FatesDeepDive

An in-depth analysis of the fourteenth Fire Emblem game, written by Casey Jarmes. Updates inconsistently.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 128: Arete’s Team Bonding Exercise

Xenologue 19: Heirs of Fate V: Endless Dawn

Shigure, the Hoshidan kids, and the Nohrian kids awkwardly walk in silence towards Anankos's palace. Apparently, when they decided to go their separate ways, they meant, go their separate ways, together. The Kanas don't like the silent treatment and wish everyone could be friends. Shiro says it's better to not get involved with people from other worlds. Shigure says that they're very different people from the ones he knew, then quickly changes the topic. He explains that he handled things poorly and should have explained the different worlds thing right from the start. Wow, someone in this family acknowledging that keeping secrets is annoying. I hope he isn't keeping any other big secrets.

Shigure says he doesn't know how they can win with tensions the way they are. Fana suggests turning Yato into the Fire Emblem. Mana doesn't know what the Fire Emblem is, for some reason. Arete shows up and says everyone's deaths would have been easier if they stayed in the illusion.

She teleports everyone away, and because she's nice and wants to help with team building, she pairs up people from different countries so they can become friends. For example, Shiro ends up with Siegbert and Forrest ends up with Kiragi. How thoughtful.

Arete tells Shigure to give up and cease his fruitless struggle, saying there is no hope for him or for his false companions. Shigure says the others have time to saved their loved ones, and that he won't give in as long as they are fighting. Shigure calls Arete one of Anankos's victims. Fana asks who Arete is and what she meant by false companions. Shigure says she was just trying to sow unrest, because Jesus Christ there is something about blue hair that makes you genetically predisposed to keep secrets.

The battle begins on a floating island in Valla, with just Shigure and the Kanas facing off against Arete, Sumeragi, and Mikoto. Periodically, other units return, now friends because of Arete's team bonding.

If Arete fights Shigure, she says that there's a pain in her skull every time she sees Shigure. Shigure says he had dreams of saving her. What joy they might have shared, what songs they might have sung, he says. I think they would probably sing one specific song. Arete says she doesn't care, and that the pain might stop when she kills Shigure. She asks him to sing for her once more, before fading into nothing. Shigure says that, if he sings, it will be her funeral dirge, because he sees there can be no mercy for her. Goddamn those are some good one liners. When Arete dies, she thanks Shigure, and apologizes for being a bad mother to Azura.

If Sumeragi fights one of his grandkids, he recognizes his weapon and challenges them to take their best stance. When defeated, he says he has no regrets, because he has seen his bloodline and knows his kingdom is in good hands.

If one of the Kanas fights Mikoto, she mistakes them for a young Corrin and says her heart aches. After defeating her and ending the map, she says she's happy to have met the Kanas before the end. She asks the Kanas to save Anankos before fading away. The Kanas cry because it's sad that the bosses disappeared. Shigure explains that they are dead and gone forever, and that the Kanas need to keep them alive in their memories.

The group enters Anankos's throne room. Fana notices Shigure is acting weird. The Kanas hold up their Yatos so Shigure can turn them Omega. Shigure sings that goddamn song, which paralyzes everyone, because I guess it can do that. He says that they don't need the Fire Emblem. Shigure reveals that the assembled kids aren't just from two different worlds. They're from like twenty different worlds, each of them the last survivor of their world.

Shigure explains his world is the only one remaining. In his world, the two kingdoms united, then were defeated by Anankos. Anankos killed everyone but Shigure and Azura. Azura sang until she disappeared to save Shigure. After conquering Shigure's world, Anankos spread throughout the multiverse, destroying countless words, killing everyone the kids ever knew.

Goddamn. This is a very dark plot twist.

Shigure says that, now that they're brought him to the castle, he's going to face Anankos alone. He says that he doesn't need a divine weapon, because he can reach Anankos using his new fourth verse. He says that no one has ever used the fourth verse before, and that it can defeat Anankos and also bring back the kids’ loved ones. Is there anything this song can't do? Also Shigure will absorb the curse and be trapped in eternal suffering, unable to ever die, if he sings it, but he's cool with that.

The others are horrified and refuse to let Shigure sacrifice himself. He says that he's their last hope and can't let a bunch of strangers sabotage him. Mana says they're friends. Shigure says they're a pack of strangers who only look like his dead friends, who he used as tools to get to Anankos. Shigure says he will never see the restoration of words, and begs the others to remember him.

Shigure says he'll remember his final moments with the others, then teleports them away as they scream no.

Support: Dwyer/Nina

C: Dwyer tries to hide in a barrel so he can take a nap. Turns out Nina is already hiding there, because she's a stalker.

B: Dwyer finds Nina when she's hiding in a wardrobe and gives her tea.

A: Nina spends a day stalking Dwyer and notices he's acting differently. He explains he messed something up. Nina reveals she's been spying on him when he sings in the bath and tries to set him up with a local choir boy.

S: Dwyer picks up flowers for Nina.

Review: A very boring Support, hampered by the fact that its visual gags of Nina popping up out of nowhere don't really work in a text only format.

Support: Midori/Selkie

C: Selkie starts sneezing. Midori offers her cold medicine, but Selki thinks it smells gross. Midori decides to make medicine Selki can stomach.

B: Selkie hears from the cold before Midori makes the medicine. Midori offers preventative medicine that Selkie likes the smell of.

A: Selkie's sense of smell helps Midori develop medicine candy that isn't gross. They decide to be business partners.

Review: An interesting concept with a dull execution.

Support: Asugi/Soleil

C: Soleil realizes that Asugi has been giving all of her "girlfriends" candy to make them like him. Soleil calls him a pig, because she's losing the fight for attention, and vows to make her own candy.

B: The candy Soleil makes is burnt and disgusting. Asugi is surprised because Soleil is good on the battlefield. Asugi offers to teach her how to cook. Soleil tries to hug him, and he complains that she's covered in gunk. Soleil starts stripping and Asugi ninjas away.

A: Soleil makes good candy with Asugi's help. Soleil says that he's nice and that girls like him because he's nice, not because of the candy. Asugi asks if she's falling for him and Soleil says he isn't her type.

S: The girls like Soleil because of her candy. The guys like her because she's good at killing but Soleil doesn't care. Asugi says he's worried that Soleil will spend so much time with her girlfriends that she won't spend time with him. Asugi says that it's possible to have multiple friends.

Review: Alright. Soleil being annoyed at Asugi stealing her girlfriends and trying to copy him is fun, but it becomes sappy and boring after the B Rank.

Support: Mitama/Rhajat

C: Mitama sees Rhajat carrying a bunch of food. Rhajat explains she's going to lock herself in her room for a month to work in peace and needs the food to sustain her. Mitama says she wishes she could hide in her room for a month so she could sleep and write poetry. Rhajat says she'll have a surprise next time she sees Mitama.

B: Rhajat gives Mitama noise canceling headphones, insect repellent, a light, and a heater. Mitama thanks Rhajat and calls her a friend. Rhajat is shocked to be called a friend. She says that most people don't understand why she likes to be alone. Mitama says that she sometimes wishes she could spend a hundred years in solitude, but that she's thankful she won't have to because she's met Rhajat.

A: Mitama handcrafts a really nice pillow for Rhajat, so she can sleep better and have better dreams.Review: The two of them just being really close friends is something that I didn't know I needed but am glad to have.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 127: Kana Wants to Kill Every Last One of Them

Xenologue 18: Heirs of Fate IV: Light’s Sacrifice

Siegbert's team licks their wounds after their fight with Fana. Siegbert blames himself for their loss. He mentions that he saw a faint light coming from Yato and Fujin Yumi, which made him question if they were actually evil. Percy and Ignatius suggest trying to get the drop on Fana’s team, but Siegbert says no. Velouria says to let someone else defeat them. Percy says that they have to save the day because no one else can.

Velouria reveals she can hear others (Mana and Forest’s group) being attacked. Siegbert is hesitant to go save them because they lost last time. Velouria agrees, saying they can’t lose Siegbert, because Xander is likely dead, as are the rest of their parents. Velouria makes fun of Percy, saying Arthur is definitely dead, and Percy starts crying.

Ignatius says that his father couldn't have died so easily and tells Percy to have faith. Soleil says that she knows Laslow is dead, but tells herself he's safe, because otherwise she'd fall apart. Velouria says she's being realistic and will stop pretending to be friends if Soleil acts like she has been.

Soleil says she's going to fight and that her liege is coming with her. She asks why Siegbert is holding back, when he wants to fight more than anyone else. Siegbert says that, if he acted in self interest and they all died, he would be a disgrace to his father. Soleil says she'll stand down if Siegbert can look her in the eye and tell her he doesn't want to fight. He can't and decides to fight. Siegbert convinces Velouria to fight, on the chance she can save her father.

It cuts to a battle scene, where Fana and Shiro's group is hunting Forrest and Mana's group. The Hoshidans stop attacking to go after Siegbert's team instead. Mana says they should go save Siegbert, but Forrest says they should rest and recover soon.

This battle is a recreation of Conquest Chapter 23, the Hoshidan great wall chapter. Partway through the battle, Forrest arrives with his allies and joins up. Forrest suggests that their enemies want to capture them, meaning they might not be monsters. Siegbert decides to see what they save after they've been defeated.

At the end of the battle, it cuts to everyone from both groups standing around as the Kanas fight. Fana is stronger, so Siegbert pauses the battle to upgrade Grim Yato into Shadow Yato. The Kanas clash again and the screen flashes. Briefly, the Hoshidans turn into allied units, as the battle map changes to Valla. The scene quickly changes back.

Siegbert points out that the ghost soldiers looked like human children, but Kana says they have to kill every last one of them, because they attacked his home and hurt his mama. He transforms into a dragon and Fana does the same. Shigure arrives, singing the only song that has ever existed in this continuity, which breaks the illusion. He explains Anankos is behind everything and that he attacked the Deeprealms to draw out the first generation characters so he could kill them. Shigure explains that Anankos is now using illusions to make the kids kill each other and that their parents are still alive, just held captive.

Velouria asks why the illusions didn't work on Shigure. He can't remember why. Shigure explains Anankos is tampering with their memories to take away their willpower and control them. The Kanas introduce themselves and decide to be friends because they're the same person. Siegbert mentions that he's the son of King Xander, and Hisame points out that Leo is king. The groups argue about their differing pasts and Shigure explains they're from different timelines.

Shigure explains that they all have to work together to stop Anankos, but Shiro and Siegbert refuse to work with men carrying the swords that were used to kill their respective fathers. Technically, Xander was killed by Corrin and Ryoma was killed by himself, but they don't know that. Still, it makes sense that the Hoshidans wouldn't want to ally with soldiers from the country that tried to invade and murder everyone, and that the Nohrians wouldn't want to ally with soldiers from the country that the narrative frequently treats as morally equivalent. The two groups go their separate ways, much to Shigure's chagrin.

Support: Nina/Shigure

C: An artist asks Nina if she wants to do modeling. She screeches and runs away. She runs into Shigure and explains it sounds fun, but she'd be self-conscious. Shigure offers to paint her. Nina says yes when she finds out he has paintings of men.

B: Nina hates sitting for modeling. Shigure sings a song (you know which one) to make her feel better. Nina instead stares at his paintings of dudes and starts shipping. Shigure says Nina has a beautiful smile.

A: Shigure finishes the painting. Nina asks to see the hot guy paintings. Nina acts like Nina.

S: Nina is disappointed that Shigure is only painting her now, because Christ has the thirst of someone stranded in the Sahara. Shigure says he only wants to paint her because he loves her. Nina loves him too, but says he should paint other men.

Review: Nina’s thirstiness is at an all-time high, but at least isn’t directed at actual people, and Shigure vowing to only paint her is amusing.

Support: Ophelia/Shiro

C: Ophelia sets up a circle of crystals to do a divination. Shiro accidentally kicks one of them, causing it to go missing. Ophelia says she needs toe crystal to be connected to the spirits of the stars in the heavens, and no she doesn't. Also Shiro keeps calling her 'Phelia, which annoys her.

B: Shiro apologizes and tries to make it up to Ophelia by giving her a piece of obsidian and an ornate jade button. Ophelia wants her crystal back.

A: Ophelia finds Shiro digging a massive hole at midnight to find the crystal. He finds it and gives it back. Ophelia accepts being called 'Phelia.

S: Ophelia calls Shiro her hero. Shiro learns that the button he gave Ophelia is a royal heirloom. She says it should stay with the royal family, which is fine, because Shiro loves her. They get together.

Review: A really cute and fun Support. Shiro being a meathead and ruining things, but working his ass off to make it up to Ophelia is great, and Ophelia is just weird enough to be fun without being irritating.

Support: Fana/Siegbert

C: Kana studies her math homework, but finds the word problems to be boring. She asks Siegbert to have a math party with her.

B: Siegbert and Kana do word problems. Kana solves all of them instantly because she's a math prodigy, but is bored by how easy it is. Siegbert promises to make a math game that challenges her.

A: Siegbert has Kana catch spiders, because that is a challenge, and also she can learn about geometry.

S: They have a math party where Siegbert is a prince and Kana is a princess.

Review: What the fuck is a math party? Seriously this one is incomprehensible. Is it a translation error?

Support: Hisame/Percy

C: Hisame runs into Percy late at night. Percy is awake because he had a bad dream. Hisame offers to give him company, noting that they were both alone in the Deeprealms. Percy goes back to sleep.

B: Percy stays up to wish on a shooting star for everyone to be happy. Hisame asks if he wants a more selfish wish. Percy says if he had one wish, he'd wish to be strong like Arthur. Hisame says you need to be specific with wishes. Percy wishes for everyone to be healthy and safe. As he says this, a bunch of shooting stars shoot across the sky. However, if you are playing on Classic Mode, you can immediately prove that stars aren't real by forcing all of your units to die.

A: Hisame tells Percy that he heard a bunch of people survived a big battle without a scratch, and that one guy was attacked by a bear and rescued by a bunny. I get the feeling that Hisame is humoring Percy and making things up. Hisame says that they'll never have to worry again. Percy says that's no excuse to slack off and that if you rely on luck, you'll never acquire true strength.

Review: Mellow but enjoyable. Hisame being a cool aloof older brother figure is nice.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 126: Hey We’re the Bad Guys Now

Xenologue 17: Heirs of Fate III: The Changing Tide

You know how the last part of Heirs of Fate had Mana and Forrest’s teams fighting against Shiro’s team, who I assumed were evil dark magic duplicates created by Anankos? Well, turns out they’re the real versions. I honestly did not see this twist coming. This chapter begins with Shiro and co recovering after battle. Caeldori says that, if Mana and Forrest’s teams hadn't fled, they might not have survived. Asugi wants to run away, but Shiro wants to go back for a rematch. Caeldori tells everyone to cool their heads, because the constant fighting is taking a toll. Asugi says none of them are trained soldiers.

Shiro says he fought last chapter because he wanted to see if he could fight a dragon and survive. Asugi asks what is wrong with Shiro and says that he isn't Shiro's retainer. Shiro says he's glad a coward like Asugi isn't working for him. Caeldori tells them to behave and says they need to know more about their enemy.

Shiro says he's frustrated at losing his home and family and wants to fight instead of fleeing. He mentions that Ryoma gave him Ranjito and says he might have been proud to see Shiro wielding it. Midori, Caeldori, and Rhajat talk about their own fathers, who died saving them. Asugi says he feels free now that he's escaped his Deeprealm. Shiro informs him that Saizo was sent to save Asugi. Asugi notes that Saizo, being the ninja he is, died saving him without him even knowing.

Rhajat reveals that Mana is no longer a dragon. Shiro launches a surprise attack. This chapter reuses the map Birthright Chapter 18, the swamp where you fight Leo. The goal is to take out Mana and Forrest, which is easy because Swordmaster Shiro is OP. After beating the two bosses, it cuts to Shiro's team being overwhelmed and losing, because gameplay and story segregation is dope. Shiro says he won't back down and charges in. Nina fires at Shiro and Asugi takes the arrow for him, saying that Saizo would be pissed if he let anything happen to him. Nina attacks again; this time, Fana and Kiragi show up and save Caeldori and Midori respectively. Mitama heals everyone and the Birthright kids run away.

Everyone introduces themselves. They all have a weird sense of deja vu and think they've met before. They discuss how Mana's crew seemed more human and better trained than the normal Vallite soldiers. The two groups decide to fight alongside each other. Fana's sword upgrades into Blazing Yato suddenly.

The chapter cuts to Shigure singing the Revelation verse of LITAA. Azura's ghost reveals that, in this timeline, the Revelation path was broken and never came to a proper end. Shigure thanks his mother for sparing him. Azura says her time is almost up and apologizes for leading Shigure down the one path she never wished for him. She reveals that there is a fourth verse to the song, which holds tremendous, dangerous power, and that she knows firsthand what it will do to her son. She says that Shigure has more power than she ever did. Shigure speculates that the verse will make him fade away, just like Azura. He says that it isn't inevitable and promises he'll save the world, which will cause everyone who faded away to come back. Azura teaches Shigure the final verse, which I'll discuss at the end of this DLC. Azura says she'll always be there for Shigure and he picks up on the death flags immediately. Shigure asks if she's misleading him by saying she'll come back if he succeeds. She says that she'll live on in his memory, meaning that she is definitely going to stay dead.

Support: Fana/Selkie

C: Selkie’s ears get full of rain. Causing her to misunderstand Kana. Kana suggests they make her a hood.

B: Kana and Selkie go shopping but get distracted by candy and dolls.

A: Kaden gives Selkie a scarf. Kana and Selkie decide to go on more misadventures.

Review: Mildly amusing but a bit shallow.

Support: Ophelia/Rhajat

C: Ophelia says that Rhajat’s aura is abominable. Rhajat doesn’t give a shit and walks away. Ophelia vows to cleanse Rhajat’s aura.

B: Ophelia attempts to fix Rhajat, but Rhajat curses her. Ophelia is inspired to try again.

A: Ophelia wins, either because she’s stronger or because Rhajat gets bored of cursing her. Rhajat gives Opheli a good-luck charm so she’ll leave her alone. Rhajat wonders if Ophelia actually did tidy up her soul.

Review: Not bad in concept, but I feel like this one could have been executed in a funnier way.

Support: Shigure/Soleil

C: Soleil asks Shigure to teach her to sing so she can better hit on girls. He says to breathe from the stomach.

B: Shigure teaches Soleil how to have a sense of rhythm. Shigure says he started singing to forget how much he missed his mom.

A: Soleil non-tonally screams at the top of her lungs, which the girls are into, apparently. Shigure sings for her to give an example to follow.

S: Shigure explains that women sing at romantic serenades about them, then demonstrates this by singing a song about how Soleil is his friend. Soleil is touched and sings her own song, which calls Shigure a creature because it’s the only rhyme for teacher she could think of.

Review: Kinda mediocre.

Support: Hisame/Midori

C: Hisame falls into a pit of weird mushrooms that make him laugh. Midori gives him medicine. Hisame offers to help Midori mushroom hunt as a way to thank her.

B: Hisame finds more laughing mushrooms.

A: Midori says she thought Hisame was scary, until she saw him laugh. He explains he freezes up around girls.

S: They gather herbs together. Hisame says that Midori has her head in the clouds. Midori says she wants him to stay with her so she isn’t alone. Hisame says yes, if he becomes her boyfriend.Review: What.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 125: Oops! All Supports #21

When I started this blog, I created a long list of every single Support in the game, using info from the wiki. As I have gone, I have eliminated characters from this list. The thing is, I made a few mistakes. I went back and double-checked every Support. In doing so, I discovered that I had missed nine entire Supports with the first-generation characters. I also learned that I did Corrin/Mozu twice.

Support: Benny/Charlotte

C: Charlotte confides in Benny that she thinks her helpless damsel act is stupid. She threatens to kill him if he ever reveals that she's faking.

B: Charlotte complains that acting frail is tiring. Benny says she should be herself, but she says that she's unappealing and men expect her to act ditzy. Benny asks why she doesn't act around him and Charlotte says that they've known each other for a long time, Benny doesn't judge, and that he's comforting.

A: Charlotte says she's jealous of people because he gets to act like himself. Benny says that people are afraid of him and questions if they wouldn't be if he acted harmless. He says that Charlotte was the first person who wasn't afraid to talk to him. She says that it's because she could tell he was a cowardly gentle giant. Charlotte says she's tired of acting helpless and Benny says she doesn't need to act because she's hot. Charlotte says that changing her life would be a pain, but she'll talk to Benny whenever she gets worn down.

S: Charlotte worries that she'll be stressed if she ever gets married because things will fall apart if her husband realizes she's acting. Charlotte decides to pursue a man who already accepts her, ie: Benny.

Review: Really good! Charlotte and Benny have a really strong friendship and it’s nice to see her be herself around him and her treat him like a normal person.

Support: Hana/Setsuna

C: Hana and Setsuna are the only ones to fail a strategy test, because they suck at working on a team. Hana decides to start a study group.

B: Hana and Setsuna can't concentrate on studying and instead just take breaks. The pair are attacked by spies and kill them together, which causes Hana to understand what teamwork is.

A: Hana and Setsuna pass the test. They discuss more team strategies.

Review: This one has an interesting setup, but Hana and Setsuna learning teamwork happens too fast.

Support: Beruka/Kaze

C: Kaze spots Beruka, who just stands there T-posing when she doesn't have orders. Kaze explains the concept of hobbies to Beruka, explaining mental health is critical. Beruka agrees to relax by walking with Kaze.

B: Beruka and Kaze walk through a forest. Kaze tells her to pet a squirrel but it runs away.

A: Kaze gives Beruka an acorn so she can feed the squirrel. Beruka has fun.

S: Beruka says she's never felt as close with anyone but Kaze. She says she doesn't understand love, but feels happy when she is with him.

Review: Kaze teaching Beruka the concept of relaxing is fun and this one has a nice, laid-back feel to it.

Support: Camilla/Kaze

C: Camilla notices that Kaze is popular with the ladies and invites him to a tea party. Kaze asks if that's an order. Camilla says "Order" is an ugly word. But yes she is ordering him.

B: All of the ladies love Kaze, but he is left exhausted. Camilla enjoys Kaze's company and says she won't order him to come to parties anymore.

A: Kaze shows up for a one-on-one tea party with Camilla. Camilla thanks Kaze for sorting out a fight.

S: They get together.

Review: Kaze being miserable at parties is fun, but the last two Supports just kinda drop off and become boring.

Support: Charlotte/Kaze

C: Charlotte sprints after Kaze to give him water and a towel after training. She calls him attractive and he doesn't reciprocate, annoying her.

B: Charlotte brings Kaze candy. He doesn't want them. Charlotte freaks out because Kaze isn't falling for her wiles. Kaze is confused. Charlotte insists that he misheard her because it's windy and leaves, saying she left an excuse in the oven.

A: Kaze says Charlotte doesn't have to hide herself. Charlotte rants that Kaze's open-mindedness makes him popular. She realizes she needs to be nice to be liked by other people then complains that it comes naturally to Kaze.

S: Charlotte continues hitting on Kaze and asks him to marry her. Kaze says he wanted to take things more slowly, but ultimately says yes.

Review: Charlotte has some really funny lines but other than that this one is mediocre.

Support: Effie/Kaze

C: Effie destroys a massive stone watchtower with her bare hands out of frustration. Kaze offers to help fix it.

B: Kaze suggests Effie redirect her energy by whittling a statue out of a redwood. Effie decides to make a statue of Elise, but destroys the redwood by cutting to hard. Kaze offers to help with the fine details.

A: Elise is creeped out because Kaze made the face so accurate that the eyes follow you. Effie feels bad and decides to do a million burpees and spar with real weapons. Kaze suggests Effie make a jewelry box.

S: Elise likes the jewelry box. Effie rebuilds the Elise statue into a 14-foot-tall statue of Kaze. Also they get together.

Review: Effie is a superstrong cartoon character and one of the best characters in any Fire Emblem game.

Support: Elise/Kaze

C: Elise asks Kaze to play hide and seek with her. Kaze finds her immediately but pretends he can't see her.

B: Elise says Kaze's her favorite person to hide and seek with and asks him to not hold back.

A: Elise says playing with Kaze allows her to have a friend from Hoshido. Kaze praises her for being sweet and noble.

S: Elise says Kaze is all she ever thinks about and that she wants to spend all of her time with him. Kaze says yes even though he is not worthy of her, from a social standpoint. This is weird because the earlier conversations hinged on Elise being a child.

Review: A sweet but shallow Support.

Support: Hana/Kaze

C: Hana struggles to carry heavy vegetables to train. Kaze offers to take half, but takes most of them, annoying Hana. Kaze asks Hana to train properly.

B: Hana says she trains to protect Sakura. She brings up a time a guy was sexist to her, something she's still furious about, and vows to prove anyone can do great things.

A: An enemy says Hana would be an easy foe because she’s a girl, so she breaks formation and rushes in alone to kill him and gets injured. Kaze says he has experience with people acting irrational and overemotional, due to being brothers with Saizo, and tells Hana to stop getting carried away.

S: Kaze says he wants to protect Hana because he loves her. She says she’ll protect him, too.

Review: Having a Support about Hana facing misogyny, but also having a man lecture her about her being incompetent, really doesn’t work. Ignoring that, this one is just boring.

Support: Hinoka/Kaze

C: Kaze delivers letters from Sakura to Hinoka. Hinoka says Sakura is really funny in written form. Kaze says Sakura was happy when she handed over the letter.

B: Kaze delivers another letter. Hinoka can tell from the letter that Sakura is upset. Kaze delivers a reply letter.

A: Hinoka and Sakura talk in person, based on a recommendation from Kaze. Kaze offers to keep an eye on Sakura.

S: Hinoka asks how to tell a man she loves him. Kaze says to tell him, so she does. They get together.

Review: This one is very boring, but it’s also very weird. Why is a Support starring Hinoka and Kaze about Sakura sending letters?

So, uh, you may have noticed a pattern. For whatever reason, I missed eight different Kaze romance Supports. I am now sick of Kaze.

Support: Mana/Soleil

C: Kana asks Soleil to help him talk to girls, because girls really like it when Soleil compliments them and he wants to be able to give nice compliments.

B: Soleil faints when she sees a girl The girls love Kana because he's adorable.

A: Kana gets better at talking to girls thanks to Soleil's advice.

S: Kana says that Soleil is a special person. Soleil says he's like a brother to her.

Review: So. Goddamn. Boring.

[fatesdeepdive]

Reading your revelations comment on power scaling. All ill say is just wait

Oh boy. What madness awaits me?

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 124: Everyone Forgets Everything

Xenologue 16: Heirs of Fate II: Realms Collide

Shigure narrates that this chapter is about a different realm with a separate Kana, the male one. The chapter opens with Sophie and Dwyer in a town, fighting against dragon form Kana. Dwyer explains that he found Kana crying and that he suddenly turned into a dragon. He speculates Kana lost control because his mother died like their fathers. Sophie refuses to believe Silas is dead and says that they'll rescue their fathers.

The map scrolls over to Forrest, who is traveling with his retainers, Nina and Ophelia. Ophelia is giving directions using a rock that she's pretending is magic, because she forgot that she made up the fact that it's magic. Ophelia says it was a good-luck charm from Odin. As an aside, I do love the fact that Odin once again sacrificed himself to hold off enemies attacking his loved ones. Ophelia says that she believes with all her heart that he wouldn't die, but doubt is beginning to creep in. Forrest says that he didn't encounter his father, but found Byrnhildr lying on the ground, implying Leo dropped it after dying. Nina says that she won't mourn Niles, because he's an asshole who never visited her and that it would have been better if Niles saved Leo instead of her. Forrest tells her to perish the thought, because he couldn't get by without her and Ophelia's company. 

Forrest's group hears Kana's roars. Nina spots Vallite soldiers approaching and Forrest decides to go save Dwyer and Sophie, saying it would disgrace the bloodline of Nohr to let them die. A battle begins, using Ryoma's boss map from Conquest. Forrest and Dwyer can talk to each other. In this conversation, they introduce their teams. Dwyer says he's happy to be rescued by a beautiful woman, then corrects himself to say he's happy to be rescued by a beautiful man. Alternatively, you can have Forrest talk to Sophie, who correctly identifies Forrest as male and mentions Forrest’s horse is a girl.

This is an escape map, giving you two routes to go. Asugi, Caeldori, Midori, and Rhajat stand in your way. Shiro, a swordmaster like his father, stands like Ryoma in the middle. I assumed he would stay there for twenty turns like his dad and took my time through this map. I was wrong. He begins chasing after turn six, making this map a terrifying dash for the exit.

Kana is in dragon form during this map, which is neat. Apparently, you get a scroll with the skill Magictaker if you beat this map without losing any units. I say apparently, because I’m getting this info from the wiki. Shiro killed a few of my units. You get similar skills but for different stats in all of the other Heirs of Fate chapters except the last one.

After battle, Kana turns back to normal. He explains that Corrin died after giving him her sword and saying to run. Nina points out that they must have all been attacked at the same time for a reason. Forrest says Kana will be useful for saving their parents. Kana begins crying and Forrest attacks him with Byrnhildr to stop him from transforming. Forrest explains that time does not flow in reverse (except in Awakening) and that they can only help Corrin by looking forward, not back. He points out that no one else is frozen with grief and tells Kana to be a brave warrior. Yata turns into Grim Yato. Ophelia likes the name.

Kana reveals he knows everyone else's name already, even though they don't know him, and asks why they don't remember him. Ghost Azura pops up and explains that their memories will return when it's all over. Kana can't remember Azura dying. Azura says that he'll soon forget her, just as the others did, just as they have forgotten Kana. Sophie says that she would have remembered forgetting Kana. Also Azura gives Kana a dragon stone.

Azura says that maybe they've never met this version of Kana, because of the whole Deeprealms are alternate universes thing. She says some flowery shit about memory and says there's no point in explaining stuff because they'll only forget it. She says there's no reason to worry about forgetting their loved ones, because you won't remember it and be sad about it. Ophelia and Dwyer disagree, calling it a dire tragedy and saying that forgotten people are essentially dead respectively. Azura says that memories and life are interchangeable. She warns that, when asked to choose between their memories and something else, that they should choose what they can't afford to lose.

Shigure sings the Conquest verse. He implies that the curse on Valla is responsible for the scrambled memories and says the key to escaping it is a stone left behind by a dragon. He says that straying from the correct path will cause the curse to eradicate all memories and emotions, washing them away like the tide.

He really is Azura’s son, considering how frustratingly cryptic he is all the time.

Support: Mana/Selkie

C: Selkie and Kana think each other are cool. They decide to go hunting together.

B: Kana and Selkie are good at hunting together. They decide to come up with battle plans together.

A: Kana and Selkie are good at killing together.

S: Kana says he likes her and they get together.

Review: BOOOORING.

Support: Hisame/Rhajat

C: Rhajat's curses aren't working and end up doing the opposite of what she intends. Hisame gives her tea and pickles which are so good Rhajat thinks they are enchanted.

B: The tea calms Rhajat and makes her magic work right. Rhajat loses a charm, but remembers where it is after Hisame gives her tea. Hisame explains he is always relaxed because Hinata is high-strung and taught him what not to do.

A: Rhajat makes tea alone. Hisame is worried she won't have tea with him anymore, but she says she needs to learn his relaxation techniques.

S: Hisame is stressed because he likes Rhajat. Rhajat calls this cute and says she wants to be with him forever, because his tea made her deadlier. Hisame isn't calmed by this.

Review: Decent but not extraordinary.

Support: Caeldori/Siegbert

C: Siegbert sees Caeldori fighting and says the throne should belong to someone like her.

B: Siegbert explains he's worried about whether he's fit to be the king of Nohr, because he thinks he is inadequate. He explains a king must be a perfect paragon who excels at all things, or else he does not deserve the power vested in him. Unfortunately, Siegbert sees people better than him in every subject. Caeldori says that perfect monarchs only exist in fairy tales because no one is perfect. Siegbert says Caeldori is perfect.

A: Siegbert apologizes for calling Caeldori perfect and ignoring the pain of people thinking she's gifted, because actually she works hard. Caeldori says Siegbert can perceive the pain of others, meaning he'll be a good king.

S: They get together in a scene where neither of them feel like themselves.

Review: Siegbert’s anxieties over being king are good, but this one flubs it with him apologizing for thinking Caeldori is great at everything. I’m gonna be honest, I don’t like Caeldori very much. Her lack of flaws make her boring and annoying. And yes, there are a few Supports where she is flawed, but this isn’t one of them.

Support: Ignatius/Ophelia

C: Ophelia warns Ignatius that evil spirits are feeding on his fear. She shouts DUCK to mess with him, causing Ignatius to faint. Ophelia tries to wake him up by setting him on fire.

B: Ignatius is mad at Ophelia, so she tells him that frowning attracts evil spirits. Ignatius tries to smile. Ophelia says she'll protect him from evil with a good luck charm and chunks salt at him. Ignatius asks if it worked and Ophelia admits she's just making it up as she goes along.

A: Ignatius decides the good luck charm worked because he hasn't died yet. Ophelia says sure let's go with that. She begins researching miracles, like how swordsmen with cursed hands unlock hidden potential through emotional trauma. She says with miracles, their friends wouldn't have to die.

S: Ophelia doesn't find any miracle magic. Ignatius proposes. Ophelia decides to test a new spell on him with only a low chance of instant death.

Review: This one is fun, but Ophelia acts a bit too ridiculous.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 123: The Kids Are Good Now!

I’ve saved this DLC for last, out of hope that it will be good. Heirs of Fate was a six-part DLC, focussed on the child characters. I know very little about it, but assume it will be similar to Future Past, an equivalent DLC from Awakening.

Xenologue 15: Heirs of Fate I: In Endless Dreams

The chapter begins with Shigure in Valla narrating about something that happened in another realm. In this realm, the child units weren't recruited. Corrin and company won the war, but on the same day they were victorious, armies attacked the children. The army split up to save their kids and died in battle. The chapter cuts to female Kana walking alone in the rain, saying that, if she was stronger, then maybe Corrin wouldn't have died.

Kana runs into Mitama and Selkie, who've been through the same thing. Kana explains Corrin told her to run and heard screams behind her as she fled. She waited for Corrin to come back, but he never did. Mitama explains that she slept through Azama yelling for her to wake up and that, by the time she awoke, her home was destroyed. She lost sight of Azama and assumes he is dead. She wonders if he would have lived if she woke up sooner. Selkie says she saw Kaden's torn scarf, but no body, and hopes he's still alive.

Vallite soldiers pop up. Selkie wants revenge, but Mitama points out they're outnumbered and tells her she must honor Kaden's sacrifice. The girls spot Hisame and Kiragi fighting Vallite soldiers in the distance. Kiragi has the Fujin Yumi, but misses because he hasn't practiced with it. Hisame says to run away. Kana, Selkie, and Mitama run in to help the others. Kiragi says he needs to save his father by beating the Vallite soldiers. He refuses to run and finally manages to kill the soldiers.

Kana asks him to teach her how to use legendary weapons, so she can rescue her father. Kiragi recognizes her sword as Yato and tells her to keep trying until it works. Yato transforms into Noble Yato as more soldiers appear. Kana kills one with Yato. Hisame realizes that they need to fight together because running would put them in danger. Selkie convinces Mitama to fight too.

The battle begins, reusing the map from Xander's boss fight in Birthright. This chapter is a defeat the boss map. Said boss is Siegbert? But like, a ghostly Vallite Siegbert. Soleil, Ingatius, Percy, and Velouria fight alongside him. This chapter was surprisingly difficult, after having played Revelation. Fates is filled with things like My Castle, Supports, and grinding to cheese the game, but this map forced me to use weak, under-leveled children who can't gain exp. It was actually a really fun map.

After the battle, Azura's ghost pops up. She doesn't say her name but I have eyes. The kids recognize her for some reason. Azura gives Kana a dragonstone and tells her to upgrade Yato into the Fire Emblem. Kana asks if the dads are dead. Azura doesn't know, but says they promised her they would live life to the fullest. She hints at the fact that she faded away at the end of Birthright and Conquest, explaining why she's a ghost. She hints that something is strange about the ghost soldiers.

Back in Valla, narrator Shigure sings the Birthright version of Lost In Thoughts All Alone, saying it's for players who bought Birthright. He explains that the song can grant miracles, but says once you take hold of it, your soul will sink below the waves, unable to be reached by anyone. He says that, despite this, he can't stop himself from doing what must be done...

Fuck that was good! The map was solid and the writing left me intrigued! I want to know more. More importantly, the kids are complex characters! I think the thing that made the Awakening kids work better is the grief, the fact that they lost their parents. This chapter gives the Fates kids that same grief. I love Kana hating herself for being weak, Mitama blaming her sleepiness for her father’s death, Selkie foolishly clinging to hope, Kiragi refusing to give up in the face of adversity, and Hisame being a loyal protector of his liege. This chapter rocks!

Support: Caeldori/Nina

C: Caeldori asks Nina to teach her how to stealth. Nina is excited because Caeldori is super talented. B: The two of them go on a scouting mission together and discuss battle strategies. A: Caeldori and Nina take out enemies by having one of them act as a distraction. Review: Very boring. Nina being in awe of Caeldori could be interesting, but this Support doesn't do anything with it.

Support: Hisame/Fana

C: Kana sees Hisame practicing swordfighting and asks him to fight her. She turns into a dragon because she read a book about knights beating dragons and wants to beat a knight. Hisame refuses.

B: Hisame explains that stories of fighting dragons aren't real and that he couldn't fight Kana with storybook zeal. Kana still wants to fight.

A: Kana calls Hisame a dashing knight, so Hisame decides to instead do a swordfight between two knights. Kana agrees.

S: Hisame sees the storybook and realizes that Kana could also be the princess in the tower. Kana suggests they reinterpret the book so it's about a dragon saving a boy. Hisame decides to write stories for Kana.

Review: Kana wanting to beat up a knight is fun and Hisame is nice and understanding. This one is good.

Support: Dwyer/Ophelia

C: Dwyer makes Ophelia tea. She thinks it's amazing and legendary, which means Dwyer is a chosen one.

B: Ophelia comes up with better names for Dwyer's tea.

A: Ophelia says the name tea is boring, but relents when Dwyer threatens to stop making tea.

S: Dwyer tries to do Ophelia's chuni shit when he tells her he loves her.

Review: A really good S-Rank preceded by three mediocre Supports.

Support: Shigure/Velouria

C: Velouria asks Shigure to paint a painting of her garbage collection because she has to throw some of them out.

B: Shigure paints it in a way that makes it look beautiful out of an attempt to capture Velouria's point of view. Velouria is annoyed, because she has eyes and knows what her garbage looks like.

A: Shigure remakes the painting, this time more accurate. Velouria thinks it's wonderful. Velouria also keeps the first painting, because it was a gift from a friend.

S: Shigure explains that Velouria likes things associated with death and decay. She thinks that things that show nothing in life is permanent are beautiful and embraces the impermanence of life. Shigure finds Velouroia interesting. Velouria insists there is no deeper meaning, but agrees to a date.

Review: I love Shigure's monologue about decay in the S-Rank.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 122: Screw America I Guess

Xenologue 21 Hoshidan Festival of Bonds and Xenologue 22 Nohrian Festival of Bonds

So, these next chapters are a bit of a problem, because they were never released outside of Japan. Meaning that not only can I not play them, but I can’t even read the scripts, because there are no official scripts. All I have is things on the wiki, which might not be reliable.

These seem to be a follow-up to Awakening’s scramble maps, where the army visits a place and we get cgs of them in special outfits. Midori, Dwyer, Forrst, Shigure, Ophelia, and Nina all wear kimonos in the Hoshidan one. Forrest wears a girl's kimono and Nina has two right feet. All of the children have black hair because their mothers (father in Shigure's case) aren't set in stone. The Nohrian festival is Halloween themed and features Xander as a pirate, Subaki as a prince, Leo as a vampire, Camilla as a succubus, Oboro as a gothic lolita, and Setsuna as a mummy. I assume, like the Awakening scramble chapters, they were chosen by a poll.

These chapters come with new Supports between the children and their mothers and between first generation units without Supports respectively. Unfortunately, I can’t read them. There were various people who attempted to translate these Supports, but I don’t have a verifiable list of what Supports were in the Japanese version, so I don’t know how complete any of these translations are. Plus, they are by the very nature of translation different from what we would have got with an official translation. Also, this blog is focused on the English version we got, not the Japanese version.

I am very obviously making excuses to not do these conversations. The thing is, I’m really sick of Fate’s writing and Supports. It has slowly grinded me down over time. I fell off this blog for months, because I am sick of bad Supports, so I don’t want to read dozens more that I don’t have to.

Support: Ignatius/Nina

C: Nina hornily spies on Ignatius talking to another guy. He spots her and she freaks out because she's bad with guys. Ignatius asks her to not follow him.

B: Nina spies on two cute boys. Ignatius shows up and watches the cute boys pickpocket a woman. Ignatius assumes she's trying to fight thievery and they team up to take out the thieves.

A: Nina tries to thank Ignatius, but can't say it. Ignatius realizes she struggles to talk to people. Nina says that Ignatius is kind and reliable and, while not daydream material, she can stand being his friend, if he tries to look cute more often.

S: Ignatius says he wants to be more than friends and calls Nina adorable. Nina starts daydreaming about him and tries to set Ignatius up with another guy.

Review: Pretty good. Nina being awkward around people makes her more tolerable and her accidentally stopping a robbery is amusing.

Support: Forrest/Shigure

C: Shigure uses oil paints instead of watercolors, which is a style from a century ago. Forrest says he studies the fashion in old portraits and cuts his hair based on one portrait.

B: Shigure and Forrest decide to prank their friends by painting a pretty lady, except the lady is actually Forrest!

A: Their friends recognize Forrest in the painting, because he is the only beauty in the army. Take that, Charlotte!

Review: This one is so stupid but I kinda like it. Shigure and Forrest are the nicest friendliest guys in the army, so their idea of a prank is ridiculously lame. It's endearing.

Support: Percy/Velouria

C: Velouria asks if Percy gets tired of hanging out with Ace all the time. Percy says he's always happy around ace. Velouria explains she's more comfortable when alone.

B: Velouria stares at an abandoned bird nest because she wonders if it smells like pretty birds. Percy gets it for her using Ace. Velouria offers him the first sniff.

A: Percy and Ace go to a lake. Velouria wants to go along because they're close friends of hers and she doesn't have many. Vekouria says she'll dig for fossils on the beach. S: Percy gives Velouria a nest from a rooftop. Velouria invites Percy to go treasure hunting with her. Percy says he doubts there'll be any treasure better than her.

Review: A nice friendly Support with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Support: Midori/Ophelia

C: Ophelia does fortune-telling. Midori calls it fake and accuses Ophelia of not wanting to face reality.

B: Midori continues to mock Ophelia's fortune telling saying Ophelia just says stuff she wants to hear. Ophelia counters that this is to build confidence. Ophelia says that's a good thing and offers to tell Midori's fortune. Midori refuses, because she has enough problems in the present, with all the sick people she has to take care of.

A: Midori has a breakdown over all the wounded and dying. Ophelia tells her her destiny: to smile, surrounded by those she've healed. Ophelia says this dream will come true if Ophelia keeps working hard. Ophelia admits she does fortune telling to keep going in a world filled with pain.

Review: Goddamn that was a good Support! I take back like 5% of my complaints about Supports. Midori is a deep character haunted by the stresses of war. She calls out Ophelia for being immature, but Ophelia shows that her coping mechanism isn’t all bad.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 121: The Same Chapter Again Except Less Horny

You know what I realized I haven’t talked about? The Difficulty Modes in this game. Fates has two types of difficulty, with three options each. The first type determines enemy strength and is split into: Normal, which is painfully easy; Hard, which is a decent challenge; and Lunatic, which exists to tell you to go fuck yourself. There are also three death types: Classic, where units die; Casual, where units come back after battle; and Phoenix, where units come back every turn.

I think that Normal/Hard/Lunatic all have their merits. They are good for learning the game, playing the game normally, and pushing yourself respectively. There are a lot of really cool Ludonarative things accomplished by Classic mode, in addition to it being a good challenge, but Casual is a fine easier mode that I’m okay with existing. I admittedly played Casual when writing this blog.

The oddball is Phoenix. It exists so you can see the story without playing the game, except, you still have to play the game, just without any choices mattering. Also, this game isn’t written good enough to skip the game and just read the story. It would be cool to try out Phoenix/Lunatic mode as a weird challenge run, but unfortunately, Phoenix locks you into Normal mode for some reason.

I’m going to do a bunch of DLC chapters in one fel swoop now.

Xenologue 2: Beach Brawl

Corrin is given a ticket for a vacation to a tropical island, but insists that one of their siblings take it. The boy royals argue about which one of them has to go on a vacation and pass it around like a hot potato. Their retainers show up and demand they go on a vacation, leading to an eight-way brawl over who gets the ticket. In this chapter, the player chooses one royal and their retainers and has to take on the other seven teams. The chapter uses premade units instead of the royals you actually have, for balance reasons. There is a Dragon Vein that lowers the stats of other teams. I don’t have much to say about the gameplay, because I haven’t actually played this one and am just going off the script on the wiki.

Each team gets their own little bit of dialogue before battle. Kagero and Saizo vow to lay down their lives to ensure Ryoma gets a vacation. Hinoka tries to forfeit, but Setsuna and Azama force her to fight so she can bring back gifts for them. Takumi orders Oboro and Hinata to surrender, but they refuse because they know he secretly wants the vacation. Sakura and Hana are worried that the vacation is a trap, but Subaki confirms it's safe after patrolling the beach; he also tells Sakura about all the sweets and begins making her an itinerary.

Xander orders Peri and Laslow to not slack off; his retainers request seashells and drawings of women in bikinis respectively as gifts. Camilla is sad that Corrin isn't going, but Beruka and Selena refuse to let Camilla go. Leo thinks that the whole thing is a waste of time, but Odin gives a big flowery speech about how great the beach is; Niles and Odin offer to slather Leo in tanning lotion so he returns bronze gold. Elise doesn't want to go without Arthur and Effie, but they tell her that fighting for her is all the vacation they need.

If you win, it cuts to a few days later, when Anna delivers a letter and a photo of the winning lord in a swimsuit to their retainers. I assume this is designed to be fanservice, which makes Elise and Sakura's inclusion a bit sketchy. Ryoma goes swimming and trains by fighting fish. His retainers also decide to train. Azama says he misses Hinoka's criticism. Hinoka trains by fighting coconuts and says she won't send presents, disappointing Setsuna. Takumi looks happy. Oboro gets jealous because she thinks he's dating Anna now because she took the photo. Sakura eats a bunch of fruit. Subaki and Hana argue about her swimsuit.

Xander clutches a Lilith floaty because he can't swim. He also sends back extensive notes on seashells and babes. Beruka assumes Anna is a spy and tries to murder her. Selena is jealous that Camilla is having fun, while Beruka worries about assassins. Beruka hopes Camilla brings back poison as a gift. Leo wears his cape to the beach and stays inside all day. He tells his retainers it was a waste of time. Arthur somehow rips his own underwear out while retrieving a letter from his pocket. Elise makes leis for her retainers. The retainers explain they would have been miserable at the beach and decide to spar.

Xenologue 3: Boo Camp

Boom Camp exists so you can grind EXP by endlessly fighting faceless. Felicia or Jakob tells Corrin that the army is weak, so they should train on a haunted mountain and overcome their fear. The plot is bare bones, but every unit gets a unique line when they fight the faceless. I'm going to only mention the interesting ones.

Azura admits that people used to think the castle was haunted because of her singing. Jakob threatens to level a mountain if Corrin is injured. Kaze says he was haunted by a woman's ghost once and does not elaborate. Mozu says that she doesn't believe in ghosts and that the faceless are just monsters, then worries that she's started seeing ghosts. Shura vows to do right by the restless spirits of Kohga, if they exist. Fuga says he’ll push his limits, even though he’s old.

Takumi screams for the monsters to get away. Azama complains about them trampling over the mountain, then realizes he's also trampling and decides to purify himself. Setsuna says the faceless aren't as scary as the decapitated corpse she ended up trapped in a pit with. Hinata is reminded of a woman in a white who hovered in a graveyard when he was a kid and comes to the conclusion, not that she's a ghost, but that she had a crush on him. Oboro says people are more scared of her than ghouls. Hayato is scared because he is a child. Kaden asks the monsters to scare him because he thinks fear is fun. Yukimura mentions that there are rumors of ghosts haunting Castle Shirasagi and says that he hopes there are, so he can see Sumeragi or Mikoto again. Scarlet assumes it's an exercise to get them to pair off as couples, for some reason.

Xander says that the thing he always feared was his father late at night. Camilla says that the Woods of the Forlorn and the games she played as a kid are scarier than the monsters. Leo says the dead envy him and that so do most of the living. Effie asks the faceless to come back to her gym for daily training. Peri screams because she's scared of mummies, then realizes it's just faceless and kills them. Selena calls the whole chapter stupid and says that she's seen way worse things, for example Camilla when she's upset, which is apparently scarier than the zombie apocalypse she was raised in. Benny complains that everyone mistakes him for a monster then screams because he sees monsters. Keaton likes the mud and bones. Gunter says it's dumb to waste EXP on him because he has bad growths.

Shigure decides to paint the mountain and the faceless. Midori is scared, but plans to make medicine out of monsters. Asugi pretends the monsters are pinatas. Hisame brings up Hinata's ghost crush, who apparently was seen behind him. Rhajat thinks the dreary mountain is dope. Siegbert thinks he is unfit to be king because he's scared. Soleil hears girls screaming and is into it.

At the end of the chapter, Corrin decides to come back later for more training, scaring their retainers.

Xenologue 4: Ghostly Gold

This chapter is like Boo Camp but for gold instead. The chapter begins with Lloyd and Lleewelyn informing Corrin that people keep looting the ruined temple they look after. Corrin offers to help. Because the looters attack at dawn, everyone has to stay up late. Also the looters are ghosts. Once again, everyone gets a single line, this time complaining about staying up late. Jakob dreams of fighting in his underwear, something you can make him do in Castle Battles. Silas gets tricked into licking a toad to stay awake. Kaze can't sleep without his favorite pillow.

Ryoma grumpily says he doesn't need sleep or breakfast or coffee. Hinoka falls asleep mid-sentence. Takumi points out that taking turns sleeping was an option. Sakura spills coffee on herself and others. Saizo says he can stay up for five days straight. Azama says he knows how to sleep in the middle of a conversation without people knowing. Setsuna says that she went to bed early instead of keeping watch because she knew the others would wake her. Kaden says he sleeps while curled up into a ball. Orochi says it was adorable how the others slapped each other to stay awake. Rinkah says she slapped people to keep them awake. Yukimura praises the tactical plan of striking when everyone was asleep, then points out he has caffeine. Scarlet says that this is the first time she's ever seen a sunrise because she normally sleeps in.

Camilla says she is in a MOOD because she and Corrin couldn't sleep. Leo says he will make the next person who calls him grouchy suffer. Odin says his eyelids are being pulled down by ghost magic. Niles says he always sleeps with one eye open, but then again he normally does things with only one eye open. Laslow says he stays up for pillow talk. Peri cries and says she's emotional when she doesn't get enough sleep, meaning she probably hasn't slept all game. Beruka says she took part in a three-week stakeout once. Benny says he was too scared to fall asleep because people told ghost stories. Keaton is mad everyone knows he snores. Gunter falls asleep boasting.

Shigure sings a lullaby to keep himself awake and accidentally puts everyone else to sleep. Dwyer complains about having to make all the coffee when he's tired. Sophie, half asleep, thinks the ghosts are cotton candy. Midori makes worm juice energy drinks. Mitama can't write a good poem because it's four in the morning. Caeldori says she should have brought a romance novel to keep her awake. Forrest complains about having to sleep on the ground, which is bad for his skin and hair. Velouria is nocturnal. Percy says he annoys Arthur in the morning. Soleil says she almost showed up naked.

Corrin decides to give back all the gold the bandits dropped. The twins give them the gold as a reward. After Corrin leaves, Lloyd and Llewelyn mention the gold is cursed and gives bad breath.

Xenologue 5: Museum Melee

Team Corrin goes to an interrealm museum featuring rare weapons. The curator explains there's a battle to the death over the weapons Corrin can compete in. Okay. Also the museum is on an airship for some reason. This one allows you to get rare weapons and items. You can also get capturable bosses here, because bosses are also items. Corrin points out that they shouldn't be fighting with real weapons. Felicia wants a tea set she can't break. Shura points out that he's still robbing people, even after renouncing his bandit life. Izana requests to be given the entire airship.

Ryoma worries about Ranjito being stolen. Saizo calls the whole situation absurd, but does what is demanded. Setsuna says wheeee because she's on an airship. Oboro compares it to a holiday sale. Yukimura is disappointed that it isn't a real museum.

Xander points out that only he can wield Siegfried, because he is a bad father and forgot his son exists. Elise says she wants a divine weapon like her brothers. Arthur is confused by being forced to act like a mugger. Peri begs Corrin to let her kill people. Selena goes to the gift shop.

Dwyer wants coffee from alternate universes. Midori tries to trade drugs for weapons, because she is secretly Ronald Reagan. Shiro wants a weapon that can beat his father's. Selkie does not grasp that a fight is going on. Hisame wants pickle-eating utensils. Ignatius gets airsickness. Nina follows hot guys around.

After the battle, the curator explains that the weapons were donated by realms no longer at war. He explains that the people we just beat up were also from war-torn realms and Corrin feels sad. I don't. Soldiers are not always good, Corrin. Corrin says they'll donate the weapons after they've won the war, so others can achieve peace.

Xenologue 6: Royal Royale

This one takes place after Revelation. A version of the Rainbow Sage from the Outrealms informs the princesses that Corrin is in danger. Specifically, an alternate universe version of Corrin who hasn't beat the game yet is in danger. He tells the princesses to spar to see who is the strongest, which will allow him to make stat boosting items for Corrin. Somehow. The girls don't to fight each other, but agree once they find out the princes already agreed.

Wait a minute. This is just Beach Brawl again, except less horny this time! What a rip-off!

Winning nets you a Dread Scroll for the Hoshidans and an Ebon Wing for the Nohrians, plus a character specific stat booster (Secret Book for Takumi, Energy Drop for Ryoma, Seraph Robe for Hinoka, Dracoshield for Xander, Spirit Dust for Leo, Godess Icon for Elise, and Talisman for Camilla).

There are people who paid money for these chapters.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 120: Oops! All Supports #20

I’m done with the game, but I still have so many damn Supports!

Support: Selkie/Velouria

C: Selkie wants to play with Velouria. Velouria says no because Selkie is too rough and jumps off cliffs. Selkie says Velouria and her are similar but Velouria denies this.

B: Selkie asks Velouria to play with her. Velouria sees the furballs and twigs and rocks in Selkie's tail, which she thinks are treasures. Velouria agrees to roll down hills if she gets to groom Selkie's tail after.

A: The girls have fun. Velouria asks why it was so important that Selkie befriend her and Selkie says that none of their other friends can transform like them. Fuck Kana, I guess. They canonically are not friends with Selkie. The girls discuss their hair streaks and decide to be best friends.

Review: Decently fun, but a touch shallow.

Support: Mana/Percy

C: Percy volunteers for night guard duty. While working, he decides to pick up trash. Kana decides to go on patrol with him.

B: Kana and Percy decide to form a squad to help people and deliver mail. Percy says his mask symbolizes his unending quest for justice.

A: Kana and Percy praise each other.

Review: Boring.

Support: Siegbert/Soleil

C: Soleil strips off dirty clothes in front of Siegbert, embarrassing him. She says it's fine because she'll become his retainer eventually.

B: Soleil chases girls. Siegbery tells her to act modestly and stop embarrassing him. Soleil says that strong women be themselves, instead of being ashamed because of how others think.

A: Siegbert comes around to Soleil's idea that strength means not caring what others think. He says it will always be important for him to consider what others think about him, but he wants to be more true to himself. Soleil says she's a bad role model, but Siegbert says he doesn't care what she thinks. He explains that you should take pride in yourself, but not become a problem for others.

S: Siegbert says that he doesn't want Soleil as his retainer, because when he's king, he'll have an entire country obeying his commands. What he needs is a friend.

Review: Not bad. Soleil is an idiot, but her idea of staying true to herself isn't bad. I especially like the S-Rank. It isn't romantic, but the idea of Siegbert wanting a friend, not a servant, is nice.

Support: Dwyer/Nina

C: Dwyer sneaks off for a nap and finds Nina stalking people from a barrel.

B: Dwyer finds Nina again while he's doing the laundry. Nina praises him for being good at laundry and attempts to set him up with a cute guy.

A: Nina finally gets a drop of Dwyer when he's feeling bad about messing something up. Nina encourages him to cheer up. Also she says she watches him bathe and attempts to set him up with a choir boy.

S: Dwyer carries flowers for a girl he likes. Nina is sad because she likes Dwyer. But wait the flowers are for her gasp shocking.

Review: It's fine. They bounce off well but there isn't much here.

Support: Hisame/Ophelia

C: Ophelia sees Hisame growing a bonsai tree and speculates it's from a pocket dimension forest full of infinitesimally smaller trees. Hisame explains what bonsai is. Ophelia assumes bonsai trees are holy magic. Hisame gives her the tree.

B: The bonsai tree grows like a normal tree because Ophelia doesn't know how to tend to it. Ophelia thanks him for his help.

A: Hisame gives Ophelia a book on bonsai patience. Ophelia comes to the conclusion it is a magic tome. Hisame begins crushing on her.

S: Ophelia perfects her bonsai tree, then adds magic rocks and a dollhouse. Hisame asks to spend the rest of his life with her. Ophelia says yes and decides to give Hisame a cooler name.

Review: This one is weirdly excellent. Ophelia’s over the top personality bounces off Hisame really well and the duo have great chemistry. This one is nothing special, but it perfects its simple concept.

Support: Caeldori/Shigure

C: Shigure prepares to go for a peaceful flight right as Caeldori returns from training. Caeldori explains that she only flies for training and military purposes. Shigure says that the love of flying is important and invites Caeldori to come with him some time.

B: Caeldori is bored by the relaxing leisure flight and challenges Shigure to a race. Shigure wins because he has a deeper bond with his pegasus.

A: Caeldori gets frustrated about being worse than Shigure and trains for 15 hours every day to get faster, which only makes her pegasus hate her. Shigure is horrified and explains that this is animal abuse.

S: Caeldori and Shigure get together.

Review: I like that this one has Caeldori having flaws and frustrations. That poor horse.

Support: Fana/Shiro

C: Kana wants an apple from a tree to give to her father, but is unable to reach it. Shiro hoists her up on his shoulders so she can reach it. Kana declares that they are a four-armed ogre and roars at the apple. Something something mecha shiva. Kana and Shiro split the apple.

B: Shiro gives Kana a piggyback ride so they can pick more apples. Shiro spins Kana around faster and faster for fun.

A: Kana decides to pretend she's a princess. Shiro points out she's already a princess and suggests a game where Kana pretends to be a bride and Shiro pretends to be her handmaiden.

S: Shiro and Kana play a game where Shiro acts as Kana's squire. Shiro promises to always find time to goof off with Kana.

Review: This is a really cute Support about Shiro playing games with his much younger cousin. I was worried when they mentioned the bride stuff, but thankfully there aren’t any incestuous child marriages in this one.

Support: Forrest/Rhajat

C: Rhajat hates Forrest for being adorable and says she couldn't pull off his drip. Forrest says Rhajat could because she is a confident beauty he admires.

B: Forrest makes Rhajat a new outfit. She speculates that he spied on her to find out her measurements.

A: Rhajat says that she figured out who was spying on her and implies she murdered her. Also she thanks Forrest for the clothes. They become friends and Rhajat warns Forrest that she will stalk him and murder his enemies.

S: Forrest says he doesn't want to be friends anymore. Rhajat threatens to murder him, but relents when he explains he wants to date.

Review: Rhajat is actually fun in this one, instead of creepy.

Support: Ignatius/Selkie

C: Selkie hops around like a frog. She invites Ignatius to join her. He doesn't enjoy it and ends up hurting himself.

B: Selkie invites Ignatius to explore a scary cave. Ignatius is scared. Selkie asks what fear looks like because she is incapable of feeling fear.

A: Selkie scares Ignatius with a bug. He explains that he's scared of combat, his friends being hurt, and clowns. He has PTSD over Three Houses Chapter 8. Selkie offers to squish bugs, explore caves, and maul clowns for Ignatius.

S: Selkie asks if Ignatius is scared of ghosts. He says yes. She asks about friendly ghosts. He says yes. Selkie is sad because if she dies and turns into a ghost he wouldn't want to be friends. Ignatius says he won't let Selkie die because he loves her. Selkie says she'll love him forever and that she'll mess with him as a ghost.

Review: Selkie is fun in this one.

Support: Mitama/Percy

C: Mitama says that Percy is tiring to be around.

B: Percy wakes Mitama up so he can make her more cheerful. He explains that she won't be as drained if she gets mad at him being annoying.

A: Mitama acts energetic to keep Percy from being annoying, then begs him to let her be lazy.

S: Percy asks what type of person Mitama would like romantically. She says they would be a terrible match. Percy says he's energetic enough for both of them.

Review: This one was tiring.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 119: Amen

We’ve reached the end.

Revelation Chapter 27: Hear My Cry

The shadow mist that flew out of Gunter flies into the big stone head on the wall. It comes to life, now possessed by Anankos. Corrin says that Anankos has been toying with them for too long. Anankos says it isn't wrong to manipulate humans, because they exist solely for the amusement of dragons. Anankos asks why he was left to suffer and die, why humans flourish while he is burried in a dead world, ignored and forgotten. It's because you destroyed Valla, dickhole.

Jokes aside, Anankos having a crisis about being forgotten isn't a bad idea. The concept of an ancient god, now no longer worshipped, angry about being forgotten is decent. Too bad it's relegated to a couple of throwaway lines.

Corrin answers Anankos by hitting him with a sword, because Corrin is an articulate speaker. This fails, because swords don't cut through giant stone statues generally. Anankos says that, because Corrin is part of his bloodline, he will make Corrin his vessel. Xander and Anakos rush in and get their asses handed to them by Anankos’s laser breath. Anankos also attacks Azura, because dancers are OP.

The legendary weapons randomly start glowing and Yato transforms into its true form, a flaming golden chainsaw sword called Omega Yato. AKA the legendary Fire Emblem.

This chapter uses the same map as the last one, with Anankos serving as the boss. There are Dragon Veins that can be used to make healing tiles. As an aside, I'd like to praise Anankos's design in this chapter. The decayed statue works well for a forgotten god and is visually unlike anything else in the series. The moments where the head rears out from the wall, revealing there's an eldritch monster wearing it, and the moments where the jaw of the mask breaks apart so Anankos can shoot lasers are creepy.

Anankos is a powerful enemy who has bullshit skills that negate stat drops, poison, statuses, Lethality, Counter, and damage after battle from Poison Strike and similar skills. It also halves damage from all weapons but Omega Yato, which is instead reduced by 25%, and reduces the damage from criticals and activation skills. This final battle is lactose intolerant. Fortunately, Xander and Takumi were strong enough to beat him down.

After being defeated, Anankos summons Garon to give him a power boost. Garon tells Anankos to fuse with him so they can rule together. Anankos laughs and eats Garon. The Nohrians are given a single line of mourning each. Anankos then brags about getting his power back. The stone mask cracks, revealing four red eyes. The monster body retracts into a hole. The palace explodes as Anankos's real form, a bigass dragon, flies away. Dragon Anankos summons a fucking black hole, which sucks in all of the rubble of the palace and eventually entire flying islands as he rears up to attack.

So, power scaling is kinda dumb, but Corrin and company don’t get sucked in, meaning they can casually shrug off the pull of a black hole. This makes Corrin arguably one of the strongest characters in Smash.

Revelation Endgame: Anankos

Takumi and Leo say that they can't possibly beat Anankos's dragon form. Xander said he never thought his final moments would be alongside a Hoshidan prince; Ryoma messes up the Legolas quote because he hasn't seen Return of the King. Ryoma says he'll meet his end on his feet. Corrin says to not give up and that they can win through teamwork!

The setting for this final chapter is cool. The black hole makes the sky change to a beautiful starry night, for some reason, with Anankos taking up half the map. Dragon Anankos is a pale dragon covered in spikes, with sharp black nails and rotting wings filled with holes. The dragon's head has no eyes; in his jaw, it holds a giant green orb covered in red eyes, which I assume is Anankos's soul. An excellent remix of Lost in Thoughts All Alone plays as the battle begins. Unfortunately, despite the game giving me dozens of different units, I was only allowed to bring a paltry 12.

There are a few enemies milling about in this chapter, but the main threat is Anankos. You first have to kill Anaknos’s two arms, which causes him to lower his head. Anankos hits like a truck. His attack animation has a tree grow out of his head as he shoots out an energy ball. It looks cool but I don't know what the significance is. I split up my army, with Takumi and Kenshi taking out the two hands, while Corrin took on the central head. Corrin was unable to fell the head in a single blow, so I resorted to callously throwing my units away through an endless parade of human wave tactics. Setsuna, of all people, managed to dodge a lethal dragon breath attack and kill Anankos with a counterattack.

Psyche! There’s a third form that is just the eye ball! This final form tore through my army. I sacrificed Takumi to get the eye weak and attacked with Corrin, who just barely failed to kill the god. I had Kenshi Galeforce boost back to the center and attack over Corrin’s shoulder with a shuriken. This didn’t work, but Corrin killed Anankos with a pair-up attack. If I felt like it, I could wax philosophically about friendship and bonds killing a god.

Anankos dies, the black hole disappears, and everyone celebrates. The game cuts to the throne room, where Azura crowns Corrin ruler of Valla as their siblings watch. Yay! Corrin is the ruler of a dead kingdom without any subjects! Corrin thanks Xander and Ryoma for donating land to rebuild Valla, but the fact remains, who the hell is going to live there? Also does the curse still exist?

Corrin pledges to believe in their people and works for their betterment. Everyone says Corrin will be a good ruler, as Gunter watches from a distance. Corrin and Azura meet by the lake. Corrin says Azura should be the leader, but she counters that they stopped Anankos and were chosen by Valla. Azura sings the song and Corrin speculates it's about them. Azura says Anankos wrote the song, so it could be used one day to save him by killing him. Corrin and Azura vow to write a new verse to the song, together.

In the final anime cutscene, Xander and Ryoma stand on a green hillside and vow to keep peace. Hinoka and Camilla say they will all be bound by this vow. Elise and Sakura say they're friends now. Takumi says he wishes it were that easy to forgive, but Leo says that healing can only begin with trust. Everyone turns to Corrin as the two kings swear to their people, countries, and Mary Sue sibling.

It sure is good that this ending fixes the massive economic issues in Nohr that force the country to result to raids on neighboring countries for supplies and also fixes the lingering resentment Hoshidans feel over the decades of constant slaughter of civilians at the hands of Garon!

I don’t know who my MVP was because I accidentally skipped the credits. Let’s say Kenshi.

Closing Thoughts

Revelation is a bit of a mess. There are things I like. The idea of a golden ending where everyone unites is cool. Mikoto and Sumeragi coming back as ghosts is interesting. Gunter was a good villain, even if the writing regarding Scarlet’s murder was haphazard. Valla at least looks amazing.

But, I can’t deny this route has heavy, heavy flaws. The first half of the route is mostly retreading the other two, with characters reduced to single lines of dialogue and major plot points tossed aside, and feels like filler. It picks up once the gang gets to Valla, only to grind to a halt with the Anthony arc. The idea of new lore and ancient secrets is appealing, but that isn’t really given. All of the depth to Anankos’s character is relegated to DLC chapters and Valla is a boring country, free from any culture or depth. The ad-hoc worldbuilding and dumb character decisions return from Conquest, but at the same time, Corrin being a decent character returns from Birthright.

The reliance on gimmick maps is far more common than in the other routes, and while I do appreciate attempting to make maps unique, many of them are just annoying to play. The game gives you an absolutely massive army, but never gives you a chance to use this bigger army.

Revelation exists to give a happy ending where everyone lives, a route where you can recruit dozens of soldiers and customize your army as much as you want. And it succeeds at being that. But, as this epic finale, this ultimate battle against the ultimate villain, it falls woefully short. And as a result, I think it’s my least favorite of the three routes.

I’m not done yet with Fire Emblem Fates. I still have a few more DLC chapters, most notably the Heirs of Fate Xenologues, and would like to end this blog with my honest thoughts on every character. But, for now, let’s close the book on this chapter of Fates.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 118: Trust in the Face of Betrayal

As I’ve mentioned, I write the chapter recaps in advance. Although I began posting the Revelation entries in September of 2022, I actually played through the game in June of that year. I played the first 25 chapters, all of the Paralogues, and then put the game down for more than a year. During the recent Labor Day weekend, I finally picked up the game again, so I could play through the final three maps.

Revelation gives you a quite honestly absurd number of units, despite the fact that Chapters 26 and 27 only give you 16 deployment slots, one of which must be Corrin. For these final maps, I decided, rather than going with the game’s best units, to go with the ones I actually cared about. 

Jakob. Felicia. Setsuna. Orochi. Saizo. Takumi. Kagero. Effie. Arthur. Niles. Nyx. Beruka. Benny. Xander. And, of course, Kenshi.

I trained Kenshi in all of the free DLC classes and maxed out all of his stats but magic. Behold, my Level 60 Dread Fighter with Death Blow, Ignis, Aggressor, Galeforce, and Rally Spectrum. I also decided, because Jakob was Corrin’s husband in this run, to see how broken I could make him with reclassing. He ended up with Luna, Lethality, Shurikenfaire, Replicate, and Quick Draw. He’s almost as good as Kenshi or any of the royals.

Revelation Chapter 26

Team Corrin arrives in Anankos's throne room, only to find it empty, containing only a giant stone Buddha Head. Random fireballs come out of nowhere to hit all of the royals but Corrin and Azura. Leo, Takumi, and Ryoma immediately begin questioning why Corrin and Azura were spared. Gunter, who also wasn't hit, concludes that they were spared because they're both Vallite royalty.

Gunter then accuses Corrin of being a traitor and Scarlet's murder. Xander is the one person to call this ridiculous. It's unclear if the other characters believe Corrin is sus, but the scene is framed as if they believe Gunter. Because every character in this game is an idiot. Gunter accuses Corrin of leading the royals to Valla so they could all be killed. And, presumably, he is arguing that Corrin saved the lives of the other royals in battle constantly, for some reason. This is the most stupid ridiculous overcomplicated plan possible, so to be fair it does make sense that Corrin could have come up with it.

Corrin says No U, accusing Gunter of being the real traitor, then Columbos proof that Gunter is sus because he knew about the flower on Scarlet's chest, something only the killer would have known about.

Gunter laughs and sits on the throne, surrounded by a purple aura. Gunter monologues that he's always been evil and murdered Scarlet to tear away Corrin's innocence. Corrin says this is unbelievable and that they still believe in Gunter. Gunter asks if Corrin is naive or just stupid. To editorialize, both. The answer is both. Corrin says they need to be able to trust their friends and that Gunter is just being manipulated by Anankos, like Mikoto and Sumeragi. Corrin says they can still save Gunter.

Gunter laughs, saying that he is stronger than the reanimated corpses and that his body belongs to Anankos. He says that he is Anankos and Anaknos is him. Corrin refuses to give up. They fight to get Gunter back and end the war, with the help of their friends.

I mock Corrin a lot on this blog. Corrin is really really stupid and annoying a lot of the time. But, occasionally, the game gives me a scene that makes me really like Corrin.

Corrin is naive. That is their core character trait. And sometimes they act dumb. Sometimes they act frustratingly stupid and commit a bunch of war crimes. But, Corrin works the best, when they are naively hopeful in the face of overwhelming adversary. When they try to save everyone, when they try to end the war through kindness. When they see their father figure controlled by a dark god and decide to save him, even as he insults them. Corrin is a kind person put into a dark world, who brings light through their relentless hope and kindness. That’s why, in the good paths, Corrin is the one who ends the war. Because they stubbornly refuse to give up on their hope of a better world.

This is a defeat the boss chapter set in a throne room full of enemies. The map's gimmick is pools of water that endlessly spawn enemies, which can be plugged with dragon veins. Except, the respawns are slow, and the ice melts after a few turns, so I don't know what the point is. The map is filled with chests and Gunter holds a Bifrost staff, which can be used to revive one dead unit immediately after they died. Because of a blessing from Mikoto, Corrin and Azura heal nearby allies. This battle was actually kinda hard, because I didn’t account for marriages when I chose my endgame team. Still, Gunter went down easily.

Gunter's generic battle quote has him sentence people to death in the name of the King of Valla. If he fights Corrin, he calls Corrin's belief in him impressively foolish and says that they should hold onto their foolishness, as a comfort when they die.

After the battle, Azura sings the song, weakening Anankos's control. Gunter begs for Gunter to fight and remember all the time they've spent together. Gunter raises his sword and Corrin refuses to move. Gunter stabs himself in the stomach, causing a mass of darkness to fly out of his body. Gunter says he will atone for his betrayal with his life. Fortunately, Sakura and Elise can heal.

Gunter explains that years ago, when he declined Garon's gift of Dragon Blood, Garon got so pissed that he ordered the deaths of Gunter's wife, child, and entire village. Gunter says that commoners are pawns in the schemes of royals, weeds to be killed on a whim. Xander is surprised people think that of the royals, because he's an idiot. Ryoma says such an impression would easily breed resentment, and yeah no shit.

Gunter explains he vowed to get revenge on Garon and raised Corrin so they could be used as a pawn in this revenge scheme. Question: why did Garon put the man who obviously wants revenge on him in charge of Corrin? Is it because he's also stupid? Yeah probably.

Corrin says that they understand and that, regardless of Gunter's motivations, he stayed by their side and helped them. Gunter says that he killed Scarlet. Corrin says he was under Anankos's control and that, if he wants to atone, he must live. For Scarlet and for the family that was taken from him. Live to fight Anankos and protect all the people that he could still hurt.

This is a really good scene. Except, there’s something that bothers me about it. Corrin’s dialogue is slightly different depending on gender. If Corrin is Male, he says Gunter is his friend. If Corrin is female, she says that Gunter is important to her, and Gunter stares at her while saying dot dot dot. The only reason I can think of for them to make this change is to imply some sort of romantic feelings between Corrin and Gunter.

Goddamnit game! You were so close! You had a really good scene and then you fucked it up!

Support: Forrest/Ophelia

C: Forrest talks to a spice merchant and starts crying after getting some spice in his eye. Ophelia threatens to kill the merchant. Forrest says she went a little overboard, but Ophelia says it's the least she can do and pledges loyalty to Forrest.

B: Ophelia attacks a merchant for spraying Forrest with perfume. Forrest begs her to stop attacking merchants, but she says that merchants could maybe be assassins.

A: Forrest orders Ophelia to stop following him to the market. He explains that it would be dumb for an assassin to spend years working as a mechant, hoping a prince would randomly stop by. Ophelia says she'll stay back, so Forrest says she is allowed to come with him.

S: Forrest pledges himself to Ophelia because her devotion is overflowing. Ophelia decides to fill a lake with rose petals as a love ritual.

Review: I like the idea of Ophelia being Forrest's retainer. She's a bit too dumb, but her being extra to take care of a friend is better than her being extra just because.

Support: Fana/Nina

C: Kana asks Nina about her Robin Hood noble thief thing. He is confused, because his parents taught him stealing is wrong. Nina explains that stealing is wrong, but the world is complicated, and sometimes doing the wrong thing is the best way to help people.

B: Nina shows Kana letters from those she's helped by stealing from the rich to give to the poor. She says that sometimes doing nothing is worse than doing something wrong. Kana calls Nina amazing. Nina says that, even though Niles is a thief himself, he doesn't want her to steal. She says she doesn't respect him and that they fought over this.

A: Kana points out that Nina became a thief to be like Niles and that she must respect him, deep down, because if not, why would she want his approval?

S: Kana gives Nina a book on noble thieves so she can give it to Niles. Nina wonders if Kana will be as kind and honest when he grows uo. Kana promises he won't, because she's his best friend and he doesn't want to lose her.

Review: Pretty good! Nina is a noble thief instead of incredibly horny for once and the stuff about her relationship with Niles was solid.

Support: Forrest/Siegbert

C: Siegbert asks to accompany Forrest as he goes fabric shopping. Forrest deduces this is because Siegbert wants to protect him.

B: Siegbert saves Forrest from a pack of ruffians. Forrest says he doesn't want Siegbert protecting him again, because he can take care of himself. If Forrest is unpromoted, then no, he objectively cannot. Siegbert respects Forrest's suggestion.

A: Forrest apologizes for being too harsh. Siegbert apologizes for treating Forrest like a child Forrest asks to be treated as an ally, not an explanation.

Review: See, this is one of those Supports that gets messed up by gameplay and story segregation. Siegbert being too protecting of Forrest because Forrest is very feminine would be annoying, except within the context of the game, he's right! Forrest is incapable of protecting himself!

Support: Percy/Soleil

C: Percy asks Soleil to help him get Ace laid.

B: Ace doesn't like other dragons. Soleil offers to teach Ace how the right way to treat a lady.

A: Soleil teaches a wyvern to listen to women. The female dragons don't care and fly away.

S: Percy asks Soleil out. Soleil tells him he should chase other girls instead of limiting himself to the three or four girls he already knows. Percy asks her to go on a practice date with him.

Review: This one is weird and the fact that Soleil somehow trained a dragon to be a polite boyfriend is weirder. Still, this one isn't awful.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 117: The Elevator Level

Revelation Chapter 25: Blades Drawn

While traveling through the maselike halls of Anankos’s palace, the gang decides to split up. Because they are dumb. While Corrin is completely separated from their eighty-man-strong army, Anankos monologues about how cool he is and sentences Corrin to death. Corrin is knocked out by an unseen enemy, who leaves them alive for some reason.

Gunter finds Corrin and wakes them up. Corrin speculates their attacker also killed Scarlet because they said the same monologue. Except, that was Anankos monologuing through a possessed minion, meaning that there’s no reason to think it was the same person. It was, but the logic is shaky. Gunter says that the attacker must have been part of the team, because they knew Corrin was separated from the rest of the group. Corrin says that Scarlet wouldn’t want them to distrust each other, and Gunter for some reason mentions that he saw Scarlet pin a flower to her chest before jumping.

Corrin and Gunter run into Azura and Gunter accuses her of being evil. Corrin refuses to believe it, because this route is about trust, but also Corrin keeps trusting people who betray them, and the whole message is really muddled and dumb. Then enemies attack because we need gameplay.

The boss in this chapter is the hooded swordsman from all the way back in Chapter 5. The one who killed Mikoto. He pulls off his hood to reveal that he is actually Sumeragi, the father of the Hoshidans. Sumeragi smiles at the idea of fighting his children and the battle begins.

Not sure how Sumeragi ended up possessed by Anankos, now that I think about it. Or Mikoto, for that matter. Takumi, Scarlet, and Arete actually came into contact with Anankos in Valla, and Garon contacted Anankos through dark magic. How did Sumeragi’s body end up in Valla? I guess Garon could have carried it there, but in that case how did Mikoto’s body end up in Valla? Can Anankos turn any dead person anywhere into a minion?

This is the infamous elevator map. The map is split into different chunks, with elevators moving between them. In practice, this forces you to sit around for half of your turns waiting for an elevator to show up. Sumeragi only has dialogue with Ryoma and Corrin, because fuck Takumi, Sakura, and Hinoka. He urges Corrin to rely on their innate power rather than their sword. He calls Ryoma his pride and challenges him to a glorious battle.

After being defeated, Sumeragi praises his children for being so strong. Then he dies. This is the third time we’ve seen this scene, so it doesn’t really have any impact. Sumeragi saying he’s proud of everyone and apologizing to Corrin for not protecting them is nice I guess.

Hey, how come the Hoshidans get two scenes mourning their parents and the Nohrians get none? Like, Garon isn’t even fought in this route. Why can’t there be a chapter where Garon is fought and his good side is revealed as he dies? It would be better than three different Arete fights.

Support: Niles/Subaki

C: Niles says Subaki's face looks punchable. Suabki tells him to go ahead, because it won't hurt. Niles challenges him to a duel to the death at midnight. Subaki says he has things to do in the morning. Niles threatens to torture him in hundreds of minor ways, so Subaki calls says he has so much free time because he's useless.

B: Niles sneaks up on Subaki, planning to non-lethaly stab him in the back to make him suffer. Subaki asks what his deal is. Niles dodges the question and asks if Subaki's parents didn't pay attention to him. Subaki says his childhood was perfect and Niles says he wants to destroy his smile. Subaki says he's evil. Niles says he isn't (he is) and says, unlike Subaki, at least he doesn't hide his flaws. Subaki says he'll never fail.

A: Subaki looks sad and Niles asks if he can help. Subaki says he's jealous of Niles and wishes he didn't care what others think. He says the weight of perfection is exhausting. Niles asks Subaki to give him a bit of his burden, metaphorically. This somehow works.

Review: Niles and Subaki have a great back-and-forth and the A-Rank actually gives some good depth to Subaki. A surprisingly good Support.

Support: Effie/Hayato

C: Effie helps Hayato carry heavy stuff. Hayato is embarrassed that he's so weak. Effie offers to train him.

B: Effie makes Hayato do hundreds of squats as a warmup. Hayato is unable to do this, because no shit. Effie says she's jealous, because Hayato will have raw physical power and magic once trained, while she'll just have brute strength. Hayato says the brain is a muscle and offers to train Effie.

A: Effie continues training Hayato. Hayato makes Effie play war games.

S: Hayato completes Effie's training with ease. He says he likes Effie, shocking her so much she crushes a steel gauntlet with her bare hands. She says she loves him too.

Review: Effie's mind training is underdeveloped, but I do like a good Effie trains someone until they crave death Support.

Support: Hayato/Nyx

C: Hayato asks if Nyx can keep a secret, but chickens out of telling her.

B: Hayato admits he is afraid of the dark and asks Nyx to fix this problem with magic. Nyx says that all young boys are scared of something, annoying Hayato, who assumes they're the same age.

A: Nyx casts her spell, but Hayato is still scared, because he hasn't let go of his fear.

S: Hayato says he loves Nyx. She explains her curse. He says he'll break it. She says she'll be an older lady then, but he doesn't care about age. Nyx admits she didn't use magic to cure Hayato's fear of the dark, causing him to suddenly panic.

Review: Alright, but I wanted more. Hayato wants to be older and Nyx is forced to be young; that could have been a good bonding opportunity, but instead it's Hayato acting like a scared little kid.

Support: Mana/Mitama

C: Kana says he doesn't like poetry. Mitama decides to teach him how to write poetry.

B: Kana struggles to write a poem and instead does a word game about what the different letters of Mitama's name stand for. Mitama calls that dumb and shows Kana a moving poem Azama wrote to her when she was a child.

A: Kana writes a poem about how Mitama is great. Mitama isn't impressed, but says Kana is improving. She says he needs to write a genuinely moving piece from a place of love.

S: Kana writes a poem about how he wants Mitama to be his friend.

Review: This one was fine.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 116: Oh No A Shocking Unexpected Twist

Revelation Chapter 24: Days Lost

The gang is going through…some building (presumably Anankos’s castle but it didn’t show them entering or mention they’re in the castle) when the lights go out. The lights turn back on, showing Corrin is somehow separated from the group, and a cutscene plays as Mikoto's ghost appears.

Corrin, much smarter in this route, instantly realizes this is one of Anankos’s tricks. Mikoto insists Corrin can trust her and Corrin gets furious for using their mother’s voice against them. Corrin walks up to Mikoto and swings Yato, stopping inches from Mikoto’s head. Mikoto does not try to dodge.

Mikoto says that she’s a puppet of Anankos, but still has free will somehow. Corrin believes her, which is dumb but completely justified considering it’s been at most a few months since Corrin watched their mother be brutally murdered. Corrin makes their way back to the team and the map begins.

This map is…interesting. It encourages the player to stealth around, avoiding enemies. Running into enemies summons stronger enemies. It’s a neat idea that I completely ignored. Also interesting is the door gimmick. Spread throughout the map are pairs of doors. Mikoto tells you the correct door that leads you further into the map. If you chose the wrong door, all of your units take a ton of damage. Mikoto lies about the last door, because spoilers she’s evil how shocking. When Mikoto fights Corrin, she says that they can all be together with Anankos now. She does not mention that Anankos is Corrin’s dad, because screw that plot point.

Actually, wait. Time out. Should have realized this a long time ago, but doesn’t Corrin being Anankos’s child but staying with their adoptive siblings defeat the whole Birthright your family is your blood thing? How is it that this game started with “Chose between birth family or adoptive family” then at the last minute switch to “It is mandatory to side with your adoptive family because your birth father is a dick”?

Anyway Mikoto dies again. Corrin and the Hoshidans mourn her. We did this exact scene last chapter. As she dies, Mikoto reveals that she is actually Arete’s sister. Meaning that Corrin and Azura, canonical first cousins, not only can get married, but are actually encouraged to be the game’s narrative. Someone at Intellegent Systems really likes incest.

Right before she dies, she mentions that a powerful servant of Anankos is the boss of the next chapter. Would’ve been cool if you told your kids who before you send them into this emotionally taxing battle, Mikoto.

Support: Kagero/Odin

C: Kagero paints a half-dragon/half-caterpillar monster she calls a silkwyrm. Odin thinks it's cool and steals the painting.

B: Odin attempts to summon the silkwyrm. Kagero likes the idea of unleashing an evil monster and tells him to keep trying.

A: Kagero covers the painting with literal blood, sweat, and tears to help Odin's spell. Odin continues failing because he isn't a very good mage.

S: It rains, erasing the silkwyrm from the painting. Kagero, having faith in Odin, believes that the silkwyrm was actually summoned. Odin proposes on the spot. Review: This is weird, but Kagero liking Odin and buying his bullshit strangely works.

Support: Subaki/Nyx

C: Subaki offers to introduce Nyx to everyone because he thinks she looks lonely. Nyx says she likes being isolated. Subaki asks if this is because she's an old lady who looks like a little kid.

B: Nyx drinks coffee. Subaki takes a sip and hates it because it's so bitter.

A: Subaki makes homemade coffee so he has an excuse to talk to Nyx.

S: Subaki tries to introduce Nyx to matcha tea. Nyx says she can't be close to anyone, but Subaki says he has feelings for her. Nyx says she doesn't have room in her life for romance, so Subaki settles on friendship. Then the status screen updates to say they are married.

Review: Kinda bland.

Support: Effie/Hana

C: Effie saves a Nohrian pinned under a crashed carriage. Hana says that she wants to train to obtain superstrength like Effie.

B: Hana is unable to keep up with Effie's massive diet.

A: Effie makes Hana run fifteen miles while carrying weights. Hana surrenders and says Effie is better than her. Effie points out that Hana has better speed and skill growth rates. Plus she's determined.

Review: Not bad; Hana being miserable about Effie's inhuman workout is fun, although the end is a bit sappy.

Support: Charlotte/Rinkah

C: Charlotte assumes Rinkah is only acting tough to attract boys and tells her it won't get her anyware. Rinkah tells Charlotte that people like Charlotte who pretend are the lowest of society. Charlotte challenges her to a training contest to settle their disagreement.

B: Charlotte and Rinkah train until they are exhausted. Rinkah respects Charlotte now.

A: Charlotte explains she learned the value of hard work because she grew up poor and that she sends money to her family. Rinkah decides they're friends.

Review: Rinkah hating Charlotte for being fake as shit sounds good, but this one is really short and barely anything happens.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 115: Oops! All Supports #19

Support: Nina/Shiro

C: Nina decides to go to a play with two male leads because she is thirsty. Shiro comes along because it sounds like a comedy, to Nina's annoyance.

B: Shiro keeps laughing during the play, which keeps Nina from fantasizing. Shiro says he liked the fight scenes, while Nina says she liked the dance off and beach sex scene. Shiro is confused, as those scenes were not in the play.

A: Nina is embarrassed about Shiro knowing about her fantasizing. Shiro says it's fine, because she had fun, which is what the actors probably want. Shiro invites her to another play.

S: Shiro praises Nina's imagination then says he likes her or whatever.

Review: Alright. One of those Supports that would be better if we saw Shiro reacting to the play, though.

Support: Dwyer/Velouria

C: Dwyer drops a cookie. Velouria eats it off the ground. Dwyer calls her gross.

B: Velouria tries to knock cookies out of Dwyer's hands, so they will fall on the dirt and be garbage, so she can eat them without stealing. Dwyer gives her a cookie. Velouria gives him a broken tea cup as a gift.

A: Dwyer invites Velouria for tea and treats her injuries after she burns herself. Velouria smells awkwardness.

S: Dwyer gives Velouria a scarf from a garbage dump. Velouria thinks he is an imposter because that took effort.

Review: Velouria's twisted logic is fun. Her and Dwyer have decent chemistry. Not bad.

Support: Soleil/Sophie

C: Soleil calls Sophie a beautiful flower. This annoys Sophie, who wants to be recognized for her ability as a knight. Soleil and Sophie start a bet: if Sophie is a good knight during the next battle, Soleil isn't allowed to call her a flower; if not, Sophie must put a flower on her armor.

B: Sophie does amazing in battle, meaning Soleil can't write about her being beautiful. Soleil objects and they go double or nothing, this time on whether or not Soleil is a good mercenary.

A: Soleil is a good mercenary. She's happy to win, because not being able to hit on Sophie is apparently torture.

Review: Boring and mediocre. Someone needs to spray Soleil with a hose and tell her to stop.

Support: Midori/Percy

C: Percy talks about how his father is a valiant knight, ignoring the fact that Arthur can only obtain the knight class through a friendship seal with Benny or partner seal with Effie. Midori says knights need to have etiquette.

B: Midori tries to teach Percy manners. Percy eats like a pig.

A: Midori tells Percy to clean his saddle. Percy ignores this to save a little girl from falling in a lake. Midori decides manners aren't important because Percy needs to be ready to spring into action.

S: Percy asks Midori out.

Review: Mediocre and kinda dumb.

Support: Shiro/Siegbert

C: Siegbert, knowing he and Shiro will one day be kings, attempts to form a friendship with Shiro. Shiro is apathetic about his responsibilities as a prince. Siegbert says he needs to be more mindful, so Shiro challenges him to an arm wrestling contest.

B: Shiro wins and says he both bonded with Siegbert and learned about his character through wrestling. Shiro says he wants people to like him for being a good guy, not for being a prince. Siegbert says he worries he can fill Xander's shoes. Shiro says Siegbert should stop comparing himself to Xander and just try to make the kingdom awesome.

A: Siegbert wins an arm wrestling rematch after training in secret. The two of them talk about how they'll always be friends, even after the war ends, and hope it will inspire their people to do the same.

Review: Pretty good! Shiro and Siegbert have a good dynamic and both have good advice for the other.

Support: Kiragi/Rhajat

C: Kiragi invites Rhajat to go on a walk in the mountains with him. Rhajat tells him to climb down a cliff and get mushrooms for her, fully expecting him to die.

B: Kiragi returns from his suicide mission, completely unharmed. He invites Rhajat to go on a walk with him, even though it's raining. When she says no, he assumes she's a witch. Rhajat sends him to get rare algae from a dangerous bog.

A: Rhajat decides to stop endangering Kiragi and apologizes. Kirgai doesn't mind, because they're friends. Rhajat agrees to go hiking with him.

S: Kiragi asks her out. Rhajat reveals that she's been cursing him to keep all of the other girls from liking him. Kiragi thinks this is cool. They laugh evilly together.

Review: Honestly, Kiragi's unstoppable naive friendliness works well with Rhajat's evilness. Her trying to kill him and him being oblivious is funny, in a dark way.

Support: Asugi/Ignatius

C: Ignatius stares at Asugi as he makes cookies.

B: Ignatius stares again because the cookies are animal shaped and he thinks they're cute. Asugi doesn't make fun of him, because he also likes cute stuff.

A: Ignatius refuses to eat the cookies because they're too cute. Asugi shoves a kitty cookie in his mouth. Ignatius cannot describe how good the cookie is.

Review: Kinda dumb but also kinda wholesome.

Support: Hisame/Selkie

C: Hisame makes pickles. Selkie thinks it smells gross.

B: Hisame gives Selkie pickled buffalo. She likes it and the normal pickled cucumbers he gives her.

A: Selkie tries making pickles but they're terrible because she rushes it. Fortunately, Hisame keeps a year's supply of pickles at all times. Selkie devours the pickles and Hisame begrudgingly decides to ramp up production.

S: Selkie travels 200 miles both ways to bring Hisame a rice cracker that goes good with pickles, because she loves him.

Review: Characters in Fire Emblem games are often defined by a single quirk. Pickles is a weird quirk. That said this one is fine.

Support: Caeldori/Mitama

C: Caeldori is melancholy because she read a book about unrequited love. Mitama says this is a common feeling and recommends Caeldori writes poetry.

B: Mitama shows Caeldori poetry books and explains the metaphors. Caeldori offers her novels with similar themes.

A: Caeldori delivers a cart full of books. Mitama says that much prose is exhausting. Caeldori begs and Mitama begrudgingly agrees to read them.

Review: Stories need conflict.

Support: Forrest/Fana

C: Kana cries because her parents are always busy. Forrest says he used to cry a lot when he was growing up, but talking to a friend is important.

B: Forrest distracts Kana from her sadness by asking her to help him embroider. Kana helps and Forrest praises her for channeling her tears into beauty. He says that he started sewing to get over his sadness.

A: Kana says she's done crying because she's busy embroidering.

S: Kana cries because she's a liar. Forrest says it's okay to cry and that his sadness is a source of inspiration. They decide to be friends forever.

Review: Forrest is a good older cousin. Kana should not be a soldier.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 114: Tell Don’t Show

Revelation Chapter 23: Arete Undone

This chapter begins with Ryoma talking about Scarlet, who always managed to cheer the group up when times were bad apparently. Tell don’t show, just like they taught me in writing school. Ryoma wonders aloud who killed Scarlet and theorizes there’s a spy among the group. I wonder if it’s one of the dozen violent murderers I had Niles capture then forced into our army?

Gunter says it would be a shame if someone were to betray the group during their final battle, which I am noting for no reason in particular. The gang runs into Arete, again, who says she brought a friend with her. She means Scarlet, who appears as an enemy in this map and says exactly three words in the entire chapter. If you fight her, Corrin and Ryoma are horrified but decide to give her peace. This encounter is completely optional. Personally, I didn’t get this dialogue, because I killed Zombie Scarlet with the AU Scarlet I bought from another save file. She says “thank you” when she dies.

This chapter is another floating island chapter that features a bunch of blocks that move back and forth between the islands. I mostly used infantry units and it was awful. If you fight Arete with Azura, Arete mumbles that looking at Azura gives her a headache and hopes it will disappear when she kills Azura.

After killing Arete, she suddenly regains her memory and says goodbye to Azura as she dies. It’s nice, if a bit melodramatic. Also during that scene it randomly cuts to Xander staring with no emotion and saying dot dot dot which made me laugh.

Support: Selena/Setsuna

C: Selena goes shopping (she does that a lot in her Supports) and Setsuna tags along because she doesn't like being alone. Setsuna falls in a pit and fires arrows at Selena to get her attention. Selena says this is impressively stupid, which Setsuna thinks is a compliment.

B: Setsuna buys too much, forcing Selena to help cover the bill. Selena decides to go shopping again and Setsuna decides to come along.

A: Setsuna falls in a pit. As Selena stands over it to insult her, Setsuna grabs her leg and drags her in, saving her from arrows fired by bandits. Selena thanks her and Setsuna says she considers Selena to be a friend.

Review: I forgot how much I liked Setsuna as a character. She's great.

Support: Hinata/Peri

C: Peri asks Hinata to go shopping with her and carry her bags, because female characters go shopping constantly in these Supports. Peri buys Hinata a hair ribbon. He says he doesn't want it so she starts crying.

B: Peri asks why Hinata isn't wearing the ribbon. He says it doesn't go with his armor and she starts crying. Hinata decides to attach it to his sword, which soothes her.

A: People laugh at Hinata, which is weird, because there are dozen male soldiers who wear girlier things than a ribbon. Peri starts to cry, so Hinata gives her the ribbon, cheering her up.

S: Hinata says he likes carrying Peri's bags and spending time with her. He proposes.

Review: Peri does not have the mental stability required to be a soldier. Also just wear the ribbon, Hinata, it isn't a big deal.

Support: Charlotte/Kaden

C: Charlotte grooms Kaden's tail, knowing that will put him in debt to her, then asks him to repay her by getting gold.

B: Kaden gives Charlotte gold nuggets. Charlotte's eyes do the Mr. Krabs thing and she offers to groom Kaden again.

A: Charlotte learns Kaden has been selling his fur to get the gold and that people got violent the last time he went to sell it. Charlotte feels guilty and says Kaden doesn't have to pay her back.

S: Kaden says he likes Charlotte.

Review: A good Support that uses Charlotte and Kaden's quirks together for a fun story. Kaden is friendly and Charlotte is cunning but has a heart.

Support: Benny/Rinkah

C: Rinkah asks Benny about him being alone all the time and explains that the Flame Tribe values solitude. Benny says he doesn't want to be alone, but people avoid him.

B: Rinkah says that solitude makes people strong and asks why Benny isn't a lone wolf. Benny says he would run away if he had to foght alone and that his strength comes from protecting his allies.

A: Rinkah decides that people aren't lone wolves, but different libs on a warrior and that being part of a group isn't so bad.

S: Benny asks about Flame Tribe relationships. Rinkah says you can be priate with other people. They get together.

Review: It was okay. Rinkah's cultural stuff clashing with Benny is alright, but her different limbs analogy is dumb.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 113: Shyamalan Would Be Proud

Revelation Chapter 22: Memories

Now that the filler stuff with Anthony is over, the gang walks through a random forest. Azura says it feels familiar. Anankos's blue-haired minion we keep running into shows up. She's Arete. She's Azura's mother and Garon's wife Arete. There isn't even a buildup, she just walks up to to Azura and says "I am Arete." Fantastic reveal.

Arete says she's a servant of Anankos, something we already knew. Azura says she's okay with fighting her mother because she's just a puppet for Anankos. Arete says she's evil now mwahaha and attacks. Side note, Xander's the only Nohrian in this scene, and he doesn't really react to Arete showing up, which is weird. He has two lines in response to her showing up, neither of which are very personal. Also, another side note, Garon and Arete are both minions of Anankos but never once interact; bit of a wasted opportunity.

This battle takes place in a forest you can burn down with Dragon Veins. Corrin burns a lot of things in this game. Arete retreats, saying we haven't seen the last of her. I'm getting major Hubert von Vestra vibes from this lady. The gang talks about how that wasn't really Arete and Azura acts fairly chill regarding the whole being forced to have a fight to the death with your mother's puppeteered corpse thing. Maybe she's just bottling up. We should get her a therapist. We should get most Fire Emblem characters a therapist.

At the end of the chapter, Flora showed up at My Castle. I guess the Ice Tribe is fine now. Flora is the last unit to be recruited in Revelation.

You know, I was worried that my 82 unit army wouldn't be enough to beat Anankos, but this 83rd should make things easier. Just to be safe, maybe I should recruit the Amiibo units and Anna for a nice even 88. Wait, not 88. That's the Nazi number. Wait a minute...

Support: Hinata/Odin

C: Odin shows Hinata magic that can turn day into night. Oh, I get it, he's responsible for the weird sky stuff in Chapter 16! Not really. Odin takes credit for making a cloud move out from in front of the sun. Hinata thinks this is awesome.

B: Hinata asks Odin to teach him magic, offering his family katana as payment.

A: Hinata can't move the sun, because Odin can't either. Odin claims he taught Hinata wrong on purpose so Hinata could keep his sword. Hinata continues learning from Odin. Odin asks if his sword has a name.

Review: Hinata is a himbo. Odin is also a himbo, except sometimes he's lying, except sometimes he believes his own bullshit. Anyway this was fine.

Support: Sakura/Xander

C: Sakura tries to talk to Xander, but leaves because she's scared.

B: Xander asks and Sakura explains that she has anxiety and was practicing talking to people by talking to the most intimidating person in Nohr.

A: Xander says that he was timid as a child and learned to be brave by talking to the scariest person in Nohr: his father. Xander says that the thing that changed him was him wanting to change, and that Sakura will get confident because she has the same desire.

S: Xander proposes.

Review: Okay, but a bit light on content.

Support: Arthur/Azama

C: Arthur asks what Azama's job is. Azama says he's Hinoka's retainer, but that he barely does anything and she supports him more than he supports her. Arthur says he serves Elise and Azama says that must be rough. Arthus is insulted on the behalf of his liege and says clearly Nohr and Hoshido are different. Azama says that Nohr and Hoshido aren't different and that people just come up with ways to alienate each other. He says that, if the two countries fell, the world would go back to being simple and quiet. Arthur asks where Azama's pride is. Azama laughs and says that Arthur is fun.

B: Azama speculates that Arthur's low luck growth is a curse from the Gods, who are tormenting him for fun. Arthur is confused, as he's dedicated his life to truth, justice, and the Nohrian way. That's a Superman reference, but it falls flat because the Nohrian way is violent genocidal imperialism. Then again, so is the American way I guess. Anyway, Azama says that the gods are probably jealous of Arthur.

A: Arthur learns Azama's backstory, that he was a monk who saved Hinoka, because he simply wanted to help, then Hinoka demanded he become her retainer. Arthur says the two of them are opposites, him a man of heroic action and deed and Azama a peaceful man apathetic to fame or glory.

Review: Really good! Arthur and Azama bounce off each other really well. Also Azama is based in the C Support.

Support: Niles/Setsuna

C: Niles says Setsuna looks like there isn't a thing in the world that could bother her. She says she worries about things. When pressed, she says she worries about how she doesn't have any worries. Niles calls her an idiot. Setsuna, not paying attention, assumes he just complimented her.

B: Niles asks why Hinoka made Setsuna her retainer. Setsuna says it's because she's from an important family and Hinoka saw she was a good archer. Setsuna says Hinoka once said something about her listening skills, but she wasn't paying attention, but she thinks it was probably a compliment. She says Hinoka's always giving her compliments.

A: Niles asks if Setsuna is actually happy. She doesn't know. Niles says he's envious and Setsuna tells him to just let all of his thoughts drip out of his head.

S: Niles asks about Setsuna's future. Setsuna says that Hinoka will take care of her. Niles says Hinoka won't always be around, but Setsuna remembers she's rich. Niles points out money can easily run out and offers to take care of Setsuna. Setsuna says they should go daydream for days, but Niles reminds her she needs to eat eventually.

Review: Setsuna is so stupid in this one she cannot function and needs a caretaker. On one hand, this support is really funny, especially with Setsuna claiming Hinoka gives her a lot of compliments. On the other, Setsuna really shouldn't be a soldier.