Part 39: Marth Meets Morzas, The Matricidal Mage Manakete (Prep)

Chapter 17: Marth Meets Morzas, The Matricidal Mage Manakete (Prep)

Why yes, I am proud of that title. (I know that’s not technically what Matricidal means.)








I honestly don’t know who that screaming Manakete is supposed to be. It doesn’t look like the boss for this chapter. It could be Medeus, I guess? My money’s on Medeus.

: the mage-dragon Morzas remained entrenched within its walls. Unlike General Camus who preceded him, Morzas had been a cruel warden, slaughtering many innocent Alteans at the slightest provocation. Marth roiled to think such a monster still sat upon his noble father’s throne.




This map’s got a rather restrictive character limit for one where there aren’t any recruits. We have almost a complete cast by now. I decided to let Wendell sit it out, because he doesn’t really need the experience, and sub in Catria. Wendell’s still holding up this late in the game though, which is unexpected and nice.




It’s time for that thing we’ve all been waiting for. Promotion is a Fire Emblem staple, some other games have split paths or other gimmicks, but it’s quite simple in Shadow Dragon. There is ONE split promotion in the game, but that’s DLC content and no longer available.




Apply Master Seal to your level 10-20 unpromoted unit of choice. Disregard lightning.




A promoted hero arrives!




Promotion gives a set boost in stats depending on the class that’s promoting. For Abel, hopping from Cavalier to Paladin gives him a nice set of boosts across the board, most strikingly boosting his resistance from 0 to 6. This is also the only way to increase Movement without the Boots or reclassing.




Maria also hit level 20 last time.




Meet the Bishop.






Not only does Maria get a boost in stats, some classes unlock new weapon options upon promotion, or gain experience in Weapons they already have access to. You can see Maria is able to use Tomes now, though not very effectively. Good to have some self defense, though.




Cord is not yet Level 20, but given the amount of chapters left in the game, I don’t think I’ll hit level cap unpromoted AND hit it in my promoted classes too. So the immediate power boost is more handy, and he needs it over Linde right now.




I’m also a sucker for the way the Sorcerer looks in this game. Sorcerers/FE7 Druids are some of my favorite designs in the series.







Cord gains a rank in Tomes along with his newfound Staff abilities.



This means he can finally use that Excalibur that’s been sitting in our Convoy for 13 maps.




I also reclassed Maria to a Sage, because the only real advantage Bishops have is their resistance. Both classes have the same growth rates, but slightly different bases. The 1 bonus magic and the extra rank in Tomes is enough for me to not really care about losing 3 Resistance, especially when she’s got so much already.




Ogma is our least durable physical fighter at the moment, so I used Hollstadt’s Dracoshield on him.




This map looks a lot more complex than it is. Reinforcements are involved, but they’re fairly inconsequential.




You could rush the boss room immediately, but that’s not a good idea. There’s a TON of free treasure to be had here, but those thieves will try to make off with two of the chests. Try not to let them do that. There are two routes to the treasure room, so you can split your team if you’d like.




They’ll head for this exit, which is blocked by a formidable manakete. I do have a plan for this, and it’s dumb, but that’s half the fun.




Once we’re all done with the looting, the throne room is pretty packed with enemies too. Fun fact, this statue gets demolished between this game and New Mystery. This Bishop has a particularly interesting item on him that you’ll want to get to access one of the game’s most bullshit secrets.




This whole room kinda sucks, because there’s a Swarm Bishop covering it. His range pokes out into the hallway directly west of this room a bit too, so use caution if going that way for the treasure.




The boss, Morzas, is a very rare enemy type we haven’t encountered yet. He’s a Manakete, yeah, but he has the Magestone, which means that his damage will target resistance instead of Defense. This makes him way more of a pain. Or, it would, if he weren’t a one range boss in Chapter 17.

Next time Marth storms his own castle.

Bonus Content

: Sir Xane…! He seems to have gone elsewhere yet again…

: Hello, Steve.

: Oh, sire!

: What excellent timing. There's something I want to ask of you.

: Yes, sire? Anything for you.


: Thank you. Then... Once this war is over, would you allow me the honor of being your husband?


: ...Hi, Sir Xane.

: Damn, you saw through me.

: Of course. Prince Marth would never say something that ridiculous.

: That’s funny...I could fool the others just fine… Oh well, see ya.

: ...Hold it.

: W-what is it?

: Who else did you deceive while imitating Prince Marth? Tell me all the details, now.

: Gah!

: I cannot allow anybody who would tarnish Prince Marth's reputation to exist... Depending on what you've done-

: Stop it, you’re scaring me! I was just kiddin’!

: Sir Xane!

It’s been too long since we saw Steve obsess over Marth. Also Xane is great and I’m really sad he doesn’t get used very much. At least he has more of a plot role in the sequel.

In the next base conversation he also turns into Jagen so y’know, win-win.