TheBattle of Belhalla (Japanese:バーハラの戦いBattle of Barhara) was a conflict which occurred in theGrannvale capital ofBelhalla in the yearGrann 761.^[1] It was one of the final acts of the period of unrest which commenced with Grannvale's war withIsaach, and was the culmination ofArvis's rise to power and of the formation of the powerful Grannvale Empire. In the battle,Sigurd ofChalphy and his army were executed for acts of treason against Grannvale, having been framed as co-conspirators in the demise of PrinceKurth.

Overview

Background

The ambitious DukeReptor ofFriege and avariciousLombard ofDozel felt threatened by the influence on KingAzmur and PrinceKurth wielded byByron, the Duke ofChalphy. In the closing days of the war with Isaac in 759, working seemingly in cooperation withArvis ofVelthomer, the duo had Kurth assassinated and framed Byron and his son Sigurd for the crime. Byron was defeated and imprisoned, and the two led their armies toAgustria to arrest Sigurd; instead,Annand ofSilesse arrived and escorted Sigurd's army to refuge in Silesse. Sigurd spent the next year in hiding there, but was eventually forced to leave due to sudden aggression against the otherwise innocent nation from Grannvale.

After quelling a civil war against Silesse's QueenLahna, Sigurd's army set out on a march back to Grannvale through theAed Desert, intending to clear his name from the crimes attributed to him. On the way, he taskedOifey andShannan with taking his infant sonSeliph to Isaach as a precaution, and learned ofQuan andEthlyn's demise in the nearbyAed Massacre. Lombard and Reptor led their forces against Sigurd in defense of Grannvale, seemingly with the support of Arvis and his lieutenantAida, but at the last moment Aida turned on Reptor on Arvis' orders, ordering the Velthomer forces to attack Reptor's army. Lombard and Reptor both fell in this battle, and Aida informed Sigurd that Arvis was aware of his innocence all along and had arranged a royal procession inBelhalla in honor of Sigurd's return.

The battle

Following Aida's instructions, Sigurd led his troops to Belhalla, where Arvis, the Rotritter, and the Weissritter were awaiting him. Arvis initially acted welcoming to Sigurd, but turned on him as soon as Sigurd mentioned his intent to seek an audience with Azmur. Arvis declared that Sigurd and his army were to be executed for treason, then summoned his wifeDeirdre – formerly Sigurd's wife – to confront "the son of the man who murdered [her] father". The amnesiac Deirdre showed faint signs of recognition of Sigurd, while Sigurd himself reacted with shock at finding her again, prompting Arvis to have Deirdre taken back to the castle. Arvis then ordered his army to seize and execute Sigurd's army.

Trapped in by the surrounding army, Sigurd's forces had nowhere to go. The Rotritter bombarded Sigurd's army withMeteor spells, while Arvis usedValflame to execute Sigurd himself. In the midst of the confusion of the battle,Lewyn was confronted and killed byManfroy of theLoptr Church. Sigurd's army was quickly overwhelmed and wiped out; the fates of most of its members are unknown, and those who survived were hunted as traitors to Grannvale.

Aftermath

Arvis had successfully orchestrated the deaths of Lombard, Reptor and Sigurd, eliminating all of the obstacles to his plans. When King Azmur died some time later, Arvis succeeded him as king, and reformed Grannvale into an empire. The territories subdued by Sigurd –Verdane andAgustria – were claimed as territories of Grannvale, as was Isaach in the war's aftermath, and theMunster District,Miletos andSilesse soon also were conquered by Grannvale. For a time the Empire was benevolent and peaceful.

At some point afterward, Arvis and Deirdre had twin children,Julius andJulia. In accordance with the plans of Manfroy, Julius possessed full LoptousHoly Blood, and so was able to be a vessel for the resurrection ofLoptous. When this commenced with Manfroy presenting theLoptous tome to Julius, Julius killed Deirdre and quickly wrested control of Grannvale from Arvis, twisting it into an oppressive and malevolent regime, paving the way for the return of theLoptrian Empire.

Seventeen years after the Battle of Belhalla, Sigurd's sonSeliph formed a revolution army in the northern reaches of Isaach and marched on the holdings of the Empire, liberating the oppressed nations before defeating Emperor Arvis and marching on Grannvale itself, overthrowing Julius's hold on the continent.

Survivors and casualties

Known deceased

• Sigurd: Arvis personally executed Sigurd usingValflame.
• Claud: Claud foresaw his own imminent demise in the battle and resigned himself to this fate.^[2]

Known survivors

• Edain: Edain fled toTirnanog, where she gave birth toLester andLana, and helped Oifey and Shannan raise Seliph,Larcei,Scáthach andDiarmuid.
• Brigid: Brigid sustained amnesia and eventually turned up in theMunster District, adopting the name Eyvel and settling inFiana.
• Erinys: Erinys returned to Silesse, where she ruled as its queen in lieu of Lewyn's absence. She eventually died of illness, prompting her sonCed to search for Lewyn.
• Lachesis: Fled toLeonster, where she resided with Finn until Thracia came to conquer theMunster District. She fled with Finn,Leif andNanna and went into hiding in several locations with them, before heading north to try and find her sonDiarmuid and disappearing in the Aed Desert.
• Silvia: At some point after the battle, Silvia travelled toDahna, where she surrendered her childrenCoirpre andLene to an orphanage before disappearing.
• Tailtiu: Tailtiu fled toSilesse, where she lived for a few years with her childrenArthur andTine. She and Tine were later abducted by her brotherBloom, and she died years later after relentless abuse from Bloom's wifeHilda.

Unknown

According toAugust, there are rumors that theLoptr Church had custody of thepetrified victims of the Battle of Belhalla, which they kept in theAed Shrine.^[3]

• Alec
• Arden
• Ayra: Seventeen years later, her daughterLarcei continued to believe that Ayra survived the battle.^[4]
• Azelle
• Beowolf
• Chulainn
• Dew
• Jamke
• Lex
• Lewyn: While Lewyn is killed byManfroy beforeSeliph's rebellion, it is unknown if it happened during the Battle of Belhalla or at a later point.
• Midir
• Naoise

Trivia

• The Battle of Belhalla is the only occasion in theFire Emblem series where the protagonist permanently dies as part of the story while under control of the player.

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

• 

  Artwork of the Battle of Belhalla fromThracia 776 Illustrated Works.

• 

  The Battle of Belhalla inGenealogy of the Holy War.

References