Fridge / The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

Fridge pages are Spoilers Off by default, so all spoilers were removed and all entries folderized. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned.

Fridge Brilliance

• In Chapter 4, Rean can ask Emma to read his fortune using tarot cards. Emma wasn't particularly happy with the reading since she drew Wheel of Fortune which means element of change in one's life. If seen in literal perspective, however, the card could very easily have been (correctly) predicting Rean's future encounter with the Enforcer whose number aligns with that of the Wheel of Fortune given the Tarot Motifs used by Ouroboros: Phantom Thief Blueblanc.
• Pick Crow to go with you into Class IV's teahouse during the festival and choose to draw a luck fortune. Crow's luck fortune will read "Great luck. You make your own luck behind the scenes and you make it well. Thorough preparations will net you excellent results." While this applies to Crow's role in Class VII's concert, it can also hint at his role as C, working behind the backs of everyone to kill the Chancellor, a deed he succeeds in through thorough preparations. Or so he thought.
• Sara's past:
  • Sara eagerly pushing Fie in the first game to make friends and to stop holding back so she can mature as a person can be seen in an entirely new light when we learn in the second game that Sara herself was a jaeger before she became a bracer. She probably saw a lot of herself in Fie and thus wanted her to live and grow in a way she never could.
  • In Chapter 2 of the first game, Sara dares Machias and Jusis to face her in combat to change their assignments. While it mainly serves as an Asskicking Leads to Leadership occasion, fast forward to Chapter 4, and one of Fie's comments when she duels Laura highlights that some habits are hard to break.
    Taking your spoils by force is the jaeger's way through and through.
  • Notice that Sara peppers her dialogue with gratuitous German, such as referring to Class VII as her "wunderkinds" and even occasionally greeting them with "guten tag". The hallmark of jaegers compared to other mercenaries is their tendency to say "ja", the German word for "yes", when they're ready to start a battle. Who's to say that Sara didn't pick up other German words while she was in the corps?
• Duvalie has a major hate on for the Arseids, despite having never met them before. However, she also has a major fixation on the Steel Maiden, who is heavily implied to be Saint Lianne Sandlot. The Arseids were Lianne's followers during the War of the Lions, who were granted control of her family lands after her disappearance/alleged death. If the Lance Maiden and the Steel Maiden really are one and the same, it would make sense for Duvalie to resent the Arseids for taking what rightfully belonged to her mistress.
• Why did Rean allow the rest of Class VII to go their separate ways even if they're insistent in staying with him? Because Rean is passing the same lesson Crow passed onto him: do what they feel is right and achieve the things that they want to do in their lives.
• Bit of Fridge Brilliance with the Third Way thing. Besides the conflict being blatantly evil versus evil, the necessity of a third way and the issues with the current system are exemplified by Jusis and Machias. Machias is a commoner who was born to a rich father and had quite a bit of privilege growing up, yet hates all nobles. Jusis is a noble who was born with nothing and could only gain his father's approval by effort, if at all. In other words, the commoner is a noble, and the noble is a commoner.
  • In addition, two other members of Class VII straddle the line between noble and commoner: Rean is a commoner who was adopted by a noble, and Alisa is a commoner from a family so wealthy and powerful that they might as well be a noble.
• A gameplay example that involves Rean; is it any coincidence that the character who's prone to giving motivational speeches right before a big fight is also the character who has a Craft called "Motivate"?
• Rean's ability to "sense" people in areas where he has yet to be in can explain why on the mini-map (activated by pressing the START button) you can see where there are people (represented by dots) in a certain vicinity before you can physically see them. Alternatively, Rean's "sense" can also be interpreted as being derived from the map itself because, as he is the main character, he is in possession of this feature for the whole of two games.
• In both games, each of the playable characters' ARCUS units have a main quartz element along with a secondary element. In addition to representing how each character fights in regards to their crafts, the elements can relate to each of their respective traits as a character:
  • Rean's primary element is Time with Fire as a secondary element, showing that despite being a passionate young man who cares deeply for his friends, Rean still suffers from emotional issues that stem from his childhood and has plenty of things he'd rather keep secret from everyone. This is taken up a notch in the second game where his personality starts to take a turn for the worse as by the end of the game not only has he been forced to participate in a war by his newly-discovered father, he failed to save his friend.
  • Alisa's main elements are Fire and Space, representing how Alisa herself is a kind individual who can also display a fiery temper should you anger her enough.
  • Elliot's main elements are Space and Water. Space with its golden colors represent how nice of a person Elliot is while Water represents his Character Development over the course of the games, going from someone who lacked confidence in his abilities and place in the world to a more resilient and capable individual who accepts his place at Thors.
  • Laura's elements are Water and Fire. She hails from the lakeside city of Legram, joins the swimming club, and is very passionate about following the path of the sword.
  • Machias's primary element is Earth, which serves to highlight his stubborn attitude, be it his strong distaste for nobles or his determination to best Emma during midterms. His secondary element is Mirage, which could serve to explain how his stubborn attitude hides an individual who recognizes his shortcomings and is truly bitter at nobles for setting into motion the events that would lead to his cousin's suicide.
  • Jusis's main element is Space, befitting his role as the son of one of the highest ranking nobles in the country. Meanwhile, his secondary element is Wind to show how he is willing to change his views of the world for the good of the country after steady interaction with the rest of Class VII.
  • Emma's main and secondary elements are Mirage and Fire, respectively, referencing her true nature as a witch and the particular role magic has in her life. The former element in particular symbolizes the inner conflicts she has with the rest of her classmates as, because she has to cover herself up with lies to keep her status as a witch a secret, she secretly worries and feels that she isn't a true member of Class VII.
  • Fie's elements are Time and Wind, both of which allude to her past as a jaeger, living in the shadows of the battlefield and going wherever the next job wanted her to go. The latter element in particular references her codename "Sylphid" (with the name "Sylph" being a common name for a wind spirit) and can also allude to how Fie, despite her age, is a quick learner and can prove herself to be adept at any task she applies herself to.
  • To the surprise of no one, Gaius's primary element is Wind, referencing his Nordic heritage and his people's traditions of worshiping the wind. His secondary element is Earth, alluding to both his strong and dependable personality and his love of nature.
  • Millium's elements are Mirage and Earth, compounding further the fact that while she may be a tiny, energetic Genki Girl most of the time, she's still a government agent working for the Chancellor himself and is much more capable than what she seems.
  • Crow's main element is Time with Water as his secondary element, highlighting that underneath his guise of being a perverted slacker with a gambling addiction is a reliable ally who goes with the flow. To go one further, the former element represents his true nature as <C>, working in the shadows and behind the backs of everyone to exact revenge on the Chancellor. His Time and Water combination also serves as a Foil to Rean's elements of Time and Fire above, which cements the two's rivalry in the second game as Awakeners for their respective sides.
  • Sara's primary quartz element is Wind, highlighting how she can be a laid-back, Hard-Drinking Party Girl one moment and a very competent and reliable instructor the next, while her secondary element of Fire represents her spunky personality. Ironically, her signature element of lightning is often paired with wind and/or fire in RPGs where the element isn't considered a separate form of power.
  • Angelica's main element is Space, which represents both her friendly demeanor and her status as the daughter of one of the most important nobles in the country. Of course, her nature can be described as anything but noble, hence why she has the contrasting element of Time as her secondary element.
  • Elise's main element is Water, representing both her calm demeanor and the city she hails from (Ymir is most known for its hot springs). Her secondary element on the other hand is Time, which normally isn't an element commonly associated with nobles like her but can be explained by her devotion to her adopted big brother, whose main element as mentioned above is Time.
  • Toval's main element is Wind, which, like his fellow bracer Sara, represents how he can go from being laid-back to very competent and reliable in an instant. His personality, however, is more approachable compared to Sara's, hence why he has the golden-colored Space as a secondary element.
  • Claire's main element is Water, tying in to her nickname "the Icy Maiden" and her normally stoic nature. Meanwhile, her secondary element is Space, which represents how in her interactions with Milliium and Class VII she's nicer than she appears.
  • Sharon's main elements are Time and Mirage, representing how her day job as a maid of the Reinford Group hides one of the most powerful members of the party as well as her true nature as one of the Enforcers of Ouroboros.
  • Alfin's main and secondary elements are Fire and Mirage, respectively. This serves to create a Foil to her friend Elise's elemental combination above and shows how underneath her cute appearance and prankster tendencies is a genuine, burning resolve to help Class VII to save her country. In addition, her secondary element can serve as a nod to her older brother Olivert, whose main orbment element in Trails in the Sky was also Mirage.
  • Towa's main elements are Earth and Water, with both elements symbolizing the positive qualities she exhibits as a leader. She's calm, kind, patient, dependable, can adapt to any situation, and always provides a strong pillar of support for others.
  • Kurt's main element is Wind, which represents his inner turmoils prior to coming to Thors, having been forced to change his aspirations and find a new purpose in life after his family was relieved of their positions as bodyguards of the royal family. His secondary element is Water, which highlights his cool-headed demeanor and can also serve as a nod to his brother Mueller, whose orbment type was also of the same element.
  • Juna's main element is Space with Earth as her secondary element. The former element highlights the person that she is currently: an energetic girl with a lively personality. Meanwhile, the latter element represents the type of person she aspired to be: a member of the police agency who could support and protect others.
  • Altina's main elements are Mirage and Time, both of which serve to provide yet another example of the Sibling Yin-Yang she shares with "sister" Millium as she shares Millium's primary element (Mirage) to represent their similar origins but has a different secondary element (Time for Altina, Earth for Millium) to represent their differences in personality. The black colors of Time also serve as a visual nod to her codename "Black Rabbit".
  • Ash's main element is Fire, undoubtedly reflecting his hot-tempered and unpredictable nature as a delinquent, but his secondary element of Mirage serves as a reminder that there's more to him than meets the eye, from being surprisingly intellectual in certain situations to being a member of the literature club to being another survivor of Hamel and carrying all the emotional baggage that comes with it.
  • Musse's elements are Water and Space, with the former reflecting how her behavior can go from ladylike to mischievous and the latter referencing her status as a noble. Additionally, Space being her secondary element rather than her primary element alludes to the fact that she's keeping the truth about her noble lineage a secret, as she's the long-thought dead niece of Duke Cayenne.
  • Duvalie's primary element is Time, reminding us of her origins as an antagonist who worked for Ouroboros. However, her secondary element of Space also reminds us that there is still some genuine good in her, seeing as she lacks the "darkness" to truly be a member of the Society.
  • Celine has Fire as her primary element and Water as her secondary element, which may reference how, as a familiar created from Roselia's power, she can use some of the same abilities. To be specific, Celine shares her creator's fire powers while the other half, as indicated by the color blue, presumably went to Grianos. Additionally, having two contrasting elements can be a jab at her Tsundere personality.
  • All of the Guest Star Party Members returning from previous games in the series have their main orbment elements carried over from their previous appearances in addition to gaining a new secondary element:
    • Agate's new secondary element is Earth, referencing how the year gap between Trails in the Sky and Cold Steel III has caused him to become Older and Wiser.
    • Tita's new secondary element is Fire, no doubt thanks to Agate's influence rubbing off on her, causing her to become more confident in herself.
    • Prince Olivert's new secondary element is Space, befitting his status as the eldest prince of the Erebonian Empire and the overall Big Good of the Cold Steel saga.
    • Tio's new secondary element is Mirage, which serves as a big nod to her Dark and Troubled Past and her connections to the D∴G Cult, whose ultimate goal was to recreate the Sept-Terrion of Mirage.
    • Randy's new secondary element is Time, representing his present turmoils as a result of his Dark and Troubled Past as a jaeger. The fact that he shares a secondary element with Fie also references their connection through their positions in their respective former jaeger corps, with Fie's Wind element representing Zephyr and Randy's Fire element representing the Red Constellation.
    • Lloyd gets two new elements due to having previously owned an orbment with no elemental-restricted slots. His main element is Earth, which fits his dependable and supportive personality, while his secondary element is Fire, highlighting his unending determination to see things through to the end, be it seeking out the truth as a detective to liberating Crossbell.
    • Elie's new secondary element is Space, befitting her kind personality and wealthy status.
    • Estelle gets two new elements due to having previously owned an orbment with no elemental-restricted slots, gaining Earth as her main element and Space as her secondary element. Both go hand-in-hand with her growth as a character over the course of the entire series, as though she's still a Genki Girl at heart, Estelle is a far more level-headed and reliable person and bracer now than she was when she first started her journey. The latter element can also be seen as a counterpoint to her lover Joshua, whose main element is Time.
    • Joshua gets Wind as a new secondary element, which can either reference his specialty in stealth and speed or his changed outlook on life now that he is no longer controlled by Ouroboros. It can also be seen as a counterpoint to his lover Estelle, whose new main element is Earth.
    • Renne gets two new elements due to having previously owned an orbment with no elemental-restricted slots. Her main element is Mirage, which serves as a reminder of how she is far more than what her appearance would entail, being a former Enforcer of Ouroboros and having all of the competency and emotional baggage that comes with it. Her secondary element of Space, however, is proof that she's come around since then and is a far nicer person now that she's been adopted by the Brights.
• Any of the luck fortune drawing the characters get in the first game foreshadow quite a bunch in the second game, aside from Gaius'.
  • Rean's fortune usually has something to do with a great trial that he has to accomplish. While at first one may think of the concert, it later foreshadows his duel with Crow, and his role as the Ashen Chevalier in the future. If players take Gaius, then Rean's fortune says something about his health declining. By Cold Steel III, he's losing control over his ogre power.
  • Alisa's fortune is about her family. Later on, she and Class VII rescue her and a hidden sidequest has Irina keeping a picture of Alisa.
  • Elliot's fortune is about his love for music. Come the second game and his father approves of him going to music school.
  • Laura's fortune is about her wanting to surpass her father. It also has a lot to do with her one-sided rivalry with Duvalie.
  • Machias' fortune is about him turning a bad luck into a good one. This also foreshadows the Reformist Faction winning with him going to political school.
  • Emma's fortune is about a very important person being near her. It's Vita who's also masquerading as Misty and it turns out that Emma could have seen her if she had been listening at Abend Time or go to the radio station.
  • Fie's fortune is that she'll meet an old friend but they'll be passing by each other. She reunites with Leo and Xeno but Class VII has to get past them to get to the prince who's captured.
  • Jusis' fortune is about him needing to trust people and not to overestimate his abilities. This foreshadows his conflict with wanting to go with Class VII versus trying to win approval from his father who wants to be at the top of the Noble Alliance.
  • Millium's fortune is about her not having to fear failure. Class VII fails to bring Crow back to the academy as he dies protecting and giving Rean an opening to rescue the prince.
  • Sara's fortune is that she may have to rely on other people that she trusts to do the job. It refers to Toval handling a lot of bracer work on the western side of Erebonia plus Rean being the only one who's allowed to duel Crow in their Divine Knights with her and Class VII having to cheer on the sidelines with Rean inadvertently using ARCUS links in the duel.
  • Towa's fortune is similar to Sara's except her fortune is about a friend who'll be in trouble with her not being able to do anything. It's both Angelica, who has issues with Director Rogner hijacking the Reinford company and her father who is taking part of the civil war, and Crow who is the leader of the ILF and Rean is going to have to duel him.
• Crow practically goads Rean not to listen to the Noble Alliance and make a break for it, with his conversation to him, even though it would put them on opposite sides, and Rean joining them would pretty much win them the war right there since they would have both Divine Knights and the other side would have none. While it seems like a heartfelt gesture and it might very well have been part of that, remember that Ouroboros's real goal was to get Valimar and Ordine to battle evenly, something that obviously wouldn't happen if they joined up, and something that he seemingly knew and supported given how he told Toval where to find and save him (which meant he knew where Rean escaped to, and didn't capture or destroy Valimar when he had the chance despite the threat it posed) and frequently gave Rean tips on how to improve (even though it would improve their chances of winning if Rean remained helpless against him). Since Crow likely owed Vita for helping him get Ordine, and thus his big chance at revenge against Osborne and they're basically partners throughout the game he was probably well aware of what she wanted and focused on that to pay her back, over helping the Alliance win since like the rest of the ILF probably didn't care much how the war turned out since their primary goal had been achieved.
• In Cold Steel I, the order in which Class VII is lined up in the camp menu (toggled by pressing the triangle button) is based on when each of them joins Rean on a field study rather than ordering them based on who joins the party first. This is why Gaius, despite being one of the first obtainable party members, is always placed at the end of the party queue until Millium and Crow join Class VII, at which point they are placed at the end. Alisa, Elliot, and Laura are part of Rean's field study group in Chapter 1, followed by Machias, Jusis, Emma, and Fie in Chapter 2, Gaius in Chapter 3, Millium in Chapter 5, and finally Crow in Chapter 6.
• Millium and Altina are codenamed rabbits and they are a symbol of self-sacrifice in Asian folklore. Guess what happens to one of them in the ending of Cold Steel III?
• A small one: when Gaius introduces Thomas as the 2nd Dominion of the Church, Rean is the only one with the "!?" emoticon on his head instead of the "!!" like the others. Makes sense since the optional scene at the end of Cold Steel 2 where Thomas introduced himself to Rean is canon. The surprise for Rean is Gaius knowing and being the one to introduce Thomas.
• It seemed rather odd and infuriating that after the boss fights in the Infernal Castle at the climax of Cold Steel II has the cutscene shown afterward have the supposedly beaten enemy say that The Battle Didn't Count or say that it was a nice warm up and proceeds to job you by going One-Winged Angel and then your adult supporters (Toval, Olivert, Claire, Sharon and Victor) come save your sorry ass, with this pattern constantly repeating until the Final Boss. While in McBurn's case it is understandable as he is the most powerful Enforcer (according to Sharon) and it would be a massive let-down if he actually lost, this seems to reflect poorly on Class VII story-wise on all other counts. You soon realise that it's because unlike the characters from the previous instalments, you are pitting military students only in their first year against battle hardened combatants with years or even decades of battlefield experience under their belt. Outside of the assistance of a single A Rank bracer (Sara), this is the most realistic and optimistic outcome. Not to mention, the reason of why the Final Dungeon bosses have been defeated in-game and just stay defeated afterwards in previous instalments was because your own party members story-wise consists of members who are at a much higher level to be able to match up to them properly.
  • For example in the Sky trilogy, you have 2 B Rank bracers (Agate and Scherazard), the royal bodyguards of Liberl and Erebonia (Julia and Muller), Calvard's most powerful A Rank bracer (Zin), Olivert himself, the Fifth Dominion (Kevin) and an Enforcer (Joshua) during the climb up the Axis Pillar. Then the 3rd comes around and you have another B Rank bracer (Anelace), a Gralsritter squire (Ries), another Enforcer (Renne) and Richard who is pretty much Enforcer-tier himself. All you need is to throw in Cassius and you got yourself an unstoppable dream team.
  • As for the Crossbell duology, you have the deputy leader and former heir of the Red Constellation (Randy), the Ninth Dominion (Wazy) and Yin's current incarnation who can fight Enforcers one-on-one (Rixia). Not to mention, if the story permits they also have an S Rank bracer candidate and Divine Blade (Arios) and a Holy Beast (Zeit) among their ranks.
• During the end of chapter 4 quest in Cold Steel 3 during the summer festival you end up gathering Sara, Claire, Sharon, Tita, Tio, Agate, Olivert, Randy, Toval, and Patrick to assist you in finding the last Calvard jaeger in the catacombs. When Lechter comments on Rean's ability to gather this small army, his only response to say that he only asked a few people and that word somehow got around. While this seems like a small Hand Wave at first, take a moment to think about each one of them and you'll realize that it's entirely possible that that's exactly what happened. For example, Rean contacts Patrick, Randy and one of the bracers. The bracers contact each other and meet up. Tio and Tita were with Randy and Agate respectively during the festival, so they just ended up tagging along with them. Claire, who was most likely on patrol, ended up seeing some of them gathering and joined in with them, and Sharon, being who she is, probably just popped in at one point or another. The only real mystery is how Olivert found out, as no one in the group, even Rean, seems very likely to bring him on board.
• It's revealed in Cold Steel III that Rufus is not the son of Duke Albarea but an illegitimate son just like his younger brother. Considering that he is the older one and is borne of an affair with Duchess Albarea and another man, suddenly Duke Albarea's affair with another lady that gave birth to Jusis might be a form of passive-aggressive payback at his cheating wife. Not to mention, her cheating on him finally gave Duke Albarea an excuse to chase other women using her infidelity as motivation.
• Osborne's lack of mercy towards Arngarmr when a Noble hired the latter jaeger group to "sort him out" seems a bit excessive for a politician who is focused on pragmatism. Then you remember what happened when he opposed the politicians that caused the Hamel incident...
• In Cold Steel IV, the first time players fight Osborne, he's a Dual Boss fight with Arianrhod and they're linked up with an ARCUS. Which is weird since Arianrhod isn't known to use an ARCUS, let alone link up with Osborne at that, the same guy who stole the Phantasmal Blaze Plan from Ouroboros. It's one of the few signs where Arianrhod is loyal to Dreichels and his reincarnation Osborne. She also expresses some discontent about Osborne's sword with a Visible Silence. That's because the sword is a part of Ishmelga, the curse of Erebonia.
• In the concert at the student festival, there is only one person in the audience who does not join the singalong in the encore - Vita (in her Misty persona), despite being a talented singer. Why? Because in the following chapter, it's revealed that Emma knew her personally, and would recognize her voice immediately. Now the real question is, did she not sing because it would blow her cover, or because Emma's reaction might ruin the performance?
• Seeing the Divine Knights and Panzer Soldats technology as of III, suddenly Dieter merging with the Aion Type-Alpha in Ao isn't so ridiculous anymore. Ouroboros has always been able to do this for their machines, at least on paper due to magnitude of technology required at that time!!
• The logo for IV containing elements from the previous story arcs signifies that this going to be a game that has everyone, not just Erebonia be part of the struggle. The background is from Sky, title is blue aka azure like Crossbell while the IV numeral is the flame that represents Erebonia.
• One of Rean's unique dishes in II is the fish burger that Crow cooked for him aboard the Pantagruel.
• In the Cold Steel IV "Fragments" chapter after Act 1, you storm the Gnome's base of operations. Almost all of the enemies you fight in the base are weak to Fire and strong to Earth. But of course they are. The Gnomes are the Kin of Earth, and they're mortal enemies with the Hexen Clan, the Kin of Fire.
• The foreshadowing that Ishmelga isn't like the other Divine Knightsand is the Big Bad already happened in the end of III. When Crow asks Black Alberich whether "that's your guys' master", the next shot was the latter looking at Ishmelga before saying "yes". Notice that Osborne hasn't entered it yet.
• Valimar assisted by another Divine Knight led to the latter's Awakener dying in the battle against Vermilion Apocalypse. Are talking about Crow at the end of II or Lianne/Arianrhod during the War of the Lions? Bonus points when you consider the Awakeners present had a romantic-subtext relationship at that time.
• In light of The Reveal in III that the Divine Knights give their Awakeners Resurrective Immortality, why didn't Vita simply tell Class VII that Crow will simply come back to life in a few years during/after his death in II? Firstly, it is highly possible that she wasn't aware, with both Roselia being unsure of the theory herself even during the events of III and Lianne/Arianrhod likely keeping the secret to herself. Alternatively, Ordine was critically damaged in the chest which led to Crow dying, so she thought that the one way to permanently kill an Awakener came into effect.
• For those that were disappointed by Lechter's portrayal in IV, a fan notes that his entire portrayal throughout the series was due to being built up as a mysterious Wild Card that could do anything due to his actions from afar, but as you peel away the mystery he becomes more and more harmless while underwhelming expectations. Like an actual scarecrow.
• All the way back in Sky SC, Joshua's Hamel flashback has him reveal that in the heat of the moment, he is somehow able to grab a gun, release its safety despite never even seeing it before and shoot without hesitance right at the attacker's throat. This happened when he was still a normal child, something that he even lampshaded. In light of Ishmelga's reveal, is it possible that his sudden competence and lack of hesitation was caused by it amplifying his desire to live and protect Karin?
• Why did Osbourne hand the Pantagruel, the largest and ostensibly most powerful warship officially in existence at this point (only a few people know about the Glorious), to the Imperial Family as their personal transport? Because it's a pretty bad warship, actually. The Noble Alliance had no idea what they were doing when they had it built. Its interior is fitted out like a luxury liner (with huge amounts of space given over to airy salons and palatial apartments) while its guns and missiles look impressive but can't land a hit on a more mobile airship. It's a colossal waste of money and resources, built specifically to make the Noble Alliance feel powerful as they rode around in luxury, as opposed to actually giving them more fighting strength. Later on in the series it's shown to be massively outclassed by a warship of its size but with a far more functional design.

Fridge Horror

• Just how bad did Crow beat Rean up at the end of I that he needed a full month to completely recover? Makes it seem like he was actually aiming to kill.
• There is one "big enemy" you can encounter in Gral of Erebos, Cold Steel III's final dungeon, called Arache Zigma. If you're wondering why this is important, it first appeared in Trails in the Sky The 3rd as one of Chapter 5's bosses where Ries then explained they were one of Seventy Seven Devils mentioned in Septian Church scriptures. Worse is, you can encounter more than three of them in a same room. Unless stated otherwise, these tell you at least three things; The Seventy Seven Devils are real, more than one in each kind can exist, and something terrible is going to happen next as the ending shows.
• After the end of III, we now have a glimpse of what happens when Rean finally loses it, despite having a greater control over his power. Now, imagine what happens when a younger, less controlled Rean who sees his sister Elise in danger. That's right: Elise witnessed something similar when they were younger, only much more disturbing since Rean was just a child then.
• At the end of Cold Steel III, Osborne easily manages to snap Rean out of his Unstoppable Rage because Rean has Osborne's heart and thus has complete control over it. Now imagine what Osborne can do to Rean!
• A promotional screenshot for Cold Steel IV shows Cassius Bright◊ drawing his sword during what appears to be a duel with Rean. This is important to note because he previously vowed to never pick up a sword again, as shown from Star Door 5 from the 3rd. How badly has the situation in Erebonia deteriorated in order for him to go back on that promise? Thankfully, not that bad as he's just borrowing Richard's sword for a promotional test for Rean to become a Divine Blade. It still does come as a shock for many fans though.
• In the final scene where Where the Grandmaster makes her first canon appearance in person she mentions ominously that three years remain until the "Nothingness of All." Whatever this "Nothingness of All" doesn't sound like a good a thing by the name.
• According to the conversation with McBurn before their final battle with him, it is apparently impossible to leave Zemuria by air and sea. Regardless how far you go, you will somehow find yourself back at Zemuria without any scientific reasons found on why this happens. Makes you wonder what the heck is going on.
  • This begs the question: Is Aidios (or whatever power is actually in charge) trying to keep the inhabitants of Zemuria in or keep something out? Neither possibility is reassuring.
• Given how self-centered and ambitious Duke Cayenne proved to be in II, and the fact that III revealed that he was his father's second son, and thus not directly in line to inherit the family seat, one has to wonder, was the death of Musse's father ten years previous to the start of the series an accident, or an "accident"?
• In Sky the 3rd, we learn that the Anguis Vita had romantic feelings for Loewe though he never returned her feelings, she tells the other Anguis she is grieving his death in her "own way." In Cold Steel IV we learn that there is some romantic history between Vita and Crow and Vita meets Crow who is a teenager around the same time the conversation occurs, guess who Crow looks like?

Fridge Logic

• Several Fridge logic carryover from the first arc:
  • Monsters drop sepith, for some reason. Now with addition of sepith mass!
  • This game continues the tradition of players only able to sell, not buy elemental sepith.
  • Monsters drop questionable cooking ingredients.
• There's a quartz that can alter your cooking proficiency.
• It was mentioned in the first game that Millium's combat shell was a military secret and the Intelligence Division always has to cover things up whenever Millium summons Airgetlam in public. However, the party can buy and upgrade Airgetlam's parts without trouble.
• How did Patrick know that Fie used to be a Jaeger? He called her "jaeger tot" after his defeat during Class VII practical exam, and the possibility of Patrick coincidentally saying that as an insult is rather small since no one would suspect Fie as one at first glance.
  • Rumors? He overheard it? Maybe he actually tried to do some research about Class VII since he doesn't like them and decide to research them as a way to get back at them somehow and learned or figured out Fie' past from it? Maybe he figured it out after hearing about Fie's various antics?
  • His status as a scion of the Hyarms family, one of the four great Noble Houses, no doubt garners him a lot of connections. He probably used those same connections to find out as much as he could about the students that made up Class VII
• No bathroom/toilet can be found in majority of houses and buildings in this game.
  • This is fixed in Cold Steel III where there are baths and restrooms at the dorm and school. In fact, this manages to be a plot point for Ash to disguise himself as a butler so he can get in the emperor's room undetected.
• How did Rean manage to survive for an entire month up in a mountain with virtually just his clothes?
  • It was stated Valimar used his mana to heal him. Probably not too much of a stretch that he also used them to keep him alive and preserved and probably stave off atrophy. He was probably inside Valimar's cockpit the whole time and was only released just before he was fully healed.
• What was the point of Millium's mission in chapter 2 of CS 1? Since the heir of Kruezen Province was secretly an Ironblood, if Osbourne wanted to know what was going on in that fortress, all he really needed to do was have Jade Rook walk up to the front gate, at which point the base commander would let him in and personally give him a guided tour.
  • Jade Rook's identity is supposed to be a secret. Besides, he was not in Bareahard when Millium took the mission. He gave Class VII their first day assignment and went to The Capital on the same day.
• It was a plot point in Cold Steel I that if two people don't like each other or have differing issues with one another, the ARCUS link will break. And while Jusis is more open which is why he can ARCUS link with Millium despite finding her annoying, how come other characters who have real issues with one another can ARCUS link just fine? Best shown in Cold Steel III where Rean has no issues linking up with both Juna and Kurt when they first meet with each other despite Juna having issues with Rean for conquering Crossbell and yet owes him her life, while Kurt has issues about Rean and his skills plus his wanting to have a purpose in life now that guarding the royal family was taken away from him.
  • It takes more than simply not liking someone to prevent an ARCUS link. You need deep seeded trust issues for it not to work, which is why Machias couldn't do it with Jusis initially because he was projecting his issues with cousin on him. Once he finally stops doing it they can link, even though they still don't really like each other personally. Meanwhile Juna doesn't hate Rean deep down nearly as much she acts like it or if anything the Arcus link is giving her away. Kurt's family issues don't involve Rean. And while there is a point where each of them end up lashing out at Rean and mistrusting him and linking would be impossible, Kurt when Rean brushes off his help, and Juna when she's having her breakdown at how badly Crossbell is being controlled by Erebonia, you can't use them in the party at that point anyway because Rean leaves them on the train to do do his missions with the original Class 7 and they've made up by the time they're back in the group.
• During Cold Steel III's finale, Alisa pulls out the third generation Orbal Gear after you control Rean and others in confrontation with Sharon and others. You'd think it would be a good chance to use the change mode command aside from increasing the party's combat advantages but noooo, it has to be kept until later for awesome dramatic moment.
  • Worse, in Cold Steel IV, it shows up as one of Alisa's crafts in-game and not something players could switch up with the Stance System as only Juna and Crow are allowed to use those, making the entire gimmick really pointless.
• Gaius showing his arm tattoo is said to be a tribal custom. However, in his Sen III artwork, he conceals the lower part of it using bandages.
  • : That's where his stigma is. He is now officially the 8th Dominion after taking Barkhorn's stigma.
• It's revealed in chapter 4 that the reason why Rean is mixed is because he has Osborne's heart becausee during the incident Rean's heart was pierced with a wood piece. Not considering the fact that Osborne is left with no heart, he actully thought that his heart is suitable to be transplanted to a 5-year-old child.
  • It can be explained by Magic A Is Magic A.
• Wait, how did Crow, Rutger, and Arianrhod form a triangle formation of sorts when both Crow and Rutger jumped from the same level and yet when all 3 are falling down, Rutger is away from Crow; and how did Arianrhod manage to catch up to them when she was at a higher floor?
• During the finale of Cold Steel I, why did Valimar listen to Celine when she says to retreat when Rean's the Awakener who is basically protesting that they shouldn't? She shouldn't be able to order Valimar especially since this Valimar is only using his preset configurations and it's only Valimar's day one activation.
  • I thought it was because it wasn't so "Valimar listen to Celine order", but "Valimar and Celine both understood that battle is lost, and now they agreed they should to save their fresh Awakener".
• So in Cold Steel IV, how in the world did they manage to choreograph the entire Arc-En-Ciel concert in less than a day that ended up being a crowd pleaser while Rean and his team were sneaking in at Orchis Tower? And with Vita and Bleublanc appearing out of nowhere while the concert was going on?
  • Pretty much? Elliot and Crow. They're shown planning the concert, which makes sense as both of them have experience working together to pull off concerts on short notice. Except unlike their concert in Cold Steel I? Elliot is now a fully trained musician, they don't have to worry about staying on top of school/field studies/terrorism at the same time, and they're working with a bunch of professional/trained performers instead of a group of novices like Class VII was. In fact, :Vita and Bleublanc showing up becomes Fridge Brilliance when you remember Crow insisting in Cold Steel I that every good show needs a surprise. There wasn't time to plan an encore number, but there was time to call up some divas he knew from his Noble Alliance/ILF days to make a surprise appearance.
• In Olivert and Schera's wedding, why are Class 7 the only ones wearing appropriate formal attire while the rest of the Liberl cast, the Crossbell cast, the Dominions barring Gaius, and Zin are wearing their normal clothes? Even Rixia's wearing her regular Stripperific casual outfit at a royal wedding.
  • Cassius and Julia get a free pass since military uniforms are acceptable formal wear. The Gralsritter members can get away with it since their outfits count as religious attire. As for the rest...there really is no excuse.
• Celine can transform into a Cat Girl at will and does so in public in one of her bonding events. How come none of the locals noticed the strange young girl with cat ears and a tail?
  • Actually, they do notice this in her first bonding event at Parm though she was already a Cat Girl when they notice her.
• Bleublanc is a wanted criminal in Erebonia, but he shows up on stage at the Arc-En-Ciel concert in full view of the audience (composed entirely of Imperial soldiers no less) without anyone batting an eye.
• Millium and Altina have the serial numbers Oz-73 and Oz-74. Alberich eventually confirms that this means they are the 73rd and 74th models of the Oz series homunculus. What happened to the other 72?
  • Probably failed prototypes who didn't meet expectations or just didn't work properly so they were probably disposed of.
• How exactly does Juna reload her gunbreakers anyway? Especially since she uses a lot of ammo for Gemini Blast.
  • She doesn't. Gunbreakers, just like the orbal guns, shoot orbal energy rather than bullets.