina's timeline, but they're all dead or evil there: Emmeryn is assassinated early on, Gangrel and Walhart die in drawn out wars against Chrom, and Aversa probably dies similarly. Although if anyone was to come from that future, it probably should have been her. (Then again, why would she? Validar may have been dead, but Grima had come back.) Or maybe Phila? If Phila didn't die trying to rescue Emmeryn, then maybe she lived in that alternate future. Things to consider for a remake, I guess. 

 

14 hours ago, Jotari said:

and the heroes randomly abandon their mission to fight Grima to also wander around until eventually they bump into each other

In most fanfiction I've read of Awakening and the Spotpass characters, they mostly just rationalize it as "Grima needs time to reach full power, but we don't have the manpower to take him out fully either (and we have kingdoms to take care of due to an increase in Risen activity), so we're going to gather more allies in the few weeks/months we can before launching the final assault." I'm cool with that rationalization, personally. It's like grinding in most FE games - going back to grind on some monsters and/or enemies usually disrupts the flow of the story, so you sort of pocket it away either as just a function of the game, or with the rationalization of "it happened elsewhere, and this is just where we're seeing it." Both work, and so long as the story movies on, I'm personally fine with it. 

[Jotari]

31 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

Technically they kind of did for Priam. But him aside, I assume it's because Awakening plays by some pretty strict time travel shenanigans outside of the fanservice stuff. There are 2-3 main timelines: 

Lucina's timeline, which is where all of the kids + Grima and Yen'Fay come from.

The timeline we play in.

Morgan's timeline, which we have some implications and can speculate about, but is weird at the best of times. 

The Spotpass characters would have most likely had to come from Lucina's timeline, but they're all dead or evil there: Emmeryn is assassinated early on, Gangrel and Walhart die in drawn out wars against Chrom, and Aversa probably dies similarly. Although if anyone was to come from that future, it probably should have been her. (Then again, why would she? Validar may have been dead, but Grima had come back.) Or maybe Phila? If Phila didn't die trying to rescue Emmeryn, then maybe she lived in that alternate future. Things to consider for a remake, I guess. 

Yeah but they're only dead because the story decided they're dead. Which it also decided they were for the timeline we actually see before going "nah actually they're not. They survived due to....reasons". And even the  the only one we actually have specific detail about the death of is Emmeryn, I don't think it ever specifies the fate of the other characters (and while it is cliche and still and ass pull, surviving a seemingly successful assassination attempt and being left weakened Zephiel style is a lot more believable to me than diving head first off a cliff in the middle if enemy territory). In other words in the maintimeline we see the exact ends for these characters and know their resurrection are bullshit. But move it to an alternate timeline where their ends are less clear and the scenario is more ambiguous and you have not only a better excuse to say they somehow survived, but also a better excuse to rationalize their suddenly changed allegiance.

That being said I am fond of the notion they flirt with that Whalhart was revived as a common Risen whose willpower (ie badassary) was so strong he just didn't become a mindless slave. Makes him not only cool but it's an ass pull with a established mechanic in the setting.

 

This is getting a bit off topic.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Jotari

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

57 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

In most fanfiction I've read of Awakening and the Spotpass characters, they mostly just rationalize it as "Grima needs time to reach full power, but we don't have the manpower to take him out fully either (and we have kingdoms to take care of due to an increase in Risen activity), so we're going to gather more allies in the few weeks/months we can before launching the final assault." I'm cool with that rationalization, personally. It's like grinding in most FE games - going back to grind on some monsters and/or enemies usually disrupts the flow of the story, so you sort of pocket it away either as just a function of the game, or with the rationalization of "it happened elsewhere, and this is just where we're seeing it." Both work, and so long as the story movies on, I'm personally fine with it. 

"Grima will wait patiently for his revenge, but only until the player is done grinding and recruiting FreeLC allies. After that point, he will begin his assault."

40 minutes ago, Jotari said:

That being said I am fond of the notion they flirt with that Whalhart was revived as a common Risen whose willpower (ie badassary) was so strong he just didn't become a mindless slave. Makes him not only cool but it's an ass pull with a established mechanic in the setting.

Walhart is like the only character I'm fine with them subverting the "people die when they are killed" rule, because he's so goddamn adamant about it. You kill him on three separate occasions, and only the second one sticks. Temporarily.

Also, there's no way Gangrel didn't track down Emmeryn's body and put her head on a pike. Saying "ah she fell so far, she must be dead, let's not bother checking or using her corpse to terrorize Ylisse" is so inconsistent with the kind of character he's previously established as.

15 hours ago, Jotari said:

I really don't know why they didn't use the Yen'Fey method for all of the spotpass characters. Ie, parallel timelines. It's an established aspect of the game already, and knowing which characters survived and died in the original timeline gives us a better glimpse into Lucina's future and what went down in it. It's not only an easier excuse, but it's more fun too and gives better reasons for the villains to heelface turn so drastically (I'm particularly looking at you Aversa, as canonically the heroes dight her just before they fight Grima when she is still fully on board with the whole thing even though Validar is dead...and then she does some random soul searching by traveling across half the known world and the heroes randomly abandon their mission to fight Grima to also wander around until eventually they bump into each other).

Would've been fun to get to fight "Evil Chrom", from a timeline where he follows in his father's ways, as well.

Anyway, here's a few paralogue ideas for FE11 (AKA Shadow Dragon):

A Cut Above. Barst heads out to a nearby forest for some fine timber, with Bord and Cord in tow. But with bandits abounding, he'll need to keep his axe - and his wits - sharp. Rewards: Master Seal, Bullion (M), Poleax, Killer Axe, Devil Axe.

A Potion for Emotion. Roger travels to find a witch notorious for making a special, affection-inducing brew. Merric insists on joining, and Maria tags along as well. But the old crone has a test to see if these three are worthy of love. Rewards: Spirit Dust, Energy Drop, Talisman.

Shot in the Dark. Jake hears word from his sweetheart, Anna, about an experimental ballistae in enemy hands. Beck joins in, too, seeking a piece of the action. But how could they expect to be used as target practice? Rewards: Bullion (L), Pachyderm, Thunderbolt.

[Use the Falchion]

2 hours ago, Jotari said:

In other words in the maintimeline we see the exact ends for these characters and know their resurrection are bullshit. But move it to an alternate timeline where their ends are less clear and the scenario is more ambiguous and you have not only a better excuse to say they somehow survived, but also a better excuse to rationalize their suddenly changed allegiance.

Except that it'd still break the rules. We know about Gangrel and Walhart's death in an alternate timeline as assuredly as we know about their deaths here. In fact, recruiting them from the alternate timeline would break the entire theme of the game. The theme of the game is that the future isn't set in stone. If we take characters from a world that has a future set in stone and then decide "no, you get to be recruited," then the theme changes from what it is to something different, like a redemption theme. (Think Nebula's arc in Avengers: Endgame, or even Yen'fay's arc here to a degree.) That's why the Emmeryn living works, at least for me, because it's the ultimate denial of the idea that the future is a set path. Aversa could work, but it'd be more like Nebula's arc in Avengers: Endgame in the sense of "what you say you want isn't what you really want or need," and that would raise more questions than answers, I think. 

And the more timelines you bring in, the more confusing things get and the more unclear the story is. Morgan and The Future Past worlds are confusing enough, why add more to that? Which Grima is the Big Bad? Did Walhart lose the battle in his world and come here to join with us - more losers - to defeat Grima? Or would he just take over his younger self's world and use his foresight to fight Grima again? At least when it comes to the villains of this world, the excuse of "I lost my way, but my ultimate fate doesn't have to be as the villain who lost their way and died. I have a chance to do something good, because as long as I'm breathing, my future isn't set in stone." That, while imperfectly handled, fits better with the theme of Awakening than just "let's add in another multiverse and then justify it." (Or more likely not justify it and leave it as a giant plot hole.)

 

1 hour ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

"Grima will wait patiently for his revenge, but only until the player is done grinding and recruiting FreeLC allies. After that point, he will begin his assault."

Or maybe it's "Grima wants to wipe you out, but he needs time to power up. You've got [insert amount of time for optimal grinding] to get stronger before he's unstoppable. Or you can attack him now and pray to other gods for victory." 

I personally don't care either way people rationalize it since it doesn't bother me either way. Just felt like it should be noted. 

 

Anyways, @Jotari is right, this is getting off track. Sorry about that. 

Edited July 11, 2022 by Use the Falchion

[Jotari]

Not Forgotten: After defeating Gharnef, Lorenz and Wendell travel to a desert stronghold in order to find the missing heirs of Trust that had been kidnapped and taken hostage by the malevolent sorcerer. Standing in their way is the only female manakete in Archanea not named Tiki.

[MadBoar]

In radiant dawn, Skrimir and Soren disagree about their battle tactics. They run into an army led by Levail. After forcing Levail to retreat, Skrimir and Soren learn the value in each other's contrasting tactics.