Trivia / A Brighter Dark

• Creator Backlash: The writer has stated in a few places that he was a teenager at the time of writing, and looks back on the story with one-part nostalgia and one-part cringe. In particular, trying to give Hans a redemption arc after establishing he had raped children in the past is singled out in comments on the sporking as a true "The hell was I thinking?" moment.
• What Could Have Been: The story was cancelled, but the author's notes go over several plot points that they were planning to cover.
  • Saizo and Kagero kill Beruka, but are forced to go into hiding.
  • Sakura and Mozu bury Hans with the Harvest Orb, then return to Shirasagi. Sakura takes command and sets out trying to bring the defected shoguns back to Hoshido's side.
  • Soleil discovers Leo barely alive and brings him back to Nohr's camp. The Nohrian royals decide to take advantage of an open route to Shirasagi and try for a direct attack on the Hoshidan capital.
  • Garon takes his children to the opera in Cyrkensia and recounts how his ambition for conquest instead of peace led everyone to their present situation. Azura successfully assassinates Garon at the behest of a mysterious voice and escapes.
  • Gunter is revealed to be an immortal man plotting to take the thrones of both Hoshido and Nohr, and is the one who convinced Azura to kill Garon; it is also revealed Hinoka and Takumi are alive.
  • Ryoma besieges Mokushu, while Nyx and Gunter argue about how he supposedly wants Nohr to win the war but just killed its king.
  • Nyx is revealed to be a 10,000 year old woman named Anankos and Gunter an equally old mage; Gunter's backstory and ultimate motivation remains the same as in canon, except with an unnamed ancient Nohrian king in Garon's place. Gunter developed a ritual to drain the life force of everyone around him with the intent to use it to wipe out Windmire and usurp the Nohrian throne, but Anankos interrupted him; the ritual encompassed all of Nohr and cursed the kingdom. Anankos and Gunter faded into legend. Nyx realizes that in order to stop the curse, she and Gunter must die.
  • The Nohr curse drains Mokushu of all life; Kaden realizes that a Nohrian victory would wipe out the entire continent and commits to siding with Hoshido. Gunter maneuvers to install a brainwashed Hinoka and Takumi as the puppet rulers of Hoshido and kill Ryoma.
  • The Nohrian royals arrive at Shirasagi; Xander, demoralized by Garon's death and unwilling to continue the violence, negotiates a peaceful end to the war with Sakura. The terms are that the two will marry and rule the continent together. However, Hinoka and Takumi's armies move to attack Nohr and ignore any missives that the war has ended; by this point, Ryoma and Corrin are both dead.
  • Gunter leads the corrupted Hoshidan forces in a final battle against Nohr's army at Shirasagi. Nyx confronts him and, with Odin's aid, destroys both him and herself, bringing a decisive end to the conflict and their curse.
  • It takes many years, but Xander and Sakura ultimately bring peace to the land.