"The Macedon that Minerva and Maria remembered best was one of peace: a quiet, prosperous kingdom famed for the flying beasts favored by dracoknights. But then their brother, Prince Michalis, succumbed to his lust for power. Despite his sisters' adamant opposition, he sworn allegiance to Dolhr; and when Macedon's Dragoons took flight, the world suffered. Even now that the tides had turned, Michalis took position for one last stand. Dracoknights filled the sky end to end, eager to pluck Marth from the Earth."
King Michalis. Killed his own father due to lust for power, used his youngest sister as a hostage to get his other sister to co-operate with him. Now he may been manipulated by Gharnef but there was no mind-control involved. Gharnef only played on his ambition. The rest is on Michalis’s shoulders.
First we reclass Hardin to Dracoknight for some extra strength and defence. Note that he is my chosen wielder of the Gradivus since not only is he a great contender for it but it’s also canon in the sequel that Hardin wielded this weapon.
Catria is reclassed to Paladin. Though she loses her ability to fly as well as little strength and defence, she also regains the resistance that she lost when she promoted and that is worthy trade since her other stats are already sky-high.
So we got some statboosters last chapter. I distributed them as follows:
Marth: Energy Drop, Speedwing, Secret Book
Cain: Energy Drop, Secret Book, Goddess Icon
Merric: Speedwing, Spirit Dust
Navarre: Secret Book
Jeorge: Goddess Icon
Ogma: Goddess Icon
Tiki: Speedwing
This either further increased some good stats or fixed some low ones, depending on the character.
This is our team. Minerva stays for another chapter since this is the conclusion to her story arc.
I love this map. It’s very well designed and looks great. The enemy is holed up tight in their stronghold and has the potential for an awesome choke point. Awesome for the,, that is. Unfortunately, the AI is stupid and rushes out without any care.
Michalis is strong and has great defence but he’s no Camus. He sits on his throne and doesn’t move with the rest of his army. If he did move, then that would be interesting. We can ignore him for now and then gang up on him which is a shame since it’s very anti-climactic. One thing he has going for him is the special item he’s carrying, the Iote’s Shield which removes his weakness to bows.
We’ve also got this village here. We need to make a rush towards it because a thief will do the same and he doesn’t take a lot of turns to get there. This village is especially important because this is where Gotoh resides. Marth needs to visit the village while having both the Starsphere and the Lightsphere in his inventory so that Gotoh can forge Starlight for us. Without Starlight, you can’t defeat Gharnef. Without defeating Gharnef, you can’t get the Falchion. We want the Falchion.
And so we begin.
A lone Dracoknight flies towards the village.
I wish for you to move someplace safe until the fighting has ended.
Why not just end this folly now, Michalis?
Folly? What folly?
You loved your younger sister so much. It pains me to see you quarrel. If you and Minerva had worked as one, Macedon might have become a great kingdom- greater even than Archanea, perhaps. But instead, you let Gharnef trick you into destroying your family, and your kingdom with it.
...I cannot undo what is done. My father's blood will always be on my hands, just as Minerva's betrayal of her brother and country will be on hers. And Macedon has not been destroyed, not yet. So long as I carry Iote's Shield, the League's arrows cannot fell me.
Very well. And if you win? What then?
If I win, I will tell you. Right now, my only goal is to gut that Altean prince who leads the League. My pride as Macedonian king rests upon it.
What Gotoh says about Macedon potentially becoming a greater kingdom are not just words to make Michalis regret his decisions. There is a lot of truth to those words. Archanea was in an inevitable decline even without Medeus’s rise due to the late king’s neglectful nature while Macedon was on the rise. Strange as it sounds, Michalis is very popular with his people as well as his knights. He is proclaimed as the second coming of Iote, the founder of Macedon who led his fellow slaves in a revolt against Medeus and founded Macedon by taming the lesser dragons. Ironic that his supposed second coming is nothing more than a pawn to Medeus.
Most of our units move top but our mounted units take the longer path. I could have them go top as fell but it gets crowded there.
More movement. Still no action.
Just a little bit action.
The thief is making his way towards the village.
Merric is ready to promote.
Ogma gets warped to the front lines. I got sweet screenshot of his critical hit.
The enemy doesn’t stand a chance against him.
Level ups. All decent too!
Navarre’s level is disappointing and Minerva’s level up doesn’t matter.
Got the bastard thief. And just in time too.
Hardin is doing great. Quite the speed demon, too.
Lena uses Fortify and gets, unsurprisingly, another no-magic level up.
Marth gets to the village.
Now I can create Starlight for you.
(…)
...There. It is finished. Take this with you; it is the only magic capable of breaking through Imhullu. Use it to stop that fiend Gharnef once and for all.
We lose the Starpshere and Lightsphere. This is unfortunate since I didn’t manage to train Tiki enough. It looks like I’m dropping her from the team.
Yeah, it’s over already. Reinforcements haven’t arrived yet but even then, this is an easy chapter.
Eventually they do show up. And it’s just sad. Only 1 Paladin and 1 Dracoknight.
Speed! YAY!
It’s super effective!
Oh come on, they got the exact same level up.
Eventually, the reinforcements become more numerous.
WHOOO!
YAY!
NAY!
PARTY HARD!
AWW!
Merric uses a Master Seal.
What? Merric is evolving!
Congratulations! Your Merric has evolved into Sage!
With some great bonuses. Especially awesome is the +6 boost to HP.
1 step closer to God Unit Tier.
An occasional bad level is acceptable.
Hardin’s level up is okay.
Time to face Michalis.
His sister is sturdy enough to take a hit and fast enough to not get doubled. Perfect.
Michalis is very special. He gets a lot of unique dialogue. That’s right. A boss finally gets unique dialogue depending on who battles him. Not even Gharnef gets that honour.
First, Michalis’s normal battle quote.
Made it this far, have you? Don't gloat yet. My Dragoons and I still rule these skies!
Naturally, he talks to Minerva.
Minerva, I have missed you, Sister. Let us embrace one last time.
Michalis…
Well? Strike! A moment’s hesitation spells death on the battlefield. I know I taught you better.
You will not lay down your lance and walk the right path?
Don’t be a child. There are no right paths; just mine and yours, two that will never cross.
Very well. Then you leave me no choice. Embrace you I shall, Brother!
Michalis ‘talks’ to Maria too, if you trained her enough to not get immediately murdered. I say ‘talk’ in quotes because he only says 1 line and she doesn’t respond.
M-Maria? What are you doing here?
If any of the 3 Whitewing sisters battle him, Michalis has a thing to say to them too.
The Whitewings? Ha! Come to try and slay your king?
And 1 last thing to say to Marth too.
I've been waiting for you, Altean whelp. I swear on my crown, you will die!
Bravo, Shadow Dragon. Bravo. I didn’t think you had it in you.
As you can see, the Iote’s Shield does indeed remove his weakness to bows.
And so falls Michalis.
Clear!
Men of such promise...Had the times been different, the two might have led illustrious lives.
Yes, Prince Michalis was a brilliant man with great things ahead of him. But in the end, the rashness of youth did him in.
Only because Gharnef found his weakness and exploited it. Until we stop that fiend, this spiral of misery will never cease.
Then shall we go to Thabes? Lord Gotoh said the city lies someplace far to the north of Khadein.
Yes, in the heart of the desert...
Thabes is an old city... None in recent memory have gone there and returned alive. Within its walls remain many powerful apparatus crafted of long-forgotten magic. Lord Gotoh believes Gharnef is harnessing their power, and that is why he wields such influence over the continent.
And he has Imhullu as well...This will be a struggle.
(…)
Still, Gharnef's reign must end. The world was so much more beautiful before he painted it red...
Yet more localization brilliance breathing life to this game.
Alright! Next time, we’re finally dealing with Gharnef. We have Starlight which will pierce through Imhullu. Gharnef will finally answer for his atrocities.
Of course, we have a slight problem.
Meet Gharnef.
Aaannnd, Gharnef…?
Wait, what?
Well then. I suspect this might complicate things.
Let's talk about Thabes. Specifically in reference to FE13. Now Thabes is said to be the final resting place of Naga. Checking the maps of both Shadow Dragon and Awakening, I think Arena Ferox lies directly above the ruins of Thabes which wold inevitably disappeared after 2000 years. Nice piece of trivia. right?
