Decoy

"Sometimes victory on a battlefield requires that someone you care about make a sacrifice. But parting with one comrade may be the only way to meet another. You need to accept your losses in life and move forward."

- A villager in the prologue of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

The decoy is a unit chosen by the player to be sacrificed during the final chapter of the prologue of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon in order to progress in the game. The option is only available in Normal Mode, as the prologue is automatically skipped in Hard Mode.

During this chapter, after Gordin has been recruited, the main force of Gra, accompanied by the Sable Order of Knights, arrives in pursuit of the escaping Altean prince. Their chances of routing them or slipping away being all but impossible, Malledus suggests to Marth that they leave someone behind at the southern fortress, disguised as the prince, in order to lure the Gra force away. If Gordin was killed instead, the player is not forced to make this decision. The player is allowed to sacrifice one of Jagen, Abel, Cain, Frey or Gordin, while Marth alone is exempt (although an extra scene in the Event Recap can be unlocked if the player attempts to sacrifice Marth). After sacrificing one of them, the one that was chosen will not be playable again for the duration of the game.

The canon sacrifice was speculated to be Frey because he was never playable in the earlier games, Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi or Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo and is also absent in the harder modes of difficulty of Shadow Dragon. This was later confirmed in Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo ~Hikari to Kage no Eiyū~, the remake of Monshō no Nazo, where it was revealed that Frey had indeed sacrificed himself in order to let Marth escape to Talys safely. Miraculously, he survived despite being gravely injured and was able to reunite with Marth at the end of the War of Darkness. Subsequently, he became an instructor of new recruits for the Altean army.

Interestingly, the Aum Staff cannot be used to revive the decoy unit, although all other playable units that were killed in the prologue can be brought back to life. Since Frey, who was the canon sacrifice, had survived though, it can be assumed that the Aum Staff couldn’t work because the decoy had not actually been killed by the enemy.

Decoy
"I won’t fail you."

- Spoken by the selected character

Marth the Decoy?
"No, sire! Get back here! One of your other men must take that position!"

- Malledus chiding Marth

Jagen
"Heh, these old bones are still good for something. Farewell, my prince. Live, and grow strong…"

- Jagen’s farewell quote

Cain
"Glory to Altea, land of my birth! Farewell, sire! Fortune protect you…"

- Cain’s farewell quote

Abel
"Good… Altea’s hope is restored. Farewell, sire. Fortune protect you…"

- Abel’s farewell quote

Frey
"Count this knight honored to die in the service of his prince. Live, sire, and grow strong…"

- Frey’s farewell quote

Gordin
"I was dead anyway till you came, sire… If I’m to die again, at least let me die for you. Fortune protect you, sire…"

- Gordin’s farewell quote