The Song Begins
-Estinien thinks Hraesvelgr might know the story of Nidhogg’s eye. We head back to Zenith.
-Ysayle is disgusted with us, having heard of Nidhogg’s death. But we can’t leave this alone, so I blow the horn to summon the great wyrm.
“Impenitent mortals, ever seeking to bury old wrongs under new.” Yeah, especially with Estinien drenched in his brother’s blood, Hraesvelgr’s not gonna be super happy with us.
OH SHIT, NIDHOGG’S YELLOW EYE WAS FROM HRAESVELGR
I FORGOT HE WAS MISSING AN EYE
-We return the eye, and Hraesvelgr reabsorbs it magically (rather than surgically). Flashback time for me.
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Organ Transplant
-This is right after the Elezen betrayed the dragons and killed Nidhogg’s and Hraesvelgr’s sister, Ratatoskr. Right after Nidhogg’s failed attempt at vengeance. He’s blind here.
-Hraesvelgr swoops in just having learned the news.
“Hraesvelgr. ‘Twas thy blindness that did invite disaster into our lands. Surrender thee an eye to me, and let that be thy penance.” He blames Hraesvelgr’s love for Shiva for having invited this betrayal.
-Hraesvelgr must believe this to some degree as well. He magically transposes the eye.
Ready to rock once more.
-God I LOVE how dragons in this game look!
Nidhogg’s attempts at vengeance can begin anew.
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The Song Begins (continued)
-Back to the present. Hraesvelgr was the one who helped sustain Nidhogg this whole time.
-This knocks Ysayle for a loop. This is gonna be fascinating for her character arc. She knows now that she’s not really Shiva, and now the dragon she was basically in love with shows himself to have willingly caused a whole mess of Elezen suffering, even if he himself wasn’t leading the attacks on Ishgard.
-Hraesvelgr is totally unrepentant. Makes sense. We’ve heard time and again how differently dragons view time and history. He doesn’t see Nidhogg’s actions as unjustified.
He even threatens to kill us, to embrace his fully vengeful side if his bond with Shiva were to weaken.
Hraesvelgr flies off.
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Unrest in Ishgard
-Estinien is in a weird spot. His main life goal – vengeance against Nidhogg – is now accomplished.
He and Nidhogg both had the same motivations in the end. That mutes the joy he expected.
-Ysayle has had a change of heart about Estinien. Not that she necessarily supports his efforts against the dragon, but she feels empathy.
YSAYLE: “I will not judge you for your deeds – I have not the right. Too many innocents have persished in the name of my ‘greater good.’”
-A bit of eye math. There were four eyes in play: Nidhogg’s two red eyes and Hraesvelgr’s two yellow eyes. Hraesvelgr has both of his eyes back in his head, and Estinien has one of Nidhogg’s eyes. What of the second? Hm.
-Estinien asks a great question. Nidhogg has spent a long time waging a war of attrition against Ishgard. So why did he suddenly make a huge push against them? Why smash so much of his army against their walls?
Something must have prodded him, put him on a shorter clock. My current theory is that it’s something to do with the Ascians and the archbishop.
-Ishgard radios in to Estinien. Heretics have invaded the city. Ysayle – Lady Iceheart, heretic leader – gave no such order. So either there’s a new leader of the heretics or they’re working independently.
-Estinien and I head off to defend the city. Ysayle joins us to help preserve calm the heretics.
Btw, my ultimate Heavensward ship of Ysayle/Estinien is going full sail at this point.
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Behind the Scenes
-Scene change to the Ishgard pope guy with his Heavensguard at a table.
Zephirin, leader of the guard, announces the heretic invasion of the city, though it’s not much to worry about since there aren’t many invaders.
Archbishop Thordan VII: “Our plans proceed apace, then.”
The Archbishop is behind the invasion! He’s false-flagging it, causing the invasion to stoke popular fear of heretics and dragons, “and renewed prayers for their deliverance.”
-The Heavensguard file out. Zephirin might eventually join our side. He looks concerned about tasks the archbishop is having him do.
-After the guard has left, Lahabrea the Ascian reveals himself behind the archbishop’s shoulder. They’re working in sync.
LAHABREA: “It is time for the Bringer of Light to die.” I can’t remember if they’re talking about me or someone else, so I’ll tentatively assume it’s me.
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Quelling the Heretics
-Scene change Ishgard. The heretics have invaded and the city’s on fire. Estinien, Ysayle, and I join up with Lord Haurchefant, despite his quizzical look seeing us all together.
-Ysayle declares herself to the heretics, demands that they stop.
-This takes them by surprise. They rejoice. At least until she announces that the war is over with Nidhogg’s death. I thought they were pro-Nidhogg?
YSAYLE: “The endless cycle of violence between man and dragon was born of our forefathers’ treachery. You have followed me – bled with me, to bring this truth to light, that we might all know peace!”
Now the bearer of that hatred is dead. She wants that hatred to die with him.
I doubt they’ll take this news well. What does Nidhogg’s death change? Have their goals been met? Has Ishgard acknowledged its sins against the dragons?
-She tries to claim this is not a loss, but a victory. That peace is within their grasp. Again, I’m not sure this is a winning line. Their goal was truth, not peace.
-It seems I misunderstood the heretics though. They lower their arms and walk away.
-The Temple Knights, Ishgard’s guards, turn on Ysayle and want to seize her. Understandable given the shit she’s pulled, but still. Maybe give her a break given that she just stopped the attack on your city?
-lol the knight charges ysayle but Haurchefant and Estinien step in his way. There are better uses for the knights’ time right now.
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He Who Would Not Be Denied
-Haurchefant wants to step back a second. He was confused af about why Estinien and I entered the city with Ysayle. He’s even more surprised as I tell him about our magical bonding journey together.
-Damned if it wasn’t effective though. We pacified the heretics and took out Nidhogg. Go us!
-We head to House Fortemps to check in with Lord Fortemps and Ser Aymeric.
-I’m a bit nervous telling Aymeric about Lady Iceheard/Ysayle still in town. He’s not an orthodox voice, but he still has an official role in the city. I shouldn’t have worried. He accepts that she’s quelled the violence.
-What about the truth we now bring about the true origins of the Dragonsong War? I mean, those go against the heart of the Ishgardian faith. I can’t imagine they’ll be super receptive there.
Even worse, since the false scripture gave legitimacy to the rule of the four high houses.
-There’s something here I’m a bit fuzzy on. Part of the threat to the legitimacy of the four houses that’s described is that anyone could now claim to have descended from the original Thordan and his twelve guards, and drinking dragon’s blood would confirm this.
[Non-rhetorical question: what’s the deal here? I don’t remember this part. Assuming it was already explained.]
-Ser Aymeric has had enough secrets. He wants to confront the Holy See and the archbishop directly with this knowledge.
RIP Aymeric. This sounds like a terrible idea. The Holy See has kept the true history hidden for a while. They’re not just gonna fess up.
-Man, Aymeric is the best. Despite the pushback he knows he’s gonna get, he insists on bringing the truth to light. Rip the bandage of lies off and see what happens next.
-The truth is gonna come out anyway. Lady Iceheart will tell what she learned to her heretic followers, and the word will spread. Best confront the past head-on.
-Aymeric walks off to enact his plan. His guard/subordinate, Lucia, is worried for him. Rightly so.
-So we have a new goal. Support Ser Aymeric’s push for truth. If he doesn’t return in a reasonable amount of time, we gotta go get him back.
-Oh wait – is the thrust of Aymeric’s argument that Archbishop Thordan VII may not be a true descendant of the original Thordan? This aspect of the story confuses me.
-There’s a rumor that Ser Aymeric is the archbishop’s bastard son. Perhaps we have a successor if the Archbishop ends up being a boss we take out (as I expect).
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Next time: bringing conflict to the Holy See.
