Part 62: Prep: Definitely The Final Map Of The Game

Update 36: Definitely The Final Map Of The Game (Prep)

Welcome back to some more Fire Emblem. Last time, we crossed Adria Pass, were vaguely nonthreatened by the Wolfguard, and made it to Archanea to confront Emperor Hardin.



We will not be doing that in this, "The Final Battle".



Wait, we have dates now? Nobody told me we had dates now. What's the Fire Emblem timeline? (please do not actually try to answer this)

Narrator: The holy palace of Archanea was enveloped by a strange silence. Following a rebellion in Archanea, many capable knights, starting with the Paladin Midia, were captured.

However, even then Archanea had double Altea's manpower, the palace streets teeming with soldiers. Nearly one year has passed since the Grustian expedition...

And now, the decisive battle that would settle the fate of two nations was about to begin.



Uh, yeah, that' pretty much covers it.

Almost every FE has a map towards the end, like FE7's Cog of Destiny or Victory Or Death, FE9's map with Bertram, or the Act 3 Finale of FE10, where the map designers just said "FILL THE MAP WITH DUDES AND REINFORCEMENTS OF DUDES."

That is this map. Welcome to the dudepit. This one is really difficult.




I'll go over this later. I'd never seen it before.








Cain loves that trainin'.




That Luck might actually be nice if I fuck up in here.



Chatting time.

Steve Does Something Weird Again



: Oh, Lady Sheema.

: You are... Dame Steve. You have my thanks for saving the people of Gra in the previous battle.

: I'm flattered. However, the one who gave us the orders was Prince Marth.

: Indeed. I think I shall thank Prince Marth again later.

: ...By the way, Lady Sheema.

: What is it?

: This is the lounge, so... wouldn't it be better to be rid of your armor?

Oh, come on, they didn't design alternate costumes for this game. Besides yours.



I seriously don't think Sheema has ever not worn the armor since she put it on. It is part of her skin.

: Then, let me help you. It looks very heavy...

: No, I'm fine! Erm...

: What's wrong?

Steve, maybe you shouldn't try to take people's clothes off. It's weird.

: Sorry! I've remembered some urgent matters that require my immediate attention. ...Excuse me!

: Ah, Lady Sheema! Something fell from your armor... Oh, she's already left. Well, this is... ...a doll?

What an...exciting plot hook?

Magic Man Mission: Will of the Wizard



: Hmm, I haven't decided yet. Once peace comes, there are a lot of things I'd like to do. But, they'd all have to wait until after I rescue Lady Elice.

: Lady Elice...

: Yes, I couldn't protect Lady Elice during the War of Shadows... and failed to protect her this time too. That's my greatest regret for having left Altea. This time, I'll definitely stay by Lady Elice's side and protect her. It was for that reason, and that reason alone, that I honed my magic.



So, if you can ignore his expression for a sec, here's Merric's big backstory thing. He's got a big crush on Marth's sister.

Hey, this is actually important! Not that you'd know that now! But keep this in mind!

: ...So you love Lady Elice that much... I'll do my best, Sir Merric. Let's rescue Lady Elice as soon as we can.

: You have my thanks!



Predictable from Merric.

Family Matters



: Sadly, no...

: Please don't push yourself. Should you fall, Princess Maria will be sad.

: Yes, of course. Thank you, Steve. There is no longer a brotherly bond between Michalis and me. However, Maria... I want her to be happy... That feeling alone... is the same in him and me.

: Princess Minerva... I wonder if Prince Michalis wants not only Princess Maria to be happy... But you to be happy as well?

: Me, too...?

Nah, he's an ass.

: I believe that's why he saved you when you were held captive.

: ... It's funny... Even though I was the one who struck him down...

: To Prince Michalis, you're still his sister, probably.

: ...

Jagen Says Something Kinda New For Once



1. Finish the LP
2. Test exactly how many Ballistas can be on a map before I just cry.
3. Find Steve's FINAL HAT

: To save Hardin from the Darksphere. Rescue the kidnapped clerics. And defeat Gharnef, the Dark Pontifex.

Oh, yeah, those too.

: It seems there was a rebellion in the palace not long ago. Citizens and knights rioted against Hardin's actions... However, they were defeated, and now await execution by Hardin. Hardin has really changed... Prince Marth came here wanting to save Hardin... But we might already be too late... No matter how many people would forgive Hardin, or how many people would want him to be freed from the Darksphere...



So, Jagen makes a pretty good point here. Marth's all about saving Hardin from the Darksphere, but really, how many people are going to really believe or accept "Mind Control" as justification? Dude's been pretty awful.

: It is unbearable to remember that he was once our comrade...

Return of the Idiot Brigade



: It seems some of them have merged with the Archanean army. The Wolfguard's commander, Wolf... is confirmed to be among them.

Yeah, we aren't done with those guys yet. If you killed any of them last map, they won't appear here. We still have something to settle here, though.

: Then, we'll have to fight them again...?


: Yes. It'd be ideal if we could persuade them. But... if we don't know how, we may have no choice but to fight. They're strong. Steve, be very careful.

(they aren't they're awful)



I've given Barst the Lifesphere for this map, because he has the highest HP (I think like one point ahead of Ogma.)



Here's the team. And speaking of Ogma, Mercurius might see some use today from someone who's actually not awful.

I dropped by the Drill Grounds to level some of our weaker characters.



Sheema immediately crit.



Then she did it again.





It was productive for everyone involved.



Sirius, slightly slower to crit, but he did.





Minerva never did. Shameful.



While I was recouping some cash by selling unneeded items, I found that Cleave Bow. It's an Armorslayer with low accuracy for bow units. That's okay I guess.



This map is huge. If you played Shadow Dragon you might recognize this area, it was much earlier in the game though. This is where you recruited Linde. This is a far more difficult version of that battle.



First we'll have to go through this path, not a huge danger, but there are like 3 Ballistas hanging out, so stick close to the south.



Speak of the asshole, there's one that covers all of the split on the right side of the level, with a bunch of riders to back him up.



Sedgar's waiting for us here.



To the south is a village, shops, an arena, and a group of Warriors.



Finally, after clearing all that, we enter Fort and Ballista town (and if you thought "I wonder if those will spawn reinforcements?", you are thinking along the right lines for this damn map.

The boss here has 20 Defense and 48 HP. He can actually do some damage. Hammers, Armorslayers, Mages...that kind of thing is going to help you against Nerring. Think of him as warm-up Hardin.



Oh here's Wolf too. Roshea and Vyland are nowhere to be seen.



Fortify bishops help finish up the monstrosity that is this part. At least nothing here does magic damage.

This one might take me longer than usual because, if you haven't gotten the gist already from the past several lines of commentary, I am bad at this map.