#my WarriorxDargor shipping slipped out a bit there my apologies for that

[enbymetalhead]

OK so why does the Warrior of Ice talk about 'his princess' like that in the early Rhapsody albums

So that Arwald post got me thinking again about this part of Flames of Revenge where The Warrior of Ice mentions his princess:

My princess, why must I Assist at your death… I can’t endure this tragic pain. Now I close your eyes While thunder strikes the sky, I cry to see the innocent die.

This occurs in Ancelot before the Nordic Warrior embarks on his quest for the Emerald Sword and it seems pretty explicit that the princess dies here. The Warrior of Ice mentions 'my princess' again in passing in Lord of the Thunder and Symphony of Enchanted Lands (title track). (interesting to note that the Algalord Chronicles notes that go alongside the lyrics don't acknowledge this princess at all).

With just these two albums, the lyrical story is kind of simple - The Warrior of Ice had a love interest in the Princess of Ancelot and she dies in Flames of Revenge which drives his desire for vengeance in going for the Emerald Sword.

The Nordic Warrior having a dead love interest is never mentioned again. In Dawn of Victory we're introduced to the princess of Ancelot, Airin, and her relationship with Arwald for the first time. Arwald was established in the Algalord Chronicles parts beforehand, but Airin or him having a love interest is never mentioned.

In The Last Winged Unicorn, (who I assume to be) the Warrior of Ice calls Airin 'my princess'. So what's exactly going on with the Princess lore here. If we for a moment assume this isn't a mistake or a retcon there's two main possibilities:

A - The princess in Flames of Revenge and Princess Airin are two different people. This is odd because the first princess is never mentioned or alluded to after Symphony. In other songs where the Warrior talks about the dead it's always 'Airin, Arwald, Tharos'. Not a single mention of his alleged love interest and he seems more interested in Dargor than anyone else by that point anyway.

B - There's only one princess. This is odd because Flames of Revenge almost explicitly states that she died, and it's also heavily implied that she's the Nordic Warrior's love interest, not Arwald's, until Dawn of Victory where it's a pretty key part of the story.

Hmm not particularly satisfactory, let's divide this down into interpretations.

A - There were always two princesses, but Luca Turilli just forgot to or chose not to mention the one in albums mentioning the other. One is the Warrior of Ice's Love interest and the other is Airin.

B - There was always one princess - the Warrior of Ice thinks she died in Flames of Revenge but actually she lived. Comes with subcases:

B1 - There's a love triangle going on between Arwald, the Nordic Warrior, and Airin (or more accurately, the Warrior is pining after Airin, who is clearly in love with Arwald)

B2 - The Warrior doesn't mean 'my princess' romantically, and is more a chivalrous gesture, and/or a statement of platonic loyalty/affection.

C - Luca changed the lore between albums and we should only take the written Algalord Chronicles version seperate from the lyrics - no princess dies in Flames of Revenge and the Warrior of Ice never had a love interest. Also comes with sub-explanations:

C1 - Luca forgot his own lore between albums (it's been known to happen - Arwald is called hero of the Middle Lands in Legendary Tales, but he's once called hero of the Northlands in Dawn of Victory. And don't get me started on the Harold issue). By the time of writing Dawn of Victory he possibly remembered a princess in Ancelot, but not her relationship or vitality status. Thus we have a new princess with a different love interest who dies in a different way and the first princess no longer exists.

C2 - It's a deliberate retcon because Luca decided he preferred the Airin/Arwald ship, or preferred the storytelling potential with it and/or he decided that the Warrior of Ice shouldn't have a love interest beforehand actually. Note that this is the album where Dargor also first starts existing so clearly he saw the potential in the pair and decided to do a service to all the shippers in writing out the Warrior of Ice's previous relationship.

The C cases end up pretty similar to the B cases, just ignoring Flames of Revenge instead of trying to explain it.

I always assumed the A case, but thinking about it, I find all the B and C cases interesting too and I never had much investment in the possible other princess who disappears halfway through the saga. Thinking about it, I think I prefer something similar to the B2/C cases anyway with how I always saw the relationship between the three.