Recap / Battle for Wesnoth – Heir to the Throne

Mainline in: All versions
Created by: David White^note creator of the game itself
Year of events: 520—521 YW

The campaign that started it all.

It's been 19 years since Delfador saved the baby Prince Konrad from the usurper Queen of Wesnoth, Asheviere, and started raising him with the elves in Aethenwood, southwest of Wesnoth. After living peacefully for years, Konrad's life changes as Asheviere starts sending orcs to hunt him down. Konrad and Delfador try to seek refuge, only to find out that Asheviere plans to invade all the western lands, so they must find a way to overthrow her.

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This campaign provides examples of:

• Androcles' Lion: From version 1.14 onwards, if Konrad saves the gryphons from the loyalists in "Gryphon Mountain" and doesn't capture them himself, the gryphons will return and become recruitable when Konrad return to Wesnoth.
• Big Bad: Queen Asheviere, the woman who usurped the throne of Wesnoth and is turning the whole kingdom in a cruel regimen.
• The Cavalry: If the turns runs out before you defeat the orcish leader in "Blackwater Port", a literal cavalry appears to scare the orcs into retreating, so you still win though without the bonus you would get if you defeat him.
• Enemy Mine: When Li'Sar finally catch up with Konrad in the dephts of Knalga, both parties are attacked by encroaching orcs, forcing them to join forces.
• Deus Exit Machina: After spending the early scenarios as a Crutch Character, Delfador goes to take care of other business so that Konrad (and the player) would have to retake Elensefar on his own.
• Final Battle: The final scenario has Konrad's troops fighting Asheviere's army in Weldyn, fighting through two elite armies of Orcs and Loyalists as well as the Queen's troops.
• Flaming Sword: "Snow Plains" has a flaming sword laying around which can be picked up by any sword-using units.
• Foreshadowing: In "The Elven Council", Parandra vaguely speaks of something only she and Delfador know, something that makes Konrad not fit for the throne compared to Li'sar. As Parandra says, things are revealed later, and said something turns out to be the truth that Konrad is not the real Prince Konrad.
• From Bad to Worse: The Ford of Abez scenario starts with the party having to cross a long submerged ford (which leaves most of their units vulnerable) while having to deal with both Li'sar's pursuing units from below and orcish elite troops from the north. Furthermore, after a few turns, a Sea Serpent and some giant squids will appear and go towards the ford, making the situation even worse (though if you're lucky they may attack your enemies instead).
• Good Princess, Evil Queen: The villain is Queen Asheviere, who has been turning Wesnoth into a wasteland. By contrast, the party has Princess Li'sar, who joins following a Heel–Face Turn and eventually marries the hero Konrad and becomes a good queen.
• Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Inverted by the heroes: The only female main character is a hard-hitting melee specialist who doesn't even have a ranged attack unless you give her a certain artefact, while two of the male heroes have a mix of melee and ranged capability and the third is a Squishy Wizard.
• Hard Mode Perks: On the hardest difficulty, defeating the orc leader in "Blackwater Port" earns you a free loyal Knight that you can't get on easier difficulties.
• Hold the Line:
  • In "Blackwater Port", Konrad's side must help Sir Kaylan defend the port from the orcs until the turn limit runs out, when a literal cavalry arrive and make the orcs retreat. You can defeat the orcs yourself and gets a bonus though.
  • "The Valley of Death" has the heroes surrounded by powerful groups of undead and they need to hold off the undeads for two days. You can also win by killing all three liches, but the limit is stricter.
• Lethal Lava Land: In "The Scepter of Fire", the caves where the Scepter is located are volcanic and the presence of the artifact is making the whole place tremble and awaken: once in a while, certain tiles will turn from solid ground to lava, slowly expanding and, at the same time, killing any unit caught on that tile.
• Permanently Missable Content: You can miss out on two types of recruitable units if you're not careful:
  • If your enemies kill the Mother Gryphon in "Gryphon Mountain" before you do, you can't get Gryphon Riders.
  • Letting your ally die in "The Lost General" means you don't get access to Dwarvish Guardsmen.
• The Reveal: Right before the final battle, now that Konrad is not going to be the heir, Delfador reveals that Konrad is not the prince whom he rescued as a baby 19 years ago. The actual Prince Konrad was killed by Asheviere's guard just as Delfador arrived. Delfador slayed all the guards and took the prince's corpse to the elves. By coincidence, Delfador's elvish allies found a random human baby so they all agree to pretend that the baby is Konrad whom Delfador rescued and raised to be a good king.
• Shout-Out: To The Fellowship of the Ring: the lake outside the entrance to the Dwarven mines hides a Giant Squid who will attack any unit close to it.
• Sword of Plot Advancement: After liberating Elensefar (the climax of the first third of the campaign), the Scepter of Fire is established as a weapon needed by Konrad to establish his legitimacy as a king. He or Li'sar then gets it around the end of the second third, and the scepter proves to be a powerful weapon even in-game.
• Taking a Third Option: The branching point scenario after obtaining the Scepter has you choose between going north of the river, fighting orcs to reach a snowfield where an enchanted fire sword can be found, or going south through an undead-infested swamp, which nets you an enchanted armor. However, what the game doesn't tell you is that you can finish the scenario sooner by hiring Merfolks and send them down the river, allowing you to access the "Cliffs of Thoria" level and fight Drakes.
• Title Drop:
  • In "Cliffs of Thoria", Konrad and Li'sar drop the title by introducing themselves to Keh Ohn as "heir to the throne of Wesnoth".
  • Just before the final battle, Delfador (taking the role of the usual narration) has this to say:
    Now, let us not tarry here any longer! The dawn breaks! The time has come for the heir to the throne to claim it!
  • And then after the final battle, at start of the epilogue narration:
    And so the Dark Queen’s reign was ended. Li’sar, daughter of Garard II and Heir to the Throne of Wesnoth, was crowned Queen and Bearer of the Sceptre of Fire, which she would pass on to all her successors.
• Title Drop Chapter: Not to the campaign title, but to game title itself (this is the original campaign, remember). The finale is titled "The Battle for Wesnoth".
• Unreliable Narrator: It's ultimately revealed that the opening narration isn't entirely true; notably, the fact that Konrad isn't the actual prince is kept hidden from the player.
• Wacky Wayside Tribe: "Cliffs of Thoria" has Drakes as enemies for Konrad's army, followed by a trek through monster-infested caverns.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The epilogue text explains what Li'sar, Delfador, Kalenz, and lastly Konrad do after defeating Asheviere.
• You Shall Not Pass!: In the first scenario, the elves of Aethenwood decide to hold the orcish armies surrounding the forest while Konrad and Delfador escapes.

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