Let's Play Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

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"With the aid of the White Sage Gotoh's powerful Warp magic, Marth and company were transported to the faraway city of Thabes. Once, Thabes was an advanced civilization; but only its decay advanced now. The League traced the lifeless streets to the temple at the city's heart, somewhere within its walls Gharnef was waiting, and now, Marth must wrest Falchion and his sister, Elice, from the fiend's grip."

Okay, it’s finally time to take on Gharnef and rescue Elice. And about time too. Too long has he taunted us.



This chapter is filled with magic users and we’ll need as much resistance as we can get so reclassing Hardin back to Paladin and Merric to Bishop is ideal.



Merric is our Starlight user and it his job to take on Gharnef. Training at least one mage is necessary to defeat Gharnef as you might expect.



Our team.

We’ll take a look at the map laterand for a good reason.


Waiting?
Oh yes. For you to dance around the continent, collecting powerful weapons and killing off my competition. Thanks to you, Camus and Michalis will trouble me no more. You have my gratitude, diligent prince.
You...monster!
Tsk, tsk, don't spoil the moment, now. You're about to do me one last favor... Die, Prince. Heh heh heh!
That's what you think. I have something else in mind.
Heh, is that a threat? If you mean to harm me, first you'll have to find me, boy.
And what is that supposed to mean?
My prince! Several sorcerers have been sighted throughout the temple! They're...They all seem to be Gharnef, sire!
Heh heh! Fight, boy, fight! Wear yourself thin fighting puppets and shadows! But the only way you'll claim Falchion is by defeating the real me. Heh heh, ha ha ha ha!



Gharnef truly is one evil son of a bitch, isn't he? Not only is he eventually planning to betray Medeus but he also manipulated us into doing his dirty work while still believing that we were doing it for own cause and that our actions were detrimental to our enemies. Having us eliminate both Camus and Michalis as well preventing them from joining our cause by using Camus' loyalty to his king and playing on Michalis's ambitions and pride...

This guy from an old NES game that has aged terribly is a far better villain than Validar from FE13 could ever hope to be. Validar takes inspiration from Gharnef and this is most clear when the truth about the Walhart affair is revealed but it fails so much because the Valm arc is such a joke.

So what’s Gharnef talking about? Well, let’s take a look at the map and find out.



The map is a slow crawl up the the top and the enemy has several Swarm carrying Bishops who will keep hitting us. This is a well designed map because of this as we have no way of countering them until we reach the top. Our task is to locate the real Gharnef. I say ‘locate’ because there’s more than one Gharnef on the map.

In fact…



There are three.

All 3 ‘Gharnefs’ appear to be identical but obviously only 1 is real. They are all carrying ‘Imhullu’ and a droppable ‘Falchion’. Only the real Gharnef is invulnerable against any weapon that is not Starlight. The fake Gharnefs will also appear to be invulnerable but they will infact take damage from normal weapons. However, when attempting to attack them pre-battle display will still show you doing zero damage with normal weapons. The only way to find out which onei s the real Gharnef is to commit and attack. If you defeat a fake Gharnef, he won’t drop the Falchion but will drop an ordinary Steel Sword.

The fake Gharnefs also don’t have a battle quote so you can find the real Gharnef that way, too.

So let’s begin for real this time.



Julian’s only job here is too recover the treasure from the 2 chests up top. He does nothing else this chapter.



We move out as far we can but there’s nothing to do on our first turn.



The enemy, however, does score a hit with on Ogma with Swarm.

As soon as our second turn begins…



Where?
The Tower of Thabes atop this very temple.
Then we don't need to fight Gharnef...If we find those apparatus.
Gharnef's power- a great deal of power- will be sealed forever.
Then let's hurry and seize the entrance to the tower!
A word of caution, sir. Stopping the apparatus will not undo Imhullu power- only Gharnef's. He still has Falchion in his keeping; if you want the blade back, you must defeat him now, before seizing the tower.

So what do you do if you didn’t manage to recover both the Starsphere and the Lightsphere and thus, didn’t receive Starlight from Gotoh? Or if you don’t have a magic user with a Tome Rank high enough to wield Starlight? Well, you must have noticed that none of the Gharnefs are standing on the Seize Tile. If defeating Gharnef is impossible to achieve for any reason, you can brave it all and defeat the ‘boss’ standing on the Seize Tile and win. The Gharnefs will still attack you but if you withstand it long enough to seize, you can still clear the chapter. Note that while you can clear the chapter this way, you can’t recover Falchion without defeating Gharnef with Starlight, as Malledus said. Without Falchion, defeating Medeus is very difficult and might even be impossible if you were really unlucky with your level ups.

Anyway…



All that fancy stuff and he still doesn’t get a good level.



On our next turn, I sneakily use the long bow to take out the Swarm Bishop while staying out of the range of the other mages. Got a really shitty level for my effort.



Our units are still making their way up.



Merric equips Blizzard and walks into the range of one of the Gharnefs. We don’t want to waste Starlights precious 13 uses so I didn’t have him equip it just yet in case that this is a fake.



Still moving up…



Oh look, no battle quote. We’ve got ourselves a fake.



Yep, he does take damage.



Marth uses some Pure Water to increase his resistance by 7. This boost will decrease by 1 each turn.



Down goes the first faker. Ogma’s level is decent.



And we get an ordinary Steel Sword.



Merric does some healing to get a good level up.



Still no speed. At least I can’t complain about that strength.



If this is real Gharnef that Marth is in range of, we’re gonna need immediate help. So Lena warps Merric right next to Marth.



Looks like this isn’t the real one either.



Catria is a true goddess now.



Cain got a good level? What is this black magic?



Lena fortifies everyone and gets a level up. What? Did you think she would get magic? What world are you living in?



Yikes, that was close.



Both Cain and Abel get good level ups.



Killing off stragglers.



Nothing can stop the goddess. Frey is pretty boss, too.

Fittingly enough, the last Gharnef is the real one. Time to equip Starlight.



But not before we easily dispose of the other boss.

Honestly though, Gharnef is a joke. Since defeating requires you to fulfill several requirements, he himself isn’t much of a threat. He only has 5 magic though this other stats are good. This is only true in Normal mode though. He’s incredibly dangerous on higher difficulties.

Heh heh heh...You dare challenge me, fool? You must not value your life. Cower before the might of the dark magic Imhullu!



Case in point. He only does 6 damage to Merric. Not that it matters since he missed.



Starlight looks awesome though. You also get unique battle music whenever you use it. It’s all mystical and stuff. Not exactly suited for battle music but whatever.

Merric isn’t fast enough to double Gharnef though. He's also juuuuust fast enough to not get doubled by Gharnef.



Oh fuck you, curate. Stop healing Gharnef.



We attack him on our turn. On the enemy phase, Gharnef attacks someone who can’t counter him.

But we finally get him.



Still, you are a fool ...Your power is not enough to defeat Medeus...I shall be waiting in the pits of the inferno...for when he sends you to join me... Heh heh, ha ha ha!

Defiant to the end. But we got him. Fucking finally!



Merric gets a great level. We also obtain the Falchion. At long last!



Just above the Seize Tile is another Secret Shop. It sells 3 Master Seals. We’re not going to need them but we buy them anyway.

The treasure chests gave us a Small Bullion and a Talisman, by the way.



We’re done.



Sire! We found Princess Elice up in the Tower of Thabes! She's on her way to see you right- Ah, here she is!

Yay, it’s Elice!

Elice!!!
Marth! Oh look at you. A man grown!
Sister, I was so worried. None had seen you since the castle fell. I...I feared the worst.
I was prepared for the worst, if that was what it took to ensure your safety. But they did not kill me. Gharnef spared my life.
Why would he spare you?
Marth, have you heard of the staff of Aum?
The staff that brings back the dead? It was lost to the world long ago, or so the legend goes.
Yes, but Gharnef found it...in the Resurrectory.
The Resurrectory? What was it doing in a temple in the middle of Dolhr?
I could not say. But that was why Gharnef kept me alive: he wished me to wield it. The staff of Aum's power can only be channeled by women of royal blood. Marth, you are going to Dolhr, are you not?
Yes. I must settle things with Medeus.
Then take me to the Resurrectory along the way to claim the staff. Aum works but once, but I will use it to revive a lost comrade.

Character Spotlight:

Elice





Now Elice is absolutely terrible. She’s got pathetic base stats and joins with only 2 chapters remaining. What she does have however is an instant A rank in staves meaning she can use staves like Warp, Fortify, Physic with no problems. This alone makes her better than a lot of this game’s cast and it is for this reason that I will use her. Being Marth’s sister and all, it’s also appropriate that she be with him on the final leg of his journey.

So we’ve finally rescued Elice. So what did Gharnef want with her? It’s not really explained why he needs the Aum staff. I do have another theory though. Gharnef intended to betray Medeus but he lacked the means of defeating him. The Falchion can defeat Medeus. The Falchion can only be wielded by the male heir of Anri, right? Well, Gharnef already has the Falchion as well as the means to ‘acquire’ a male heir to Anri that would fight for him. Work it out, people. Yeah…

Thankfully, it never seems to have happened so my theory may not necessarily be correct.

Gharnef really is a great villain though. He has a constant threatening presence throughout the game and relies on trickery and deceit to achieve his goals but can not only put up a fight but is flat out invulnerable when we first face him, driving home just how threatening he is. Compare him to Validar from FE13 who is so pathetic and inconsequential that it’s just sad. Funny how the very first game in series that came out on the NES does so many things better than a game that comes out in 2012/13. Or is that sad? How about both?

Gharnef’s artwork:

SPOILER: Click to show

SPOILER: Click to show

[Yoh]

The timing for that pic is impeccable. xD

And yeah, Validar isn't all that spectacular.

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Sept 3, 2013 9:53:18 GMT -8 Yoh said:

And yeah, Validar isn't all that spectacular.

You're being too kind to him.

[Yoh]

Sept 3, 2013 10:21:28 GMT -8 ┌༼ຈل͜ຈ༽┘ said:

Sept 3, 2013 9:53:18 GMT -8 Yoh said:

And yeah, Validar isn't all that spectacular.

You're being too kind to him.

Better him than Tharja

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"Dolhr...Land of the Manaketes. Before Medeus, the dragonkin had few dealings with the human realm, but when the Shadow Dragon came, everything changed. He sunk all Archanea into a cycle of war, in which heroes rose and heroes fell- always claiming his cause was just and the humans’ deaths deserved. But now Medeus's empire was crumbling...He was nearing the end of his reign...even as Marth was nearing the end of his long quest."

But everything changed when the Shadow Dragon attacked.



Our team. We’re bringing along Elice because she has an A rank in staves and that is very awesome.

This map is a large one. Xemcel, a Mage Dragon, is our boss guarding the castle that we need to seize and as expected, most of our enemies are Manaketes, both Fire and Mage varieties. Also on this map is the Resurrectory that was mentioned by Elice in the previous chapter. We want to get there fast and the only means of doing so in time is to warp someone there because the thief has a huge lead on us. Inside the treasure chest is the Aum staff which can revive one dead character before breaking. Very awesome but I ultimately don’t end up showing it off.

Nothing else to say so let’s just begin.


And inside is Medeus, king of the earth dragons- the one they call the Shadow Dragon. ...Why doesn't he leave the keep and face us?
I recall Lord Gotoh saying his return is not yet complete; only within the keep's walls can he maintain dragon form.
Really...? Then we have the advantage...
To Dolhr Keep, then! Let us put a stop to this war!

Yeah, let's do that.



Hey, why not just kill the thief right now and not have to worry about the Aum staff? Works for me.



But let’s have Lena and Elice warp Navarre and Ogma over there anyway.



Merric can talk to Elice for a special event.

Princess Elice! You're safe!
Oh, my! Merric, is that you? I haven't seen you in ages... ...So you've been fighting with the League? Thank you for keeping Marth safe.
Well, I did learn a spell or two in Khadein. Here, Princess. Get behind me. I'll face the enemy for us both.
You'll...face the...? Aha ha, oh, Merric!
Wh...what's so funny, Princess? I was quite serious, I'll have you know!
Ha ha, forgive me, Merric. It's just, I remembered you when you were little... You were always a bit delicate. Oftentimes I had to nurse you back to health. Remember?
But that was- I couldn't- Yes.
And look at you now. Such a brave, strong man! A far cry from the old Merric. But you don't have to pretend. I know you're far too sweet to mow down hordes of enemies. And... I think I prefer it that way.
You...you do?

Obvious setting up of romance between these two. Merric has had a crush on Marth’s older sister since he met her, apparently.



Anyway, we move out.




Despite their flashy attack animations, they both got the exact same shitty level. It’s both amusing and sad.



Catria still da bess.



Julian also gets warped over to the Ressurectory.



Guess what isn’t new? Lena not getting magic.



Anyway, we got the Aum Staff.



We’re going all out here and using our legendary weapons. We’re at the end game so there’s no point in hoarding them.



The Falchion is so powerful against Manaketes that Marth can one-shot them.



I leave a couple of our units behind because these manaketes will cross the mountains and try to attack us from the rear.

We also visit the house near our starting position.

Nestled in the mountains far to the southeast is a holy temple known as the Resurrectory. Use the staff of Aum there, and they say you can call a departed friend back from beyond the river of death.

We already got it, old man.



Julian, Navarre and Ogma start clearing out the lowest part of the map.



More Manakets falling to Marth’s Falchion.

Now here’s a funny piece of trivia. Back in the original game, the Falchion was only effective against Medeus. The trade-off was that it also made Marth invulnerable to any damage not coming from a manakete. It turned him into an unstoppable juggernaut. Here, it’s effectively an infinite use Silver Sword with the Wyrmslayer property. Back then as well as know, it can be used to recover 20 HP but since it has infinite uses, you don’t have to worry about running out like you have to with the Gradivus. Now though, he's just very good and not completely broken as he used to be.



Mages can’t do shit to Mage Dragons.



The Parthia does the job just fine though.



Elice only needs Magic to improve her healing abilities. Marth finally gets some speed.



An empty level. Damnit Jeorge!



Hardin throws the Gradivus and kills a Sniper while Merric gets warped in to deal with the Fire Manakete.



Unfourtunately, he wasn’t fast enough to kill it. Elice fortifies the army.



Merric kills the dragon in its counterattack and gets a point in speed on his level up. Good job!



And reinforcements start pouring out of the forts.



Nice critical and excellent level.



Navarre deals with this Manakete. But he’s taking too much damage and so I have him block up the fort instead of baiting out reinforcements.



Still no magic for Elice. Eh. Marth gets both speed and strength. He needs just two more speed points to max out his speed. Jeorge gets ANOTHER EMPTY LEVEL.




Abel gets the two most important stats while Ogma gets a good level. What else can I say about Lena? She’s really failed me this playthrough and the worst part is that she can’t be replaced by anyone except in the first half of the game since it’s too late to replace her after that. Navarre patches up his strength. I’m okay with that.



Lena fixes up the Gradivus. I unfortunately can’t remember if she fixes the other legendary weapons too. Most likely, I did have her fix them up.



In the bottom left corner is another secret shop with MORE STATBOOSTERS! Again, we can buy 3 of each and we clear out the store.



No Manakete will ever pose a problem to Marth. The Falchion is just that good.

Now say what you will about how evil the manaketes are and you would be right. However, it is also true that it was humans who started all of this mess in the first place. This has always been the case in Fire Emblem games. The dragons are usually the enemies but they are never the only ones responsible. More often than not, it is the humans who were the aggressors.



And we’re done.

Inside Dolhr Keep…


Hmph, you'll find an earth dragon like me harder to tame than Gharnef, brat. Come and face me. I'll tear the ground asunder and make you wish you'd never been born!

Oh yeah, it’s time to face Medeus himself.

So know that we’ve seen it in action, let’s talk about the Falchion. The Falchion was created from one of Naga’s fangs and was given to Anri after he embarked on a long journey through the vast deserts, the volcanic wastes and the frozen peaks that lie in the northern half of the continent. This path would eventually be known as Anri’s Way. Many would try to brave this path and they would all fail, either giving up prematurely or dying along the way.

(Anri facing Medeus as Artemis and their army watch)

When Anri returned, he wielded Naga’s divine weapon against Medeus in a legendary battle where he would prove to be victorious. However, his story didn’t end happily. Anri and his love, the Princess of Archanea, Artemis would forever be separated as the people and nobles would never stand for a commoner marrying their holy princess. Even after Anri founded Altea, they would never be together.

There’s a lot to say about Medeus but his backstory is covered better in the sequel so it’s appropriate to save it till then. What I will say is that he is the last of the Earth Dragons who remains sane and in control of his thoughts and was the only one of his tribe who stored his powers in a Dragonstone along with most of the other tribes whereas the other Earth Dragons refused and eventually went mad because of the decline of dragon tribes that could only be prevented by taking another form and burning up their energy. His resentment over how humans and his own fellow dragons treated his kind is what led to him declaring war on humanity. This is just a brief summary. Meanwhile, Grima from FE13 is just pure evil with motive, no purpose, no nothing. The NES game still has a better story than the shiny new 3DS game.

So before we get to the final chapter, I've got several Interludes lined up and all of them deal with replacement characters, bonus characters and sidequests. See you then.

[Yoh]

Pretty good chapter. Nothing more, nothing less.

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Interlude - Replacement Characters

Now before we get to the final chapter and finish the game, I’d like to cover one last thing. Shadow Dragon is a bit different than the other Fire Emblem games because it gives you replacement characters should too many of your characters die.

Starting from chapter 4 where we unlock the Preparations Menu, we can get come bonus character should we meet certain requirements. As you all know, every chapter has an arbitrary number that tells us the maximum number of units that we can bring to that chapter. Now what happens when a lot of your characters died and you have less than the maximum number?

A number of replacement characters are automatically recruited during the beginning of the chapter when the total character count falls below the maximum number of characters that can be deployed in that particular chapter, such that the new character count equals the max deployment count exactly. We’re also presented with this dialogue:

Sire, we’ve received an offer of help. It would seem there are those who wish to join our ranks. Naturally, the possibility of espionage worries me... but they seem honest enough.
We do sorely need the help... If they still wish to fight, tell them I will gladly have them!

Short and to the point.

Borrowed from Serenes Forest:

“The replacement characters can be of any class, chosen at random (except classes that cannot Reclass, Falcoknights or classes that have reached their Reclass capacity). Their starting Level is based on the average Level of your party (promoted characters count as Level +15). Once the calculated starting Level reaches 16+, the replacement characters will join as Level 1+ promoted classes instead. They always come equipped with the most basic weapon of their primary weapon type (eg. Iron Sword for Myrmidons).

In total there are 31 unique names for replacements characters, though if you manage to get more than 31 replacements killed, the names will simply loop back to the first.

(An example of a replacement character

Otherwise, all replacement character have exactly the same properties; they have no base stat additions or growth rate additions. They only use the class growth rates (player) for Level Ups, while their starting stats are equal to their class base stats + approximately [(Level - 1) × their class growth rates (player)]. If they start promoted, they gain additional stats approximately equal to 14 × their unpromoted class growth rates (player). Basically, they're generally inferior to normal characters with faces.”

At first, the names of the characters follow a theme but eventually, the game starts mocking you for losing so many characters you get characters with names like ‘Wymp’, ‘Owend’, ‘Laim’, ‘Auffle’, ‘Lucer’, ‘Rejek’ and ‘Wieklin’. Ouch.

Now there are more bonus characters with actual names and faces as well as sidequests. I’ll cover their story and dialogue before a normal character spotlight for each in the next update. It may or may not be split into 2.

[Yoh]

It's like the Cipher Peon in Colosseum named "Skrub". XD

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Interlude – Sidequests and Bonus Characters (Part 1)

Sidequests are new content that was added in Shadow Dragon and was not present in the original Fire Emblem nor in the first half of Mystery of the Emblem. In each sidequest, you can recruit bonus characters that have their own name, face and unique stories. Most of the time, they have more character and dialogue than a lot the characters that we got in the game proper.

If certain chapters are completed with less than 15 characters which includes the replacement characters, you unlock sidequests. The requirements are:

6x Have 15 or less characters alive by the end of Chapter 6
12x Have 15 or less characters alive by the end of Chapter 12
17x Have 15 or less characters alive by the end of Chapter 17
20x Have 15 or less characters alive by the end of Chapter 20
24x Tiki not recruited (or dead) and Falchion not in possession

1) Norne

Norne is a young archer from a small village near Altea Castle. This village is also near to the village that the Avatar from the sequel comes from and she has met the Avatar at least once. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We still have this game to finish before we to the sequel.

She joins us if you have less than 5 characters at the end of Prologue 4. This includes Marth so one more character aside from the decoy needs to have died to recruit her. If you meet the necessary conditions, you get this alternate dialogue at the end of Prologue 4.

Prince Marth! Make haste, sire!
Draug, is that you? What are you doing here?
Draug, sir! The enemy has crossed the border from the west! They’ll be upon us soon!
Right, we’re on our way. Sire, this is Norne. She heard wind of our struggles and wishes to fight for Altea.
Prince Marth, ’tis an honor. By your leave, though, I’ll be savin' the curtsy-bobbin' for later. Quickly, sire!

Norne is not exactly good. I’d say she’s better than Gordin but that’s not exactly a compliment. She has a pathetic 1 point in skill and her growth in it is average. What she does have over Gordin is a 55% speed growth which is 20% better than Gordin’s. Not great but not unusable either. Which is more than I can say for a lot characters from the actual game.

Norne’s official art:

2) Athena

Athena is swordswoman from a foreign land with strange way of speaking. She was saved from drowning by some villagers and she is looking to repay them for it by helping them out with a bandit problem.

If you have less than 15 characters after finishing chapter 6, you’ll unlock chapter 6x “In War’s Grip”.

"Not long after Marth's army freed the kingdom of Aurelis, messengers arrived from a western village to plea for the prince's help. Pirates had struck the war-torn village at its weakest and abducted its children. Marth could not ignore such an injustice, and rode with his army to the rescue..."

Athena can be recruited by visiting the village on the top left corner.

Athena! My lady, wait! Where are you going all by yourself? This is madness!
Vy vould you vant to stop us? Your children vere taken by the pirates. Ve are offering to go get them back.
But you're barely recovered! If you try to fight the pirates in that state, you'll only-
Only vat? Die? If your villagers had not pulled us from the sea, ve vould have been svallowed by the vaves anyway. That is the least ve can do. Vat sort of selfish creature do you take us for?
But there's no way you can stop them! There's only one of you-er, yous. Look, please, just wait a little longer. I've sent our younger folk to find help. Give them a chance to return!
...Very well. Ve vill vait for this "help". But if no vun comes, make no mistake: ve vill not sit idly by.

When we visit the village…

Vell, vell... You must be the help. Ve vish to fight vith you.
Ah, splendid. How many of you? Gather your men, and we'll be on our way at once.
Men? Ve are a voman. Vun voman! Are you blind, stupid manchild?
Vat? ...Ahem, what? Oh. Right, pardon me. I, uh, I am Marth, prince of Altea. I heard pirates took the village children, so I brought my army straightaway.
...If you say so. Ve are called Athena. The vee vuns have been visked away to a castle south of here. Come. Ve have a fair bit of skill vith a sword; hopefully the same can be said of you, Marth of Altea.

lolvat? I mean, lolwut?

When we fight the boss, a pirate named Bathys…

Ye be makin' a grave mistake, meddlin' in the affairs o' pirates!
Nngh...Avast! Spare me me life, matey...!

No can do.

After we finish the chapter…

*sniff* I wanna go home...
Thanks, mister.
Prince Marth, bless you, bless you...I haven't the words to express our gratitude. We were ready to abandon all hope, but you came to our aid when no one else would, when you did not have to. I know today's battle means little when the entire world is at war. History may not remember it- but we will. Our village will speak of your feats for generations to come.

Marth. Ve have decided to go vith you.
You have?
It is the least ve can do. Vat sort of selfish creature do you take us for? Ve vill join you, and you vill be grateful. Do ve make ourselves clear?
P-perfectly clear, Athena. Your swordsmanship will turn the tides in many a battle to come.

Marth is right. Athena will certainly turn the tides in many battles. She has high base stats and high growths. Is she better than the other Myrmidons that you can recruit? I’d say she’s equal to Navarre and better than everyone else. If you don’t care about sacrificing characters that you’re not using, you will find Athena to be a very useful character.

Athena’s official art:

3) Horace



Chapter 12x A Traitor's Worth can be accessed by having less than 15 characters alive at the end of chapter 12.

"After taking back the palace, the League rode across Archanea, freeing the greater part of the kingdom as they went- all except the west. A landed knight there named Horace, who had betrayed Archanea, to join Dolhr, continued to stubbornly hold out against Marth's forces. Nyna could not fathom why such a fiercely loyal knight would turn to treachery, but with her other knights calling for Horace's blood, she had no choice but to give in and ask Marth to bring the traitor to justice."

Don’t mind that he’s labeled here. The place where I got this doesn’t use the NA names.

Anyway, to recruit Horace you must keep him alive till the end. He has his own mooks with him and I believe that neither him nor his troops will move unless you attack them.

Have you heard, Horace? I am told the rebels just recaptured the palace. That accursed Archanean wench! Never mind Camus's pleas. We should have put her to the sword with the rest of them...
.....
Hm, something bothering you, now? Don't tell me you are toying with the idea of rejoining your motherland? Because if you do, I think you know exactly what will befall your people.
Yes, you've made it quite clear! I am an Archanean knight no longer. I knew this day would come when I gave me lance to Dolhr. I will not flinch.
Good. Then gather your soldiers and kill these rebels before they cause any more trouble.

This is actually the first hint of Camus’s story, interestingly enough.

Lord Horace, our soldiers are in position.
Good.
Shall we advance on the enemy?
...No. That won't be necessary. We'll lure them in close, then strike. No one attacks unless the enemy makes a move first. Is that clear?

If Marth talks to Horace, which is a bad idea since he’ll get attacked…

Lord Horace! I am Marth of Altea. I ask that you lay down your arms....
Is Princess Nyna safe?
She is- and she's quite worried about you, sir.
So Her Highness is alive... The soldiers who died protecting her can rest in peace. ...Now then, Prince Marth. Draw your sword.
What? But...Lord Horace!
I chose to betray Archanea, and now I must abide by that choice. Princess Nyna has returned to the palace, and Archanea is restored. I have no regrets.

When we visit the first village…

Lord Horace, who rules this land, used to be a knight of Archanea. After the palace fell, though, he bent his knee to the Dolhrian emperor and has been servin' him ever since. For that, folks call him a traitor and say he tarnished his knightly brethren's reputation. Well, that's a load of hogwash. He broke his knightly oaths to protect us! Not 'cause he's some traitor.
Please, sire, you have to help clear his name. Here...Lord Horace's father, bless him, gave me this weapon as a gift long ago. I know he'd be glad to see it used to restore his son's honor.

We obtain a Killer Lance.

And the second village…

Are you with the League? Please, sir, I'm beggin' ya...You have to help Lord Horace. He's always looked out for us small folk, before and after he inherited the land. He's a pillar of strength, he is. We'd be dead if he hadn't made the tough choices he did. The least we can do is rescue him from his plight now. Here, I've got this magic tome one of our villagers found after the last battle on our soil. You take it, and find some way to save him. Promise!

Battling the boss, a commander of Dolhr called Dejanira…

Vexatious rebels! I'll skewer you like rabbits!
...Nngh! You'll...pay...

If you managed to finish the chapter without killing Horace…

What!? Dejanira's been killed?! Then...it's over. Soldiers! Lay down your weapons! No more Archanean blood shall be shed! ...Mine shall be the last.

(…)

Bravo, Prince Marth. I yield. Spare the lives of my soldiers and treat my people kindly, and you may do with me as you see fit.
No! Wait, please! Lord Horace is a good man! Doluna threatened him, said they'd raze the land corner to corner if he didn't comply. So you see-
Hush! You've said enough.
But, Lord Horace...
I betrayed my fellow knights and besmirched their good name. I will not dress up my sins as kindnesses! I accept my punishment. Allow me to die a knight's death.
I will not!
.....! Princess Nyna?
Horace. I heard what you said. And you have it quite right. Your crimes deserve death, or worse.

Wait, what?

Nyna, what are you-
But I shall give you no knight's death. I shall give you a traitor's life. You say you will not dress up your sins. I say you will not run from them either.
Your Highness...! Are you saying you wish me to live?
You did all in your power to protect these people. That was honorable, Horace. But if you die today, no one will remember you for anything but your one act of betrayal. Your soldiers will have to bear that shame in your stead. Do you call that justice?
.....
Starting today, you shall prove to the world there was value in your actions. Show us a traitor's worth. Show us what the soldiers who fought and died for you saw to be true.
I...I do not know what to say.
I have claimed your life, Horace. You have no say. You shall fight for us...and you shall not die. I forbid it.
Heh...Very well, Your Highness. As you command...

Wow, Nyna did something really awesome instead of just hanging back and pining for Camus. My respect for her has risen greatly.

Horace is decent. While he has great base stats and his speed isn’t totally shit despite being a General, his growths are complete shit. It would be foolish to keep him as a General because he’s never going to get any speed and will get double by pretty much everything in the mid-to-late game. I’d recommend reclassing him to either Hero or Horseman where his growths are more workable especially in Speed and Skill. He already has a lot of strength and defence so he can manage if his growths in those areas take a hit. Horseman would be the best choice because not only does it let him improve his bow rank and give a 35% speed growth but it also drastically increases his movement. As a Hero, he would have to work with E rank weapons for a long time.

I really love Horace’s character. He has more story and development than most of FE11’s normal cast even if his story is basically a copypasta of Hannibal from FE4 and Xavier, even more so, from FE5. He also plays a part in Nyna actually being productive which is great.

Horace’s official art:

He's holding an Axe as a General. He can't even use Axes as a General. Whaaaaat.

Well’s that’s enough for now. We have 3 more bonus characters to cover before we start the final chapter.

[Yoh]

Athena's horribla French accent is very vad.

[┌༼ຈل͜ຈ༽┘]

Vat are talking about? It is vary good.

[Yoh]

Now that I Vink about vit...vou are corvect!

[┌༼ຈل͜ຈ༽┘]

Let’s cover the remaining 3 bonus characters, shall we?

4) Etzel

Etzel is a Sorcerer, one of the new classed introduced in Shadow Dragon. Technically, the Sorcerer class is just renaming of the Druid class from the GBA games but no variation of this class was present in the original NES game either so my statement is still correct.

Completing Chapter 17 with only 15 characters alive at the end unlocks Chapter 17x, Prisoner of Helena. Helena is the name of the castle, not a person, by the way.

"At long last, Altea was free again. Marth took the League to Helena Castle in the north, an old fortress and key supply point during Doluna and Grust's occupation. There he meant to seize the last of the enemy's gold and provisions but Grust would not give up the castle without a fight..."

The areas that are faded are actually locked areas that can be accessed by opening the door leading to them. You can’t actually see what’s behind those doors in the actual game though. After the first turn ends, if the South East room hasn’t been opened yet, a conversation will take place and Etzel will come outside of the room. To recruit him, simply don’t kill him and finish the chapter. He doesn’t move and will only attack those within 1-2 tiles of him so keeping him alive is not a problem at all.

At the start of the chapter…

Lord Dactyl, I've brought the mage.
Good. Hold him up.
...Nngh....
Well, then? Have you been persuaded to fight for us?
...Never. I'd rather die.
You'd rather DIE? Ha! As if a spell-slinging vagabond like you has any choice in the matter! Enough. Strip him of all his possessions and lock him up someplace. Perhaps we can use him later.
There's not much to strip him of, milord. Just the tome and this ring...
Ring? Let me have a look at that.
No! Don't you- Grr, let me go! Don't you touch Ursula's ring!
Wha...what are you- yaagh!
O-oi! Take your hands off Lord Dactyl!
Rrgh...please, not the ring! ...Give it BACK!
Unhand me, you filthy maggot!
Nngh! ...Unnh...
Take this wretch away. Now!
At once, milord!
Hmph, all that for some tawdry ring. ...Hmm? That gives me an idea...

After the end of turn 1…

I've brought him, milord.
Good. I've had a change of heart. I am considering giving that ring of yours back.
....!
BUT...you must face the League for us. How much considering I do hinges on how well you fight.
...And how am I to fight unarmed, my lord?
Hmm? ...Ah. yes, well, you can have your little book back. But you know what the consequences will be if you betray us...

(…)

For now, I'll just have to feign obedience...

If you do end up fighting him…

Sorry. I mean you no harm, but neither have I any wish to die here.

Fighting the boss, a guy called Dactyl

Blast! Where have those indolent guards gone?
Unnh...gwaaah!

At the end of the chapter…

Prince Marth! Grust's garrison left their war chest when they fled. This much gold should buy plenty of equipment. Might I suggest, sire, you avail yourself of this opportunity to outfit your soldiers? Our next opponent will be Grust's Sable Order. By our scouts' reports, they march to meet us as we speak. Many say their knights are the strongest on the continent. We'll want to be well prepared.

You're Prince Marth, aren't you? I wish to thank you.
...Who are you?
My name is Etzel. I am a traveling sorcerer. Those Grustian cowards stole a ring from me, and were it not for you, I might never have seen it again.
The ring must have been very dear to you, then.
It's all I have to remember my wife by. She got caught in the fighting back when Gra betrayed Altea...
Those were dark days. You have my deepest sympathies; I lost my father in the same battle.
Will there be no end to this bloodshed?
There will, Etzel. I have sworn to end it; that's the very reason all of us fight.
And you think you can end it, just like that? From anyone else's lips that would sound absurdly naive. But I can tell you are sincere. Tell me, Prince, have you any need for an extra...spell slinger? I've no taste for war, but I do have a fierce hunger for ending it. Let's usher in a new era, you and I.

Etzel is your only realistic Sorcerer since you don’t get a Dark Mage/Sorcerer through normal means. You can reclass some characters into this class but thanks to Class sets, no natural Mage/Curate/Sage/Bishop can reclass into a Dark Mage/Sorcerer as those classes are from Set A while this one is from Set B. And female characters cannot reclass into this class either since their reclass options are even more limited. Etzel is actually pretty good. His bases are solid and his growths are passable. He’s not going to be game-changer but he’s unique (in a way) and does the job well enough.

Etzel is another great character. He has good development and personality and, in terms of design, is an expy of Canas, from FE7 who is a fan favourite.

SPOILER: Click to show

He looks like a woman with those hips.

5) Ymir

Ymir is a warrior who is very large and because of this, combined with his looks, is treated as a monster. Except for one village which he is now fiercely protective of.

If you finish Chapter 20 with less than 15 characters alive, you unlock Chapter 20x Men and Monsters

"Having won the day and putting Camus and his Sable Order to rout, Marth and the League moved on to the mountains in eastern Grust, to crush the last of the opposition. The surviving Grustian soldiers, in a mad attempt to hang on to their lives, took all the residents of a nearby village hostage to keep Marth from striking. However, they could not have picked a worse village to harass..."

This map certainly looks cool. To recruit Ymir, simply have Marth to him. After doing so, Ymir will leave the map. Then just finish the chapter normally and Ymir will become available from the next chapter onwards.

Have the villagers given up struggling yet?
With that ogre on the loose? Hardly, sir. All of our soldiers together still can't contain him. The other villagers have fled into the caverns, out of reach.
What? Grr, enough of this! The League will be here soon. Take your positions! We'll deal with them first and cut that giant down to size later.

Meanwhile…

Ymir, you're hurt!
Am I? I hardly feel it.
Why would you try to take on an entire army just for our sake?
Because you treat me like a human being. Do I need another reason?
Ymir...thank you.
I'll be standing guard outside the cavern. Nobody will hurt you, I swear it.

When Marth talks to Ymir…

Who are you? You don't seem to be one of Grust's soldiers.
You just keep your distance. I'm not letting anyone near the villagers in here, and that includes you!
You wrong me, sir. I'm here to rout the last of Grust's army. To save you.
Yeah? Well, they said the same thing when they led us down here. And look where that got us. I'm not fallin' for the same lies twice!
I speak the truth. But, if my word is not good enough, so be it. Stand aside and watch us fight. Let the battle prove I mean what I say. Agreed? Either way, you are in danger here. Take the villagers and hide until this is over.
...So I'm supposed to just sit here, when I could be fightin'?
Just give me a chance to prove I'm here to protect you.
...Fine. I'll stay out of it. For now. But if I find you're lyin' to me, I'll split you right down the middle!

Our boss is a guy with a strangely feminine name, Larissa.

We'll never surrender to you Archanean rabble! Long live Grust!
Rebel...scum...

And the chapter ends with…

Prince Marth, thank you. Those soldiers told us they'd protect us when they led us down here...but they were just using us as leverage, hostages to keep you at bay! If you hadn't shown up, they might have just killed us outright in the end...
Prince Marth, sorry I doubted you.
Well, at least we've cleared up the misunderstanding.
Since you came to the villagers' rescue, how 'bout I help you out as a way of sayin' thanks?
You mean...join our army?
I'm strongest in the land! Well, second strongest, at least. I can hold my own in battle. But if you don't want a monster in your ranks, I understand.
Monster? You're a giant among men, to be sure, but a hero as well! Any warrior who can fend of an entire army is welcome among us!
Then count me in! Let's see how many more armies break themselves against me, eh!

Ymir will be available starting from the next chapter.

Ymir is not too fantastic. His bases are decent but not great. His strength is great however. We can sacrifice that a bit by reclassing him to Hero or slightly redistribute some other stats as a Berserker. With the Hero class’s versatility or the Berserker class’s boosted critical hit rate, he can find some use on your team.

Ymir is yet another great character with more story to him than a lot of the normal cast. He’s an expy of Gonzales from FE6 but I’d say Ymir is better because Gonzales is portrayed as a little bit too stupid.

Alright, we got one last character to cover and this one is very special. The implications this character has on the lore as so profound that Awakening ignores it completely.

SPOILER: Click to show

6) Nagi

The character’s name and appearance should hopefully ring a bell.

To recruit Nagi, the requirements are a bit different. You must NOT have the Falchion is possession at the end of chapter 24 AND have Tiki dead or not recruited. Should you satisfy both these conditions at the end of chapter 24, you’ll get an alternate ending.

Since this requires killing off a very specific character, I’ll show the death quote.

No... I don't want to be...alone...

Feel good about yourself?

Marth. Can you hear me?
Lord Gotoh?
I know you mean to challenge Medeus. But you and your companions haven’t the power to win.
What? Why not? Because I failed to retrieve Falchion?
You also failed to save the divine dragon girl.
I did not mean for anything to happen to her-
You can put your heart at ease. Tiki is not dead. She has merely returned to her slumber. Still, without her power. We must take other steps. Select a handful of your best warriors. I must send you into an unseen dimension.
An unseen dimension, my lord?
A place outside the confines of our world. There you will find a tower; you must pass its Keepers’ test. If your strength and need are great enough, the tower’s master will answer and then, perhaps, your fortunes will be changed for the better.

Thus we unlock Chapter 24x A World Apart

"Marth did as Gotoh instructed and chose soldiers for his journey into the unseen. What lay within the tower in this alternate world to test him? Marth's heart wavered. But with neither the divine blade Falchion nor the divine dragon girl to aid him, the tower's master was his last hope of defeating Medeus. Gotoh had told Marth to find a coffin. So while most of his companions remained in the material world to battle Dolhr, Marth and his chosen few scoured the tower to search of a mysterious savior."

This map, along with Floor 8 of the Tower of Valni from FE8, is a homage to Chapter 16x The Pinnacle of Light from FE6. The goal is simple. Kill everyone and reach the top. There are 2 treasure chests here. Inside one is another Excalibur tome while inside the other is another Aura tome. This is only place where you can get multiple copies of those tomes.

This must be the tower Lord Gotoh spoke of...
Sire, it's teeming with soldiers...Who are they? They fly no recognizable banner.
They are the Keepers whose test I must pass.
You mean to fight them, then?
Gotoh says we must prove ourselves. Very well; we'll seize the tower. Follow me!

When we reach the top…

Sire, look! Stairs beneath the throne! Where could they lead?
...Do you think this is the coffin?
There are no others. And look: these markings around it are the same pattern we saw in the Fane of Raman...
Hmm, you're right...
We found a dragon girl in the fane...I wonder if these symbols- Huh?!
Sire! The coffin...It's opening!
What? No! It must be some kind of trap, or...or some kind of...er...

Whoa!

...woman? Could she be the master Gotoh spoke of?
...Who are you?
My name is Marth, prince of Altea. And you, my lady?
Me?! My name...is Nagi.
Nagi...I was sent here to find you, by a man named Gotoh.
Gotoh...I know that name...But from where? I cannot recall.
You've lost your memory?
I...cannot say for certain. But your voice...I heard you calling. Did you rouse me from my sleep?
I...er...Not on purpose?
Your soul...called out to me...begging for my help. For this blade...
That...that's Falchion! How did you get it?!
I cannot remember...But you need it, I know that. And you need my powers.
Your...powers, my lady?
Take me with you. I must...finish what I started...I think. I must fight with you.


Now we’ve been suddenly handed a lot of new information. Let’s take it one step at a time.

First of all, who the hell is this Nagi? Her name, her appearance and her being another Manakete all point to one thing. Naga. Or rather, the reincarnation of Naga. But hang on. Naga is most definitely identified as a male both in the localization and original Japanese text as well as previous games. Now this is nothing new. In the lore of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, Naga appeared before Saint Heim, one of the Legendary Crusaders, in the form of a shapely young woman and performed a ritual with him that granted him her powers as well as the Book of Naga, the single most broken weapon in any Fire Emblem game. This ritual may or may not have involved sex. Make of that what you will.

Now Awakening throws another twist into the story. Despite Naga being dead (and yes, dead. No different dimension shit) it is not Nagi, his reincarnation who appears to Chrom but Naga, somehow back from the dead and… in the form of a beautiful woman again. Naga has a serious fetish. So how the hell is Naga back? And what the hell happened to Nagi? Who knows? It’s just another in a long list of failures of Awakening’s plot.

Secondly, did Nagi just give us the Falchion? Well, not quite. You see, it’s a weaker version of the normal Falchion with 5 less might, 10 less hit and 2 more weight. It is implied that she forged another Falchion from one of her fangs just as Naga did when he met Anri. However, she hasn’t recovered all of her strength and can only create a weaker imitation.

Thirdly, who exactly is Gotoh? What sort of connections does he have to Tiki, Naga, and Nagi? That one will have to wait till the sequel.

One thing to note is the Nagi has the exact same growths as Tiki. And much better base stats. She’s a Manakete with a Divinestone. Being Naga’s reincarnation, she is obviously VERY GOOD. She can do bonus damage to Medeus which is another reason to use her. However, recruiting Nagi will lock us out from recruiting another character in the final chapter. I don’t think I should need to tell you who this final secret character is but I’ll let you guess. Comment about who the final character might be and post your guess. Of the 2 though, Nagi is definitely superior but that’s just because she’s so good.

Now here’s trick to recruit both Tiki and Nagi as well as keeping the original Falchion:

From Serenes Forest…

During Chapter 24, give the Falchion to Tiki and get her killed by an enemy. You should be able to progress to Chapter 24x upon completion of the chapter. Once you're in Chapter 24x, check your storage and you should find the Falchion there. Also, at any time after this, just use the Aum staff to resurrect Tiki.

Nagi’s official art:

SPOILER: Click to show

Naga has wieeerd fetishes.

[┌༼ຈل͜ຈ༽┘]

All the bonus characters (except Nagi) are expies of previous characters. This is mostly apparent when look at their general appearance but Horace is an exception and shares his backstory and development with a past character rather than general appearance.

Let's compare!

Norne and Tanya (FE5)



Athena and Ayra (FE4)



Horace and Hannibal (FE4)/Xavier (FE5)



Etzel and Canas (FE7)



Ymir and Gonazles

[Yoh]

In response to Naga's fetishes:


(Start the video at 15 seconds)