WHY DID ELISE HAVE TO DIE?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!
Ok, confession: I actually spoiled myself she was going to die a while back when Fates was still a Japan-only release, but I never watched that cutscene; I only saw images of it (the same can be said about a very few amount of other key scenes from Fates). Now, for the first time, I saw the entire tragedy unfold right before my very eyes.
During the battle with Xander that took place prior to the tragic scene, my heart was pumping very hard, and when I mean hard, I mean it was pumping hard. The music that plays from the opening cutscene of Fates returns as Xander lands some deadly strikes onto you, and it continues into the cutscene of you-know-what.
Just as Xander is about to land the killing blow... the tragedy happened.... Elise takes the hit, and Xander immediately drops his sword and rushes to her. I gasped the moment Xander struck, and I was screaming Elise's name while covering my hand over my mouth to muffle the noise.
This is how I looked like watching Elise die in Xander's arms.
Yes, I cried. It was the first time in a long while a video game made me cry, and when I mean cry, I mean there were tears involved.
The part that really got me about her death is when she tells Xander that in addition to strength, Nohr also needs "caring... and a warm hand... and tears". At the "warm hand" part, she grabs Xander's hand and puts it behind her head, and when Xander hears the "tears" part of her quote, they show a clear cut shot of his face as he cries. She then tries to wipe away the tears as she says "that's the way... try to be at peace"... and then, she dies.
And it only gets even more tragic. Xander still wants to fight you even though you, as Corrin, are weeping over her death. Honestly, I was pressing A very slowly and couldn't bear looking at the screen as I grieved her death. At the moment, I wanted to finish off Xander last.
The battle is also this game's version of Chapter 10 of Awakening: a tragic death has just taken place, and sad music plays throughout the battle. It's the same track that plays during the Chapter 6 battle, but still, having it play right after Elise's death just heightens the feels.
And things only got even more tragic during Xander's death. Once again, I knew he was going to die, but I never payed attention to the conversation between him and Corrin when Fates was still Japan-only. Now, I was experiencing this final conversation first hand.
The saddest part of their dialogue: Xander talking about his favorite memory. The moment Xander said, "Do you know what my favorite memory is," I felt tears in my eyes once again and was overwhelmed with sadness.
When a character reflects back about a memory either when they are dying or it's the final episode, I always get very emotional, and this was no exception. He reveals that his happiest memory was sharing a laugh with you, Leo, Camilla, and Elise. He recalls Leo wearing his boots on the wrong feet that day. Xander then explains he has many memories of all the siblings laughing together, and those were the happiest days of his life. I got even more emotional when he said that.
...And after several more lines, Xander dies... I really felt beyond sad when that happened, and now, this chapter made me look forward to Conquest just to have Xander on my side.
Still... *sob*... you've hit me really hard in the feels... *sniff*... Elise and Xander...