# 5 - Sephiran (Tellius Games)

 

Whenever the topic of "Best Villain" or "Favorite Villain" comes up, Sephiran always finds his way into the conversation. This dude is frequently talked about, and it seems to me that he has a passionate fanbase. So what makes Sephiran a good villain?

Sephiran reminds me of Zephiel. Remember how Zephiel grew cynical and disillusioned with humanity because of what his dad did to him? Sephiran, like Zephiel, is also a villain marked by his cynicism of humanity. The main difference here is that instead of being disillusioned because of what happened in his family, he's disillusioned from watching Tellius history unfold for 1,000 years. Here's a quote that summarizes Sephiran's loss of humanity quite well:

"Lehran's loss of faith in humanity is a result of his isolation from them. Like a shut-in whose only exposure to the outside world is watching every violent act reported on the news each night, he's long been blinded to the goodness and happiness so many people have inside them, only having eyes for the atrocities committed by the corrupt and condemning the innocent majority. Micaiah is the refutation of his alien judgment with her down-to-earth compassion and her free interaction with all of her peers." 

(Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/2yd106/whos_your_favourite_fe_villain/)

“Sanaki, my long life has shown me the people of this world deserve only destruction. The selfishness, the brutality... The disregard for others, the endlessly quarreling Laguz and Beorc. We have been given many chances to correct our behavior and ourselves, and have squandered them all.”

Sephiran's backstory is extensive and it goes a long way toward establishing his motivation as a character. He's actually a one thousand year old heron who was there at the beginning of Tellius's history. Sephiran's the one who convinced Ashera to seal Yune away in the Fire Emblem. This sealing came with a condition: In exchange for sealing Yune away, there would be no war for 1,000 years. Guess how well that worked out.

Yeah, as you'd expect, that promise eventually got broken. Naturally, Sephiran grew more jaded and disillusioned. That option to destroy Tellius started to look a lot more appealing. The Serenes Massacre played a big role with that. Here's a quick summary of the Serenes Massacre:

• The Begnion Apostle at the time, Misaha, was assassinated.

• The herons were framed for her assassination.

• The Begnion people slaughtered the herons and burned down the Serenes Forest.

Question: What were the events surrounding Misaha's assassination?

Answer: Misaha was assassinated by Duke Lekain right after she told Lehran that she was going to reveal her identity to the world as a Branded in Tellius. Begnion Apostles are Branded since their lineage began from Lehran (aka Sephiran) and Altina. Misaha only decided to do this after Sephiran revealed his identity to her. 

The Serenes Massacre was the event that convinced Sephiran that the people in Tellius needed to go. It's not hard to see why. He had to watch his descendant be assassinated, and then watch his fellow herons get slaughtered for a crime they did not commit. After that event, Lehran started adopting the guise of Sephiran and began orchestrating the events of both games. 

What's interesting about Sephiran is that he's a villain that doesn't actually appear as a villain. The player first meets him, he's disguised as a simple monk who you bail out of jail in Chapter 10 of Path of Radiance. What's funny is that none of the Daein soldiers can actually deal him damage so you don't really even need to rescue him. Then in Chapter 11 he heals Ranulf after Ranulf's about to get killed by the Black Knight. He tells Ranulf to leave and somehow manages to keep the Black Knight from killing him. We're never told what happened between the two of them, but it is a really curious event that shows that there's far more to this "simple monk" than meets the eye. 

Then we eventually learn that Sephiran is actually the Prime Minister of Begnion. Then in Radiant Dawn, we learn that he was the mastermind behind the events of both games. Sephiran's identity is revealed gradually with each twist adding more layers to the plot of both stories. Sephiran also avoids two normal tropes that would otherwise out him as a villain: He's not hideously ugly and he also doesn't wield Dark Magic. In fact, he's a rare example of a major Fire Emblem boss that uses Light Magic. 

When Sephiran fans talk about him they usually bring up either his great interactions with other characters, and also how "well balanced" he is. For some of his fans, Sephiran's success as a character comes from his balance between "between too much success and too much failure as a villain" or alternatively I feel sorry for you” and “yeah but you still really, really shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing”. Either way, there's plenty to appreciate about his character, which is why Sephiran is rightly considered one of the greatest villains in the series.