#maligrants

On my first thoughts I really was expecting the new twists to strip the aim of the bare narrative of the original, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the retcons were handled to the point they could find a converging point. SoV is still about man giving their gods the finger which is just great. 

Like I have already said, the fact that Duma and Mila were turned into Divine Dragons and how Alm and Celica’s bloodlines now have a crusader esque touch, gives Valencia the sense of continuity it was sorely missing. Lorewise, the original had nothing to do with Archanea to the point that Judgral made a better sidequel to Shadow Dragon and Mystery of the Emblem because of how their timelines kinda add up and their struggles have the same origin point. This gives the FE Multiverse more continuity and makes it larger as a Multiverse and bridges the Kaga Era games into one, more complete Universe. 

Alm is much less of the homicidal nutjob of the original which loses memetic value but is a much more compelling character. Celica is just adorable gimme so I can hug her and bake her a cake or something. The characters are pretty cool, not as complex as some other FE titles but very very enjoyable, even the flatest are fun to hear. Rudolf is a great antagonist, the fact that we have townspeople to flesh out the world so much is great, the music is excellent, agh I can just gush about this game for hours.

I really love the narrator’s final lines and how it ties to Medeus’s dying words.

I am not going to say that this is 100% perfect, but it comes really close, so if I had to nitpick: 

Well, Duma and Mila broke the agreement between Divine Dragons by: First, interfering with man so deep they became FUCKING GODS and messed with the natural conditions of their habitat. Second, knowing how powerful Divine Dragons are and how dangerous they become when degenerating, why did Naga allow them to keep their dragons forms? Gotoh and Xane discarded their dragonstones to prevent them from destroying worlds and Naga instead of punishing them gave them a Falchion twin to Marth’s in case they degenerated so wtf Naga, do your job! IDK seems kinda unfair that Naga actually went to Jugdral to stop an Earth Dragon, but left Mila and Duma to their devices knowing Divine Dragons are waaaay more powerful.

The DLC and Postgame are coming though, I am awaiting that to see how Grima’s origin tale gets, but with how the retcons have been handled, I have a certain hope for how they are going to fix the hot mess that is Ylisse’s lore which is VERY commendable. I am still intrigued whether Robin is the true descendant of Alm and Celica or if Grima’s pact stems from a completely different bloodline (Judah’s maybe?). I love the fact that they specify that Alm and Celica’s bloodline lasts a thousand years because you know with what that aligns? That’s right, the first exalt. So my prediction that their bloodline was uprooted to prevent Grima from returning via vessel might be true. It’s very interesting that you get to look at Ferox’s origins, a hint of how the climate of Archanea changed and a few tidbits about Grima.

Fernand had way more focus than Berkut. I really like Fernand but let’s face it, Berkut was the bigger villain so his breakdown and death was not as emotional as Fernand’s who had a really long and cheesy death scene (that brought me to tears but yes). In the same vein, we needed his relationship with Rinoa to get more buildup so the sacrifice could be much more effective, although I will say that when he turns her into a witch is the best thing ever. Berkut you asshole.

The Zofian royal family could’ve been fleshed out a little bit more, especially with the addition of Conrad. And like Fernand’s death there were some slightly forced and/or predictable moments, but the story was pretty well handled. 

But all in all…. It is an amazing game as both a standalone and as a remake, far better than Heroes of Light and Shadow thanks to the risks they took with the gameplay and story and how wisely they used the assets of the original.

THIS is in spirit how Fates should’ve handled itself. Especially considering that Nohr and Hoshido have similar setups and a similar truth about the protagonist.

 I think to make the story flow a bit less clumsily, Awakening should’ve stuck with the FE4 formula: Chrom dies in a poetically similar fashion to his father, deepening the wound between Ylisse and Plegia as Robin succumbs to Grima. Chrom realizes right before his death why his father started the war in the first place. Years later, Lucina and the Gen2 characters take on the duty of finishing what her grandfather started. 

Throughout the story, we would need to gradually expose the lore of FE3 and 4 as both Lucina and Chrom realize that history is repeating itself. This way we can truly have a sequel to FE3 AND a spiritual (and in this case lore) successor to FE4, plus explain a few things that Awakening just skipped and you wouldn’t be able to make sense of if you didn’t play either. Along the lore of the games Awakening borrows from, it would be important to make the distinction that the arrival of Grima and the war of the First Exalt (which presumably shook the geopolitical foundation of Archanea) created a new Era; justifying some of the changes to FE3’s map layout. Throughout the quests for the stones in both Lucina and Chrom’s campaigns we should revisit some of the most important old locations. 

I wouldn’t change much for the first chapters except that the Ylisseans, particularly Frederick to keep him in-character, should be very wary of Robin even if they genuinely have lost their memories. Sure, they start building a powerful friendship with Chrom and the Shepherds which loosens suspicion as Robin proves their worth to them; but they should all be on edge on the fact that Robin is very obviously a Plegian mage and judging by their attire and genius for tactics, could’ve very possibly been a Grimleal. The subject of the Brand should come up for both Chrom and Robin (with the Mark of Grima keeping it a secret between Chrom and Robin, and perhaps Lissa and Frederick). 

Emmeryn’s role should also be much more prominent if she sacrifices herself for the good of Ylisse/Future Archanea. Let’s create a scenario where those who pact with Naga can also bring Naga back much like Grima regenerates himself (or how Loptyr can come back through a vessel with enough Holy Blood). Emmeryn heeds her father’s last words as the tensions with Plegia escalate: destroy Grima’s vessel, save the world. Emmeryn as one of the last containing Holy Blood of Naga (the other turning out  to be Chrom) attempts the Awakening ritual but years of doubt and the anger that surrounded her father’s death cloud her mind and thus she fails to receive Naga’s power and dies.

This would raise the stakes for Chrom: last of his bloodline, yet if unworthy he will also meet the same fate as Emmeryn and trump their chance to vanquish Grima forever. The story should keep raising the stakes: by the second act of Chrom’s tale, he marries, but his heir carries minor Holy Blood, leaving him no choice but to attempt the Awakening himself as the Exalt’s bloodline has finally begun to wane. A choice appears: Chrom doesn’t have to fully bring Naga back by becoming her vessel but rather restore their bond through a less risky ritual (the Awakening presented in the game, but similar to the ritual of the Miracle of Darna) however, first they must gather the stones to complete the Fire Emblem. 

So third act goes very similar to the original: Validar creates a trap by offering the final stone, Sable (formerly the Darksphere, whose powers he may have been exploiting). He uses the power of the shield to perform Grima’s ritual on Robin and reveals the former Exalt’s motivation and also his own: Plegia, formerly Dolhr, have had enough of Archanea and later Ylisse’s shit and demand retribution for the genocidal wars against its inhabitants and threaten to create a new order blah blah. Chrom is dead, enter Gen2. 

An easy way to bridge Mystery of the Emblem while also explaining Grima would be to tie in the reforging and separation of the orbs of the Binding Shield: Gotoh and Marth have been gone for millennia, so nobody except Tiki knows what the Binding Shield really does: seal the earth dragons and prevent Tiki’s (and by extent other dragons’) degeneration. 

Imagine Grima is Medeus’ heir (son or friend, pick your poison) but without the power of the Binding Shield, he degenerates (as explained in the Archanea mythos earth dragons are last second to the divine ones to degenerate) and is left only with the desire for vengeance he shared with Medeus. (This could also explain why we see so few dragons in the game aside Nowi. Perhaps retconning that since Nowi has a relation to divine dragons or humans she is among the last to degenerate). 

An alternative would be that during the First Exalt’s coming as the Shield is broken by time or the orbs are separated to be kept by the new nations as a symbol of peace and whatnot, one (perhaps the last) earth dragon wakes from slumber. Much like Loptyr, Grima bonds with a Plegian human to avoid degeneration and upon seeing how the former lands of Dolhr have been decimated after millennia, his desire for revenge against humans is reignited. Perhaps an added bonus would be that he finds some common ground in misery with Plegians which leads him to bond with their leader. 

However in either case, the still somewhat fresh memory of Archanea and Jugdral aids the warrior who would become the First Exalt to do the same with Naga and seal Grima away. By the time Emmeryn’s father is crowned, legend has erased the truth to the Binding Shield and the bloodlines have waned. 

This would also explain why Tiki still slumbers in Valm in the newer game (let’s just move her somewhere else, perhaps we can revisit and aged or even abandoned Dragon Shrine?). As explained at the end of FE3, as long as the shield remains complete, she would not have to sleep to avoid degeneration. Plus it would also somewhat justify why the descendants  of Marth didn’t have this knowledge. Tiki would go to sleep as soon as the orbs are scattered as ordered by Bantu, Xane or another ally who would more or less know what the deal is and who could pass the information to the First Exalt to seal Grima before their death.

Years after Chrom’s death, Lucina takes her father’s place as Exalt as the last bearing the mark (perhaps we can add a mini arc for Owain, though clearly he has minor blood). However she knows she does not have enough Holy Blood to perform the ritual. But Nah being a manakete, learns/senses Tiki still lives and as she is revered as Naga’s Voice (perhaps saving her relation to Naga as a twist for newcomers) she may have a clue on how to save the Ylissean continent.

Sidenote: If the concept of Holy Blood works the same as in FE4, Owain and Lucina could contemplate the alternative of producing an heir themselves, justifying their possibility for marriage.

As Lucina & co arrive to save Tiki from Grima’s forces, Tiki communicates to Nah the truth about the Binding Shield and sends the Gen2 army to retrieve the remaining orbs (perhaps some already collected in Chrom’s campaign) so Tiki can awaken and lend Lucina her power. (Another bonus: Tiki explains that since Nah has a human father she does not need to worry about degeneration, perhaps hinting at Nowi’s origins and fate). 

Lucina should achieve the “Awakening” through Tiki (since Naga’s situation in FE13 is a bit hard to grasp bc she’s supposedly long dead) not necessarily the same way it was handled in Future Past, but rather Lucina reforging the bond the First Exalt made but with Tiki who as explained in FE3, may be even more powerful than Naga herself. With her newfound power and perhaps assurance that Lucina’s bloodline will last longer than her ancestors’, she is ready to put Grima to slumber/destroy him with the aid of the complete Emblem. 

We could also retcon the twist that Grima can only be truly vanquished by his own blood thus the “true” ending can only be achieved if you recruit Morgan. Which gives them much more agency in the plot. So by the third act, Lucina & Co. convince Morgan about Grima’s true nature and in turn Morgan realizes that Robin is no longer the loving parent they’ve known (which should have alternate dialogue if Morgan is Chrom’s child and fem!Robin is still a marriage option for Chrom) and he or she decides to help the kids finish the Earth dragons forever. Morgan much like Julia in FE4, would probably have little to no marriage options due to their bloodline.

Of course there are more plot points in Awakening’s storyline, but I wanted to focus on the main conflict for this rant. Now, if you really want Valm back, here’s how I think it could work. As I mentioned earlier, Valm/Valencia is not absolutely necessary to this story as the lore doesn’t really have anything to do with neither Archanea nor Jugdral, which is what Awakening borrows from. 

With the FE4 formula, there would be a slight compromise of the marriage system and how it works in Awakening. I propose that instead of substitute children, fatherless kids either simply get a downgrade in stats or are carbon copies of their mothers. 

I do want to mention though that it would be extra important to give Robin depth despite the convenient excuse for amnesia if we are keeping the focus on them (and subsequently Morgan) as co-protagonist(s). As explained in my “Worst Sequel” rambling, of course Robin should have much more involvement and character development where they are plagued with the guilt of turning against their countrymen and building a much stronger connection between him/her and Validar. I think retconning Morgan as a whole would be necessary as well, perhaps expanding on Future Past Morgan and overall give them more to do in the plot.