For the chapter inFire Emblem: Thracia 776, seeThe War of Liberation.

TheWar of Liberation (Japanese:解放戦争Liberation War) was a war that lasted five years on the continent ofArchanea in the backstory ofFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light,Mystery of the Emblem,Shadow Dragon,New Mystery of the Emblem, andArchanea Saga. It was the second large-scale conflict to take place on Archanea chronologically; it took place over a millennium after the war betweenearth dragons andhumans, and about a century before theWar of Shadows.

Background

Thousands of years before the outbreak of the War of Liberation, Archanea housed an advanced civilization of dragons that declined due to natural causes.^[1] Some of the dragons decided to take on human forms to stave off this decline, becoming known asManaketes.^[1] After the fall of the dragons, humanity emerged as the dominant race of Archanea and theHoly Kingdom of Archanea was founded by them; Manaketes suffered under human rule and were oppressed.^[2] Due to this,Medeus, the onlyearth dragon to become a Manakete, left his post at theDragon Altar and founded the Dolhr Empire to take revenge on humanity in the Archanean year 490.^[2][3] This empire consisted mainly of oppressed Manaketes that had been gathered by Medeus.

War

Early stages

In 493, three years after the founding of Dolhr, the empire attacked the Holy Kingdom of Archanea and took its capital.^[4] The kingdom fell as a result and almost all members of its royal family, House Archanea, were executed.^[5] This gave rise to an age of despair on Archanea, as humanity was enslaved, and led to the conquest of the continent at the hands of Dolhr.^[5] However, one member of House Archanea, PrincessArtemis managed to evade capture and fled to the city of Altea.^[6] In response, Medeus sent troops to Altea and demanded the extradition of Artemis;^[6] Artemis wanted to sacrifice herself to save the people of Altea, but they rose up to defend her.^[7]

The Three Heroes and the hero Anri

Due to the sacrifice of the Altean people, the Archaneans learned that Artemis was still alive and resumed the battle against Dolhr as a result.^[8] A liberation army was raised by DukeCaldas, who was given theFire Emblem by Artemis because she believed he could save the world.^[8] GeneralOrdwin of Archanea was presumably another member of this army.^{[citation needed]} At some point, the Dolhrian slaveIote and several other slaves learned to tame degeneratedWyverns in the forests of the empire and started a rebellion as well.^[9] Presumably, these three individuals are those who later became known as the Three Heroes of the War of Liberation.^{[citation needed]}

In response to the renewed vigor of humanity, Medeus decided to make a move himself in the war,^[8] reversing much of their progress and threatening their continued resistance.^[10] However,Gotoh appeared in Altea, and informed its people ofFalchion, the Blade of Light, enshrined in theIce Dragon Temple to the distant north, that could kill Medeus.^[2][10] In response to this, the young manAnri travelled through the inhospitable lands of northern Archanea; theMamorthod Desert, theFlame Barrel, and the cold mountains around the Ice Dragon Temple itself.^[10] He obtained Falchion from the temple and then defeated Medeus, causing the collapse of Dolhr and the end of the War of Liberation in 498.^[11][12]

Aftermath

Following the defeat of Dolhr, the Holy Kingdom of Archanea was re-established with Caldas as its new king. Although Anri and Artemis loved each other, the Archanean nobility did not want a commoner to become their new king and so they encouraged Artemis to marry Caldas.^[13] Artemis did this in tandem with a saying passed down in House Archanea: "The bearer of the Fire Emblem must give their life to the royal family".^[13] Anri, who had been acclaimed by the people of Altea as their first king, was not told this and remained unmarried for the rest of his life.^[13][14] Instead, he was succeeded byMarcelus, his younger brother.^[14] Artemis also died soon after giving birth to her first child.^[14]

In addition to the Holy Kingom of Archanea and the Kingdom of Altea, several other nations were established with Archanea's help on the continent following the War of Liberation: the Kingdom of Grust, founded by Ordwin;^[15] the Kingdom of Macedon, founded by Iote;^[9] and the Kingdom of Aurelis, founded on the subjugated northern plains by Caldas, and ruled by his younger brotherMarlon.^[16]

Finally, several cultural artifacts of the War of Liberation were also introduced in the Archanean continent. The inhospitable northern portion of Archanea where few humans lived became known asAnri's Way^[17] and the tale of Anri was documented in a work of literature known as the Anri Saga.^[18] The tragedy of princess Artemis also gave rise to Artemis's Curse; when the princess was parted from Anri forever, she cursed the Fire Emblem.^[19] It was said that the emblem was the end of both love and war, and would cost to those who were involved with it changing hands.^[19]

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

References