[Game] "Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth" — Until the one who gathers the souls of the dead reclaims her own

[From the YouTube "SQUARE ENIX" channel / © 1999, 2006, 2022 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. Original version developed by tri-Ace Inc./Character design: PRODUCTION I.G]

[From the same channel / Music credit: Motoi Sakuraba / © 1999, 2006, 2022 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.]

Introduction: What was stolen from the one who chooses the dead?

"Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth" is a story about gathering the souls of the dead. In a world based on Norse mythology, the battle maiden Valkyrie descends to the mortal realm to find the souls of those who have lost their lives. They are called Einherjar, and they are sent to the divine realm to prepare for the coming war of the gods.

However, if you view this work merely as an "RPG about choosing the dead and sending them to the war of the gods," you will miss what is most important. The question here is not just about how the dead are chosen. Rather, at the heart of the story lies the question of what Lenneth herself—the one who gathers the souls of the dead—was made to forget, and what was stolen from her.

Lenneth appears as a messenger of the gods. A being who carries out her mission, calmly observing the mortal realm and selecting the souls of the dead. Yet, from the beginning, a somewhat unsettling shadow hangs over her. She certainly stands on the side of the gods. But at the same time, something sleeps within her that cannot be explained by the gods' commands alone. Something that should be called memory. Something that should be called emotion. Or perhaps, something like the outline of a human being that has not yet been given a name.

The beauty of this work lies in how it accumulates the tragedies of the dead, only for that gaze to eventually return to Lenneth herself. While she appears to be gathering the souls of others, in the process, she draws closer to her own soul. The more she fulfills the role given to her by the gods, the more this being, who should remain a tool of the gods, touches the pain, wishes, and lingering attachments of the dead, gradually calling back something that had been sealed away.

Until the one who gathers the souls of the dead reclaims her own.
The story of this work can be read as a quiet, painful journey of reclamation.

Chapter 1: The Story of Gathering Souls—The Role of the Valkyrie

The story is set in Asgard, where the gods dwell, and Midgard, where humans live. In Asgard, the gods, led by Odin, are preparing for the coming Ragnarok. An apocalyptic battle also known as the Twilight of the Gods. Before this battle, the gods require the strong souls of those who have perished in the mortal realm.

Sent to Midgard for this purpose is Lenneth, the Valkyrie. She travels the mortal realm, touching the souls of those on the verge of death or those who have already passed. These souls become Einherjar, and after fighting alongside Lenneth, they are transferred to the divine realm as needed. As the game progresses, the flow involves gathering, raising, and sending off companions, but from the very beginning, a cold mechanism lies beneath it all.

The Einherjar are not merely companion characters. Before they join the screen as convenient combat assets, they each carry their own death. Betrayal, pride, remorse, love, conviction. Those who lost something during their time living on earth, those who tried to protect something, and those who fell without reaching their goals. Lenneth finds their souls and welcomes them for the war of the gods, but the player simultaneously learns that they were not just numbers or abilities, but individual lives.

This structure is quietly cruel. From the perspective of the gods, they are souls necessary for war. The more excellent they are, the more valuable they become, making them worthy of being sent to the divine realm. However, from the human perspective, each death has its own unique weight. While the act of choosing the dead may look like salvation, it is also an act of harvesting souls to suit the convenience of the gods.

Lenneth stands right in the middle of that contradiction. While being a presence that draws close to the dead, she is also an executor who sends the dead to the divine realm. While touching human sorrow, she fulfills the commands of the gods. This duality has been quietly tearing her apart from the very beginning of the story.

However, in the early stages, Lenneth is not yet aware of that rift. To her, a mission is a mission, and the commands of the gods are things to be obeyed. That is why her change does not begin as a sudden rebellion. Every time she touches the death of another, it happens little by little from within. Every time she gathers a soul, she learns the texture of human life. And that texture eventually connects to her own lost memories.

Chapter 2: The Meadow of Lilies of the Valley—The Sealed Human Outline

In the scenes revolving around memory in this work, what leaves a strong impression is the Meadow of Lilies of the Valley. What is there is neither the bloodiness of the battlefield nor the majestic palace of the gods. It is a quiet, beautiful place where small white flowers bloom. Yet, that beauty is not just peaceful. The lily of the valley is a lovely flower, but at the same time, it is a poisonous one. Beauty and death dwell together in the same place.

This place is deeply connected to Lenneth's past. She was not a perfect messenger of the gods from the beginning.She once lived in the human world as a girl named Platina. She was a being who was loved by someone, tried to run away with someone, and drew closer to death. Those memories were sealed away by the gods, and Lenneth herself cannot recall them as her own.

Therefore, the Plains of Aethelgard are not merely a beautiful backdrop. It is a place where the traces of her time as a human lie buried. Apart from Lenneth as a messenger of the gods, a girl named Platina truly lived.There was a time when she loved someone, was loved by someone, and tried to escape from there. All of that is hidden deep within the silence of the flowers.

Loving someone. Having a past of one's own. Existing as a human being apart from the role of a god. When such things are sealed away, Lenneth becomes a convenient messenger for the Divine World. She is groomed into a being who follows orders without hesitation, selects souls, and sends those who are needed to the Divine World. However, the memories buried in the Plains of Aethelgard create a small crack in that complete subordination.

At this point, she still cannot clearly speak of her own past. The meaning of the flowers and the faint pain remaining deep in her chest do not immediately form a single story. However, as the story progresses, the image of a young man emerges beyond that silence. The existence that later appears under the nameLucianis a person who quietly approaches from the time Lenneth was made to forget.

Therefore, the recovery of memory in this work is not simply "remembering the past."It is reclaiming the self that was stolen by the gods. AsLenneth, who was remade as one who gathers the souls of the dead, touches the outline of the human remaining inside her once more. The faint beginning of that is already carved into the Plains of Aethelgard, a place where beauty and death exist side by side.

Chapter 3: The Deaths of the Einherjar — Touching the Souls of Others

The Einherjar that Lenneth encounters each carry a different death. Those caught in royal conspiracies, those who fall on the battlefield, those who could not protect their loved ones, and those who lose their lives after upholding their beliefs. Their deaths do not fit into a single mold. Every soul has its own time and its own pain.

TheArngrimwho leaves a strong impression in the early stages is likely a symbolic figure in that sense. He does not appear as a "pure hero" convenient for the gods. He is a human who has lived with anger, rebellion, and the realities that do not go as planned. However, that is precisely why his existence separates the Einherjar from being mere combat assets. The souls of the dead are not organized, beautiful stories; they are things that remain, sometimes wild and sometimes holding contradictions. The player is made aware of this at an early stage.

Lenneth finds their souls, adds them to her party, and eventually sends them to the Divine World. On the surface, that act is the fulfillment of her mission. However, every time she touches the memories of the dead, she gradually relearns what human life is. What do people regret, what do they try to protect, and what are they when they become the dead? That weight cannot be measured by the words of the Divine World alone.

Herein lies the quiet turning point of this work.Lenneth descends to the ground as a being who chooses the dead. However, the more she touches the souls of the dead, the more she herself changes. The Einherjar are companions who follow Lenneth, but they are also voices that shake the humanity sleeping within her.

Of course, their deaths do not immediately unlock Lenneth's memories. However, touching the deaths of others leaves a small stir within her.Even though she is supposed to be choosing souls according to the gods' orders, there is always the time of someone who lived before being chosen. Continuing to touch that time eventually leads to Lenneth's own lost time.

The dead are not just beings to be sent to the Divine World. They are also beings who remind Lenneth of the weight of being human. Touching the souls of others becomes a path to approaching her own soul. The story of this work gradually deepens through that roundabout journey.

Chapter 4: Evaluation and Seal Values — The More Obedient You Are, the Further You Drift from Yourself

The uniqueness of "Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth" is carved not only into the story but into the system itself. At its center are two values:EvaluationandSeal Value. However, what is important here is not remembering the detailed conditions. Rather, it lies in the point thatthese two values directly reflect the contradiction Lenneth is placed in.

The Evaluation value indicates how useful the Divine World considers Lenneth to be. If you send excellent Einherjar to the Divine World and meet the gods' expectations, your evaluation will rise.In other words, it is a measure of "good work" from the perspective of the gods. Fulfilling missions, meeting expectations, and receiving rewards is a natural flow for a game, but within that naturalness, a danger is already lurking.

Being evaluated by the gods is not the same as reclaiming Lenneth herself. Rather, the more useful she is to the Divine World, the more she is groomed as a messenger of the gods. She approaches a being who follows orders without hesitation, selects souls, and sends out those who are needed.There, Lenneth's past and emotions remain sealed away as obstacles.

The other, the Seal Value, is a numerical value related to her sealed memories and emotions. The more Lenneth follows the gods' orders, the more stable she becomes as a tool of the gods. However, by touching memories of the surface, gradually drifting away from the logic of the divine realm, and meeting special people and places, the seal within her weakens.

This is perhaps the sharpest point of this work. For the player, "advancing the game correctly" does not necessarily lead to Lenneth's own salvation. The more she is evaluated by the divine realm, the closer Lenneth becomes to being a convenient existence for the gods. However, in order for her to reclaim herself, she must gradually distance herself from that obedience.

Of course, it is not enough to simply rebel. If she is completely abandoned by the divine realm, the story will head toward ruin. Therefore, the player must maintain the gods' evaluation to a certain extent while secretly undoing Lenneth's seal. Appearing to obey while searching for a different path on the inside. There is a tension here that is far more suffocating than simple rebellion.

The Evaluation Value and the Seal Value are not just numbers for strategy, but two forces surrounding Lenneth's life. To be evaluated. To be made to forget. To obey. To remember. While swaying between these, Lenneth gradually changes into an existence that cannot be explained by the words of the gods alone.

What makes this work excellent is that it does not tell of that change through dialogue alone. What the player chooses, who they send, and which places they head to. Through the tactile feel of those actions, Lenneth's seal gradually wavers. The system is not a mechanism outside of the story. Being evaluated by God and reclaiming oneself are not the same thing. It embeds that pain into the player's own operations.

Chapter 5: Cracks in the Divine Order — Brahms, Melchior, Lezard

It is not only the deaths of the Einherjar that shake Lenneth's path. Within the story, there are characters who illuminate the divine order itself from a different angle. Brahms, Melchior, and Lezard Valeth are prime examples of this.

Brahms is the king of the undead who opposes the gods. From the perspective of the divine realm, he is positioned as an existence that must be struck down. However, by facing him, Lenneth encounters a world where it cannot be simply said that "those who oppose God are evil." Another order, another pride, and another time that would not have been visible if she had only believed the words of the gods exist there.

Melchior is a character on the side of an intellect that does not view the gods as absolute. As a sorceress, she calmly observes the mechanisms of the world. Instead of bowing to the authority of the gods, she relativizes it, sometimes taking an almost irreverent distance. That attitude acts like light shining in from the outside for Lenneth, who follows the orders of the divine realm. The world is not closed off by the words of the gods alone. That sensation gradually enters her.

And Lezard Valeth is an even more dangerous existence. He not only refuses to obey the gods, but also attempts to reach into the very mechanisms of souls, bodies, and divinity. Rather than rebelling against God, it might be more accurate to call him a person who retraces the domain monopolized by God with human desire.

The terror of Lezard does not lie in the rebellion itself. While denying the divine order, he attempts to take what that order has handled into his own hands in a different form. Trying to know the soul. Trying to remake the body. Reaching for the boundary between god and human. That desire is ethically deeply distorted. But because of that distortion, he exposes the artificiality of the world managed by the gods.

What is a soul? What is a body? Is the boundary between god and human truly unshakable? Lezard's madness thrusts such questions forward in a dark form. The divine order is not natural or absolute. His existence tells us that it, too, is a created mechanism, a structure that someone manages and someone utilizes.

Brahms shows a pride that exists outside of God. Melchior brings in an intellect that relativizes God. Lezard attempts to intrude into the very design that the gods had monopolized. Each of them, in their own different ways, carves cracks into Lenneth's world.

However, Lenneth's path is not the same as theirs. She did not set out to defeat the gods, nor did she intend to dominate the mechanisms of the soul. Touching the souls of the dead, approaching sealed memories, and reclaiming herself. That quiet withdrawal becomes her own unique path.

Chapter 6: The Contradiction of Sending Lucian — A path that only opens by letting go of the one you love

Lucian is a character who quietly appears from the direction of the time Lenneth was made to forget. He is not simply one of the important companions. He is the existence that begins to take shape beyond those unspoken memories that had sunk into the fields of lily of the valley.

Once, Lenneth was a girl named Platina. She lived as a human, not yet a messenger of the gods, but a person who was cherished by someone.Lucian was the boy who cared for that Platina. He tried to save her from a painful place and took her out into the night. However, that escape did not lead to a place of happiness. In the meadow of lilies of the valley where they ended up, Platina lost her life.

Of course, Lucian did not kill her. Rather, he was trying to save her. But the very hand that reached out to save her resulted in the scene of her death. Herein lies Lucian's pain. He took her away because he cared for her. He fled because he wanted to protect her. Yet, he lost her at the end of that path. For him, the memory of Platina is both the memory of his first love and an irreparable memory of regret.

Therefore, when Lucian appears before Lenneth, there is more to it than just a reunion. To Lenneth, he is a person who leads back to the time when she was human. And to Lucian, Lenneth is a presence that carries the shadow of the girl he lost. However, Lenneth cannot yet remember this as her own. On Lucian's side, there is memory; on Lenneth's side, there is a seal. That disconnect makes this reunion all the more painful.

What is cruel about this work is that it does not depict this reunion as merely gentle. To reach the true ending, Lenneth must transfer Lucian to the divine realm. She cannot keep the clue to her memory, which has finally appeared, by her side. She must let go once more of what she had almost reclaimed. That pain is etched into the path toward the hidden ending.

There is a path that opens not by keeping a loved one by your side, but by letting them go. This paradox deepens the pain of this work.

The player, too, cannot remain outside of that pain. The more important a character is, the more you want to keep them. You want to raise them, have them fight, and continue with them until the end. But the game forces you to go against that natural desire. You do not send Lucian for Lenneth's sake, but rather, Lenneth sends Lucian so that she may return to herself. In this, there is a structure where the player themselves also touches upon her loss.

Lucian is the person who calls back Lenneth's memories. But he is not the answer to her memories itself. Through him, Lenneth touches upon the version of herself that once cared for someone, the version of herself that was cared for by someone, and the version of herself that existed before the role of the gods. That is why sending him away is not just a simple farewell. It becomes a terribly painful turning point for Lenneth to head toward her own seal while still holding onto her feelings for another.

Chapter 7: Odin and Loki — The god who manages souls, the god who exploits feelings

Here, we must consider Odin, who is at the center of the divine realm. He is not just a distant supreme god. He is the center of the order that makes Lenneth gather the souls of the dead and send the Einherjar to the divine realm. Being evaluated, following orders, offering souls for the divine realm—behind all of that lies Odin's will.

However, if we place him as a simple villain, the complexity of this work is lost. Odin is also a ruler preparing for the coming Ragnarok. To protect the world of the gods, he gathers military strength and tries to maintain order. In that sense, his actions appear as "management to maintain the world." But that management is built upon sealing the memories of a single human and mobilizing the souls of the dead for war.

Herein lies the peculiarity of Odin. His rule does not wear the face of obvious violence. Rather, it wears the face of order and duty. Lenneth is prepared as a messenger of the gods, and the dead are chosen as Einherjar and sent to the divine realm. There, both souls and memories are treated as resources to protect the world of the gods.

And it is Loki who destroys that order from within. Loki is not a simple enemy coming from outside the divine realm. He is a presence that exists within the world of the gods while undermining its stability. Therefore, he appears not as an external force against Odin's order, but as a rift that the divine realm itself has harbored.

Loki's terror does not lie solely in his power of destruction. He exploits the feelings of others. Lucian tries to deliver clues of memory to Lenneth. He contacts her through the water mirror, trying to pass on something that connects to the former Platina. That act is born from the feeling of wanting to save Lenneth. But Loki exploits that opening. He uses the path opened by Lucian's feelings for his own schemes.

Lucian tries to transcend the order of the divine realm because he cares for Lenneth. Loki uses those feelings as a stepping stone to try and destroy the divine realm itself. Here, the actions of the two have completely different meanings. Both create cracks in the order of the gods. However, Lucian's crack is directed toward memory, while Loki's crack is directed toward destruction.

Furthermore, Loki tries to sever the thin thread leading to Lenneth's memories by killing Lucian and framing him for the crime. If Odin is the one who seals memories for the sake of order, Loki is the one who exploits feelings for the sake of destruction. Neither leaves Lenneth's soul as it is. One manages it, and the other tramples upon it. Lenneth needs a path to move away from both and reclaim herself.

Chapter 8: Where the Earring Leads — The Rebellion of Heading Toward Memories

Lucian dies. However, he does not simply vanish. He leaves Lenneth a clue to head toward her memories: an earring. It is like a small mark that guides Lenneth to the time when a girl named Platina was once alive.

The reason this earring is important is that it is not merely a keepsake. Memories sealed by the gods cannot be returned through words alone. As long as she follows orders, fulfills her role, and is evaluated by the Divine World, Lenneth will continue to walk as a messenger of the gods. However, when she touches what Lucian left behind, her gaze begins to turn not toward the Divine World, but toward her own past.

Here, the player also begins to pursue something different from the gods' orders. It is not to be evaluated by the Divine World. It is not to gain rewards, nor is it to progress efficiently.To get closer to what Lenneth was made to forget, you follow the clues Lucian left behind. While that act is a single progression step within the game, in terms of the story, it is also a choice to quietly drift away from the order of the gods.

The true ending of this work does not open naturally just by playing to the end. To reach it, simply believing in the Divine World's orders is not enough. You must meet specific people, head to specific places, and weaken Lenneth's seal, all while walking a path that ensures you are not completely abandoned by the Divine World. It is a very delicate and somewhat suffocating journey.

However, that complexity is not placed there merely as a difficulty in strategy. Rather, it overlaps with the very situation Lenneth is placed in.She cannot completely escape the gods' orders. But if she follows them entirely, she cannot return to herself. That is whywhat is needed is not an obvious rebellion, but finding another path within the orders.

Being evaluated by the gods and reclaiming one's own soul are not the same thing.
This work entrusts that discrepancy to the player's hands.

The so-calledA Ending is not just Lenneth's awakening, but also the process of the player ceasing to be a "good messenger" for the Divine World. You do not just follow the gods' orders; you follow the clues Lucian left behind. You choose the path toward memories, not the path of being evaluated. When that shift occurs, the purpose of the game changes slightly.

It is not to win, not to be praised, and not to maximize rewards. In order for one existence to reclaim a sealed soul, the player quietly betrays the mechanisms of the gods.

Therefore, the true ending of this work is closer to the moment when something long suppressed finally begins to breathe, rather than a glorious victory. As Lenneth, created to gather the souls of the dead, is guided by the memories of the dead and the feelings of Lucian, she steps out beyond the orders of the gods.Only then does she stand up not as a tool of the gods, but as an individual subject.

Conclusion: May You Be Happy — What Remains After the Seal

"Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth" begins as a story about gathering the souls of the dead. Finding those who lost their lives on earth, adding them to your party, and sending them to the Divine World. Looking only at that, Lenneth is a battle maiden working for the gods and a messenger preparing for Ragnarok. Her role is clear, and the world's structure also seems unshakable at first.

However, as the story progresses, things that could not be erased emerge within that role. The deaths of the Einherjar. The fields of lily of the valley. Lucian's feelings. The memories the earring leads to. These are things that speak to Lenneth from a place other than the gods' orders.Souls are not just things to be gathered as military strength.Memories do not just disappear if you seal them.The time spent thinking of someone, even if stolen, continues to remain somewhere.

Odin's order managed souls to protect the world. Loki's destruction collapsed the Divine World while even utilizing someone's feelings. Neither of them leaves Lenneth's soul as it is. However, she does not remain just an existence to be managed, nor just an existence to be caught up in destruction. While touching the memories of the dead and following the clues Lucian left behind, she gradually returns to herself.

Until the one who gathers the souls of the dead reclaims her own.

The prayer at the end of that journey is very quiet. May you be happy. That phrase may not be directed only at Lenneth.To those who, while carrying what was stolen, still try to stand up in their own name.To the soul that still remained without disappearing deep within the memories she was made to forget. It resonates like a prayer gently offered from the bottom of the night.