Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade is a Japanese tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. The game was released on March 29, 2002 in Japan as the sixth game in the Fire Emblem series, and the first of three games in the series released on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance handheld.

It was the last Fire Emblem game to be released exclusively in Japan until the release of Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem. The Binding Blade was followed by a prequel, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, set twenty years earlier.

Development

Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade was the end result of a rocky development cycle that began with the development of the Nintendo 64 project Fire Emblem: Ankoku no Miko, which was cancelled in 2000. This followed internal drama that began the previous year when Shouzou Kaga, creator of the franchise and a principle creative figure in its development since its inception, left Intelligent Systems to found an independent game studio of his own. Nearly all work on Ankoku no Miko was scrapped as development was rebooted and the project was moved from the N64 to the Game Boy Advance. A whole new setting was also devised for the game, separating it from the world and continuity of the original five entries.

Only two characters originally created for Ankoku no Miko, Roy and Karel, survived the transition into The Binding Blade, though not without significant rewrites and revised designs.

Development of The Binding Blade coincided with the development of the GameCube title Super Smash Bros. Melee. It was decided that Roy, the protagonist of The Binding Blade, should be included as a new fighter to promote the game, and was developed as a gameplay clone of Marth. Due to differences in development and scheduling, Melee released ahead of The Binding Blade, resulting in the quirk of Roy first being playable in a title other than his origin game.

Setting

See also: Elibe Series

The game takes place on the continent of Elibe, One thousand years prior to the story's events, the continent was the scene of The Scouring, a brutal war between humans and dragons over the control of the land. Late in this war, mankind forged nine powerful dragon-slaying weapons, eight collectively known as the Divine Weapons, and the Binding Blade. These weapons were granted to eight figures who became known as the Eight Legends, who wielded their power to finish the war. However, when they clashed against the power of the dragons, the sheer power imbued in the weapons tore apart the balance in the laws of nature, causing a phenomenon later called the Ending Winter.

After the war, fearing the power of the weapons and the possibility of someone using them to cause a catastrophe, the weapons were separated and sealed away in hiding places across the continent. Over the next thousand years, the weapons remained undisturbed, and the continent is mostly at peace.

As the game's story begins, this peace comes to an end when the nation of Bern embarks on a sudden path of conquest, invading and taking control of both Sacae and Ilia before moving on to attack Lycia. Roy, son of Marquess Eliwood of the Lycian territory of Pherae, leads the League of Lycia's army against Bern.

The events of the game are set twenty years after those of The Blazing Blade. A number of characters that appear in The Binding Blade reappear in The Blazing Blade, which depicts events that bridge into the earlier title.

Story

Journey's Beginning

Roy, the son of Marquess Eliwood of Pherae, a district of Lycia, is studying in Ostia, Lycia's capital, when he is called back home. Upon arriving in Pherae, he finds that the castle and surrounding villages are under attack by bandits. Eliwood is defending the castle as best he can, but is limited by an illness. Ostia's Princess Lilina, a young mage who had gone to Pherae ahead of Roy, is also holed up in the castle. Roy joins the battle and helps stop the bandit attack.

After the bandits are thwarted, Eliwood, tasks Roy with leading Pherae's military in his place and joining up with the combined Lycinan force at Araphen for the purpose of defending Lycia from a potential attack by Bern. He also provides Roy with the services of Merlinus, a merchant who works for Pherae. Separately, Lilina returns to Ostia.

As Roy heads north to Araphen, he and his forces stop at a village near the Bern border to wait for reinforcements. During this pause, a young cleric named Elen arrives and begs Roy to help her save her mistress from a nearby Bern castle. Despite Merlinus's misgivings about the situation, their hand is forced when Bern soldiers appear and go on the attack. During the battle, Dieck's mercenary group arrives to bolster Roy's forces.

Following the battle, it is revealed that Elen's mistress is none other than Princess Guinivere of Bern, the younger sister of Bern's King Zephiel. She wishes to meet with a Lycian leader to see if there is anything she can do to avoid the outbreak of war, and Roy offers to take her to see Hector.

However, upon arriving at Araphen, horrible news is waiting for them: Bern's army has already attacked and obliterated the combined forces of most of the Lycian territories. Roy's army is able to retake Araphen Castle, and they find Hector locked up in the dungeon, wounded and near death. He informs Roy that Bern overwhelmed the Lycian force with Dragons, and tells Roy that he must become the leader of what remains of Lycia's armies, before passing away. Roy decides to head to Ostia to regroup, and inform Lilina about her father's death.

March to Ostia

With the Lycian forces in shambles, the Marquess of Laus, Erik, makes a pact with Bern and the Wyvern General Narcian, betraying the Lyican alliance. Roy and his army later travel through Laus territory and are attacked by Erik's forces, but soundly defeat them.

On the way, they save a village from bandits, and are met by Saul, a representative of the Elimine Church. He reveals that Guinivere has stolen the Fire Emblem from Bern, and questions her as to why. He and his bodyguard, the archer Dorothy, join Roy.

Passing through Thria, they stop at Thria Castle in order to pay respects to Hector's cousin Orun, the leader of the region. However, before they arrived, Orun had been assassinated by his own advisor, Wagner. Wagner had also taken the control of the castle, and imprisoned Sue, a Sacaen princess who had been under Orun's care. Wagner attempts to ambush Roy, but Roy learns of the plot ahead of time from Cath, and he is able to defeat Wagner and rescue Sue.

By the time Roy's forces arrive in Ostia, General Leygance has revolted and taken control of the city, along with most of Ostia's remaining army, and imprisoned Lilina. Leygance's aim is for LIlina to be killed so that her death appears to be a battle casualty. Roy arrives at the castle after fighting through Ostian rebels and Bern Wyvern Riders. Along the way, Roy is joined by Ilian mercenaries led by Zelot, who had been hired by Hector and refused to join the rebellion, and inside the castle, Roy gains additional allies in Barth's unit of Ostian loyalists. Roy's army defeats Leygance, putting an end to the rebellion, and rescues Lilina.

Joining Roy on his journey, Lilina informs him that she was entrusted with information as to the whereabouts of the legendary sword, Durandal, by her father. They travel to the cave in which it is kept so that Roy can retrieve it.

While they are gone, however, Narcian and a Bern Wyvern unit attack Ostia, but is forced to leave following the arrival of Etruria's Mage General Cecilia and Knight General Perceval leading several divisions of Etruria's army.

With only a fragmentary force of his own, Roy places Lycia under Etrurian protection for the time being. As part of the deal, Etruria is allowed to task Lycia's army for its own purposes. To this end, Roy's force is sent to the Western Isles to deal with the numerous bandit problems plaguing the region. Guinivere is left in Cecilia's care.

The Western Isles and Etruria

Shortly after their arrival, Roy's forces are almost immediately set upon by bandits. But as they investigate, they find that the bandits are apparently backed by members of the Etrurian nobility.

Roy heads to various areas on the Isles to help the citizenry, where he meets the bard Elffin and the dancer Larum, along with other members of the force resisting the Etrurians on the islands, who confirm that this is indeed the case. And so Roy heads to the capital, Jutes, to end the oppression. It is here that Roy catches his first sight of one of Bern's dragons.

After crushing the head of Etrurian corruption in the Western Isles, Roy's forces visit a cave near Jutes in order to search for another of the divine weapons; the Thunder Axe Armads. Upon exiting the cave with the weapon in hand, however, they learn that Etruria's Roartz and Arcard have overthrown King Mordred and given Etruria over to Bern. Because of this, Cecilia was forced to escape from the capital with Guinivere, and Percival and the Great General Douglas have been forced to work for Roartz under threat of the Mordred's execution.

Cecilia is gathering an army to fight Roartz in Missur, but Bern's armies are closing on her position, and so Roy immediately heads to help her. However, he arrives too late, as Bern's King Zephiel defeats Cecilia with ease, seriously injures her, and captures Guinivere, his own sister.

Despite this setback, Zephiel makes the mistake of leaving the defense of Missur to Narcian, who in turn departs, leaving his lieutenant Flaer in charge. Furthermore, Zephiel leaves Guinivere in the care of her personal guard, Melady, who cares more about Guinivere's wishes than Bern's. And so Guinivere convinces Melady to join the Lycian Army, and Roy retakes Missur. Cecilia, who had been locked in a dungeon as a prisoner alongside Sophia, a Shaman from Arcadia, had her wounds healed by Sophia, and once Missur is freed, they both join Roy's force, as well.

Arcadia

Learning that Bern's army is attacking Arcadia, the City of Dragons, Roy heads to their rescue. A blinding sandstorm reduces visibility and makes it hard to move, but the Lycian army manages to make it to Arcadia and defeat the occupying force before Bern's reinforcements arrive. While there, they retrieve the Divine Anima magic, Forblaze, from the temple, and learn more about Dragons and The Scouring from the elders.

Roy next intends to return to Etruria to put an end to Roartz's rebellion. However, Fae, a young Manakete from Arcadia, tries to follow him and ends up being captured by Bern forces, and Roy goes to her rescue. Elffin also manages to convince Perceval, who had come to attack the Lycian Army under orders from Roartz, to join Roy's side, by revealing his secret identity.

Wyvern General Murdock informs Narcian that King Zephiel is furious with Narcian for his multiple failures, including the failure to take the Western Isles, to take Arcadia, and failing to detain Guinivere. Zephiel orders Narcian to take charge the defense of the capital of Etruria, Aqueleia, at the same time removing him from his position as Wyvern General and promoting Galle in his stead.

As Roy's army storms the castle, Roartz and Arcard escape out a secret entrance. Narcian falls, and Roy and Douglas reinstate the King. Douglas and the head of the Elimine Church, Yoder, then take Roy to the Elimine Church's tower, also known as the Pinnacle of Light, where the Divine Light magic, Aureola, resides.

To Bern

Having returned Etruria to its own control, stifling the corruption on the Western Isles, and with Lycia still under Etrurian protection, three hostile territories remain: the Bern-occupied nations of Ilia and Sacae, along with Bern itself.

Based on certain gameplay factors, the story will either route through Ilia or Sacae. In either case, Roy leads the combined Lycian-Etrurian army to invade Bern from the north.

Along the way, they fight Roartz and Arcard, left by the Wyvern Generals Brunnya (if traveling through Sacae) or Murdock (if traveling through Ilia) to guard locations in those countries as their punishment for fleeing from Etruria. During the this leg of the journey, they acquire one more Divine weapon, and another when they meet Yoder at the border of Bern. The weapon found along the route and the weapon in Yoder's possession vary depending whether the route through Ilia or Sacae is taken, but either way, Roy's forces will acquire the bow Mulagir and the lance Maltet. Yoder joins the party carrying the Saint's Staff.

Progressing south through Bern, they come across the Shrine of Seals, guarded by the Wyvern Generals Murdock and Galle. It is a difficult fight, with masses of Wyvern reinforcements, but Roy prevails. And upon reaching the shrine, they find an entrance into its eerie depths. Within, they find the seventh divine weapon, the Dark Magic Apocalypse.

Upon returning to the surface, Roy proceeds to the altar containing the Binding Blade and places the Fire Emblem into the handle, unsealing the sword. Drawing it from its resting place, he is able to wield its power. It is at this point in the game that Roy promotes to the Great Lord class.

The army then assaults the capital of Bern. Roy and company invade the castle, and find that Zephiel has locked himself in the castle's center, in a chamber that can only be unlocked from the outside by the Fire Emblem. Roy unlocks the way, and Zephiel falls.

The Demon Dragon

Taking possession of Zephiel's Eckesachs, the eighth and final divine weapon, causes the collected weapons to resonate and show Roy the location of the Dragon Temple, where Idunn, the Demon Dragon responsible for creating Bern's War Dragon army, resides. They immediately set off for this location in order to stop her.

Along the way, they run into Brunnya, the last Wyvern General standing. She attempts to stop Roy from entering the temple, but ultimately fails, and the last of Bern's resistance dies with her.

Inside the temple, Roy's forces encounter a surprise foe: Jahn, a Manakete. He had remained hidden here for a thousand years regaining his strength after taking a grievous wound in the Scouring, and was the one who informed Zephiel about Idunn's existence. Roy's forces, wielding the divine weapons, put an end to his long life.

Upon entering Idunn's chamber, Roy attempts to persuade her to stop following Zephiel's orders, but Idunn, reduced to a soulless state, is incapable of reasoning with him. Roy defeats her with the the Binding Blade, and she falls unconscious in her humanoid form. Without the power of the Dark Dragon to keep it stable, the Dragon Temple collapses.

Epilogue

Guinivere becomes the new ruler of Bern despite her fears that she would be despised by the populace for her 'treachery'. Lilina takes up her role as leader of the Lycian League, and Elffin returned to Etruria. The world is at peace once more, but the work to rebuild from the large-scale warring has only begun.

Following her defeat, Idunn is taken to Arcadia, where the elders restore her soul to her body. Despite this, it is expected that she will never recover from her ordeal of living for over a millennium as a Demon Dragon. However, it is hinted that Idunn will eventually make a full recovery, as she manages to smile and laugh when she sees an apple fall on Fae's head. Excited to see Idunn's reaction, Fae runs off, intent on telling Roy. Idunn, following her, feels a warm breeze.

Characters

See main article: List of characters in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.

Counting the 54 playable characters in the game's main story and the eight additional characters in the post-game Trial Maps, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade has a roster of sixty-two playable characters. This statistically gave the game the largest roster among handheld entries in the series until the release of Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem.

Of the 54 characters in the main story, there are three pairs of characters that cannot both be present on the player's roster in a single playthrough. Players can recruit either Echidna or Bartre, Larum or Elffin, and Juno or Dayan. As such, the player will have at most 51 playable characters on their roster at the end of the main story.

Chapters

See main article: Chapters (Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade).

Classes

See main article: List of classes in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.

Music

See main article: List of Music in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.

The soundtrack was composed by series mainstay Yuka Tsujiyoko. In addition to its original music, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade also features versions of songs from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War; the character recruitment theme of Genealogy of the Holy War is reused as is the general battle theme, which is used as the game's arena and multiplayer battle themes. The player turn's music for the Trial Maps was also taken from the player turn's music from Fire Emblem Gaiden.

Representation in Other Games

Fire Emblem Engage

In addition to featuring Roy as one of the game's Emblems, Fire Emblem Engage features two Paralogues that use maps based on chapters in The Binding Blade. Chapter 21 (The Binding Blade) is the basis of Emblem Roy's Paralogue. Chapter 20Bx (The Bow of the Winds) serves as the basis for Emblem Lyn's Paralogue.

The Binding Blade is the only entry represented through Engage Paralogues to include a Paralogue associated with a character that does not appear in the map's origin game.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Roy appears as an unlockable character in the Nintendo GameCube fighting game Super Smash Bros. Melee. He was originally intended to only be included in the Japanese version of the game in order to promote the then upcoming release of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade alongside Marth, the classic protagonist of the first and third Fire Emblem titles. Roy was planned to be dummied out of the western release of SSBM, but was kept in at the request of localization and QA staff at Nintendo of America.^[1]

The appearance of Roy and Marth in the game can be credited with helping bring Fire Emblem games to North America, beginning with Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. Roy and Marth both speak Japanese in Melee, as neither character had English actors at the time and all voices were shared between regions.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Brawl includes a gameplay feature involving collectible in-game stickers that can be used to customize the stats of characters by applying them to the given character's trophy base. Several stickers that appear are of characters from The Binding Blade, including Roy, Lilina, Rutger, and Dieck.

Roy did not return in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. However, data found within SSBB shows that he may have originally been intended to return having both an unused graphics effect file (ef_roy.pac) and an unused fanfare but Roy likely didn't return due to time constraints.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

Roy once again became a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as post-launch DLC for the game. Roy received new costumes based on Marcus, Zephiel, and Cecilia.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Roy is once again an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a member of the default release roster. Lilina appears as a Spirit.

Legacy

The Binding Blade is the final Fire Emblem title to be released before official localization of the franchise began. As a result, it is the only Game Boy Advance Fire Emblem game not to be officially localized and is a highly popular request for either an official translation via the Virtual Console or to receive a full enhanced remake like Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Most of this is due to Roy's appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series as he is the only playable Fire Emblem character in that series to not have an official western release of his game of origin. It is also one of the few games to have a directly tied title, with its immediate successor, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, being the only prequel title in the entire franchise.

Due to his appearance in the Super Smash Bros. alongside Marth, Roy is considered one of the ambassadors of the franchise to the west. Unlike Marth, who has official games that were localized, Roy's popularly is almost entirely driven by his appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series. In fact, in the inaugural Choose Your Legends event of Fire Emblem Heroes, Roy was the second most popular male character in the franchise, the fifth most popular character overall in the final tallies, and the most popular of all characters from a Japan-exclusive title. He is also the Emblem representative for The Binding Blade in Fire Emblem Engage.

Like other Fire Emblem titles that have not been released in the west, other than Roy, most of The Binding Blade cast have struggled to maintain any sort of popularity in the Choose Your Legends events, most failing to crack the top 100. Any popularity associated with the cast almost entirely tied to their roles in the Heroes meta at best. However, it is one of the titles who had a portion of its cast as part of the launch roster of Heroes. Lilina is the only notable The Binding Blade character to consistently rank in the Top 100 of the Choose Your Legends events, ranking as high as 23rd in the sixth round. Most have ranked outside the top 100 with Sophia, Fae, and Idunn as the only other The Binding Blade characters to achieve Top 100 placings at different points, though not as consistent as Lilina.

Trivia

• Like its prequel, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, The Binding Blade draws heavily from Arthurian mythology and the Song of Roland. Characters in The Binding Blade whose names are inspired by Arthurian characters include: Guinivere, Bors, Perceval, Igrene, Gorlois, Niime, Narcian, and Lance. Characters inspired by the Song of Roland include the Eight Legends and Ogier.
• The Binding Blade is the first Fire Emblem game to have absolutely no connection to the continent of Archanea. Gaiden was connected through Palla, Catria, Est, and Zeke, and the Jugdral Series features Naga.
• The Binding Blade is the last game in the series thus far where the player is given a preview of the battlefield through an automatic clockwise pan around it before the player is taken to the battle preparation screen. All subsequent games instead allow the player to preview the map manually during battle preparation.
• In March 2019, cartridges of several unreleased Chinese translations of GBA games, including The Binding Blade, were offered for sale^[2], and later dumped.^[3][4]
  • Though never officially released, it is the first known official translation of a Fire Emblem title in any non-Japanese language.
  • An officially released Chinese localization of a Fire Emblem game wouldn't happen until nine games later. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia includes a Chinese language option in the game's Japanese release.

Gallery

References

External links

• Section on Serenes Forest