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Radiant Dawn's Extended Script - An Overview
This article was commissioned by Zhvecko.
What is the "extended script"?
As I write this in 2017, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn has been out in Japan for ten years, and North America for nine. If you take an interest in the game, you've probably heard someone mention the "extended script" at some point. The "extended script," as you might have heard, existed in the Japanese version of Radiant Dawn and was used for the Hard/Maniac1 difficulties, but was never localized for the American release. It has stoked the popular imagination of Tellius fans ever since.
The funny thing about the "extended script" is that its existence was never formally acknowledged in the Japanese version itself. Above, you can see the difficulty selection screens. "Normal / Advance through the game at a good pace. An easy-to-play mode to easily familiarize yourself with the game." "Hard / Geared toward those well-acquainted with the Fire Emblem series. A game mode that offers some resistance as an SRPG."
Nowhere does it inform you that Hard mode will contain more dialogue, some of it incredibly charming. Nowhere does it inform you that Normal mode will use a trimmed script.
Yes, I think the Normal mode script (the only one that made it into English) is a "trimmed script," not that the Hard mode script is an "extended script." But I'll go into that later. For the purposes of this article, I'll call the two scripts what English-speaking fandom has come to call them: the normal script (used in Japanese Normal mode and localized by NoA), and the extended script (used in Japanese Hard/Maniac mode and never localized).2
The extended script is an alternate version of the pre-battle and post-battle chapter conversations. The supports, base conversations, and other errata are not affected.3 It has nothing to do with the unlockable extras we've been able to access in the localization, such as the Lehran content, the Soren endgame base conversation, and so on.
What's in it?
Anything cool?
I don't know what's "cool" to you, but there's pretty much something for everyone.
For example, there's some more detailed politics banter when Elincia confronts Ludveck.
There's a bunch of fun broing around with the Greil Mercenaries:
| Character | Japanese | My Rough Translation |
|---|---|---|
Ike: | じゃあ、久しぶりに 砦に帰還するか。▼ | Well, time to head back to the fort for the first time in awhile. |
Mist: | ぜったい、また蜘蛛の巣だらけよ。 帰ったらまず、全員で掃除だからね？▼ | It’s gotta be FULL of cobwebs. Once we’re back, everyone’s going to start cleaning it up right away, okay? |
| Ike: | 掃除くらいしなくても 死にはせんだろう。 寝床は雨風防げれば充分だ。▼ | Not cleaning it up isn’t gonna kill us… it’s enough to have a bed protected from the wind and rain. |
| Mist: | お兄ちゃんは平気でも わたしは嫌なの！▼ | YOU might be fine with it, but I’M not! |
Titania: | 私もごめんだわ。▼ | I must protest as well. |
(There's more where that came from.)
You know how Ike and Ranulf have a paired ending where they can ditch the world together? There's a lot of fun moments leading up to that lifelong bond:
| Character | Japanese | My Rough Translation |
|---|---|---|
Ranulf: | なんだ、おまえの方から 呼んだのか？▼ | What, did you call him here? |
| Ike: | 俺たちはラグズと違って 身一つでは戦えんからな。▼ | Unlike laguz, we can’t fight bare-handed. |
| Ranulf: | …すまん。 オレの気がいたらなかった。▼ | … Sorry, I didn’t think that through. |
| Ike: | 構わん。 おまえの焦ってる姿なんて、 珍しいものが見れた。▼ | I don’t mind. It’s not every day that I get to see you worked up. |
| Ranulf: | あのな…▼ | Hey now… |
(I mean, does that look like flirting to you? It looks like flirting to me. They also have some comic moments, moments of grumbling to each other, and a bit of script that reads suspiciously like a RD A-support for a pre-chapter conversation.)
Oh, and you know how Ranulf runs in out of nowhere to spoil the Black Knight's identity for Ike? That's foreshadowed.
| Character | Japanese | My Rough Translation |
|---|---|---|
Zelgius: | …よくかわした。 だが、もう限界だろう。▼ | … You fought well. But you’ve hit your limit. |
| （ライの化身が解ける） | (Ranulf untransforms.) | |
| Zelgius: | 女神に祈るがいい。 次の一撃を貴様は避けることができん。▼ | Pray to the goddess. You cannot avoid my next blow. |
| Ranulf: | ……祈りはいい… それより、聞きたいことがある…▼ | Pray, huh… More than that, there’s something I want to ask you. |
| Zelgius: | なんだ？▼ | What is it? |
| Ranulf: | …あの港町でやりあった時より、 オレも少しは強くなったか？▼ | … Am I any stronger than I was when we fought in that port city? |
| Zelgius: | ………既に意識が 混濁しているようだな。 これ以上、長引かせはせん。▼ | … Losing your grip on reality already? I will not let you drag this on any longer. |
| Ranulf: | あぁ、ここまでだ…▼ | Ah, so this is it… |
(It was probably taken out of the normal script since it's a Path of Radiance reference, but more on that later.)
There's clutch meta about the way heal staves work!
| Character | Japanese | My Rough Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Ike: | ……ライ、 おまえも同じ考えか？▼ | … Ranulf, do you feel the same way? |
| Ranulf: | …………▼ | … |
| Ike: | ライ？▼ | Ranulf? |
| Ranulf: | …ん？▼ あ、あぁ… あれ？ どうしたんだ、みんな こっちを見て……▼ | … Hm? Oh, uh… huh? Why’s everyone looking at me? |
Skrimir: | 貴様、軍議中に 居眠りでもしていたのか！？ 緊張感のない奴め。▼ | You! Were you napping in the middle of a war council!? You truly have no sense of urgency. |
| Ranulf: | …おまえにだけは 言われたくないって。▼ | …You’re the last person I wanted to hear that from. |
| Titania: | ライ、あなた… 体が辛いならはっきり言わないと。▼ いくら回復の杖で癒したといっても 失った体力まで、 すぐに戻るわけじゃないんだから。▼ | Ranulf… if you’re in pain, you have to tell us. No matter how much a staff heals you, the strength you’ve lost won’t return right away. |
And we learn how Ashnard got his hands on a heron and a medallion to kick off events in Path of Radiance.
| Character | Japanese | My Rough Translation |
|---|---|---|
Sephiran: | メダリオンは元々、私が あの者に与えたものだったからですよ。▼ セリノス王女リーリアと共に ２３年も前に……▼ | Because you see, I gave him the medallion to begin with. Together with Serenes Princess Lillia, twenty-three years ago… |
There's long passages explaining the politics behind the war.
Then there's small, poignant details.
| Character | Japanese | My Rough Translation |
|---|---|---|
Pelleas: | 『”血の誓約”は、 それを交わした者が▼ 誓約に関わらぬ第三者の手によって 命を奪われし場合、その効果を失う』 ……女神に頂いた命を 自らの手で奪うのは最大の禁忌だ。▼ 自殺しろというのでなくて…… 少し、ほっとしている。▼ | “Should signer of the Blood Pact lose their life at the hands of a third party to the agreement, its effects will be lost.” … To take one’s own Goddess-given life is the greatest sin. I’m a little relieved… that it didn’t ask me to kill myself. |
Bits where even Sanaki is awkward.
| Character | Japanese | My Rough Translation |
|---|---|---|
Micaiah: | サナキ様。▼ | Sanaki-sama. |
Sanaki: | そ、そなたは…デインの巫女。▼ | Y-you’re… the Priestess of Daein… |
| Micaiah: | はい、ミカヤです。 あの…わたしもこの岩陰に 入っても構いませんか？▼ | Yes, I’m Micaiah. Um… would you mind if I came into the shade of this rock with you? |
| Sanaki: | 好きにすればよい。 わたしは、水を取りに 輸送隊へ行くのでな。▼ | Do as you please. I was just about go to the convoy to fetch some water. |
| ???: | あら、いけませんわ。▼ | Oh, you shan’t go. |
| (Sigrun appears) | ||
Sigrun: | お水は私が取って参りますから。 サナキ様はどうぞそのまま。▼ | I shall fetch some water for you. Sanaki-sama, please, remain as you are. |
| Sanaki: | シ、シグルーン！▼ | S-Sigrun! |
| Sigrun: | ミカヤ様、どうぞごゆっくり。▼ | Sanaki-sama, please do enjoy your conversation. |
| Micaiah: | ありがとうございます。▼ | Thank you. |
| (Sigrun leaves) | ||
| Sanaki: | ……………▼ | ... |
| Micaiah: | ……………▼ | ... |
| Sanaki: | ……………▼ | ... |
| Micaiah: | ………すみません。▼ サナキ様がわたしを嫌っていると わかってるんですけど… どうしても、お話がしてみたくて。▼ | … I’m sorry. I know you hate me, but… even so, I wanted to try talking to you. |
And bits that make the Micaiah/Sothe paired ending make a little more sense.
| Character | Japanese | My Rough Translation5 |
|---|---|---|
Sothe: | なんだ…ずいぶん あっさりしたもんだな。▼ 普段は追い払っても、 すぐにミカヤのところに戻ってきて 離れなかったのに。▼ | What’s it doing? It just left without looking back. In the past, when you tried to make it go away it would always return to your side and wouldn't be parted from you. |
| Micaiah: | 賢い子だから… わかってくれたのよ。▼ | It’s a wise child… It understood. |
| Sothe: | それにしても、薄情じゃないか？▼ | But, isn’t that just a little heartless? |
| Micaiah: | わたしにはサザがいてくれる。 それだけでいいわ……▼ | I have you, Sothe. You're all I need… |
| Sothe: | ……あぁ。 それだけでいい。▼ | …Yeah. You're all I need. |
| Micaiah: | じゃあ…行きましょう。▼ | Then… let's go. |
And a lot of in-between moments featuring Tellius's top comedic talent... Soren.
| Character | Japanese | My Rough Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Ranulf: | とにかく、先頭までひとっ走りして 鷹王とスクリミルに指示を仰ぐとしよう。 や、スクリミルはおまけだけど。▼ | Anyway, I’m going to go hop on over to the vanguard and ask Tibarn and Skrimir for their orders. Well, Skrimir’s just there as a special bonus, but. |
Soren: | ……ならば、カウク洞窟へ 急行すべきだと進言してください。▼ | … While you’re there, please propose to them that we head for the Kauku Caves at full speed. |
| Ranulf: | ！？▼ | !? |
| Soren: | この森で戦ったところで、 ラグズ連合軍の全滅は見えています。 僅かなりと生き延びる可能性があるのは…▼ カウク洞窟のほうです。▼ | If we fight in this forest, the Laguz Alliance will face complete annihilation. We have only a slim chance of survival, but… the Kauku Caves are a better option. |
| Ranulf: | ……嫌かも知れんが、 オレの背に乗ってくれ、軍師殿。▼ | … You may not like this, but come ride on my back, Strategist. |
| Soren: | ！▼ | ! |
| Ranulf: | 策があるなら、 鷹王たちの前で聞かせてくれ。 頼む。▼ | If you have a plan, please let the Hawk King and the others hear it themselves. I’m begging you. |
| Soren: | ………▼ | … |
| Ike: | 俺もすぐ追いつく。 行ってやれ。▼ | I’ll catch up with you right away. Get going. |
| Soren: | ……はい。▼ | … Fine. |
Oh no, my biases are showing. I'll leave off with the highlights here. You can peruse these things and more when you go over the extended script.
Holy shit!! I'm missing 80 hours of pure awesome??
Nah, man. I mean, yeah, Radiant Dawn is pretty awesome, but if we're talking the extended script's differences, roughly 95% of the differing content is pretty mundane.
For example, here's the first few lines of the very first scene in the story, which plays after the opening cutscene.
| Character | Normal Script | Extended Script | My Rough Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
Edward: | …遅いな、あいつ。▼ | …遅いな、あいつ。▼ | ... He's pretty late. |
| Micaiah: | ………▼ | ………▼ | ... |
| Edward: | なぁ、ミカヤ。 あんたの得意の占いで、 レオナルドがいつ来るか占ってくれよ。▼ | なぁ、ミカヤ。 あんたの占いってさ、▼ もっとこう具体的なことは わかんないのか？ 時間とか内容とか。▼ | Hey, Micaiah. You know those fortunes you do? Can't you get more specifics out of them? Like times and details and stuff. |
| Micaiah: | ごめんなさい、エディ。 わたしの力はそんなに万能じゃないの。 はっきりしたことはわからなくて……▼ | ごめんなさい、エディ。 わたしの力はそんなに万能じゃないの。▼ 早くここを離れたほうがいいって ぼんやり、そう感じるだけで……▼ | I'm sorry, Edward. My power isn't nearly so omniscient. All I have is a vague feeling that it's better for us to leave soon... |
| Edward: | 冗談だよ！ …でも、あのレオナルドが待ち合わせに 遅れるなんて、何かあったんじゃ……▼ | いや、別に責めてないって。▼ あのレオナルドが 待ち合わせに遅れてるってのが、 ちょっとだけ気になって……▼ | Nah, I'm not blaming you or anything. It's just that Leonardo being late to a meet-up has got me kinda worried... |
| ???: | た、たすけて…！ 誰か…たすけておくれ……！▼ | た、たすけて…！ 誰か…たすけておくれ……！▼ | H-Help...! Someone... please, help us...! |
| Micaiah: | どうしたんですか！？▼ | What's the matter!? | |
Woman: | な、ならず者たちが街を襲いに来たよ！ あんたらも早く逃げないと、 つかまったらどんな目にあわされるか…▼ | あんたたち！ こんなところで グズグズしてる場合じゃないよ。▼ ならず者たちが街を襲いに来たんだ。 早く逃げないとやられちまうよ！▼ | You folks! You shouldn't be hanging around in a place like this. |
| Micaiah: | …ベグニオン帝国の駐屯兵は なにをしているんですか？ 治安維持を任されているはずでは……▼ | …帝国の駐屯兵は なにをしているんですか？▼ | ... And what are the |
| Woman: | ベグニオン兵だって！？ あいつらが敗戦国の人間のために 何かしてくれるもんかい！▼ あいつら、自分たちに都合の悪い 【暁の団】の討伐には躍起になるくせに、 本当の悪党は野放しさ。▼ | 見てみぬふりさ。 むしろいい退屈しのぎだって 笑ってるくらいだ。▼ | Haven't seen 'em. They're probably off killing time and laughing to themselves. |
| Edward: | あいつら… 戦に負けた国の民は 同じ人間だなんて思っちゃいないからな。▼ | Those villains... it's 'cause they don't think of the losers in war as part of the same human race. | |
| Micaiah: | ……わかりました。 ならず者たちは わたしたちにまかせて▼ | ……わかりました。 ならず者たちは わたしたちにまかせて…▼ おばさんたちは、 どこか安全な場所に隠れていてください。▼ | ... I understand. Please, leave the bandits to us... Ma'am, please go somewhere safe and hide. |
That's not the end of the scene, but I think you get the idea. Or perhaps you're more confused than you were before. At a glance, the changes might have you asking, why? Why would anyone bother making and coding in two different versions of a game script that often say similar things to the same ends?
I believe what we're witnessing here is the influence of a editor who wants to dumb it down and get to the point. Try reading these passages as a whole:
| Character | Normal Script | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Edward: | ... He's pretty late. | ||
| Micaiah: | ... | ||
| Edward: | Hey, Micaiah. Why don't you use one of those handy fortunes to figure out when Leonardo's going to come? | ||
| Micaiah: | I'm sorry, Edward. My power isn't nearly so omniscient. I don't know precisely what has happened... | ||
| Edward: | I was just kidding! ... But for Leonardo to be late to a meet-up, something had to have happened... | ||
| ???: | H-Help...! Someone... please, help us...! | ||
| Woman: | B-Bandits are coming to attack our town! If you're captured, who knows what would happen to you? | ||
| Micaiah: | ... And what are the Begnion Imperial Occupying Troops doing? They were tasked with preserving the peace... | ||
| Woman: | The Begnion Soldiers!? Since when have they done a single thing for the people of the country they've conquered!? They run around frantically trying to suppress the Dawn Brigade that's inconveniencing them while leaving us to deal with the real scoundrels. | ||
| Micaiah: | ... I understand. Please, leave the bandits to us... |
This version spells out the facts with brisk precision: Micaiah has prophetic powers, and here are their limits. Here's a crisis. Here's the oppressors by name. Here's what the oppressors have been doing, oppressively. Micaiah promises to intervene.
Now try the extended version:
| Character | Extended Script | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Edward: | ... He's pretty late. | ||
| Micaiah: | ... | ||
| Edward: | Hey, Micaiah. You know those fortunes you do? Can't you get more specifics out of them? Like times and details and stuff. | ||
| Micaiah: | I'm sorry, Edward. My power isn't nearly so omniscient. All I have is a vague feeling that it's better for us to leave soon... | ||
| Edward: | Nah, I'm not blaming you or anything. It's just that Leonardo being late to a meet-up has got me kinda worried... | ||
| ???: | H-Help...! Someone... please, help us...! | ||
| Micaiah: | What's the matter!? | ||
| Woman: | You folks! You shouldn't be hanging around in a place like this. You have to run before they get you! | ||
| Micaiah: | ... And what are the Imperial Occupying Troops doing? | ||
| Woman: | Haven't seen 'em. They're probably off killing time and laughing to themselves. | ||
| Edward: | Those villains... it's 'cause they don't think of the losers in war as part of the same human race. | ||
| Micaiah: | ... I understand. Please, leave the bandits to us... Ma'am, please go somewhere safe and hide. |
What does this version do? Well, to put it uncharitably, it pussyfoots around. It doesn't name the Begnion troops directly. It doesn't exposit that they're assholes who spend their resources chasing down the Dawn Brigade.
Instead, it better presents the relationship between these characters and the situation they're in. Edward, aware of Micaiah's power and what it can do, asks specifically if it can do more. Edward's fretting because Leonardo's late, but Micaiah's fretting because she knows something bad is about to happen. Edward wants Micaiah to know it's him, not her. The woman's first reaction is to be concerned for their well-being. Micaiah asking if the troops are actually gonna do their jobs is the biggest fucking joke the villager's ever heard--cue collective "ugh" at Begnion. Micaiah will deal with it, and she's concerned for the woman's safety too.
If you look back at the normal version of the script and think critically about it--Why does the woman tell Micaiah and Edward that the troops do nothing but chase the Dawn Brigade? Doesn't everyone in Daein know that? It's as if she's talking to people who aren't from around here.
You know. People like us, the gamer. It's called an infodump, and it's good for making sure that the reader's on the same page.
That's why I think the normal script originated as an edited, dumbed-down version of the extended script. I doubt anyone would write a direct video-game-y script, then successfully plead with the higher-ups to obtain the resources to make a more literary easter-eggy version for only hardcore Fire Emblem fans to see. I do think it is plausible that a higher-up saw a long subtle script and said, "Look, we're selling this game to everyone, including 12-year-olds and people who haven't played Path of Radiance. Can't you make it clearer for them what's going on? And make it quick, too. Kids have attention spans like goldfish these days. What, you want to keep the pretty script? Ok fine, you can put it in the mode for the people who are gonna spend a long time with the game anyway."
For what it's worth, the Japanese fans at PegasusKnight note a number of other differences that also seem to suggest this. For example, the normal script has more infodumps to supplement a lack of Path of Radiance knowledge. And fun moments in the extended script that rely on Path of Radiance knowledge are generally absent in the normal script. They also suggest that the writing style of the extended script is "more like Path of Radiance," by which I can only assume they mean that there's more life and comedy.
So we got the script for goldfish?
We got a script based off the script for goldfish.
| Character | NoA Localization | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Edward: | Something must have happened to him. | ||
| Micaiah: | Don’t worry. He’ll be here. | ||
| Edward: | Hey, I have an idea… Micaiah, why don’t you use your farsight to see when Leonardo will arrive? | ||
| Micaiah: | Edward, you know that’s not how it works. I foresee some things, but I don’t get to choose what I see. | ||
| Edward: | I was just teasing! Still, Leonardo’s never late. Something must have– | ||
| ???: | H-help! Someone, please help us! | ||
| Woman: | Bandits! Bandits are attacking the town! Run away! Who knows what the brutes will do if they catch you! | ||
| Micaiah: | Where is the Imperial Occupation Army this time? How can they keep the peace when they’re nowhere to be found? | ||
| Woman: | Who, the Begnion soldiers?! Hah! They don’t care a lick about us! We lost the war, and they won. We’re nothing to them. They’re only interested in chasing down the Dawn Brigade. They let the real Bandits run wild and brutalize us. | ||
| Edward: | They’re worse than useless! We’ll be glad to help you. Just find someplace to hide, and leave those bandits to us. | ||
| Micaiah: | And don’t worry about us. We happen to be members of that same Dawn Brigade that the Begnion troops are so interested in! |
... But it's not just the normal script. Look, Edward has an extra line near the end, almost like in the extended script! The localization is a script of its own--a topic that's inspired many series of articles. But that's a subject for another day. I've mentioned it because I want you to keep in mind that what you've experienced in the NoA release of Radiant Dawn isn't exactly the Japanese normal script either.
Still, by basing the translation off of the trimmed normal script, we've lost out on a thousand small pieces of characterization. The Radiant Dawn exclusive characters, lacking detailed supports, need everything they can get. I wonder if fandom would find the Dawn Brigade as boring and lifeless as they do now if the localization had worked from the extended script?
Where can I read the extended script?
Proceed with caution, as reading has been known to occasionally generate strong gusts of wind.
Serenes Forest offers full extended scripts for a few chapters. From what I've seen, some are raw translations directly from the Japanese, and others borrow the localized script for parts that match up and only freshly translate the differences.
I liveblogged my playthrough starting from late Part 2 onward and picked out a lot of differences I noticed. Some of these are localization differences (which I've indicated in the posts) but many are moments in the extended script. (The above section may have given you the impression that all the great moments are reserved for the Greil Mercenaries, but that's not true. Really.)
There is not currently a comprehensive translation of the whole extended script. However, Kantopia recently contacted me expressing an interest in compiling something like that, so perhaps there will be one in the future. If so, I'll update this post with a link.
If you can read Japanese, the raw script is easily available at PegasusKnight.
So... am I missing out if I can't read Japanese?
Wait mom, I think I found Fire Emblem!!
Maybe.
If you've played NoA RD extensively,6 seeing the extended script in the game is a surreal experience. It feels like one of those horror copypastas where you're playing Pokemon, and you fall down an unexpected hole in a cave, and you end up at a secret shrine with crying Pikachus, and then it erases your save. I had a dream once where I was playing a third Tellius game, and when I was playing through the extended script, it had that same uncanny unreal canon-but-somehow-not feeling to it.
It almost felt a little bit wrong. Perhaps because I'd gotten to know every inch of canon over ten years, and I considered that finite amount of canon to be all of canon, The Text, and rigorously tried to keep the line between canon and headcanon clear to myself. And suddenly, on my screen, here was stuff that seemed like it was Not Canon. Except it was canon? What?
I suppose that if you love a part of the game where the extended script hasn't been rendered, you might feel left out. But for the record, I think it also feels kind of like a mindfuck. The game's been out for a decade. I don't know how you would feel, but I was almost unsettled playing something so similar and yet not the same.
1 Note that the Japanese difficulties were renamed for the NoA release. J!Normal became NoA!Easy, J!Hard became NoA!Normal, and J!Maniac became NoA!Hard. If you think this sounds like a slap in the face to American players, making them feel feeble for being unable to handle mere Normal difficulty, you'd be in good company--this was one of the big reasons that early reviewers panned the game, perhaps harming its release.
2 For those of you who are curious, the Japanese fandom typically refers to them as the Normal script and the Hard script (sometimes the Hard, Maniac script).
3 PegasusKnight notes that there are some rare differences in the scripts for visiting villages and the "Talks" within chapters.
4 This screenshot, and the next one of Soren, isn't mine. Those two screenshots, plus the little heads, are from this LP by Fedule. The Japanese-language screenshots are mine, though.
5 This particular translation is based off of the one at Serenes Forest, with some modifications by me. The other translations here are mine from scratch.
6 I played through RD in English 16 times before my extended script run. Granted, I jammed start through cutscenes in a fair number of those, but I was still familiar enough with the game that deviations from what I was used to felt very, very weird.