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Designer's notes
Genealogy of the Holy War playing guide
Intelligent Systems originally planned to do a second designer's notes
page for Genealogy of the Holy War,
but
never
made it in the end. The first page's contents
were included in the Fire Emblem:
Treasure book, while it's likely the
second page's contents were included in this book - the Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War playing guide
(link
to
Amazon).
Q: Is there any relationship with the continent of
Akaneia from the previous game?
A: Yes. In terms of eras, the era of Genealogy
of
the Holy War occurs long before the continent of Akaneia.
Jugdral was an advanced country, whereas Akaneia barely held any level
of civilisation. At this time, the dragon tribes of Akaneia were
deciding on how to handle the human race. The Divine Dragon tribe and
the Earth Dragon tribe divided into two opposing sides, the same Earth
Dragon tribe appearing in Genealogy
of the Holy War.
Note: Oddly, I don't see any mention of
the Miracle of Darna or calendar years, which are cited by some
Japanese sources.
Q: What is the relationship between Loputousu and
Narga?
A: The ancient dragon tribes possessed terrifying power and established
a glorious civilisation, but they were currently facing extinction and
it seemed impossible to avoid this fate. The Divine Dragon King, Narga,
suggested to the other dragon tribes the idea of passing on the new age
to the humans. However, the Earth Dragon tribe, who considered humans
to be common insects, openly opposed the Dragon King's decision and
launched an attack with the aim to exterminate the humans. To prevent
this move, Narga started a great war, recorded in the holy scriptures
of Akaneia as the "Guardian God Narga's War". In Genealogy of the Holy War, the
ambitious Bishop Galle believed the legend that "drinking the blood of
the ancient dragons grants one tremendous power and eternal life" and
traveled around the world, finally arriving at the continent of
Akaneia. He met with one of the Earth Dragons, Loputousu, who allowed
him to form a blood pact.
Q: Why did Narga grant his power to the humans of
Jugdral?
A: In the beginning, Narga didn't realise that Loputousu was planning
something on another continent, until he discovered the existence of
the Loputo Empire, which Galle had created using the dragon tribe's
power. In order to restore order to the world, Narga allied with 11
other dragons and decided to give humans their power in the form of the
Holy Weapons.
Q: How do the Holy Weapons work?
A: The dragon tribe has the ability to transfer their power and will
into dragon stones (what humans refer to as orbs). The Falchion from Mystery of the Emblem and powerful
magic like Aura, as well as the orbs on the 13 Holy Weapons of Jugdral,
are all dragon stones. Humans can obtain tremendous strength from these
dragon stones, but they are also in danger of losing their own will.
Usually, only those who have formed blood pacts with the dragon tribe
can use the power of the dragon stones, but there are exceptions if the
seal on the orb has been broken.
Note: I'm not sure if by "dragon stones",
they mean the ones that Manaketes use to transform with. Similar case
with the "orbs", I don't know if they're referring to the same orbs as
the Starsphere and etc.
Q: We're clear about Narga's intentions, but why
did Holsety decide to help?
A: Loputousu, Narga and Holsety held different positions compared to
the other dragons. Loputousu's plan was obvious - "to use Bishop Galle
to wreak vengeance on the humans", which is why he formed a blood pact
with Galle. The holy dark tome Loputousu contained Loputousu's
overpowering hatred and resentment towards humans, and was able to
control the human who broke its seal (namely Bishop Galle's
descendants, those who inherited large amounts of the original
pact-former's blood). So it was, a human who possessed Loputousu's
strength and will was born. (The final boss of Genealogy of the Holy War was his
victim.) In resistance, Narga gave the holy light tome, which he
transferred his own will and power into, to Saint Heim. For Narga, who
had always disliked interfering with the human world, this was a very
worrying decision.
Holsety was younger and held a higher level of good will and sympathy
for the humans compared to other dragons. If he had the chance, he
would even reside at Jugdral and protect the humans there. However, he
was convinced by Narga that it was silly to stay, so he had no choice
but to return to Akaneia. Still, his passion and will was inherited
strongly within the wind magic tome Holsety. For this reason, the
humans who inherit the Holsety tome inherit Holsety's will as well as
his power.
As for the other 10 weapons, when they pass on their power to their
successors, they do not affect the user's personality. This is why
within the Genealogy of Gods, there are 10 holy weapons whose name does
not match up exactly with their god.
Q: How is it possible to distinguish those who can
wield holy weapons?
A: A mark known as a "holy marking" surfaces on their bodies, which is
the proof of forming a blood pact with the dragon tribe. Although, the
time of appearance of the holy markings differs wildly for each person,
sometimes appearing during their youth or even when they're in their
old age. Additionally, it doesn't matter if the person is the eldest
child or if they're male, there is no rule, so often there are
occasions where the direct family has no successors of the holy
weapons. For instance, the Nodion Royal Family are all branch
descendants of Black Knight Hezul (the direct descendants are the
Agusty Royal Family), but they are the sole inheritors of the
pact-forming blood (of Hezul who formed a patch with the dragon tribe)
that allows them to wield Mistolteen.
Q: Is the Levin in the 2nd half of the game the
same person as Holsety?
A: I already mentioned previously how the Holsety tome would have a
strong effect on the the user's will. As soon as Levin obtained the
Holsety tome from his mother, Queen Rahna, his body already contained
another person's persona. The question of who Levin from the 2nd half
is doesn't have a clear answer, but compared to the previous Levin his
personality has undergone an obvious change. Even whether Levin's own
persona is alive or not is unclear.
Note: The Treasure interview also talks
about this, I'm not sure if they contradict eachother.
Q: Is there any special meaning behind Celice's
ability to dismount?
A: The reason for that is a simple one that I'm a little embarrassed
about, which is for "aesthetic purposes". At the beginning, we guessed
there would be many female fans who see Leaf, for example, and think
"he looks so handsome in battle, I don't want to promote him!".
Originally, we wanted every mounted character to have the option of
dismounting like in Mystery of the
Emblem. However, because of space issues we had to give this
idea up, so in the end only Celice's dismounting option was kept.
Q: Thracia and Lenster were formed by two siblings,
how did the two country's relations get so bad?
A: Originally, Dain and Noba had a strong sibling relationship that
made many envious. Together with the other 10 Crusaders, they toppled
the Loputo Empire's authoritarian rule, allowing freedom for the
citizens, and formed a prosperous kingdom at the Thracian peninsula.
After 10 years of peace, the two experienced an event that would be
passed on for generations [referring to the Tragedy of the Gaebolg].
Afterwards, the one who would succeed the Thracian throne was Dain's
son, but he wasn't the type of person who would make a good king. After
ascending the throne, he implemented a terror policy, operated by his
trusted subordinates, to suppress the masses. This resulted in Noba's
son leading the marquesses to rebel, and in the end they successfully
subdued the northern, fertile lands. Later, by Grandbell's mediation,
the small countries to the north pushed Lenster to become the leader of
the alliance, and with Thracia's permission they officially obtained
independence.
Q: What was the Tragedy of the Gaebolg?
A: Noba married a knight who was friends with her brother Dain and
lived a happy life with him. One day, her husband and King Dain fought
each other over some dispute. Noba tried to stop the two fighting, but
accidentally killed her beloved husband (the weapon that took his life
was her lance). That was the beginning of events, Later, Nova committed
suicide and King Dain died a mysterious death. Afterwards, within the
Lenster Royal Family the legend was passed on that "the Earth Lance and
Heaven Lance call to each other" and "the Earth Lance is a lance that
causes love and sorrow".
Q: Why is it that the Nodion Royal Family can wield
Mistolteen and not Agusty's leader?
A: Black Knight Hezul founded the Agusty Royal Family. He had many
children and one of them, his youngest daughter who possessed the holy
markings, was married off to the Nodion family. From then on, the
successor of the holy markings appeared within the Nodion Royal Family
and they were allowed to take the Demon Sword Mistolteen if they swore
an oath of loyalty to the Agusty Royal Family. In terms of bloodline,
the rulers of Agusty were Hezul's direct descendants.
Q: What led Trabant to raise Altenna?
A: Trabant is a person who tirelessly carried on the role of villain.
For his beloved Thracian land, he would tarnish his name and resort to
underhand tactics. In terms of the peoples' view of him, it would seem
that he is unbothered, but in reality he was an extremely passionate
man. During his battle with Cuan, he made the mistake of killing
Ethlin. He wasn't a blood-thirsty person at heart and that event
perhaps influenced his decision to raise Altenna. That's what he
probably thought at the beginning, but later he must have decided to
raise Altenna as he knew she was an important figure to Thracia, and
that's why he later educated her to become a ruler. Maybe he also
considered the possibility of one day letting her marry Areone. If he
wasn't born in Thracia, he would have been a true hero.
Q: Did Alvis know that Diadora was his half-sister?
A: Not in the beginning. Within the palace, there were few people who
could tell him about Prince Kurth and Cigyun's relationship, and he was
only 7 years old when his father committed suicide, so he would likely
have been uninterested in the palace gossip that was occurring during
that time. Afterwards, his beloved mother Cigyun disappeared, but
because of his powerful trust in his mother he wasn't disturbed by the
rumours. Alvis always held the belief that his mother would return for
him. He became the ruler of the Velthomer family in his youth and his
influence frightened the nobles. Often he would quarrel with them after
they disrespected his mother (even though they spoke the truth) and in
extreme cases, he even killed people.
Although he had no interest at all in girls, when he first saw Diadora
he fell in love at first sight, which may have been influenced by his
mother complex. After marrying Diadora, he noticed that Diadora often
seemed to be another person, and was afraid that one day she would
leave his side like his mother did. Gripped by this thought, he lived
his days with great unease (so we can see how much he loved Diadora...)
and heard rumours that "Sigurd's wife had gone missing", leading him to
carefully watch Sigurd. So during Chapter 5, he progressed with his
plan (to let Diadora meet Sigurd), which was caused by his inability to
let go his endless worry. He obviously shouldn't have checked, but he
was unable to control himself; that was the extent of Alvis's sorrow.
Following that, he investigated Diadora's past, traveling to the Spirit
Forest, and found out that she was Cigyun's daughter.
However, after discovering his wife was in fact his sister, his
feelings still hadn't changed. He simply tried his best to not let
Diadora find out the truth. The sorrow that Diadora would feel after
discovering the truth was the most unbearable thing for him... In the
end, although Diadora never recovered her memory, she did discover that
Sigurd was her husband, but she didn't hate Alvis at all. When her own
son Julius was about to kill her, she didn't show any resistance, which
is due to her subconsciously trying to repent for her crime. Regarding
Diadora's character, there are many ways one could judge her, but as
for this issue, it is still too early to draw a conclusion.
Missing pieces
Apparently there are notes regarding Claude and Sylvia's relationship,
although I heard it doesn't provide any interesting information. There
is also some discussion about the faults of the 2nd generation
characters.
Finally, there is a final word from Kaga who mentions that every player
has their own story; the discussions here are just a few of these
stories, they aren't supposed to be the true answers or settings.
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