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Sylvain’s Death in Crimson Flower Chapter 17 [Translation + Analysis]
[JP to EN Translation]
Sylvain: Heh… damn it… I’m such a shame… So this is the end… I can finally go to where they are… Sorry, Your Majesty… I’m… going on ahead… I’ll be waiting… Dimitri: …Thank you, Sylvain. I too… will definitely go to where you all are.
[EN Localization]
Sylvain: I was such a fool. So… this is how it ends. Forgive me, Your Majesty. I’m… going on… ahead. Dimitri: Thank you, Sylvain. Until we meet again on the other side…
Meta under the cut!
I’m starting to think that the localization opted for short and sweet with regard to how they handled the battle conversations, but that aside, there’s quite a lot to unpack here! Let’s start with Sylvain’s death quote when he falls in battle.
Heh… damn it… I’m such a shame…
I feel in Japanese, the quote points more obviously to Sylvain’s self-loathing, especially with the adjective they used! 「情けない」 can translate to pathetic and deplorable as well. Just ended up going with “shame” here since it rolls off the tongue better.
One of the wordier possibilities I was playing around with is “I’m nothing but a disappointment”, which I think reflects Sylvain’s state of mind throughout the game a lot better, though it’s quite clunky in English, especially as a death line.
So this is the end… I can finally go to where they are…
Anyway, the next part is an expanded version of what we have in English, basically. Noticeably absent is the “I can finally go to where they are…” line in English, which begs the question of, who is this “they” that the line refers to.
I’ve confirmed that this line chunk is only added if Felix and/or Ingrid has been killed at Arianrhod, so if we go with that line of logic, then yeah, he’s referring to joining them on the other side.
Which kind of adds to the punch of that line… damn, Sylvain really aches for his childhood friends and is hurting after their deaths like wow. I think it’s an interesting look into how their deaths affect him, in any case.
Like it’s really sadly sweet that this is one of the things he thinks about in his final moments in CF… For however painful it is, ahh.
Sorry, Your Majesty… I’m… going on ahead… I’ll be waiting…
But yeah, moving on to the next part, which is just as juicy–the “I’ll be waiting” line that got cut out, which connects to what Dimitri has to say, so I’ll just analyze that alongside Dimitri’s line!
…Thank you, Sylvain. I too… will definitely go to where you all are.
Dimitri’s line doesn’t really seem like much at first glance, but the implication in Japanese is really daunting to say the least of it. That being the nod to Sylvain’s last line, and how it suggests that Dimitri will be joining them all soon too.
It also drives home the point that despite taking the throne and not having to deal a missing eye and a life on the run, Dimitri is still far from healthy in CF, to say the least of it, and still has a lot of baggage to sort through.
The line seems to suggest that Dimitri, even if he manages to accomplish his goals, doesn’t seem to think that life is worth living afterwards, and perhaps may seek his death in a reckless battle in a hypothetical scenario where he kills Edelgard.
But mmm yes… Sylvain making a promise to see Dimitri on the other side, and Dimitri more or less saying he’ll meet him (alongside Felix and/or Ingrid) there soon…A reunion in the afterlife is a painfully sweet concept to come out of this.
Also, this is just me looking waaaaay too much into things, but it’s interesting to look at this as a parallel to the promise that Sylvain and Felix made when they were children. Where Sylvain and Felix made a promise to die together, Sylvain and Dimitri made a “promise” to see each other in the afterlife. One is broken, the other is fulfilled. At least in this point in the game.
In conclusion, I still think we were deprived of the potential glory (and/or trainwreck) that is an A support between Dimitri and Sylvain, but it’s interesting we have these looks into Dimitri and Sylvain’s relationship, among other things, in battle conversations such as this.
P.S. Also Sylvain is a very fascinating character to look at! I love the nuances to his lines and how they tie in to his view of himself, and he’s probably my favorite character to analyze, even if Felix is my top favorite, personally.
Translation + Analysis of Dimitri and Felix’s Unique Battle Conversation in Crimson Flower Chapter 17
[JP to EN Translation]
Dimitri: Felix… You let Rodrigue… your own father, die… Felix: …I’ve decided to cut down anyone who stands in my way. May it be my father… Even a friend I’ve spent those bygone days with. Dimitri: …I see. Me too… With what you said just now, I’ve finally worked up the resolve to kill you.
[EN Localization]
Dimitri: You killed Rodrigue… your own father, Felix. Felix: I said I’d cut down anyone who stood in my way. Even my father. Even my friends. Dimitri: I see. That was all I needed to hear to finally work up the resolve to kill you.
Meta under the cut!
The general idea got across in English, BUT there’s some wordy fluff that got changed/cut off that changed the atmosphere of the exchange quite a bit.
So let’s start with point (1), the use of 死なす instead of 殺す (the latter of which is Feral!Dimitri’s favorite verb, but that’s a discussion for another time). In English, Dimitri’s first line gets translated as him accusing Felix of killing Rodrigue (where 殺す - “to kill” would have been appropriate), but in Japanese, it’s a lot more passive (死なす, which is “to make/let someone die”). I suppose it’s to account for the fact that, hey, other people besides Felix can kill Rodrigue at Arianrhod, which I think is a thoughtful way of doing the line. There’s an additional nuance to the line, aka “Felix, why didn’t you stop people from killing your father when you could have” or hey, letting Rodrigue bleed out in front of his eyes because why not.
The second (2) point that changed is Felix’s last line, which makes this unique battle line personal. The generic “friends” in English actually specifically refers to his childhood friends in Japanese, which is a touching gesture on the part of the writers in my opinion. It’s also a way to connect this scene specifically to Dimitri, considering the bond that the Faerghus childhood quartet has.
And this is just my personal opinion, but I think the “friend” being referred to in this line is Dimitri specifically, even if it could technically refer to Ingrid or Sylvain too. Mostly because it’s possible that Felix didn’t kill Ingrid or Sylvain (or had to fight against them in the first place) and they had to make this line generic enough to cover those cases.
The third (3) is not as stark as the last two, but with regard to Dimitri working up his resolve to kill Felix, I think Dimitri just sounds a lot more uncertain in Japanese (with a lot of his lines trailing off), and Felix sounds very bitter in his resolution here.
EITHER WAY, they are heartbreaking in both languages… they are so reluctant to kill each other, alas, the game must go on…
“You idiot, fall back! …But with those wounds, it’s (already too late)…” -Sylvain, after you kill DimitriinChapter 17 of Crimson Flower
[or, seeing Sylvain get into rough speech at this point in time is weirdly touching and heartbreaking at the same time, especially when he freaks out and calls Dimitri an idiot instead of Your Majesty]
so there’s these Tim Horton’s commercials they keep playing on youtube where these NHL players (? i think they are?) are trying to…i guess..make sports seem more appealing to kids?
and at one point they come out on the rink holding puppies and they’re like
“DID SOMEONE SAY PUPPIES??”
i saw it again today and then made this, you’re welcome for my stupidity dfkgljs
⤞ fe3h • 2.7k+ • m • complete ⤞ victorian era • dimitri-centric ⤞ psychosis • psych. horror ⤞ char. death • talking to ghosts ⤞ murder trial & execution ⤞ my GothicFE3H piece with art by katha (insta: @/keypyon)!!
There’s a flower that buds beneath a meager stream of moonlight pouring from the gaping wound in the cathedral’s stained glass. It’s beautiful, resilient, and in need of little rain—but unafraid to drink it up if the waters happen to fall. Every night, it blossoms despite the hardships it faces throughout the day. Against all inevitable misfortune.
