#//btw the colors of the exclamation points are the MyGO bandori girls i did this so i could have some joy in my life :')

[frauleindermorgen]

for the meme! from RD Chapter 3-13, there was too much to copy/paste, but i'm sure you know the moment...

Micaiah: “All right… I’ll do it… I’ll do it for you, and for Daein.” Pelleas: “Thank you, Micaiah.” (Pelleas hands Micaiah a dagger)

wow radiant dawn spoilers!!!!!

rune & co click away now : )

SOME PEOPLE LIKE TO THINK ABOUT CH 13 AND SUFFER. Luckily for yall I am some people. In order to talk about this line and Micaiah's response I think we need to look at Pelleas' reasoning

13-2 pre battle dialogue

"Individual lives taken before your eyes weigh more heavily than the many lives taken during the chaos of war. If that life is someone dear, the burden is even worse. It's only human. Isn't that true? Micaiah. It’s your caring soul I admire. That's why I want it to be you. I want you to kill me.”

Of note, in the Japanese version, Pelleas specifically says human nature is at its core self-serving, that care for another’s life is based on one’s ego/connections. He continues:

[ペレアス] ミカヤ…… 僕は、そんな君が好きだよ。 だから…君に頼みたい。▼ Rough translation: Micaiah…. That’s the part of you that I love. That is why I want it to be you I ask this of.

(the scene continues on as it does in the localized version)

To put this in further context prior to chapter 12 and the revelation of the blood pact (i.e. Micaiah finding out that no matter what Micaiah does the Senate’s control of the King and his Kingdom means loss of all life in Daein) Micaiah had been pushing herself both mentally and physically to be a general who minimized death and unneeded damage.

Sothe: Micaiah, it's over. The front line is broken. The apostle's army is crossing the bridge. Micaiah: All right, then... Order a retreat. Inspector npc: Wh-what?! No! Are you a simpleton? Just destroy the bridge! [...] Micaiah: Inspector. While I respect your opinion... The final decision is up to me, as commander in chief of this army. Sothe, order the retreat. Get those men out of there before they're routed. -Ch 11, post battle dialogue

Then, in chapter 12 she discovers no matter what she does if she and Pelleas do not follow the Senate’s orders precisely, their entire nation, Micaiah’s reason for fighting all this time, will perish. Micaiah is nothing if not determined.

The apostle’s army, previously, toward whom she showed mercy she now prepares a rockslide/rain of fire death trap for:

Micaiah: All forces, get in position! Our target is the apostle. We will attack her while General Ike is distracted. If we let her through, her army will cross into Begnion. That will surely anger the senate, and the senate will move to destroy Daein. We must fight with everything we have so that Daein may live on! Sothe: But, Micaiah... Is this really necessary? Can't we avoid all of this fighting and somehow pretend to obey the senate? Taouroneo: Micaiah, it was you more than anyone else who used to hate plans like this... Micaiah: The apostle's army has incredible numbers. We wouldn't stand a chance taking them head-on.

The only thing that stops Micaiah from killing Sanaki and her Holy Guard outright is Tibarn taking Sothe hostage and Micaiah freezing up at the prospect of losing the person she cares for most in the world, despite it meaning her entire army would be routed.

Sanaki pleads on Sothe's behalf and Tibarn/Ike's army leaves but Micaiah is shaken. And then when back in the castle Pelleas immedaitely calls for her, asks her to kill him, and upon her refusing citing her recent revelation re: Sothe and Tibarn has the gall to say:

"Even if it hadn't been Sothe in front of you, you would have reacted the same way. That's the kind of person you are."

I think she's fucking PISSED!!!

There's much to be said about Micaiah and her lack of agency in the narrative throughout both part three and four but Pelleas is saying this to her, right before his own request can be nothing but maddening.

From the start, Micaiah has felt kinship with Pelleas and believed in his kindness. In their private moments together Micaiah drops the 王 and refers to Pelleas with just -sama, he may not be part of the Dawn Brigade but he is firmly someone she thinks of as a comrade and perhaps more.

And he's now using that gentle/kind nature that she once so admired to shove Micaiah into a corner. To kill him with her own hands. GRANTED, the game does give you a chance on playthrough one for Micaiah to refuse and Pelleas accept that. BUT STILL!!

Of note, too, Micaiah is tearing up and stammering throughout this exchange in Japanese. I think Micaiah is used to handling grief, I do not think she is used to handling this kind of anger. This is further supported by the fact IF Micaiah accepts Pelleas' request every single line of hers in Japanese is "...". She refuses any further conversation with him, even when he directly asks her to pass on a piece of jewelry to Almedha.

Her last words to him are: わかり…ました…… あなたの……ために…… ………わたしが………▼ "I... understand. If it's for you.... I... I will...."

(there's no mention of Daein here which, while I think is in the back of her mind. does indeed make the scene all the more charged and intimate)

N has thankfully (?) asked me for the rest of the (optional and ng+_ dialogue here so ending for now. But yeah, I think rather than saddened (which she is. The scene in fist playthrough ends with Micaiah breaking her silence to sob openly ala localized) Micaiah is also quite furious in this scene. And it's something I have a lot of fun thinking about. :upside down: