History Headscratchers / FireEmblemAwakening

* After Grima is defeated, thus averting the BadFuture timeline, why aren't any of the 2nd Generation characters from that timeline (i.e. Lucina, Morgan, Owain, Severa, Inigo, etc.) erased from existence (like what happens in the ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' movies)?

* The marriage and inheritance system at work: Chrom is a descendant of the Exalted One and carries a special mark of Naga. Emmeryn also has one, [[spoiler:Lissa does not have one, but her son Owain does, to her delight.]] On the other side of the fence, Validar, the evil wizard attempting to resurrect Grima, carries Grima's blood. [[spoiler:The Avatar is the son/daughter of Validar and as it turns out, the perfect host for Grima because of centuries of genetic manipulation by Grima's followers. By extension, the Avatar also has Grima's blood. A Female Avatar marrying Chrom, or a Male Avatar marrying Lucina will wind up producing a Morgan (and Lucina, if you married Chrom) with blood from both Naga AND Grima. But despite that fact, there is little mention of Morgan's role in the story in the event you do marry one of them.]]
** If you're wondering why [[spoiler:Morgan]] or any one of the Avatar's children is incapable of becoming [[spoiler:Grima's vessel,]] the simple answer is [[spoiler:Grima's blood]] in them is no longer pure. Remember, the Grimleal spent generations just to breed the perfect person to become Grima where they most likely only pair up the purebloods together to conceive a child in each generation until a perfect [[PureIsNotGood pureblood]] is born. The Avatar marrying Chrom or [[spoiler:Lucina]] for example would only produce a child that's no longer pure of Grima's blood, but also is tainted with the blood of the Exalted One making him or her incapable of becoming [[spoiler:Grima.]]
** Also: [[spoiler:Morgan's amnesia is suspiciously similar to the Avatar's, with the only difference being that the former remembers all the time they spent with the latter (i.e. all the time they spent with Grima's human form). It's [[WildMassGuessing possible]] that Grima ''did'' try to possess Morgan in some other timeline, but failed because of Morgan's mixed heritage, leaving them with only memories connected to Grima, or by proxy, the Avatar.]]

*** Chalk it up to GameplayAndStorySegregation. Technically, unless you want to get into genetics, there should be nothing stopping any of the children from inheriting either of their parent's hair colors; it's just that all of them besides Lucina and female!Morgan are tied to their mothers, and the hair color thing is just a token means of differentiating them based on their fathers without altering more important parts of their character (personality, build, class, etc.). Lucina always looks the same regardless of her mother because of plot reasons [[spoiler:(it would be much harder to pass as Marth with pink hair, for instance, and you see her several times before determining her mother)]], and female!Morgan gets her mother's hair color because male!Avatar will ''always'' be her father, so the differentiation has to come from her mother instead. Chrom's parents, however, are set in stone and never show on screen, so whether he looks like Emmeryn and Lissa or not doesn't really matter.

** Their paired epilogue [[spoiler: has them going back to Donnel's village together. Either things are different in Ylisse when it comes to royalty marrying peasants, or she wanted to go with him. Considering that Chrom can marry the female Avatar or Olivia and apparently bring them up, it may be closer to the latter.]]
*** On Lissa's endings [[spoiler:all of Lissa's possible endings save those where she marries someone connected to Ylisse's military has her either traveling the world or going off with her husband to wherever they originate from so it is likely she could choose to bring them up to royal status but chose to live on the same status as her spouse. ]]
*** Yeah, but consider that Lissa has a lot more freedom of choice now that she's no longer directly in line for the throne with [[spoiler:Lucina's birth, and probably other children of Chrom, displacing her in the line of succession.]] If she had still been next in line like she had been in Chapters 10 and 11 when she married she probably would have stayed in the palace. Hell, that's more or less implied to have happened if you marry Lissa off before the timeskip.

** Well, as is seen in the endings, the children characters do just that, and go on to live their own lives in the epilogue if they survive the game, no RetGone happening. However, supports with their parents show that [[spoiler:they love them just as much as their yet-to-be-born selves, and there's always a place for them if they want to stay. In fact, Noire's solo ending involves staying with her family half to develop a ''real'' relationship with Tharja, half to make sure the cycle won't start again.]]
** [[spoiler: In Severa's solo ending she apparently visits her family once every year to yell at them. It's ''[[{{Tsundere}} Severa]]'', though, so whatever...]]

** Well we do know in at least ''one'' timeline [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Owain, Inigo, and Severa go to Nohr]].]]
* A Severa fathered by the male Avatar is angry with Cordelia for [[spoiler:abandoning her "only" daughter]], a Yarne fathered by the male Avatar is [[spoiler:terrified of being the LastOfHisKind]], and a Nah fathered by the male Avatar [[spoiler:mentions having been lonely due to her foster family never accepting her]]. What, is Morgan chopped liver now?
** [[spoiler:Morgan's solo ending raises the possibility they come from a different future than the others, so it's possible there is no Morgan in the bad future.]]
*** [[spoiler:But Morgan still has sibling supports and her sibling clearly remembers her.]]
*** [[spoiler:Except we don't know what happened to Morgan in the future. If she was, in fact, from a different future, (and this is the Fridge Horror here) then she died in one future, abandoned, alone, as the last human alive against her own father, the Fell Dragon. So the her/him from the different timeline survived instead.]]
*** [[spoiler:There's always the possibility that Morgan died in that specific timeline.]]
** [[spoiler:Morgan is the boss of the first two Future of Despair chapters. Clearly, the Morgan in the bad future is TrappedInVillainy and left their sibling behind.]]
*** [[spoiler: The Future Past chapters are supposed to be yet ''another'' BadFuture, though. That version of the Morgans may not apply to the Morgan you recruit.]]
* Owain's support with his father reveals that said father sacrificed himself to protect his son. Which kind of doesn't work if said father is [[spoiler:[[ApocalypseMaiden the Avatar]], for [[DemonicPossession obvious]] [[BigBad reasons]]]].
** [[spoiler:Owain [[NeverFoundTheBody didn't actually see him die]], so it's possible that in Owain's timeline, the Avatar came to his senses after being forced to kill Chrom, and then was captured later by the Grimleal and turned into Grima. Still contradicts what Grima himself says later on, but not by as much.]]
*** Furthermore, [[spoiler:in his supports with a Male Avatar as his father, he actually says that he was "gravely injured" rather than killed, and that he never saw him again.]]
** Of course, Lissa could have just simply lied to Owain. [[spoiler: Would YOU tell your son his father is now evil?]]

* If [[spoiler:the Avatar]] is close enough to being Grima for [[spoiler:them killing Grima to count as Grima being killed by it's own power]] to meet the conditions for Grima to die permanently, why isn't the opposite true? [[spoiler:Shouldn't Grima killing another part of itself kill it?]]
** [[spoiler:Simple answer: Grima never kills the Avatar, he simply sends them back to the pocket dimension seen in the final chapter and absorbs them. Thus, game over.]]
** That, or the explanation is similar to [[spoiler:how Voldemort is defeated. The mark of Grima disappears from Robin's hand, so the Grima-related parts of Robin's heritage were killed off, but not technically Robin themself]].
** No. The [[spoiler:bond between them]] is sort of a one way street in that regard. Grima doesn't need [[spoiler:the Avatar]] to survive. He's already been resurrected. [[spoiler:The Avatar simply has a pure enough concentration of fell dragon blood in his veins that]] he's able to replicate Grima's dark power, which is the only thing capable of permanently killing him. It's kind of like the difference between cutting off your hand or using your hand to commit suicide.

** Actually, it's simpler than that. [[spoiler:In the Future Past DLC, Lucina says that in her timeline (the original one), at least one of the gemstones that make up the Fire Emblem was destroyed, making it impossible to complete the Awakening. That may not have stopped her from at least trying to perform the Awakening before going back in time, which may have given her some (but not all) of the Falchion's latent power.]]
* How did Plegia fund the war against Ylisse and Ferox? After all, Chrom's father led a war against it about fifteen years before the game, and by that time both Ylisse and Plegia were in ruins. It's explicitly stated that Plegia is rich and Chrom [[spoiler:even asks them for ships, aid, fund, etc. before going to war with Valm.]]

* If [[spoiler:Priam]]'s philosophy is that weapons should only be wielded by the one who forged it (he says this in his supports with a Male Avatar among other things), then why is he carrying the [[spoiler:Ragnell]] when you fight and recruit him? It was originally used by [[spoiler:Ike]] before it was passed on to him, and it's never even said who originally forged it. While it's possible that he reforged it considering the in-game model of the [[spoiler:Ragnell]] is obviously very damaged and battered, this detail is never brought up in his supports.

* When the group first learns about [[spoiler: the gems on the Fire Emblem and how to perform an Awakening,]] why do they immediately decide to do it? It couldn't be as a way to win the war in Valm, except [[spoiler:they continue to seek out the gems for the Awakening]] even after it's over, to the point where they risk walking into a trap in Plegia over it! [[spoiler:The Awakening]] was necessary after [[spoiler:Validar stole the Emblem and Grima was summoned]], but there was no reason before that to do it.
** They decided to do it as a precautionary measure against [[spoiler:Grima.]] Remember, [[spoiler:Lucina]] already told them that in the BadFuture, [[spoiler:Grima]] was resurrected and the world went to hell, and unless something is done, it will happen again. They fought the war with Valm while being fully aware that another one was likely waiting for them back home, and were taking the steps to prepare for it just in case.

** The only explanation I can think of for why Cordelia isn't a possible wife for Chrom is because [[UnrequitedTragicMaiden about half her character revolves around her unrequited love for him]], and having Chrom marry Cordelia would defeat the purpose of that.

** Are you familiar with the continuity of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral''? This whole thing works pretty much exactly like the Holy Blood system, with the Avatar being a non-evil Julius of sorts. To elaborate, Manakete can drop parts of their essence into other things. If they put it in items, they become artifacts, like Tyrfing or Falchion. They can also use this to create blood pacts with humans, giving them Holy Blood that they can pass on to their descendents and that allows them to channel these artifacts to their full power. By doing this, they obtain a limited connection with the person or object in question. Forseti could communicate with Lewyn through his spell tome, and even possessed him when he died. Of Julius, what we know is that he was a fairly normal child who could occasionally have strange moments of sadism until he took up the tome of Loptous and became his true reincarnation. So he was himself, but also a small bit of Loptous until then. The Avatar has no such connection to Grima via objects, only through blood. Presumably, Validar or one of his ancestors made a blood pact with Grima until they could breed a perfect vessel with enough Holy Blood to truly channel him (the stronger the Holy Blood, the stronger the connection). The point is that technically, the Avatar was only a small fragment of Grima. This is why they could be controlled by him to some extent, but not truly overcome unless they gave in and became the vessel, like the Hierophant. That said, this all becomes horribly headache-inducing once we favor in the whole time travel elements.

* Is Panne wearing [[WhoWearsShortShorts shorts made of fur]] or do Taguel grow fur? Yarne seems to be wearing a fur loincloth, but he also has fur (or at least very bushy leg hair) on his legs, so it could be either one.

** Considering she supports with him the fastest, it's probably a hint that this is the closest one would get to a 'canon' pairing with her. Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement noted.

*** That makes no sense. You can marry a PsychoticManchild like Henry to Sumia, or Gaius who is a convicted criminal, but not Vaike because he's a bit of a lech?

** But wasn't she technically part of the Shepherds initially? You know, as a horseback healer, even before the level, "Exault and the King"?

** Are you familiar with the continuity of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral''? This whole thing works pretty much exactly like the Holy Blood system, with the Avatar being a non-evil Julius of sorts. To elaborate, Manakete can drop parts of their essence into other things. If they put it in items, they become artifacts, like Tyrfing or Falchion. They can also use this to create blood pacts with humans, giving them Holy Blood that they can pass on to their descendents and that allows them to channel these artifacts to their full power. By doing this, they obtain a limited connection with the person or object in question. Forseti could communicate with Lewyn through his spell tome, and even possessed him when he died. Of Julius, what we know is that he was a fairly normal child who could occasionally have strange moments of sadism until he took up the tome of Loptyr and became his true reincarnation. So he was himself, but also a small bit of Loptyr until then. The Avatar has no such connection to Grima via objects, only through blood. Presumably, Validar or one of his ancestors made a blood pact with Grima until they could breed a perfect vessel with enough Holy Blood to truly channel him (the stronger the Holy Blood, the stronger the connection). The point is that technically, the Avatar was only a small fragment of Grima. This is why they could be controlled by him to some extent, but not truly overcome unless they gave in and became the vessel, like the Hierophant. That said, this all becomes horribly headache-inducing once we favor in the whole time travel elements.

*** Speaking of this, apart from all of the MindRape implications in the Grimleal explaining a lot, it's also possible that [[spoiler:Forneus's goal of creating a super-powerful army, as seen in ''Echoes'', was passed down through the Grimleal, but just horribly warped over time]].

** Probably not. There's a WMG that Grima is actually ''Loptyr'' that goes into further detail about that.

* Who rules Plegia now? Would it be the Avatar since technically, [[spoiler: as Validar's heir]] he/she would inherit it? Would it be absorbed into Ylisse? Or would someone else take charge?
** I imagine someone else would take over since the Avatar doesn't seem like he/she would be interested in ruling Plegia. It'd make things even harder if the Avatar married Chrom, Lissa, Lucina or anyone else of royalty.
*** I can see your point about Chrom (and frankly, that'd also apply to Gangrel, Walhart and the Khans), but royal families have intermarried since the dawn of royalty, it wouldn't be that hard if Robin had married, say, Lissa, who's further down the line of succession, or a second gen character, who's technically not in line for this timeline's throne (and if supports are any indication, wouldn't pursue it anyway). If anything it'd just strengthen the Ylissean-Plegian alliance. As for 'the Avatar doesn't seem like he/she'd be interested', well, maybe not ''your'' Avatar. I think that's kinda the point of the MU/Avatar role, it can have whatever headcanon you'd like. (I mean, personally, my version of Robin wouldn't particularly ''want'' to, but the alternative is civil war ''in'' Plegia and possible other nations trying to invade and take Plegia themselves. Better the devil you know, after all.)
** This is actually somewhat discussed in Fem!Robin and Gangrel's supports, where he considers going back (but ultimately seems to decide not to), for whatever that's worth. Also, speaking of Gangrel, considering how he took the throne, and how Validar obviously isn't related to him, I'd assume that the above troper is right that someone else could rise to power afterwards... Though it wouldn't be surprising at all if other countries did try to have a say in who that was.
* It's repeatedly said on This Very Wiki that it's extremely easy to marry Chrom and a female Avatar by accident if you don't know about the forced marriage. But Female Avatar not only has the lowest auto-marriage priority with Chrom, she also has the slowest support growth with him, meaning if there's any tie in support ranks she will ''always'' lose. It seems highly unlikely that she's the one most new players end up with, unless they specifically focus on her and Chrom's supports and intentionally neglect Sully, Sumia and Maribelle's supports with Chrom. (since if any of those three have an equal support rank to the Avatar, they'll marry Chrom) Is neglecting those three (or letting them die) really ''that'' common? It seems very unlikely players would get this pairing by accident, at any rate. The vast majority of blind playthroughs This Troper has seen resulted in Chrom accidently marrying Sully, which makes a lot more sense.

* Concerning the following quote in Chapter 13 below. If this is the case, should Chrom S-Support with the NPC, as well as the only unit with an S-Support through the whole game, then who are these other people Lucina refer to, when the other children's mothers (and fathers) have not reached any S-rank support?
** ''Lucina: I made the journey together with others, but... we became separated.''
** If it's not a simple oversight (or just being left since the player kinda has to go out of their way for that), then I'd assume it's a case of StableTimeLoop or TimeyWimeyBall. Technically, the future versions of the kids were already born in ''their'' timeline, even if their present parents aren't together yet.

** There are a couple of possibilities here. First, note that the brand isn't necessarily a guaranteed thing, even among royalty. It ''could'' be possible for any modern commoners who are technically descended from Marth to have the brand, but it seems like it would be uncommon, considering the above fact. So, it could be less like "only royals have the brand" and more like "you're not really considered a 'true' royal unless you have the brand" (or at least, worthy to wield the Falchion). [[spoiler:True, Lissa doesn't have it, but Owain does, thus proving her lineage]], but we don't know if any other brand-less royals were that lucky. Tl;dr -- [[AWizardDidIt Royals just have the brand]] ''[[AWizardDidIt because]]'' [[AWizardDidIt they're royal]]; [[MST3KMantra don't question it too hard]].

** I assume the person above me who stated the particular battle happened much later in the timeline was correct. Here's what my interpretation of events is: [[spoiler:Without Lucina's intervention, when assassins came to kill Emmeryn, Chrom is wounded and can't fight off the assassins. Gaius is recruited with sweets, while he or the Avatar gets Chrom to safety. Validar tries to find the Avatar, but decides that stealing the Fire Emblem and killing Emm was good enough. But now he knows that the Avatar is with Chrom. The war against the Mad King continues, but Validar doesn't get every stone or become the ruler of Plegia until much much later, when Lucina and her younger sibling are children or teens. He needs the orbs from Valm, which are now held by Chrom, Flavia, and Tiki. Thus, it takes longer for him to get the stones and get ready to perform the Awakening Ritual... but to do this, he also needs to provoke Chrom and the Avatar to come after him. He attempts to assassinate Chrom or Lissa, and they naturally respond by declaring war with Plegia. They follow him, and the Avatar is possessed by Grima. Time continues for a few years while Grima gathers forces and causes a ZombieApocalypse. The children travel to the past to avert this tragedy, while Laurent accidentally went back three years before Lucina did.]] Because Lucina intervened, [[spoiler:Emerynn wasn't assassinated by Validar, but instead captured by Gangrel. Her sacrifice caused the citizens of Plegia to rebel and defect en masse. The Mad King was defeated a tad earlier than normal because he lost support of the Plegian civilians, and Validar took the throne next. Thus, Lucina's intervention [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally accelerated the events leaving to the Avatar's possession and Chrom's death]], but her knowledge of what would happen allowed Basilio to feign death against Walhart and switch the green orb with a fake, subsequently letting the Avatar [[EnforcedMethodActing weaken his magic to injure Chrom, but not actually kill him. In order to let this ruse be successful, the Avatar had to not tell anybody, especially not Lucina, about this,]] so Chrom's "death" and Lucina's BigNo will be legit.]]
** Official translated material confirms that [[spoiler:Emmeryn got assassinated by Validar in the BadFuture timeline, and that the war with Gangrel lasted longer as a result]].
** Actually, better idea, [[spoiler:it wasn't so much Lucina's intervention as it was ''Grima'''s. Here's what I think happened -- if it was ''just'' Lucina, then Validar would not be able to resurrect Grima because Validar is ''dead'' and would therefore not become ruler of Plegia. Because Grima followed Lucina and the other children, he revived Validar so he could accelerate events. Had Grima not chased Lucina into the past, Validar would have died, and that tragedy would be averted unless someone else in the Grimleal took Validar's place. I doubt Aversa would have done so.]]

*** Also, in the original timeline, [[spoiler:with Chrom wounded from the assassination attempt, the task of defending Emmeryn and the Fire Emblem from Validar probably fell to the Avatar, who, without Chrom or Lucina as backup, failed to protect either of them. This probably shook the rest of the Shepherds' trust in him/her (possibly with some accusations that s/he let them in on purpose), which would later [[DespairEventHorizon explain]] why the Avatar was more open to succumbing to Grima later on.]] Thanks to Lucina, [[spoiler:Emmeryn's capture and death both happen under much different circumstances that the Avatar had little-to-no control over, which is why the rest of the Shepherds still trust them.]]

*** It's possible, at least in that particular timeline, that [[spoiler:Emmeryn still being alive, just brain damaged]] is canon. [[spoiler:Scarier thought, (an already possessing Robin) Grima could possibly have kept her alive just so he could impregnate a descendant of Marth and have a child with both lineages in his/her veins.]]

*** As far as appearances go, Mist also carries the genetic information of her brother that can resurface over that much time, unless there's an unnerving line of GenerationXerox for thousands of years. Not to mention that blue is not an uncommon FE hair color. How similar this "descendant" is to Ike outside of hair color can be called into question as well. BigEater is a common enough trait amongst heroes and what else we see of [[BloodKnight Priam's]] [[CharacterFilibuster disposition]] [[GrinOfAudacity seems]] to... well, [[PerpetualFrowner contrast]] [[HumbleHero with]] [[NoSocialSkills Ike's]], so it's not like he's GenerationXerox anyway. And who knows, given all these implied apocalyptic happenings (the fate of the laguz, the situation of Altea), it could be somehow related to the upcoming ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' crossover with Priam or someone higher up the line to [[ApocalypseHow see just what went down]] in Tellius. The epilogue of Radiant Dawn mentions [[spoiler:another huge war in the making. Maybe young Priam/someone up his line gets involved...? This timeline stuff is all confusing.]] It's very WildMassGuessing, but his existence that has not been very much expanded upon feels like some kind of hook for something between a sequel (for the Tellius saga) and a prequel (for Awakening).

* Also, the name for Rightful King is actually a translation error. In Japanese the skill is Royal Weapon, which has nothing to do with gender. Just throwing that out there.

* Where the heck did Lucina come from? It's made pretty clear that in the original timeline Chrom died from the assassins during the attempt on Emmeryn's life, which happened before his marriage and Lucina's birth, so where did Lucina come from? Another timeline? I guess that would explain why all the kids don't disappear from time travel mistakes, they accidentally landed in a different dimension. And Laurent definitely pointed out the possibility so they definitely could disappear, honestly this whole game's time travel set up is really just a big TimeyWimeyBall...
** Actually, Lucina only said that Chrom would have been gravely wounded had she not stopped his attackers. Lucina would still have been able to be born.
*** Incorrect, fate was originally written by Grima and to a lesser extent Validar, it's clear from what they say that he should have died there, Lucina doesn't say anything on the subject, just that she's about to save his life, ''and'' she didn't know about the second one, and the only way for her not to have known that was if ''no one'' knew that, which could only happen if he had died there, that one scene pretty much turns Lucina into a living paradox, she can't have been born without going back to save him, she's like a barely StableTimeLoop, and the act of her being there throws everything off as the bad future couldn't have happened in the first place. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Timey]]. [[TimeyWimeyBall Wimey]]. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Ball]].
*** Incorrect correction. In Chapter 14, Lissa asks Lucina what would've happened if she didn't come to save Chrom, and Lucina answers: "He would have been gravely wounded. And those wounds would have played a part in the tragedies to come." So he wouldn't have been killed, just gravely injured, possibly preventing him from saving Emmeryn, among other "tragedies to come".
** "The Future" is treated like an alternate timeline in the first place, so that explains the not RetGone thing. As for Chrom and the assassins, it's obvious that Chrom would have lived through it, or else how would Grima!Robin have all those flashbacks involving him? I'm assuming Luci just said she was "saving Chrom's life" for dramatic effect or something. Otherwise, not only would she not have been born, the whole original timeline couldn't have happened the way it did.
** So then they're really just from an alternate dimension? Keep in mind those flashbacks were the memories of the Grima from where Lucina came from, they probably ended up interfering and directing your dimension to a future similar to theirs even if Chrom ''had'' originally died, their interference changed all of that.

** Maybe it was sensing [[spoiler:Grima's blood in the Avatar]] and was reacting to it as a type of warning?

** I assumed it was because [[spoiler:the past was being changed]], and the times it glowed marked points when [[spoiler:current events made a large or significant divergence from what originally happened]]. For instance, it glows during the [[spoiler:assassination attempt on Emmeryn. She was supposed to have died, which had a ''massive'' impact on the future Lucina comes from, but the presence of Lucina and Robin changes the course of history]].
* Why did Marth choose to defeat Lon'qu and fight on behalf of Basilio against Chrom?
** Perhaps in [[spoiler:Lucina's future]] Chrom fought Lon'qu, lost, Basilio remained Khan and refused to provide Feroxi aid for the [[spoiler:war with Plegia]], and somehow or another this led to the [[spoiler:Bad Future]]?

** Or alternately [[spoiler:Lucina just wanted a chance to test herself against her father without revealing her identity or alienating him]].
** Doesn't really explain why Marth will quite happily kill him and other important members of the party, which is completely at odds with his mission.
*** StoryAndGameplaySegregation.
*** [[spoiler:Though it would actually [[FridgeHorror make sense]] if she tried to kill the Avatar then-and-there, given what happens later on.]]
** A [[http://serenesforest.net/media/fe13comic/08-marth.jpg man]][[http://serenesforest.net/media/fe13comic/09-marth.jpg ga]] included in Nintendo Dream in Japan confirms that Marth first came to Regna Ferox looking for one of the Fire Emblem jewels, but became Basilio's champion, hoping to test himself against Chrom.

** The Shield of Seals was separated from its orbs (again), which weakened the seal on them (again).

* How are Grima and [[spoiler:Robin]] connected? Was Grima reincarnated as [[spoiler:Robin]] after losing against Naga and the First Exalt with the Awakening Ceremony letting [[spoiler:Robin regain memories, powers, etc. from centuries back]]? Was Grima lying dormant in [[spoiler:Robin]] and then merged with [[spoiler:Robin]]? Was Grima somewhere else and took over [[spoiler:Robin]] through the ceremony?
** Are you familiar with the continuity of VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral? This whole thing works pretty much exactly like the Holy Blood system, with the Avatar being a non-evil Julius of sorts. To elaborate, Manakete can drop parts of their essence into other things. If they put it in items, they become artifacts, like Tyrfing or Falchion. They can also use this to create blood pacts with humans, giving them Holy Blood that they can pass on to their descendents and that allows them to channel these artifacts to their full power. By doing this, they obtain a limited connection with the person or object in question. Forseti could communicate with Lewyn through his spell tome, and even possessed him when he died. Of Julius, what we know is that he was a fairly normal child who could occasionally have strange moments of sadism until he took up the tome of Loptyr and became his true reincarnation. So he was himself, but also a small bit of Loptyr until then. The Avatar has no such connection to Grima via objects, only through blood. Presumably, Validar or one of his ancestors made a blood pact with Grima until they could breed a perfect vessel with enough Holy Blood to truly channel him (the stronger the Holy Blood, the stronger the connection). The point is that technically, the Avatar was only a small fragment of Grima. This is why they could be controlled by him to some extent, but not truly overcome unless they gave in and became the vessel, like the Hierophant. That said, this all becomes horribly headache-inducing once we favor in the whole time travel elements.
*** The Holy Blood idea makes a ton of sense considering certain revelations in ''Echoes''. [[spoiler:Considering Forneus gave Grima some of his own blood, it's highly likely that the modern-day Grimleal (or at least Robin's family) is descended from him, explaining the connection.]]

** And then there's the question of how the ''townspeople'' mistook Chrom for his imposter at first sight. Before the stage begins, Chrom and the army get locked out of the town shops because of Ruger's (the imposter) actions. So it's implied that Ruger really did look a lot like Chrom. Also, on the Fridge page, there's an alternate theory that states that since bandits reuse portraits, Ruger probably did look like Chrom. But then at the end of the chapter, Frederick says that he would post pictures of Chrom so that no one would try to imitate him again. Which wouldn't help if Ruger looked just like Chrom.

* So anyways, this could just be because I'm not looking in the right places, but how come Nintendo's so hush hush about this game? Do they just want to avoid hyping people out, or were they unsure about when it would be finished?
** It takes them awhile, but it's in full swing in the last month. There are internet ads, constant Facebook posts... It's the most advertised Fire Emblem in North America that I've ever seen.
*** It looked like they asked why they were hush-hush about it back prior to the months leading up to January. It seemed to be mostly "And oh yeah, we're also localizing ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening too." after E3. I can understand not having a trailer, but it seemed to mostly be thrown on as an afterthought.
** Fire Emblem is pretty obscure in the West, that's why. Think about it: if Kid Icarus: Uprising didn't have an EarlyBirdCameo in Brawl, would you have heard of its first game?
*** [[CompletelyMissingThePoint Yes.]]
* Are they seriously renaming My Unit to Avatar? IMO, that's the most unnecessary DubNameChange I've ever seen.
** It's less Engrishy for one, and that's precisely what it's supposed to be, an avatar for the player.
** Also, an Avatar is a manifestation of a god in the physical plane, like [[spoiler:what your Avatar was supposed to be the evil dragon god.]]

** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Echoes]]'' explains this. [[spoiler:Grima is actually an [[ArtificialHuman artificial dragon]] created by a MadScientist.]] Though he does have some similarities to both Medeus and Loptyr, so it's still possible he has some connection to Earth Dragons ([[spoiler:Forneus could've used some Earth Dragon blood in him, for instance]]).
* So... how the hell did [[spoiler:the Avatar survive in the end?]] How long does it take [[spoiler:for him/her to return]]?
** [[spoiler:Why, the PowerOfFriendship of course! Friendship can do anything. Literally, ''anything''. Judging from how Lissa still looks very young, it's likely Chrom and Lissa find the Avatar not very long after defeating Grima.]]
** Other stories have had similar things as this. Think of what happens in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''. [[spoiler: Since Avatar/Robin has a portion of Grima in themselves/is a vessel of Grima, striking the final blow against Grima could cause a backlash into the "main" soul, destroying it.]]
** Or for that matter, ''{{VideoGame/Final Fantasy VI}}''. [[spoiler: When Kefka is defeated and magic disappears, Terra loses her Esper side, but her human side is strong enough to keep living as a normal person. Similarly, when Grima dies, the Avatar's connection to him is severed (hence why s/he doesn't have the Mark of Grima anymore), but the Avatar's humanity (cultivated from the time he/she spent apart from Grima) is enough to keep him/her alive independently.]]
** Same with [[spoiler:Luvbi]] from {{VideoGame/Super Paper Mario}}. In the game [[spoiler:Luvbi is a Pure Heart that was given physical form to protect it. Through the years as an angel her parents grew to love her like a daughter and she returned their love. After the events of Chapter 7 she disappeared, supposedly for good, after returning to her original form. However, she unexpectedly comes back to life later in the game. Although the game itself never outright states it, she was most likely brought back by the love given to her by her parents and friends. Her bond with them allowed her to continue to exist outside of being a Pure Heart, which is a solid form of love in of itself]].
* When the Avatar recruits Morgan, he/she asks her/him if she/he came back from the future with [[spoiler:Lucina]]. Yet, if the Avatar married a second generation character, this would be impossible, as Morgan couldn't possibly have existed in that timeline. Especially nonsensical if [[spoiler:the Avatar married Lucina]]. Why didn't they change the conversation for this scenario? Or is there some explanation I'm not thinking of?
** It's possible that the Avatar thought that he/she married a different person in [[spoiler:Lucina's]] timeline and that Morgan is the result of that relationship. Either that or he/she is just flustered.
** For all we know, Morgan could have traveled back from a ''further point'' in the BadFuture if the Avatar married a second generation character... Though that raises a bit of FridgeHorror. Also, Morgan in general is very confusing...
* Actually, serious question...how old ''are'' the children from the future? And do they ever state how old they are in gameplay? I'm sort of confused about their age. All I know for certain is that Lucina's the eldest and that Brady is [[YoungerThanTheyLook much younger than he looks]], as revealed by his "C" support with Lucina. Likewise, Laurent looks to be the oldest, but I hear he says he went back further in time than the others.
** TimeyWimeyBall is in full effect -- Whereas Lucina went back only two years before the invasion by Valm, Laurent went back five due to unspecified complications. There's no telling how far back the others went, nor what their physical age was before the journey anyway. It gets kinda confusing at this point.
** Also, there's the possibility that not all of them came from the same time period or even the same universe.
** Looking at hints throughout the game and supports, it looks like they are all around 18 years old. Lucina specifically says that Grima's return happens "over 10 years" from the present, and it's implied that they fought the Risen for a few years before traveling back in time. Also, they mention several times how weird it is to be "almost the same age" as their parents, and most first generation characters are in their early-to-mid 20s.
** We know Lucina was born first, and in order for Laurent to be older than her, he had to have been born no more than two years after her (since he went back ''three'' years earlier). The rest of them don't really have a lot of other ways to guess their age, other than Morgan ''might'' be the youngest due to being potentially anyone's sibling (or third generation for that matter).
* If, in the BadFuture, [[spoiler:Chrom was supposed to die in that particular battle against Validar, then how was his second child born? Unless his wife was already pregnant with the second kid at that point in the story,]] but then you'd think they'd mention it.
** It's quite possible that particular battle happened much later in the timeline. Remember, [[spoiler:Lucina's intervention changed, and quite possibly accelerated, events.]]
*** Either that or [[spoiler:Chrom and his wife had a little PreClimaxClimax off-screen before that battle...]]
** I assume the person above me who stated the particular battle happened much later in the timeline was correct. Here's what my interpretation of events is: [[spoiler:Without Lucina's intervention, when assassins came to kill Emmeryn, Chrom is wounded and can't fight off the assassins. Gaius is recruited with sweets, while he or the Avatar gets Chrom to safety. Validar tries to find the Avatar, but decides that stealing the Fire Emblem and killing Emm was good enough. But now he knows that the Avatar is with Chrom. The war against the Mad King continues, but Validar doesn't get every stone or become the ruler of Plegia until much much later, when Lucina and her younger sibling are children or teens. He needs the orbs from Valm, which are now held by Chrom, Flavia, and Tiki. Thus, it takes longer for him to get the stones and get ready to perform the Awakening Ritual... but to do this, he also needs to provoke Chrom and the Avatar to come after him. He attempts to assassinate Chrom or Lissa, and they naturally respond by declaring war with Plegia. They follow him, and the Avatar is possessed by Grima. Time continues for a few years while Grima gathers forces and causes a ZombieApocalypse. The children travel to the past to avert this tragedy, while Laurent accidentally went back three years before Lucina did.]] Because Lucina intervened, [[spoiler:Emerynn wasn't assassinated by Validar, but instead captured by Gangrel. Her sacrifice caused the citizens of Plegia to rebel and defect en masse. The Mad King was defeated a tad earlier than normal because he lost support of the Plegian civilians, and Validar took the throne next. Thus, Lucina's intervention [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally accelerated the events leaving to the Avatar's possession and Chrom's death]], but her knowledge of what would happen allowed Basilio to feign death against Walhart and switch the green orb with a fake, subsequently letting the Avatar [[EnforcedMethodActing weaken his magic to injure Chrom, but not actually kill him. In order to let this ruse be successful, the Avatar had to not tell anybody, especially not Lucina, about this,]] so Chrom's "death" and Lucina's BigNo will be legit.]]
** Official translated material confirms that [[spoiler:Emmeryn got assassinated by Validar in the BadFuture timeline, and that the war with Gangrel lasted longer as a result]].
** Actually, better idea, [[spoiler:it wasn't so much Lucina's intervention as it was ''Grima'''s. Here's what I think happened -- if it was ''just'' Lucina, then Validar would not be able to resurrect Grima because Validar is ''dead'' and would therefore not become ruler of Plegia. Because Grima followed Lucina and the other children, he revived Validar so he could accelerate events. Had Grima not chased Lucina into the past, Validar would have died, and that tragedy would be averted unless someone else in the Grimleal took Validar's place. I doubt Aversa would have done so.]]
*** Adding on to the idea [[spoiler:of Grima being at fault, had he not tried to merge with the Present day Avatar, he/she likely wouldn't have lost all of his/her memories, and thus the bonds he/she forged with Chrom and the others wouldn't have been so deep for him/her to allow him/her to overcome attempts at possession or the will to sacrifice himself/herself.]]
*** Thus, [[spoiler:Grima became HoistByHisOwnPetard]].
*** Also, in the original timeline, [[spoiler:with Chrom wounded from the assassination attempt, the task of defending Emmeryn and the Fire Emblem from Validar probably fell to the Avatar, who, without Chrom or Lucina as backup, failed to protect either of them. This probably shook the rest of the Shepherds' trust in him/her (possibly with some accusations that s/he let them in on purpose), which would later [[DespairEventHorizon explain]] why the Avatar was more open to succumbing to Grima later on.]] Thanks to Lucina, [[spoiler:Emmeryn's capture and death both happen under much different circumstances that the Avatar had little-to-no control over, which is why the rest of the Shepherds still trust them.]]

** Because the only [[VideoGame/StarFox rabbits around]] [[MemeticMutation to tell him]] about that option also happen to be fighting against him, and they're sure not going to [[TooDumbToLive tell him how to beat them]].

*** Now I'm picturing Naga as Brian from Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian.
* Anyone else find it rather odd that Say'ri has so little support options for where she joins in the game? Especially since the second generation does? I'm not say, wondering why she wasn't the mother of a second generation character sans Morgan ([[spoiler:since I think she actually ''died'' in the BadFuture the children came from, meaning she couldn't have had any kids to begin with.]]) She joins only a short while after Cherche, so how come her only support options are with the Avatar, Morgan, and Tiki?

** The above also doesn't explain why Say'ri can't make support conversations with Lon'qu - who is a compatriot. And before anyone talks about Lon'qu's aversion to women, he is able to have S Support with people outside of his country.
** I think it's as you said, and because she died in the alternate future. The chapter with Yen-fay as the boss isn't too far ahead of her recruitment, so it might be possible that she didn't have much time to talk with that many people aside from the supports she does have.

* As far as I've understood, [[spoiler:Validar]] is the father of the Avatar. Doesn't this mean that Morgan and possibly one of the other children are related by blood to [[spoiler:Validar]]?
** Yes, so? Doesn't really have any practical effect. They can be related to Naga too if the Avatar marries Tiki, Chrom, or Lissa.
** [[spoiler:Lucina might also apply if you marry her as the male Avatar.]]

* A little bit of a question, a little bit of something that just sort of bugs me... In the game, it is ''specifically mentioned'' that if the Avatar's ties to her/his companions are strong enough, s/he ''could'' conceivably [[spoiler:be brought back from being DeaderThanDead]]. Okay, cool. I can roll with that. I am a sucker for happy endings. What bothers me is that you don't have to [[spoiler:EarnYourHappyEnding]]. If you leave all of your Avatar's supports with every single character at ''zero'' -- which, granted, [[EarnYourBadEnding would take almost as much effort as maxing them all out]] -- s/he will still [[spoiler:survive the CessationOfExistence]]. I really feel like there should have been some sort of condition for survival, such as requiring the Avatar to have at least B-level support with, say, half or more of the allies s/he has recruited by the time of the [[spoiler:battle with Grima]]. Considering such an emphasis was put on the fact that strong ties were needed for the Avatar [[spoiler:to survive]], it struck me as strange that [[GameplayAndStorySegregation it didn't matter whether or not you'd put any effort at all]] into ''actually'' forming strong bonds between the Avatar and the other characters.

* Why doesn't Lissa have the Mark of the Exalt anywhere on her body? It kinda bugs me that she doesn't have it. Is the implication that she's unworthy for some reason?

* How did Lucina know that Basilio was going to be killed by Walhart? She states that she's never been to Valm because all of the ships were gone in the future, so there's no way she could have known.
** Simple. Reports come back, describing what happened. Don't forget that in the bad future timeline, Chrom and co. died much later than they would have in the changed timeline (I don't see how Chrom could possibly teach an infant how to fight).
*** Lucina states Grima would be revived in 10 years from the present day. So she was at least 10 when Chrom died. I don't think he turned her into a full-fledged warrior, but I'm sure he may have given her some tutoring, which she took and perfected on her own.
** Original poster here. The real question is, why did the war in Valm happen in the first place if all the ships were gone?
*** It could be that the army's ships weren't destroyed until ''after'' the Valmese War happened (or, at least, started). It's not clear when they lose their ships; they're just gone by the time Lucina would have been old enough to go herself.

* Why didn't Chrom and co. suspect the Avatar's origins from the beginning? His/her coat shares distinct similarities with the outfits of [[spoiler:Henry and Tharja,]] right down to the colour and creepy eye motif, so it's safe to say it's a [[spoiler:Plegian]] thing. It's understandable that Chrom might be ignorant of [[spoiler:Plegian fashion,]] but you'd think Emmeryn, who would be educated in the appearances and culture of her [[spoiler:increasingly hostile western neighbour,]] would figure something was up.
** Well, in the prologue, Frederick identifies the bandits based on their accent, but nobody ever makes any such comments about Robin. I guess because they don't ''sound'' [[spoiler:Plegian]], perhaps everyone just assumed that Robin either a) only has ''some'' [[spoiler:Plegian]] heritage and doesn't support them (since obviously, they're helping the Shepherds), or b) studied/visited [[spoiler:Plegia]] at some point and just happens to like their fashion.

* Why couldn't Laurent (or any other of the kids in Ylisse, for that matter) have contacted Chrom and co. earlier than his chapter? Why did he go to the desert to look for Miriel, when he could have gone to Ylisstol or the Shepherd's barracks [[spoiler:if he was in the present for five years (Since you don't know how long Nah and Noire were there, they can be excused)?]] There has to be some way for the common people to contact the Shepherds for help. Why couldn't Laurent just have left a call?

** The Einherjar are more like living portraits or statues than sealed souls. Old Hubba says that's why there's a Pr. Marth and a King Marth.
* Is Panne wearing [[WhoWearsShortShorts shorts made of fur]] or do Taguel grow fur? [[spoiler: Yarne seems to be wearing a fur loincloth, but he also has fur (or at least very bushy leg hair) on his legs]], so it could be either one.

* Grima can speak, make plans, etc., while also having his body (instead of being a ghost like Loptyr). How is this possible when Medeus was the only Earth Dragon with his body who didn't degenerate since he became a Manakete?
** Well... Grima ''isn't'' an Earth Dragon, exactly, he's [[spoiler:an artificially created dragon intended to be a perfect creature]], so that might explain part of it. It could be that there was something special about [[spoiler:his creation]] that allowed him to do that.

** No idea for Panne, but I always assumed that Validar found a way to warp them all in. It may be short-distance, but he does seem to teleport in Chapter 23 [[spoiler:after you defeat him the first time]], so it's possible the assassins got in that way.

** See the WMG page for details. Tharja would go pretty badly with the rest of the court, not just because of her personality but because she's Plegian. Normally, marrying a Plegian would smoothen diplomatic relations, but if the only Plegian in the court is a {{Yandere}}, then there would be a lot of tension ([[spoiler:Robin is Plegian, but they don't know that. Even when they do find out, Robin's nice enough to not cause tensions]]). Cordelia doesn't have an explanation, but Miriel would be a horrible queen. Her methods of solving problems are logical but cold (case in point: her Supports with Libra) and some solutions just won't go well with citizens. There's a difference between "I'm doing this because I know what's best" and "I'm doing this for you."

* In Panne and Yarne's C support conversation, Yarne says that, in his timeline, Panne died when he was still young, "before [he] could remember." The implication is that Panne died when Yarne was a baby/toddler, so are we to assume that, in the BadFuture, Panne is the first of the parent characters to die rather than Chrom?
** It probably means that Panne was one of the first to die AFTER Chrom. IIRC, Chrom's death was what caused Grima to rise in power and start the ZombieApocalypse you see in the game, which probably means that none of the other parent characters died before him.
** Also, if Lucina is still the oldest of the children in the original timeline, then that would mean that the other children would, naturally, be younger than her when their parents died. Could be that Yarne is several years younger than Lucina, so his memories of Panne would be fuzzy anyway.

* If the Falchion becomes dull as stone when wielded by someone other than its chosen, how does Lucina's sibling use it to cut fruit?

[[folder: General Headscratchers]]

* What's the deal with [[spoiler:the two Morgans in the Future Past DLC? Grima!Robin says in Future Past 3 that Morgan failed "twice", yet the Morgans you encounter are always different sexes.]]
** [[spoiler:Grima refers to the Morgans like they are 2 separate individuals. One guess could be that in this timeline, the Morgans are fraternal twins... who share the same name for convenience sake. Another is that two different Morgans from ''two different'' timelines coincidentally appeared in the Future Past universe and both were drawn to Grima.]]
** [[spoiler:Actually, the weird thing is that Grima ''doesn't'' refer to the two Morgans as separate individuals, saying that he/she "failed twice" when the other child characters reunite with Lucina, rather than saying "you and your sister/brother both failed" like you would think.]]
** [[spoiler:Note that the line Grima says depends on the gender of your Avatar. With Female!Robin you get the failed twice line, but with Male!Robin you instead get: "Grr... So the Morgan I sent after your group failed as well." The female version is reportedly a mistranslation: it was supposed to refer to the Morgans as separate individuals like the male version.]]
* In the [[spoiler:Future Past DLC, how did Grima!Robin kill Naga? Naga said that herself and Grima couldn't end each other.]]
** [[spoiler:There's no definite answer, but it's possible that Grima found some kind of loophole. Perhaps he crafted his own kind of "Falchion" to put Naga to sleep and effectively take her out of the picture?]]
** [[spoiler:Or he just severed all of Naga's connections to the Future Past timeline (which a very-much-alive Naga confirms five minutes later), and was [[ILied making up her death]] in order to demoralize Lucina and company.]]
** [[spoiler:Possibly the same way Naga killed Grima, by using her own power against her. There are three artifacts in the setting either created from Naga's body or infused with her essence; the Fire Emblem, the Falchion and the [[VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral Book of Naga]]. The latter two can only be used by someone with the blood of Naga, which requires either a secret/distant relative of Chrom or a trip to Jugdral, but isn't completely out of the question. The Fire Emblem can be used by everyone, but [[ShieldBash beating Naga to death with a shield]] might be a little troublesome.]]
** Actually there is [[FridgeHorror one way]] for [[spoiler:Grima to get his hands on a Naga-infused artifact ''and'' someone loyal to him who can wield it. If Lucina went back in time to fix the Future Past timeline and failed (which is supported by the fact that Morgan exists even if you married a second-genner), then her Parallel Falchion is unaccounted for. We know Chrom!Morgan can use the Falchion, and it's implied that Lucina!Morgan can, too. Grima could have [[UnwittingPawn ordered either of them to kill Naga using the Parallel Falchion]], which would count as Naga's own power. All because [[NiceJobBreakingItHero you shipped the Avatar with Chrom or Lucina. Good job.]]]]

** They are from the future. They are seen first emerging from the same portal that [[spoiler:brings Lucina back in time.]] IIRC, they are supposed to be the reanimated corpses of soldiers that died [[spoiler:fighting against Grima in Lucina's bad future timeline.]]
** Seems like a case of NiceJobBreakingItHero on [[spoiler:Naga]]'s part; [[spoiler:she let the Risen AND Future Grima return to the past. But since this ''ultimately'' allowed Lucina to avert the BadFuture, it's all good.]]
** Though some came from the future, it's implied that not all of them did. If you remember, [[spoiler:Aversa was shown controlling and summoning them seemingly out of nowhere around Chapter 9.]] It's implied that the Grimleal are able to control and maybe even create them with dark magic. [[spoiler:That, or Aversa was simply given that ability after Grima decided to interfere in the timeline.]]
*** [[spoiler:Henry]] also mentions figuring out how to summon Risen in his supports with Robin, so the idea of the Grimleal being able to create/control Risen seems pretty plausible.

* In-universe, Lucina explains her reasoning for becoming "Marth". But did that plot element accomplish *anything* progress-wise in the greater scale? She loses the disguise fairly early and people still don't figure out her identity. The Mark of Naga is only visible if one goes really close, and Falchion makes Chrom scratch his head, but he still doesn't figure it out until she accidentally calls him Father. So, why make Lucina "Marth" and not just style her as "that mysterious female warrior" from the start? Were they just trying to gain more awareness this way because Marth is popular in Japan?

** It also works as a misdirection for people who haven't played the game. Look at the cover. Seeing a mysterious masked man going in the opposite direction as Chrom and friends makes him look a lot like a villain, or at least someone with ulterior motives. This is reinforced when he introduces himself as Marth and has knowledge of the future, with the added benefit of his being Marth making us not question his hair color being identical to Chrom's. Now imagine that, instead, on the cover and throughout the game, it was a random young woman with the exact same hair color as Chrom. Just looking at the cover, people would likely assume that Lucina was either a younger sister or daughter of Chrom, which would be reinforced as soon as she started helping them. Plus, it allowed there to be multiple [[TheReveal Reveals]] about her character, instead of just one big one.
** She may have wanted to avoid a named after herself situation. Or even risk having her parents decide to not name her Lucina, and to give her a name not related to the mystery warrior they met a few times.

* A little bit of a question, a little bit of something that just sort of bugs me... In the game, it is ''specifically mentioned'' that if the Avatar's ties to her/his companions are strong enough, s/he ''could'' conceivably [[spoiler:be brought back from being DeaderThanDead]]. Okay, cool. I can roll with that. I am a sucker for [[spoiler:happy endings]]. What bothers me is that you don't have to [[spoiler:EarnYourHappyEnding]]. If you leave all of your Avatar's supports with every single character at ''zero'' -- which, granted, [[EarnYourBadEnding would take almost as much effort as maxing them all out]] -- s/he will still [[spoiler:survive the CessationOfExistence]]. I really feel like there should have been some sort of condition for [[spoiler:survival]], such as requiring the Avatar to have at least B-level support with, say, half or more of the allies s/he has recruited by the time of the [[spoiler:battle with Grima]]. Considering such an emphasis was put on the fact that strong ties were needed for the Avatar [[spoiler:to survive]], it struck me as strange that [[GameplayAndStorySegregation it didn't matter whether or not you'd put any effort at all]] into ''actually'' forming strong bonds between the Avatar and the other characters.

*** It's hinted that the Brand doesn't ''always'' appear right away. [[spoiler:Ophelia didn't get her Brand until she joined the Nohrian army.]] If what you say is possible, then it probably didn't appear until after Lissa's hair came in and it wouldn't be seen.

* So, Grima ended up in the past because [[spoiler:he followed Lucina back]], right? Yet [[spoiler:Robin loses his/her memories, which specifically happened because of Grima]], shortly ''before'' [[spoiler:Lucina]] even shows up. Am I missing something obvious here, or is this supposed to imply that Grima just got paranoid and went back a little earlier than he thought would be necessary?
** If Naga can't control the exact time and place [[spoiler:the childern landed in the past]], I don't see how Grima, an equally powerful godlike dragon, would. He just happened to pop up in the past before [[spoiler:Lucina]] did.

* Seeing as how [[spoiler:the Morgans fight under Grima in the Future Past,]] why didn't [[spoiler:Grima!Robin]] ever keep any of the children who aren't Ylissean royalty with him?
** Morgan is the Avatar's own child. It's stated that their loyalty to the Avatar was so strong they could overlook what their parent became. It wasn't a matter of brainwashing or WeCanRuleTogether, no other child could possibly have the kind of loyalty Morgan does.
** And even if you paired up Robin with someone else who has a kid, it's specifically due to how devoted to Robin Morgan was before that allowed them to become that fanatically loyal to them in the future. Another Robin-parented kid having some conflict over it could've been interesting, but all of the other kids are still more tied to their default parent than to Robin.

* In the Future Past DLC, where does Morgan come from if you marry someone who died in the first timeline? Or if you married a second gen character, for that matter?
** For the first question, it's possible that Robin impregnated Emmeryn (assuming Robin met her much earlier, or she was assassinated much later) with a daughter she gave birth to before her death, or Robin was impregnated by Basilio his death. You can say something similar for Say'ri. As for the second question, the Future Past never says either of the Morgans are from the same timeline as the FP versions of Lucina and Co.
*** I could take Basilio impregnating Robin, but the case with Emmeryn seems unlikely. Emmeryn was explicitly assassinated earlier without Lucina intervening. And even if 9 months managed to pass between Robin meeting Emmeryn and Emmeryn being assassinated, that would make Morgan older than Lucina, which wouldn't make any sense.
*** It's possible, at least in that particular timeline, that [[spoiler:Emmeryn still being alive, just brain damaged]] is canon. [[spoiler:Scarier thought, (an already possessing Robin) Grima could possibly have kept her alive just so he could impregnate a descendant of Marth and have a child with both lineages in his/her veins.]]
** Also, Naga repeatedly states that the Future Past timeline is fairly similar to the main one; this is still a different timeline from the original one, so it's possible that it stems from a timeline where Lucina went back and failed for whatever reason. There's a few [=WMGs=] on this topic that go into more detail on it.

[[folder: Excessively recessive genes?]]

[[folder: The real answer is clearly that he's from Ancient Greece.]]

* So Priam claims to be a descendant in some fashion of [[spoiler:Ike, but he does not have Aether. In Awakening, Ike still has it despite not being the same class as Chrom or Lucina. And Aether is one of the inherited skills, just like how Ike had it passed down from his father.]] So... why wouldn't he have it?

*** Actually, when you look at [[spoiler:Lucina, Chrom's child]], she has inherited Aether, yet Chrom's possible son (when paired with MU) Morgan does NOT inherit Aether, getting Rightful King instead. In Awakening, Aether can only be inherited by a daughter. Ike could have simply been a special case as he perfected/invented Aether to begin with. Plus, it makes sense that Ike is the ancestor, given Priam's location NOT being in Tellius, where Mist remained after Radiant Dawn, unlike a certain intrepid Hero of Legend. More importantly is the fact that being related to Ike isn't worth much if you don't learn his fighting style, something Mist has no way of passing down.
*** Wrong. Morgan can very well inherit Aether. The child characters (with the exception of Lucina, I'd presume) inherit the last skill each of their parents equipped, so your Morgan only inherited Rightful King because it was the last skill your Chrom equipped before taking the Morgan Paralogue. So, skill meddling aside, a hypothetical "grandchild" character would likely not inherit a skill from his grandparent, but rather another skill his parent acquired and equipped afterwards. So it's perfectly reasonable for Priam to lack Aether, even though he's from Ike's bloodline.
*** Chrom's inheritance mechanics work different, he will only pass on Aether to females and Rightful King to males, regardless of if he even has the skills, let alone whether or not they're placed on the bottom.
*** Just to let the above guy know: If you're not a Lord, then a male unit inheriting Aether and a female inheriting Rightful King in Awakening is impossible due to the inheritance mechanics. Of course, given the new theory that Tellius is far in the past, at some point, a descendant of Ike may very well not have passed Aether down their bloodline. And of course, Priam still comes with the two skills that combined make up Aether: Sol and Luna. Throw in the fact that Ike only gets Aether after being promoted and it seems that like the Rapier/Falchion weapons are only usably by those born to or recognized by nobility, hence why Ike's descendant as something of a vagabond wouldn't have access to it.
*** Greil, Ike's father, gets Aether as well (this takes some messing around in [=PoR=] to see, but still...), and "could have been a special case" doesn't explain away why Priam, a first gen character, couldn't just be given the skill if he in fact is a direct descendant of the first main character who had Aether. It would be the most definite link between the two, and heck, how was [[spoiler:Chrom able to learn it if only women seem to get it in Awakening, as you seem to be saying?]] Aether being lost in a generation might be understandable in a hypothetical gameplay sense, but since the character is introduced as a first generation character, it makes little sense as far as story goes (a unique and powerful trademark skill being replaced with a common and less impressive one). And Aether is also treated in-game as a skill that will always be passed down to certain people (even if a certain someone can't use it yet, or if it isn't his fifth skill, and as far as Serenes Forest says, [[spoiler:Aether is "always inherited" through Chrom, Lucina, and female Morgan with Lucina as her mother]]). Sol and Luna are obvious references to Aether, and yet he just doesn't get Aether? Him having "Aether in theory" would make more sense if that also extended to Ike in this game, but Ike can still get Aether in this game as well. Awakening also mentions people meeting the laguz and such, which gives the impression that traveling between the two worlds is not exclusive to Ike. And Priam is mentioned to be a world traveler. Ike is famous in both worlds and has had sparring partners in the games, so if in fact Priam does fight just like Ike, it's not like Ike couldn't have trained others who passed down his style. (It does give a "descendant in the disciple sense" theory an angle, as well.) It's too vague to call either way for certain.
*** "Descendant in the discipline" is an interesting idea. Though that means we have a character who looks like Ike, has Ragnell, claims to be a descendant of the "Radiant Hero", has trained in the style perfected by Ike, has the same eating habits (meat), has Sol and Luna despite not having Aether, and resides in the world of Awakening. Given that the Tellius games occurred at least 5000 years prior to Awakening (as the Archanaea games were 2000 years before Awakening), and the fact that Ike left Tellius forever, WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN, and took Ragnell with him after Radiant Dawn, the idea that someone else (be it Boyd and Mist's child or not) somehow found Ike in time to learn his style of fighting to continue the tradition either makes for a ridiculous fanfiction ass-pull or a GREAT basis for another Fire Emblem game (rekindling of the Radiant Hero's flame!). While it's true nothing definitive can be said, a straight descendant makes the idea a lot more plausible given the absurd amount of time that has passed since Ike departed Tellius.

*** Priam could very well be the direct descendant of Ike. Aether is a ''Vanguard'' skill as of Radiant Dawn as it is no longer accessible to Heroes, and since third-tier classes are unavailable in Awakening, it's almost a no-brainer that Priam doesn't have Aether; he's not a '''third-tier''' class, only a second-tier one. If third-tier classes were accessible in Awakening, Priam would be a Vanguard instead of a Hero and have Aether unquestionably. The only reason he does not have it in Awakening is because Chrom is the only one who learns it in that game despite not being a Vanguard for some really odd reason, and only daughters of Chrom can inherit it (most likely to ensure that [[spoiler:[[KidFromTheFuture Lucina]]]] will always inherit it). That brings up two more questions: ''how the hell does Chrom even get Aether in the first place'' and '''''why''' the hell do only his daughters get it''? No other Lord in the series other than Ike in Path of Radiance gets the skill. Ike started out as a Ranger, a class exclusive to him that is basically a special Mercenary class; when he promotes to Lord, he's essentially a special Hero (which can learn the skill), and Greil himself has it since he's a Hero. Even though the only Mercenary related class users were male (and related no less), that does not mean that Aether is a gender exclusive class. Theoretically, anyone who becomes a Hero ([=PoR=]) or Vanguard should have access to the skill and pass it on to their kids if they desire so. The only skills that can not be inherited in Awakening were DLC Skills or skills from DLC classes (sons could inherit female exclusive skills such as Demoiselle and daughters could inherit male exclusive skills such as Counter). Chrom's inheritance system and by extension his descendants' are the only unique ones, as male descendants will always inherit Rightful King and female descendants will always inherit Aether. Aether should be completely inaccessible to Chrom and his descendants based on class-availability. His (and [[spoiler:Lucina]]'s) Lord and Great Lord classes are not related to the Mercenary-related classes at all, but he gets the skill anyways (probably for RuleOfCool as Aether is a very badass skill). Someone care to explain why this is so?

*** The reason Priam doesn't get Aether is very simple. It is to keep Aether exclusive to Chrom's family. Spotpass and DLC units can't marry and thus can't pass on Aether to anyone.
*** Spotpass characters can marry, actually.
*** The explanation of Sol and Luna being an imperfect Aether actually makes a lot of sense to me. Maybe Priam relies too heavily on "Oh, I'm a descendant, why don't I have this down yet?" instead of "I should really train until I have this down."
* And to explain the folder title, Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War, and ''the father of Paris''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The announcement of Fire Emblem: Awakening]]
* How come Nintendo's been so hush-hush about it? It got announced on Twitter as an afterthought - did they want to keep news of it a bit quiet to avoid HypeBacklash if it gets delayed?
** Most likely. After all, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'' suffered the same result when the fanbase complained about whether loyalty to its original systems was too much or too little, resulting in IS deciding not to release FE12 outside of Japan, which IMO was a stupid move, as releasing FE12 internationally would've solved all their problems. It was fun, it had multiple difficulties for purists and the idiots at Website/GameFAQs that called ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' "[[ItsHardSoItSucks too]] [[DifficultyByRegion hard]]", and best of all, it had support convos. Additionally, IS had just finished releasing Paper Mario: Sticker Star internationally, and that game had twice the hype. Why the hell should they care about a game whose majority of popularity comes from Smash Bros while the rest are insane, self-harming cultists, rather than shill Nintendo's mascot CashCowFranchise for every cent they can get?
** The real reason that it was so hush hush around E3 was because Reggie wasn't supposed to mention it, but he got confused and did so anyway when asked about it by reporters, and the Twitter thing was saving face. It's worth noting that Awakening has gotten tons of advertisement and pushing from Nintendo since then.

** Considering she supports with him the fastest, it's probably a hint that this is the closest one would get to a 'canon' pairing with her. RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement noted.

*** As far as appearances go, Mist also carries the genetic information of her brother that can resurface over that much time, unless there's an unnerving line of GenerationXerox for thousands of years. Not to mention that blue is not an uncommon FE hair color. How similar this "descendant" is to Ike outside of hair color can be called into question as well. BigEater is a common enough trait amongst heroes and what else we see of [[BloodKnight Priam's]] [[CharacterFilibuster disposition]] [[GrinOfAudacity seems]] to... well, [[PerpetualFrowner contrast]] [[HumbleHero with]] [[NoSocialSkills Ike's]], so it's not like he's GenerationXerox anyway. And who knows, given all these implied apocalyptic happenings (the fate of the laguz, the situation of Altea), it could be somehow related to the upcoming ShinMegamiTensei crossover with Priam or someone higher up the line to [[ApocalypseHow see just what went down]] in Tellius. The epilogue of Radiant Dawn mentions [[spoiler:another huge war in the making. Maybe young Priam/someone up his line gets involved...? This timeline stuff is all confusing.]] It's very WildMassGuessing, but his existence that has not been very much expanded upon feels like some kind of hook for something between a sequel (for the Tellius saga) and a prequel (for Awakening).