Prologue

Opening Chapters

Birthright Part 1

Birthright Part 2

Birthright Part 3

Birthright is, in the minds of fans who value story as much or more than they value gameplay, the “good” version of Fates. It’s pretty standard FE formula, but it works. Or does it?

The short answer is that, yes, it does. Protagonist Nation gets invaded by black-draped Evil Nation, Protagonist recruits an army of allies via the power of friendship and/or political expediency and then stages a counter-invasion in which they learn that not everyone in the Evil Nation is evil but most of them have to die anyway, possibly something about incest, main villain is revealed to be and/or be in league with a deified dragon making the whole thing a thinly-veiled metaphor for the death of God, villain dies and everyone goes home and parties except that about half of the character ending information is “lost to history” and there’s a vague sense that not everything will end so well in the long run – it’s the quintessential Fire Emblem experience with a pseudo-Japanese gloss.

The slightly longer answer is that, resting as it does the remarkably shoddy worldbuilding that plagues all three routes, Birthright succeeds best in those broad archetypical strokes and falls flat in several places when you look at them more closely. I pointed out the more glaring ones during my replay, ranging from the silliness that goes down on Mount Garou to the unnecessary and/or contrived circumstances that make up the Takumi possession plotline. Many of these weak points undermine Birthright’s attempts at generating drama, particularly in its numerous instances of named character death. Perhaps half of these succeed in any appreciable measure, and when there are around half a dozen to sit through that’s not a great showing. Also, Birthright Corrin is not as angry as I remembered, and almost all of the anger they do express is directed at the route’s flat antagonists rather than at Nohr in general or at the honorable (read: playable) characters continuing to support Nohrian aggression in spite of everything. That makes it easier to sympathize with Xander’s last stand or Elise’s impossible wish for peace, but it also leaves Corrin without some of the drive I was expecting going back in. It’s nowhere near the same league as Leif’s rage at Travant, put it that way. And yes, the situation in Thracia is politically and ethically complicated, but that only further illustrates the problem that the one in Birthright is very much not – or rather, where it is complicated the game would prefer that you not dwell on it.

That brings me to Ryoma, arguably the largest source of ethical dissonance across all three routes, and someone who cuts into the themes of Birthright at multiple points. Ironic in that he’s unquestionably the most OP unit on this route and in a sense more of the deuterotagonist than even Azura, but there it is. If anything, the story is initially scripted as if Ryoma were the main protagonist, only for him to surprise everyone and fall in line behind Corrin after his recruitment. This, combined with the moments where the writing tidily sweeps away any potential accusations of wrongdoing or neglect by Ryoma or Hoshido – his ignorance of Nohr’s resource problem, their lack of response to the fall of Kohga – stress that Ryoma is meant to be read as a heroic leader assuming his rightful place as king – his birthright, if you will *ahem* – and bringing an era of peace between nations. I wasn’t exactly tearing up like the other Hoshidan royals at Ryoma’s coronation speech though, because at that point his rhetoric about Hoshido and Nohr as two equally great countries that balance out one another rings rather hollow. When paired with his actions in Conquest it’s little wonder that he gets a fair amount of criticism in the fandom that the game proper refuses to give him. He doesn’t quite steal the spotlight away from Corrin and he is notably absent from the most important scenes of Takumi’s arc (such as it is), but he does illustrate substantially more than all the “Nohrian scum!”s added to the localized script ever could that Hoshido is hiding behind an image they don’t entirely deserve, though the writers apparently disagree.

One last point regarding the title of this route and what I said above about whose story this actually is. From Revelation (and from the Corrin/Hoshidan royal S supports) we know that the basic emotional conflict of Fates’s route split, that of biological vs. adopted family, is fundamentally flawed. Corrin is not really related by blood to anyone present at the route split except Azura, and it’s left up to the fully-informed player to decide if this is good bit of dramatic irony or the game undermining one of its core themes just so your self-insert has more characters they can bone. For my part I still believe the spirit of Birthright holds up, not because of Corrin’s connection to the Hoshidan siblings but rather because the biggest drive of this route is an act of vengeance for Mikoto’s – and, eventually, other characters’ – deaths. The ending drives this home in that it is as much a eulogy for Mikoto as a celebration of Hoshido’s victory. Corrin’s decision in Birthright comes down to honoring the memory of their mother, their only known biological relative outside of Revelation. It’s still dramatic irony, and those supports with the royals are still weird and awkward in the way that FE loves so much, but it’s not deceptive (except where Ryoma is concerned, but better to complain about that in Conquest).

No final commentary on gameplay since I’m playing so casually, although I have to say that at the quick pace I was going I found raising the kids at all to be more of a waste of resources than an advantage. We all know that the royals own this game, and Ryoma this route in particular. It’s like Genealogy minus the Horse Emblem bit. I was though pleasantly surprised to find Birthright’s gameplay more engaging overall than I remembered, thanks to Dragon Veins and some creative maps. It’s a disservice to call it on par with Awakening’s game design, honestly.

Next time: taking a week or so off, then Conquest Chapter 6-14

Prologue

Opening Chapters

Birthright Part 1

Birthright Part 2

Chapters 19-Endgame, in which the invasion of Nohr brings many a tragic confrontation and also Garon.

Chapter 19

Appropriately for the guy who takes over the role of Old Hubba, the Rainbow Sage is a massive troll. Shameless and unjustified plug of my favorite Fates ship, whatever do you mean?

Unfortunately, that’s about the most that can be gotten out of this iteration of the Sevenfold Sanctuary. As the only map other than Chapter 6 to appear on all three routes and with a direct link to the overarching cosmology of Fates, the Sanctuary should be a major source of information on the setting…but in this case it really isn’t. Birthright doesn’t explain who the Sage is, that he created the divine weapons, or that he has any connection to Anankos or dragons or anything. It doesn’t even allow Corrin to learn that the Sage dies shortly after their encounter, and while I appreciate not saddling Birthright with yet another death scene it does contribute to that unsatisfying feeling of ambiguity in much the same way that Azura’s disappearance (read: death) at the end of Conquest does.

At least the Sanctuary is an interesting map to play except when units use up all their movement going upstairs and get stuck on that tile so no one else can go up, with its Birthright version pitting you against multiple promoted generics of classes unique to Fates. Then Corrin reaches the top and gets a Yato upgrade for no apparent reason. The Sage isn’t present for the first Yato upgrade in Conquest, so that element also feels oddly timed. Why not have it happen during a scene between Corrin and Takumi, say after he’s recovered from his illness, and then have the Sage explain what happened later and allude to its third form to come? True, it would have made this chapter feel even more pointless apart from some philosophizing about the journey being the destination, but on the other hand Takumi might have had something resembling a plausible character arc in this route.

Chapter 20

Like Chapters 11 and 14 and the one after this, this is a filler chapter in the sense that not much of interest to the plot happens though it falls in line with the general thrust of the story. That’s not a bad thing however, especially not when it comes attached to a creative premise like this one. In one of his more clever acts of cardboard cutout villainy, Iago renanimates a fort built from a dead dragon while Corrin’s army is inside it, and thus they find themselves stuck fighting an army of Faceless in pools of stomach acid and the unpleasant thought of impending digestion. Good thing this map doesn’t have a turn limit…eww.

Minor plot bits: Azura continues to be vague about her powers, and Ryoma shows off an in-depth knowledge of Nohr that’s going to look awfully suspicious two chapters from now.

Chapter 21

Indeed. Another creative set piece masking what is by now a textbook invasion plot, though I find this one a bit weaker since they try to provide a semi-scientific explanation for the phenomenon. Why not just nod and accept that this is the kind of thing that exists in not!Mordor and move on?

This is another map with an interesting use for Dragon Veins, even if it’s fairly easy to figure out how not to get trapped. The final segment before the boss, where you’re stuck slogging through damaging lava tiles and continually respawning enemies to reach the end, actually did throw me off because I’d forgotten about it, so score another one for Birthright’s underrated gameplay twists.

There’s a snippet here that re-establishes the Nohrian siblings just before the start of endgame, a useful cutaway even as it’s one of several in Fates that depends on convenient eavesdropping and Garon not even bothering to hide the evil. I’ll be talking about this later of course, but now that I’ve played FE4 and experienced Eldigan I find Xander’s hopeless position here even more sympathetic. The guy’s in a hopeless situation and knows it, not unlike many other Camuses. Also, we learn that the war back in Hoshido isn’t going well, a detail I appreciate since it adds urgency to Corrin’s mission and plays well into the inference that Hoshido’s military was slacking thanks to Mikoto and her magical brainwashing barrier. Weird how Yukimura will be joining the party in a few chapters when he apparently has more pressing problems, but let’s just go with it.

Chapter 22

*rubs forehead* Oh, Lord. Right here is the single biggest “what” pileup of Birthright. I’m not even going to bother getting into Shura, because I can address him in Conquest. The other stuff? Not so much – and that’s painfully ironic on all counts.

Firstly, the map is kind of a dud. It’s a basic circular town layout with some healing Dragon Veins and an uninteresting selection of enemies, including more unpromoted ones than have been seen in a while. Also, if it weren’t for the things Shura got up to in the past this would be a totally bland bandit fight – in the lategame.

Second, very little about the Nohrian underground makes sense. Clearly some of the royals do know about it, and the others would have been able to figure out that something was up if most of their population rarely appears above ground. Ryoma’s observation of “some poverty” flies in the face of the idea of Nohr as a barren wasteland where nothing can survive. (The Nohrian resources in Corrin’s castle are another contradiction, but that can be excused by gameplay and story segregation.) Even Elise the flower girl is a source of confusion, because while it suggests that state of fallen nobility that I find relatable it’s also patently absurd. The Nohrian royals are not fallen in an literal sense but the reigning family of the kingdom, but she’s only doing it to help out her nanny, who I suppose isn’t being paid by the palace because everyone in Nohr is secretly poor except when they aren’t or something. Whatever.

But on that note, how in the hell did Ryoma not know about Nohr’s resource scarcity? He knows about Nohrian geography, major military installations, internal resistance movements, and a whole host of other information that comes out in exposition dumps, but when Silas lays one on him about something as trivial as why Nohr is such an aggressive nation in the first place it’s news to him. Just…what. This plus the scene with Shura are two prime examples of how Fates and Birthright in particular bend over backwards to make Ryoma appear unfailingly heroic. I will be saving that larger criticism for my final summation of the route, but it’s impossible to ignore even in its smaller beats.

Chapter 23

Doesn’t exactly carry the same weight as the first time, in terms of either fanservice or character expression. In a way it’s a fitting contrast though, because Camilla here doesn’t leave half as strong an impression as she did back in Chapter 13. Maybe it’s because she hasn’t developed at all since the last encounter, and so this confrontation feels more like a gameplay necessity than a narrative followup to the last one. The chapter itself on the other hand is great, with several different ways to approach it, the complication of Elise’s retainers, and annoying Dragon Veins for Camilla’s use. I just wasn’t expecting the final showdown with the second biggest non-flat (pun intended?) antagonist in Birthright to feel so…hollow. In a way a large part of her character is her lack of broader goals as well as a certain degree of stagnation, but that’s a discussion for the ending.

By the way, is it just me (and/or Normal mode), or are Camilla and her retainers some of the easier enemies on this map? That also added to the feeling of anticlimax.

Chapter 24

Great visuals and an interesting map, kind of bad otherwise. Hans is so blandly evil that there’s little satisfaction in killing him, and Lilith’s death is as random as it is stupid. It’s marginally better than her death in Conquest on account of what kills her, but that’s not saying much. Did they really just need an excuse to give Ryoma another inspiring speech?

I want to know more about that chained dragon statue. There’s got to be some intentional symbolism there.

Chapter 25

Does anyone else find the staging of this scene above to be really silly? Especially as stuff like Azura getting muffled and Sakura doing…something to interrupt Iago are all expressed only through dialogue and sound effects. Also, Iago points out that Ryoma would be enraged if Corrin is forced to kill Takumi, but no reason is ever given that Ryoma isn’t right there with everyone else.

Ugh, never mind. As I brought up back in Chapter 10 there’s no logical connection between Takumi’s possession by Anankos back then and his possession by Iago since, except maybe by proxy with slime!Garon since we know Iago got some new powers through him. That’s still a weak connection, and its relationship to Takumi’s underlying feelings of resentment feels even weaker since Birthright dropped that thread of his character many chapters ago. It’s telling and not showing at this point…and it’s all fixed in five seconds with Azura’s singing with no lasting repercussions anyway. One dull chapter structurally similar to a lategame Awakening map later and Leo gets to off Iago and drop cryptic hints about the big Conquest twist. I like that each of the routes leaves mysteries that require cross-referencing with the other routes to fully explain, and again Azura’s crystal is less cringe-worthy in the hands of a major NPC. I am however left wondering if Leo is supposed to have some particular authority over Nohr’s mages, because this is the second time in Birthright that he charges into the scene just to dole out judgment on one of them. He does it the other routes too, if I remember correctly.

Chapter 26

Now that’s is a fine hunk of tragically doomed man right there.

It would be impossible for anyone to determine which of Fates’s royals has generated the most discourse, as pretty much all of them except possibly the little sisters are in the running – and even they brought the outrage that you can get them pregnant. Even so Xander is a strong contender. He’s either a great Camus or a highly derivative one that puts on all the trappings of the archetype but lacks the core. He shows little consistency between his presentation in the story and in his supports. His personal philosophy varies on almost a scene-by-scene basis. He’s an idiot for trusting Garon as long as he does in all three routes. Whatever was up with his fabulous springtime self in Heroes. And so forth.

Obviously I’ve liked this guy for years so this is coming from a biased source, but in my opinion this chapter hangs together extremely well and works as a solid emotional climax to this route, with the Garon fight to follow more a formality than anything else. Xander captures the fatalistic mindset of a Camus perfectly, in large part because the world continues to screw him over again and again in quick succession. He’s trapped in a situation he never wanted but from which he can’t retreat without compromising himself, even after accidentally killing Elise. I don’t consider it cold of him to continue fighting after that as one last attempt to go down with dignity. 

Xander, as the crown prince and as the one among his siblings who knew the real Garon the longest, believes in Nohr and in what his father used to be, and as such he dies exactly as a Camus should. The irony is that, for all the conscious effort the Nohrian royals put into performing their roles, in the end Xander is a genuinely better representation of the archetype he was designed to represent than Ryoma is for his – though that’s something to delve into in Conquest.

Some of the staging of this chapter is just a bit ridiculous (how could anything involving Peri not be, for starters?), but I can excuse that for how strong it is on the whole. Now onto the actual ending….

Chapter 27 + Endgame

Little remains to be said. Garon might have been built up to be the equivalent of a Zephiel or Ashnard, but in Birthright he’s more like the generic fire dragon that serves as the final boss of FE7. At least he’s actually evil, I suppose. Something something power of friendship weapon power-ups, something something Corrin sees dead people. Azura’s death is fairly effective as it’s the culmination of what exists of her development over the course of this route, and the allusions toward a bigger story work for what they are – plugs for you to buy the third route, naturally. 

Next time: ending and final thoughts on Birthright

Prologue

Opening Chapters

Birthright Part 1

Chapters 12-18, in which Nohr’s border states and Nohr’s royal family all have Problems, and the named character death begins.

Chapter 12

In a statement that should surprise no one, I love Cyrkensia. Nohr is such a careless mess of European cultures that it’s hard for me to find it identifiable on the same level that, for example, Agustria in Jugdral or remake!Zofia in Valentia are identifiable analogues to France. Nestra and its glimmering capital go a long way toward making up for that failing. The concept of an opera with an indoor pool crossed by gondolas is so sumptuous and so thoroughly Latin (and also so relevant to gameplay, fancy that) that I can almost forgive some of the patently stupid things that go down there in the name of plot.

Let’s talk about the Birthright rendition. Doylist intimidation tactic aside, why is Garon there? There’s no logical reason why he – much less the slime monster currently pretending to be him – would make a side trip to another country while Nohr is staging an invasion of their primary enemies. It’s really just a vehicle to set up Azura’s dance in this route and the groans of increasing discomfort that ensue, and more importantly to throw Corrin into contact with two of his estranged siblings for the first time since choosing Hoshido. I will say that both of those meetings work well as followup and foreshadowing for later, and that as mentioned having both an overpowered Garon and a slightly less overpowered (but mobile on harder difficulties, I believe) Xander on the battlefield really works for that feeling of urgency. I just wish this chapter came with a more plausible foundation. I also wish that Kaden had a less random entrance, but recruiting the shapeshifter(s) in Cyrkensia is a recurring gimmick in all routes. I guess they just love the opera?

Zola gets the axe here, literally, after a partial change of heart that makes you think for a bit about him. It’s minuscule character growth, but then again it’s more than this game’s dynamic duo of flat pointless villains ever get.

Side note: It was around this time that I started getting child paralogues. I’m not going to be commenting on those individually, because in terms on story they’re quite repetitive. Some have interesting gameplay gimmicks whereas others…not so much, but that’s about all separating them. I will be playing through the story-focused DLCs after the main game, so I’ll have the chance to comment on the kids then, i.e. when their existence actually matters.

Chapter 13

As I am a Kinsey 6 gay and thus entirely immune to Camilla’s turn on the catwalk, allow me to attempt to analyze this scene beyond the near-certain assumption that someone somewhere is currently jacking off to it.

I do like what I think the writers were trying to do with Camilla’s character, namely that the way she presents herself is extremely deliberate. She approaches an enemy army on foot and (apparently) unarmed, strutting up to them, infantilizing their leader, and not giving away that anything is off until she attacks them and signals for her ambushing troops. It can’t really be conveyed in standard gameplay, but Camilla weaponizes her sexuality as well as her twisted maternal instinct. The combination of the two is actually even more unnerving, something that the fandom has definitely picked up on. Camilla’s design may be first and foremost about fanservice, and her character may add on to that in a way that feels deliberately kinky, but in-universe that makes for a strongly constructed sexual presentation, from the cleavage and crotch window to the mommy kink to the sapphic undertones (present here when she talks about her retainers, as always). While all four re-introductions of the Nohrian siblings in Birthright set up how their relationships with Corrin will progress from that point, Camilla’s is undoubtedly the most memorable.

Anyway, the chapter. Uh, the lightning Dragon Veins feel kind of random, half this chapter is about visiting houses which is never fun in any FE (but look at all the cool stuff!), and we end with Nohrian sibling drama and Ryoma being amazing even when he’s dressed up like a generic general. Scarlet joins, this being the only route where she doesn’t die horribly, but like most Corrinsexuals there’s not much to her.

Chapter 14

An awkward chapter, one where the map delivers rather little on what its story promises. We jump from an unexpected – and offscreen – Nohrian invasion of the Chevois resistance base to a tunnel leading Corrin’s group to an impressively huge wall and amassed legions of Nohrian soldiers. And afterwards, it ends with the rather gruesome display above and Azura’s vague explanation of how her powers work. That’s prime material for an immediate military conflict, foreshadowing for future plot events, and a fitting script for how the rest of this route will play out, the “stage counter-invasion of antagonistic invading nation” part of the standard FE plot.

Only…the chapter is merely an assault on what feels like a small border fort, with exploitable Dragon Veins to make the second half much easier than it otherwise would be and no notable encounters apart from when you have to mow down Benny and Charlotte. Unlike a whole bunch of characters to come they don’t get a tragic death scene or even definite confirmation that they actually died, but as they’re among the few playable characters who are neither royals nor in direct service to royals there’s something to be said for their forgettable deaths. This is also one of those times where the boss is capturable if you’re going for unique enemy recruits, but that’s a feature I never used much in Fates. Units with no dialogue, supports, or story presence interest me very little and remind me of Archanea.

Chapter 15

I’m usually fine with the furry stuff, but werewolves just aren’t my thing. *shrugs*

Anyway, when people praise Birthright for its coherent plotting (in contrast to the other routes at least) I imagine they’re referring to the broad overview, which is indeed quite easy to follow except for at the very beginning when everyone separates for no reason and Corrin has to reunite them because that’s what you do in an FE plot. However, what this assessment overlooks is that a good number of the smaller story beats rely on contrivances to work. This chapter features two such contrived circumstances, and in fact wouldn’t even exist without them:

1) Corrin is initially successful at convincing Keaton to not attack their army, but a blast of dark magic from an offscreen Nohrian kills one of the wolfskin and prompts them all to attack. I’m picturing Iago cackling in a bush just up the path.

2) After the battle, a random landslide throws Corrin off a cliff. Kaze saves them but sacrifices himself in the process unless the two have at least an A support. He does so by throwing a shuriken at a crystal on a nearby wall that explodes and knocks them both back onto solid ground. It’s as ridiculous as it sounds. This then segues (if you can call it that) into Corrin and Ryoma observing the sun rising over Nohr.

The first one is just a rehash of what happened in Chapters 3 and 8 with Nohrians giving you enemies to kill via umprompted aggression, but that second one is just…painfully stupid. I appreciate the concept of basing the outcome of a plot event around support levels, and it’s fitting that it should involve Kaze as the guy’s got a complex about failing to protect Corrin before, but there’s no logical connection between setup and payoff here. Nothing about the situation is dependent on the depth of Corrin and Kaze’s relationship, and there’s no direct association with Kaze’s previous failure or the rest of the chapter for that matter. The version of the scene where Kaze dies makes slightly more sense as it allows Kaze to exposit on his dedication and is followed by a more somber sunrise scene, but it still feels disconnected. It might be ambitious from a gameplay perspective (and undoubtedly surprised and pissed off some first-time players as a result), but Kaze’s death or near-death falls flat – pun intended.

Chapter 16

Ooh, a pleasure palace. Sounds kinky.

Taking it up the ass while his probably underage sister watches and coaches him on? That is kinky.

But seriously, this chapter’s title is entirely irrelevant. The map design doesn’t even suggest extravagance in the way that the equivalent Conquest chapter does, and the conflict revolves an unrelated illness and Iago being Iago. Flora shows up only to be firebombed into unconsciousness, which will much funnier and/or more ironic after the next chapter. I appreciate that this is one of the rare occasions in FE where royalty are known to have multiple residences in their domains, even if that appreciation is a bit muted because of what we’re to believe Nohr as a whole looks like.

I didn’t remember before now just how much Birthright loves to screw over Takumi. The guy suffers through not one but two rounds of possession for most of his screentime and just happens to pick up a life-threatening fever from those filthy scavenging wolfskin (is Sakura racist?). Oh, and he gets to live with the guilt of having been Iago’s mole in the party all this time. As I said last time I believe Takumi is at his best in Conquest, where his anger and resentment is allowed to develop organically into prime antagonist material. On the other routes it just feels like the writers are repeatedly punishing him because he’s initially kind of a dick.

More on Corrin’s servants next chapter, because that’s the climax of their arcs in this route. Actually now that I think of it the join time of the second servant appears to be timed specifically for Birthright, since I can’t think of any plot events they’re involved in around this point in either of the other routes. Sometimes they don’t even try to hide that Birthright was written first.

Chapter 17

Yeah, you’re pretty embarrassing, Flora. *snickers* 

Intellectually, I know what I should be feeling in this chapter. It’s even helped along by an interesting gameplay gimmick that turns the usual chore of visiting villages on its head and an icy aesthetic that appeals to me as it only could for someone condemned to living in the sweltering subtropics. But damn, Flora’s death scene is just stupid.  It’s a meme and a fandom in-joke up there with Sigurd’s own barbecuing (on a quick Google search I’ve even noted that people have linked the two), but at least Belhalla was a plausible setup for death by immolation and wasn’t thoroughly silly. How did Flora light herself on fire when her demonstrated magical powers do the exact opposite? How is she still standing and talking as she’s being consumed by flames? Why couldn’t she just stab herself with the dagger she’s holding and go out that way?

The fate of the Ice Tribe is supposed to be a tragedy, one that plays out across all three routes as it does with the Wind Tribe and Mokushu and their respective relationships to the two main kingdoms. On a more personal level it also speaks to Garon’s/Anankos’s capacity to abuse trust, in this case the trust placed in one’s servants and vassals. It’s a different kind of betrayal from all the family drama playing out elsewhere in Birthright, and as with the other good points I mentioned above I really ought to enjoy this chapter much more than I actually did. The last scene is just so badly handled though. In my opinion it’s the worst death scene of the many in Birthright (including Kaze’s optional non-death).

Chapter 18

Being a drama queen must run in the Nohrian royal family. It makes me curious to see what the real Garon would have been like after watching the theatrical displays of his children. Leo’s is the most dramatic of them all, unsettling entrance and zombies in a graveyard and over-the-top dialogue about shadow and darkness he probably cribbed from Odin and everything. It’s almost a shame that the fight against him and his harem can be ended so quickly.

Although Fates likes to play up the parallels between its equivalent royals, there’s an air of artificiality to the Nohrians that makes them feel less straightforward even as on the surface they’re acting out the same roles as their Hoshidan counterparts. In Leo’s case he can’t match Takumi’s genuine bitterness and jealousy of Corrin, but he can sure as hell try with a performance that sees him practically scripting himself as rival and antagonist. I regret forgetting about Birthright Leo when I was mercilessly judging the Camus archetype, because even though Xander just about nails that part later on Leo also comes at your army with all the trappings of a Camus just the same. Sure, neither’s conviction to the image really holds up in the end, but as I said that’s a big part of what Nohr is about. 

This is a strong chapter to end the midgame on despite its short length and the plot trinket swapping that goes on after the fight. Corrin gets to do some convenient teleporting and Leo gets to see slime!Garon, and I have to say that Azura’s crystal feels like marginally less of a cop-out when it’s put in the hands of a major NPC rather than the protagonist. It might be the single worst plot point in the overall mess that is Conquest’s story, but here it’s merely a blip on the radar and, if I’m being honest, feels even more so when contrasted against Leo’s convenient tome of teleportation.

Next time: Birthright Chapter 19 – Endgame