myaru | Valkyrie rambling.

I wonder how exactly Silmeria recruited her einherjar in the beginning. All three valkyries probably recruit their soldiers in all sorts of ways, but it seems they all have their own style. It was speculated that Hrist would be the type to kill her own einherjar (at least by me...), and we see some evidence of that in the new game - not enough to say definitively that she does this all the time, of course.

We know Lenneth's talent is to hear the voices of people suffering just before death. The way Freya says it in the game, you'd think this is her talent, specifically, and not a shared skill all three valkyries possess. If you look at it the right way, you can say this talent is involved with the present, in that she's called by her einherjar - so to speak - as they're dying, versus before or after. Perhaps Hrist is drawn by an einherjar's reputation (I'm sure you can interpret that metaphysically - their prowess generates a certain kind of astral mark, or something like that), and accompanies each one for a time while they're alive, and only takes them when she considers them ready.

If the scene re: Hrist's einherjar in Valhalla showed us all of her recruits, then she has significantly fewer than either of her sisters. However, it sounds like she spends more time ~~bending them to her will~~ working with them than the others do. She also seems to be active most often, while the others sleep - but that might just be because Silmeria got herself into trouble.

Silmeria seems to recruit her einherjar - sometimes - after their deaths (versus by her own hand, or the instant they die), whether they be natural or earned in battle. I was reading a Wikipedia article concerning VP characters (I know, I know, but I don't have time to replay the game to catch the einherjar I missed!), and several of the profiles noted that characters lived well past the periods of their lives I'd consider heroic. Phyress, for instance, died at 58, but it doesn't sound like she died in battle. Seluvia and Christie just disappear; they could have died at any time, of old age, battle wounds, or whatever - if Silmeria allows one einherjar to materialize at a younger age than she actually died (Phyress again), why not others?

That can't always be true, though, as several of her einherjar died in battle, and there's no indication Silmeria waited to pick them up. And then, Hrist recruits a soul that has been dead quite a while. I don't remember why she did that instead of Silmeria.

(Addendum: the difference could be simple in cases like this, where technique overlaps. Silmeria might recruit only after destiny has run its course - that is, without interfering in any way - while it could be Hrist's habit to mess with them even before they die, to mold their experiences to her satisfaction. This could lead to more satisfactory results when she moulds their souls after death.

Silmeria, as representative of the Future, would be all about the potential, the results she could have, and less interested in the past. She's adamantly against interference of any kind, for sure.)

The more I think about this it's silly, but I like the idea that the valkyries are actually influenced by their roles of past, present, and future. You really don't see much of it in the games, otherwise. I've always thought Tri-Ace combined the Norn and the valkyries so they could get away with having only three.

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It was speculated that Hrist would be the type to kill her own einherjar (at least by me...), and we see some evidence of that in the new game - not enough to say definitively that she does this all the time, of course.

Are you referring to a certain "manly" someone? I should really see that scene again in the dragon temple. This is one thought that never occurred to me-- how the valkyries recruit their Einherjer. Interesting.

I should have thought about this whenever I recruited people in VP:2, where she calls upon spirits via an object. It didn't even hit me that she didn't recruit them the same way Lenneth did. :P

Silmeria is a weird case, because I don't think she ever actively recruits einherjar during the game - she has fragments of their souls within, and she uses the various objects scattered around the world to complete their materialization. I guess she needs something to remember them, or some piece of their past to communicate their essence, maybe? Or the souls could have been fragmented and scattered when Odin smacked her down.

Since her talent seems to be reading objects, this makes sense. I don't remember if they ever went into this, though...

Silmeria likely does not want to recruit many more right now in case she does get caught and they get dragged into Valhalla. She's just recovering the relics of her old ones instead, which are conveniently where you need to go.

She says near the beginning that she has them, and she could manifest them now, but she's gone so long without them (or without an influx of divine power? Without going to Asgard? Without taking /them/ to Asgard? It's vague) that they wouldn't last very long before fading.

Many of her Einherjar died natural or at least very extended deaths, unlike the others, you're right.

Icon love!

Can she recruit at all while with Alicia? That's something I don't remember being addressed. It's possible she was weakened somehow - in fact, she said after Hrist revealed herself that she saw through the disguise, and couldn't do anything about it because she wasn't strong enough to oppose her sister.

But it still doesn't explain the problem with her power. She can clearly still do some valkyrie-like things; she can still release einherjar once they're strong enough, whatever that means on Midgard. She can draw on Yggdrasil's power in limited amounts, though we don't know how essential that is to her existence, do we? I assumed the Sovereign's Rite involved some kind of seal, ala Lenneth, but since something went wrong between Asgard and Alicia... I don't know.

I bet I'm forgetting something really obvious. Actually, I started this reply with something in mind re: the way her einherjar die, but of course I've forgotten whatever it was.

I believe the Valkyrie sisters and their personalities (Which filters into how they recruit their Einherjar) are constructed in a way as to parallel the evolution of the Valkyrie myth itself.

From what i've read, the earliest Valkyrie myths labeled them as omens, appearing to warriors before the battle in which they would deliberately arrange their death so as to bring them into the fold. This follows with Hrist's methods, who we are led to believe directly intervenes in order to gain her Einherjer. This also matches up with her status as the Valkyrie of the past.

Of course, Valkyries progressively soften up in how they are depicted in mythology as time goes on, going from roving bands of warrior women to the more gentle shieldmaiden deal, who pick Einherjar after the fact of their death and have nothing to do themselves in the manner of it. Likewise, it reflects in the more compassionate personas of Lenneth and Silmeria.

They both deserve their own separate comparisons of course, but it's late and that's all I can muster. My two cents, anyways!

That's sort of what I speculated back when I wrote the valkyrie pages for Divine Seal. In fact, that's what led me to think Silmeria would be the nice sister - if she reflects the most recent conception of valkyries as more feminine and stereotypically uh, maiden-like, it stands to reason she'd be sweet. HAHA. Lenneth certainly bears resemblence to Brynhild, who I remember labeling as an example of the middle ground. Though that's all Lucian's fault. Without him she'd have kept kicking ass and taking names.

A "dark omen" would label Hrist nicely. That would make Silmeria a bright future, but... well, you never know. We have no idea what she was like before Odin. Hrist implies she was too soft-hearted with her einherjar (namely Brahms/Dylan), which ultimately led to her downfall.

I know I'm dealing with extremes, but it seems that's exactly what Hrist and Silmeria are supposed to be. They're diametrically opposed in everything, even appearance, and certainly in philosophy and purpose.

I wonder if they've ever been close. Silmeria had a line somewhere in Crell Monferaigne somewhere, when Leone was taking care of her, that made me wonder - "This must be what it's like to have a sister," I believe? The implication I read was that Hrist never behaved in that fashion - either that, or she used to and then stopped.

I've been wondering about that for a while myself. Things do seem to indicate that each valkyrie gets their einherjar differently... and then the game throws in that scene in the volcano where Hrist recruits that nameless adventurer(unaware that Lezard is watching). It's very confusing. With Silmeria, I figured that she might simply be transferring the souls already within her to the objects she's finding lying around Midgard in her travels. It doesn't make sense to me otherwise, because in most cases, where you get them is NOT where they died. It's particularly odd in Falx's case, where we know he died in Brahms' Castle. Which is another perplexing matter in itself...

Silmeria's use of artifacts is the most confusing, I think. We've seen Hrist recruit twice, or think we have - there's the chance that einherjar already belonged to her, or was someone she marked before hand, perhaps. That's kind of unlikely, as the implication was that she didn't know where the orb was either (otherwise, why not just wait at the destination? though she might've had another objective in staying close to Alicia). But if she knew it had a connection to the volcano...?

The only time I checked the location vs. einherjar death was with Roland... I think. It was somebody whose sword was hanging around in exactly the area he could have died. I guess with some of them we just don't know - Seluvia and Christie come to mind. I wonder if her use of objects is just a manifestation of her talent; it might influence her tendancies.

I forgot about Falx! That's... that's actually really interesting, what with Silmeria's connection to Brahms...

There are definitely those where we don't know where they died; with others, they list a specific location that is not where they are found. A good example would be Lylia - you get her in the Turgen Mines, yet she died by throwing herself from top of the Crell Monferaigne castle. Even more significant, though, was the scene where you get Mithra. Not only is the staff well away from where he died, but after she puts him into the staff, you hear other voices from inside her begging to let out(and you hear some of these voices in the beginning of the prologue movie too). IIRC, she says something about being patient/they'll be let out in time. Something along those lines, anyway.

Falx is the one einherjar I wish they'd given us some sort of scene for, as he actually has ties to Brahms and how he wound up in the service of the valkyrie that later aided the Lord of the Undead must be an interesting story... XD

Valkyrie rambling.

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