Part 59: Episode LIII: Ending B - In Which War Never Changes

Episode LIII: Ending B - In Which War Never Changes

Verse 3B: The Martyr - Music: Growing Wings


"I told you, my boy. They're total dicks. We're doing the right thing removing them from the throne."


So, the final boss of Ending B is Giant Manah Redux. She's not quite as massive as she was back in her youth during Drakengard 1. And she seems to be stuck doing a sweet backflip inside the bone casket. But, this is essentially a remix of that boss battle.


It would seem the only way to save Manah is to blow-up Manah. Look, Legna's instructions ended with "Take kid to volcano. Make him go in giant sphere." Dragons just are not very good at improv... Hell, look at what happened to Angelus after she winged it with becoming the new Goddess Seal...


Anyhow, our adversary is the giant floating Manah in the sphere. As I said, she pretty much attacks like her 50 Story Tall Manah incarnation from Drakengard 1.




That is to say, she spams the hell out of circles of magic runes that erupt from her body. Said magic circles will cancel out fireballs, but other than that they are fairly easy to evade.


"That girl is powerful. After all, she was powerful enough to bring the world to the brink eighteen years ago."
"That was the past! Manah doesn't want to destroy the world!"
"Nowe, much like the first go around...I do not believe she has much of a choice in the matter..."
"Yes she does!"
"She is a giant silhouette suspended in mid-air erupting waves of pure energy attempting to kill us..."
"Yeah...well...she could get better..."


"Damn! Isn't there any way to save her!?"
"I'm not even sure if her soul remains in her body. She might be an empty shell."


"Legna! Ram it!"
"I am not ramming that thing again. Do you have any inkling of how much that hurt the first time? And how little it accomplished!"
"I don't care. We have to save her!"
<grumble>
"Oh, look... There's an update on her status on the Dragon Internet!"
"Really?! What does it say?!"
"Dead."
"No! Manah!"
"Sorry, my boy. Welp, guess we'll just have to destroy this abomination. It's...clearly what she would have wanted..."
"Damn them!"


Giant Manah can also send out runes to summon lightning bolts. Their placement is pretty much entirely random. So either they'll drop right in front of you and there isn't a damn thing to be done to avoid damage, or they'll be way off mark and miss entirely.


Thankfully, unlike Holy Dragon Legna's wonky ass hitbox, attacking anywhere in the vicinity of the gigantic sphere will count as a hit. Manah doesn't really move around a ton, so it is fairly easy to fire off several dummy fire stronger shots in a row to quickly whittle down her health.


The only thing to prevent just flying straight ahead and spamming our own attack is the fact she occasionally puts up an energy barrier like during the previous boss battle. Luckily, it's no longer a one-hit kill. Funny, I thought Manah was supposed to be powering up this thing. This boss is a total wuss compared to its last form...


"What are you waiting for?"
"I'd give my life to avenge Manah's death!"
"I'm the one fighting here, Nowe. If you want to do that from the ground, be my guest. Remember, we still need you to help slay the gods. Remember, this is ALL their fault!'
"Oh...yeah, I guess that's a point... Damn them!"
"Yep...yep... Total dicks."




When Manah's health gets below 50%, she'll start flipping out with the rune spamming. But, honestly it doesn't get all that more difficult to evade 'em. It's usually a matter of flying upward and dashing forward, or side dashing twice to the left or right.


Towards the end she'll also start shooting off fireballs that come in two flavors. There's your standard issue "explodes in Legna's face" variety. And there is the...




Surprise stealth energy ring. The latter is problematic if it fires off right next to Legna. But, that's about all there is to this battle.

Nowe and Legna defeat the bone casket giant Manah sphere thinger...


"Manaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!"


"Is that you, Manah!?"
"Don't give up..."
"Manah... Are you still alive!?"
"Legna, I thought you said she was dead!"
"Ergh... It's a...a ghost!"
"...Oh. Alright."


"What are you trying to do!?"
"Trying to salvage my character by having a decent resolution to my development arc..."
"Stop, Manah!"




Welp, I guess this is the Eris Gets a Happy Ending path. I have no idea what any of this was about but eh... I think Manah was just behind Nowe in most deserving to get killed off.


"I wish I'd known that before we took the time to battle with the thing... But, oh well. Nothing is really going to plan this day..."
"Manah... She worked to save the world until the very end. Thank you, Manah... Good-bye."

The Epilogue: The War to Come


"Nowe!"
"Eris, you're safe."
"...Yes. Thanks for leaving me at the bottom a volcano, by the way... Anyway..."
"That woman... She saved me. I hated her...and yet, she..."
"There's nothing you could have done."
"I know..."
"Nowe... I'm so sorry. I should have become the goddess of the seal much sooner."


"Don't say that! Manah fulfilled her destiny. Don't let her sacrifice be in vain."
"Yes, you're right. Silly me. Shame about all that."
"We're still alive for a reason. There are things we must do."
"Oh... Is that right, Nowe...? My, I thought it would take longer for you to get over that wi-"


"Oh...right... That... Of course..."


"Eris, listen to me. Manah has paved a path for us. Forget about the new breed and the goddess. They don't matter anymore. We should live life as ourselves."
"Nowe..."



Some time later...


"Now, they are about to surpass the gods..."



s
"...with the new breed as their weapon..."


"So, Eris... You want a dragon for your birthday? I bet I can talk Legna into handing over one of those Holy Dragons if I ask."
"Would it...would it breathe...fire...?"
"...Yeah, I'm pretty sure they do that."
"..."
"...Excellent."


"Do you think that's what Manah would have wanted? I don't suppose we'll ever know now."


"All we have left is war..."


"And the desolation it leaves in its wake."


And since a gigantic battle between Dragons and the Grotesqueries, wherein Nowe hopefully meets his end in the gnashing teeth of a cannibal space baby, is far too interesting for Drakengard 2, we end here...

Manah dies and everyone else probably meets their end in a horrific battle after the credits roll. I...think I'm okay with that ending, to be honest... Certainly, it is the best one we are going to get out of this trainwreck of a game. And just one more ending to go...

Drakengard! 2...










Bone Casket Manah Full Boss Battle


Verse 3B Cutscenes


Ending B (Probably worth watching.)




Manah Concept Art - At least she did something mildly useful in this ending, besides giving Nowe a Deus ex Anime boner...