TheWar of Shadows (Japanese:暗黒戦争War of Darkness) was a war that lasted six years on the continent ofArchanea depicted byFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light,Mystery of the Emblem Book I, andShadow Dragon, as well asFire Emblem: Archanea Saga and theNew Archanea Saga bonus chapters ofNew Mystery of the Emblem.

The War of Shadows was a conflict instigated by the empire ofDolhr against most other nations on the continent of Archanea. Dolhr was lead byMedeus, the lastearth dragon revived by the sorcererGharnef; Dolhr allied itself with a number of the continent's strongest nations before launching its invasion of the country ofArchanea, eventually conquering most of the continent by Archanean year 604. PrinceMarth ofAltea fled when his country was conquered, and began a revolt against Dolhr in 604. Marth's army formed theArchanean League and liberated the nations conquered by Dolhr, defeated its allies, and reclaimed theFalchion with which Marth then defeated Medeus, ending the war in the year 605.

Most nations were weakened by the War of Shadows. Archanea underwent a significant reconstruction effort, becoming the strongest country on the continent. Gharnef used theDarksphere to twist its emperorHardin into a tyrant; Hardin then led Archanea to conquer the continent, starting theWar of Heroes over one year after the War of Shadows ended.

Note that this article adheres to canon as defined byMystery of the Emblem Book II and its remake. InShadow Dragon & the Blade of Light and its remakes, some events—such as recruitingTiki or creatingStarlight—are not required in gameplay, but are implied or required to have occurred inMystery of the Emblem's story; such events are noted as appropriate. Additionally, all playable characters inShadow Dragon reappear inNew Mystery of the Emblem and are presumed to have been recruited—includingside quest-exclusive characters—and survived, with three exceptions:Arran andSamson, where it is left ambiguous which character was recruited; andNagi, where it is implied she was not recruited.^[1]

Background

Prior to the revival ofMedeus and the start of the war,Gharnef studied alongsideMiloah atKhadein underGotoh for some time.^[2] When Gotoh appointed Miloah as the next pontifex of Khadein, Gharnef, driven by jealousy, stole theDarksphere and fled the city.^[2] Using the Darksphere's power, Gharnef created the tomeImhullu, sealing his soul within the Darksphere in the process.^[2]

In the year 597, Gharnef revived Medeus, who reestablished the empire ofDolhr and began amassing an army.^[3][4] Soon after, Gharnef killed Miloah in battle and seized control of Khadein, appointing himself its new pontifex.^[5][6] He then captured and hypnotizedTiki, the daughter of thedivine dragon kingNaga, and placed her in theFane of Raman to protect theStarsphere andLightsphere from anyone who would gather them to makeStarlight.^[7]

In order to increase Dolhr's might, Gharnef began to manipulate the leaders of various nations. Gharnef captured the twin heirs ofGrust—Yuliya andJubelo—and imprisoned them in Khadein in order to blackmail KingLudwik into forming an alliance between Grust and Dolhr.^[8] KingOsmond ofMacedon and his sonMichalis disagreed on the country's course for the coming war, between an alliance withArchanea or Dolhr;^[9] Gharnef persuaded Michalis into killing his father, becoming King of Macedon, and forging an alliance with Dolhr, to the chagrin of his sister PrincessMinerva^[10] who objected to Dolhr's actions.^[11] At some point, Gharnef convinced KingJiol ofGra to ally with Dolhr and betrayAltea.^[12]

Start of the war

In the year 600, war began;^[13] the armies of Dolhr, Grust, and Macedon made much progress on their respective fronts. By 602, Dolhr had reached Millennium Court, the capital ofArchanea, and began a siege on the castle^[14] which, along with an intervention fromCamus of Grust'sSable Order, resulted in its occupation and the capture of PrincessNyna and a group of Archanean Knights.^[15] Camus was placed in control of occupied Archanea and Nyna was considered to be in his custody; members of the Archanean royal family began to be exterminated, but Camus's authority saved Nyna from execution.^[16][17]

Also in 602, KingCornelius of Altea took theFalchion and marched to confront Grust alongside the armies of Altea and Gra, leaving at home his family and a garrison of Gra soldiers.^[18] Upon confronting Grust, the Gra army attacked the Altean force, annihilating the Altean army and taking the Falchion.^[19] At the same time, the Gra garrison began to attack those within the castle. PrincessElice stayed within the castle to buy time for Marth to escape alongside a retinue of knights and a court advisor.^[20] Marth and company were pursued by Jiol,^[21] but manage to escape by boat toTalys^[22] whenFrey, one of the Altean knights, served as a decoy.^[23][a] The King of Talys,Mostyn, harbored Marth in the country's east fortress.^[24]

Over time, the Dolhr Empire grew to control most of the continent, facing continued resistance fromAurelis—Macedon's march into the country was slowed by its princeHardin and theCoyote's Men.^[25] In order to ensure Minerva's compliance with Dolhr, PrincessMaria, the youngest sister of the Macedonian royal family, was held prisoner inCastle Deil.^[11] Two years after the fall of Millennium Court, Camus's continued intervention in Medeus's attempts to execute Nyna forced Medeus to send soldiers to the palace to take her by force.^[17] Camus decided to take Nyna to Aurelis and the protection of Prince Hardin to save her from Dolhr.^[26] Camus and a small retinue of knights deserted from the Sable Order^[27] and escorted Nyna to the Aurelian border, but were attacked by a contingent of the Dolhr army on the way.^[28] Upon Nyna reaching the border and entering Hardin's protection,^[29] Camus surrendered to the Dolhr army^[30] and was taken back to Dolhr where he was imprisoned at Medeus's behest.^[31]

The Archanean League

In 604, when a group of pirates attacked Talys, Marth left the east fort and routed the bandits from the island at the behest of its princessCaeda.^[32] After clearing out the pirates, Marth and company departed the island for Aurelis, travelling with mercenaries provided by the King of Talys—lead byOgma—through Galder Harbor^[33] and the Samsooth Mountains, where they met the clericLena and the thiefJulian.^[34] Upon their arrival in Aurelis, Marth met his old friendMerric,^[35] as well as Merric's teacherWendell,^[36] and joined forces with Hardin before routing the Macedonian forces without and within Aurelis Castle.^[37] Once the Macedonians were driven from the castle, Marth met Nyna, who gave him theFire Emblem, hoping that with it, he would save the world from Dolhr.^[38]

With Aurelis liberated, the newly-christenedArchanean League set out for Archanea.^[39] Passing through the Lefcandith Valley,^[40] Marth met the ManaketeBantu, who was searching for Tiki and joined Marth to do so more effectively.^[41] The League entered Archanea at Port Warren,^[42] but was forced to divert, first toPyrathi by the Grustian Army,^[43] then to Castle Deil to free Princess Maria at the behest of Minerva.^[44] On the way to Millennium Court, Marth rescuedLinde, the daughter of Miloah and inheritor toAura, at Nyna's request;^[5] once at Millennium Court, the League ousted the occupying Grustian army from the palace.^[45] With Archanea freed, the League headed for Altea, first diverting to Gra to retrieve the stolen Falchion; after defeating King Jiol and forcing Gra's surrender, the Falchion could not be found, and it was discerned that Gharnef had taken possession of the sword in Khadein.^[46] Once there, however, Archsage Gotoh, through magical means, informed Marth that Gharnef was protected by the spell Imhullu, thus making him invulnerable to damage,^[47] and the League returned to Altea without the Falchion.

Upon reaching Altea, the League confronted Grust defending the land and Dolhr within the castle, eventually defeating both armies.^[48] While battling in the exterior, Marth rescuedXane, a man with the ability to transform.^[49] In the interior,Morzas, the general presiding over Altea Castle, revealed that he had killedMarth's mother and sent his sister to Gharnef.^[50] The League then set out for the Fane of Raman in order to obtain the materials required for Gotoh to forgeStarlight—the Starsphere and Lightsphere—and defeat Gharnef.^[51] The League fought against a detachment of the Sable Order before entering the tower;^[51] once inside the Fane of Raman, they discovered the Starsphere and Lightsphere,^[52][b] as well as Tiki, whose trance was broken by Bantu.^[54] With the materials to make Starlight, the League made preparations to end the war.

End of the war

The Archanean League had to march south to take on Macedon and Dolhr, but in order to do so safely, they had to first defeat Grust.^[55] The final clash between the Archanean League and the Grustian army occurred at the Grusthold, and resulted in victory for the League. Two Grustian generals were present in the battle:Lorenz, an old friend of the King of Talys who defected to the League,^[56] and Camus, no longer a captive of Dolhr who was routed with the Grustian army.^[57][c] The League then moved into Macedon, where they confronted and defeated its king Michalis,^[58][d] and Marth located Gotoh and gave him the Starsphere and Lightsphere in order to make Starlight.^[60][b]

Once the fighting in Macedon concluded, Gotoh transported Marth and the League to the city ofThabes to confront Gharnef at the city's temple.^[61] Within the Temple of Thabes, Marth found and rescued his sister^[62] and, through the use of Starlight, defeated Gharnef and retrieved Falchion.^[63][e] The League then fought through the Dolhr army to storm Dolhr Keep, where Medeus laid in wait;^[65] the League stormed the fort and defeated Medeus,^[66] who swore revenge upon his defeat.^[67]

The war ended in the year 605.^[68]

Aftermath

Following the defeat of Medeus, the Dolhr Empire lost power and dissolved.^[69] The war, however, had devastated the continent, requiring great efforts from each nation towards their own restorations.^[70] Princess Nyna, as the last living member of the Archanean royal family, was forced by circumstance to choose a husband to be king of Archanea, eventually choosing Hardin.^[71] Hardin quickly managed to restore Archanea to power, reinstated it as the Holy Empire of Archanea, and became its emperor.^[72] Where other countries struggled to restore themselves, Archanea became the single most dominant nation on the continent.

The Archanean League dissolved, as there was no longer a need for a unified army. Marth returned to Altea to begin rebuilding it, where he would be engaged to Princess Caeda of Talys.^[73] Princess Elice, too, would return to Altea to support in its reconstruction.^[74] Princesses Minerva, as the eldest member of the Macedonian royal family, was left to lead Macedon;^[75] Princess Maria,^[76] Julian,^[77] and Lena^[78] each returned to Macedon as well. Jiol's daughter, PrincessSheena, was instated to lead Gra.^[79] Princess Yuliya and Prince Jubelo were rescued by Wendell—who was appointed pontifex of Khadein—and kept safe within its walls^[8] until they were retrieved by Lorenz, and Jubelo inherited leadership of Grust with Lorenz serving as regent.^[80] Merric returned to Khadein to further his studies;^[81] Linde joined the court of Archanea.^[82]

Camus, Michalis, Gharnef, and Medeus each survived their encounters with the Archanean League. Camus survived the battle, but was found ashore on Valentia without memory.^[83] Michalis was mortally injured, but was restored to health by his youngest sister, Maria, and managed to recover from his wounds.^[84] Gharnef's physical body was destroyed, but his soul endured within the Darksphere.^[64] Medeus, by virtue of being anearth dragon, survived the encounter and entered a deep slumber, one poised to last many centuries.^[85]

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

Official artwork

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  Artwork depicting the War of Shadows fromThe Super Famicom Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem Super Guide.

Notes

References