Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - Plot

Plot

See also: List of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn characters

Radiant Dawn is divided into four parts, each of which begins with a prologue chapter that introduces the situation, followed by a series of chapters that is resolved with an "Endgame" chapter. The game begins three years after the Mad King's War, the events of Path of Radiance. Daein, the war's instigator and eventual loser, and the victorious nation Crimea are still in the process of rebuilding. Although Crimea is ruled by Queen Elincia, Daein lacks a proper successor and is instead ruled by the occupation forces of the Begnion Empire. The Daein people are oppressed by the corrupt senate and imperial soldiers.

The game begins by following a group of Daein rebels named the Dawn Brigade, headed by Micaiah and Sothe. Despite being pursued by Begnion forces, they locate the apparent heir to the Daein throne, Pelleas, and later restore the monarchy and liberate Daein from Begnion. Following this, the game cuts to events in Crimea, which is still recuperating from the war. Elincia faces possible usurpation from nobles critical of her leadership. A resulting conflict ensues between the rebels and soldiers loyal to Elincia, which climaxes at the capture and attempted execution of the Queen's ally, Lucia. The rebellion is stopped by the arrival of the Greil Mercenaries, led by Path of Radiance's main protagonist Ike.

Later in the game, the corruption of the Begnion Empire becomes prevalent as Senator Lekain usurps the Empress Sanaki based on claims that she is an imposter. Lekain uses his power to instigate a racial war between the Begnion Empire and a coalition of Laguz nations known as the Laguz Alliance. A novelty to the Fire Emblem series, this puts different protagonists of the game against each other as Daein is coerced into allying with Begnion because of a blood contract that Pelleas was tricked into signing at his coronation, while the Greil Mercenaries join the Laguz Alliance. Ultimately, this conflict unleashes Yune from Lehran's Medallion while also awakening Ashera, two goddesses who represent chaos and order, respectively. As punishment for bringing the world into chaos, Ashera subsequently petrifies Tellius, leaving only the strongest soldiers active, or so Tibarn, king of the laguz nation of Pheonicis, thinks. Yune still believes that peace is possible, and thus opposes her counterpart Ashera by leading three armies towards her residence, the Tower of Guidance in Begnion. They are all attacked on their journey by Begnion soldiers augmented by Ashera's blessings. The game ends when Yune's armies reach the Tower and Ike defeats Ashera using Yune's power. In an epilogue scene accessed if certain requirements are fulfilled, Yune and Ashera combine hundreds of years later to again become the goddess Ashunera, creator of Tellius.