This blog entry contains spoilers for Fire Emblem Engage's Fell Xenologue DLC
Welcome back to the review of the Fell Xenologue DLC. To recap the story thus far, Alear is traveling around an alternate Elyos with two Fell Dragon siblings and the Four Winds who serve them. Their goal is to prevent the Emblem bracelets from falling into enemy hands, and so they seek out the bracelets held by the Kingdom of Elusia and the other is in the hands of the Queendom of Solm.
Nel has a flashback to happier times, back when her Alear was still alive, but bitterly notes that sentiment like this "no longer becomes" her.
As the group discusses how suspicious it is that they got into Elusia so easily, Nel is rather distracted. Alear notes that Nel came back late, an observation that might have helped to foreshadow Nel's killing the royals had it been delivered earlier. Nel curtly replies that Alear should only be concerned with how Nel does in battle, and Nil chalks Nel's bad mood up to sleep deprivation.
Gregory mentions that Zelestia went to get Madeline(aka Marni's counterpart), who was spying on Elusia. Unlike the bratty, psychotic and praise-seeking Marni, Madeline is polite, humble and mature. She reveals that she looks up to her world's Mauvier(whose name is unchanged) as a mentor. One would assume that the alternate universe Mauvier would be evil, but while he served Sombron in the past, he changed sides after his superior, a sibling neither Nel nor Nil met, died. Nil was surprised that the sibling could retain a knight, while Nel was suspicious of Mauvier until he earned the other Alear's trust.
Madeline reveals that Queen Ivy and her soldiers are in Hasaude Cathedral, performing a ritual. It's unclear whether Hasaude is the counterpart to Destinea Cathedral, or another location entirely. The group surmises that the ritual is to revive Sombron, and are unsurprised, noting that the alternate Elusia, like the main Elusia, worships the Fell Dragon.
The alternate Mauvier arrives, despite the fact that he was supposed to be in Solm, and the explanation is simple- the queen of Solm departed the palace to invade Elusia. Mauvier briefly introduces himself to Alear, who's a bit surprised that he doesn't have a "big reaction" like the others. Considering that both Mauviers are the least emotional of their respective groups, this shouldn't be a surprise.
By the time the heroes arrive on the battlefield, the armies are already clashing, and they decide to take advantage of the battle to go straight for the two queens to seize their bracelets. The battle has so many units on the field that the mission begins with a warning that only combat animations will be shown for allied units.
Unique Quotes: Ivy
The main universe's Ivy is disgusted by her counterpart's arrogance, and even more disgusted by Ivy's worshipping the Fell Dragon and using her father as a sacrifice.
Ivy's relationship with Hortensia is the worst out of all the royals so far. Like Alternate Alcryst, she implies that she thinks Hortensia is plotting against her, and refuses to let Hortensia call her by name. Hortensia takes this, noting that she's glad her counterpart won't have to hear it.
Ivy calls Zelkov her "favorite retainer," whereas the main universe Ivy had a cold relationship with Zelkov, and only warmed up to him in their A support. In the Japanese, Alternate Ivy claims to have slept with her universe's Zelkov.
As for Kagetsu, Alternate Ivy claims that she hates him, but Kagetsu counters that she was mistaken. Again, this is censored from the Japanese version; in it, Ivy wanted to sleep with Kagetsu, but he refused her.
Lindon, as a character who serves Elusia's royal family, gets unique dialogue with Ivy. She wishes he could have helped bring Sombron back, but he apologizes and says he'll have to stop her.
When fighting Alear, Alternate Ivy is furious to learn that the Divine Dragon has been resurrected.
Unique Quotes: Timerra
Timerra believe her main universe counterpart is an illusion. The main universe Timerra tries to get her counterpart to loosen up, but is bluntly refused.
Timerra reveals that she's still mourning Fogado's death, but also rebuffs Fogado's' offer to comfort her, for the sake of her queenly dignity and because she doesn't believe he's real.
Merrin's counterpart apparently hated animals. Like the Brodian and Firenese royals, Timerra took her death rather hard.
Panette's dialogue with Timerra reveals that the latter is a vegetarian who hates singing, while Panette's counterpart hated graveyards.
Timerra tries to get Alear to ally with her against Elusia, but Alear refuses. Considering that both Alear and Alternate Solm are opposed to the Fell Dragon, it seems a little contrived that they refuse to consider cooprating.
After The Battle
Ivy and Timerra are defeated, and, despite being mortal enemies, stand next to each other without trying to kill one another. Ivy, enraged, demands to know why Nel would stop her efforts to resurrect Sombron, and orders her troops to kill Nel after Mauvier reports that he stopped the ritual. Timerra is no more cooperative, and refuses to hand over her bracelet despite also being opposed to the Fell Dragon.
Nel, resigned, then devours Ivy and Timerra before putting Emblem Soren and Emblem Camilla to sleep. A furious Alear demands to know why Nel did such a thing, since Elusia and Solm will descend into chaos without their rulers, but Nel explains that they were already dead and brought back as Corrupted, like everyone in Elyos. Apparently, the Four Winds are just as surprised, as is Nil to a lesser extent, and Alear calls out Nel on keeping secrets. Nel apologizes, but says she wanted to spare Alear the sight of seeing their friends and allies' corpses, and knew that Nil and the Four Winds would likely spill the beans.
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it was properly foreshadowed with Alfred's odd behavior and the fact that anti-Corrupted skills like Celica's Holy Stance are effective against the foes in Alternate Elyos. On the other hand, it feels like a copout to have the alternate royals' actions be due to becoming Corrupted, rather than due to their altered personalities and the different circumstances.
Alear starts to warm up to Nel, realizing how much Nel cares, but this only serves to upset Nel by reminding her of the other Alear, whom Nel loved. Nel runs off and the Four Winds follow her, leaving Alear alone with Nil.
Nil muses a little bit about how Nel had been reluctant to show vulnerability, but the mood suddenly turns sinister as he wonders how she'll react to losing her beloved Alear again. He then reawakens Emblem Tiki as a Corrupted, revealing that he is the antagonist that the group has been searching for.
In hindsight, the twist is rather obvious. When two suspects exist for the role of a murderer, traitor or other villain, the obviously suspicious one is rarely the true culprit, and it's more likely to be the more unassuming of the two. This is especially evident considering that Nil's importance was secondary at best for much of the Xenologue.
My Thoughts So Far
Alternate Ivy makes for a decent one-off villain, as well as an effective opposite to the real Ivy, although it's hard to tell how much of Ivy's behavior was her own. Unfortunately, Alternate Timerra is relatively forgettable, due to lacking Timerra's colorful personality traits, and her retainers are basically counterparts of the main universe Panette and Merrin who hate what their counterparts love and vice versa.
Camilla is a slightly surprising choice for an Engage bracelet, since Azura is perhaps the most important protagonist in Fates besides Corrin. Even Ryoma and Xander are more important to their paths' stories than Camilla is, as the crown princes of Hoshido and Nohr and wielders of legendary weapons. Perhaps Camilla was chosen so that one of the Emblem heroes could be a flying unit, or Azura wasn't chosen because Byleth already had a Dance ability.
Additionally, it's more than a little surprising that Emblem Camilla was given to Timerra rather than Ivy, given that Camilla and Ivy have more than a few parallels. Both are the eldest princesses of the kingdom (although Camilla is behind Xander and abdicates the throne in favor of Leo in Birthright) who dote on their younger siblings, fly wyverns and use magic in combat. In fact, Hortensia is similar to Camilla's younger sister Elise in some ways.
Soren is also a surprising choice, considering that Elincia is one of the main characters of Path of Radiance, being the princess fighting to reclaim her homeland. In fact, as Elincia becomes a pegasus rider late in the storyline, perhaps she could have become a flying Emblem, one with a more physical-oriented moveset.
At this point, the big reveals have taken place, and while a few secrets have yet to be revealed, the plot is quickly moving towards its climax. I will share my thoughts once the next two entries are finished.
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