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Eternal Stairway
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| “ | The Eternal Stairway, rumored to lead straight to hell. Heh, it's too perfect! I wonder how many friends and loved ones our little <prince/princess> will lose there...Prepare to drown in your despair, <Lord/Lady> Corrin. | ” | — Iago plotting his schemes to make Corrin suffer. |
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Eternal Stairway (Japanese: 黄泉の階段 Yomi Stairway) is the twenty-first chapter of the Conquest campaign in Fire Emblem Fates. In this chapter, Corrin and their army navigate the Eternal Stairway on their approach to the Hoshidan capital, and find their task seemingly simplified by a force that wiped out a sizable number of Hoshidan soldiers. That force is actually a horde of monsters sent by Iago and now turned against Corrin's army, and Corrin's army must now contend with a seemingly never-ending stream of monsters. Later on, a longtime loyal companion of Corrin's makes the ultimate sacrifice.
Plot
- Main article:
Eternal Stairway/Script
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In the throne room at Castle Krakenberg, Iago has taken note of Corrin's trial through the Wind Tribe's village without a scratch to any of their army, to which Iago states his disappointment and suggests Garon is probably furious; Iago then suggests that it is his duty as Garon's retainer to set things right, then states that Corrin's next destination is a perfect location for Corrin's fall from grace--the Eternal Stairway, rumored to lead straight to hell. Iago ponders how much of Corrin's army will be lost along the Eternal Stairway, then calls out to Corrin to prepare to drown in their despair and reveals that he and Garon look forward to feasting on their cries of agony.
We cut to the Eternal Stairway, where we witness Corrin, Azura, Camilla, Leo, and Elise are making the climb along the path; Corrin notes that they've traversed many stairs and asks if this area is indeed the Eternal Stairway, to which Azura confirms and reveals that they'll be near the Hoshidan capital once they make it through the area. Azura states that Hoshidan soldiers will undoubtedly be waiting for the arrival of Corrin's army, but that the Eternal Stairway is their only option on their current itinerary and that they'll have to break through the Hoshidan numbers by sheer force of will; Corrin states that the army should make their way through when Felicia and Jakob arrive on the scene. Felicia states that there's an emergency situation, to which Corrin deduces an advance by the Hoshidan army; Felicia starts tripping over her words, to which Jakob states that their scouts did locate a sizable number of Hoshidan soldiers--all dead, the stairs ahead of them are littered with their corpses. As Corrin asks what went on in the area, Felicia stated that the warriors all appeared to be healthy and strong yet not one survived, to which Corrin deduces that Garon sent a number of Nohrian soldiers ahead of them; Jakob states that situation is highly unlikely, as there's no way such Nohrian soldiers could have passed by them unnoticed as the only other route into Hoshido involves crossing the Bottomless Canyon and even then they'd have to circle back and thus Corrin's army would have still reached the Eternal Stairway first. Camilla notes the tragedy that befell the Hoshidan soldiers and deduces that it's a huge boon for Corrin's army, and that they should take advantage of this situation and make it through the area before more Hoshidan soldiers arrive, to which Leo agrees; Leo states that the Hoshidan soldiers would have fallen anyway and thus it's better it wasn't by their hands, and that they should be grateful that they've been spared a tiring battle. Corrin prepares to agree with Leo when a distant growl is heard; Faceless appear in the area, with Felicia noting that they're heading straight for Corrin's group, and Jakob noting that the Faceless are the ones that killed the Hoshidan soldiers and that they must not let the same fate befall them. Felicia and Jakob take out two of a wave of three Faceless, but two reinforcements quickly arrive; Corrin deduces that there are too many Faceless in the area and suggests pulling back to the Wind Tribe Village, only for Elise to state that they can't do so as they've been surrounded, with more Faceless appearing from behind. As Corrin notes that the group is trapped, Camilla asks why Garon would send so many Faceless to the area, to which Leo tells her not to joke about the situation; Xander states that something's not right, Garon wouldn't personally dispatch as many Faceless to a single location as are currently here and deduces that there's more at play than they currently know. Corrin states that the group needs to concentrate on breaking through the Faceless and making it through the area alive, asking the others to watch everyone's backs and vows not to lose a single person in this area; preparations take place at this point. Once preparations are complete, Azura states that they cannot possibly vanquish as many Faceless as there are in the area as there's no end in sight to the Faceless, and states that they have to get past the Faceless as quickly as possible; the battle begins at this point.
Once the battle ends, Corrin, Azura, and Xander continue to fight their way through further hordes of Faceless, with Corrin noting no end in sight; as Corrin states that they aren't sure they'll make it back up the stairs, Azura states that the Faceless seem to be concentrating their attacks on Corrin, with Xander asking Corrin to rush on ahead while the others fend off the Faceless, to which Corrin refuses. Xander asks Corrin to think with their head rather than their heart, and states that they must not fall at this time as all of Nohr is counting on them; Xander reiterates his order for Corrin to rush on ahead, with Azura stating that Corrin can't die at this point if they're to end the war and bring peace to the world--as the Yato chose Corrin, this makes Corrin the fated hero, and also asks Corrin to rush on ahead. As the Faceless continue their attack, Corrin finally agrees to rush on ahead, leaving Azura and Xander to fend off the Faceless as they rush to the top of the stairway; as Corrin reaches the top of the stairs to rest, they note that Hoshido is just ahead and hopes everyone else is alright.
A Faceless catches up to Corrin, to their shock; Lilith arrives on the scene and takes the Faceless's blow, prompting a shocked reaction from Corrin followed by them killing the Faceless. As Corrin asks Lilith why she'd risk her life for them, they ask Lilith to hang on as Lilith returns to her human form; after a surprised reaction from Corrin, Lilith states that Moro has taken pity on her and let her resume her human form for her last few moments, with Corrin stopping Lilith from completing her sentence and telling her she can't die and needs to live. Lilith apologizes for having to disobey Corrin's orders for the only time, then asks them to not cry as she's grateful to have protected them and recounts Corrin having not only saved her life years back, but also gave her a home and a family; Lilith states that she'll never forget their happy memories together and that she'll die without regrets, only for Corrin to again beg for Lilith to not die, stating that they've come very far and revealing that the war's nearly been won, and that they don't want to say goodbye at this point. Lilith again begs Corrin not to cry, and asks to see them smile one last time and states that she's always adored Corrin and that they have meant so much to her; she then asks Corrin to keep her in their heart and, with her dying breath, states that she'll always be with them.
As Corrin cries out over Lilith's death and wondering how they can go on knowing she's dead because of them, another Faceless arrives and runs toward Corrin, but gets stopped by an attack from Xander, who with Azura rushes onto the scene; as Corrin expresses relief that Xander and Azura are still alive, Azura states that Xander's skill dealt with the Faceless and apologize to Corrin for having kept them waiting. Corrin states that they are happy to see Xander and Azura, then tearfully break the new of Lilith's death to them, prompting Xander to ask Corrin to pull themselves together as Lilith would not have wanted Corrin to cry; Xander explains that Lilith sacrificed herself because she believes in Corrin, and asks them to not tarnish the beauty of her sacrifice by letting it cloud their judgement, then stating that they'll not win the war if a single death keeps Corrin from fighting with all of their heart. Xander explains that the final showdown is yet to come, and there's a good chance that even more people could die in the ensuing battles, but Corrin has to keep fighting through to the bitter end--if Corrin wavers, the army wavers along with them, and Xander states Corrin cannot let that happen; Xander has to talk Corrin into being able to continue fighting without fear or hesitation, that Lilith would want Corrin to fight on, with Corrin finally realizing what Lilith would have wanted them to do, finally cracking the smile Lilith wanted to see. Xander states that the army needs to keep pressing on, to which Corrin states that they'll do so after laying Lilith to rest; Corrin then proceeds to bid Lilith a tearful goodbye.
We cut to Iago, who, having caught word of Lilith's death for himself, states that he always despised her and is annoyed at how she sacrificed herself; Iago then states that, had Lilith not intervened, he could have made Corrin suffer even more, then states that Corrin has one less shield to hide behind. Iago then states that he's only just begun digging Corrin's pit of despair and states that they will soon find themselves lost in its darkness for eternity; he then states that Corrin's time is nearly up, and asks them to enjoy their last moments of joy.
Summary
Corrin's army approaches the Eternal Stairway. They expect to meet Hoshidan forces, but something else awaits them.
Chapter data
Normal Hard Lunatic
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| Victory: Escape with all units | Player | Enemy | ||||
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| Defeat: Corrin dies* or the player's army is routed* | 1–14 | 27+∞ | ||||
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| Map dimensions: 17 columns by 30 rows | ||||||
Character data
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New units
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Required characters
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Available characters
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Note: The returning characters list does not include any characters recruitable in paralogues or xenologues, as the player may not have taken on any available paralogue chapters yet. The list also does not include any bonus units, as they are recruitable at the player's discretion.
Item data
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Dragon Vein data
The Dragon Vein in this chapter is stated to have the effect "Freeze all enemies in place for one turn". They are located as follows:
- Column 6, row 24: Two squares north of the southwesternmost player deployment position
- Column 4, row 18: One square south, one square west of a Faceless (Normal only)
- Column 10, row 18: Within two squares of a Faceless and a Rock Stoneborn
- Column 7, row 12: Adjacent to a Faceless and a Rock Stoneborn
- Column 15, row 12: Within four spaces of two Faceless and a Rock Stoneborn (Normal/Hard only)
- Column 10, row 6: Four squares south of the boss's initial starting position (Normal only)
- Column 5, row 4: Adjacent to a Faceless
- Column 11, row 2: Adjacent to the boss's initial starting position
Enemy data
Normal Hard Lunatic
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Reinforcements
- Reinforcements will spawn endlessly each turn, and they will all have the skill Void Curse.
- On odd-numbered turns, 2 (Normal/Hard)/3 (Lunatic) Faceless with Savage Blow will appear from the northern border of the map.
- On even-numbered turns, 2 Faceless with Grisly Wound will appear from the southern border of the map.
- These Faceless also have Wary Fighter on Lunatic
Boss data
Normal Hard/Lunatic
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Strategy
| This section details unofficial strategies that may help with completion of the chapter. This may not work for everybody. |
Your objective here is to escape the map before the hordes of Faceless overwhelm and kill you. Easily the biggest problems on the map are the Wary Fighter Stoneborn pelting rocks at you from on high; these freaks of nature effectively stonewall your squishy units until you can kill them off. If your wyverns are bulky enough to dart ahead and kill them early, your life will be so much easier. The ones with regular Rocks deal 38 damage while the ones with Massive Rocks deal 44, so those are your bulk benchmarks. The Faceless all have 20 Speed, so 16 avoids being doubled, 21 avoids being doubled with a ranged weapon, 25 doubles, and 28 doubles with Steel weapons. The Dragon Veins on the map are incredibly useful, both slowing down your pursuers and allowing you to charge in and pop the Faceless ahead of you without getting yourself swarmed. Your best bet is to swiftly advance north with your bulky units while killing the Stoneborn as fast as possible. At the top of the stairs, the boss awaits with a nice Arms Scroll to tempt you into picking a fight. If you're not interested, you can run right past him and escape the map. His Defense is rather high, so if you plan to kill him you might want a dagger to soften him up.
Trivia
- Despite Corrin's statement that they must not lose anybody in this battle, the normal death rules apply, with only Corrin himself/herself dying triggering a Game Over.
Etymology and other languages
| Names, etymology, and in other regions | ||
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| Language | Name | Definition, etymology, and notes |
| English |
Eternal Stairway |
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| Japanese |
黄泉の階段 |
Yomi Stairway; yomi is the land of the dead in Japanese mythology, comparable to the Greek underworld/Hades. |
| Spanish |
Escalera Eterna |
Eternal Stairway |
| French |
L'escalier sans fin |
The endless stairway |
| German |
Die ewige Treppe |
The eternal Staircase |
| Italian |
La Scalinata Eterna |
The Eternal Stairway |
| Korean |
황천의 계단 |
Stairway of the underworld |
Gallery
This section has been marked as a stub. Please help improve the page by adding information.
References
| ← Winds of Change • | Eternal Stairway | • Sakura → |
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