Weeping Lily Meadow

Overview

The Weeping Lily Meadow is a field of flowers located in the mortal world of Midgard in Valkyrie Profile. Weeping lilies, though very beautiful, also contain pollen that is highly poisonous; those that know well enough do their best to steer clear of such flowers. Standing in a field of such lilies can quickly bring an end to a person's life.

Relevance to the Plot

Prologue

The prologue focuses on a pretty, young girl named Platina, who lives in the poor village of Coriander with her abusive parents. She goes to bed, unsuspecting of any danger when her friend Lucian arrives in the dead of night to warn her that her parents intend to sell her into slavery, and if she doesn't escape, she'll be abducted in short order.

Platina and Lucian escape Coriander and run as fast as their legs can take them when they come across a field of beautiful flowers. Platina, exhausted, stops to admire them, when Lucian realizes that they've stumbled into a field of weeping lilies and need to leave. However, it's too late, as Platina had already inhaled too much of the pollen. She dies in Lucian's arms, wondering if they might see each other again when they're reborn.

Early Game

As Lenneth, the player may visit the Weeping Lily Meadow at any point during the game without consequence. One of the requirements to attain the best ending, however, is that it must be visited at some point prior to the end of Chapter 4. Upon visiting the meadow, Lenneth finds a grave among the flowers and drives away a few minor restless spirits, but she doesn't understand what it is that drew her to this place.

Lucian's Ascension to Valhalla

Lucian, now an adult, lives an unhappy life that ends in a tragic death. After Lenneth recruits him as an Einherjar, he feels an odd familiarity when he looks at the Valkyrie. If Lenneth sends Lucian to Valhalla before the end of Chapter 6, he tries to explain this feeling to her by taking her to Coriander and the Weeping Lily Meadow and speaks of his childhood friend, Platina.

Moved in a rare moment of sympathy for the Einherjar, Lenneth takes off her helmet at Lucian's request, allowing him to see the full extent of Lenneth's resemblance to Platina. Lenneth then kisses him before sending him on his way.

During Sacred Phase 6-7, if the player has completed all necessary prerequisites, the A Ending, or "best" ending path is unlocked. It begins with a scene in which Lucian, who misses Lenneth, is taken by Loki and tricked into using one of Odin's sacred artifacts, the Water Mirror, to contact her. Lenneth, though infuriated by Lucian's actions, accepts a gift from him; a single earring. Lucian also tells her that she'll know where to find the other.

Lenneth's Memories

If the player ends Chapter 8 by entering the Weeping Lily Meadow, the final requirement for the A Ending is completed. Lenneth, drawn back to the meadow, finds the second earring on Platina's grave. As she puts the earring on, a seal placed upon her memories is broken, and Lenneth realizes the whole truth. She and Platina are the same; Lenneth had been put to sleep for a time and her soul was incarnated as a human in order to strengthen her attachment to mortals, thus making her the ideal Valkyrie for recruiting Einherjar.

Odin, learning that Lenneth now knows the truth, attempts to forcibly replace her soul in the vessel of the Valkyrie with that of her more zealously loyal sister, Hrist. However, after a struggle by her Einherjar and the scheming necromancer Lezard Valeth, Lenneth is returned to her body. In a panic, she returns to the meadow when she realizes the earring she found has gone missing, as it had been discarded by Hrist. Unable to find it, she cries out in despair; an image that mirrors Lucian's own despair at Platina's death in that very same meadow.