Lethe

Gallia's Valkyrie
Lethe
Species	Laguz (Cat)
Class	Beast Tribe (Cat)
Affiliation	Gallia Crimean Liberation Army
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Purple
Base	Gallia
Relatives	Lyre (sister)
Debut	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Lethe is a playable unit in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and is one of the first playable laguz units in the game. She is also playable in the sequel, Radiant Dawn.

Background

Lethe was a a swift and deadly cat laguz hailing from Gallia. She was a tough warrior and once commanded a unit of Gallia's army. Lethe also disliked the beorc and saw the laguz as greatly superior. She also had some type of falling-out with her sister, Lyre, but was still concerned for her at the same time.

In Path of Radiance, King Caineghis initially deployed Lethe with her subordinate Mordecai to escort Ike and the Greil Mercenaries, all beorcs, to Caineghis's palace. They arrived at the end of "Chapter 8: Despair and Hope". Lethe remained distrustful of the humans or doubtful of their abilities along the way to Gallia Palace, although at one point she apologized for her behavior. Lethe and Mordecai were allied units in "Chapter 9: Gallia".

After the conference at the palace, Lethe and Mordecai were assigned to escort the mercenaries to Begnion, and Lethe reluctantly complied. Lethe and Mordecai wound up traveling with Ike and the mercenaries for the remainder of the war with Daein. In "Final Chapter: Repatriation", just prior to the last battle, Giffca arrived with a message from the king thanking both Lethe and Mordecai for their service and hoping they would return alive. They both felt honored by this message. After the war ended, Lethe complimented Ike for his abilities and assured him that they would meet again before departing for Gallia. If she has an A Rank with Ike, she also reminds him to follow up on their proposed training arrangement.

Three years later in Radiant Dawn, Lethe and Mordecai were initially stationed in Crimea in "Part 2: Of Countries and Kings". They accompanied Lucia in her journey to Ludveck's manor and the ensuing battle in "Chapter 2: Tides of Intrigue". They then helped to defend Fort Alpea in "Endgame: Elincia's Gambit". Afterwards, they were called in by Ike to reinforce the Laguz Alliance Army, arriving at the beginning of "Chapter 2: Stormclouds". In that chapter Lethe, Lyre and Mist entered disguise in order to trick some guards into drinking stuff that knocked them out. Lethe and Lyre then joined in the battle as allied units, although they later became playable in "Chapter 4: The General's Hand".

Lethe also led Laguz forces against Micaiah's forces in "Chapter 6: A Reason to Fight". During the battle Lyre came to the front lines to check up on Lethe, but Lethe harshly told her to return to her place. In the Base Conversation of "Chapter 8: Incandescent Glow", Lethe convinced Lyre to stop skulking and told her that she was only hard on her because she wanted her to improve. Lethe would also be able to convince Zihark to switch over to their side from the Daein Army.

After the war ended, Lethe became a captain of Gallia's home guard, described as "pounding" battle skills and fighting pride into young laguz.

Support Conversation Summaries

In Path of Radiance, Lethe is capable of having Support conversations with four other characters.

• Ike- Lethe watches Ike training out of curiosity. She brags about the advanced senses of the laguz. In response, Ike asks Lethe to train him to fight like a laguz. In the second conversation, Ike is surprised when Lethe says that Ike did better than she expected in the last battle. She realizes that he must train so much because it's hard to control a weapon that isn't connected to his body, so she decided to uphold her bargain and give him laguz training, while warning him of its danger. In the final conversation, Lethe was impressed by Ike's progress and complimented her, which once more surprised Ike. Lethe then invites Ike to come to Gallia after the war to train in order to take the swordsmanship running in his blood to the next level. Ike agrees, so long as Lethe is his sparring partner, and Lethe tells him she might even look forward to it.
• Jill- Jill nervously approaches Lethe and asks her why laguz don't wield weapons, and Lethe replies that laguz need no weapons because they are born ready to fight. She then asks Lethe why she hates the humans so much, but Lethe asks her to first tell her why the humans hate the laguz, and when Jill says it is because the laguz are their enemy, Lethe takes offense and says they hate the humans like they hate all their enemies, and she leaves. In the next conversation, Jill returns and tells Lethe her story about how she was raised in Daein to consider the laguz bloodthirsty enemies, but after seeing Lethe and other laguz working alongside Ike she had a crisis of conscience which made her realize that laguz were more like humans than beasts. Jill wonders why the beorc and laguz started fighting in the first place, at which point Lethe tells her the backstory of beorc-laguz conflicts starting with the laguz slavery. In the final conversation, Lethe had learned that the General Shiharam is Jill's father and asks her why she stayed with them instead of rejoining him, but Jill said she could not defect to Daein now that she knew the truth. Lethe is impressed by this and asks Jill to shake her hand, saying she know it was a beorc custom, and she begins to think beorcs and laguz can get along together through compromise.
• Muarim- In the first conversation, they discuss Lethe's military history and how Gallia favors warriors for their skills rather then gender, which Muarim finds fair. Lethe realizes that Muarim might not have had it so well in Begnion do to his past as a slave, at which point Muarim begins to mention having encountered untold horrors in that time, which Lethe will never know of due to living under the protection of King Caineghis. In the second conversation, Lethe notes that Muarim continuously lifts crates for the others and he says it is because of his instinct to do beorcs' work for them. Lethe states her newfound belief that beorc and laguz and live together in peace, but she also accuses Muarim of forgetting his laguz heritage. In the third conversation, Muarim apologizes for giving Lethe such a hard time and admits to envying how easily she can deal with the beorc, and Lethe suggests he could stand to lighten up somewhat. She then asks him to tell her why he is so harsh with the beorcs and says she might be able to understand.
• Ranulf- Lethe and Ranulf are reunited, and he promises to help her and Mordecai with their responsibilities. Lethe complains about the beorcs' abilities and usefulness in battle, but she also admits that they surpassed her expectations. In the next conversation, Lethe asks Ranulf about how his new trainees are doing, since they include her sister Lyre, and Ranulf expresses confidence in them but Lethe is more skeptical about them. He then learns that Lethe hadn't talked to Lyre in a long time and suggests they patch things up, but Lethe tells her to mind her own business. She does suggest that the homeland get better protection while they are away. In the final conversation, Ranulf offers Lethe an opportunity to return to Gallia, but she refuses. Ranulf is able to tell how much Lethe has changed and is surprised, and he gets Lethe to admit her attitude towards beorcs has changed. Ranulf says they should party with Ike and his mercenaries after they win the war, and Lethe is actually interested by this idea.

Lethe also has an in-built Support bonus with Mordecai that boosts her chance of delivering a critical hit when he is nearby (and vice-versa).

In Radiant Dawn, Lethe has automatic Bond Supports with Mordecai and Lyre.

Trivia

• Unused Support data from Path of Radiance indicates that Lethe was originally intended to also have support conversations with Kieran.