Ashera

Overview

In Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Ashera is heralded across Tellius as a goddess and is the central figure of the continent's primary religion. Very little is said of her in Path of Radiance beyond a few fleeting references, but she becomes a prominent figure in the story of Radiant Dawn.

Ashera, the goddess and embodiment of order, is one half of the creator goddess Ashunera, who created the world and all life on it. Ashunera was a kind and benevolent goddess who loved all of her creations equally, including the Zunanma. Over the many generations, the Zunanma evolved, splitting into different groups that bore different strengths. She gave these new creatures the names beorc and laguz.

Unfortunately, the beorc and laguz had been showing signs of hostility towards each other, which only became exacerbated when Ashunera deigned them as different enough for their new names. The beorc and laguz fought bitterly against each other, and Ashunera, filled with anguish at seeing them make war, grew upset. She suffered an outburst of emotion so strong that it drowned all of the continents in the world save Tellius in a great flood. Following this disaster, Ashunera, dismayed by what her emotions had wrought, split herself into two halves. Ashera, the embodiment of order, and Yune, the embodiment of chaos.

Desiring to seal Ashunera's emotions away, Ashera and her allies, among them Dheginsea, the black dragon laguz, and the heron laguz Lehran, fight Yune and successfully seal her within Lehran's Medallion. Once this task is complete, Ashera, who desires order over all else, feels that the laguz and beorc must be judged for their misdeeds. However, Lehran manages to convince her that they should be given another chance and time to change their ways. Agreeing to his desires, Ashera tells him that she will sleep for one thousand years, and when she awakens, she will judge whether the laguz and beorc have become worthy in her eyes.

Radiant Dawn

During the events of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Ashera is awakened early from her slumber through a plot concocted by Lehran, who had come to believe that the goddess had been right all along, and that the beorc and laguz should be judged unworthy. When she awakens, Ashera sees the state of war that Tellius is embroiled in and passes her judgment, turning all beorc and laguz to stone. The only ones that managed to escape her punishment were warriors of strong enough will to resist, such as Ike, and the beorc/laguz hybrids, the Branded.

In the endgame of Radiant Dawn, Ike and Micaiah's forces, led by Yune, climb Ashera's resting place, the Tower of Guidance, and face off with Ashera's staunchest remaining allies; Dheginsea and Lehran, along with Lehran's follower Zelgius, the Black Knight. At the end of their journey at the top of the tower, the beorc, laguz, and Branded fight Ashera, and Yune grants Ike the power to defeat her.

As the final boss of Radiant Dawn, Ashera is a powerful opponent. She alternates her attacks between area of effect attacks that deal damage and area of effect attacks that inflict status effects. The player must destroy the barrier surrounding her before she can be damaged, and Ike must deal the finishing blow.

In an extended ending that can be viewed by beating the game more than once, it is revealed that Ashera and Yune eventually merge back together into Ashunera, who returns to the world to watch over it, no longer filled with animosity towards the beorc or laguz.