at this point. If the player has collected them and they are unbroken, Roy learns that Zephiel ordered his remaining forces to gather elsewhere in Elibe and continue his plans. The Divine Weapons suddenly emit a light that leads the Etrurian Army to this location: an ancient temple that had long ago been built by the dragons. Once inside, Roy is shown the true history of the Scouring. The dragons, despite their power, were unable to maintain their numbers due to how slowly they reproduced compared to humans. As the war came to a close, the surviving Fire Dragons captured a Divine Dragon named Idunn and sealed away her soul. Enslaved to their will, Idunn reproduced dragons at an incredible rate and became known as the Demon Dragon, but she was defeated by a warrior wielding the Binding Blade. Her power was locked away until Zephiel, disgusted at humanity's failings, released her out of his insane desire to return Elibe to the dragons. As she has no emotion or free will, Idunn continues to follow Zephiel's orders even after his death and threatens to raise a dragon army that will destroy everything on the continent. On the topmost floor of the temple, the Etrurian Army battles and defeats Idunn and her endlessly spawning dragons. In the war's wake, Elibe begins to rebuild itself. Guinivere is named the new ruler of Bern, while Elffin returns to Etruria after his long absence. Roy and Lilina become the new marquesses of Pherae and Ostia. If Roy delivered the final blow on Idunn with the Binding Blade and if Fae is still alive, Idunn survives and is taken to Arcadia to live with Fae while her soul slowly returns to her. Development The Binding Blade was developed by Intelligent Systems. It was directed by Tōru Narihiro, and produced by Takehiro Izushi. The designer was Masayuki Horikawa, while programming was handled by Takafumi Kaneko. The scenario was written by Masayuki Horikawa and series newcomer Kouhei Maeda. The character designs were handled by Eiji Kaneda. The music was composed by Yuka Tsujiyoko, who had worked on every title in the series up to that point. The Binding Blade began development as Fire Emblem: Maiden of Darkness, a Fire Emblem title intended for the Nintendo 64 and its peripheral 64DD. This version was revealed in 1997 by Shigeru Miyamoto under the working title Fire Emblem 64. When