Victory or Death

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Victory or Death

Location Dread Isle New units Renault Boss(es) Limstella

Victory or Death (Japanese: 背水の戦い Last-ditch battle) is chapter 30 of Eliwood's tale and chapter 32 in Hector's tale in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade.

Plot

Main article: Victory or Death/Script

Once again, Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn arrive on the Dread Isle with the assistance of Fargus. After the lords arrive on the island, they thank Fargus for granting them passage to the isle again and for agreeing to look after Nils. Before they depart, Eliwood talks to Nils. He acknowledges that he may never be worthy of his forgiveness, but nonetheless, Eliwood asserts that he intends to fulfill Ninian’s wish for peace and the defeat of Nergal. Eliwood passively hopes that once Nils has recovered from the grief of his sister’s death, that he too will face reality. Having said his piece, Eliwood and the others depart for the Dragon’s Gate. After the group departs, Fargus attempts to take Nils back to the ship, however, Nils does not move and just stares off in the direction of Eliwood. Fargus concocts an excuse for Nils to follow them by mentioning that he intended to give the lords an Earth Seal and that it would be a shame if they were to not receive if before their final battle with Nergal. Having been moved by Eliwood’s words, Nils volunteers to take the seal to Eliwood, fully intending to join the final battle.

Nils recalls when Ninian first heard Nergal's call from the gate.

Nergal senses the approach of the lords and commands Limstella to defeat them with the overbearing and unstable strength he has granted her. Even though this power will kill her within a day, Limstella still obeys without hesitation. Just as the lords approach the Dragon’s Gate, Nils suddenly yells out, warning Eliwood to move. Eliwood manages to dodge a thunderbolt from Limstella just in time thanks to Nils’ warning. Nils tells Eliwood that he will take over Ninian’s duties on the battlefield, much to the delight of each of the lords. Nils senses that Limstella has hidden herself nearby and demands for her to reveal herself. After Limstella complies with his demand, she announces that she has come to steal the essences of Eliwood and all of his allies and warps to the entrance of the Dragon’s Gate while calling her own army of morphs. Despite the large numbers they face, the lords refuse to retreat and begin to fight their way through Nergal’s morphs.

The lords eventually manage to break through the morphs and arrive at the entrance to the Dragon’s Gate. Eliwood, sensing the group has been granted a brief respite from the ongoing final battle, asks Nils to fill himself, Hector, and Lyn in on the details of how he and Ninian arrived in Elibe. He details the struggles the Dragons endured after being exiled from Elibe and how the race came to leave the continent via the Dragon’s Gate. After arriving at the land on the other side of the gate, they found happiness and stability; however, they would sometimes think of their former home, and when they did, they heard the voice of Nergal enticing them to pass through the gate.

Nils recalls their first moments back in Elibe; Nergal has stolen their Dragonstones and their power.

In the realm of the dragons, Ninian was an oracle who presided over the shrine where the gate was located. One day, she and Nils heard what seemed like the voice of a friend emanating from the gate, leading them to open the gate and pass through it alone. Once they arrived on the other side, Nergal stole some of their quintessence, forcing them to assume human forms and place their remaining energy within Dragonstones. Nergal took advantage of their weakened states and seized their dragonstones, seeking to use them to summon more dragons. The siblings, not wanting their foolish actions to doom their fellow dragonkin, fled from Nergal and disguised themselves as travelling performers in hopes of avoiding capture. At this point, they met Lyn while she was on her journey to save Caelin. At the time, they decided to not tell Lyn so as to not involve her in an issue that she had little to no hope of resolving.

After the siblings parted ways with Lyn, they were quickly captured by the Black Fang and taken back to the Dread Isle. The two had become desperate to foil Nergal’s plans and even considered cutting their own lives short; that is, until they met Elbert. Eliwood’s father took the time to get to know the two and tried to ease their fears by telling them stories of his family and his Pherae. As Elbert continued to spend time with them, the siblings came to love Eleanora and Eliwood and felt that, one day, Elbert’s son would save them. Nils asserts that he believes in Eliwood and promises to help him defeat Nergal and to fulfill Ninian’s wish. The lords affirm their resolve to protect Elibe from Nergal’s madness and proceed towards the Dragon's Gate and the final battle.

Beginning log

Eliwood's Tale: Eliwood struggles to recover from Ninian's death and moves onward. His destination is the Dread Isle. An enemy waits there, one who must be defeated. Nergal surrounds himself with his morphs and waits for Eliwood's arrival. The final battle draws near...

Hector's Tale: Hector moves ahead, and his brother Uther's dying wish goes with him. His destination is the Dread Isle. An enemy waits there, one who must be defeated. Nergal surrounds himself with his morphs and waits for Hector's arrival. The final battle draws near...

Chapter data

Chapter Data
Conditions	Unit Data
Victory: Seize the gate	Player	Partner	Other	Enemy	Third
Defeat: Eliwood, Hector, or Lyn dies	16+2	{{{partner}}}	0	24+131	{{{third}}}

Character data

Characters
New units
Renault Bishop HP 43 Inventory -- Level 16 Visit north western ruins
Available characters

Item data

Items

Name Obtainment Method Earth Seal Automatically at the start Nosferatu Dropped by druid Talisman Visit south eastern ruins Set's Litany Visit central ruins Fimbulvetr Dropped by Limstella

Shop data

Secret shop style="Template:Roundl; border: 1px solid #b0b0b0; background: #232855; width: 5%" | Name style="Template:Roundr; border: 1px solid #b0b0b0; background: #232855; width: 15%" | Cost style=Template:Roundl; | Earth Seal style=Template:Roundr; text-align: center | 20,000 style=Template:Roundl; | Fell Contract style=Template:Roundr; text-align: center | 50,000 style=Template:Roundl; | Ocean Seal style=Template:Roundr; text-align: center | 50,000 style=Template:Roundl; | Physic style=Template:Roundr; text-align: center | 3,750 style=Template:Roundl; | Unlock style=Template:Roundr; text-align: center | 1,500 style=Template:Roundl; | Barrier style=Template:Roundr; text-align: center | 2,250

Enemy data

Enemy Units

Name Class Lv # Inventory and Skills Notes Morph Bishop 8 1 Aura • Purge -- Morph Bishop 8 1 Aura • Fortify -- Morph Brigand 16 1 Steel Axe -- Morph Cavalier 16 2 Steel Lance -- Morph Druid 8 1 Eclipse • Nosferatu -- Morph General 8 1 Silver Lance -- Morph Hero 16 1 Silver Sword -- Morph Hero 16 1 Light Brand -- Morph Knight 16 2 Steel Lance -- Morph Sage 10 1 Bolting • Fimbulvetr -- Morph Sniper 8 2 Steel Bow -- Morph Sniper 8 2 Silver Bow -- Morph Swordmaster 8 1 Wo Dao -- Morph Warrior 8 1 Silver Axe -- Morph Warrior 8 1 Devil Axe • Killer Bow -- Morph Wyvern Rider 16 1 Slim Lance -- Morph Wyvern Rider 16 1 Javelin -- Morph Wyvern Rider 16 1 Steel Lance -- Morph Wyvern Rider 16 1 Killer Lance -- Limstella Sage 20 1 Fimbulvetr Does not move; stands on a gate, the chapter's seize point.

Reinforcements

Name Class Lv # Inventory and Skills Notes Morph Brigand 16 6 Steel Axe -- Morph Cavalier 16 26 Steel Lance -- Morph Falcoknight 10 26 Steel Lance -- Morph General 8 3 Steel Lance -- Morph Knight 16 12 Steel Lance -- Morph Nomadic Trooper 8 28 Steel Bow • Steel Sword -- Morph Paladin 8 3 Steel Lance -- Morph Warrior 8 1 Devil Axe -- Morph Wyvern Lord 8 2 Steel Lance -- Morph Wyvern Rider 16 24 Steel Lance --

Boss data

Main article: Limstella

Eliwood & Hector Normal Mode Eliwood Hard Mode Hector Hard Mode

Sage Level 20 Affinity --

Stats Max HP 68 Luck 0 Magic 24 Defense 24 Skill 20 Resistance 27 Speed 17 Constitution 7 Movement 6 Aid 3

Inventory Fimbulvetr Bolting* Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- S -- -- S

Sage Level 20 Affinity --

Stats Max HP 68 Luck 0 Magic 24 Defense 21 Skill 20 Resistance 25 Speed 17 Constitution 4 Movement 6 Aid 1

Inventory Fimbulvetr Bolting Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- S -- -- S

Sage Level 20 Affinity --

Stats Max HP 70 Luck 0 Magic 26 Defense 21 Skill 22 Resistance 25 Speed 18 Constitution 4 Movement 6 Aid 1

Inventory Fimbulvetr Bolting Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- S -- -- S

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• Limstella is erroneously assigned the normal sage class, instead of the morph variant, in Eliwood and Hector hard modes; this is why her defensive stats are lower in those modes, as they are hitting the class' defensive stat caps.

Strategy

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Trivia

• Sophia makes a cameo appearance when visiting the south eastern ruins.
• Renault wields one of two obtainable Fortify staves in the entire game.
• This chapter is often wrongly attributed to be the chapter where the player first regains access to Nils in Eliwood's and Hector's tales; this actually happens two chapters earlier.
• Nils has a unique line for visiting the middle set of ruins and obtaining Set's Litany that implies Nils has been there some time in the past.
• A modified version of this chapter's map was used as a test map in the Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade prototypes.

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology, and notes
English	Victory or Death	Victory or death is a common motto or battle cry.

Gallery

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  Nils remembering when Ninian first heard Nergal's call from the gate.

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  Nils recalls their first moments back in Elibe; Nergal has stolen their dragonstones and their power.

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  Ninian and Nils fleeing from Nergal's forces.

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  Nils recalls the kindness Elbert showed to him and his sister.

Prototype

Images from the Fire Emblem 0205 and 0219 prototypes.

• 

  Nils remembering when Ninian first heard Nergal's call from the gate in the prototype.

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  Nils recalls their first moments back in Elibe; Nergal has stolen their dragonstones and their power in the prototype.

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  Ninian and Nils fleeing from Nergal's forces in the prototype.

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  Nils recalls how kind Elbert had been kind to him and his sister.

References

← Sands of Time • ← Battle Preparations •	Victory or Death	•  Light → • The Value of Life →