Historical Lore 6 / 10
Elibe does a decent job exploring its lore and having it serve as a backdrop to all the happenings in the stories of both games. The Scouring is an event that affects both Blazing Sword and Binding Blade and gets brought up in both games. We also have some pretty kick butt lore about how powerful its regalia are too. We’re given more details about The Scouring too like who was winning the war at different points and why.
Humans declared the war and they were winning until the dragons started spawning War Dragons, which they got from Idunn. The dragons started getting the upper hand again until Elibe’s regalia came into the picture. Once the Divine Weapons were created the humans won the war. After that the Ending Winter came. Basically, the regalia in Elibe were so powerful that they broke the laws of physics and in order for nature to correct this imbalance a huge winter had to happen. Magic got sapped and both dragons and legendary weapons lost their power as a result. After that the regalia got sealed away and the heroes that defeated these dragons went on to build the nations of Elibe.
So why did I recap all the lore from the games? Well this is what good lore looks like. A big event happens, we have a good idea of how it happened and what the consequences of that big battle looked like. Unfortunately we never learn why this happened, but it still gets more right than wrong. The lore also gets brought up in both games and plays a role in the stories. The only things I wish it did was develop a more extensive chronology between what happened after The Scouring up until the present time in Blazing Sword and that it explained why the Scouring happened. Still, I’m pretty happy and content with what we were given with Elibe’s lore so I can’t complain too much.
Politics 8 / 10
I give Elibe third place in the category of politics. The main reason has to do with Binding Blade which is chock full of politics. Let’s run through a quick list of the politics that happen just in Binding Blade:
- The Lycia Alliance collapses within the first few chapters of the game. By the time Roy gets to Ostia he’s already had to deal with the shenanigans of Laus and Thria turning on him.
- Now we’re at Ostia and it’s a full fledged rebellion. Lilina has been kidnapped and there are even Wyvern Knights from Bern there. Even after dispatching the rebels Narcian surrounds Ostia and comes really close to overtaking it. The only reason why Roy got out of that one had to do with General Cecilia and Percival. Basically Etruria had to save his rear end.
So all of that takes place within the first 9 chapters of the game. That’s crazy, but it is also awesome at the same time! And Binding Blade continues to deliver here.
- After that event Ostia becomes a protectorate of Etruria and then Roy and company get sent to the Western Isles to clean up the mess that Etruria made. So the nation that is keeping our heroes alive is also responsible for slaveholding. Dang son.
- After that there’s a coup d’etat in Etruria. The generals have their hands tied behind their backs while Etrurian traitors try to seize the throne. Once again Roy and co have to clean up that sticky mess.
The last remaining political point for Binding Blade is that virtually every nation had someone trying to stab it in the back in hopes of teaming up with Bern. That’s what helped lead to the downfall of Ilia and Sacae. This is what I’m talking about in terms of politics. Alliances, betrayals, political upheavals and well established reasons for things being the way that they are. We know why Zephiel chose to wage war on Elibe and given his established backstory it makes sense why he would go in this direction.
Blazing Sword doesn’t have quite as much politics but there are some real gems in there. Lyn’s ordeal with Lundgren counts. Also having Eliwood convince everyone else in Lycia to remain neutral was a nice political touch. The Bern arc is also solid gold in this category. Between King Desmond trying to assassinate his own son and having the good guys prevent said assassination in order to get the Fire Emblem from Queen Hellene just adds to the political drama. Even before the Bern stuff happens we still see Nergal and his morphs manipulating stuff behind the scenes in the cases of Santaruz and Laus.
Family Tree / Relationships 8.5 / 10
Solid category for Elibe. We get three generations of Pharean lords (Elbert - Eliwood - Roy) plus a lot of different connections between characters in both games. Hector and Lilina is one of the more obvious ones, Nergal - Aenir - Ninian & Nils, the Bern royal family and then there are all the mages.
When it comes to mages we first have Niime, Canas and Hugh who are all directly related to each other. Next comes Nino’s family. Both of Nino’s parents are named (Juge and Iris) in addition to her older brother Kai. In Chapter 26x, ‘Night of Farewells, there’s an NPC named Jan who’s her step uncle. Hugh is Nino’s cousin so I’m curious as to what the name of his relationship is to her children. It should be noted that the orphanage where Lugh and Raigh are brought up could possibly be run by Lucius. Then there’s Pent, Louise and their children, Klein and Clarine. Erk is also Pent’s student and Pent is supposedly Athos’s student. See, Elibe mages are all connected for the most part.
There’s also Karel, Karla and Guy who have connections to each other. Karla and Batre are Fir’s parents. The Black Fang consist of the Reed brothers and Nergal’s morphs. Legault used to be a member of the Black Fang so there’s another connection. So with all that being said I think it’s safe to consider Elibe to get third place in this category. The characters in Fire Emblems 6 & 7 are well connected.
Nation Development 6 points
Despite having only 6 points in this category I consider Elibe to be in third place for this category.
Etruria seems to have a decent amount of development. We know it’s the kingdom of artists and has a church that gets referenced from time to time in both games. Light magic is also associated with Etruria and here’s another interesting fact that I learned from Fire Emblem wiki: “all the playable Troubadours and Valkyries in Elibe are from Etruria (Priscilla, Clarine, and Cecilia).” (Source: http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Etruria) Etruria also has three generals and has the only military in Elibe that could challenge Bern.
Bern on the other hand isn’t that well developed. We know that Bern Keep is hidden in a mountain fortress and that wyverns come from there. It’s also the military powerhouse of Elibe. Oh and it houses the Shrine of Seals and its royal family had….issues.
Then there’s Lycia. Lycia has an interesting form of government. It’s a bunch of territories that are led by the Marquess of Ostia but at the same time the other Marquesses have their own territories and holdings. It’s a refreshing departure from the Fire Emblem norm. It’s also a bit hit or miss in terms of which territories get what development. Here’s a list of the more memorable houses and territories within Lycia:
- Ostia: It’s where their leaders are from. It’s the biggest and strongest territory in Lycia where the leaders are supposed to be direct descendants of Roland.
- Pherae: Aka Lycia’s Gingerbread House. All their leaders have red hair and are the main characters of both games.
- Laus: Aka Douchebag Turncoat Central. This is where Darin and Erik come from.
- Araphen: The second largest territory in Lycia. In Blazing Sword it was led by a racist who hates Sacaens because Lyn’s mom chose a Sacaen dude over him. In Chapter 3 of Binding Blade there was a big battle between Hector and Bern and Hector lost and eventually died.
Less Developed Territories in Lycia
- Thria & Santaruz: Thria is that one place where its leader betrayed Roy. I kind of wish we got more information on Orun who is supposed to be Hector’s half brother. Santaruz is that place where Eliwood met that Lord Helman guy. Yeah….
- Tuscana, Tania, Khathelet, Ryerde, Worde, Badon, : What are these places? Are they like a Makua?
- Cornwell: The home of Raven and Priscilla. It was dissolved before the events of Blazing Sword. According to an Oswin x Priscilla support Cornwell got dissolved due to the fact that the Marquess had been stealing funds. The reason why he stole money was because he "assumed the debts of many who were close to him". Eventually he had to steal in order to get the money that he needed but he ended up stealing too much. When Marquess Cornwell's dealings had been found he and his wife committed suicide. (Source: http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Oswin/Supports See Oswin x Priscilla)
So Lycia has several decently developed territories and a bunch of not so well developed territories. They all lack a distinct geography though.
So I have a question about Ilia. Who owns Ilia? There doesn’t seem to be any central government or ruling body prior to Zelots being crowned at the end of Binding Blade. It’s the snowy nation where mercenaries and Pegasus Knights come from.
Sacae: Here’s an interesting tidbit about Sacae that came from Fire Emblem wiki: “Sacae is the Latinized version of Saka (the pronunciation which is kept in the Japanese version). It refers to the Persian name of an ancient Iranian people who founded the Indo-Scythian kingdom in modern-day India and Pakistan. The Saka were a horse-riding people of the Central Asian steppes similar to the in-game nomads of Sacae.” (Source: http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Sacae)
It’s primarily led by tribes and chieftains. That’s also a cool departure from Fire Emblem norms. Also the land of myrmidons and nomads.
So that’s the nation development in Elibe. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad and somehow it manages to surpass the nation development of most of the series. Good job Elibe.
Geography 6 points
While I do think there are some good points to Elibe’s geography I also think that this is a category that other continents have done better. Some parts of Elibe are done well. Sacae has plains, Ilia has snow and the Western Isles also have some distinct geography. In fact the geography of the Western Isles ties into their political situation. The whole reason why the Etrurians were holding the people in the Western Isles as slaves was because they needed someone to work the mines. According to Fire Emblem wiki “the Western Isles are water locked and isolated from other countries, it is hard for even the mighty Etruria to keep a firm grasp on the law of the land and with its intricate system of small islands, it makes a perfect haven for pirates to do their bidding.” (Source: http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Western_Isles)
There’s also the Nabata desert which should be an obvious win for Elibe. Unfortunately though, Etruria, Lycia and Bern seem to lack distinctive geography. Sure they have locations like Aquleia, the Shrine of Seals or Bern Keep, but we don’t get a sense of what the rest of those countries are like. This really hampers Elibe’s score because those countries are important and not having developed geography for them comes across as a bit of an oversight to me.
Magic Critters 5 points
- Morphs: Yep morphs count and they’re definitely a highlight for Elibe. They’re important in the plot of Blazing Sword and the idea of an artificial human is a neat one when it comes to the Fire Emblem series.
- Dragons: Dragons are a huge part of Elibe’s lore and they’re important in the stories of both Fire Emblem 6 & 7. Unfortunately you don’t see very many of them. Blazing Sword has the Fire Dragon at the end of the game and Ninian is shown in her dragon form. Outside of those two I can’t think of any else that show up in Blazing Sword. In Binding Blade they’re more common place. You fight plenty of dragons that are on Bern’s side and this time around there’s a manakete on your side, Fae.
- The Spirits of the Heroes: Ghosts count as magic critters. Durban and Roland in Blazing Sword are the spirits of their various weapons. They’re not there for very long, but they count.
Elibe doesn’t have very many magic creatures. What it does have it does a FANTASTIC job of incorporating them into its plot and it gives them a reason to exist.
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BONUS CATEGORIES
Connections to Other Worlds No points
Elibe has no connections to other Fire Emblem universes.
Presence of Female Rulers + 1 point
- Sonia, Limstella, Ursula: All of them are leaders in the Black Fang and are shown giving orders toward lower ranking members within The Black Fang.
- Cecilia & Brunnya: Both are one of the three big bad generals of their respective nations. Cecilia is the Mage General of Etruria (cough cough Pent’s better)
Those are the only female rulers in Elibe that I can think of that actually do anything. Feel free to list any others I may have forgotten.
Non European Nation Bonus + 2 points
Sacae: See under “Nation Development” for why.
Non Monarchies / Empires (+ 1 point each)
- Sacae: Run by chieftains.
- Lycia: A federation of 14 territories, each ruled by a marquess.
- Ilia: While we still have no idea how it was run (it was clearly the Green Brigand) there was no king until Zelots was crowned so it counts here.
(Grand Total: + 3)
Overall Score: 45.5 / 60. Elibe is a well developed world. Nothing in here is done poorly. It has some great politics, some great relationships between characters and it does a decent job putting everything together and aligning it with the plot. The fact that Elibe is in fourth place has less to do with its shortcomings and more to do with the fact that the Top 3 are just that awesome at world building. All of the Top 3 continents get first place in at least one of the major categories. I guess the biggest shortcoming of Elibe’s world building is that it is simply proficient at everything, but never “goes the distance” in the same way that the Top 3 do. Still, it’s a darn good world for what it’s worth and it really is head and shoulders above all the other continents that rank below it.
