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LOL that's funny Rath. As for the axe for face thing. Harder difficulty will mean even Edward will get hit by the axes.

Okay, okay. Let's start this with a bang. Titania is freaking awesome.

One of the things I love so much about Path of Radiance is the number of characters that get continuous speaking roles and relevance even after they have been recruited or before and after their plotlines have ended. I count Titania and Soren among the main characters, both with as much relevance as the other. They both serve as opposing viewpoints, Titania leaning more on morality and Soren leaning more on objectivity. Both viewpoints are important, and both are valuable in different situations, if not both in the same situation. Titania and Soren disagree all the time, but they both trust Ike enough to go with his decisions, and presenting their points of view is part of both their jobs. Both are also featured in the game's intro and on the game's cover art, cementing their importance to the entire game in awesome OA.

Titania is one of the lynchpins that holds the mercenaries together, especially after Greil's death before Ike has proven himself a worthy successor to his father. Everyone, even Shinon, respects her, though in Shinon's case they often did disagree as one would imagine. She has been a Crimean royal knight, she has worked in Gallia, and her demeanor speaks of experience in many ways that aren't outright said in the game. Ike knows this too, and in their final support he thanks Titania for everything she has done, outright acknowledges and feels bad for his own shortcomings and really doesn't want Titania to feel like he has taken her for granted. I feel as though his thankfulness is more meaningful since their final support can only happen right before endgame, and Ike has probably had this weighing on him for a while. She is 100% team mom, and whoa man, what a badass mom.

"You're like a really nice mom or something!"

Can we also talk about how the game deals with her affections for Greil? It isn't outright said except during Ike and Titania's final support (which can only occur very close to endgame) Anyone can see that she is in love with Greil, though of course their relationship could never be, and she knew it. At the same time, she is allowed to be seen crying after his death (alone, even), and mourn his death. She knows she has to keep going on, and there's no question that she does. But his death still weighs on her shoulders and lies there latent for much of the game, shown especially when Titania actually gets angry at Ike when she finds out he saw who killed Greil and hadn't told her.



Especially combined with the music that plays during that scene, and how messages in all caps are uncommon and especially out of character for Titania. She goes on and doesn't make reference to her mourning, even though his death, especially since the details are unresolved, gnaws at her. It's blink and you miss it, but I think it is a very emotional moment for her.

Right before Moment of Fate, the chapter where Ike fights the black knight one on one, there is a base conversation between him and Titania. Ike finally relays the details of Greil's death to Titania and, for the first time, mentions that he took Ragnell with him. He wasn't hiding it because the writing said so, he didn't want to talk about it since he could hardly come to grips with what he saw himself. After all, his father was murdered right before his eyes, and up until that point, there were many unsolved mysteries. Both of them continued to be upset since Greil's death had no resolution and left many unanswered questions in its wake. The act of Ike talking about the incident helped him, since he finally felt ready to tell someone, and the act of hearing the details of the incident helped Titania, since she finally knew how it all ended and knew that Greil must have died satisfied, on his son's back. Of course, the biggest unsolved thread, the black knight, was going to be dealt with in the incoming chapter, and Titania understands that he needs to kill the black knight not out of revenge (revenge makes people stupid, this game knows that), but out of resolution. She makes Ike promise that he will flee if he knows he is in over his head, and she trusts Ike, knowing that she knows the need for resolution on the subject. When Ike charges in alone to fight the Black Knight, Soren wants to go with him against Ike's wishes, but Titania stops him. She trusts him, and knows he has to do this. She knows the feeling.

I wanted to give a good picture of her thoughts and feelings regarding Greil, because I think the way the game handles it is something truly wonderful. Greil's death doesn't reduce her to a useless pile of tears, nor does she live expressly for Greil or chase some delusional romance with him. At the same time, she also doesn't totally forget about him and move on, as many badly written "strong" women do. She is allowed to be sad and mourn, but go on with her life and function in spite of her sadness and lack of satisfaction. She keeps it inside because she needs to be strong, but those latent feelings still come out in little bursts. She doesn't just live with that sadness, she wants to resolve it. Greil's death will always be a hard memory, but she knows that in the wake of his death there are things that must be completed.

Being powerful does not mean abandoning emotions. It is embracing them and living with them, owning them. You are allowed to cry, feel bad, anything, as long as you continue to live on and work to make things better. And boy does she ever.

That leads nicely into...

When introducing artist friends to FE artwork, I tend to start with Kita's art. Titania is always the Coup de Grace. Hell, I've known some artists that got into FE because they saw the artwork, and Titania is a common character that pops up with those people. Just look at her artwork!

Most recently when I was doing it, the friend in question was really impressed with Titania's PoR OA, and I went to show him her RD design and he got concerned when I said "wait 'till you see her two years later." And then she looked... The same! If not more awesome! He was expecting the art to undergo some sort of degradation as is often the case with female hero costumes, but she showed him.

Titania's design is one of my favorite character designs in all of Fire Emblem. Heck, she's one of my favorite game character designs in general. She is pretty, beautiful even, and she can look beautiful without surrendering any dignity. She isn't scantily clad in some cheap bid to appeal to the lowest common denominator, she's wearing armor. She looks powerful, but she still looks feminine. They aren't mutually exclusive, She can look powerful, dignified, beautiful, and feminine all at the same time, plus any number of other traits. She also looks very motherly and caring, which she is. But you had better believe she is a terror on the battlefield, galloping across the field on that magnificent white horse.

And she wields an AXE! AS A PRIMARY WEAPON!

In Fire Emblem games, how often is it that the Jeigan character is outright addressed in the game's script as being a terror in combat and the bane of all bonehead earlygame bandits? In the second chapter the enemies make many references to how they must be easy pickins without her, and how they explicitly want to take out that "red-haired demoness" as revenge for the mercs killing their buddies in the previous chapter. Her power isn't as outright stated beyond then, but we all know how excellent a character she is. She is by design, and she's fabulous.

I'm sure there's more to say, but I'll stop here for now. Sound off!

WELL then.

I guess it's Seth week now.

For Seth, I've written as much as I ever care to write about him as a unit already, to be in trend with linking to older discussion.

Contender for single best unit in the entire series. Not exactly covering new ground by pointing it out.


And with that on mind, why NOT just focus on his character and the problem of the Jeigan and Oifaye archetypes. I think it's interesting that his other option besides Eirika/Seth is Natasha/Seth. Natasha is overwhelming more popular with Joshua and Eirika with Seth, so they're not a pairing many people probably think much about, and I don't think much about it either, but there's a pretty interesting line in their supports:

Seth: "Oh, boy... You and Eirika... What am I going to do about you? You seem hell-bent on throwing away your lives in this conflict."

So he definitely has something of a "type" which I think better defines a character than certain entries' free-for-all to marriage approach. It's also interesting that he asks Natasha to be his life partner in their supports whereas that isn't the case with the supports with the more commonly emphasized Eirika/Seth supports. On the contrary, the supports with Eirika have him pointing out to her in their final conversation that Eirika shouldn't be so affectionate and considerate and devoted to him due to her station, in spite of them having feelings for each other and ultimately marrying in their ending. The whole devoted knight thing and pairing is cool and all but his other supports aren't considered as often as a consequence. Which is unfortunate, because they flesh him out just as much.



As for Seth being any archetypes. The distinction between "Jeigan" archetypes and "Oifaye" archetypes needs to stop. There should be a single archetype, in my mind, for them all and we need to stop saying Jeigans are bad but Oifayes are good. Because there are no bad Jeigans. Seriously. For an FE11 draft with Jeigan free, I used him the entire game and even through the final chapter he was useful and contributing. That is definitely not what qualifies as "bad" and he's considered the worst of the bunch.

The distinction between "Jeigans" and "Oifayes" was a fan-produced one. IS refers to them all as "Jeigans", and lots of people in the community are catching up and agreeing with this because a lot of the distinctions can be seen as not just arbitrary but also objectionable and worthy of being deconstructed. Frankly, there are some "Jeigans" that contribute more than the original Oifaye himself. Some perform better than others and I can guarantee they'll never make another unit for the role as strong as Seth (and they shouldn't). So they're of varying potency? They all fill the same archetype for their stories and contribute if you know what you're doing.

Yes.

The curse is broken!

As a unit, I generally use Matthew until Legault joins and then I compare stats because Matthew's Strength is shaky.

Going by the averages, Matthew will only have 7 Strength at level 12, which is Legault's base level. Legault has 8 base bStrength (without HHM bonuses) and a higher Constitution to wield Steel Swords more reliably given the generally low Strength of the two thieves. Except Matthew won't necessarily be level 12 when the other Thief joins. He could be substantially higher or lower then that and be blessed or cursed by Our Most Divine RNG-Goddess Anna. Depends on how much you use him largely. If you don't feel like putting in the effort for leveling Matthew and would rather pump up other units, you can just pluck up Legault when he joins and not suffer any consequences. I think it's entirely a matter of playstyle and personal preference without one being explicitly or completely better (I kinda prefer Legault a bit more myself for a number of reasons but Matthew is JUST as usable and has more time to be built up if you want to use him - and since Matthew comes sooner he's always used to some extent. Not to mention there are a number of chapters where you'll want more than one Thief anyway).

But whether you switch to Legault or not, there are plenty of chapters where Matthew is the only Thief to steal awesome stuff and opens chests and all that good Thief utility stuff. The only stat he needs is Speed to steal from enemies with items. And Matthew, if leveled, will on average Cap speed without even needing a promotion.

Which is good. Because he's not getting one. And neither is Legault. I don't like promoting the Thieves in FE7. They LOSE the ability to steal. And Jaffar will COMPLETELY outclass them at offense by a silly-large lead. They're not top-notch attackers even if they can be used to attack and made useful doing so. They're meant to provide utility, first and foremost. And promoting a Thief in FE7 REDUCES their utility (plus, the Fell Contract is worth a LOT more than your usual promotion item; money!). Not a fan. You're already given an Assassin with the stats where you want them. Don't make a knock-off version of that, I say.

Soooo... not a fan of making him an Assassin, but while I think Matthew makes a lousy Assassin, I think he makes a good Thief. And that's what counts as a unit.

As a support unit...

Here's the thing. I want Thieves to be dodge-tanks because they're certainly not meat-shields. The flip side of praising Matthew for having an offensive affinity is his affinity doesn't boost Avoid or Defense... like Ice does. If you want your Thieves as survivable as possible, Avoid and Defense is where it's at. If you're playing efficiently and not waiting for supports to crop up, it's of relatively little concern anyway. Matthew fares slightly better than most though, actually, since two of his supports get +3 points a turn and come early (Hector and Guy). So even when playing as briskly as possible, Matthew may garner a support or two. It's something.


But it's as a character where Matthew shines most.

Leila. The end.

Actually, not. The supports between Matthew and Jaffar.

The end.

I'll probably write more about his character later in the week, but he's another fantastic character from FE7. Very well executed character.

[Actually, Matthew will averagely gain 1 more point of strength than Legault. ]

Can we talk about the Matthew x Jafar supports more? Do we have time? There's so much to say. The dude almost commits straight up murder out of vengeance. He sees Nino as a weakness to exploit in Jafar and uses it. The darker parts of Matthew's personality really come out in these supports, but he fights it and comes out a stronger person in the end, I think. It's really humanizing.