The Griffin

[Anonymoose]

What if Ilberd the Griffin is what ends up bridging the political divide we have with Garlemald?

This has been something I've been keeping an eye out for - not specifically Ilberd / the Griffin, of course, but that the trip to Ala Mhigo might not, in the end, pit us against Garlemald directly. After all, Yoshida - upon being asked if we'd ever go to Garlemald - said "Eh, 5.0?". Would we get our "Larsa" between now and then? A crossroads of Ilberd and Omega might certainly be bad enough to merit some reconsideration.

Between "Genocide ... Meh" and "I will bend the eikons to my will, as did Allag", though, I'd prefer something happen on Varis' end, as well. I'm flexible as to whether he gets a character-developing Iceheart Moment ("What have I done!?") or just gets a one-way trip back to the Lifestream. Regula I'd like to avoid thinking about and just be surprised whether he lives or dies in the Warring Triad scenario.

There was originally a build-up in there that suddenly collapsed into a joke of "What if we kill Ilberd, knock Varis out of power, and making peace through Baelsar!?", but thought of spending further posts defending the vague plausibility of something I even don't believe is a likely outcome in the first place fills me with dread. There are precious, pre-Fan Festival naps on the line!

I always thought...

I wouldn't have been sure, either, honestly. I just tend to give each language a playthrough when it comes to an important scene and they didn't vary much in this case. The general themes are: "Those guilty of regicide deserve nothing less than death! To arms, men!" from Ilberd to the nameless Crystal Braves. "It's this or death, and I've a few tricks left!" from Yuyuhase. "The hero's death was always your thing, anyway!" from Laurentius.

I more or less agree about the assessment of the other two. Laurentius is a pitiful mixture of high self-regard, low honor, and low courage. He'll sell out allies to get what he "deserves" (whether it be Gridania to the Garleans or the Scions to the Monetarists), kill anyone who might bring that to light, and side with whoever is going to win. Yuyuhase will follow the path of maximum profit, other considerations aside.

I can't imagine either wouldn't sell Ilberd before choosing to fight for Ala Mhigo. Conversely, I can't imagine many would buy him from them, anyway. Who would bear the optics of not only trusting traitorous Crystal Braves, but making the transaction rather than bringing them to justice, even to catch a bigger fish? It'd have to be a string operation, and no one seems keen to prioritize Ilberd over other rising concerns. Even Lolorito and might just vanish them if they tried.

Though I actually consider Laurentius to be less likely to join than Yuyuhase. Assuming Ilberd is the Griffin, and assuming the Griffin is the highest bidder for the treacherous Lalafell's time, would he decline? The Resistance isn't like to judge him or turn him over; they're even suffering the presence of the Corpse Brigade. Laurentius, meanwhile, would have to agree to go against the Empire in the name of a nation he doesn't believe for ... coin and Ilberd not letting other people gank him, I guess?

Of course, there's always Option D: They just disbanded party and went their separate ways without trying to kill each other, lol.

[Mieck]

Of course, there's always Option D: They just disbanded party and went their separate ways without trying to kill each other, lol.

We've all had duty finder parties where that is the most sensible option.

[Cilia]

We've all had duty finder parties where that is the most sensible option.

Or: fail Palace of the Dead 41-50 at Edda because someone is too busy watching Luke Cage.

[RobinMalvin]

Of course, there's always Option D: They just disbanded party and went their separate ways without trying to kill each other, lol.

We've all had duty finder parties where that is the most sensible option.

Or he could just ditch the entire party and leave them behind like any good Gladiator...

The Griffin being Ilberd works out perfectly though

From what little we're given about the Griffin, I agree that Ilberd is the most memorable character we know that fits the description. But his circumstances, him being a criminal and possible trouble with the Braves, make me hard to think he could muster another force -the Masks- and rose to prominence in just 2-3 months.

While the Masks are said to be new addition to Ala Mhigo Resistance, I'm getting a hint that they've been around for quite some time, probably around 2.5-3.0 time. When we met Yda and Papalymo, they said that after the Scions were cleared of suspicions and Raubahn's reinstation as Flame General (mid 3.0), they tried to contact us through a letter, since they've discarded their linkpearls and were involved in what's likely a mission for the Masks. Given the time frame, it's rather unlikely for Ilberd to be Griffin, at least at that time.

We've seen enough that Ilberd is not the only one who will sacrifice everything for their goals, he's just the most relatable to Ala Mhigo at this point.

And also, why not just make the Griffin another Ysale-type character, and we'll end up working out with him to stop a bigger threat-Nero and his Omega weapon.