Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon Part 20: Endgame

In which I finish the game.




Chapter 24: The Dragonkin Realm

Chapter 24 sees us head into Dohlr proper. Apparently this is the homeland of the manaketes, who did not deal much with humans before Medeus appeared. Medeus always claimed his cause was just and humans deserved death.

I feel like I should gear up for dragon-slaying just from the title. Let's look around. Yes, lots of manaketes, including a pair with Magestones. I'm guessing those have more range than the firestones? There is a small building in the south with a heavy guard, I bet that's the staff Elice told us about. I'll want to be sure to get that, so I need a thief. Luckily I get 15 units this time around. My only question is do I leave Minerva in favor of a ballistician? Tactically, the ballistician gives me more options than another draco knight... but I really like Minerva. Hum... No, I'll take Minerva. I'll give her Hauteclare the axe and Iote's Shield to make her ignore the bonus damage from archers and it will be glorious.

I promote Draug to a General, as well as Palla, Maria and Merric (though I'll leave the last three behind).

General Draug!

Draug gains 10 HP, 2 Strength, 1 Magic?, 1 Skill, 4 Speed!, 4 Defense (total 24, hah!), 3 Resistance and 1 point of movement (bringing him up to 6, which is what most classes start with). Good stuff, I like it.

Then I forge a sword for Athena out of a Silver Sword and call it Ragnarok. Just for fun.

Full squad: Marth, Cain, Abel, Barst, Qaeda, Julian, Linde, Athena, Est, Caria, Wolf, Lena, Draug, Tiki and Minerva.

Let's try this.

The battle begins with Malledus pointing out Dohlr keep in the mountains ahead of us. Marth wonders why Medeus doesn't leave the keep to face us. Malledus and Gotoh are friends apparently, because Gotoh told Malledus that Medeus isn't done being reincarnated, and can only maintain dragon form inside the keep.

And we're off!

Ooh, a nearby armory sells Wyrmslayer swords. Yes please, I need a dozen of them. I send all my sword users to the shop to gear up. Meanwhile, the enemy begins moving towards us, including a group just south of us coming between a gap in the mountain range.

Linde hits level 10 killing an enemy sniper in the hills. She gains HP and Luck.

Caeda on the eastern front goes to level 10 killing a magestone dragon and gains HP, Strength and Luck. Tiki gets to level 9 killing the initial firestone dragon, and gains HP, Skill, Speed and Luck.

In the south by the mountain pass, Wolf weakens an oncoming Manakete and Barst essentially sneezes on it to finish it off. Barst reaches level 6, gaining HP, Strength and Skill. Athena kills a second Manakete, achieving level 7 and gaining HP, Skill, Speed and Luck.

I think I may have misstepped, Minerva gets attacked by a third manakete who leaves her at 2 HP, and even without the bonus the incoming sniper can hit her for more than 2... Well, I'm not far into this yet, and I think I can already see some better ways to do this map. In case she survives, Minerva reaches level 10 and gains Skill, Speed, Luck and Defense.

As I thought, Minerva dies. Let's start over and try to do this better.

This time I split more infantry south vs everyone else heading east. Est kills the first manakete, going up to level 6 and gaining HP and Skill. Tiki kills the mage in the east, hitting level 9 and gaining HP, Strength, Skill, Luck and Defense. I feel like that was a better level up than last time.  In the south, Barst kills a Manakete and hits level 6, gaining HP, Skill and Luck. I'm trying to be more cautious this time and let the enemies come through the gap instead of rushing them, but I'm concerned there is a thief in the south going for the special staff so I'm going to try and sneak Minerva down to cut him off.

Barst kills a second manakete and hits level 7, gaining HP, Strength, Skill, Speed and Luck. Significantly better than last time. Athena walks down and kills the mage, and hits level 7, gaining only HP. I think that's worse. Oh well, can't win all the random level ups.

Abel and Cain have become my "stop the thief!" brigade. Cain hits level 7 killing a sniper on his way down, gaining HP, Skill and Luck. Linde levels up to 10 healing people. She gets HP, Magic, Speed and Luck.

Enemy reinforcements show up at a bad moment, at least two new manaketes, a pegasus knight, a hero... Catria hits level 8 killing a mage, gaining HP, Skill and Luck.

EST FOR THE WIN! She flies in and kills the enemy thief across a wall. She gains level 7, getting Strength, Skill, Luck and Defense. Importantly, she is out of range of the two manaketes guarding the temple because of the wall! Yes!

The red zone is where the Manakete can attack. The stair space just below the manakete is where the thief was before Est javelined him to death.

Cain levels to 8 killing another manakete, gaining HP, Strength and Skill. Tiki murders a manakete with Divinestone, hitting level 10 and gaining HP, Skill and Speed. Marth hits level 23 killing a mage, gaining HP, Strength and Skill.

A second wave of reinforcements is summarily dispatched as I ponder how to crack the temple. Two manaketes and a hero are lined up in a single file hallway... but I need to draw them out or kill them outright on the first blow or their counter attack will kill me.

Cain gets to level 9, gaining HP, Strength, Skill, Luck and Defense. Catria reaches level 10, gaining HP, Skill and Luck. Tiki gets to level 11 after a manakete tries to attack her and dies to her divine stone. She gains HP, Strength, Skill, Speed and Defense. Wolf hits level 10 gaining HP, Strength, Skill, Speed and Defense.

Lena gets to level 18, gaining Resistance. I will be very amused if she is my only character to hit level 20 twice. Abel becomes my bait to lure out the temple guards, and hits level 7, gaining HP, Skill and Luck. Then level 8 because he murdered one manakete and the second came for him. He gains HP, Skill and Defense. He needs the defense though because again he murders the manakete. I need him to survive the hero... he has 13 HP. And the hero hits first. Thank goodness! The hero can only do 2 damage to Abel. Well done sir knight!

I eliminate a third wave of reinforcements, and Caeda hits level 10, and gets... zero stat upgrades. Boo! But Barst hits level 8, and gains HP. Not a total waste. I guess it's getting back at me for the amazing levels I got earlier. Cain gets level 10, and gains Strength, Skill, and Speed.

Marth kills the boss with a critical hit. He levels up to 24 and gains HP, Speed, Luck and Defense.

How exactly? I kinda want to see Medeus's propaganda.

Nice freeze of Marth stabbing him there in the background.

And we get out first look at Medeus himself.

Impudent? I'll show you impudent!

Medeus is an Earth dragon, and he says he'll be harder to tame than Gharnef. But Gharnef was invulnerable except for a particular spell... so... and we have Falchion... so...

Chapter 25, Engame: Chosen by Fate.

We break into four groups and storm Dohlr keep, unaware that that is exactly what Medeus expects.

Well, this map will be difficult. Lots of Ballisticians and Swarm Mages. Lots of windy corridors and hallways. Several more manaketes. A number of stairwells I assume reinforcements will pop out of. Medeus himself has a range of two, a manakete and two snipers guarding him, and two bishops to heal him. And I'm pretty sure I need Marth to kill him with the Falchion.

I make sure I fill out everyone's equipment slots, including the legendary weapons from Archanea. Draug gets the bow, in absence of anyone else, as Generals get to use bows. I swap Wolf for Elice, partly because it seems fitting that she be present but mostly so I can try using the Arm staff to revive someone. See how that works. It only has one charge. I forge a Steel Bow for Draug as Draug's Bow, using half my remaining funds. Hey, it's the endgame, right?

15 units again, so the roster is the same except for the Elice for Wolf swap.

Shall we try this?

Oh hi Gotoh. Hanging out with your best friend Malledus I see. Gotoh says Marth and company have convinced him there is hope for humanity yet and offers to help. He joins the party! Last minute join!

Thanks, good timing there.

Gotoh says Marth is the hope of the land, Prince of Light, and his family would be proud, and Marth flashes back to Cain conveying his father's last words, and Malledus telling him that Elice knows he is the hope of the entire land.

Marth calls out "Come, let us send Medeus back to the shadows for all eternity and bring light back to the land." And we get a sudden shot of Medeus being his big dragon self.

Medeus's true form.

Battle starts. So the Aim staff lets me pick any unit that died previously and bring them back. I'm torn. Ogma, Navarre, Gordin... story wise I should probably get Hardin, since he was like the prince of one of the countries that was conquered or something, right? Maybe I'll do him. And send him to the vendors because he and Elice are basically going to be my bystanders.

Ooh, Gotoh has Swarm! Hahahaha, take that enemy swarm mages! How does it feel?

A manakete goes for Athena but she dodges its fire breath (I love that animation) and muders it. Level 8 gets her another HP. Cain kills an enemy paladin on the counterattack and gets HP, Strength and Skill at level 11.

Marth kills another paladin with Lightbringer, his special Rapier I made, and hits level 25. He gains HP, Strength, Skill, Speed and Luck. Good, I want his stats high before he fights Medeus!

Caeda reaches level 11, and gains Luck. Meh. Minerva at level 10 also gains just luck. Tiki hits level 12 though and gains HP, Strength, Skill and Speed! Much better. Draug at level 2 general gets HP, Speed and Defense. Elice gets to level 11 from using the Fortify Staff which heals all my friends. She gains HP, Speed, Luck and Resistance. Abel gets to level 9 (he fell behind Cain because he's not fast enough to double the manaketes yet) and gains HP, Skill, Speed and Luck.

Oh interesting, previously open doors close behind us. Best to get through these rooms fast and join forces then.

Est reaches level 8 and gains Strength and Luck. Elice goes to level 12 and gains Speed, Luck, and Resistance. I like this fortify staff for her, she can stand in our start zone and just... help out. Catria hits level 10 and gains Luck and Defense... and then dies because I forgot the F*&%@ING SNIPERS AGAIN.

Shoot. Sorry Catria. I'm not redoing the whole level...

Barst hits level 9, gains HP, Strength and Skill... and then dies to a paladin because I forgot to check their movement. Gah.It's going to be a pyrrhic victory if I pull this off.

VENGEANCE! Tiki kills the manakete that weakened Barst and levels to 13, getting HP, Skill and Speed. Draug utterly annihilates the offending paladin with his Draug Bow. Est murders the sniper that killed her sister with legendary weapon Gradivus.

I see there are some reinforcements in the form of a ballistician and a mage on the left side of the field... Abel ignores them to kill the last manakete and hits level 10, gaining HP, Strength and Skill. But no worries, Athena kills the mage and levels to 9, gaining HP and Luck. Elice fortifies again and levels to 13. She gains HP, Skill, Speed and Luck. I should have brought my last Master Seal for her at this rate.

More reinforcements show up... right next to Hardin and Julian who were checking out the vendor. Lovely. Lena uses a Warp staff to put Tiki right next to the new Manakete, and Tiki promptly kills it in one shot. Draug kills a dracoknight and goes to level 3, gaining HP, Strength and Luck.

Hardin has the honor of being the only character to die twice in this game when the hero reinforcement hits him twice. Est however kills another manakete and gets to level 9. She gains Strength, Skill and Luck. Julian levels to 21 almost but not quite killing the hero that got Hardin. He gains HP, Speed and Luck. Tiki... misses a 92% chance to finish the hero off. Lovely. Gotoh saves them with Swarm.

In the assault on the throne room, Cain kills a manakete and levels to 12, gaining Strength and Skill. Elice again gains a level from Fortify, getting HP, Magic, Skill and Luck. The final manakete by Medeus attacks Cain and dies. Cain hits level 13 and gets HP. Elice hits level 15, gaining Magic, Skill and Speed. I really should have brought that Master Seal.

Cain has strayed into Medeus's range...

If he conquered the entire continent while slumbering, I'd hate to see him awake!

But Medeus misses. Cain runs over and kills a manakete reinforcement that showed up and hits level 14, gaining Skill and Luck.

Uh oh, Marth cannot one-shot Medeus with Falchion, it's going to take at least two hits...

Minerva defends the retreating Tiki and Julian from another wave of reinforcements an hits level 11. She gains Speed.

And Marth kills Medeus with two critical hits in a row!

Another picture of Marth stabbing a dragon in the background. 

Medeus warns Marth that the light surrounding him is only a temporary respite. He cannot be destroyed so long as the darkness in human hearts sustains him. Hi Zeromous, welcome to Fire Emblem I guess.

Marth levels up to 26, gaining HP, Strength, Skill and Luck.

And I win the game!

Afterward: Dolhr relaxes its grip on the land and fades into obscurity after Medeus dies.

Marth and Caeda talk!

Caeda asks where Marth is going. To Altea of course! He has to rebuild his kingdom.

Caeda: So you're bidding farewell to Talys forever?

Marth: I have to tell your father the war is over and thank him.

Caeda:

Caeda storms out. Nyna passes her in the hallway, and comes to ask Marth what's up. Marth explains, and Nyna's like "oh Marth, you idiot."

Marth is about 18 I guess. I was like this too, although at 18 I had not lead an army to liberate a continent from a dragon and an evil wizard...

The voice of "be sure to act before it's too late"

This is actually a beautifully phrased sentiment that I wish someone had said to me... at least 20 times when I was a teenager. And maybe tattooed it to my face?

Fortunately Nyna talks Marth into telling Caeda how he feels, and he tells Caeda that he had hoped he would return to Altea with Caeda by his side.

Out with it Marth, it's ok, she's been signaling that she's into you since the beginning of the game.

He's never felt more like a 16 year old. 

Aww.

And that's the end! I get a Campaign summary screen about how long it took me to do each chapter.

And then the fun part, the after campaign wrap up!

Marth became King. Caeda married him. I get a couple people who died. A lot of people who died...

Cain became a knight instructor, with the title King's Voice. Abel is Altea's Shield, but then left the army to open a shop. Draug... did something I with this wasn't auto scrolling.

Julian found an honest job in Macedon. Lena cared for orphans in Macedon.

Merric returned to Khadein and kept studying. Matthis went back to Macedon. Wolf founded the Wolfguard, knights of Aurelis. Rickard returned home and kept thieving. Bantu sealed the power of the dragon stones and lived in Dollar. Caesar was lost track of even though he lived. Radd fell in love but we don't know how it turned out. Roger went back to Grust and is called "Still Single". Jeorge commanded Archanea's palace knights. Maria served Macedon as a cleric. Minerva restored Macedon but did not want to be queen. Linde became a lady of Nyna's court. Jake helped rebuild his town. Midia became a captain of the Archanean knights. Dolph became a general, and Macellan left the army. Tomas was an unknown. Both resumed being Archanea's royal bishop. Beck subjugated rebels. Astram became captain of Archanea's free company and was given a legendary sword. Palla helped rebuild Macedon. Arran became captain of Altea's knights. Xane left without a word. Est fell in love with an Altean knight and stopped being a knight (boo!) Tiki lived with Bontu. Lorenz became regent of Grust. Elice stood by Marth. Gotoh became archmage of Archanea. Athena... "vere she vent nobody knows."

The end!

So I could have had more stories if I hadn't killed half my people...

I'm disappointed with Est's end story because she was awesome. But I guess she found more happiness with love than with knighthood... I just feel like that sells short who she was in the game.

So that was Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon! The remake of the original Fire Emblem. I like this style of tactical game, and the story developed some surprising depth towards the end.

I wish it had not had so much "only your male blood can save us" in it, and I wish the gaiden chapters had not been locked behind killing all my people every few maps, but I did enjoy it. I will definitely play the next one (which takes place in the same world but on a different continent, as I understand it.)

I'm not sure if I'd replay this one in particular though. I know some of the later games do better at character development with more interactions between people in battle (like the White Wings had in this one). But I can see why the game became a series from this.

Favorite character: Est, hands down. I want her to have her own game.

I also liked Caeda, especially when she randomly started flirting with Roger while fighting him. Minerva, Maria, Catria and Palla were all highlights, I enjoyed their story as much if not more than Marth's.

Marth was... a player stand in? He was kind of bland for a lot of the game, but he started growing on me towards the end.

I also liked Gordin and Merric, for green hair, but Cain and Abel were probably my MVPs of the game. They carried me through several maps and were consistently strong.

So not the most organized closing thoughts, but there you have it!

I hope you enjoyed this series! Next up will probably be Octopath Traveler, which I've wanted to do for awhile.