To Become an Elitist [Playlogs FE1-5] [currently playing: Thracia 776]

[Interdimensional Observer]

3 hours ago, Jotari said:

The suffering of the common man? Seliph only lived hunted by the Lopt Sect and the Empire all his life. I don't think we're meant to believe growing up in Tir Na NOg was a resort for him.

For Leif, b/c Thracia!, we certainly know it wasn't.

For Seliph? Blame... something!?! ...for threadbare writing that doesn't give us so palpable a feel for how Seliph has lived. Or thinks and feels for that matter.

[Revier]

3 hours ago, Jotari said:

The Ghost Scene with Sigurd is, like all Seliph scenes in my view, nice in isolation. Sigurd takes Seliph down a peg, humbles him and stressed that all of this is being done for the common person. But, this just follows the pattern of Seliph:s story beats having little to nothing to do with each other. Like, what the hell? The suffering of the common man? Seliph only lived hunted by the Lopt Sect and the Empire all his life. I don't think we're meant to believe growing up in Tir Na NOg was a resort for him. He has felt the suffering of the common man because he's been down in the trenches with them. And when does he ever display any iota of arrogance that would suggest he thinks his victory over Alvis was single handed? And how would the spirit of Sigurd understand the plight of the common man any better than Seliph? Sigurd grew up in luxury all his life, and even after things went bad for him he still lived in a Castle in Silesse with a close personal relationship with the ruling queen. Sigurd has always had a power base and people looking up to him. Death just bestows enlightenment, I guess

This, pretty much. It's a decent scene on its own merits, but feels phoned into the greater plot. I think it would work better if the focus was on addressing the problems that led to this debacle, but well, those were mostly not Sigurd's fault, just the result of an evil cult being permitted to exist and puppeteer important people. So actually, there's no good way to make this work in context of the greater plot. Bummer.

Not much else to say about the ending, besides dropping a special mention for Arvis' sick beats. I really do think Genealogy would be a lot better if it scaled enemies better to keep up with your crazy overpowered fighters. That, or nerfed them a bit, but that's not as fun.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

8 hours ago, ping said:

Well then, time to kill some Roteritter (would one decline that noun?)

I, for one, would gladly accept it.

My assumption is, it's a faction name. Like "Cross Knights", which we would certainly keep capitalized.

8 hours ago, ping said:

: "Oh, right. You're concerned about my low resistance to magic, aren't you? Are you sure? I've heard that few spells endanger the caster as much as Ward does. Look, Sharlow. I'm honored, but I don't want you risking yourself for my sake."

Interesting - this suggests that Ward is a kind of "wandless magic", that drains the user's quintessence. Basically, how Valentia handled spells.

8 hours ago, ping said:

Speaking of things that will make you feel old - I think being told that you're "like a parent" to them by somebody less than 10 years younger than you will probably do the trick.

Oof. Also, apparently Hannibal never married, and raised Sharlow all on his own.

...Or, alternatively, he had a husband, giving Sharlow two adoptive fathers. Double the dad jokes to deal with!

8 hours ago, ping said:

And it's even fully repaired! Pretty sure Sigurd didn't scrape enough money together for that.

Good guy Arvis, made sure to bring it to the blacksmith.

8 hours ago, ping said:

: "Rely on the Heart of the Cards, you must! Hrm."

: "Well well well, Seliph-boy. You may have come this far, but I still hold all 12 Egyptian Deadlords. Only the five pieces of Naga, the Forbidden One, could possibly save you now!"

 

8 hours ago, ping said:

: "Julia, right? You must be worried something fierce. Heh... Got a little thing for her, do you?"

I'll take this as evidence that Lewyn doesn't actually know who Julia is, or even that she has Naga blood. I think that came up recently in the thread?

Jeez, Lewyn. Either he doesn't know, or he just pretends not to. If he's actually ignorant of Julia's origin... that's a pretty glaring blind spot. He already mentioned that Julius is Deirdre's son, making him Seliph's half-brother. He also discovered a girl... at the same age... in the same location... with nearly the same name as Julius. Who also has the same class and hair color as Deirdre. I don't understand how he's not connecting the dots. Hell, given what the ending reveals about Lewyn, it's bewildering that he'd need to connect any dots in the first place.

3 hours ago, Jotari said:

Like, what the hell? The suffering of the common man? Seliph only lived hunted by the Lopt Sect and the Empire all his life. I don't think we're meant to believe growing up in Tir Na NOg was a resort for him.

Seliph learns a lesson he doesn't have to. But in Sigurd's defense, he never went to Isaach. So maybe his ghost wasn't able to watch him there. Not sure how "force ghosts" work in this world, in any case.

12 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Thinking of what Saias would look like, hypothetically, gameplay-wise.:

Definitely like this proposed handling of Saias! A Gotoh is something both generations is missing. Both generations are very front-loaded, with no recruitables in the last two chapters of each. Even with these stats, Nihil, and Valflame access, I don't think he'd be "broken". With only 5 move in High Priest, it's not like he would keep up in efficient play - without lots of Dance, Rescue, or Warp use.

11 hours ago, Jotari said:

It's Biran in English too. Never even heard of Bern.

Ah, that's English English. Flavoured with a bunch of unnecessary "u"s, and centred on "r before e". In American English, it's Bern.

22 hours ago, Jotari said:

On the subject of book burning, I do wonder what happened to the Lopt tome after the Crusaders' war. Did the good guys get it, not know how to destroy it and just kept it in a meseum with Manfroy only getting it when he gained control of the empire? Or did Galle's followers managed to pick it up off his dead body without Heim noticing and it spent the last century enshrined in the Yied Shrine with Manfroy having it the entire time?

Uh, maybe all the good guys were too scared to touch it? The last person who did got possessed by a dark dragon.

12 hours ago, Jotari said:

But really, the most fun he could possibly bring from Thracia is the Rewarp staff. Let's have him zoom across mountains warping himself around the final chapter, not with infinite range ala Thracia of course, no with the physic and status staff ranges Genealogy has. Because those 10 tile Genealogy ranges are all tile in Thracia because it is smaller.

I would imagine that an FE4 Rewarp staff would let the user self-transport between conquered castles. Warp, but targeting the self, rather than an adjacent ally.

19 hours ago, ping said:

It's a hard choice from the perspective of the children. On the one hand, you get incredible speed, solid +dmg skills, and maybe even Forseti... but on the other hand, your dad's going to be Lewyn.

Who needs therapy? With the Speed bost from Sety holy blood, you can just run from all your problems!

[Jotari]

2 hours ago, Revier said:

This, pretty much. It's a decent scene on its own merits, but feels phoned into the greater plot. I think it would work better if the focus was on addressing the problems that led to this debacle, but well, those were mostly not Sigurd's fault, just the result of an evil cult being permitted to exist and puppeteer important people. So actually, there's no good way to make this work in context of the greater plot. Bummer.

"The Crusaders made a grave mistake, Seliph. They didn't commit genocide hard enough. You must learn from history. Be wiser than those who came before you. Make sure you eradicate the enemy completely. Let no tolerance of alternate religions flourish in this land. Make this, the Last Holy War."

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

In American English, it's Bern.

American? Never heard of the place.

[Revier]

36 minutes ago, Jotari said:

"The Crusaders made a grave mistake, Seliph. They didn't commit genocide hard enough. You must learn from history. Be wiser than those who came before you. Make sure you eradicate the enemy completely. Let no tolerance of alternate religions flourish in this land. Make this, the Last Holy War."

Tbh "Don't let Satanists gain power" is good advice, just too broad and obvious to be useful.

[ping]

11 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Man, with jumps like that, Celice could attack Berwick Saga wyvern with 0 range attacks.

Fun Fact: In his initial appearance, Superman couldn't fly, only jump really high and far.

...which doesn't have that much to do with your comment, but I managed to amuse myself with the image of Seliph (or any other horse unit) imitating flight in a similar way.

10 hours ago, RPGuy96 said:

A lot of Saias talk already here, but this seems like another time for him to show up!  Arvis tries to legitimize his bastard and place him over Julius after whatever happened with Julius vs Deidre and Julia.  But now that Julius has awakened to his power, he (and Manfroy) aren't having it.  Arvis goes from proud Emperor to the broken old man we see in Chapter 10 after losing everyone dear to him, Deidre is dead, Julia is missing, Saias is allowed to live but banished from Grannvalle, Julius becomes Emperor in all but name, and the Lopt sect start their child hunts.

I remember barely anything about Saias's actual character, but in concept, I like this a lot. A nice, concrete plan instead of the vague "Arvis banished Julius, or tried to, didn't work" that we got.

7 hours ago, Jotari said:

The Ghost Scene with Sigurd is, like all Seliph scenes in my view, nice in isolation. Sigurd takes Seliph down a peg, humbles him and stressed that all of this is being done for the common person. But, this just follows the pattern of Seliph:s story beats having little to nothing to do with each other. Like, what the hell? The suffering of the common man? Seliph only lived hunted by the Lopt Sect and the Empire all his life. I don't think we're meant to believe growing up in Tir Na NOg was a resort for him. He has felt the suffering of the common man because he's been down in the trenches with them. And when does he ever display any iota of arrogance that would suggest he thinks his victory over Alvis was single handed? And how would the spirit of Sigurd understand the plight of the common man any better than Seliph? Sigurd grew up in luxury all his life, and even after things went bad for him he still lived in a Castle in Silesse with a close personal relationship with the ruling queen. Sigurd has always had a power base and people looking up to him. Death just bestows enlightenment, I guess.

Honestly, I don't even like it in isolation. What Deirdre ("power of friendship, yay!") and Sigurd ("stay humble, son") have to offer aren't exactly fresh new concepts, nor are they really specific to Seliph's character or situation. For me, all it does is take a previously underlying theme ("despite being orphaned at a very young age, Seliph's life is still influenced by his parents's deeds") and turns it into a baseball bat to hit you over the head with by making Sigurd and Deirdre physically (or rather ectoplasmally) watch over Seliph's progress.

3 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

: "Well well well, Seliph-boy. You may have come this far, but I still hold all 12 Egyptian Deadlords. Only the five pieces of Naga, the Forbidden One, could possibly save you now!"

"My mother's family has no pathetic members except you, Julius. But it does contain... the unstoppable Julia!"
"Gah!  Impossible!"

(Sorry, I'm not actually familiar with actual Yugioh, outside of watching some of the early episodes disjointedly as a wee lad, and then the abridged version later. Pretty sure you're quoting Pegasus-man there, but I have no idea how that scene plays out.)

3 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Ah, that's English English. Flavoured with a bunch of unnecessary "u"s, and centred on "r before e". In American English, it's Bern.

Look at those Ameripoors. Can't even afford the printer ink to write every letter 😭

2 hours ago, Jotari said:

"The Crusaders made a grave mistake, Seliph. They didn't commit genocide hard enough. You must learn from history. Be wiser than those who came before you. Make sure you eradicate the enemy completely. Let no tolerance of alternate religions flourish in this land. Make this, the Last Holy War."

: "Evil child-murdering cults are like seeds."

4 hours ago, Revier said:

Not much else to say about the ending, besides dropping a special mention for Arvis' sick beats. I really do think Genealogy would be a lot better if it scaled enemies better to keep up with your crazy overpowered fighters. That, or nerfed them a bit, but that's not as fun.

I think the second generation is an especially severe case of the usual FE problem that the powerlevel of a player's endgame team is extremely variable, so it's tough to create an endgame that is challenging for an optimised team, but still doable if the player didn't reset for the OP bosskiller, didn't focus XP on the good growth units, or, in Genealogy's case, didn't set up inheritance. Most games of the series, as far as I'm aware, tend to be somewhat frontloaded with their difficulty as a result.

[Jotari]

5 minutes ago, ping said:

Honestly, I don't even like it in isolation. What Deirdre ("power of friendship, yay!") and Sigurd ("stay humble, son") have to offer aren't exactly fresh new concepts, nor are they really specific to Seliph's character or situation. For me, all it does is take a previously underlying theme ("despite being orphaned at a very young age, Seliph's life is still influenced by his parents's deeds") and turns it into a baseball bat to hit you over the head with by making Sigurd and Deirdre physically (or rather ectoplasmally) watch over Seliph's progress.

That's what I meant. Or at least what I was trying to say.  "Your truth is not the reality of all" is a really good message, it just has absolutely nothing to do with Sigurd, Seliph or the story that is currently being told.

[Saint Rubenio]

19 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I've put some thought into it before. And I've a liking for Gotohs (the archetype, not "Lewyn's" true identity).

Thinking of what Saias would look like, hypothetically, gameplay-wise.:

• Saias would have Nihil as in 776 of course, it is what his father gave him. And maybe Charm given it was his schtick.
• Probably wouldn't make him level 30, more like 24-26, to give him a few level-ups for the flavor of it.
• Ironically, neither High Priest nor Bishop can use Light magic in Genealogy though that's the only magic they can in Thracia, so he'd have to grab a different utilitarian starting tome, not like you'd more than five uses out of it when Valflame would be the entire reason for having him.
• Statwise, well super-high Mag would be guaranteed. And really they'd all be not bad in terms of bases, with growths an afterthought.
• However, High Priest having a maximum of 18 Def (I'd think Saias would join with something like 13) means he wouldn't actually be physically particularly bulky even with Valflame's +10. He could probably reach his 23 Res maximum and be near-immune to enemy spells thanks to the 'Flame though.
• I'm not sure if Saias would stand to benefit all that much from Pursuit. 67 Res-hitting Atk in the final chapter probably wouldn't OHKO all that much, but Valflame is on the heavy side and doesn't have a Spd bonus like the other holy tomes.

Now, narratively weaving him into the fold, let me say this upfront- I don't see him and Arvis hugging. They're both grown men, probably neither is the openly-emotional type either (Arvis at least is possibly privately quite tender). Has Arvis heard the rumors about Saias before, does he believe them, does Saias mention his mother and subtly allude to Arvis being the one who sired him? What even was the relationship between Arvis and Aida? -How these questions would get answered would be necessary to determine how Arvis and Saias interact in their lone instance (or two with an earlier one in Chapter 10 as well) of doing so. 

What I can imagine, is that Saias never once refers to Arvis as "father", always at the remove of "Emperor/Your Majesty", as he has been his entire life. Although, Arvis would promise him Valflame with his passing, and ask him to help oversee the transition of Grannvale to its post-Empire state (which is his 776 ending). Saias would likewise part from the living Arvis probably with more a sense of deep respect for the Emperor than for his lifelong absent dad, but not necessarily any hate about (or sympathy regarding the circumstances that led to) that absence either.

As for the retrieval of Valflame, yeah, it probably should happen in front of Seliph, leading him to know who Saias really is. Although Saias would not outright say to Seliph "Arvis was my father". I was thinking more Seliph tries vocalizing his realization of this revelation, and Saias cuts him off mid-sentence, saying "Let us prepare for what lay ahead, my Lord, the Empire shall mount a great counteroffensive soon enough. Leave me to find some reverential servants and Bragi priests here at Chalphy to tend to the Emperor's body for now. I for my part must return the sacred tome to Velthomer. I shall provide you with my full support from now through the restoration of the old Kingdom that is follow, Lord Seliph, such was the Emperor's last will.". Seliph implicitly realizing that Saias wishes not to have his holy blood spoken of, nor be placed in the line of Velthomerian succession.

IntSys?

Take notes.

18 hours ago, Jotari said:

But then you'd need to design a Gen 1 portrait for him. Or not. He could buy some of Manfroy's aging cream.  "Lopt Brand anti-aging cream, it won't make you look young, but it will make you look the same level of old no matter how many decades pass! And now onto our next product. Even you can conceive when you're in your late 90s with our Duma Strength Viagra".

Well, that. That took a turn.

18 hours ago, Jotari said:

It's Biran in English too. Never even heard of Bern.

...huh.

Lundgren has such a funny face.

15 hours ago, ping said:

And it's even fully repaired! Pretty sure Sigurd didn't scrape enough money together for that.

Palmark's been working three jobs for 20 years to earn the money.

15 hours ago, ping said:

Now, Arvis. I know that Seliph has to be the one to defeat him in order to get him to see ghosts, so nobody even tried chipping him before Seliph returns.

I'll actually be interested in seeing this, because in my run... Uh, well...

15 hours ago, ping said:

Sharlow promotes and does some arenaing. Massigli is a massive roadblock for him, since Sharlow has no +dmg skills whatsoever to swing the unfavourable numbers, but some start-of-turn save abuse during Oifey's arena run allows him to eventually overcome him.

...I don't even bother with the second Jormungand user, though. Five out of seven ain't bad.

I like these Lopt cultists just hanging out in the arena. Damn, Manfroy really did get his paws on every corner of the continent. Even the arena is within his grasp!

15 hours ago, ping said:

Not a huge fan of this scene, to be honest. Very heavy-handed. Seliph's story has a bit of a theme going that he's standing on his parents' shoulders - game-mechanically in the form of inheritance, but he also benefits from Sigurd's reputation and the personal friendships he had forged. Most directly Shanan and Oifey, but there's also Fee who is moved to help Seliph by Erin's stories about Sigurd. I liked that better when there was more subtlety about it.

Kaga was really proud of his theme and was afraid you'd miss it. So here he put... this scene that is impossible to get unless you read a guide.

15 hours ago, ping said:

: "Julia, right? You must be worried something fierce. Heh... Got a little thing for her, do you?"

Lewyn, she has been kidnapped by evil cultists and, following all logic and reason, is currently lying in a shallow grave.

15 hours ago, ping said:

And endgame time it is. I don't think I have much to add to what I've already said about the chapter. Arvis mostly good, but with too little stage presence. Julius... mixed, although I think I'll keep my thoughts on that for the summary after finishing the game, since it intertwines with some other thoughts. Ishtar still hasn't had a chance to actually do something to make herself appear more sympathetic.

And now for the grand finale.

I have thoughts about it. I will wait to share them until the time is right.

10 hours ago, Jotari said:

Like, what the hell? The suffering of the common man? Seliph only lived hunted by the Lopt Sect and the Empire all his life. I don't think we're meant to believe growing up in Tir Na NOg was a resort for him. He has felt the suffering of the common man because he's been down in the trenches with them.

It's really funny because then Kaga does it again in Thracia 776. It's like he thinks being a nobleman is some sort of inherent trait that naturally sets a person apart from everyone around them, even if they grow up in identical circumstances.

6 hours ago, Revier said:

besides dropping a special mention for Arvis' sick beats.

Can I just drop a take hot as vallflame?

I don't particularly like this theme. I don't know, it feels a mite too... chipper? For the occasion? I feel like this kinda would've fit Travant better. Arvis should've had a more somber theme.

6 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

of. Also, apparently Hannibal never married, and raised Sharlow all on his own.

...Or, alternatively, he had a husband, giving Sharlow two adoptive fathers. Double the dad jokes to deal with!

Plot twist: Hannibal's husband lives in his beard. That's why he's never seen.

2 hours ago, ping said:

: "Evil child-murdering cults are like seeds."

Yeah, not like Garon, who's just an evil child-murdering king with exactly two cronies that he has do everything.

[Interdimensional Observer]

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Can I just drop a take hot as vallflame?

I don't particularly like this theme. I don't know, it feels a mite too... chipper? For the occasion? I feel like this kinda would've fit Travant better. Arvis should've had a more somber theme.

I'm not exactly fond of it either. Hardin got the better emperor battle theme. First note of Arvis's theme is fine, the rest, it's not a bad boss theme, I'd be fine with it being used against almost anyone else, but indeed the notes are too airy for fighting Arvis. I feel like it'd be fine if Seliph was shedding tears for his parents as he dashed through the flames steadying Tyrfing as he prepares to strike down the man he hates -but I don't know if Seliph can cry or hate.

Although, again, my real musical nitpick for Genealogy, is Gen 2 sharing a normal battle theme with Gen 1. It's laziness in a game with a glut of music elsewhere, and the normal battle theme is clear and uncluttered, which is fine for one generation, but too generic and sterile to suffice for two.

[Revier]

TBH I find the generic battle themes quite weak, either for player or enemy side. I'd much prefer to keep the chapter and enemy phase themes on during them.

[Saint Rubenio]

2 hours ago, Revier said:

TBH I find the generic battle themes quite weak, either for player or enemy side. I'd much prefer to keep the chapter and enemy phase themes on during them.

This isn't an unpopular take. It probably is better how they do it in modern FE. Instead of jarring battle themes interrupting the map songs, there are "intense" versions of the map themes that the game seamlessly switches to when a battle starts. In the last two FEs boss themes even continue playing after a boss is first fought until they die, which is better than hearing the first two notes of the boss theme over and over.

[ping]

FE4 Endgame: The Final Holy War

Chalphy --> Edda

Spoiler

Seliph's long journey is drawing to a close. His army's victories are a beacon of hope to the Empire's victims, and a wave of further rebellions sweeps across Jugdral.

____

Meanwhile, Verdane... exists or something, idc.

Duke Brian of Bozel and the axe knights of the Grauenritter; Duke Scorpius and his elite archers, the Beigenritter; and Freege's Queen Hilda and the war-mages of the Gelbenritter stand between Seliph and the capital. Belhalla itself lurks under an eerie silence, as Ishtar and the enigmatic twelve Deadlords lie in wait to defend Prince Julius himself. Over a year has passed since that fateful first battle in Isaach. The tragic struggle pitting kin versus kin wears on, splitting the Twelve Crusaders between the light and the dark...

So begins the final holy war...

♪♫ Of our elaborate plans, the end ♪♫
♪♫ Of everything that stands, the end ♪♫
♪♫ No safety or surprise, the end ♪♫
♪♫ I'll never pay money to trade items again ♪♫

: "Father died, you say..."
: "The Emperor had long served his purpose, Your Majesty. He was little more than an obstacle to your ambitions. He had to die."
: "Pfeh. I almost feel sorry for him. All his life he was your tool, Manfroy, only to be thrown away so casually..."
: "All in your empire's name, Your Majesty. Arvis was a lost cause. To think he, a man of Loptyr's blood, dared to challenge the revivale of the empire! The righteous heart of the crusader Vala burned too fiercely within him. It was only a matter of time until he turned on you."
: "I know, I know... Now then. I hear those rebels have stumbled as far as Chalphy. Are our defenses really that pathetic?"
: "Rest assured. I've already tasked Edda's Bishop Rodan and Brian of Dozel with purging Chalphy of those vermin. You've no need to worry, Your Majesty."
: "Don't I, now... Where's Julia?"
: "She awaits her end in the dungeon... You there! Bring us Princess Julia!"

♪♫ Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain ♪♫
♪♫ And all the children are insane ♪♫

: "Ah, Julia. It's been a while, hasn't it? Tell me, do you know who I am?"
: "Julius... My brother, Julius..."
: "Oho! So you do still remember! I can hardly believe seven long years have passed since you slipped away."
: "I... That night is seared into my memory, clear as if it were only yesterday..."

The killer awoke before dawn
He put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived, and then he
Paid a visit to the Dark Bishop and then he
He walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door
And he looked inside

: "That night... The night Manfroy came with that eerie black tome... Nothing was ever the same again. My real brother, the kind and caring boy I once knew and loved so, died that night. In his place stood a demon of terrifying power... My brother in name only. You... You monster... You've taken my mother and my brother from me! Who are you? WHAT are you? Why... Why must you torment us all so?!"
: "I am the heir of Loptyr's kin, and the inheritor of his limitless power. This world belongs rightfully to me. And you, Julia? You are the heiress to the power of Naga, my eternal foe. I cannot allow you to live any longer!"

"Father?" "Yes, son?" "I want to kill you"
"Sister? I want to... actually, I want to kill you, too."

: "Using Naga's power to serve me? Interesting... Very interesting. Very well! I must return to Belhalla. Julia is yours, Manfroy. But be warned. Be extremely careful! Even a single mistake with her could cost her dearly."

Fuck, fuck-ah, yeah
Fuck, fuck
Fuck, fuck
Fuck, fuck, fuck yeah!
Come on baby, come on
Fuck me baby, fuck yeah
Woah
Fuck, fuck, fuck, yeah!

...wait, no, that doesn't really work that well here. Hmm...

Kill
kill
kill
kill
kill
kill

♪♫ This is the end ♪♫
♪♫ Beautiful friend ♪♫
♪♫ This is the end ♪♫
♪♫ My only friend, the end ♪♫

Similar to the big firework celebrations at the midway point of the game, Julia's "Who are you? WHAT are you?" is a great twist/revelation that I can't fully appreciate because I already knew. The previous chapter (or chapters, I don't quite remember how long this goes back) already set up the idea that "no human would ever do these things", and Julia's outburst, while not outright saying it, functionally states that Julius is possessed, if not fully taken over by Loptyr (or the Loptyr tome, which at this point could still just be a cursed artifact).

On a less positive note, I also have to point out that Julius is going along with Manfroy's idiotic plan very quickly, considering that he recognises Julia as the greatest threat to his power and his life. It's necessary, to a degree, to allow this dramatic confrontation to take place and have Julia not bite the dust at the end of it - but if I ever see anybody point to Ethlyn and Quan as the dumbest idiots of this game, I'm going to assume that that anybody never played the entirely to Genealogy.

: "His Majesty has issued his command. Priest and sellsword units! Defend Edda itself with your very lives! Cavalry unit, move in on Chalphy! Reclaim our land from the rebels!"

: "Yeah, that's what this is. Julius is descended from Loptyrian royalty, and he's been working to revive the dark empire. No matter what it takes, we must stop him."
: "It feels as if you know everything, Lewyn. I'm beginning to feel left out... Please, what in the world are you talking about?"
: "Yeah, sorry about that, Seliph. I know there's a lot I've not been telling you. I've spent over a decade on a journey to figure out the truth behind all this, and I'm finally onto a bigger picture here."
: "...The bigger picture? "
: "It seems the old Loptyr Empire's founder, the Bishop Galle, dedicated his youth to a world-exploring voyage across the seas. He desired nothing less than to drink the blood of a legendary beast. Even a single drop, he believed, would bestow upon any human limitless power."
: "Do... do you mean the dragonkin of old? It couldn't be... Is that not a myth?"
: "You'd think so, but... When Galle returned to Jugdral, he bore bizarre powers nobody else understood. With these powers, he set to work swaying youths across the land to aid his ambitions. Before anyone else realized, he'd raised a fell legeion unflinchingly loyal to his cause."
: "Where, then, does Loptyr enter the tale?"
: "Odds are Loptyr was a dragon himself. Every last one of Galle's heirs has borne the blood of the dragonkin. The dark powers Loptyr's kin command are nothing more than the dragonkin's powers."
: "And what of the Crusaders?"
: "I'm sure you know how the legend goes. The gods descended upon twelve warriors of the old liberators at the fortress of Darna. But..."
: "But?"
: "Sorry, Seliph, but this'll have to wait. The enemy's just about on our doorstep."

I smell a sequence of plot dumps incoming. Every time our boy Seliph seizes a thr-- castle.

Before getting to the map, I'll quickly go over the arena. With everybody at, or close to, Lv.30, I don't really need to have everybody beat every opponent - which is nice, because this last arena is actually quite a lot more tough than the other ones in gen2. I believe all the opponents are the final bosses of previous arena runs. I still have a decent portion of the team run the whole gauntlet - sometimes for the money to repair their staves or holy weapons, but also just out of principle.

(By the way - despite all the deserved shit-talking about the Lck stat: That extra avoid that Lana gets from her 29 Lck does help with her odds in the arena, where her flimsy Def would otherwise pose a significant problem)

The opponents are as follows:

(1) Dulles - Lv.19 General - Skill: Pavise
	59 HP | 17 Def | 4 Res
	[Steel Blade] - 31 Atk | 82 Hit | 8 Avo | 4 AS
	[Steel Bow]   - 29 Atk

(2) Chaimos - Lv.23 Hero - Skill: Pursuit
	63 HP | 13 Def | 5 Res
	[Steel Blade] - 34 Atk | 96 Hit | 24 Avo | 12 AS

(2R) Marilyn - Lv.23 Sniper - Skill: Pursuit
	63 HP | 13 Def
	[Silver Bow] - 36 Atk | 106 Hit | 20 Avo | 10 AS

(3) Xenon - Lv.23 Swordmaster - Skills: Pursuit, Adept
	63 HP | 13 Def | 5 Res
	[Silver Sword] - 32 Atk | 122 Hit | 36 Avo | 18 AS

(3R) Jackson - Lv.23 Sniper - Skill: Pursuit
	63 HP | 13 Def
	[Killer Bow] - 32 Atk | 136 Hit | 30 Avo | 15 AS

(4) Thornton - Lv.27 Great Knight - Item: Shield Ring
	67 HP | 18+5 Def | 5 Res
	[Brave Axe] - 36 Atk | 100 Hit | 6 Avo | 3 AS

(4R) Luigi - Lv.27 Arch Knight - Item: Shield Ring
	67 HP | 16+5 Def
	[Brave Bow] - 32 Atk | 112 Hit | 16 Avo | 8 AS

(5) Canaan - Lv.27 Baron - Skill: Pavise - Item: Magic Ring
	72 HP | 20 Def | 9 Res
	[Tornado] - 34 Atk | 100 Hit | 26 Avo | 13 AS

(6) Atlas - Lv.30 Baron - Skill: Pavise - Item: Skill Ring
	75 HP | 21 Def | 10 Res
	[Bolganone] - 30 Atk | 112 Hit | 8 Avo | 4 AS

(7) Zeus - Lv.30 Emperor - Skill: Pavise - Item: Pursuit Band
	75 HP | 24 Def | 18 Res
	[Earth Sword, melee] - 36 Atk | 118 Hit | 38 Avo | 19 AS
	[Earth Sword, range] - 32 Atk

Spoiler

Note: Like Queen, Emperor has Charm as a class skill, so (7) Zeus probably has it, as well. It doesn't change the fight against him either way, though.

(3) Xenon uses a Silver Sword, not a Silver Blade as the wiki states.

(4R) Luigi has 16 Spd, not 15 as the wiki lists:
__
112 (Faval's base hit) - 20 (arena avo) - 76 (disp. hit) = 16 (Luigi's avo)
--> Luigi has 8 AS. Brave Bow has 8 Wt --> Luigi has 16 Spd.

...and The Team at the end:

	  Lv.	  HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res  Funds  XP    Arn
Seliph	  30	  69  25   7  22  22  28  22  16  49200  --    [*]
Leif	  30	  66  27   8  27  27  17  27  11  19472  --    [*]
Oifey	  30	  58  23  10  24  22  14  22   8  50000  +134  [7]
Finn	  30	  51  24   1  18  22  24  21   4  50000  --    [2]

Dermott	  30	  65  23   0  30  25  22  20   7  19957  --    [1]
Nanna	  30	  58  24   7  22  21  24  24   8  42000  --    [*]
Ares	  30	  73  24   9  23  22  19  24  14  33280  --    [*]
Fee	  30	  56  20  17  24  29  15  20  24  25257  --    [1]

Altena	  30	  69  27   3  24  22  11  29   8  32520  +183  [*]
Lester	  30	  58  24   3  18  22  25  18   4  29916  +190  [*]
Arthur	  30	  70   6  23  22  22  27  11  11  24340  --    [1]
Shanan	  30      66  26   1  30  26  13  22   7  14440  +165  [*]

Ulster	  30	  70  27   7  27  25  12  22   4  17500  +152  [*]
Larcei	  30	  69  27   2  30  30  21  22   6  26465  +172  [*]
Patty	  30	  62  22  16  21  27  25  17   9  19350  +49   [*]
Johalvier 30	  60  26   0  19  21   7  25   8  10845  +126  [7]

Hannibal  30	  66  23   1  17  12   8  26   6  28920  +112  [6]
Faval	  30	  68  19  15  20  27  30  13   6  22120  +143  [*]
Ced	  30	  55   5  27  22  30  29  14  27  7800   --    [2]
Tinni	  30	  63   4  27  24  27  30  10  17  50000  +115  [*]

Lana	  30	  61  12  24  24  23  29  12  11  21446  --    [*]
Sharlow	  30      46   4  27  18  18  14   9  17  7663   +242  [3]
Leylia	  13.76	  29   9   2   1  14   8   2   8  16000  +50   [1]

(Technically, this is from the end of the update - Leylia didn't earn 50 XP out of nowhere, and Sharlow had to spam a few staff uses to get to 30 - but by and large, this is the team with which I started the fight.)

The order of business seems fairly predictable: Go to Edda, then Dozel, then Freege - then past Belhalla to rescue Julia at Velthomer, *then* to Belhalla to finally fight Julius. Jungby Castle isn't on the map, but I assume that Scorpio (the cousin of our four Jungby kids) is going to appear in the southeast corner at some point.

The four Loptyr priests (two with Fenrir, two with Silence) northwest of Chalphy are a funny bunch. Yes, they reach Chalphy with their spells, but not anyone who goes east towards Edda. Clearly, they'll become relevant once Dozel wakes up, but Fee with her enormous Res stat should be able to murder them all while everybody else faces the Eddan forces.

Edda's force is fairly big - although the group of horsemen isn't too intimidating. But the defensive line - with tons of long-ranged magic users - seems potentially headache-inducing.

The leader of the horsies is this Waltzy-looking fellow: Brave Sword, Pursuid, and Accost, so he could be dangerous if he can attack one of your weaker units. But his raw stats aren't amazingly strong. His generics use Silvers and Elfire tomes.

__

The castle's defenders are actually two groups: One under Boyce the Swordmaster (with Pursuit, Adept, Critical, and Sol!); the other under Rodan, who isn't particularly noteworthy apart from his Sleep staff. And even with that he isn't too special, since six (!!!) of his underlings carry Sleep, as well - plus four Meteor Bishops and four Bolting Bishops.

On top of the castle is a guy.

__

So, out we ride, killing the for Loptyrians to the east of Chalphy on our way.

Still with most of our forces on the field, but to be honest, I don't see much of a point in moving everybody out. They're Lv.30 anyway, so there isn't much of a reason to feed them kills, so they might as well stay back, not require the button presses to move them around, and watch for potential backstabs.

__

The only "meme" I'm allowing myself here is to use Tinni as our frontliner, but with her good base avoid plus aura support from Seliph, Nanna, and Dermott, she actually isn't half bad at it. ...Now if only she had bought the Pursuit Band off of Johalvier... I might do that for the next part of the map.

__

The following player phase, everybody dies.

____

On the enemy team, that is.

And before I get to the assault on Edda, I'll quickly mention that, as I said earlier, Fee cleans up the Loptyrians northwest of Dozel easily enough.

__

You can actually pull apart the two squad guarding Edda very easily - the physical enemies all move if you step in one of their ranges, while the magical enemies don't move, full stop.

____

Bye, Felicia.

__

But here starts the annoying part: Sleep. Sleep everywhere.

__

I go with the same tactic as I used at Miletos last chapter: Bring so many characters that those Sleep spells don't matter all that much.

__

MORE SLEEP!

__

...and an Altena that actually gets rather low on HP (silly me for not swapping her to a lighter weapon), but actually no chance of death.

I'll admit that I didn't invest much brainpower into this - otherwise, I'm sure I could've figured out how to do this without having a third of my team doze off for a few turns, and without relying on the long-ranged damage spells to be spread out between multiple characters. But to be honest, this is also one of my issues with Genealogy's gameplay in a nutshell - because everything is so variable, it's often too valid a strategy to just shove and see how the RNG works out.

____

Yeah, this definitely could've worked without moving everybody into Sleep range. But no matter - hopefully, we'll see what comes next.

: Oh, of course. Ced and Fee. They're going to be great rulers for Edda. And after all they've been through, I know that'll bring a smile to the people's faces."

And that's the first part of the fight. I did finish the turn, so I'll also show what happens next:

: "Against the full force of Dozel's legendary axe knights, the Grauenritter, the rebels stand no chance! They'll drop like leaves!"
: "At once, milord!"

(I know, wrong colour on the clothes, but come on...)

"Grauenritter" is a pretty good, edgy name for a group of evil knights, by the way. It's still yet another colour (the Grey Knights), but can also be parsed as "Dread Knights".

__

This is actually interesting: Two groups of enemies attack Chalphy and Edda at once...

__

...with the force sent against Chalphy being significantly stronger. Although the generic Great Knights don't have the greatest accuracy, so I think I should be able to set up some reliable interception. But Brian himself is of yet another caliber, with Helswath raising his defenses to pretty ridiculous levels.

__

By contrast, the guys attacking Edda are a bunch of chumps. Even Philip... IV, I think? isn't even as strong as a generic Grauerritter.

But I haven't played that next part, or even just figured how exactly I'm going to approach this, so that'll have to wait for another day.

 

10 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I'll actually be interested in seeing this, because in my run... Uh, well...

You are a crazy man, Ruben. Godspeed. Hannibalspeed, even.

10 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Yeah, not like Garon, who's just an evil child-murdering king with exactly two cronies that he has do everything.

: "Evil child-murdering cults are like seeds. You must plant and nurture them until they grow into full genocidal bloom."

Edited April 22 by ping

[Saint Rubenio]

38 minutes ago, ping said:

____

Meanwhile, Verdane... exists or something, idc.

This is going to be really funny when we get to the ending.

Anyway, I do like how they just sort of go "oh by the way these countries you knew from before are also free now." I can't really fault them for this, though - having return chapters to these places would just feel excessive. Best to just handwave away.

38 minutes ago, ping said:

Dere it is. Brain moment.

39 minutes ago, ping said:

I also have to point out that Julius is going along with Manfroy's idiotic plan very quickly, considering that he recognises Julia as the greatest threat to his power and his life.

And yeah, people usually pin it on Manfroy but Julius just goes with it because we need the villains to become dumb so we can actually win. You know how else we could've won? By not having the random-ass kidnapping happen, so this problem doesn't exist.

40 minutes ago, ping said:

: "Sorry, Seliph, but this'll have to wait. The enemy's just about on our doorstep."

I smell a sequence of plot dumps incoming. Every time our boy Seliph seizes a thr-- castle.

Oh boy. I sure hope this, the thrilling conclusion, won't be one of the dullest chapters in the game.

41 minutes ago, ping said:

__

The castle's defenders are actually two groups: One under Boyce the Swordmaster (with Pursuit, Adept, Critical, and Sol!); the other under Rodan, who isn't particularly noteworthy apart from his Sleep staff. And even with that he isn't too special, since six (!!!) of his underlings carry Sleep, as well - plus four Meteor Bishops and four Bolting Bishops.

I won't lie - when I saw the sleep army, I just gave up on the game and threw Ares at the problem until it stopped existing. By this point I was running on fumes.

41 minutes ago, ping said:

On top of the castle is a guy.

Oh boy. I sure hope this, the thrilling conclusion, won't consist of a guy on top of castles, over and over.

42 minutes ago, ping said:

____

Bye, Felicia.

We got trouble?

42 minutes ago, ping said:

_

I do like how this guy is just confused.

43 minutes ago, ping said:

__

...with the force sent against Chalphy being significantly stronger. Although the generic Great Knights don't have the greatest accuracy, so I think I should be able to set up some reliable interception. But Brian himself is of yet another caliber, with Helswath raising his defenses to pretty ridiculous levels.

This is probably the most interesting part of the chapter. Brian is a legitimate menace. This man is scarier than fucking Julius and Manfroy are - in fact, in my run, with Ares and the other good units in the frontlines, I had nobody that could defend Chalphy from him. So I had to use my benchies to buy time until I could seize the earth under him and make him disappear.

It cost Roddelbahn or whatever's life. No big deal.

44 minutes ago, ping said:

You are a crazy man, Ruben. Godspeed. Hannibalspeed, even.

Hannibalspeed indeed. And this isn't even my craziest thing! I've got just the video for Thracia.

...By the way, since we're coming closer to Thracia... Er, I have a feeling I might've already said it, but I'll say it again just in case: I extend to you Hicks. Please do try to use my guy, Hicks. That is all for this game.

45 minutes ago, ping said:

: "Evil child-murdering cults are like seeds. You must plant and nurture them until they grow into full genocidal bloom."

He's just a silly little guy. Doing silly little guy things.

[BrightBow]

40 minutes ago, ping said:

: "She awaits her end in the dungeon... You there! Bring us Princess Julia!"

Weren't you supposed to have killed her ages ago? How hard can that be?
 

41 minutes ago, ping said:

: "Oho! So you do still remember! I can hardly believe seven long years have passed since you slipped away."

7 years ago. So it's not like Ishtar's boyfriend turning evil is a recent thing.
 

46 minutes ago, ping said:

: "I am the heir of Loptyr's kin, and the inheritor of his limitless power. This world belongs rightfully to me. And you, Julia? You are the heiress to the power of Naga, my eternal foe. I cannot allow you to live any longer!"

 

58 minutes ago, ping said:

...with the force sent against Chalphy being significantly stronger. Although the generic Great Knights don't have the greatest accuracy, so I think I should be able to set up some reliable interception. But Brian himself is of yet another caliber, with Helswath raising his defenses to pretty ridiculous levels.

Most certainly on another level than his brothers.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, ping said:

Huh, that's weird. I could have sworn in my most recent playthrough I specifically noted how weird it was that Brian didn't appear in the chapter intro but but Radan did. Could this be variable based on pairings or something?

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

19 hours ago, Jotari said:

American? Never heard of the place.

Nice try, Kempf.

16 hours ago, ping said:

"My mother's family has no pathetic members except you, Julius. But it does contain... the unstoppable Julia!"
"Gah!  Impossible!"

"Nobody's ever been able to recruit her!"

"Why, because she's so rare?"

"No, because I always accidentally kill her once she's brainwashed."

16 hours ago, ping said:

Look at those Ameripoors. Can't even afford the printer ink to write every letter 😭

You got us. Unlike the Germans, we can't even afford to put two dots over a third of our vowels.

14 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Plot twist: Hannibal's husband lives in his beard. That's why he's never seen.

Hannibal's husband is the beard. They're truly inseperable.

4 hours ago, ping said:

Meanwhile, Verdane... exists or something, idc.

The "no holy blood" nations really get shafted, huh.

4 hours ago, ping said:

but Fee with her enormous Res stat should be able to murder them all while everybody else faces the Eddan forces.

Claud!Fee stonks are approaching a critical mass here.

4 hours ago, ping said:

The castle's defenders are actually two groups: One under Boyce the Swordmaster (with Pursuit, Adept, Critical, and Sol!)

If I'm not mistaken, Boyce has the same portrait as Jacoban - the Gen I Hero who also fought with a Bolt Sword. It was neat of them to give him some scary skills. Finally, a case for Nihil.

4 hours ago, ping said:

The following player phase, everybody dies.

"Nothing personnel, kid!"

*Cantoes behind you*

4 hours ago, ping said:

"Grauenritter" is a pretty good, edgy name for a group of evil knights, by the way. It's still yet another colour (the Grey Knights), but can also be parsed as "Dread Knights".

Ooh, interesting! I did not know that. Finally, a color that sounds like a threat.

4 hours ago, ping said:

But I haven't played that next part, or even just figured how exactly I'm going to approach this, so that'll have to wait for another day.

I actually found a really funny way to trivialize Brian on my last playthrough... hm, but I won't give any unprompted advice. Best of luck dealing with his Helswath.

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I just gave up on the game and threw Ares at the problem until it stopped existing.

That's, like, a solid 80% of the second half of the game.

Like, legitimately, a "no Ares" run might actually be tougher than an "all subs" run.

3 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Weren't you supposed to have killed her ages ago? How hard can that be?

Ever since Julia was given her mother's Circlet, she's been dodging every lethal blow! It's a miracle, I tells ya!

2 hours ago, Jotari said:

Huh, that's weird. I could have sworn in my most recent playthrough I specifically noted how weird it was that Brian didn't appear in the chapter intro but but Radan did. Could this be variable based on pairings or something?

I will keep an eye out for it, on my current playthrough. It wouldn't surprise me either way.

Anyway, kinda funny to think that Brian, of all people, is the only "new face" here. We've already killed Hilda and Ishtar once, while Scorpio is just his dad again. And Julius has dropped in and out, including an in-battle appearance in the last map.

Just a thought, but maybe it would've been better if Julius didn't show up to save Ishtar and Arion. Instead, they find themselves "sucked into the earth" by a black hole. Think of it as an inverse version the "Return" staff, or like a "super-Rescue". The player is left wondering what happened to these two... until chapter 10, where Julius uses the same spell to remove himself, and Ishtar, from the field of battle. It'd put a bit more mystery into the enemy we're facing.

Of course, some players would prefer more time seeing the antagonist. So it's not as though the existing oresentation is a "problem" that needs to be fixed, necessarily.

[Interdimensional Observer]

4 hours ago, ping said:

____

Meanwhile, Verdane... exists or something, idc.

One thing I would've liked- mention of these rebellions in the prior chapter, at least on the villains' side. -But somebody then assures the other villains "but if we win here and kill Seliph, they'll all fall effortlessly overnight".

Likewise, for this the final chapter, I'd like some villain grunt to tell Julius or the like "Our surviving forces withdrawn from Silesse and Agustria have been reorganized for this the defense of the imperial heartland.". To which Julius or Manfroy would respond- "May the worthless lots regain a shred of honor here or die failures to the end.".

Merely little scribbling-ins to make the Empire feel more under pressure.

4 hours ago, ping said:

Edda's force is fairly big - although the group of horsemen isn't too intimidating. But the defensive line - with tons of long-ranged magic users - seems potentially headache-inducing.

As I once heard this nicknamed- "the Wall of Edda". Do ya think they went a little overboard with the "Have Res Or Stay Home!" messaging?

-Although, it is Edda, dukedom of the Holy Staff. Have to represent staffiness.

4 hours ago, ping said:

All...

4 hours ago, ping said:

three...

4 hours ago, ping said:

_

...of these feel out of place. They're the REBEL ARMY THAT SWEPT HALF THE CONTINENT! Bounties? Feeble foes? Senility is the most plausible excuse.

4 hours ago, ping said:

__

...with the force sent against Chalphy being significantly stronger. Although the generic Great Knights don't have the greatest accuracy, so I think I should be able to set up some reliable interception. But Brian himself is of yet another caliber, with Helswath raising his defenses to pretty ridiculous levels.

All I remember of the Dozel phase of this battle is that Seliph, effortlessly methinks soloed the eastern group. And that otherwise... the Dozels are just Prologue barbarians dressed a little fancier and with horses. The easiest part of this final battle, for axes are a joke in Genealogy. 

 

21 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Ooh, interesting! I did not know that. Finally, a color that sounds like a threat.

Fun fact- eminence grise is an actual term. Meaning "grey eminence", it's a synonym for things like "manipulator", "puppet master", and "power behind the throne".

21 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Think of it as an inverse version the "Return" staff, or like a "super-Rescue".

"Entrap" is the word you're looking for I think? Did Fates traumatize you into forgetting it?

Edited April 23 by Interdimensional Observer

[Jotari]

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

The "no holy blood" nations really get shafted, huh.

The ending does say the empire mostly left Verdane alone because "why even bother oppressing them?"

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

I actually found a really funny way to trivialize Brian on my last playthrough... hm, but I won't give any unprompted advice. Best of luck dealing with his Helswath.

My go to Brian counter is to just buy Shannan on the castle and let the enemy feel the wrath of avoid bonuses. Then kill everything by canto retreating into the castle.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

As I once heard this nicknamed- "the Wall of Edda". Do ya think they went a little overboard with the "Have Res Or Stay Home!" messaging?

-Although, it is Edda, dukedom of the Holy Staff. Have to represent staffiness.

 

Seliph did just get that shiny new sword ensuring he has res

[Revier]

6 hours ago, ping said:

On a less positive note, I also have to point out that Julius is going along with Manfroy's idiotic plan very quickly, considering that he recognises Julia as the greatest threat to his power and his life. It's necessary, to a degree, to allow this dramatic confrontation to take place and have Julia not bite the dust at the end of it - but if I ever see anybody point to Ethlyn and Quan as the dumbest idiots of this game, I'm going to assume that that anybody never played the entirely to Genealogy.

Julius: Why haven't you killed Julia yet?
Kaga: B-Because we need an epic dragon fight at the end.
Julius: Hmph. I'll allow it.

6 hours ago, ping said:

But to be honest, this is also one of my issues with Genealogy's gameplay in a nutshell - because everything is so variable, it's often too valid a strategy to just shove and see how the RNG works out.

That, and also only 3-4 people meaningfully get to contribute to the battle at any given time. Which, combined with how ridiculous some units get, pushes things towards the "SRPG tank(s) does everything" meta too quickly.

5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Anyway, I do like how they just sort of go "oh by the way these countries you knew from before are also free now." I can't really fault them for this, though - having return chapters to these places would just feel excessive. Best to just handwave away.

Tbh I kinda like that, it shows that there are actual active rebellions going on elsewhere without Seliph's direct contribution. It just could've used some more buildup is all.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

The easiest part of this final battle, for axes are a joke in Genealogy. 

Yeah that's pretty unfortunate, especially considering how strong Lex seems to be in the beginning. Perhaps some axe shaped spears would've served them better? Not like it matters much, most units die to the awesomeness of Seliph, Ares and Shannan at this point anyway.

Edited April 23 by Revier

[Interdimensional Observer]

11 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Seliph did just get that shiny new sword ensuring he has res

I wasn't saying the staff spam was impossible to overcome, Seliph and likely Ares provide guaranteed bypasses. Almost feels like the Wall of Edda was placed there to highlight the Tyrfing more, since Arvis was one enemy and Seliph didn't have it earlier in C10. Just that -unless you do as ping did and bear with the status staffs by throwing overwhelming manpower at them- you don't have very much flexibility about who you can use for liberating the dukedom.

[ping]

10 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

And yeah, people usually pin it on Manfroy but Julius just goes with it because we need the villains to become dumb so we can actually win. You know how else we could've won? By not having the random-ass kidnapping happen, so this problem doesn't exist.

You don't ask the stream not to flow down the mountain
You don't ask the rock not to fall to the ground
You don't ask Shouzou Kaga not to include a 13th creepy abduction scene in his newest videogame, available on the SNES.

10 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

We got trouble?

"Bye, Felicia" actually has a wikipedia page, which I think is funny.

10 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...By the way, since we're coming closer to Thracia... Er, I have a feeling I might've already said it, but I'll say it again just in case: I extend to you Hicks. Please do try to use my guy, Hicks. That is all for this game.

10 hours ago, BrightBow said:

7 years ago. So it's not like Ishtar's boyfriend turning evil is a recent thing.

Welp, I was going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she got together with normal Julius, but... guess not.

10 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Most certainly on another level than his brothers.

And here I was hoping that Larcei could go out and channel her inner Sheeda once more.

6 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

You got us. Unlike the Germans, we can't even afford to put two dots over a third of our vowels.

Wales is secretly the wealthiest place in the world.

6 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

If I'm not mistaken, Boyce has the same portrait as Jacoban - the Gen I Hero who also fought with a Bolt Sword. It was neat of them to give him some scary skills. Finally, a case for Nihil.

Well, that or a case for Forseti go brrr.

6 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

One thing I would've liked- mention of these rebellions in the prior chapter, at least on the villains' side. -But somebody then assures the other villains "but if we win here and kill Seliph, they'll all fall effortlessly overnight".

Likewise, for this the final chapter, I'd like some villain grunt to tell Julius or the like "Our surviving forces withdrawn from Silesse and Agustria have been reorganized for this the defense of the imperial heartland.". To which Julius or Manfroy would respond- "May the worthless lots regain a shred of honor here or die failures to the end.".

Merely little scribbling-ins to make the Empire feel more under pressure.

Not to congratulate myself too much over my Ch.10 relocation idea - but if that penultimate chapter took place around Evans Castle, you would be able to integrate that into gameplay, too. Manfroy/Julius give orders for the local garrisons from Agustria, Verdane, and Silesse (they're pegasi, so that still works) to move to Grannvale even though these rebellions have broken out. Or maybe it's even Arvis giving the order, seemingly to crush Seliph, but really to make sure that those rebellions don't get brutally subdued, and because he gauges that Seliph's army has a better shot at handling those troops even if they're combined. Or maybe he trusts that they don't all arrive at the same time.

4 hours ago, Revier said:

Yeah that's pretty unfortunate, especially considering how strong Lex seems to be in the beginning. Perhaps some axe shaped spears would've served them better? Not like it matters much, most units die to the awesomeness of Seliph, Ares and Shannan at this point anyway.

I've seen people say that Lex isn't all that hot even with the Brave Axe, but I have to say that he held his own even in the later stages of the game. Even in Silessia, with all its wind mages, he could still one-round those (although +hit auras do help), and against physical enemies, he's just straight up the tankiest character in Gen 1. Except for Bridget, who in my final stat overview is listed with 81 Def because of a typo

 

[ping]

FE4 Endgame: The Final Holy War

Edda --> Dozel --> Freege

Spoiler

____

How To Trivialise Dozel: Use Dermott.

He has 76 avoid vs. the Great Knights' 98 hit, so that gives them 2 hit against him after weapon triangle. Add Seliph to the equation and that goes down to 0 without anybody noticing.

And with 40 Atk, he deals 4x18 = 72 dmg against their 70 HP. *Chef's kiss*

__

Do that over the course of two enemy phases, and Brian's entire entourage (well, except for a few healers) is done.

: "How dare you murder my father... Learn the pain and wrath of three generations of House Dozel!"

And Brian himself, well...

Sigurd/Seliph's Silver Sword has 100+ kills, so he has a 72% crit rate with it.

__

(lookit Sharlow being useful!)

Ayra/Beowulf/Dermott's Brave Sword has 74 kills after running through every Grauenritter, which puts him at a 59% crit rate.

: "Even with Helswath, I... I fell so easily? Could it be... Could I have been wrong... all along...?"

Meanwhile, the majority of the unpromoted axe cavs are dealt with by Nanna, who basically could've done the same thing as her brother if given the same resources (namely a Power Ring, Speed Ring for avoid, the gen1 Brave Sword, and a Skill Ring for the better crit rate).

__

: "Damn you all! Your heads are mine to cleave right off!"
: "H-how could this be..."

(contrary to what I said last update, I think this is the fifth Philip, not the fourth. I just already was too lazy to make a portrait for No.IV)

Generic Loptyr man is allowed one Fenrir against Nanna (he misses)...

...before Fee stabs him with yet another crit weapon.

I have this weird sense of déjà-vu here...

__

Before seizing, there is one little surprise: Seliph did not randomly hook up with Lana, which I think the First Mate (?) said earlier is the most likely outcome if you don't pay attention to his love life.

: "Lord Seliph..."
: "Tinni?! Stay back, please! You are ill suited for the front lines!"

"Warmages and war do NOT mix!"

: "All I want is to help you, Lord Seliph. Please... My power is yours!"
: "But I... I couldn't bear to lose you..."
: "I won't leave your side, Lord Seliph. The thought of meeting the same fate as Lady Deirdre... It's too painful... Please, Lord Seliph. I'll fight at your side till the very end!"
: "You're right... My apologies. How could we not be better off fighting as one? Come, Tinni. We ride together. Your power will bring us victory. I know it!"
: "Lord Seliph... Thank you!"

[+3 Mag --> Seliph]

Well, there is one fate that Tinni shares with Deirdre, and that is that she certainly won't ride together with a twelve-move Seliph without a horse. Honestly, this convo is roughly the 392th time that I've seen some iteration of it in a Fire Emblem game, so I can't really find myself caring too much for it.

I didn't conciously set up this pairing at all, but considering that Tinni starts at 0 love points with Seliph (and everybody else) and only has one convo providing them with a free +100, I suppose I must've kept them adjacent surprisingly often, considering their incredibly different movement types.

Seliph does have the Wind Sword in his inventory, but I believe it's still entirely unused, making the +3 Mag he gained rather useless. I suppose the most efficient romancing (and I feel that's one of the most cringeworthily German things I've ever typed) would've been with Lana after all, who would've given Seliph +2 Res to hit his cap.

After that, Seliph seizes for another cutscene:

: "What a bloody disgrace... How could a pack of idiots like House Dozel be of Crusader heritage? If it weren't for Langbalt, the world wouldn't be in such a mess..."
: "Lewyn, I cannot wait much longer. Just where did the Crusaders' power come from? What in the world are these gods?"
: "I can't say for sure... But whatever they were, they realized that our land's misery was caused by the power of the dragonkin. And so they came to Jugdral from some other world to save the human race. It was they who suddenly appeared at Darna, just as its doom seemed certain."
: "That would be the legendary descent of Naga and the eleven gods found in scripture, yes?"
: "Yeah. They say the gods took human shapes. Naga, the light god, appeared as a little girl, while the fire god Salamand was an old man. With twelve chosen warriors, the gods bound themselves in a blood covenant."
: "A blood covenant?"
: "Basically, the gods drew their own blood with a scratch to the fingertip and presented it to the warriors."
: "...I beg your pardon?!"

dun-DUN-dunn...?

This is played as a big revelation, but I have to wonder: Does this matter?! Comparing this to the similarly awful plot dump at the end of Binding Blade - and I can't believe I'm using that one as a more positive example: Jahn's story time at least changes the historic narrative that Roy had been taught, describing humans and dragons as two sides in a fight for survival instead of the humans being bullied by those dreadful lizards. Here, I suppose that the "gods" are made more mundane, but... the basic narrative is still "Loptyr (super-powerful being) empowered an asshole to conquer the world. Twelve other super-powerful beings decide to help the oppressed to fight back".

But back to Lewyn, who isn't done expositioning yet:

: "With a single taste of the blood of dragons, these once humble warriors of the liberation army were reborn as the Twelve Crusaders. Each dragon presented to their crusader a weapon steeped in their own power. And then, with some final parting words of wisdom to the Crusaders, the dragonkin departed Jugdral."
: "I see... So our power is, in truth, that of dragons..."
: "Now, Loptyr himself is actually from a dragon clan whose fell power is amongst the mightiest of all the dragonkin. The great dragon Naga, strongest of them all, bestowed their own blood upon the leader of the liberation army, the priest Heim. Naga knew only their power could possibly hope to stand against that of Loptyr."
: "So nobody else among the dragonkin would be able to prevail against Loptyr?"
: "It certainly wouldn't be easy, I think. Even if you had every last dragon fighting together, they'd still need Naga's power. This, of course, means that if we're to win today, we'll need the surviving heir to Saint Heim. In other words, one of Deirdre's three children. Of those three, you didn't inherit the full breadth of Naga's blood, and it's pretty obvious that Julius didn't. Actually, I only recently learned who it is. The inheritor of Naga's power is Julius' twin sister... Princess Julia."
: "E-excuse me?!"
: "Yeah, that was more or less my reaction too at first. Julia is Julius's twin sister... which also makes her your sister, Seliph."
: "So all this time... Julia was my sister..."
: "I guess now we know why Manfroy took her to begin with. Needless to say, Seliph, we've got to rescue her, no matter what. We absolutely need Julia's powers if we want any hope of stopping Julius!"

'nother question, Lewyn: How did you figure out that Julia's parentage? I sincerely hope it was after your "so you wanna tap that, eh?" towards Seliph, so it must have been very recently.

But even if this entire exposition dump turns out to be entirely sensible and consistent, I really dislike this way of presenting it. Apart from the pacing issue of Lewyn just barfing it out all at once, there's also no narrative weight to it. Seliph doesn't find out about anything by, say, finding an ancient temple in which the twelve gods are represented as dragon statues. He doesn't even find an ancient sage on top of the tallest mountain. No, the dingus who has been traveling with Seliph for almost the entirety of the second generation just didn't feel like explaining anything until now. Bleh.

Since the conquest of Dozel wasn't the most exhausing of battles, I'll continue to Freege, so let's see how this'll be set up:

: "Dozel's fallen to the rebels? What the hell were my men doing out there?! Feh, why'd I ever expect any better? Worthless cowards, the lot of them! It's time I took this into my own hands. All I need is to lure these flies into my web. Then I can crush them, once and for all! Send Scorpio of Jungby a messenger! Pass on to him this plan. The Gelbenritter will coax the rebels our way, leaving them wide open to a deluge of the Beigenritter's arrows from behind! They'll have nowhere to run or hide. Kill them all! No survivors this time!"

So, here's the next target. For now, not a very diverse group of enemies: Hilda with a bunch of Barons, and a gaggle of Sleep Loptyrians led by your average Fenrir Dark Bishop.

__

Apart from swapping her holy blood, Hilda also lost her Speed Ring while retaining all of her other stats, so she's a bit weaker than she was in Ch.10. However, since she's on the field now, I suppose she's more likely to apply her Charm aura to her mooks.

__

Going from Dozel to Freege is the return of the bad ol' walking simulator that is Genealogy at its weaker stages. But at least we have the Rescue staff to speed it up a bit.

Eventually, we get close enough to Freege to trigger the reinforcements from Jungby:

: "With Freege at their front, we'll choke them like a snake on a rat!"

__

The Beigenritter won't be particularly relevant.

One interesting detail is that Scorpius doesn't have any holy blood. His dad still had minor Ullur blood, but I suppose, contrary to the game mechanics, it's too watered down to have any effect for Scorpius.

Now, to make the Beigenritter irrelevant... You only have to kill a single Baron to open a path to the castle, which Seliph can do even without fishing for a Silver Sword crit.

Unfortunately, Leylia fell back ever so slightly too much, so Leif has to use another Rescue charge (the last one, as it turns out, but he'll have the funds to repair it).

Leylia's dance also gives Fee the reach to attack Hilda...

: "Hmph... I won't fall anywhere near as easily as those other worms!"

...who falls just as easily as Brian. Fee does need a crit to one-round her (4 x 16 dmg vs. 70 HP), but at a 57% chance per hit (83 kills + 24 Skl), the odds are quite in her favour. Like, we're talking 3.4% to not get the kill.

: "Gaah! This is a travesty... Ishtar... Avenge me... You must avenge me..."

...all three Loptyr dudes on the castles have had the same lines. Hm.

Anyway, killing Hilda wasn't strictly necessary here, I don't think...

...since her entourage disappears with Freege's capture. However, you can see that the Loptyrians on that ridge stick around...

...and will put Leylia to sleep after she cantered forward. I might replay that last turn; I haven't overwritten that save yet. But that only happens after a couple more cutscenes, so let's get to those:

: "But... I can't help but wonder... Are the children at Belhalla still unharmed? I pray they are..."
: "Funny you should say that! We've got a visitor who's got a bit of news on that front, Seliph."
: "And who are you?"
: "My name is Felipe, sire. I was once an aide to the late Emperor Arvis. On secret orders from His Majesty, the abducted children were moved here to Freege for safe-keeping."
: "What? Is that true? You've saved all of the children?!"
: "Rest easy, sire. They're all hiding in the city's abbey, and they're all in good health."
: "And all under Hilda's nose, at that! That you've kept every last child safe in Hilda's own city... Color me impressed."
: "Actually, sire... Princess Ishtar deserves your thanks. Without her generous aid given in secret, we could never have done this. No imperial soldiers dared come even close to the abbey, on pain of the princess' wrath."
: "Princess Ishtar?! But why... Why would she-"
: "Few people in this land are as kind and caring as Princess Ishtar. All along, the princess has toiled behind the scenes to aid our cause. It was Princess Ishtar herself who ensured that every last child escaped from the bowels of Belhalla."
: "I see... At any rate, thank the gods for their safety. I'm certain everyone will be glad to know the children are in good hands. You have my deepest thanks, Lord Felipe."

Very nice of Ishtar to be so nice. Off-screen only, of course. I'm sure nobody in this thread has any particular opinion on this scene.

: "Well, Seliph, that's one job done. Good to see we're finally getting some results out of this mess."
: "Mm. And yet, Julia still eludes us... Where could she possibly be?"
: "The only options left now are Belhalla and Velthomer. It's got to be one of those two."
: "And Belhalla is where Julius awaits..."
: "Yeah, we'll have to find Julia first if we want to go anywhere near Belhalla. Without Julia's power on our side, we won't have a hope in hell against Julius."
: "But no matter what's happened, Julius is still her brother. Will she even want to fight him..."
: "...You'll have to convince her."

: "If I may, Lord Julius, I'd like to lead the Weissenritter to bolster the capital's defense. This will require that I leave your side, even for a while. I beg your forgiveness."
: "Feh. Why the rush to get out there so suddenly, Ishtar? All the soldiers they could ever throw at us could never so much as scratch me. Why even bother with those maggots?"
: "Yes, I know... But for me, there is no greater pride than being one of Freege's great mages. My parents and brother lie dead, and I cannot stand to leave their murderers to run amok... Please... All I ask is a chance for vengeance."
: "It sounds as if what you really want is to join your family in death on a rebel's blade! Are you so desperate to escape me, Ishtar?"
: "No... Nothing like that, Lord Julius. I love you. Nothing will ever change that."
: "Hmhmhmhmhm... I know. Very well. Fight if you must. I won't stop you."

__

: "The time for games is over. Every last rebel dies, here and now!

And here's the defenses of Belhalla. At the same time at Velthomer...:

__

Julia joins the field, slowly moving west towards Belhalla and Freege.

To re-recruit her, I know that we'll have to beat Manfroy first - who is quite tanky even by the standards of the quite tanky Dark Bishop class. He has Pursuit, Adept, and Charm which makes him quite dangerous for some to face(specifically, Dermott gets two-shot by him).

And he is surrounded by Hel/Sleep users, so Dermott is very much not the play here.

Mr Final Boss grabbed a Meteor tome to make sure he can harrass any approaching unit, and the Nihil skill to make sure he can't be cheesed.

And his girlfriend grabbed a trio of Falcon Knights, Triangle Attack inclusive. They have minor Forseti blood, represented by a capped Spd stat.

I forgot to make a screenshot of Ishtar herself, but she received quite significant buffs compared to last chapter. HP from 50 to 70 and Def from 10 to 18 means that she's a lot more difficult to one-round, especially considering her incredible Spd and therefore avoid. Apart from that, her stats didn't go up as much, but "that" is a pretty big thing to be apart from.

Finally, the Deadlords. I neither speak Latin nor know a ton about biology, but I assume they're all named after scientific species names?

Not going to show them all, though. Wide variety of classes and weapons.

Before closing the update, I almost forgot about two lovers' convos that were unlocked (and that I grabbed) after Dozel's capture. First, the kissing Dozel cousins:

: "But hey, Dozel's in our hands now, right? Gotta keep going! Just a little longer..."
: "Don't do anything too dumb, okay? Dozel'll still need you around to rebuild."
: "Yeah, you got it. I can't just die now and leave behind my father and brothers' mess, now, can I? I'll be needing your help too, Larcei."
: "Sure. You've helped me an awful lot, you know. I ought to return the favor."
: "Whoa, thanks! I love ya so much, Larcei."
: "Wh- Johalvier! What'd I say about doing dumb things?!"

B-baka!

This convo would've gotten Johalvier +3 Str, but he's already at the (rather disappointing, tbh) cap of 26.

: "Say, Lord Leif... how soon do you think this fight will be over?"
: "I cannot say for sure... And yet I cannot help but feel our triumph is drawing ever closer."
: "And once this is over, I take it we'll be headed for Leonster?"
: "Indeed we are. The Thracian Peninsula has known naught but strife for decades, and to unify it was my father's dream. I'll pledge my life to fulfill his grand vision, and I'd love nothing more than to have you by my side every step of the way, Nanna."
: "Of course, Lord Leif! I'll be by your side forevermore, wherever your path leads. Even to the very ends of the earth..."

I don't suppose we'll comment on the detail that Quan's grand vision is surprisingly close to Travant's.

Again, no stat bonus because Leif already has capped Def at 27. Would've been a nice +3 otherwise, as well.

...Well then, one more update left for Genealogy, I assume, plus then the usual summation of my thoughts. Curious how tricky it'll be to recruit Julia quick and safely, when you can't just press the "WARP" button. Well, you can, but it won't be very helpful towards this goal.

 

[Saint Rubenio]

45 minutes ago, ping said:

...before Fee stabs him with yet another crit weapon.

I have this weird sense of déjà-vu here...

Oh boy. I hope this, the thrilling conclusion, does not have yet another fucking Loptyr recolor with the exact same fucking combat dialogue

...Honestly, I'm amping up the angery for dramatic effect here. This isn't my least favorite map in the game (that'd have to be Silesse, probably) but I find it so funny (derogatory) that the final chapter of the game pulled this. I guess you can make a point of it showing just how deep Manfroy's influence runs when every other castle has a recolor sitting on it but... C'mon, at least give them different quotes than just three consecutive "Lord Julius... Please forgive me..."

46 minutes ago, ping said:

Seliph did not randomly hook up with Lana, which I think the First Mate (?) said earlier is the most likely outcome if you don't pay attention to his love life.

It happened to me.

47 minutes ago, ping said:

We ride together.

I am not disappointed.

50 minutes ago, ping said:

__

(lookit Sharlow being useful!)

Ayra/Beowulf/Dermott's Brave Sword has 74 kills after running through every Grauenritter, which puts him at a 59% crit rate.

: "Even with Helswath, I... I fell so easily? Could it be... Could I have been wrong... all along...?"

I'll say, rather cathartic to watch after my run where he couldn't even be defeated. Alas, such a tragedy, the life of... no wait, I already made this joke... Uhh... Uh... Monty Python! 'Tis but a scratch!

47 minutes ago, ping said:

dun-DUN-dunn...?

This is played as a big revelation, but I have to wonder: Does this matter?! Comparing this to the similarly awful plot dump at the end of Binding Blade - and I can't believe I'm using that one as a more positive example: Jahn's story time at least changes the historic narrative that Roy had been taught, describing humans and dragons as two sides in a fight for survival instead of the humans being bullied by those dreadful lizards. Here, I suppose that the "gods" are made more mundane, but... the basic narrative is still "Loptyr (super-powerful being) empowered an asshole to conquer the world. Twelve other super-powerful beings decide to help the oppressed to fight back".

I just like how this literally is just proto-Jahn.

...Except Jahn was a comparatively smaller part of the game. This is the equivalent of the entire Bern arc being Jahn delivering nuggets of exposition to Roy for every castle he seizes.

48 minutes ago, ping said:

'nother question, Lewyn: How did you figure out that Julia's parentage? I sincerely hope it was after your "so you wanna tap that, eh?" towards Seliph, so it must have been very recently.

Lewyn is an asshole. Did you not get enough proof of that?

50 minutes ago, ping said:

__

The Beigenritter won't be particularly relevant.

One interesting detail is that Scorpius doesn't have any holy blood. His dad still had minor Ullur blood, but I suppose, contrary to the game mechanics, it's too watered down to have any effect for Scorpius.

He inherited his looks, exactly, but he didn't inherit any of his holy blood. Dude drew the short biological straw, huh...

51 minutes ago, ping said:

...all three Loptyr dudes on the castles have had the same lines. Hm.

This one isn't even a fucking good recolor. Why is his robe's brightest color blue, but the shadow colors are red?

51 minutes ago, ping said:

: "My name is Felipe, sire. I was once an aide to the late Emperor Arvis. On secret orders from His Majesty, the abducted children were moved here to Freege for safe-keeping."

Ah yeah, there he is. Palmark 2. Instead of being a confidante of Sigurd we never saw that saved some children, he's a confidante of Arvis we never saw that saved some children. He is also Spanish!

52 minutes ago, ping said:

Very nice of Ishtar to be so nice. Off-screen only, of course. I'm sure nobody in this thread has any particular opinion on this scene.

I wouldn't if the onscreen Ishtar didn't gleefully get into murder competitions with her boyfriend, Satan!

53 minutes ago, ping said:

__

Julia joins the field, slowly moving west towards Belhalla and Freege.

Once again, brain moment.

54 minutes ago, ping said:

Seriously why are there so many recolors in the final chapter?

54 minutes ago, ping said:

I don't suppose we'll comment on the detail that Quan's grand vision is surprisingly close to Travant's.

If the game had come out 20 years later we would've gotten Travant discourse.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, ping said:

Seliph did not randomly hook up with Lana

Oh wow. The only time Seliph hasn't got hitched with Lana for me was when he hooked up with her substitute Muirne.

1 hour ago, ping said:

...all three Loptyr dudes on the castles have had the same lines. Hm.

Honestly it gets to a point where you question why these guys have names and faces at all. Like, they have had generics guard castles in previous chapters. Chapter 6 comes to mind.

1 hour ago, ping said:

Manfroy first - who is quite tanky even by the standards of the quite tanky Dark Bishop class. He has Pursuit, Adept, and Charm

He is such a charismatic and charming individual than Manfroy.

1 hour ago, ping said:

I assume they're all named after scientific species names

In German they're named for the numbers 1-12. For Awakening's English localization they chose to make that less boring for anyone remotely familiar with German and called them by the scientific name for the Chinese Zodiac animals.

Edit: Now that I think about it it was probably Shadow Dragon's replacement units responsible for these names and not Awakening's reuse of the Dead Lords

Edited April 23 by Jotari

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, ping said:

No, the dingus who has been traveling with Seliph for almost the entirety of the second generation just didn't feel like explaining anything until now.

Forbidden knowledge must be earned. Simple as that. -Don't question the video game logic.

1 hour ago, ping said:

I don't suppose we'll comment on the detail that Quan's grand vision is surprisingly close to Travant's.

Is it that much of a surprise? Did not England seek to rule Britannia, despite being the best speck of dirt on the island already? -And Thracia was once united, unlike Northern Romeland.

-Again, don't overthink it. Genealogy's writing was burnt out with Belhalla.

1 hour ago, ping said:

Finally, the Deadlords.

They all have 4 Luck, must be the common Japanese homonymic wordplay. "Four" and "death" in Japanese are both pronounced "shi", though their kanji are different, obviously. 4 is thus an unlucky number in Japanese. Learning about feudal Japanese banquets- you would be served three sets of three dishes. Sometimes a fourth set would be present -but you never called it the "fourth dish", to avoid accidentally calling it the "death dish" -you don't want to taint the banquet with death- you would say "additional/extra dish" instead.

 

17 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...Except Jahn was a comparatively smaller part of the game. This is the equivalent of the entire Bern arc being Merlinus delivering nuggets of exposition to Roy for every castle he seizes.

More appropriate on some level, methinks?

Edited April 23 by Interdimensional Observer