Black Knight: Hello, Ike, Commander of the Greil Mercenaries. Ike: You... YOU KILLED MY FATHER! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE! Black Knight: Gawain never told you, didn't he? Ike: Told me what!? Black Knight: Gawain isn't your true father... (Takes off his helmet and reveals his face) I AM! Ike: Wait... Same blue colored hair? (Gasp) NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
3 houses spoilers below and then it became a fire emblem trope when I started three houses and noticed the first non playable character was jeralt, I thought "bet he's gonna die on chapter 9 or 10"
More trivia: The voice actor for Zelgius in Radiant Dawn's cutscenes is also the narrator from Kirby's Epic Yarn's story cutscenes. Story time with Zelgius, boys.
**new Mangs spotlight video** "Open the gate!" **it's not micaiah** "Close the gate!" **it's the Black Knight** "Open the gate a little!" (Your comment kinda reminded me of one of those memes.)
12:57 The reason the localization changed this was because it was incredibly stupid in Japanese. It wasn't just that warp powder sapped his strength (this detail is canon in the English version too and is mentioned in dialogue), it was that when teleporting to Nados Castle, the BK suffered a warp powder malfunction that teleported his soul and armour to the castle but not his body. This is dumb for several reasons. -There was no foreshadowing at all that warp powder could do this, and it never does anything like it again. -How was the BK's armour recovered from the ruins of Nados Castle in this case? That rubble would be pretty hard to sift through... -What happened to Zelgius' soulless body at the time? Anyone walking in on it would reveal his identity. How'd his spirit reunite with it? The localizers probably saw this as a huge contrived cop-out to the BK's survival, so they re-wrote it, but they did based on details that existed even in the Japanese version, namely Ike revealing that Greil crippled his sword arm. (That pre-battle dialogue is identical in the Japanese script, AND if you bring Tibarn to Radiant Dawn's Endgame, Zelgius mentions the whole "only fighting a shadow of Greil's former self" thing in both versions.) The localization didn't really ADD anything new, they just changed the reasons for the BK surviving to fit with details about the plot and his personality that already existed. 25:29 Actually not true. The only thing that causes Zelgius to show up in PoR's epilogue is Tanith dying. I tested that in my PoR LP and it was definitely on a file where I defeated the Black Knight. I killed Tanith in Endgame and got the Zelgius scene at the end.
16:20 I love the subtlety of this writing. “I will not allow you to disgrace my master’s good name.” Initially I assumed he was talking about Sanaki, whom Valtome rails on for most of that dialogue line. It is only after the reveal and upon closer inspection that I realized it was Valtome’s bad-mouthing of Sephiran that was the trigger.
On the contrary I think he was fairly open about being loyal to Sephiran. He chose to inform Sanaki that he was going to rescue Sephiran instead of lead the Apostle's Army. Furthermore, his title is the Earl of Kadohl. Sephiran is a Duke, meaning in a feudal system he's above Zelgius, and Zelgius likely swore allegiance to him instead of Sanaki herself. Finally in PoR when Zelgius arrives with the reserve military in Daein he says it's because Sephiran returned, meaning Zelgius is likely the leader of Sephiran's military. His lines about his loyalty to Sanaki is probably 2nd hand loyalty because Sephiran is of course loyal to her as well as Zelgius' own respect of Sanaki's ideals, which is indicated in just about every conversation BK has with Micaiah where he compares Micaiah's righteousness to another person, who he refers to as "she".
Bartholomew Peter but who doesn't know that the black knight is zelgius? I mean these games can be considered classic game now since they are pretty old now.
@@sonicthehedge A lot of people. There's a million games and a million reasons why one would miss out on one. Age, lack of time, having other hobbies, lack of funds (need I remind you how expensive copies of the Tellius games are and emulation is its own can of worms) games that are niche being unheard of (literally was the situation for FE pre Awakening), dodging heroes for a multitude of reasons, and so on. I can give you a number of classics I still haven't played even with the N64 (my first console) and may Naga help me with the SNES games I still have to catch up on. I didn't even know until a few months pre heroes Zelgius launch and I have a brother who won't play it to dodge those spoilers until he's beaten Tellius. A game being old is the flimsiest excuse to give out spoilers ever. I'm not your mom ,so I'm not saying you have to be tight lipped with plot details but a game being old isn't a proper excuse. I'm just saying that I appreciate Mangs being mindful of the many who don't know.
Hands down best villain in the series. His design is awesome and his rivalry with Ike is fantastic. The dichotomy of Zelgius and the Black Knight, though they are one entity, is fascinating. As a unit/boss... do I even need to say it? He's amazing. Obviously, his backstory could have used more attention, but so could the entirety of Radiant Dawn's exposition.
Black Knight is my favourite villain. His presence in both games, competence both in terms of strength as well as tactics make him a worthy rival to Ike. The bond he forms with Micaiah is also cute IMO.
I love how he's the one to [technically] give you the final endgame sword of awesomeness you carry through the entire story, just so you can stand a chance. Though I wonder what his boss thought of that. Did he ever dual-wield Ragnell and Alondite before he tossed one to Greil? Or was Ragnell just a spare? Either way, I doubt Lehran was happy to learn he just chucked it over to the only people capable of messing with his plans.
"Prepare yourself for my wrath you worm. I am the student and slayer of Greil and the current holder of the world record for most burgers cooked in 5 minutes. I am the MCDonalds employee of the month,I am the most powerful Burger Flipper to ever exist! I am the MIPD Black Knight."
I think Ike forgives Zelgius for killing Grail because he eventually learned it was not straight up murder, but a agreed test of skill that just happened to be very one-sided due to Greils machinations. He did make his intent clear, and Greil understood and sought him out alone. Greil might have had saved himself if he explained himself, but seemed to underestimated his former pupil a bit, and perhaps a bit prideful after all. With his personality in PoR, I understand it just being posturing. Zelgius not appearing after a Black knight KO and him otherwise being a compassionate commander when he appears at him. Aside from the black armor, he also adopts the guise of a ruthless knight to fit in with Daein and fulfill his orders. Compared to Zelgius, he has the Black Knight seems almost cartoonish in how he goes out his way with insults and warlike language. Fitting since he was manipulating a cruel warlord king at the time. I also think he spared Ena intentionally. He's far to calm about it being a unclean blow, highly unlikely to made such a mistake against a human-shifted Laguz, and would have time to finish her off. They streamlined his personality it a bit in RD, but in PoR the contours of the larger arc are clearly already in place, so it doesn't feel like a full retcon. Perhaps Sephiran and Zelgius PoR plan being derailed, and gaining genuine respect for Ike, explains why they are more subtle in the second war. They also seem the share the same flaw: being overly fatalistic. Zelgius overcame this by resigning himself to the final duel with Ike, Sephiran's reversal needs no explaination.
I'm well aware this is over 4 years old but wow this makes so much sense and explains so many tiny annoyances I had with the character. I feel overall that Radiant dawn is a little too subtle for its own good at times because not many people would realize this otherwise, even though this seems to very much be intentional.
I Personally Love the Black Knight. He is strong, Tragic and One of the reasons I recently played Path of Radiance for the First Time. Although I'll probably Never See everything of him on My own ( cause no RD Rom ) I still Love him more than most Fire emblem characters. The 1v2 fight between him, Ike and Mist is One of My favorite Battles in all of FE
I think the first time through the game I didn't bother to train mist and, lo and behold, she wanders into the final battle with the black knight. Never exited a level so fast in my life.
In my initial playthrough, I never trained mist. Saw when she appear in that chapter during the fight against the Black Knight, I quickly "nope" her right out of that room lmao. Didn't need her anyway since my Ike had wrath+adept (was unaware of Aether existence at the time) which was a good enough combination to quickly put Black Knight into the ground. Every other play through, she became one of my main units, having good enough fortune of capping nearly all of her stats. Hell, because of her good stats, I'd make sure she'd at least go one round with the Black Knight each play through even if she could never hurt him.
The Tellius games were my introduction to Fire Emblem and had the BEST villains! I always remember the moment of sheer dread when The Black Knight steps out of that house.
Yeah those sort of moments are awesome. Another one I’ll never forget playing on hard mode the first time and seeing Ashnard start moving (he doesn’t on easy iirc) and I almost shit myself, and that was before I knew he had a second form lol. The brute power of Black Knight and Ashnard, the cowardly Begnion senators and Ashera’s judgment are all pretty cool.
When you think about it, super popular FE villains are something of an oddity. A good number of them are very standard, sometimes even generic villains, and clearly not meant to even be sympathetic, like someone like Medeus, or Anankos, or Gharnef, etc. And then you've got characters like Arvis, and our current topic, who people latched on to and saw as characters beyond just Hero and Villain.
Oh yes! Black knight is my favourite antihero. Say what you want but story/character design perspective Tellius series is one of the best. Glad I bought both of em when they cost under 40e/game. :D
One largely pointless correction: The Black Knight's armor isn't what negates non-wrath critical hits in PoR, it's Alondite. Ragnell actually has the same effect for Ike.
You could also say the sadistic behavior after the fight with Greil as him being incredibly angry and dissatisfied with his teacher's performance. Although, it could also be argued that his orders would have been more easily completed by killing Mist anyway
YYYYYAAAAYYYYY!! The Black Knight is my favorite character in all of Fire Emblem, contrary to my profile pic, and in fact in all of gaming. Not only is he a memorable villain, he also has a great backstory and personality that sticks with you even after the game ends. Mangs, thank you for giving Black Knight the spotlight he deserves, in the same way Robert Clotworthy gave him the voice he deserves.
Isn't Zelgius cruel as the BK in PoR because of his double-agent role? When we see Zelgius in PoR he is his usual self, so it figures that he must act more ruthless as the BK to conceal his identity and keep the Daein generals and Ashnard in check. In RD he doesn't really need to make up an act because he is supporting the "good guys" most of the time so being that ruthless is not really necessary. This was a great spotlight Mangs! Keep it up man
I always found it a bid strange / sad that the Black Knight had no form of special dialogue with Stefan. Granted, they do not have any reason to do so, storywise. But Stefan, being a branded himself, has a keen eye for spotting others and who is also fond of a nice fight, could have a little conversation with him. Maybe not so much in Path of Radiance (besides a "I will enjoy this battle" thing), but in Radiant Dawn he could've slightly hinted at The Black Knight / Zelgius being a branded. That aside, I liked this spotlight. And now I will continue listening to The Black Knights Main Theme.
the black knight is one of my favorite villains in the series though i must admit echoes did a really good job with emperor rudolph walhart was a neat villain too but he didn't get to develop as much as i would have liked Edit: as an aside, tellius and jugdral are my favorite sagas in the series
Black Knight is an interesting character. Thanks for another amazing spotlight Mangs! I think Zelgius protecting Micaiah might’ve been both forming a bond of sorts with another branded and orders from Sephiran. Plus, him showing loyalty to Sanaki as you explained in the video seems to make sense.
27:02 Fun fact: If you hack the game and kill the Black Knight, dialogue will appear. I don’t remember it exactly, but I think the boat that Ike and co. board burns down and results in a game over. I guess it’s kind of a funny thing to discover when I first messed around with the game files.
Very interesting and good video. I learned something about the relationship of him and Micaiah and got some new points of view on Ashnard, who is merely a pawn of Sephiran. In Path of Radiance I always wanted to have Zelgius because he looks so cool.
I think it would have been cool if you could have summoned him during the ashnard. Could have been a multi play through reward where ashnard recognizes him through his swordman ship but does not explicitly say who it is.
To me, the greatest dividing factor between Ike and Zelgius is his brand. Zelgius's brand fundamentally alters the course of his life so that he can never lead a "normal" life or form real connections with beorc and his soldiers (with a few exceptions like Levail). It leans into the RD's whole message about prejudice and how Zelgius could've been saved if the Branded weren't treated so badly. The Branded are the result of racism, on both beorc and laguz sides, and that is how and why Zelgius gets so twisted. Isolation can do a lot to really mentally hurt someone.
“Impressive…….most impressive” Hell yeah the darth Vader of fire emblem I have always wanted to hear the black knights battle theme mixed with the imperial march it would sound so cool
I absolutely love the BK. the best character the general/emperor archetype has ever created. Unstoppable Destiny is only matched by the amount if weight he has to his strikes. Seriously, only Zephiel can hold a candle to the sheer juggernaut that is the black knight. I do think that the plan to awake ashera was pretty flawed, if Kurthnaga didn't fight then not all of tellius would be "enveloped in war" the BK is one of the greatest villians in fire emblem, and yet another reason why Tellius has the best cast in the series. Also 17:30 well i guess we know who mangs is bringing to the tower.
Since leran only asked zelgius to join him after he mentioned he studied under gawain, it lead me to wonder if that's why he offered zelgius to join him in the first place. He knew how strong zelgius was and used his emotional vulnerability to achieve his own ends.
I just like that he is such an absolute unit that he is constantly a top general in whichever country as he is zipping around the continent. He also is so skilled that he does his job but gets to take his pound of flesh as well because he is that good.
I appreciate all the work you did on this one Mangs! I still fondly remember how surprised middle school aged me was when the Black Knight’s identity was revealed to be Zelgius. You did his character justice in this spotlight. Maybe it’s too early since you just did a villain spotlight with this video, but I’d really like to see one on Idunn! Her release in heroes and her amazing art/design has got me curious about her since I have yet to play FE6
I would’ve not gotten spoiled of who his identity is if it wasn’t for Heroes putting Zelgius with BK’s armor in that one banner. Thanks IS, very cool. So much for wanting to play the Tallius games spoiler free...
I'd love to see a complete breakdown for Micaiah. I've seen so many wide ranges in opinions from her from "Mary Sue" to "One of the few somewhat realistic FE Lords in the whole series and actually gets called out on her bad decisions". A big part of it to me at least, is that a lot of little details in her personality are buried in the base convos, in particular ones that don't get you any items so a lot of people will either only bother with them once or not at all. You have to take those convos, infer things from them, and then combine them with what she says and does in the main game cutscenes and connect the widely spread out dots. When you do all of that you get a very interesting character who's extremely loyal to her country despite the fact that she knows they would turn on her in an instant if they knew she was a branded. She's terrified of that happening, but is still willing to act like a monster on their behalf (and knows she's acting like a monster). But even then: she's more loyal to Sothe than her country and will instinctively choose Sothe over her people when suddenly forced to make a decision. She's so loyal to him that she's down right dependant on him after he ran away from her once and would probably completely shut down if she ever lost him. She does have special powers yes, but she doesn't like them much. She ends up relying on them despite that fact, and when she loses them she starts to fall apart and fear that she'll lose the trust of her people. She acts reasonably cheerful most of the time but she's actually fairly bitter: mad at Ike for not deciding to have Crimea rule over Daein (though she recognizes that he didn't know what would happen if he didn't), mad that the world would hate her if they knew who she was. But despite that inner bitterness she still ultimately strives to do the right thing, even if that means crossing lines others wouldn't cross. Micaiah is a character that would have benefited so much from there being proper support conversations in Radiant Dawn, so people wouldn't have to stretch the dots as far to get the full picture about her personality. That and a more tightly written plot. But despite all of that she's one of the very few FE lords who doesn't drop into the "overly naive" category (Eirika, Sigurd, Leif, Corrin), "all about fighting" category (Hector, Ephraim), or "all around nice person" category (Eliwood, Marth, Roy, Robin). I think its safe to say there's no other FE lord quite like her. From memory the closest might be Sigurd but I don't remember how/when he became aware of what his actions were really doing.
I remember my fight against the Black Knight in RD. I actually did have my hammer bu I didn't use it because i didn't want to. So, in the first round of combat BK actually critted me. I did not expect this coming. But on the second round of combat Ike performed a critical as well. I oneshottet Levail with Boyd and then finished of the Black Knight within 3 turns (which I did not expect to happen) I think that it was pretty cool for Ike and BK doing a critical in the battle.
even if bk can be destroyed by a hammer the fact he can run at 50mph in that heavy af suit of armour really makes him feel like the unstoppable juggernaut he is
After running from him for so long, there was no better feeling than finally defeating the Black Knight in combat. His battles in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn were an adrenaline rush!
21:00 Personally i think that zelgius protects micaiah under Sephiran orders. The game never explained when Sephiran learned of her existence, only that it was to late. This is likely somewhere around ch 1-6 and 1-8 which is well after the beginning of Sephiran's plans at which point there was no turning back.
Personally, I think Zelgius meeting Micaiah was by chance, and when he learned of her branded heritage, he felt it to protect not only another branded, but to protect Sephiran's descendant, thus making his master happy out of his own free will Plus, I'm sure he knew that Micaiah and Sothe had feelings for each other, and he decided not to pursue love due to his brand and because of his fated duel with Ike.
Somehow I never got around to peeking at this video until now, but I may as well add a small bit of trivia and expansion on existing details in the comments while I'm here. Primarily regarding the matter of story in facing the Black Knight early, having Ike survive against him gives an extra dialogue scene of Mist and Titania chewing him out for nearly killing himself out there fighting the guy; There is no other way to see this, so it at least makes Ike _trying_ to engage him not a complete waste of time and test of Luck/Miracle. If you can get access to the Debug menu, there's no existing hidden passive for critical negation on his character, it is solely from having the likes of Alondite, Ragnell, and even Gurgurant; What is _particularly_ unique to Black Knight in this regard even within the Debug is that Alondite doesn't have a hidden passive you can assign that lets characters _wield_ it, unlike Ragnell or Gurgurant; It is hardcoded solely for him and him alone. On that note, you can also remove the literal plot armor from him (and Ashnard) so other characters can actually hurt him without Ragnell or having one of the Laguz Nobles' special weapons and Dragons. This makes it possible to play the game largely the same except being actually able to damage him by other means if he comes up; Mist will actually hurt him more if her Magic is capped using a magic sword than a capped Str Ike can with his Ragnell in his final appearance if you wanna be cheeky like that.
This game was my childhood. And I never realized fully that when zelgius comes to reinforce ime that zelgius was the black Knight holy shit and I beat both games several times
Something I appreciate about the Black Knight is he is no coward. Despite his blessed armor, he deliberately hands Ike a sword that can penetrate his armor and kill him. He respects a great warrior when he sees one and is willing to make himself vulnerable to test his opponent's might.
1:21 thing is, the shocking reveal was anything but shocking. Idk which chapter it was but at some point later in Radiant Dawn Ranulf just walks up Ike like "yeah that guy is the BK, I smelled him out" like what the hell even
Yeah unfortunately that’s a result of the localized versions of RD not getting the full extended script of RD that had a lot more foreshadowing to Black Knight’s Identity (such as Ranulf asking Zelgius if he had gotten stronger since their fight at the port before Tibarn comes in to save Ranulf in Part 3). Due to that Ranulf in the localized version tells Ike instead before the armies divide and head for the tower. I too hate how this was delivered. Though, begrudgingly, I do think it makes sense for Ranulf to warn Ike. At this point Ranulf is practically knows Zelgius is the Black Knight, so why withhold such important information from Ike? Dramatic suspense? Withholding that information in this version would probably be more damning to the story than sharing it. Yeah, I wish his reveal as the Black Knight was handled better.
I finished PoR and RD for the second time just last week, and The Black Knight was honestly way better than I remembered him as. I agree he's slightly inconsistent in his portrayal between the games, but he's still overall the series' best villain in my opinion, only rivaled by Lyon.
so i'm kinda having some interest on him after watching this video he's actually more detailed and complicated villain after knowing him through this video i don't expect him to be this interesting and yeah he is really interesting even with a bit generic flaws
I think Zelgius protected Micaiah because Sephiran saw use in her. Micaiah wasn't "unknown" at all in Daein, she was infamous for being the Silver-haired maiden, a rebellious girl causing mischief and spreading faith for the return of Daein. Due to this, Zelgius HAD to protect Micaiah. She was a plot device used to move forward the chances of a war happening. In Path of Radiance, Sephiran tried to cause a war by giving Ashnard the medallion which has failed miserably thanks to Ike. I think after realizing that his careless way of planning caused his plan to fail, Sephiran must've decided not to take any risks and ordered Zelgius to protect her. Another interesting theory would be that Sephrian KNEW the bird was Yune and was tasked by Ashera (before she fell asleep) to protect her other half which is also a direct order for Zelgius, too. I personally have fond memories of the Black Knight because he's the perfect villain in my opinion. The fact he'll show up once in a while just to show you "Hey, my statline is what you're working towards to beat, so get a good taste right fucking now." is an amazing prospect of the story. He could be anywhere, he has Teleportation powder - and when he shows up the first time around, you realize that he's no joke. Even a unit with max stats could not take this man on easily, EVEN a fully statraised, hacked Ike with Ragnell potentially would have a hard time dealing with the Black Knight in Chapter 9, that's a perfect display of just how strong he is and how easily he'll bitchslap your ass back to Turn 1. At this point in the game you're taught to move as you battle your foes. In all previous chapters, all you ever had to do was pile up and slowly kill foes in a crowd, cheese a level here and there by beating on the same enemy with 5 different units. Chapter 8 teaches you to respect the move range of units and Chapter 9 tests you to see if you learned anything by placing the Black Knight himself with his absurd move range onto the field. From this point onward the game throws one hustle after another at you. Defending Begnion's ship hastily, moving forward while reinforcements come in from behind in other chapters, etc. Every encounter you learn something else. The first encounter you learn that he's no joke and get to see his stats, the second encounter you learn that his armor is blessed and that regardless of how strong you are you cannot win, the third encounter you combine the knowledge and beat his ass. (And in the process learn that relying on special procs can be a bitch.)
I was shocked playing this as a kid when I saw him yeet Ike’s dad
Did you make the surprised pikachu face?
@@SasaLunafey I sure did
Black Knight: Hello, Ike, Commander of the Greil Mercenaries.
Ike: You... YOU KILLED MY FATHER! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!
Black Knight: Gawain never told you, didn't he?
Ike: Told me what!?
Black Knight: Gawain isn't your true father... (Takes off his helmet and reveals his face)
I AM!
Ike: Wait... Same blue colored hair? (Gasp) NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Lmaoooooooo
3 houses spoilers below
and then it became a fire emblem trope
when I started three houses and noticed the first non playable character was jeralt, I thought "bet he's gonna die on chapter 9 or 10"
Watch out Greil, the Black Knight is behind you!
Oh no! Oh God! He’s got air pods in! He can’t hear us!
*Eirpods
oh god oh fuck
@@ChillstoneBlakeBlast
*cries
Blake Blast you rite
Heh too easy
More trivia:
The voice actor for Zelgius in Radiant Dawn's cutscenes is also the narrator from Kirby's Epic Yarn's story cutscenes.
Story time with Zelgius, boys.
Oh my god so that's where I recognized his voice from
I'll never see him like befor
Sit down kids Zelgius is going to tell a story
*"I T F E E L S L I K E P A N T S"*
Kirby went out of his eay to collect everything
Interesting maneuver
"Is it the micaiah spotlight?"
No, it's Just a Black Knight spotlight."
"That's still fine to me. OPEN THE VIDEO!"
**new Mangs spotlight video**
"Open the gate!"
**it's not micaiah**
"Close the gate!"
**it's the Black Knight**
"Open the gate a little!"
(Your comment kinda reminded me of one of those memes.)
"Are you prepared?"
Long have you waited, Eclipse activated.
Asrta overrated luna outdated long have we waited Eclipse Activated*
“Will you survive?”
... Fuck your will,
I've got Nihil.
Man in black armor beats a blonde with a spatula to death
But doesn't he have the Spatula?
Going to guess they meant it as "beats a blonde to death with a spatula"
Is it the Zelgius?
No, its just Burger King.
Have it your way.
A Black Knight Spotlight?
Interesting Maneuver...
Very interesting...
of course
*Ah, of course*
Interesting Maneuver
Fascinating Gambit
Outstanding Move
Intriguing Scheme
Riveting Ruse
Thought-provoking Stratagem
Enthralling Ploy
Riveting ruse is nice because alliteration.
Nice job
"Tis but a scratch, just a mere flesh wound."
Yep. It was only a castle falling on top of him.
@@levelzero4187 I mean if you have armor that is blessed by a LITERAL GOD, you aint gonna be in any pain
Ah I bet none of these kids picked up on that being a Monty Python reference
Yeagerzard 1998 *"I'LL BITE YER LEGS OFF!"*
"May it be a flesh wound but tis it futile cause thou will soon be dead by my blade" I dont know why but I can see that being said
I always saw him as the Darth Vader of the Fire Emblem universe.
This kinda makes him even more awesome ^^.
Really they share many aspects
I can see a lot of people see him as that
My thougts excactly
Yeah likewise, he has that intimidating aura just like Darth Vader.
12:57 The reason the localization changed this was because it was incredibly stupid in Japanese. It wasn't just that warp powder sapped his strength (this detail is canon in the English version too and is mentioned in dialogue), it was that when teleporting to Nados Castle, the BK suffered a warp powder malfunction that teleported his soul and armour to the castle but not his body. This is dumb for several reasons.
-There was no foreshadowing at all that warp powder could do this, and it never does anything like it again.
-How was the BK's armour recovered from the ruins of Nados Castle in this case? That rubble would be pretty hard to sift through...
-What happened to Zelgius' soulless body at the time? Anyone walking in on it would reveal his identity. How'd his spirit reunite with it?
The localizers probably saw this as a huge contrived cop-out to the BK's survival, so they re-wrote it, but they did based on details that existed even in the Japanese version, namely Ike revealing that Greil crippled his sword arm. (That pre-battle dialogue is identical in the Japanese script, AND if you bring Tibarn to Radiant Dawn's Endgame, Zelgius mentions the whole "only fighting a shadow of Greil's former self" thing in both versions.) The localization didn't really ADD anything new, they just changed the reasons for the BK surviving to fit with details about the plot and his personality that already existed.
25:29 Actually not true. The only thing that causes Zelgius to show up in PoR's epilogue is Tanith dying. I tested that in my PoR LP and it was definitely on a file where I defeated the Black Knight. I killed Tanith in Endgame and got the Zelgius scene at the end.
16:20 I love the subtlety of this writing. “I will not allow you to disgrace my master’s good name.” Initially I assumed he was talking about Sanaki, whom Valtome rails on for most of that dialogue line. It is only after the reveal and upon closer inspection that I realized it was Valtome’s bad-mouthing of Sephiran that was the trigger.
On the contrary I think he was fairly open about being loyal to Sephiran. He chose to inform Sanaki that he was going to rescue Sephiran instead of lead the Apostle's Army. Furthermore, his title is the Earl of Kadohl. Sephiran is a Duke, meaning in a feudal system he's above Zelgius, and Zelgius likely swore allegiance to him instead of Sanaki herself. Finally in PoR when Zelgius arrives with the reserve military in Daein he says it's because Sephiran returned, meaning Zelgius is likely the leader of Sephiran's military.
His lines about his loyalty to Sanaki is probably 2nd hand loyalty because Sephiran is of course loyal to her as well as Zelgius' own respect of Sanaki's ideals, which is indicated in just about every conversation BK has with Micaiah where he compares Micaiah's righteousness to another person, who he refers to as "she".
Thank you for not posting Zelgius as the thumbnail.
Bartholomew Peter
but who doesn't know that the black knight is zelgius?
I mean these games can be considered classic game now since they are pretty old now.
@@sonicthehedge A lot of people. There's a million games and a million reasons why one would miss out on one. Age, lack of time, having other hobbies, lack of funds (need I remind you how expensive copies of the Tellius games are and emulation is its own can of worms) games that are niche being unheard of (literally was the situation for FE pre Awakening), dodging heroes for a multitude of reasons, and so on. I can give you a number of classics I still haven't played even with the N64 (my first console) and may Naga help me with the SNES games I still have to catch up on.
I didn't even know until a few months pre heroes Zelgius launch and I have a brother who won't play it to dodge those spoilers until he's beaten Tellius. A game being old is the flimsiest excuse to give out spoilers ever.
I'm not your mom ,so I'm not saying you have to be tight lipped with plot details but a game being old isn't a proper excuse. I'm just saying that I appreciate Mangs being mindful of the many who don't know.
@Nill Null Yeah that's a fair assumption, had a friend who didn't know Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker only up until recently.
Hands down best villain in the series. His design is awesome and his rivalry with Ike is fantastic. The dichotomy of Zelgius and the Black Knight, though they are one entity, is fascinating. As a unit/boss... do I even need to say it? He's amazing.
Obviously, his backstory could have used more attention, but so could the entirety of Radiant Dawn's exposition.
Black Knight is my favourite villain.
His presence in both games, competence both in terms of strength as well as tactics make him a worthy rival to Ike. The bond he forms with Micaiah is also cute IMO.
I love how he's the one to [technically] give you the final endgame sword of awesomeness you carry through the entire story, just so you can stand a chance. Though I wonder what his boss thought of that. Did he ever dual-wield Ragnell and Alondite before he tossed one to Greil? Or was Ragnell just a spare? Either way, I doubt Lehran was happy to learn he just chucked it over to the only people capable of messing with his plans.
Also practically wet ourselves when we saw who he was, too? F*ck this game is pure fanservice!
"Prepare yourself for my wrath you worm. I am the student and slayer of Greil and the current holder of the world record for most burgers cooked in 5 minutes. I am the MCDonalds employee of the month,I am the most powerful Burger Flipper to ever exist! I am the MIPD Black Knight."
I love the black knight he is one of my favorite characters and one of best villains in fire emblem history and his theme song is so good
I think Ike forgives Zelgius for killing Grail because he eventually learned it was not straight up murder, but a agreed test of skill that just happened to be very one-sided due to Greils machinations. He did make his intent clear, and Greil understood and sought him out alone. Greil might have had saved himself if he explained himself, but seemed to underestimated his former pupil a bit, and perhaps a bit prideful after all.
With his personality in PoR, I understand it just being posturing. Zelgius not appearing after a Black knight KO and him otherwise being a compassionate commander when he appears at him. Aside from the black armor, he also adopts the guise of a ruthless knight to fit in with Daein and fulfill his orders. Compared to Zelgius, he has the Black Knight seems almost cartoonish in how he goes out his way with insults and warlike language. Fitting since he was manipulating a cruel warlord king at the time. I also think he spared Ena intentionally. He's far to calm about it being a unclean blow, highly unlikely to made such a mistake against a human-shifted Laguz, and would have time to finish her off. They streamlined his personality it a bit in RD, but in PoR the contours of the larger arc are clearly already in place, so it doesn't feel like a full retcon.
Perhaps Sephiran and Zelgius PoR plan being derailed, and gaining genuine respect for Ike, explains why they are more subtle in the second war. They also seem the share the same flaw: being overly fatalistic. Zelgius overcame this by resigning himself to the final duel with Ike, Sephiran's reversal needs no explaination.
I'm well aware this is over 4 years old but wow this makes so much sense and explains so many tiny annoyances I had with the character. I feel overall that Radiant dawn is a little too subtle for its own good at times because not many people would realize this otherwise, even though this seems to very much be intentional.
Ena has miracle, i think its that that did it
One thing is certain. Zelgius has the BEST theme.
We should get a Radiant Dawn Remake where Eclipse just resets your emulator/console LMAO
@@thelegacyofgaming2928 Nihil lol
Of course you snuck in some interesting maneuvers.
What?
I Personally Love the Black Knight.
He is strong, Tragic and One of the reasons I recently played Path of Radiance for the First Time.
Although I'll probably Never See everything of him on My own ( cause no RD Rom ) I still Love him more than most Fire emblem characters.
The 1v2 fight between him, Ike and Mist is One of My favorite Battles in all of FE
I think the first time through the game I didn't bother to train mist and, lo and behold, she wanders into the final battle with the black knight. Never exited a level so fast in my life.
In my initial playthrough, I never trained mist. Saw when she appear in that chapter during the fight against the Black Knight, I quickly "nope" her right out of that room lmao. Didn't need her anyway since my Ike had wrath+adept (was unaware of Aether existence at the time) which was a good enough combination to quickly put Black Knight into the ground. Every other play through, she became one of my main units, having good enough fortune of capping nearly all of her stats. Hell, because of her good stats, I'd make sure she'd at least go one round with the Black Knight each play through even if she could never hurt him.
Agreed.
The Tellius games were my introduction to Fire Emblem and had the BEST villains! I always remember the moment of sheer dread when The Black Knight steps out of that house.
Yeah those sort of moments are awesome. Another one I’ll never forget playing on hard mode the first time and seeing Ashnard start moving (he doesn’t on easy iirc) and I almost shit myself, and that was before I knew he had a second form lol. The brute power of Black Knight and Ashnard, the cowardly Begnion senators and Ashera’s judgment are all pretty cool.
Fe6 but Yeah the tellius games are close second.
Obligatory *Interesting maneuver*
"I've featured villians before, but never one of this caliber"
Arvis cries in the corner
I Think He Means By Non-Japanese Popularity, Cause Ya'know, FE4 Doesn't Exist Outside Japan
Absolutely my favorite character from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn.
When you think about it, super popular FE villains are something of an oddity. A good number of them are very standard, sometimes even generic villains, and clearly not meant to even be sympathetic, like someone like Medeus, or Anankos, or Gharnef, etc.
And then you've got characters like Arvis, and our current topic, who people latched on to and saw as characters beyond just Hero and Villain.
Medeus actually has an understandable reason for why he's doing what he's doing.
What About Zephiel?
Oh yes! Black knight is my favourite antihero. Say what you want but story/character design perspective Tellius series is one of the best.
Glad I bought both of em when they cost under 40e/game. :D
Agreed. FE9 and 10 were the ones that got me into the series so I’m likely always biased for them, but I love the lore in both games.
Fun fact: BK isn't the only one of Daein's Four Riders who's a Branded. Petrine is a Branded too, apparently of tiger heritage.
One largely pointless correction:
The Black Knight's armor isn't what negates non-wrath critical hits in PoR, it's Alondite. Ragnell actually has the same effect for Ike.
You could also say the sadistic behavior after the fight with Greil as him being incredibly angry and dissatisfied with his teacher's performance.
Although, it could also be argued that his orders would have been more easily completed by killing Mist anyway
The Black Knight and his holy sword, SPATULA!
(35:07)
YYYYYAAAAYYYYY!!
The Black Knight is my favorite character in all of Fire Emblem, contrary to my profile pic, and in fact in all of gaming. Not only is he a memorable villain, he also has a great backstory and personality that sticks with you even after the game ends.
Mangs, thank you for giving Black Knight the spotlight he deserves, in the same way Robert Clotworthy gave him the voice he deserves.
I agree
Isn't Zelgius cruel as the BK in PoR because of his double-agent role? When we see Zelgius in PoR he is his usual self, so it figures that he must act more ruthless as the BK to conceal his identity and keep the Daein generals and Ashnard in check.
In RD he doesn't really need to make up an act because he is supporting the "good guys" most of the time so being that ruthless is not really necessary.
This was a great spotlight Mangs! Keep it up man
Would love to see an Alm Character Spotlight tbh. Gotta give love to the farm boy lord.
"Interesting Maneuver...."
Hah! Isn't this so funny?! ISN'T IT??? *ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED????!!!*
2:40 while you were fighting for your friends I studied the blade
40 minutes to cover the Black Knight?
Interesting maneuver
I always found it a bid strange / sad that the Black Knight had no form of special dialogue with Stefan. Granted, they do not have any reason to do so, storywise. But Stefan, being a branded himself, has a keen eye for spotting others and who is also fond of a nice fight, could have a little conversation with him. Maybe not so much in Path of Radiance (besides a "I will enjoy this battle" thing), but in Radiant Dawn he could've slightly hinted at The Black Knight / Zelgius being a branded.
That aside, I liked this spotlight. And now I will continue listening to The Black Knights Main Theme.
Exorion also Stefan teaches Ike some swordplay, it is obvious he appreciates sword skills, I think he would make some comments regarding BK’s skills
the black knight is one of my favorite villains in the series
though i must admit echoes did a really good job with emperor rudolph
walhart was a neat villain too but he didn't get to develop as much as i would have liked
Edit: as an aside, tellius and jugdral are my favorite sagas in the series
Black Knight is an interesting character. Thanks for another amazing spotlight Mangs!
I think Zelgius protecting Micaiah might’ve been both forming a bond of sorts with another branded and orders from Sephiran. Plus, him showing loyalty to Sanaki as you explained in the video seems to make sense.
Do a devdan spotlight but mekkah does the voice over
Devdan has no significance to Mekkah. Another Tellius character might be a better for Mekkah to speak on.
27:02
Fun fact:
If you hack the game and kill the Black Knight, dialogue will appear. I don’t remember it exactly, but I think the boat that Ike and co. board burns down and results in a game over. I guess it’s kind of a funny thing to discover when I first messed around with the game files.
That Heather clip killed me.
It did if you are Heather lol
5 star unit right there
Very interesting and good video. I learned something about the relationship of him and Micaiah and got some new points of view on Ashnard, who is merely a pawn of Sephiran. In Path of Radiance I always wanted to have Zelgius because he looks so cool.
I think it would have been cool if you could have summoned him during the ashnard. Could have been a multi play through reward where ashnard recognizes him through his swordman ship but does not explicitly say who it is.
Spoiling the Black Knight's identity? Heroes has already done that
Just because someone else does it doesn't mean I want to.
Some people don't play Heroes and/or deleted the game.
also smash ultimate
nice profile pic ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
@@Mangs1337 Speaking Of Which, Am I The Only One Who's Upset That They Didn't Give Zelgius His Red Armor Isntead?
almost every time I think of strong bosses in videogames, I think of the black knight's theme.
Black Knight spotlight is finally here!
To me, the greatest dividing factor between Ike and Zelgius is his brand.
Zelgius's brand fundamentally alters the course of his life so that he can never lead a "normal" life or form real connections with beorc and his soldiers (with a few exceptions like Levail).
It leans into the RD's whole message about prejudice and how Zelgius could've been saved if the Branded weren't treated so badly. The Branded are the result of racism, on both beorc and laguz sides, and that is how and why Zelgius gets so twisted. Isolation can do a lot to really mentally hurt someone.
I may have been playing too much duel links recently but... the black knight is totally a gearfried the iron knight with an awesome cape!
“Impressive…….most impressive”
Hell yeah the darth Vader of fire emblem I have always wanted to hear the black knights battle theme mixed with the imperial march it would sound so cool
I never knew I needed this in-depth review of one of the most boss villains from long ago.
I absolutely love the BK. the best character the general/emperor archetype has ever created. Unstoppable Destiny is only matched by the amount if weight he has to his strikes. Seriously, only Zephiel can hold a candle to the sheer juggernaut that is the black knight.
I do think that the plan to awake ashera was pretty flawed, if Kurthnaga didn't fight then not all of tellius would be "enveloped in war"
the BK is one of the greatest villians in fire emblem, and yet another reason why Tellius has the best cast in the series.
Also 17:30 well i guess we know who mangs is bringing to the tower.
Me: Finishes Video
Goes to my garage
Grabs hammer
"I CAN NOW OBLITERATE ONE OF THE STRONGEST FIGHTERS IN TELLIUS!"
Also the armor claws are cool.
Since leran only asked zelgius to join him after he mentioned he studied under gawain, it lead me to wonder if that's why he offered zelgius to join him in the first place. He knew how strong zelgius was and used his emotional vulnerability to achieve his own ends.
FINALLY I WAITED A WHILE FOR THIS. THANKS MANGS
BlazingKnight might forgive you now, Mangs.
....He might.
Micaiah wants to be next for her spotlight XD.
I just like that he is such an absolute unit that he is constantly a top general in whichever country as he is zipping around the continent. He also is so skilled that he does his job but gets to take his pound of flesh as well because he is that good.
Interesting maneuvers made by Mangs:
5:15
35:07
I appreciate all the work you did on this one Mangs! I still fondly remember how surprised middle school aged me was when the Black Knight’s identity was revealed to be Zelgius. You did his character justice in this spotlight.
Maybe it’s too early since you just did a villain spotlight with this video, but I’d really like to see one on Idunn! Her release in heroes and her amazing art/design has got me curious about her since I have yet to play FE6
Of course you'd mention your Heather build, and you even used the fanart.
STOP
Heather time
I would’ve not gotten spoiled of who his identity is if it wasn’t for Heroes putting Zelgius with BK’s armor in that one banner.
Thanks IS, very cool. So much for wanting to play the Tallius games spoiler free...
To be fair lucina is basicsly one giant spoiler and has been in games out side of the fe brand
Lehran granted Zelgius with a set of plot armor as a gift.
35:07 "There is an INTERESTING MANEUVER you can pull off."
Wow this is uploaded on my birthday, the greatest spotlight!
I'd love to see a complete breakdown for Micaiah. I've seen so many wide ranges in opinions from her from "Mary Sue" to "One of the few somewhat realistic FE Lords in the whole series and actually gets called out on her bad decisions".
A big part of it to me at least, is that a lot of little details in her personality are buried in the base convos, in particular ones that don't get you any items so a lot of people will either only bother with them once or not at all. You have to take those convos, infer things from them, and then combine them with what she says and does in the main game cutscenes and connect the widely spread out dots.
When you do all of that you get a very interesting character who's extremely loyal to her country despite the fact that she knows they would turn on her in an instant if they knew she was a branded. She's terrified of that happening, but is still willing to act like a monster on their behalf (and knows she's acting like a monster). But even then: she's more loyal to Sothe than her country and will instinctively choose Sothe over her people when suddenly forced to make a decision. She's so loyal to him that she's down right dependant on him after he ran away from her once and would probably completely shut down if she ever lost him. She does have special powers yes, but she doesn't like them much. She ends up relying on them despite that fact, and when she loses them she starts to fall apart and fear that she'll lose the trust of her people. She acts reasonably cheerful most of the time but she's actually fairly bitter: mad at Ike for not deciding to have Crimea rule over Daein (though she recognizes that he didn't know what would happen if he didn't), mad that the world would hate her if they knew who she was. But despite that inner bitterness she still ultimately strives to do the right thing, even if that means crossing lines others wouldn't cross.
Micaiah is a character that would have benefited so much from there being proper support conversations in Radiant Dawn, so people wouldn't have to stretch the dots as far to get the full picture about her personality. That and a more tightly written plot. But despite all of that she's one of the very few FE lords who doesn't drop into the "overly naive" category (Eirika, Sigurd, Leif, Corrin), "all about fighting" category (Hector, Ephraim), or "all around nice person" category (Eliwood, Marth, Roy, Robin). I think its safe to say there's no other FE lord quite like her. From memory the closest might be Sigurd but I don't remember how/when he became aware of what his actions were really doing.
I remember my fight against the Black Knight in RD.
I actually did have my hammer bu I didn't use it because i didn't want to.
So, in the first round of combat BK actually critted me. I did not expect this coming. But on the second round of combat Ike performed a critical as well.
I oneshottet Levail with Boyd and then finished of the Black Knight within 3 turns (which I did not expect to happen)
I think that it was pretty cool for Ike and BK doing a critical in the battle.
even if bk can be destroyed by a hammer the fact he can run at 50mph in that heavy af suit of armour really makes him feel like the unstoppable juggernaut he is
MANGS IT'S 1AM ON A WEDNESDAY EVENING WHY DID YOU UPLOAD THIS NOW OF ALL TIMES?!
But hey, an hour wouldn't be that much...
timezones perhaps?
After running from him for so long, there was no better feeling than finally defeating the Black Knight in combat. His battles in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn were an adrenaline rush!
Oh damn that's a long spotlight
This is gonna be a good watch
21:00
Personally i think that zelgius protects micaiah under Sephiran orders. The game never explained when Sephiran learned of her existence, only that it was to late. This is likely somewhere around ch 1-6 and 1-8 which is well after the beginning of Sephiran's plans at which point there was no turning back.
Personally, I think Zelgius meeting Micaiah was by chance, and when he learned of her branded heritage, he felt it to protect not only another branded, but to protect Sephiran's descendant, thus making his master happy out of his own free will
Plus, I'm sure he knew that Micaiah and Sothe had feelings for each other, and he decided not to pursue love due to his brand and because of his fated duel with Ike.
Know your place, gave him that feh line into smash
So glad you got to this, hope you one day do Owain after all the voting on CML.
Long have we waited for this spotlight... Worth every second :)
Since we're in a Tellius video, i'd like to see a Naesala Spotlight myself as he is my favorite Tellius character.
My spotlights are mainly centered on the main games.
I need a Blazing Knight Character Spotlight next
When you his this theme, you want to grab your Alondite and hit an Ike.
Also Lord Pent spotlight maybe?
I've been waiting **thirty years** for this amazing lad to have a spotlight...
The black knight is the most powerful Fire Emblem character because he can say the n-word
Isn't it the B-word tho?
@@Abundy he's black, sooo
wouldnt that make devdan just as powerful
@@-lord1754 he can fight like ten men so I guess he is the most powerful Fire Emblem character
But can he say the s-word?
I've watched the beginning over and over just for the music, and after after 5 times is just noticed the Black Knight's sword is named spatula
That wharp powder is the real villain of the story
Somehow I never got around to peeking at this video until now, but I may as well add a small bit of trivia and expansion on existing details in the comments while I'm here. Primarily regarding the matter of story in facing the Black Knight early, having Ike survive against him gives an extra dialogue scene of Mist and Titania chewing him out for nearly killing himself out there fighting the guy; There is no other way to see this, so it at least makes Ike _trying_ to engage him not a complete waste of time and test of Luck/Miracle.
If you can get access to the Debug menu, there's no existing hidden passive for critical negation on his character, it is solely from having the likes of Alondite, Ragnell, and even Gurgurant; What is _particularly_ unique to Black Knight in this regard even within the Debug is that Alondite doesn't have a hidden passive you can assign that lets characters _wield_ it, unlike Ragnell or Gurgurant; It is hardcoded solely for him and him alone. On that note, you can also remove the literal plot armor from him (and Ashnard) so other characters can actually hurt him without Ragnell or having one of the Laguz Nobles' special weapons and Dragons. This makes it possible to play the game largely the same except being actually able to damage him by other means if he comes up; Mist will actually hurt him more if her Magic is capped using a magic sword than a capped Str Ike can with his Ragnell in his final appearance if you wanna be cheeky like that.
and now he got his own mii costume in smash
This game was my childhood. And I never realized fully that when zelgius comes to reinforce ime that zelgius was the black Knight holy shit and I beat both games several times
the best archer who now has a stand the shade knight
The Sephiroth of Fire Emblem.
Something I appreciate about the Black Knight is he is no coward. Despite his blessed armor, he deliberately hands Ike a sword that can penetrate his armor and kill him. He respects a great warrior when he sees one and is willing to make himself vulnerable to test his opponent's might.
1:21 thing is, the shocking reveal was anything but shocking. Idk which chapter it was but at some point later in Radiant Dawn Ranulf just walks up Ike like "yeah that guy is the BK, I smelled him out" like what the hell even
Yeah unfortunately that’s a result of the localized versions of RD not getting the full extended script of RD that had a lot more foreshadowing to Black Knight’s Identity (such as Ranulf asking Zelgius if he had gotten stronger since their fight at the port before Tibarn comes in to save Ranulf in Part 3). Due to that Ranulf in the localized version tells Ike instead before the armies divide and head for the tower. I too hate how this was delivered. Though, begrudgingly, I do think it makes sense for Ranulf to warn Ike. At this point Ranulf is practically knows Zelgius is the Black Knight, so why withhold such important information from Ike? Dramatic suspense? Withholding that information in this version would probably be more damning to the story than sharing it. Yeah, I wish his reveal as the Black Knight was handled better.
I finished PoR and RD for the second time just last week, and The Black Knight was honestly way better than I remembered him as. I agree he's slightly inconsistent in his portrayal between the games, but he's still overall the series' best villain in my opinion, only rivaled by Lyon.
so i'm kinda having some interest on him after watching this video
he's actually more detailed and complicated villain after knowing him through this video
i don't expect him to be this interesting
and yeah
he is really interesting even with a bit generic flaws
5:49 "Ashnard cares nothing for Bloodlines." No dissing Ghast.
The Black Knight is Zelgius?! Interesting maneuver...
I think Zelgius protected Micaiah because Sephiran saw use in her. Micaiah wasn't "unknown" at all in Daein, she was infamous for being the Silver-haired maiden, a rebellious girl causing mischief and spreading faith for the return of Daein.
Due to this, Zelgius HAD to protect Micaiah. She was a plot device used to move forward the chances of a war happening. In Path of Radiance, Sephiran tried to cause a war by giving Ashnard the medallion which has failed miserably thanks to Ike. I think after realizing that his careless way of planning caused his plan to fail, Sephiran must've decided not to take any risks and ordered Zelgius to protect her.
Another interesting theory would be that Sephrian KNEW the bird was Yune and was tasked by Ashera (before she fell asleep) to protect her other half which is also a direct order for Zelgius, too.
I personally have fond memories of the Black Knight because he's the perfect villain in my opinion. The fact he'll show up once in a while just to show you "Hey, my statline is what you're working towards to beat, so get a good taste right fucking now." is an amazing prospect of the story. He could be anywhere, he has Teleportation powder - and when he shows up the first time around, you realize that he's no joke. Even a unit with max stats could not take this man on easily, EVEN a fully statraised, hacked Ike with Ragnell potentially would have a hard time dealing with the Black Knight in Chapter 9, that's a perfect display of just how strong he is and how easily he'll bitchslap your ass back to Turn 1. At this point in the game you're taught to move as you battle your foes. In all previous chapters, all you ever had to do was pile up and slowly kill foes in a crowd, cheese a level here and there by beating on the same enemy with 5 different units. Chapter 8 teaches you to respect the move range of units and Chapter 9 tests you to see if you learned anything by placing the Black Knight himself with his absurd move range onto the field.
From this point onward the game throws one hustle after another at you. Defending Begnion's ship hastily, moving forward while reinforcements come in from behind in other chapters, etc.
Every encounter you learn something else.
The first encounter you learn that he's no joke and get to see his stats,
the second encounter you learn that his armor is blessed and that regardless of how strong you are you cannot win,
the third encounter you combine the knowledge and beat his ass. (And in the process learn that relying on special procs can be a bitch.)
Respect for keeping his identity a secret in the title and thumbnail. No accidental spoilers from this egg boi.
Time to do the "Negu" Knight now