You can just talk to her with Eirika or Franz here, same as last time. She's actually a lot easier to recruit here with Eirika than in Port Kiris.
I prefer to recruit her in Port Kiris anyway, mind, because keeping her alive in this mission is an actual challenge, let alone slipping in opportunities to get her experience.
Generally the only reason not to recruit Amelia at Port Kris is because you value getting two Speedwings more than her earlier recruitment, since she'll show up with a Speedwing in her inventory both times even if you steal it.
...Being fair, that's a value judgement a lot of more advanced players probably make. +4 speed total wherever you want on your good units, or a training project you have to baby along until they're actually good? Hell yeah people want to freely buff one of the most important stats in the game on said good units.
You can't Steal weapons or Staves in the GBA games. I mostly don't mind (It's clear the games want weapons/staves to be a resource management thing, and Thracia shows quite clearly how that breaks down if basically every enemy is a new source of gear), but I do resent it when an enemy Thief is running around, looting gear and turning it impossible to get back because only the most-recently-looted thing will drop on their death -that whole mess is nonsense that makes no realistic sense and no game design sense.
Tbh I don't particularly mind the whole "If thieves get to multiple chests you can't retrieve some of the items" thing because in general, you should absolutely be rushing for the chests in the first place and the thieves exist to prod you into doing so in the first place. If you lose out because they got multiple turns of goofing off in the treasure room, well... that's on the player.
Now on the other hand, when the Sacred Stones randomizer spawns multiple thieves in range of a treasure room on turn 1 and killing them doesn't retrieve loot... Damn You, Randomizer. Damn You.
Yeah, I didn't bring up Thracia because I had barely any time to finish replying before I had to head to work, otherwise I probably would have dumped some massive pile of "here's how thieves and stealing works throughout the entire series!" because I'm just like that.
For anyone who doesn't know, Thracia is particularly notable because it's actually built around looting enemies being a major source of equipment with the capture system - if a unit has a high enough rescue stat that they could potentially carry an enemy, you can use the Capture command to "rescue" an enemy unit if you defeat them in combat with halved stats, and then trade with them to steal all their loot and dump their body in a river. Very abuseable, but also very good at making the player take stupid risks and get killed for it.
As in "oops I one-shot the final boss with Some Guy using it and kind of took the sails out of everyone with their fancy ancient sacred weapons" strong.
Being fair, the fancy ancient sacred weapons in FE7 both kinda suck ass and also are ridiculously backloaded.
Like, FE6 spreads out the S Rank Superweapons across the entire game, to the point you can get Durandal (the S Rank Sword) as early as chapter 8x. Sacred Stones hasn't given any out yet, but at the least is better than FE7, where you get them in literally the last chapter: Eliwood gets Durandal (which is so fat it weighs his already mid-speed ass down by 7 speed, also he probably only promoted like 2 chapters ago because lord promotions are also backloaded), Hector gets Armads (only weighs him down by 3 points, much more reasonable), and Lyn gets Sol Katti (14 weight on a 6 con speed-based unit, lower might than a Silver Sword do the math on if this is actually worth using beyond how dope the animations are).
Then the rest of the S rank weapons are just dropped by the endgame boss rush of "we locked like 8 dudes in little rooms and let them out to rush you", so you're... what, using them to finish off the later dudes, or blast the final boss? Wowee, so useful. Suffice to say, Luna far outstrips them, doubly so because Athos shows up to help in the final chapter and goes "yo what if I just had 30 Magic and S rank in every magic type", so even if you didn't train the one other dark magic user then this guy's styling all over almost everything in the final chapter.
Then the rest of the S rank weapons are just dropped by the endgame boss rush of "we locked like 8 dudes in little rooms and let them out to rush you", so you're... what, using them to finish off the later dudes, or blast the final boss? Wowee, so useful. Suffice to say, Luna far outstrips them, doubly so because Athos shows up to help in the final chapter and goes "yo what if I just had 30 Magic and S rank in every magic type", so even if you didn't train the one other dark magic user then this guy's styling all over almost everything in the final chapter.
Unless I'm badly misremembering Athos also just shows up with a preference weapon that's way better than the actual S Anima Tome, if for no deeper reason than being effective against dragons in a game where big shock the final boss is a dragon.
Unless I'm badly misremembering Athos also just shows up with a preference weapon that's way better than the actual S Anima Tome, if for no deeper reason than being effective against dragons in a game where big shock the final boss is a dragon.
On double checking, Athos shows up with a full inventory of the three legendary personal weapons for your lords, his own personal Anima tome Forblaze which is also a legendary weapon, and the S rank light tome Aureola that anyone can can use (Athos, Athos is going to use it he has 30 magic and nobody else is going to have S rank light anyways unless you trained Lucius).
So really, handing him Luna is just completing the magic triangle set by saying "here Athos take the best dark magic in the game too" and watching him smash his way through the final chapter. Maybe hand him the fortify staff you got last chapter too, just for maximum Mage Power.
…I'm not buying that. Luna, the spell that bypasses enemy resistance, has been situationally useful in other games I've played (also it tends to have real nice moon-themed animations). But here it looks like the developers were worried it would be too powerful and gave it an accuracy of 50. That's worse than a Steel Axe! That's coinflip odds! And they also went and made it the most expensive item in the game so far at 4,200 gold. I could sell a stat booster and it wouldn't be enough to cover that! The developers thought that Luna would break the game if there weren't some restrictions on it, and added enough restrictions that I'm not going to bother using it at all.
Was it in this thread that someone proposed the idea of false prophecy game design? Where developers imagine that the game will have some quality, and act to compensate for that, but do so with such effectiveness that the game no longer turns out the way they imagined? I'm certain I read about it somewhere on SV.
Other's brought it up, but I agree that this is an overcorrection from FE7's utterly busted Luna which could trivialize every boss and most notably the final boss. That said, if you get Ewan fully trained in dark magic even that terrible hit will turn it into one of his best weapons.
And hey, new recruit! Cormag is a fairly solid unit, as Wyvern Riders very much tend to be. Good stats all around other than Resistance, has a flying mount, gets Hard Mode Bonuses since he starts as an enemy unit, and in Eirika route starts high enough level to instantly promote. Fairly worthwhile both from a "train him up" and an "instantly promote and use" perspective.
I love Cormag for many reasons, though I wanted to do one correction. FE8 actually fixed the bug that is Hard Mode bonuses so he's just as good as he is now in every mode.
She's level 3. Ugh. I like this character and I want to use her, but I still haven't managed to grind Natasha or Moulder up to level 10, and now I have to do it all over again?
...another reminder on how much I grinded even when I mostly used the Tower of Valni to have new recruits I wanna use catch up...Natasha usually reaches level 20 on this map in my playthroughs.
Oh no. I have Neimi up to a B support with both Colm and Artur, and I don't know who to give the A support to. I like the way she and Colm together highlight how they're both maturing by bringing up their childhood days, but Artur is just very good to her…and if they don't reach an A support I don't think Neimi will ever get her mother's mirror back.
You know what I am biased towards and thus hope you choose in the end, so I won't say anything more on that.
I will say though that this is why I prefer later games with more supports being doable in one playthrough, and again, why I like to headcanon certain convos still happen regardless of actual levels/lock outs like this one.
First of all: What is Saleh doing there? I was sure that that cape-and-shoulderpads sprite belonged to Lyon. Does he not have supports with Eirika? Is he not recruitable? Why not? Saleh seems a poor replacement – what do he and Eirika have to talk about?
…Does Lyon die? Are we going to get to Grado and find out that the cult already murdered him?
You know, reading this made me realize that it never occured to me as a kid that I could recruit Lyon. I remember assuming early on, since we haven't met him early like Natasha and keep not seeing him, that he'd die tragically or something, if he wasn't already dead. Because "oh? Old childhood friend who is now on the enemy side and we haven't seen any evidence of him trying trying to stop thongs/Natasha not mentioning anything about him doing anything? ...yeah im gonna cry over a death arent i?"
Ah, alas, the shining light of Rausten has not been chosen as the mate for the heroic princess...
Okay, but seriously, aww...but I get the reasoning. I hope you end up liking it!
Joshua? I don't have much of a read on this guy because I wasn't using him much even before I benched him in favor of Marisa. He's a wandering swordsman who likes to gamble and flirt. Not really prince material [...].
I wanna say so much about that but you haven't seen the rest of his supports so I can't, aaaaggggggghhhhh.
So all I can say is: I am glad you have kept him alive. There is a reason besides my favoritism for me really wanting you to at least keep him alive. Speaking of "alive", or rather "lack of it"...
NOOOOOOOOOO. AMELIA.
Sigh... I knew it was very likely that you'd do that because of I already knew how the map was like...but still. I'll admit a part of me was still hopeful. Oh well...
At least you got Cormag! I was worried you might kill him too. I remember resetting several times to get him in my first playthrough, not only because he kept killing himself on my units, but because it was hard for me to do that while survinving the onslaught of the reinforcements from the left/rear.
Unsurprisingly, I pretty much use him in all my playthroughs, because I love dragons so of course wyvern riders are one of my fav classes. Because he was one of the first I got to use properly ('cause I didn't get too many chapters to use the wyvern rider from FE7 before I got stuck in my first playthrough), so I have a really big soft spot for him i have him built up to +10 with premium skills in my heroes account for a reason, despite the fact that, thinking about it, I don't really like his character as much as Joshua or L'Arachel. Not that I think his character is bad or boring. It's just that...it's not the first thing that comes to mind if asked why I like him. But still, if you asked me if he is a favorite from this game, I'd say yes. That soft spot is just that big.
Well, the Raustenites seem very confused about how to run their country, but they're good folks. Princess L'Arachel affirms her country's commitment to opposing Grado, "in the name of righteousness!"
On one hand, Ghoul makes a good point about why that confusion isn't that much of a problem.
On the other hand, I can't stop imagining all of the Rausten citizens being just as hammy silly but earnest as L'Arachel with your wording and now I wanna headcanon that. XD
This is also the last chance to recruit her, as it happens, so you're not missing out on anything except a specific Support conversation I'll be talking about as soon as the other person involved is Known To Be Recruitable.
...you know, maybe they should've had Cormag be like Innes and Saleh when you do Ephraim's route. [SPOILERS SPOILED OTHERWISE I MIGHT NOT MAKE SENSE BUT I NEED TO SPOIL IT] Have him join Eirika's group off screen and you only get him when you rejoin Eirika.
...I'd say more on what happened to the chapters and updates thus far, but honestly all I'm just thinking about now is...I CANT WAIT FOR YOU TO REACH THE NEXT CHAPTER AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH
On the other hand, I can't stop imagining all of the Rausten citizens being just as hammy silly but earnest as L'Arachel with your wording and now I wanna headcanon that. XD
Hell, if you killed Aias too quickly? Cormag would proceed to never show up again for the rest of the game, guess he got tired of chasing Eirika and went to go take a nap for the next ten chapters.
Look, Valter said to look for Eirika in the mountains of eastern Carcino and that's where he's looking. He can't be expected to plan for such devious tactics as, "Travelling somewhere else."
After thinking about it some more, I think the problem comes down to...historical and cultural differences, basically. The archetypal Japanese example of a theocracy is the Japanese Empire, where the Ten'nō is a hereditary position and the Imperial House's claim to that position is in fact predicated on their holy bloodline (...oh. THAT'S WHY so many Fire Emblem games have magical holy bloodlines!!). The archetypal Western example of a theocracy is the Papal States, where priesthood was like an advanced degree that you needed to study for and the head priest was elected by other priests from among their ranks. So I wasn't looking at Rausten with the cultural context of the original writers, and I assumed that L'Arachel was close to Mansel because she was a priestess, not that she was a priestess because she was close to Mansel...if that makes sense. This is the sort of misunderstanding that could have been cleared up with more effective exposition/worldbuilding dialogue, but Sacred Stones is a game light on that.
but there's a pretty obvious explanation that L'Arachel came upon this info somehow or another and sent the info on to Rausten, very possibly weeks before she joined Eirika's crew.
Setting the likelihood of that aside, L'Arachel implies that she learned of the Sacred Stones Plot by the same means that she learned Rausten's reinforcements were on their way - which means that the government of Rausten learned from somewhere else and then informed her.
...I'd say more on what happened to the chapters and updates thus far, but honestly all I'm just thinking about now is...I CANT WAIT FOR YOU TO REACH THE NEXT CHAPTER AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH
...I played chapter 14. A lot happened. I am definitely going to be splitting the update into two parts. Can't say it made me a Joshua fan, but I understand the love for him a little better now.
Generally the only reason not to recruit Amelia at Port Kris is because you value getting two Speedwings more than her earlier recruitment, since she'll show up with a Speedwing in her inventory both times even if you steal it.
...Being fair, that's a value judgement a lot of more advanced players probably make. +4 speed total wherever you want on your good units, or a training project you have to baby along until they're actually good? Hell yeah people want to freely buff one of the most important stats in the game on said good units.
I'd wondered as a kid whether the game would respond sensibly to Stealing the first Speedwing, but never got around to actually testing it. That's certainly a wonky incentive there...
Tbh I don't particularly mind the whole "If thieves get to multiple chests you can't retrieve some of the items" thing because in general, you should absolutely be rushing for the chests in the first place and the thieves exist to prod you into doing so in the first place. If you lose out because they got multiple turns of goofing off in the treasure room, well... that's on the player.
Now on the other hand, when the Sacred Stones randomizer spawns multiple thieves in range of a treasure room on turn 1 and killing them doesn't retrieve loot... Damn You, Randomizer. Damn You.
The series already punishes dallying by having Thieves leave the map. That serial looting inexplicably causes prior loot to become bound to the Thief's soul serves no design purpose, is completely contrary to sense, and puts undue importance on the order and type of the loot. (A Thief loots a Speedwing and a Silver Axe: in that order, you just Steal the Speedwing and so get both anyway. Reverse the order, and suddenly loot is irretrievably lost)
Setting the likelihood of that aside, L'Arachel implies that she learned of the Sacred Stones Plot by the same means that she learned Rausten's reinforcements were on their way - which means that the government of Rausten learned from somewhere else and then informed her.
I'm not sure why you'd assume that L'Arachel claiming that a 'whisper on the wind' told her two things actually implies both things are from a singular source. She's in the middle of being dishonest, however incompetently, after all.
And even if your assumption is accurate, that just points back to L'Arachel herself; the knights were expecting to meet L'Arachel and showed up with money explicitly earmarked for her. This whole thing only parses if you assume L'Arachel sent a message to Rausten a while back requesting the knights be sent to meet her. So the 'whisper on the wind' would just be L'Arachel herself.
As for 'how', quite frankly just knowing Grado attacked the Tower of Valni is reason enough to be suspicious, since it's a place that seems only important for hosting a Sacred Stone; it makes no sense as a target if the goal is just regular conquest. In conjunction with monsters running about, if I were in L'Arachel's position, I'd probably be guessing Grado was attacking the Sacred Stones. (And be baffled as to why) And L'Arachel has been traveling in the northwestern part of the map for multiple missions' worth of time, so it wouldn't be at all surprising for her to know Grado attacked the Tower of Valni -probably this info is widespread among Frelian and possibly Renaisian citizens, realistically speaking.
(There's also 'meta' info in regards to Rennac I should cover later)
Setting the likelihood of that aside, L'Arachel implies that she learned of the Sacred Stones Plot by the same means that she learned Rausten's reinforcements were on their way - which means that the government of Rausten learned from somewhere else and then informed her.
It's worth noting that- perhaps appropriate to the Japanese emperor influences- while nobody ever actually explicitly spells out any such assumption... There's a lot of incidental dialogue that seems to suggest The Church, as in every single clergy everywhere on the continent, is ultimately in a hierarchy under Emperor Mansel rather than each country having an independent system.
Again, nobody ever, not even in supports, dwells on such topics in explicit terms to make this read unambiguous. Just... everyone does seem to talk as if Rausten is some sort of fantasy Papacy.
In which case it's entirely possible that Rausten got the info from the same place Natasha did- Grado clergy in the capital in general.
(this is also pretty common in JRPGs and such in general. If we get religion touched on the possibility of different nations having actually independent church systems or whatever tends to not come up unless hinging on an explicit clash of New Religion vs Old Religion or whatever)
This is it, guys – we're finally going to meet Queen Ismaire! We're going to meet Lyon in person, too! This chapter is packed with plot, so this update is going to be a long one.
First, the boring stuff. I restock on weapons and promote Cormag. He can become a Wyvern Knight (like Valter) or Wyvern Lord (like Glen). I go Wyvern Lord. Not only does it make sense for him to follow in his brother's footsteps, but there's that thing where a Wyvern Knight can crash the game if Pierce procs under certain circumstances, which I'd just like to avoid altogether.
Now, the new mission. Eirika has won the battle in Hamill Canyon thanks to reinforcements from Rausten, but the invasion of Jehanna is not over. Gradoan forces led by Prince Lyon have captured Jehanna Hall, and the fate of the Queen – and that of the Sacred Stone – hang in the balance. To save her, Eirika must lead an assault on her palace.
As she travels there, we see a flashback:
Eirika has just defeated Lyon in a sparring match. This prompts him to engage in some…negative musings.
Lyon: Compared to you, I'm…a pitiful crown prince, am I not?
Eirika: That's not true…
Lyon: Oh, no, Eirika. It is. The people need a strong ruler. They don't want a weakling like me. They want the strength you and Ephraim share.
Lyon: My body is frail. I prefer to spend my time locked away in the castle, reading…
Lyon: I think my father would be better served if someone else took my place. I'm sure all our retainers feel the same…
Oof. This is poignant. I admit, it's affecting me especially because I know the kind of thoughts he's describing, that irrational downward spiral based on negative self-image. One failure to meet standards he sets for himself (e.g. "I should be at least as good at swordplay as Eirika,") becomes "I completely suck at this!" becomes "I'm such an incompetent!" becomes "Everyone I know realizes this, and they secretly hate me!" and "The world would be better off if I didn't exist!"
Eirika tells him, firmly, that he's wrong.
Eirika: An emperor without compassion will never hold the people's love. And one day, your compassion will surely save us all.
Lyon: Eirika…Thank you. Yes. I…I will do my best.
Lyon: Even though I lack your strength, there must be some good I can do.
Eirika's a good friend. She's interrupting Lyon's downward spiral by pointing out an admirable quality, his compassion, and how it will make him a better emperor. She's probably had to help him through this before. Um, but it does ring my 'foreshadowing alarm' the way she phrases that. "Your compassion will save us all," huh?
At the end of the scene, Lyon asks Eirika to accept "this". It's not revealed what the gift he gave her was, now nor elsewhere in this chapter. Mysterious.
The army has arrived at Jehanna Hall, which is located by an oasis in the middle of the desert. Eirika has been reminiscing, but she snaps back to attention as the others discuss their strategy. They've confirmed that the palace is full of Imperial soldiers and that Prince Lyon is present. Innes notes that, according to his spies, Prince Lyon is a dark mage, which means he could have all kinds of nasty tricks up his sleeve. Eirika is not exactly comfortable with the discussion around fighting her oldest friend. She stays silent while Innes, Seth, and L'Arachel discuss, but as the conversation comes to its close she announces that it's time to go.
In the palace, Queen Ismaire is being taken prisoner by this curiously apologetic attacker. His name is Carlyle, and he was her most decorated general before he betrayed her to Grado and let the enemy into the palace.
Carlyle: Your Highness - no. My Queen...Ismaire...
Queen Ismaire tells him to amend his words. She will no longer allow him the privilege of calling her by name, since he betrayed her, nor of calling her his queen, since he betrayed Jehanna.
Carlyle tells the story of how he first laid eyes upon her, twenty years ago, in the gardens of this very palace. He fell in love on the spot, bewitched by desire that he dared not act on, married as she was to his lord and king. He thought he could find happiness at her side, simply by serving as her loyal knight and attaining her recognition, but…
Carlyle: After years of duty, years of service, years of…of silence…
Carlyle: How could I leave this world without expressing my true desires? Could anything be more desolate? More devoid of meaning?
Carlyle: I would follow my heart and claim your hand as my own.
…Did you consider a bouquet of flowers, Carlyle? A heartfelt letter? Just saying, an invading army is not a conventional vehicle to express feelings of love! Ismaire, echoing my feelings, tells him that he's mad.
Ismaire: Did you think I would be pleased? Did you think I would love you for this?
Carlyle: I need no country. I care nothing for my countrymen. I can see nothing but you. If you would only be mine…
At this point, Ismaire's sprite starts backing away as he reaches for her.
Ismaire: Carlyle, know this: in war or peace, in life or death…I will never be yours.
Oh gods, Carlyle. My first reaction to this character was just to think that he's an idiot. But, in the process of reviewing my screenshots and writing this, a more chilling interpretation presented itself.
Now, I made that joke earlier about how he could have just given her a bouquet of flowers. But the problem with that, from Carlyle's perspective, is that she could just…hand them back to him. She could reject his feelings. And then he would have to figure out how to deal with that pain while she went on with her life.
But if the Imperial Army took over Jehanna and he helped them…suddenly, she's not the queen anymore. She's no longer his boss; she's his prisoner. She's dependent on him. Look at that! Now, she has no room to refuse his advances! (Well, she does anyway, because she's got a spine of steel)
Carlyle insists that he doesn't want to harm Queen Ismaire. I think that's only true using a very limited definition of "harm". His actions were aimed at destroying her supporters, denying her agency, and placing her under his power, and talking about him like he's just too dumb to realize women don't like being captured wrongfully absolves him of some of the blame he deserves. In a modern setting, Carlyle would absolutely be posting on incel forums. Thankfully, the writers of the game also seem to think this man is a loser, so we're going to see the other characters dunk on Carlyle some more before the chapter ends.
We get to see the map now and prepare for the battle. Ismaire and Carlyle are currently in the throne room, which we need to seize to win. Ismaire has a unique "Queen" class, with an A rank in swords, but she's unarmed. Carlyle, meanwhile, is a Swordmaster, and he's carrying a Wind Sword – one of the 1-2 range magic swords.
As the battle begins, we see an Imperial soldier yelling at some mercenaries to get into position, including a familiar face:
Hi Rennac! I'm glad to see you weren't eaten by zombies! It seems that, after ditching L'Arachel, he signed up for an easier job with the Imperial Army. His job is to unlock the royal treasure vaults, and he has no intention of risking his life today. If the Imperials win, he intends to stick around to collect his pay. If the Imperials look likely to lose, however, he's going to run with as much treasure as he can carry. "No more being ordered around by that demanding princess, or her buffoonish bodyguard," he sighs in contentment. Ah, the irony. I'm sorry, Rennac, but your vacation is going to end soon.
After the first round, one more thing happens. Two figures enter the throne room. Caellach, and Lyon.
Caellach: Yes…The palace is mine. My palace. Oh, how I do like the sound of that.
Look at the sprites! Look! It's Shoulderpads! That silent person with the shoulderpads was Lyon all along! The crown prince has been hiding in plain sight! He's been present at all the scenes with Emperor Vigarde, silently observing the evilification of his country.
Caellach tells Carlyle that he needs the queen for something, and grabs hold of her.
Carlyle goes for his weapon, but Caellach warns him against it. He'll let the queen go, as soon as she tells him where she hid the Sacred Stone of Jehanna. There's a quarrel in the throne room:
Carlyle: Do not lay a hand on my queen!
Ismaire: I am not yours!
Caellach: Quiet, you. Carlyle, don't be so incensed. I'm not going to harm her.
He tells Carlyle to take care of the attackers while he completes his business, and everyone will walk away with what they want. Well, Caellach and Carlyle will. Ismaire and Lyon don't seem too happy with the situation, but it's not like the former two care about what the latter two want. Yeah, that's right – Lyon speaks up, catching Caellach as he tries to leave the throne room. His very first line outside of a flashback!
Lyon: Destroying the Sacred Stones is…
Lyon: Ugh…ack…
Caellach: What's this? Are you still ill? You know, you're not very princely. C'mon, follow me.
Well…he tried. Poor Lyon. Reports say that he's in command, and he may outrank Caellach, but he's not really the one in charge here. I wonder if Evil Vigarde paired the two of them on purpose, knowing that Caellach has little respect for authority (remember how he made fun of the emperor back in A New Journey?) and his meek son wouldn't be able to make him listen.
Lyon and Caellach disappear with the queen, and the assault on Jehanna Hall begins in earnest. The palace is a winding maze. There are three entrances, two of them guarded by a soldier with a key.
Once you get in, there are multiple routes you can take through a lot of hallways and suspiciously empty rooms to get to the big wide hall filled with enemies, which leads to the throne room where the boss awaits.
That throne room is also in range of a priest with a Berserk staff, so you probably want to have someone deal with him before you tackle the boss.
I feel it would be dangerous to split my army into three groups, so I choose the east and middle doors and leave the western one.
Surprise! The contents of those rooms are revealed as you walk into them: Enemies, and treasure. It's an interesting variation on fog of war that I've not seen before. It does mean that I, ah, seriously underestimated the number of treasure chests on this map. I didn't actually bring my thief. I thought Rennac would be enough, to get whatever treasure was near his starting location? One of the enemies drops a chest key, and I pick up a Guiding Ring.
The hallway fighting is tight. The two western entrances both lead, soon enough, to the same one-tile-wide hallway – a hallway that is covered by respawning archers. Bolts and magic fly through the walls.
Cormag's defense is so good that bows aren't actually a real threat to him. He worries about mages instead.
The enemies also like to choke the doors, which bogs down the western team. To my dismay, I find that the developers set a bunch of cavaliers to spawn at the entrances in order to punish players who don't get a move on.
It's me! I'm the player who doesn't get a move on!
The cavaliers aren't very strong, so they just make the western group hunker down more. Meanwhile, the eastern group has opened another door and found a familiar face among the enemies:
Huh. Rennac is from Carcino, as it turns out. It's worth it to read all the unit descriptions - you learn things from them. Anyway, I don't want to kill him. Who can I talk to him with? L'Arachel is currently…
…being menaced by cavaliers. She's not getting over here anytime soon. I'll try talking to him with Eirika.
There's a problem with that. Rennac, as he made clear in his dialogue, is not here to fight. He acts like a typical Thief, opening chests and then attempting to flee the map with their contents. He has a Movement of 6. Eirika has a movement of 5.
Rennac can move through the enemy soldiers. Eirika can't.
I try and watch him move farther and farther away as I push futilely against a tide of enemies.
Cormag dies to a hand axe and I use the opportunity to restart the chapter and prepare some more. First of all, I bring Colm this time. I was leaving too much treasure behind. Second, I change which entrances I use – the two western ones connect, while the eastern one is its own route to the throne room (and Rennac). So I send groups to the eastern and western entrances while ignoring the middle one. I can swing back for its treasure chest if I have time; if not, there's a lot of treasure on this map and I can dry my tears on a pile of gold. Thirdly, I push more aggressively at the doors. I've gotten the message, developers, so please don't send more reinforcements after my healers. Fourthly, I send L'Arachel to the route with Rennac. She has 6 Movement, which should help catch him.
…I'm sorry, Rennac. I know you wanted to get away from this woman. But you insisted on carrying loot in front of me, which is a bit like leaving your trash outside in bear country.
Colm is still carrying a Speedwing from last chapter, and he hands it to Neimi, who gets it because she's my special girl (also, she has middling speed and I hope that a little boost will get her to doubling more enemies).
With that, the two groups part ways. One goes to the west to unlock some chests, and one goes to the east to talk to an unreliable mercenary.
Recruiting Rennac is hard. Making a path for L'Arachel to talk to him is more of a challenge than any boss in the game so far. As previously mentioned, he has great movement for an infantry character and L'Arachel has bad movement for a mounted character. The rooms you chase him through are full of enemies that block your units but not him, so you need to kill at least enough to make a path. L'Arachel can't kill enemies herself, of course. She can't take hits, either.
Tethys, the dancer who can boost your movement, is also very fragile. You could Rescue L'Arachel to shield her from the enemies, but while she's being carried she can't heal, which is a real problem if, say, you're trying to push aggressively into a swarm of enemies! And L'Arachel can't move or talk the same turn she's dropped, of course, so it's not as simple as just dropping her next to Rennac.
I reload several times – once, because L'Arachel died, yes, but the other times I just…saw that I'd gotten into an unwinnable situation. Rennac got too far away, or Tethys couldn't come forward to Dance for a unit because she was injured and would be exposing herself to attack. Fire Emblem has never felt so much like a puzzle game. Here is my final solution: Tana Rescues L'Arachel. Eirika, Gerik, and Tana take out the enemies and tank their hits. Tana drops L'Arachel at the very edge of Tethys's range, Tethys dances to give L'Arachel her turn back, and L'Arachel can just reach Rennac.
After all that, I feared that there wouldn't actually be a conversation between them and I had just spent all that time trying to reach a goal that didn't exist…but my guess was borne out. Here is the conversation where L'Arachel (re)recruits Rennac:
L'Arachel is pleased to see him, in the way one is pleased to find a Sharpie that hasn't dried out, and tells him to come on because there's work to be done. He balks. He tries to explain that he's working for a different employer now, but she just tells him that there's a battle going on, his story needs to wait.
No! He's a mercenary, he insists. He only does what he's paid to do. He was originally hired to bring her to Renais, which he did. Everything they did together after that was out-of-contract! She's a princess, she should be rich enough to pay him! And she shouldn't be so eager to throw herself (and him) into danger!
Rennac: You have no right to drag me across creation without any pay whatsoever!
Some of his words are reaching from L'Arachel's ears to her brain, and it finally dawns on her that he's demanding wages. Which doesn't make sense to her, because she remembers paying him already. She thinks, and hits upon an agreeable solution:
L'Arachel: The joy that comes from doing good is not something that can be purchased.
Rennac: Riding about with you is—
Rennac: And there she goes…Oh…By the Stones, why did I ever take that job in the first place?
L'Arachel, offscreen: We must hurry, Rennac.
Rennac: Right, right. I'm coming…
And with that, I gain access to Rennac's treasures! These include a powerful lance called a Spear, which I give to Tana; a staff called the Hammerne, which can restore weapon durability, oh my; and something special called a Member Card.
…Interesting. I'm going to have to keep that in mind. It sounds like it lets you access missable events. Maybe a secret character recruitment?
I have Rennac deal with the nearby mage while L'Arachel heals up all the damage the others took in their heroic effort to get her to Rennac.
While the others get healing, I leave Rennac in range of the priest with the Berserk staff for a turn or two, just because I'm curious. I want to see what these scary status staves actually do!
The priest does not attack. Status staves continue to disappoint me. Rennac dispatches him and the others continue, entering the grand hall. Its enemies aren't threatening, with the exception of some archers who could hurt Tana. However, the anti-turtling cavaliers are thundering up the path behind us, so I place Tana in a doorway with a Horseslayer and she deals with the cavaliers perfectly well while the others take out the archers.
Meanwhile, the western group has been occupied with a relatively large number of enemies and treasure chests to go through. They're only just ready to loop back around to the middle entrance, where a room holds a Guiding Ring.
…Or the game could just…not let me enter the room from within the palace. I guess I'm not getting that Guiding Ring – there's no time to go all the way back outside before the others kill the boss. There's not really enough time for the western group to reach the boss chamber, either. I just have them fire some spells through the wall and have tea in Support-building configurations for the rest of the map.
The only obstacle left is the boss room. Carlyle is guarded by two monks, and he himself uses a Wind Sword, which counts as anima magic and targets Resistance (I also discover that it's effective against Tana, for some reason). So I boost Eirika with a Pure Water and a use of Barrier from L'Arachel, for good measure.
Haha, get wrecked. Unfortunately, Carlyle's damage is high enough, and Eirika's total HP low enough, that after a few rounds with him she needs to retreat for healing. (A word on Carlyle's stats – he's got the usual cracked dodge of bosses on thrones, and he's a swordmaster, which gives him a not-insignificant critical chance, but he refuses to buy in to the traditional swordmaster weakness with his 43 HP! He never got a critical hit on my characters, thankfully.)
While healing Eirika back up, L'Arachel reaches a very important milestone:
She has Rank A staves, too! I still have a Guiding Ring that I've been saving, so I can promote her as soon as the battle ends.
Since Eirika isn't going to be able to solo the boss, I bring in the rest of her group to gang up on him. While I wait for them to eat through his monstrous HP, Tethys and Ewan have a support conversation. It's their usual argument: Tethys says he needs to behave himself and stay calm, and Ewan wants to prove himself and contribute to the battle somehow.
Ewan: These soldiers recognize my talent. That's why I'm here on the battlefield. Just watch me! You wouldn't say that I'm too young or inexperienced if you saw me!
While Tethys chases after her brother to stop him from running into a boss who can do critical hits, the others finally manage to wear him down.
What was that, Carlyle? Sorry your little plan didn't work out the way you hoped? You'll need to speak up! I don't think Ismaire can hear you over the sound of her kingdom crumbling!
Caellach, Lyon, and the Queen are heading to what appears to be…a second throne room? It's probably just meant to be somewhere out-of-the-way. Caellach pulls the others inside, declares, "This is as good a place as any," and gets to interrogating.
Ismaire tries to claim that she doesn't know where the Sacred Stone is, and Caellach calls bullshit. He has an interesting piece of evidence:
Caellach: My partner here sees everything. When the rebellion began, you went straight to the palace altar.
If I'm reading this right, Lyon was able to scry on Ismaire within the palace. Which means that he is cooperating with the war effort, to some extent. Caellach's guess is that the queen took the Stone from the altar and currently has it on her person. He tells her, bluntly, to hand it over. Or he'll kill her and take it anyway.
Lyon steps in, or he tries to, but it's all for naught, because Caellach does not respect him.
Caellach: Shut up, prince. My orders come from higher than you. You're not going to start disobeying his word, are you?
Lyon:…
Caellach has never shown much respect for Vigarde before this (again, I invite you to look back at his scene with Selena in the Tower of Valni). He's just invoking the Emperor's authority to mock Lyon as a spineless wimp who can't defy his father. He turns back to Ismaire. (I must note, as an aside, that this scene never makes any gesture toward the possibility that Caellach and Ismaire know each other, and on closer inspection their hair colors are not quite the same. So I guess he's not her son.)
Caellach: Last chance.
Caellach: Ha ha! A queen to the end. I like you. You've got guts. Good-bye.
Lyon screams as Caellach runs her through and, businesslike, rifles through her clothes.
That makes three of the Sacred Stones gone, he recalls with satisfaction. Grado, Frelia, and Jehanna. Only two of them are left.
A pained moan comes from the body on the ground, and the two of them realize that the queen is still alive.
Lyon is panicking and Caellach is, of course, not interested in being helpful.
Caellach: Let her last breath be a harsh and ragged rasp. She's not long for this world. Why, if you really wanted to help her, you'd deliver the final blow yourself!
Note how the Caellach-Lyon relationship is like the incarnation of all the prince's fears from the flashback at the start of this chapter. Lyon was worried that his physical frailty and lack of self-confidence would keep him from earning the respect of his subjects, and Eirika told him, no, people will be able to recognize his intelligence and compassion and admire him for those qualities. Well, Caellach is here now to say that the world is a harsh place, strength is all that matters, and compassion is for dummies! By Caellach's criteria, Prince Lyon is a complete loser, which he is willing to tell the prince, to his face, because he doesn't respect him and doesn't fear his retribution. If Evil Vigarde was interested in tormenting his son with this pairing, he damn well succeeded.
Eager to escape this misery, Lyon makes his own way out of the palace. Seeing as he's still a red unit, he gets access to Special Villain-Only Teleport Magic. And, accidentally or on purpose, he manages to teleport right in front of Eirika as she's alone (the heroes have split up to search for Queen Ismaire, you see).
She runs to him as he backs away.
Eirika: My brother and I have been so worried about you…Your father is deranged, isn't he? That's why Grado invaded Renais, right?
Eirika: Tell me, Lyon…Please…Tell me what has happened.
He does not tell her what she wants to know. He does not tell her why the emperor's personality changed, or who's pulling the strings, or where they're going to attack next. That, in and of itself, is worrying. So, what does he say?
Well, first of all, he says he missed her and Ephraim. He apologizes for the invasion of Renais. He says he tried to stop it, but failed. And he says he can't tell her more.
Eirika: You…You have a reason, don't you?
Lyon: Mm…
Mm? What does that mean? Lyon, what kind of mess have you gotten yourself into? There must be some kind of good reason for his reticence. There had better be. Or I'm going to be very mad.
(There's an incident near the end of Fates Birthright, where Prince Leo shows up and goes, essentially, "I began to doubt our cause so I did some research and discovered damning information about the king!...But the script says that that secret can't be revealed on this route, so I guess I'll just hint at it and wander off again, while the capital is being invaded and my siblings fight and die for a cause I now know to be false. Bye!" My disgust was such that I put the game down, wrote a short piece of fix-it fanfiction, and never played Fates again.)
Eirika: I must tell you, I'm a little relieved. I was afraid you'd changed as much as your poor father has. I'm glad.
Lyon: Me, too, Eirika…
But she has changed, he notes. She's even more beautiful than she was before – and here she blushes.
Lyon: This war started because I was too weak to stop it, but…I'll always be your friend.
He teleports away. Right after, L'Arachel pokes her head through the door and yells that they've found the queen. Everyone hurries to her side, but…
Oh, of course! Seth! I forgot about him because he's never showed any connection to Jehanna, but Seth has crimson hair as well! He could be her missing son!
…Or, I guess it was Joshua all along?
Ismaire: Where is that boy…
Ismaire: Please forgive me, Joshua. I was a foolish mother. So intent on ruling well that I spared no time to be your mother.
He shows up. They made a cutscene for a character who could have died before this point – who was optional to recruit!
Joshua: I'm sorry, Mother. I should never have left you. I've no excuse…I wanted to see the world as a man, not as a prince. I wanted to be worthy. I planned on returning to your side afterward. I was so foolish. If I'd been here, I could have—
Damn it. My heart…
Ismaire calls to Eirika. She may be dying, but she has just enough breath to deliver a few paragraphs of crucial exposition. The Crown Prince of Grado is not what he seems, she tells Eirika. This ominous statement makes Eirika nervous, and she pushes back – she just met him a few minutes ago, and he seemed normal to her, and he promised he had a good explanation for everything! And she's the one who's closest to Lyon, so she would know best!
Ismaire recounts how, a year ago, Lyon made a state visit to her. He asked if Jehanna would stand by Grado if…something happened. He refused to give specifics. She saw that "there was kindness in his eyes…and fear. He was carrying a great weight. But that kindness…is tainted now."
Eirika: Can you tell us anything else?
Ismaire: He carried…a dark stone…
Eirika: Yes…Thank you, Queen Ismaire.
Eirika expresses her sorrow that they could only meet but once, like this. She seems like a lovely woman. Ismaire calls for Joshua again and places in his hands the Sacred Twins, the relics of Jehanna.
Okay. I'm going to take a time out on this scene, to try and put together all the clues to figure out what's going on with Lyon. We have some important dates on the timeline:
1. A year and a half ago was the last time the twins saw Lyon. He seemed fine.
2. A year ago, Lyon made a visit to Jehanna to try and forge an alliance. He seemed afraid of something.
3. He never approached Renais in the same way. Eirika points out that this is very odd, given the close ties that existed between Renais and Grado.
4. Recently, Emperor Vigarde completely changed and the war started. Lyon seems to be tainted by darkness.
To add to that, it's never been confirmed in the game, but I'm still convinced that an evil cult wants the Sacred Stones destroyed to summon the Demon King, because that's just how Fire Emblem stories work. Working from that premise, the cult must have gotten control of the emperor somehow.
Lyon clearly knows something about what happened to the emperor – more than what the generals know. Going by the scenes in Grado, he's been standing next to Vigarde at all times. Which leads to the question, why would he refuse to tell Eirika what he knows? Leaving aside such reasons as "He's under a magic geas" or "It's just bad writing," which I can't really build a theory around – the most compelling reason that presents itself to me, given what we've seen of Lyon so far, is the possibility that whatever happened was at least partially his fault. In other words, he's ashamed and doesn't want to ruin her opinion of him.
This leads me to the following, preliminary theory:
1. Sometime after the twins' last visit, Lyon accidentally triggers some kind of brewing trouble in Grado. Because it's somehow his fault, he wants to keep it a secret.
2. He searches for ways to address it. He tries going to Jehanna and asking Queen Ismaire. He does not go to Renais, the Empire's closest ally – perhaps because he does not believe he can successfully keep the secret from Eirika and Ephraim? They'll definitely respect him less if they find out how he screwed up.
3. He gets more desperate. He starts delving deeper into dark magic for a solution. He finds some friendly folks who are also into dark magic.
4. His new friends encourage him to check out the real dark dark magic, the kind that's written in blood on parchment made of flayed human skin. Dark stones are involved? It'll be fine as long as he just uses it for this one worthy cause. The alternative is asking for help from people he knows, which is just unbearable. As in, people can't bear him when he acts like such a burden.
5. Surprise! His new friends are an evil demon cult, and they were just using him as an avenue to get close to the emperor and take control.
6. They institute some changes to government policy that do not have Grado's or Magvel's best interests at heart.
7. Lyon must now figure out a way to kick these guys out, save his father, and acquire the magical power to solve the original problem, all without coming off as too much of a threat lest he end up dead or mind-controlled too. Oh, and he absolutely cannot let Ephraim and Eirika find out about this or they'll hate him forever.
Back to the story: The queen expires. Eirika, Innes, L'Arachel and Joshua – the royalty of four nations – gather in the hall outside. It's surreal to see this side character stride into story scenes like he was important all along, but I have to admit it's well done; I like his monologue here. Joshua explains some more of his story: Some ten years ago, having gotten sick of palace life, he wrote a farewell and left, taking nothing but the clothes on his back. As a common mercenary, he roamed all over Magvel, finding work and meeting people from all walks of life. He thought it would make him a better king, in the end.
Joshua: Was I simply rebelling against my mother? Punishing her for tending to her duties?
He vows to pick up where his mother left off – defending Jehanna and the Sacred Stones. He will honor her promises and defeat Grado.
He pauses, awkwardly admitting that all this honorable and serious prince behavior is at odds with the persona he's been showing up till now.
Innes: I give it to you.
This is an understated moment that I really appreciate. That letter's just asking Jehanna to join an alliance against Grado – Joshua doesn't need to read it. He already said he would do that! Innes and company got to Jehanna far too late for the letter to be news to anyone! What's important is that, by giving it to Joshua, Innes is acknowledging him as the rightful king and successor to Queen Ismaire. Innes's decision is as weighty as King Hayden's in this regard. Just as Joshua is beginning to doubt that the others will accept the man they've known as a sellsword to be king, Innes interrupts to show that, without reservation, he will. Frelia will.
At that point, a soldier bursts in to announce that the palace is on fire. Yes, that's right – Caellach is a practical man who doesn't get distracted by looting. I mean, he probably would have liked to stay and loot, but the ongoing attack on the palace made that impractical. As soon as he succeeded in his mission to destroy the Sacred Stone, he had the curtains soaked in oil and lit on fire, then skedaddled.
L'Arachel: We all made it. It's so smoky that it's hard to tell, but we're here. We've escaped without injury. The enemy's trap has failed.
Innes: …No, it hasn't.
Fortifications are really helpful for the defending side, but if your attackers manage to dislodge you from them, they can make use of them in turn. Unless you light the building on fire as you leave! That forces your enemy outside, disoriented, with nowhere to hide…vulnerable, if you can bring in enough reinforcements quickly enough to surround and smash them before they can flee.
Everyone (except L'Arachel, bless her heart) realizes immediately that they're in a bad situation. Innes even gripes that it doesn't make sense for the Empire to send so many troops after them, specifically – what about defending their heartland? Shouldn't they be trying to fend off Ephraim right now? …Has he been defeated?
Well, I'm not quite as worried as Innes. Sure, the two generals represent a high concentration of force, but it bears repeating that Caellach was in the area already, and Valter's already been shown stalking Eirika. So it makes sense for the two of them to be teaming up in this instance. Of the other generals, it was Selena and Duessel who were tasked with defending the homeland from Ephraim's invasion back in Chapter 9.
Ahem…what will happen to our brave heroes? Will Cormag get a chance to take vengeance? Will Lyon ever come clean? Let's find out in Chapter 15: Scorched Sands!
Cormag dies to a hand axe and I use the opportunity to restart the chapter and prepare some more. First of all, I bring Colm this time. I was leaving too much treasure behind. Second, I change which entrances I use – the two western ones connect, while the eastern one is its own route to the throne room (and Rennac). So I send groups to the eastern and western entrances while ignoring the middle one. I can swing back for its treasure chest if I have time; if not, there's a lot of treasure on this map and I can dry my tears on a pile of gold. Thirdly, I push more aggressively at the doors. I've gotten the message, developers, so please don't send more reinforcements after my healers. Fourthly, I send L'Arachel to the route with Rennac. She has 6 Movement, which should help catch him.
…I'm sorry, Rennac. I know you wanted to get away from this woman. But you insisted on carrying loot in front of me, which is a bit like leaving your trash outside in bear country.
Colm is still carrying a Speedwing from last chapter, and he hands it to Neimi, who gets it because she's my special girl (also, she has middling speed and I hope that a little boost will get her to doubling more enemies).
Recruiting him with L'arachel is by the way the correct choice- you can recruit him with Eirika (or Ephraim, when he shows up in that route) but you have to fork over a cool 10k gold for the privilege if you use them.
Meanwhile L'arachel badgers him into joining for free.
First, the boring stuff. I restock on weapons and promote Cormag. He can become a Wyvern Knight (like Valter) or Wyvern Lord (like Glen). I go Wyvern Lord. Not only does it make sense for him to follow in his brother's footsteps, but there's that thing where a Wyvern Knight can crash the game if Pierce procs under certain circumstances, which I'd just like to avoid altogether.
Wyvern Knight is probably the superior option since swords don't bring a lot to the table... but also understandable reasons both for story and gameplay purposes. Granted the glitch can be avoided by just setting animations to off for your Wyvern Knights, but then you don't get to see cool combat animations, so why even live?
Eirika's a good friend. She's interrupting Lyon's downward spiral by pointing out an admirable quality, his compassion, and how it will make him a better emperor. She's probably had to help him through this before. Um, but it does ring my 'foreshadowing alarm' the way she phrases that. "Your compassion will save us all," huh?
Well obviously it's foreshadowing how Lyon's compassion will save everyone, as he joins the party as your lategame superunit to help against the evil demon king dragon cult empire!
In the palace, Queen Ismaire is being taken prisoner by this curiously apologetic attacker. His name is Carlyle, and he was her most decorated general before he betrayed her to Grado and let the enemy into the palace.
Alright, you can probably guess since Ismaire was one of the example screenshots for this hack, but this is one of those places where a lot of dialogue got overhauled, and checking the script I do mean a lot. In the original, Queen Ismaire's lines basically consist of saying "Carlyle..." a lot and... that's about it. Nice to see one of the better changes in the Restoration Queen script making her have an actual backbone.
Once you get in, there are multiple routes you can take through a lot of hallways and suspiciously empty rooms to get to the big wide hall filled with enemies, which leads to the throne room where the boss awaits.
Sadly, again from the talk of fun VS boring maps... this is easily one of the more boring ones. Reinforcements aren't nearly as much as you'd expect, just some archers in the contained hallway to snip at you and the Cavaliers which show up later. Beyond grabbing Rennac before he can flee, there's very little rush, and even that only starts being a rush when you open the doors to his room.
Surprise! The contents of those rooms are revealed as you walk into them: Enemies, and treasure. It's an interesting variation on fog of war that I've not seen before. It does mean that I, ah, seriously underestimated the number of treasure chests on this map. I didn't actually bring my thief. I thought Rennac would be enough, to get whatever treasure was near his starting location? One of the enemies drops a chest key, and I pick up a Guiding Ring.
The enemies also like to choke the doors, which bogs down the western team. To my dismay, I find that the developers set a bunch of cavaliers to spawn at the entrances in order to punish players who don't get a move on.
It's me! I'm the player who doesn't get a move on!
These cavs aren't too dangerous as long as you're already inside the Hall, since at that point you can just chokepoint the heck out of them. Not nearly as nice if you left some squishies near the back lines though.
Least it ain't FE7 with Merlinus stuck in his imobile tent back there so you always have to leave a guard for him.
Cormag dies to a hand axe and I use the opportunity to restart the chapter and prepare some more. First of all, I bring Colm this time. I was leaving too much treasure behind. Second, I change which entrances I use – the two western ones connect, while the eastern one is its own route to the throne room (and Rennac). So I send groups to the eastern and western entrances while ignoring the middle one. I can swing back for its treasure chest if I have time; if not, there's a lot of treasure on this map and I can dry my tears on a pile of gold. Thirdly, I push more aggressively at the doors. I've gotten the message, developers, so please don't send more reinforcements after my healers. Fourthly, I send L'Arachel to the route with Rennac. She has 6 Movement, which should help catch him.
Colm is still carrying a Speedwing from last chapter, and he hands it to Neimi, who gets it because she's my special girl (also, she has middling speed and I hope that a little boost will get her to doubling more enemies).
Ah, Neimi, no doubt she needs it. My Neimi has been hilariously under averages to the point that I should probably drop her and she had to dodge multiple instant-kill attacks last chapter. Frankly I should just promote Gerik to Ranger and call it good, pretty sure he'd have better stats despite having zero fights under his belt and Neimi being like level 12/6 or something.
Recruiting Rennac is hard. Making a path for L'Arachel to talk to him is more of a challenge than any boss in the game so far. As previously mentioned, he has great movement for an infantry character and L'Arachel has bad movement for a mounted character. The rooms you chase him through are full of enemies that block your units but not him, so you need to kill at least enough to make a path. L'Arachel can't kill enemies herself, of course. She can't take hits, either.
Personally what I usually do is gather up someone with a key waiting right at the right door, with L'Arachel one space below that and a bunch of high movement power units surrounding them. Wait a turn, then Colm opens door, someone kills the knight and shaman, and you have just enough movement to reach Rennac in one go for an instant recruit with L'Arachel, then it's just killing the two axe guys before they can get a turn.
Of note, Rennac won't do anything until you open the room, so there's also the option of just ignoring that area until you've cleared out the paths to the chokepoint hallway, breaking the wall, and sliding in through there.
After all that, I feared that there wouldn't actually be a conversation between them and I had just spent all that time trying to reach a goal that didn't exist…but my guess was borne out. Here is the conversation where L'Arachel (re)recruits Rennac:
L'Arachel is pleased to see him, in the way one is pleased to find a Sharpie that hasn't dried out, and tells him to come on because there's work to be done. He balks. He tries to explain that he's working for a different employer now, but she just tells him that there's a battle going on, his story needs to wait.
No! He's a mercenary, he insists. He only does what he's paid to do. He was originally hired to bring her to Renais, which he did. Everything they did together after that was out-of-contract! She's a princess, she should be rich enough to pay him! And she shouldn't be so eager to throw herself (and him) into danger!
Rennac: You have no right to drag me across creation without any pay whatsoever!
Some of his words are reaching from L'Arachel's ears to her brain, and it finally dawns on her that he's demanding wages. Which doesn't make sense to her, because she remembers paying him already. She thinks, and hits upon an agreeable solution:
L'Arachel: The joy that comes from doing good is not something that can be purchased.
I love L'Arachel, she is best girl. Also best recruitment option for Rennac, since Eirika gets charged something like 10,000 gold.
As for Rennac as an actual unit... he's your second/replacement thief, not much else to be said. If Colm is dead, an Assassin, or you used him purely in a utility sense with no actual combat training, then Rennac is a fair replacement. If not, then he's a quick bench choice while you keep using Colm. Unfortunately for Rennac, FE8 is a game where you can easily purchase Door and Chest Keys from the world map, so you barely even need one thief in most cases, let alone two.
And with that, I gain access to Rennac's treasures! These include a powerful lance called a Spear, which I give to Tana; a staff called the Hammerne, which can restore weapon durability, oh my; and something special called a Member Card.
Hammerne is super limited in uses, but ho boy does it bring some options to the table with those repairs. Repair things like legendary weapons to get even more uses out of them... or rare staves such as Warp and Rescue that bring some crazy utility to the table when you have them. Of note, even if you get a second Hammerne they apparently do not work on each other, so no infinite repair loop is possible. ...At least, not with Hammerne~
As for the Member's Card,
Basically, if the unit holding the card steps on a specific space in certain chapters, they get access to a super secret shop that sells expensive but very useful items. This often includes a full spectrum of promotion items, staves like Physic, or siege tomes. Also, there is basically always a Secret Shop in the level you get the Member's Card, so... you did kinda miss one here. Being fair, it's the kind of thing you aren't likely to figure out without being directly told.
While the others get healing, I leave Rennac in range of the priest with the Berserk staff for a turn or two, just because I'm curious. I want to see what these scary status staves actually do!
The priest does not attack. Status staves continue to disappoint me.
Idunno what that guy there is programmed for, but he also completely ignored his chance to actually use the Berserk Staff when I played the level. Normally that is by far one of the most threatening status staves in the game, because your berserked units will beeline for whatever they can kill easiest, can target your own units, won't be counterattacked, and can still move through your troops so there's every chance they respond with instantly turning your lord or a mage into a smear on the ground.
…Or the game could just…not let me enter the room from within the palace. I guess I'm not getting that Guiding Ring – there's no time to go all the way back outside before the others kill the boss. There's not really enough time for the western group to reach the boss chamber, either. I just have them fire some spells through the wall and have tea in Support-building configurations for the rest of the map.
Yup, for whatever inexplicable reason, you can't open those two treasure rooms from the sides. Only thing in there is a Guilding Ring though, which probably isn't a huge deal at this point if you already have enough to cover your main party. There will be... future opportunities to obtain more promotion items.
The only obstacle left is the boss room. Carlyle is guarded by two monks, and he himself uses a Wind Sword, which counts as anima magic and targets Resistance (I also discover that it's effective against Tana, for some reason). So I boost Eirika with a Pure Water and a use of Barrier from L'Arachel, for good measure.
Yeah, wind magic isn't really prominent in the GBA games because Fire/Wind/Thunder all got shuffled into one big bulk group of Anima, but wind spells are generally effective against flying units in the series, so the Wind Sword here has that property.
Also, I'm pretty sure Pure Water and Barrier don't stack? They'll just override one or the other. Still very useful against Carlyle, since thankfully he wasn't smart enough to keep say a Killing Edge in his back pocket for close combat and magic swords still target resistance at close range.
Haha, get wrecked. Unfortunately, Carlyle's damage is high enough, and Eirika's total HP low enough, that after a few rounds with him she needs to retreat for healing. (A word on Carlyle's stats – he's got the usual cracked dodge of bosses on thrones, and he's a swordmaster, which gives him a not-insignificant critical chance, but he refuses to buy in to the traditional swordmaster weakness with his 43 HP! He never got a critical hit on my characters, thankfully.)
God Swordmaster bosses in GBA emblem are the worst. Swordmasters already have high avoid and the chance of crit to make them a threat, but hey usually you can deal with that using say ranged lance weapons or accurate magic because they also aren't particularly durable.
Bosses, though? With the throne bonuses? Say hello to someone with such high avoid that only the most accurate weapons have a chance of hitting, enough defenses that they take a bunch of rounds to fight meaning a ton of risk, and Carlyle being a boss past chapter 3 of course has a ranged option in the wind sword. In think in the process of trying to kill this Incel Bro I actually broke the wind sword with how often I was missing. Thank god Barrier works against magic swords, Lute got plenty of staff EXP at least.
(I must note, as an aside, that this scene never makes any gesture toward the possibility that Caellach and Ismaire know each other, and on closer inspection their hair colors are not quite the same. So I guess he's not her son.)
Would be a wierd move for her son, being fair. Why straight up invade the country to take it over when he could theoretically just show up, assassinate his mom and get the throne that way, then surrender to Grado?
Eager to escape this misery, Lyon makes his own way out of the palace. Seeing as he's still a red unit, he gets access to Special Villain-Only Teleport Magic. And, accidentally or on purpose, he manages to teleport right in front of Eirika as she's alone (the heroes have split up to search for Queen Ismaire, you see).
Man, one of these days can we please give this super special awesome free range teleport magic to the player? No I'm not talking shit like "we gave the player a 5 use warp staff in the last third of the game so LTCers could beat maps in 2 turns and use that to argue no actually the maps are intentionally bad because the devs intended you to warpskip them", just gimmie... Idunno, something like the Fire Emblem Echoes witch class with their teleporting to your backlines to snipe your troops.
(There's an incident near the end of Fates Birthright, where Prince Leo shows up and goes, essentially, "I began to doubt our cause so I did some research and discovered damning information about the king!...But the script says that that secret can't be revealed on this route, so I guess I'll just hint at it and wander off again, while the capital is being invaded and my siblings fight and die for a cause I now know to be false. Bye!" My disgust was such that I put the game down, wrote a short piece of fix-it fanfiction, and never played Fates again.)
Oh, of course! Seth! I forgot about him because he's never showed any connection to Jehanna, but Seth has crimson hair as well! He could be her missing son!
Alright, I know you're just taking the piss for this one lmao
...Then again, it wouldn't be the first time Fire Emblem threw out a support or something that went "oh wow you are the long lost family member that I didn't know was still alive!" FE7 does it, and there's technically one more case in FE8 that we can get to sooner or later when you recruit a specific party member.
Eirika expresses her sorrow that they could only meet but once, like this. She seems like a lovely woman. Ismaire calls for Joshua again and places in his hands the Sacred Twins, the relics of Jehanna.
Audhulma is very good, as it has a reasonable weight for its weapon class (It's no FE7 Sol Katti lmao), hits hard, and that +5 resistance bonus from holding it makes whatever sword user has it more useful against hard hitting mages... like say, evil cult leaders that show up in oh just every single Fire Emblem game ever.
Excalibur... a bit less so, as it's a surprisingly heavy magic tome and most spellcasters have the constitutions you would expect from nerds who stay inside reading all day. The +5 speed bonus it gets is basically negated and then some just by that weight. Still, it is an S rank weapon with all the high power that implies.
Also of note, pretty much all the S rank sacred weapons have x2 effectiveness against monsters, so if you ever just want to delete a monster enemy, it's good to have your best fighters with these in their back pocket, especially with some of the stronger monster types starting to become available as you crawl closer to the endgame. Not x3 effectiveness like Bishop's Slayer or most effective weapons though, for some reason - in fact, this means Bishops are terrible users for the eventual S rank light magic tome because the x2 overrides their natural x3 effectiveness, so instead it's actually better to get S rank light magic on say, a Sage.
Or perhaps, some sort of wondrous beautiful noblest of ladies, who travels the land smiting evil with her two boon companions! Some might even call her, some kind of Valkyrie! (S rank light tomes not included in Valkyrie promotion for some reason FE7 and FE8 limit you to one S rank per character)
Okay. I'm going to take a time out on this scene, to try and put together all the clues to figure out what's going on with Lyon. We have some important dates on the timeline:
1. A year and a half ago was the last time the twins saw Lyon. He seemed fine.
2. A year ago, Lyon made a visit to Jehanna to try and forge an alliance. He seemed afraid of something.
3. He never approached Renais in the same way. Eirika points out that this is very odd, given the close ties that existed between Renais and Grado.
4. Recently, Emperor Vigarde completely changed and the war started. Lyon seems to be tainted by darkness.
To add to that, it's never been confirmed in the game, but I'm still convinced that an evil cult wants the Sacred Stones destroyed to summon the Demon King, because that's just how Fire Emblem stories work. Working from that premise, the cult must have gotten control of the emperor somehow.
Lyon clearly knows something about what happened to the emperor – more than what the generals know. Going by the scenes in Grado, he's been standing next to Vigarde at all times. Which leads to the question, why would he refuse to tell Eirika what he knows? Leaving aside such reasons as "He's under a magic geas" or "It's just bad writing," which I can't really build a theory around – the most compelling reason that presents itself to me, given what we've seen of Lyon so far, is the possibility that whatever happened was at least partially his fault. In other words, he's ashamed and doesn't want to ruin her opinion of him.
This leads me to the following, preliminary theory:
1. Sometime after the twins' last visit, Lyon accidentally triggers some kind of brewing trouble in Grado. Because it's somehow his fault, he wants to keep it a secret.
2. He searches for ways to address it. He tries going to Jehanna and asking Queen Ismaire. He does not go to Renais, the Empire's closest ally – perhaps because he does not believe he can successfully keep the secret from Eirika and Ephraim? They'll definitely respect him less if they find out how he screwed up.
3. He gets more desperate. He starts delving deeper into dark magic for a solution. He finds some friendly folks who are also into dark magic.
4. His new friends encourage him to check out the real dark dark magic, the kind that's written in blood on parchment made of flayed human skin. Dark stones are involved? It'll be fine as long as he just uses it for this one worthy cause. The alternative is asking for help from people he knows, which is just unbearable. As in, people can't bear him when he acts like such a burden.
5. Surprise! His new friends are an evil demon cult, and they were just using him as an avenue to get close to the emperor and take control.
6. They institute some changes to government policy that do not have Grado's or Magvel's best interests at heart.
7. Lyon must now figure out a way to kick these guys out, save his father, and acquire the magical power to solve the original problem, all without coming off as too much of a threat lest he end up dead or mind-controlled too. Oh, and he absolutely cannot let Ephraim and Eirika find out about this or they'll hate him forever.
I'll just say, I don't comment much on the super theorycrafting like this for fear of accidentally going "well you see actually this is 100% correct/wrong", but either way I do really like this bit of pulling all the pieces you have together to try and figure out just what is going on with Lyon.
Back to the story: The queen expires. Eirika, Innes, L'Arachel and Joshua – the royalty of four nations – gather in the hall outside. It's surreal to see this side character stride into story scenes like he was important all along, but I have to admit it's well done; I like his monologue here. Joshua explains some more of his story: Some ten years ago, having gotten sick of palace life, he wrote a farewell and left, taking nothing but the clothes on his back. As a common mercenary, he roamed all over Magvel, finding work and meeting people from all walks of life. He thought it would make him a better king, in the end.
Ah, Joshua. Besides the fact that I'm always happy when FE games bother to remember "oh yeah there's optional characters" and actually give them some screentime beyond their joining chapters, Joshua is basically one big FE4 reference to Lewyn, a wandering bard who joins the party early on and turns out to actually be a prince in disguise, takes over the kingdom when he returns, gets legendary weapon out of it, etc. Still a fun story beat to repeat though.
Well, I'm not quite as worried as Innes. Sure, the two generals represent a high concentration of force, but it bears repeating that Caellach was in the area already, and Valter's already shown stalking Eirika. So it makes sense for the two of them to be teaming up in this instance. Of the other generals, it was Selena and Duessel who were tasked with defending the homeland from Ephraim's invasion back in Chapter 9.
Ahem…what will happen to our brave heroes? Will Cormag get a chance to take vengeance? Will Lyon ever come clean? Let's find out in Chapter 15: Scorched Sands!
One, I dunno if you've trained Joshua enough for it to be a good idea, but if you have I'll totally recommend bringing him to fight Caellach, they get some good boss conversation.
Second, and trust me on this: Bring a thief. Don't care what you see in the enemy inventories, bring a thief, you really, really want a thief with you on any Fire Emblem Desert Map from the GBA era in particular.
Eirika has just defeated Lyon in a sparring match. This prompts him to engage in some…negative musings.
Lyon: Compared to you, I'm…a pitiful crown prince, am I not?
Eirika: That's not true…
Lyon: Oh, no, Eirika. It is. The people need a strong ruler. They don't want a weakling like me. They want the strength you and Ephraim share.
Lyon: My body is frail. I prefer to spend my time locked away in the castle, reading…
Lyon: I think my father would be better served if someone else took my place. I'm sure all our retainers feel the same…
Oof. This is poignant. I admit, it's affecting me especially because I know the kind of thoughts he's describing, that irrational downward spiral based on negative self-image. One failure to meet standards he sets for himself (e.g. "I should be at least as good at swordplay as Eirika,") becomes "I completely suck at this!" becomes "I'm such an incompetent!" becomes "Everyone I know realizes this, and they secretly hate me!" and "The world would be better off if I didn't exist!"
I actually kind of dislike this whole thing because it feels like The Intended Moral is that Lyon is wrong about his unsuitability and he just needs to buckle down and do it.
And this is a notion threaded throughout the game, where expectations are being placed on young people where the game seems to feel their doubts about their ability to rise to meet those expectations are just 'self-esteem issues' or something. Sacred Stones is the closest I've seen Fire Emblem come to acknowledging flaws in a rule-as-inheritance system, with stuff like Lyon and Ephraim both going 'I shouldn't be the next ruler just because of the circumstances of my birth', but then the game balks and doesn't actually acknowledge that they might have a point.
I do like that the game does this and feels no need to point out that the oasis is presumably why a population center is here. It makes realistic sense, but isn't exactly plot-important, after all.
Oh gods, Carlyle. My first reaction to this character was just to think that he's an idiot. But, in the process of reviewing my screenshots and writing this, a more chilling interpretation presented itself.
Now, I made that joke earlier about how he could have just given her a bouquet of flowers. But the problem with that, from Carlyle's perspective, is that she could just…hand them back to him. She could reject his feelings. And then he would have to figure out how to deal with that pain while she went on with her life.
But if the Imperial Army took over Jehanna and he helped them…suddenly, she's not the queen anymore. She's no longer his boss; she's his prisoner. She's dependent on him. Look at that! Now, she has no room to refuse his advances! (Well, she does anyway, because she's got a spine of steel)
Carlyle insists that he doesn't want to harm Queen Ismaire. I think that's only true using a very limited definition of "harm". His actions were aimed at destroying her supporters, denying her agency, and placing her under his power, and talking about him like he's just too dumb to realize women don't like being captured wrongfully absolves him of some of the blame he deserves. In a modern setting, Carlyle would absolutely be posting on incel forums. Thankfully, the writers of the game also seem to think this man is a loser, so we're going to see the other characters dunk on Carlyle some more before the chapter ends.
His plan gets him and his beloved killed without so much as a kiss occurring first, and this is pretty predictable of an outcome.
And it only gets worse if you think about events more realistically than I think is intended, as Caellach murdering Ismaire, even though it's shown after you kill Carlyle, is presented as if it occurred basically right after they exited stage left, maybe 5 turns into this mission that can easily take 40 turns if you do everything. So Ismaire gets murdered just down the hall from Carlyle while he's idling on the Throne, waiting for you to show up, and he doesn't hear it, doesn't stop it, doesn't even realize Caellach screwed him, let alone try to get vengeance. Carlyle got basically the worst possible result off a terrible plan he flubbed the execution of.
Surprise! The contents of those rooms are revealed as you walk into them: Enemies, and treasure. It's an interesting variation on fog of war that I've not seen before.
Yeah, my recollection is his unit description is the only time this gets referenced at all. Certainly, I spent years incorrectly convinced that no Carcinite player units existed...
I reload several times – once, because L'Arachel died, yes, but the other times I just…saw that I'd gotten into an unwinnable situation. Rennac got too far away, or Tethys couldn't come forward to Dance for a unit because she was injured and would be exposing herself to attack. Fire Emblem has never felt so much like a puzzle game. Here is my final solution: Tana Rescues L'Arachel. Eirika, Gerik, and Tana take out the enemies and tank their hits. Tana drops L'Arachel at the very edge of Tethys's range, Tethys dances to give L'Arachel her turn back, and L'Arachel can just reach Rennac.
The Rennac Recruitment Puzzle is one of my favorite bits in Sacred Stones. My only complaint is the hidden room behavior is bad and involved, and it's really not too bad in context.
Rennac: You have no right to drag me across creation without any pay whatsoever!
Some of his words are reaching from L'Arachel's ears to her brain, and it finally dawns on her that he's demanding wages. Which doesn't make sense to her, because she remembers paying him already. She thinks, and hits upon an agreeable solution:
L'Arachel: The joy that comes from doing good is not something that can be purchased.
The L'Arachel/Rennac dynamic is amazing, not only from the superficial humor perspective but also from a deeper characterization perspective that the Supports show more clearly -that Rennac gets pulled into L'Arachel's orbit in part because his Greedy Mercenary act is more of an act than he thinks it is.
In general, Sacred Stones does an amazing job of living 'don't judge a book by its cover', in spite of never trying to hit the player over the head with it as a moral. So many characters are more than a casual first impression suggests, in a manner this series rarely manages at all, let alone to such a widespread degree.
Anyway, I mentioned 'meta stuff' earlier, and Rennac being a Rogue is the 'meta stuff' in question. L'Arachel was touring the world with a guy whose class is for sneaky people good at gathering info on the sly, and gosh, the plot makes a point of calling attention to her knowing info it treats as secret. I wonder if there's a connection there?...
…Or the game could just…not let me enter the room from within the palace. I guess I'm not getting that Guiding Ring – there's no time to go all the way back outside before the others kill the boss. There's not really enough time for the western group to reach the boss chamber, either. I just have them fire some spells through the wall and have tea in Support-building configurations for the rest of the map.
There's zero time pressure once you've recruited Rennac.
That said, 40 turns is a bit much even for me, so I can't really blame you for not bothering to 100% the map.
And yeah, the inability to enter from behind is janky, counterintuitive nonsense. The map really should've been redesigned so it's not an issue, or the code reworked so you can enter from behind. Alas, the game was rushed, so we got this instead.
Carlyle is guarded by two monks, and he himself uses a Wind Sword, which counts as anima magic and targets Resistance (I also discover that it's effective against Tana, for some reason).
Wind magic is usually anti-flier in the series. The Tellius games are clearer/more consistent about this (Aside its wind-named magic swords, anyway...), but it crops up repeatedly.
Note that Mogalls are not susceptible to anti-flier effects like Bows. You need wings to count in Sacred Stones, I guess.
(There's an incident near the end of Fates Birthright, where Prince Leo shows up and goes, essentially, "I began to doubt our cause so I did some research and discovered damning information about the king!...But the script says that that secret can't be revealed on this route, so I guess I'll just hint at it and wander off again, while the capital is being invaded and my siblings fight and die for a cause I now know to be false. Bye!" My disgust was such that I put the game down, wrote a short piece of fix-it fanfiction, and never played Fates again.)
... I really need to murder Joshua in an Eirika route run someday. I barely recall how this plays out if you don't have Joshua, as I only did it the one time. I think the scene just cuts off right before Joshua comes in, but it's been nearly 2 decades...
At that point, a soldier bursts in to announce that the palace is on fire. Yes, that's right – Caellach is a practical man who doesn't get distracted by looting. I mean, he probably would have liked to stay and loot, but the ongoing attack on the palace made that impractical. As soon as he succeeded in his mission to destroy the Sacred Stone, he had the curtains soaked in oil and lit on fire, then skedaddled.
This frustrates me, actually. Why is the palace completely without an attendant defensible city, exactly? It doesn't make any sense. We shouldn't be trapped in the open next to the ruined palace next mission, we should have walls and stuff around us.
Also, I'm pretty sure Pure Water and Barrier don't stack? They'll just override one or the other. Still very useful against Carlyle, since thankfully he wasn't smart enough to keep say a Killing Edge in his back pocket for close combat and magic swords still target resistance at close range.
As for magic swords, only the Rune Sword works that way. The Wind Sword is a regular physical sword with crit rate at range 1, and an anti-flier spell with no crit rate at range 2.
Yeah, my recollection is his unit description is the only time this gets referenced at all. Certainly, I spent years incorrectly convinced that no Carcinite player units existed...
It comes up in a few of his supports briefly, in that it's mentioned he's the son of a Carcino Merchant in several and his support with Tethys he introduces himself as "Rennac of Carcino", but yup that's all we get for merchant state representation.
As for magic swords, only the Rune Sword works that way. The Wind Sword is a regular physical sword with crit rate at range 1, and an anti-flier spell with no crit rate at range 2.
I can absolutely, 100% confirm that magic swords target resistance even in melee range in Sacred Stones; I specifically was able to better facetank against Carlyle in this chapter with Amelia (one of my highest luck unit because lolTraineeLuckGrowths) by casting Barrier on her to give her the higher defenses needed to survive combat with him. Even booted up a rom file really quick to check, magic swords always target resistance even if they're using standard melee combat animations in close range and no longer have the halved attack/zero crit.
I can absolutely, 100% confirm that magic swords target resistance even in melee range in Sacred Stones; I specifically was able to better facetank against Carlyle in this chapter with Amelia (one of my highest luck unit because lolTraineeLuckGrowths) by casting Barrier on her to give her the higher defenses needed to survive combat with him. Even booted up a rom file really quick to check, magic swords always target resistance even if they're using standard melee combat animations in close range and no longer have the halved attack/zero crit.
Huh. I had been misreading the Serenes Forest calculations page- it actually indicates this to be true, but i had thought Light Brand and Wind Sword struck defense in melee. (notably this means that Rune Sword is the bad magic sword aside leeching and the fact that in Sacred Stones Rune Swords are kinda excessively available due to the tendency of random monsters to occasionally be packing rune swords but not other magic swords)
Huh. I had been misreading the Serenes Forest calculations page- it actually indicates this to be true, but i had thought Light Brand and Wind Sword struck defense in melee. (notably this means that Rune Sword is the bad magic sword aside leeching and the fact that in Sacred Stones Rune Swords are kinda excessively available due to the tendency of random monsters to occasionally be packing rune swords but not other magic swords)
Yup, Rune Sword mostly gets by on being an HP draining weapon that's also being handed off to users who can presumably tank better with it than Nosferatu wielders (seeing as Shamans/Druids are both less tanky and slower than the average sword unit, and also Nosferatu is very heavy at 14 weight when the average dark magic user maxes out at 8 con). In that regard at least, it can potentially make a sword user nigh-immortal as long as they aren't fighting a bunch of high res units. Though for some reason, it's also an A rank sword even though it's so much more common than Light Brand and Wind Sword?
Yup, Rune Sword mostly gets by on being an HP draining weapon that's also being handed off to users who can presumably tank better with it than Nosferatu wielders (seeing as Shamans/Druids are both less tanky and slower than the average sword unit, and also Nosferatu is very heavy at 14 weight when the average dark magic user maxes out at 8 con). In that regard at least, it can potentially make a sword user nigh-immortal as long as they aren't fighting a bunch of high res units. Though for some reason, it's also an A rank sword even though it's so much more common than Light Brand and Wind Sword?
Legacy. It comes down to legacy. The stats are largely the same, particularly the weapon ranks, as they were in the immediately preceding Blazing Sword. The Light Brand and Rune Sword have existed since Binding Blade, largely unchanged, with only the Wind Sword not going back that far and still goes back to the prior game relative to sacred stones.
It's just... those weren't games where the main bad guys were evil monsters- it's specifically the various sword users among the monsters that get rune swords. They don't really show up more than like, once or twice in fixed locations, and note we've already seen a fixed wind sword but not a fixed rune sword.
It's entirely because of the new grindable monsters and the thematics around that we see Rune Swords not be a lot more inaccessible weapon type than the already rare Light Brand, and of course the leeching is an obvious advantage to justify a high weapon rank.
Legacy. It comes down to legacy. The stats are largely the same, particularly the weapon ranks, as they were in the immediately preceding Blazing Sword. The Light Brand and Rune Sword have existed since Binding Blade, largely unchanged, with only the Wind Sword not going back that far and still goes back to the prior game relative to sacred stones.
Funny thing is, Rune Sword is actually the newest of the Magic Swords - the Light Brand and the Wind Sword both existed in Genealogy and Thracia both, with Light Brand even being Leif's personal weapon (and a particularly good one at that, Rapiers crying in the corner at Leif having a 60 use 1-2 range magic sword that also apparently works as a personal Elixir in a pinch).
