Fire Emblem: A Link Between

With over a dozen games and several spin-offs, the Fire Emblem franchise features quite a few settings for players to experience. . . or does it? How many locations exist on the same planet, perhaps at different times, comparable to the Legend of Zelda? Or is this situation more comparable to Final Fantasy, where the majority of games exist in independent realities, yet share non-essential elements?

The answer is complicated, so let’s begin.

NOTICE: As I slowly alter this article with rewritten information and new images, I’ve chosen to shorten the title. This is due to concerns that “Fire Emblem: A Link Between Worlds” is duping people into thinking that the article is actually about a crossover between Fire Emblem and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. My intent is not to mislead, and hopefully this modified title helps keep that from happening.

A Continental Overview

Let’s begin by establishing the official relationship between games. The original Fire Emblem through the fifth installment exist in the same world, as do the eleventh through the thirteenth games. That being said, they’re spread across three continents and separated by thousands of years.

The continent of Archanea was established in the very first Fire Emblem, subtitled Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (hereby shortened to Blade of Light), and returned for Mystery of the Emblem, the third game, and Archanea Saga (often simplified as BS Fire Emblem) for the Satellaview add-on. Of course, the Nintendo DS remakes Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem don’t deviate from this setting. Excluding BS Fire Emblem, every one of these games stars Marth.

Neighboring Archanea is the continent of Valentia, the setting of Fire Emblem Gaiden and its recent Nintendo 3DS remake Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. The story of Alm and Celica occurs between Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem, and are connected to those games through the Pegasus knights Palla, Catria, and Est, along with the minor antagonist Zeke. These four characters appear in each of these games.

Fire Emblem Awakening reveals exactly how closely these two neighbors are situated. In the two centuries after Mystery of the Emblem, Archanea and Valentia were renamed, respectively, Ylisse and Valm. Marth became a legendary figure known as the Hero-King, while the Divine Dragon Naga becomes worshiped as a god. Marth’s ancestor Chrom, along with his daughter Lucina, wage conflicts across both continents to stop the Fell Dragon Grima, whose origins are explored in the final chapter of Shadows of Valentia.

Next is Jugdral, a continent introduced in Genealogy of the Holy War and the setting of Genealogy and Thracia 776, a mid-quel. The aforementioned Divine Dragon Naga is the connective tissue linking Jugdral to Archanea and Valentia, while Awakening enforces that connection via a group of undead warriors called the Deadlords. Although it’s uncertain if the Deadlords that appear in Awakening are the same from the Jugdral games, it’s worth noting that they wield Jugdral holy weapons.

Intelligent Systems made a clean break for the sixth game. The Binding Blade established the continent of Elibe, which shares no official connection to any of the games already discussed. Elibe returned in the next game, The Blazing Blade. Initially released outside Japan as simply Fire Emblem, The Blazing Blade is a prequel that stars younger versions of characters introduced in The Binding Blade, including the leads Eliwood and Hector. More importantly, we uncover the Dragon’s Gate, the birthplace for theories about a connected universe, but more on that shortly.

The eighth game, The Sacred Stones, has the distinction of being the only Fire Emblem title disconnected from the rest of the franchise. It’s the rare game to receive no sequels or get referenced outside of downloadable content or Fire Emblem Heroes. The setting is named Magvel, and features twin siblings Eirika and Ephraim as protagonists.

Path of Radiance, the first Fire Emblem on a home console since Thracia 776, introduced the peninsula of Tellius, a location where beorc (regular ol’ humans) and shape-shifting laguz exist under the protection of the goddess Ashera. Radiant Dawn is a direct sequel set during the post-war rebuilding process, and sees racial tensions between beorc and laguz explode into a massive war. Smash Bros. fans will recognize Ike from Path of Radiance, while he shares protagonist duties with Micaiah, the “Silver-Haired Maiden” for Radiant Dawn.

Curiously, while a handful of characters from this duology were included in “Illusive Wii Title,” an unreleased Fire Emblem project, it’s uncertain if Tellius was set to make a return or if the characters were simply placeholder.

Jumping past the Nintendo DS remakes and Fire Emblem Awakening, we arrive at the unnamed world from Fire Emblem Fates. Or should I say two worlds? The main setting features the kingdoms of Hoshido and Nohr, while a third country named Valla is secretly tucked away in another world. The DLC Before Awakening reveals that a portal to Ylisse (from Awakening) exists, while the characters Laslow, Ordin, and Selena originally appeared in Awakening as Inigo, Owain, and Severa. Curiously, Chrom calls Hoshido and Nohr “mythical” in the aforementioned DLC, but this is never elaborated on.

Lastly, Fódlan is the continent introduced for the upcoming Fire Emblem: Three Houses. This setting is home to the countries of Adrastea, Fergus, and Leicester, while five additional countries exist alongside them. There is no apparent connection to any other Fire Emblem game, at least so far.

A Separate Time?

That’s seven continents spread across a possible four different worlds. There’s no way to connect these together, right?

There’s no shortage of theories explaining how the franchise is united. An obvious assumption is that every continent we’ve talked about exists on the same world, but simply haven’t interacted in any meaningful capacity. Just because Magvel (from The Sacred Stones) isn’t referenced in Tellius (Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn) doesn’t mean they’re not on the same planet, right? Of course, a lack of information is not convincing evidence. Let’s consider a more solid explanation, shall we?

Before we continue, let’s establish a few rules: downloadable content and Amiibo functionality shall not be used as evidence because we cannot ascertain whether it’s canon. Besides, it’s too easy to claim a connective tissue because Intelligent Systems threw tons of characters together for Awakening‘s DLC. I’m also excluding spin-off games Fire Emblem Heroes and Fire Emblem Warriors for similar reasons. We good with that? Great.

Among timelines I’ve witnessed, Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn are the earliest chronological points. The backstory claims that beorc (humans) and laguz (beast-people) evolved from the same species, giving a clear starting point for both humanity and the various transforming humanoids who’ve appeared throughout the franchise. The laguz transforming without a special item is also worth remembering as the Archanea games claim that dragons were forced into using dragonstones to transform. It’s unlikely that they developed that dependency and later overcame it by Path of Radiance with no mention of such an event in the backstory.

Next on the hypothetical timeline is The Binding Blade and The Blazing Blade, as their backstory involves a conflict between humanity and dragons known as the Scouring. The conclusion of that war saw dragon retreat through the Dragon’s Gate to the safety of another world, which could be argued is Archanea. Traveling to another world does shoot down the theory that every continent exists on the same planet, but if we take these words more loosely, it’s possible that the Dragon’s Gate simply brought the dragonkin to a different continent.

From this point on, Elibe is irrelevant. The important thing is that the dragonkin travel to Archanea through the Dragon’s Gate and control of the continent, as per the backstory for Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Furthermore, Jugdral (Genealogy of the Holy War/Thracia 776) and Valentia (Gaiden/Echoes: Shadows of Valentia) don’t require explanations because they’re already confirmed to exist on the same planet as Archanea.

Fire Emblem Fates is an oddity, featuring the only continent in the franchise (excluding spin-offs) without a name. Furthermore, its connection to the rest of the series involves jumping from one world to another. Specifically, I’m referring to Inigo, Owain, and Severa, introduced during Fire Emblem Awakening and returning for Fates. Although they confirm a connection with Ylisse, and therefore every game set in Archanea, Valentia, and Jugdral, their method of travel involved magic, according to the Hidden Truths DLC (the only exception I will make to my “No DLC” rule). Various endings for the three characters suggests another method to travel between worlds.

Which isn’t a surprise because portals to other worlds aren’t unheard of. These other locations are known as the Deeprealms, and they’re apparently swell places to store your child until the places are invaded by enemies. Regardless, a connection between Fates and the rest of Fire Emblem exists, however thin.

Still, if we’re sticking with the theory that every continent exists on the same planet, how do we explain jumping from Ylisse to the setting of Fire Emblem Fates? I’ve read speculation that the setting is Archanea long before the original Fire Emblem, or the land to the right of Tellius. Although I don’t cotton to those explanations, the idea that Inigo, Owain, and Severa were transported across the global and/or to a different time period isn’t any less believable than jumping to another dimension. Of course, it’s an idea without any foundation in the game itself.

That leaves us with one final game: The Sacred Stones. As I already wrote, nothing connects this Fire Emblem to the rest of the series. Within the theory that everything happens on a single planet, Magvel is just another continent. That’s a boring answer, I realize, but it’s what it is.

My Opinion: Are the Games Connected?

No.

If the official timeline for The Legend of Zelda has taught me anything, it’s that revealing a timeline after years, nay, decades of speculation only leads to a bunch of people unwilling to believe it and becoming whiny pissers at the mere mention. Let’s keep that from infecting Fire Emblem.

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Sources:

Serenes Forest (n.d.). Playing Guide. Retrieved from http://serenesforest.net/general/designers-notes/holy-war/playing-guide/

VincentASM (2015). Making of Fire Emblem: The Illusive Wii Fire Emblem. Retrieved from http://serenesforest.net/2015/12/27/making-of-fire-emblem-the-illusive-wii-fire-emblem/

XKAN (2015). Toru Narihiro – Interview on Fire Emblem for Wii Translation – FE 25th Anniversary. Retrieved from https://kantopia.wordpress.com/2015/12/23/toru-narihiro-interview-on-fire-emblem-for-wii-translation-fe-25th-anniversary/

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July 9, 2017: Rewrote text and updated certain terms.