Fire Emblem Awakening Theory: The Truth about A Future Past
Hey guys, it been a awhile since Iâve done a post discussing Fire Emblem, so I figured it would be fun to directly talk about my favorite Fire Emblem Awakening theory. While I am sure this is old news to a lot of you, I still think it is valuable to talk about it in detail here given how often I allude to it.
This theory, is as the title suggests, explores how the Future Past timeline featured in the DLC of the same name fits into the overall narrative of the game. While the timeline at first glance simply seems to be the doomed future Lucina and all the other 2ed gens come from, there are some very large differences between that timeline and the one seen in the DLC. But more importantly, there are some details that hint at the deeper connection between this DLC and the main game, in particular how it may shed some light on the origins of the most mysterious of the time traveling children.
As alluded to above, while a Future Past seems to simply be a retelling of the doomed future, there are a lot of details that donât match the account of events the 2ed gens give in the main game. In fact, during the DLC our versions of those very characters make note of how this timeline isnât right, how events seem to be playing out quite different from how they remembered it.
Of note, the following things are different in A Future Past
The mission to recover the gemstones was met with far more resistance, where in the original future timeline the groups managed to recover the gemstones and return to Ylisstol without too much difficulty. It almost seems as though Grima knew exactly where the future kids would be and when, sending large forces to intercept and trap them
One of the gemstones was not lost forever.
Tiki is still alive. We know in the original future timeline Lucina never met Tiki in the future, as she only meets in her after traveling to the past. Yet here she seems to know Tiki quite well, indicating that Tiki survived for far longer into this timeline.
Grima appears to be stronger in this timeline, being able to have killed Naga, something that was said to be impossible
Future Past Robin is able to resist and fight against Grimaâs control, something we never see happen with the Future Robin encountered as an enemy in the main game. Something about this Robin is different.
Morgan, regardless of who their parent is, appears in this timeline.
On top of those details, there is one other big piece of evidence to bring up. But before I do that, for reasons that will soon become very apparent, I would like to discuss a moment in one of the other DLCs. That being the conversation F!Morgan and Cynthia have during the Hotspring Scramble DLC map.
For those who donât know, the conversation in question basically follows Morgan and Cynthia trying to come up with a plan to prank everyone following being scolded for having a splash fight in one of the hotsprings. While amusing, most of this conversation is unimportant for our discussion. What is important, however, is the specific detail where Morgan has two identical copies of Robinâs favorite annotated book on tactics, with her possessing no memory of having acquired the second copy. Now, the obvious explanation would be that the gameâs Robin simply gave her his copy after she came to the past, and she didnât remember having already been given a copy from the Robin of her own timeline. This would work, except for one issue. Robin couldnât have given her that copy, as he already gave it away⌠in A Future Past.
See, during A Future Past, Robin can talk to Future Past Morgan. During this conversation Robin, feeling something familiar about her, will give Morgan his copy of that very same book. After he leaves, Morgan notes how she already has that same book, the Robin of her timeline having already given it to her lone ago.
So we have two Morgans, both with two identical copies of Robinâs favorite book on tactics, down to the dog ears and annotations. We have a Morgan in our game who regardless of who her parents are, always comes from a third timeline. A Morgan who, if they have a sibling, has their sibling mention that it is likely they come from a different future. A Morgan who non of the other future characters seem to know, with most treating them with outright suspicion. On the other hand we have a Morgan who, regardless of who their parents are, shows up in A Future Past. even if their parents are a time travel themselves.
All of this leads to a startling conclusion: these arenât two separate Morgans. They are in fact the same Morgan. A Future Past is the timeline the Morgan we meet in the game comes from. She has two copies of that book because our Robin gave her his during the Future Past DLC, an event she doesnât recall because of her amnesia. The other 2ed gens donât recognize her because she wasnât part of their timeline, let alone their group.
This however, raises another question. If the Morgan we meet in the main game comes from this timeline, then what if Morganâs mother/father is a 2ed gen? Well, as it turns out, the answer to this question is where we come to the crux of this theory. I believe that A Future Past isnât simply a version of the doomed future: it is essentially the bad ending for the timeline we play during Awakening itself.
Basically put, A Future Past is what happens when Lucina and the other future kids travel to the past⌠and Grima ends up winning regardless. In this timeline Grima ends up taking control of Robin one again, with all of the time travelers being killed along with the 1st gens, leaving only their younger selves alive. This not only allows for all of Morganâs possible parents to work for this timeline, but it also explains all of the differences in this timeline.
The reason the groups trying to recover the gemstones have so much more trouble? Grima has already been through these events once before, so he knows exactly where they will be and when, sending his forces to kill them this time around. The gemstone not being destroyed? The meddling of the time travelers shifted events enough so that all five gemstones where still around. Tiki being still alive? Same with the previous detail: the time travelers still changed events enough to prevent Tiki from dying earlier like she did in their own timeline. Grima being stronger? A combination of having some of his power from his original timeline merge with the Grima of this timeline. Robin resisting? This Robin is like the gameâs Robin, where he had amnesia and thus forged stronger bonds with his friends. As a result this Robin hasnât been completely broken like the Future Robin has, and is thus still resisting Grima.
So in summery, this results in there being four interconnected timelines making up the narrative of Fire Emblem Awakening, which go as follows.
Timeline 1: Bad future timeline. Lucina and other 2ed gens travel to the past, ending up in Timeline 2.
Timeline 2: A Future Past. 2ed gens arrive from Timeline 1. Events are changed, but Grima ends up winning in the end. Morgan is born in this timeline, and eventually encounters the Robin from Timeline 4 before traveling to Timeline 4 herself.
Timeline 3: Bad future timeline. Identical to Timeline 1, only here the 2ed gens end up in Timeline 4. These are the 2ed gens we encounter in the main game
Timeline 4: The gameâs timeline. We meet the 2ed gens from Timeline 3 and the Morgan from Timeline 2.
So thatâs about it. I hope you enjoyed this exploration of my favorite theory for Fire Emblem Awakening. Iâd love to hear your guysâ thoughts on this and would be thrilled to discuss this theory more with anyone.
Oh, before I go, one last thing. If you liked this theory and want to know more, then I would like to take the opportunity to shamelessly promote my fanfiction, A Future Disowned, which is a retelling of the A Future Past DLC that explores this theory in more detail. There, shameless plug done. Take care everyone!
