Tournament for the Throne

The Tournament for the Throne (王権競技会, Ouken Kyougi-kai)^? is a major event in Metaphor: ReFantazio that forms the majority of the plot of the game.

Overview

The Tournament for the Throne is a conflict sparked by the late King Hythlodaeus V's decree that his successor be chosen through popular support, with any citizen, regardless of tribe, allowed to participate. To achieve their designs for the throne, the Sanctist Church backed the decree, turning it into an actual competition that they attempted to rig in their favor.

While candidates are expected to complete the challenges provided by the church, it is possible to get around them and advance using various loopholes. This allowed Julian to advance despite he technically did not fulfill any of the church's demands in both rounds, and let the protagonist play around the Exhibit of the Brave by presenting a criminal to execution. Furthermore, as the tournament has no direct backing from the king’s magic and only relied on the church's stellar standing among the public to grant itself legitimacy, a very popular personality such as Louis can choose to simply opt out of it.

Summary

Background

Twelve years prior to the events of the game, the prince of Euchronia was targeted in an assassination attempt secretly organized by the church and was rendered catatonic as a result. His father, King Hythlodaeus V, became despondent from having everything he loved and cared about taken away from him, and the entire country was thrown into a decade of unprecedented turmoil. Seeing that he has lost everything and he wanted a heir that could continue his lost ideals, the king cast a spell that would activate posthumously before being willingly slain by Louis Guiabern.

The spell activated during the day of his funeral, where the royal palace would ascend to the sky and the rock beneath it resembling the king's face would respond as the king's skybound avatar that speaks to and observe the citizens. Through his speech and through further examination of the Royal Magic by Rella Melancoryphus Cygnus, the executed spell has established the following effects:

• Any citizen, regardless of tribe or social status can become king so long as they have the majority of the people's support.
• The top twenty candidates are protected from harm, where anyone who tries to harm them will be shackled by chains. Should anyone keep trying to kill the candidate, the protective magic will wrap chains around the would-be assailant's body, which can lead to death if they persist with their attempt to attack, assuming if the candidate does not kill them first. This first happens to Grius and later happens to Forden.
• All candidates are granted the right to challenge the top twenty to a duel, to which the protection magic would be lifted for all participants for the length of the duel and ending with either opposing candidates conceding in defeat, regardless of whether the concession is genuine or as part of a ploy, or slain.
• The Royal Palace itself is out of reach by normal means, and attempting to take the Royal Sceptre from the Regalith Grand Cathedral results in the Sceptre vanishing and relocating itself back to the Royal Palace. If a candidate amasses enough popularity and has ways to prematurely breach the Royal Palace however, they can still use the Sceptre and the Royal Magic stored within.

The spell will remain in effect until the Day of the Hero (October 26), where the king's soul will depart to the afterlife and a clear winner is chosen.

In response to Hythlodaeus V's magic and to regain control of both their leadership and the situation, Sanctifex Forden decided to establish the Tournament for the Throne in a scheme to solidify his popularity and reputation with the citizens and to quell any people's interest in desiring any other candidate other than himself in this open-to-all contest. He also would choose Albus Procnias Batlin, a maverick and unorthodox crier of the Sanctist Church, to host the tournament, and Ovis Lydnad Gideaux, his bodyguard and right-hand man, to participate and support him as the third most popular candidate in the race.

While most contestants genuinely wanted to become king, some joined only for personal reasons. For example, the protagonist only chose to participate in hopes of getting close to Louis and assassinating him to save Euchronia's prince, who was rendered into comatose state by a powerful curse that would only fade upon the caster's death.

Exhibit of the Brave

To drastically reduce the number of participants, the church introduced a task to slay a monster and bring its head to Port Brilehaven before the deadline, officially titled the "Exhibit of the Brave." The idea was to make it so the contenders with the greatest achievements should win the people's support, which only those with the strength to fell such creatures and a means of making the long journey should be capable of.

Following the opening ceremony at Regalith Grand Cathedral, the competitors set off. These opening phases of the tournament were mainly defined by clashes between participants; although the king's magic prevented direct combat, top contestants could still sabotage each other by targeting their transports. As the church intended, the task ultimately proved too much for many participants, who either gave up, died to their would-be targets or were swindled into dropping out.

Many bounties were taken up for the task, causing the protagonist's party difficulty in finding a target for his own participation; thus they decided to focus on gaining Louis' favor through an unorthodox approach: targeting Heismay, a supposed child abductor acting around Martira. However, the kidnappings did not cease despite successfully apprehending Heismay and they later find out that real culprit was Sanctoress Joanna, Martira's governess who was secretly feeding her own people to a human. The party slays the human and snaps Joanna out of her madness, and she offered herself up as their "monster" for the tournament in repentance.

As the contestants arrived in Brilehaven, a public exhibition was held where each showed off their quarry. Forden was initially set to achieve an overwhelming victory by presenting a large squid which he claimed was the sea monster terrorizing the port. However, this was undercut when the protagonist came forth with Joanna and she publicly confessed to her crimes, causing a scandal for the church. While Forden saved face by executing Joanna on the spot and he remained first in the polls, the church's reputation as a clean institution was called in to question. Exposing the church's corruption also caused the protagonist to receive a sharp boost to their popularity.

Repose Period

Following the first task came a period of repose where contestants attempted to boost their standing by participating in debates and fighting those not eligable for the king's protection. Having won Louis' favor by humiliating Forden, the protagonist's party are invited to a soiree where he declares his official participation to the tournament, arguing that, despite skipping the first task, the church must accept it to maintain their pretense of fairness; making it clear that he has no intention of following their rules.

At the same time, the protagonist infiltrates Louis' base alongside undercover resistance operative Junah in search for the formula to the prince's curse. They are discovered by tournament participant and Louis supporter Idaeus Glodell but unknowingly initiate a duel, bypassing the king's magic, ending in Glodell's defeat. This action elevated the protagonist into the tournament's top twenty participants, resulting in Glodell's death via the king's magic when he attempts a surprise attack afterward.

Their mission ended up being for naught, as the formula only confirmed that the curse would only be lifted upon the death of the caster. This prompts them to continue feigning loyalty to Louis while awaiting an opportunity to kill him.

Divine Relic Hunt

With all candidates apart from the top twenty having either been eliminated or dropped out, the church introduces a second task: retrieve a pagan relic and bring it to Altabury Heights before the deadline. Secretly, this also served to repair the church's damaged reputation and to incentivize candidates into attacking and plundering the pagans, who were at mutual odds with the church because of grave ideological differences. Saint Rella warned the church's leadership of such relics possibly bypassing the king's magic, which could undercut the whole tournament, but her concerns were brushed aside. Unbeknownst to the church, however, Louis is aware of one such royal magic-nullifying relic: Drakodios, a spear located on Virga Island. Intending to use it to assassinate Forden, Louis tasks the protagonist's party with retrieving it.

Upon the announcement of the second task, one of the contestants, mustari chieftain Edeni, was outraged by the church approving the pillaging of his people's religious idols and resigned in protest before returning home to warn his people. As a result, when the protagonist's party arrived on Virga Island, they were initially treated as plunderers and thrown into prison. However, they earn the natives' trust by saving Edeni and strike a deal with him to save his sister, dragon priestess Eupha, who was to be a ritual sacrifice. In the end, Eupha is talked out of becoming a sacrifice following the revelation that the practice is a misinterpretation of the mustari's true traditions, and the party slays the human behind the mustari human sacrifices and secures Drakodios.

Afterward, the party discovers Drakodios' ability to nullify the king's protection magic and plan to use it to kill Louis. Having their mechanic, Neuras, forge a replica of the spear, they present it to Louis while keeping the real Drakodios for themselves. They were seemingly able to hide the truth from Louis, but it was heavily indicated that he was merely feigning ignorance and is secretly conspiring with a man in Sanctist hood to play around it.

While the candidates were supposed to plunder pagan land for the divine relics, it is heavily implied in an optional conversation with Julian that doing so is not required to pass this trial; one only needs to have a divine relic at hand and hand it over to the Sanctist Church.

On the deadline of the second task, a ceremony is held at the church's opera house in Altabury where each contestant presents their acquired relic. With Louis not participating and the protagonist having dropped out at the former's command, Forden achieves an overwhelming victory with his relic, a holy grail.

Turning Point

Seeing their opportunity to assassinate Louis while he attends the ceremony at the Altabury opera house, the party sneaks in under the cover of darkness. However, despite the protagonist successfully impaling Louis with Drakodios by throwing it at him, the count survives and confronts the party while they regroup on the roof. With no other option left, the protagonist challenges Louis to a duel, which he accepts. Though wounded from the assassination attempt, Louis corners the protagonist. However, Eupha telekinetically controls Drakodios to strike at Louis, allowing the protagonist to grab the spear and stab his opponent with it, after which both the count and the spear fall through the roof to the stage below.

Upon seeing Louis' body down on the stage, panic ensues among the guests and Forden has his political rival checked up on by one of his men, who claims him to be dead. Gideaux finds Drakodios and presents it to Forden, who deduces it was what was used to wound Louis, causing him to realize its royal magic nullification ability. To get the commotion under control, the party reveal themselves as the assassins, claiming it was justice for the king's murder and for furthering his own support by allowing human attacks on villages. Accepting the party's explanation, Forden thanks them while holding onto Drakodios for safekeeping.

However, despite seemingly killing Louis, the party finds that the prince's curse was not lifted, causing them to deduce that someone else cast the curse and framed the count. They ultimately narrow the culprit down to Forden, as he knows details of the assassination attempt on the prince that only the perpetrator(s) and Hulkenberg would know, deducing that the curse's caster is likely one of his subordinates.

Unbeknownst to both the party and the church, however, Louis had, in fact, survived. In preparation for his planned assassination of Forden, he had one of his subordinates, Zorba, infiltrate the church. It was Zorba who checked on Louis' supposed corpse at Forden's command, lying he was dead after confirming his survival. Afterward, he secretly retrieved Louis and healed him. Zorba also swapped out Drakodios for the counterfeit made by the protagonist's party before Forden took possession of it, giving the real spear to Louis.

On the next day, believing his main competition for the throne to be deceased, Forden announces the premature end of the tournament. While the other contestants are outraged, the church threatens any dissidents into silence. At the meantime, the party confronts the Sanctifex on stage and publicly calls him out for being behind the prince's assassination, though he brazenly denies their accusations and the spectators do not believe them. Before any fight can begin, however, Louis suddenly steps onto the stage, much to the shock of everyone present. In response, Forden attempts strike the count with Drakodios only to be ensnared by the king's magic, revealing his spear to be the party's counterfeit. Louis then stabs the sanctifex with the real spear, which he hid under his cloak, killing him.

Following Forden's public assassination, most onlookers flee in terror. After explaining his survival to the party, Louis demands they reveal the prince's location, having deduced that the supposedly deceased royal is still alive from them working to break his curse. When the party refuses to answer, Louis fires a spell at the remaining audience members. However, one of his own subordinates, Fidelio, steps in and takes the shot instead, prompting his subordinate Basilio to defect towards the protagonist in disgust of the count's actions.

New Frontrunners

To regain control of the situation and keep the church in the competition, the senators appoint the already popular Rella as Forden's replacement. Unsatisfied with being the only one capable of killing rival candidates, Louis publicly confronts Rella before turning to the Skybound Avatar and demanding it to remove the protection magic from the candidates. With the public agreeing that the competition is not fair under these circumstances, the avatar relents and and lifts the protection, allowing the candidates to be killed.

With the public unlikely to accept the prince even if his curse were to be lifted due to the tournament, the party concocts a plan to have the protagonist act as a body-double for the prince. Joining Louis and Rella on stage, he publicly proclaims himself to be the prince, which no one can refute. In response, after Louis departs, Rella reveals herself as the caster who cursed the real prince before fleeing. Confronting Rella at the ruins of the Mage Academy, she reveals that Forden blackmailed her into cursing the prince before challenging the party to a duel with an ice dragon to prove their resolve. After the dragon is defeated, Rella publicly confesses to the church's crimes before suffocating herself in a block of ice to release the real prince from the curse.

Following Rella's confession and subsequent suicide, the church lost most of its political authority over the country and the remainder of the tournament was left out of their control. Their final remaining candidate, warrior monk captain Gideaux, voluntarily stepped down after learning about the church's corruption, and no other candidate was willing to represent them for the same reason. This caused the tournament to devolve into a contest between Louis and the protagonist.

Final Stages

Taking control of the tournament, Louis challenges the protagonist to a duel in Grand Trad to decide the victor. However, it was a trap, as Louis uses the opportunity to briefly transform the protagonist into a human with his magic, sabotaging his reputation, while Zorba infiltrates the Ancient Eldan Sanctum to assassinate the real prince. In response, the party rushes to the sanctum but seemingly arrives too late. However, the protagonist, who is really an avatar of the prince carrying his very soul, revives him by merging with him. With one month left before the end of the competition, the party returns to Grand Trad to stop Louis.

Arriving at the capital, the party finds the country in a state of anarchy. As a result of the protagonist's temporary transformation into a human, the public became paranoid with fear, causing an outburst of excessive magla that made them more prone to violence. Meanwhile, with Louis' victory seemingly guaranteed and having their minds further influenced by the excess magla, his supporters, mostly lower-class citizens, begin unlawfully executioning any undesirables, including the paripus hangman, while clashing with law enforcement. The sheer amount of magla produced by the people also drew humans towards Grand Trad, further adding to the public's anxiety.

Unwilling to wait for the tournament's conclusion, Louis steals the Royal Sceptre from the Skybound Avatar. Having deduced it absorbs magla, Louis orchestrated the public's anxiety to overload the artifact and transform everyone into humans. To stop him, the party infiltrates the Skybound Avatar, bringing the people to their senses in the process. Meanwhile, Batlin convinces the church's remaining leadership to also aid the protagonist, which they agree to for fear of death at Louis' hands. In the end, following a final duel atop the Tyrant's Star, the protagonist awakens the King Archetype and slays Louis, who transformed himself into a human, and in the process, destroyed the Royal Sceptre and releasing all of the magla stored within it. As a result of Louis' defeat and the public regaining their senses courtesy of the Royal Sceptre's destruction, the protagonist's support finally overtakes Louis' and the Skybound Avatar declares him the tournament's winner.

Aftermath

While there were Louis supporters unsatisfied with the results, the church quelled any civil unrest. Approximately a few weeks later, the tournament results were ratified and the protagonist is officially crowned king at Regalith Grand Cathedral.

Over the following year, the protagonist passed reforms to stamp out the corruption that preceded the tournament and prevent more incidents. Forden's remaining cronies in the Euchronian senate were all removed from power, their positions taken over by the protagonist's party members, and the Mage Academy was reopened so the people might learn to control their magla. The protagonist also pardoned the surviving members of Louis' private army, having them join the military under Basilio. Meanwhile, the church began the long process of redeeming itself, starting with excommunicating its corrupt members.

Candidates

• Aestivum Svafriam Forden — Sanctifex of the Sanctist Church and the initial frontrunner who seeks to turn the country into a theocracy; he is later assassinated by Louis.
  • Rella Melancoryphus Cygnus — Saint of the Sanctist Church and Forden's replacement following his death; she commits suicide to lift the prince's curse after publicly exposing Forden's crimes almost immediately after being appointed by the church.
• Louis Guiabern — The initial second-place candidate and later frontrunner who seeks to turn the country into a meritocracy and end the "human crisis," which he secretly intends to do by transforming everyone into humans using the Royal Sceptre; he is slain by the protagonist on the final day of the tournament after tranforming himself into a human.
• Ovis Lydnad Gideaux — The initial third-place candidate and head of the church's guard who planned on giving the victory to Forden if he wins, effectively making him the church's failsafe; he drops out of the competition after Rella exposes Forden's crimes.
• Catherina Grann — A paripus bountry huntress who wants to abolish the nobility and distribute their wealth to the poor; she drops out of the competition after the protagonist defeats her three times, and her supporters turned to indiscriminate robbery.
• Idaeus Glodell — A roussainte man and a follower of Louis who joined the tournament to satiate his ego; he is killed by the king's protection magic for attacking the protagonist after losing to him in a duel in an attempt to kill him with his guard lowered.
• Milo Adriano Narcissus Maurizio — An ishkia man who joins the competition to satiate his ego and promises to strip the ugly of their titles while giving privileges to the beautiful. He can drop out after losing a duel to the protagonist after Loveless sends the protagonist his way.
• Loveless Muscar O'Shea — A paripus hedonist who wants to turn the capital into a party district; he drops out after losing a duel to the protagonist.
• Rudolf Humulus Krause — A roussainte military man with aspirations of a roussainte supremacist military dictatorship; he later replaces Gideaux as the third-place candidate. He can drop out after losing a duel to the protagonist.
• Goddard Cattley Gunnar — A rhoag man who wants to give privileges to the elderly and tax the young; he drops out after failing to complete the first trial.
• Roger Arctium Ward — A clemar and son of a grain merchant who wants to completely abolish taxes, laws and religion; he drops out after failing to complete the first trial.
• Jin Cerchine Dulls — A nidia man who joined to profit off of people; he drops out of the competition when Louis' victory seems certain and goes into hiding at Gallica's advice.
• Lina Cetula Kayden — A eugief girl who only joined to advertise her gauntlet runner workshop; she drops out of the competition after the protagonist defeats her in a duel and Neuras offers to sponsor her workshop.
• Julian Ruta Castiglione — An ishkia advocate of animal rights who wants to protect even dangerous animals.
• Edeni — Eupha's brother who joins to advocate religious freedom; he drops out of the competition at the start of the second trial in protest of the church tasking the tournament contestants to plunder his land's relics.
• The protagonist — Initially the least popular named candidate because of his elda heritage who only joined to approach Louis and assassinate him, intending for the prince to take the throne after lifting his curse. He becomes a genuine contestant after finding out that Louis did not assassinate the prince.
• There were more than 4,000 participants, but most of which did not get past the first monster hunt trial. Among them, at least six unnamed candidates made it to the top 20.

Trivia

• All nine tribes are present in the tournament and have named candidates. The roussainte (and later ishkia) have three named candidates, the rhoag, paripus and elda have two, and the rest only have one.
• Gallica worries that if any of the side candidates were to somehow take the throne, they would pose way more problems than if Forden or Louis were to take it.
• Forden, Julian and Edeni are the only tournament participants that the protagonist cannot fight anywhere in the game.
• Jin, Roger, Goddard, and Julian have distinct, unique character models, but do not have a portrait.
• During the conclusion of the second round, aside of the Holy Grail presented by Forden, there were also divine relics shaped like Piggytron from Persona 5 and the Demonica's helmet from Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.