Olwen

"No matter the pain it might cause me, I have made my decision. Not even your words could sway me, my brother."

- Olwen to Reinhardt in Thracia 776

Olwen (オルエン Oruen) is a playable character from Fire Emblem: Thracia 776. She is the eighteen-year-old younger sister of Reinhardt, whom she initially admires. She leads a reconnaissance squad in the Friege army.

Profile
Olwen makes her first appearance in Chapter 10 of Thracia 776 when she and her subordinate, Fred, are working on surveillance duty at Noel Canyon. In their scene with Largo, it is revealed that Olwen has a strong dislike for Kempf, who despises her out of envy towards Reinhardt. When Noel Canyon is attacked by Leif's army, Olwen and Fred fight against them for a short while, but eventually decide to leave in order to ask Kempf for reinforcements.

At the start of Chapter 11, Olwen requests reinforcements from Kempf, who points out her failure to identify the enemy army that attacked Noel Canyon. Once Kempf openly shows his disregard for Largo's life, she speaks out against him in shock. After he taunts her and claims that Reinhardt's greatest skill is seducing women, Olwen attacks Kempf out of anger, causing him to label her as a traitor. Following her imprisonment in Dandrum Fortress, Kempf reveals that he intentionally provoked her in hopes of removing Reinhardt from his position. He also uses Olwen as a hostage to force Fred to fight against Leif's army to the death.

In her cell, Olwen finds several children. Upon learning that they were captured in the child hunts, she becomes horrified by the actions of her country. She is later rescued by Fred, and reveals that she now doubts their cause. Fred advises her to join Leif's army alongside him, which she agrees to after hearing that Leif's ideals are similar to her own.

In Chapter 16A, Olwen asks Leif to allow her to approach Kempf in order to provoke him. If she speaks to Kempf during the chapter, she points out his cowardice and inability to compare to her brother. Her words deeply anger Kempf, causing him to abandon his strategic position of defense that he had been ordered to remain at.

During the battle against Reinhardt in Chapter 22, Olwen can speak to him. In their conversation, she reveals that she has chosen her own path of standing against the Grannvale Empire, with her reason being her opposition to the child hunts. She also receives the Blessed Sword from Reinhardt as a parting gift.

After the war, Olwen returns to Friege and contributes in its reconstruction. It is mentioned that whenever she remembers Reinhardt, she becomes infuriated by how pitiful he was. She also marries Fred, who is surprisingly ordinary, much unlike her brother.

Growth Rates

 * 50%
 * 40%
 * 45%
 * 55%
 * 50%
 * 70%
 * 15%
 * 10%
 * 1%
 * }

Supports
Supports
 * Fred - 10%
 * Reinhardt - 10%

Supported by
 * Leif - 10%
 * Reinhardt - 10%

Overall
Olwen has below average stats especially for a second tier unit. However, this is partially balanced out by her good growths, in addition to the personal weapons she receives throughout the game, Dire Thunder and the Blessed Sword. Compared to Ilios, Olwen loses in almost every single survivability category: He has higher average HP, Speed, Luck, and Defense, but Olwen does have higher Magic, which is also treated as Resistance in Thracia 776. Couple this with two powerful skills for surviving, Sol and Miracle, he proves to most definitely be the tougher of the two. He also, usually, has both higher Skill and Strength compared to Olwen, yet, because of the existence of her personal weapons, she is still arguably a better fighter, due to the Brave-weapon like effect that is on each of them. She also has a Pursuit Coefficient of 4, the second highest available in the game, as compared to Ilios's 0, making it impossible for him to ever score a critical hit on his second attack without Wrath, however her mediocre speed, and Dire Thunder means she has less chance to score a second attack, even against the underpowered enemies in this game. She has two supports options, compared to Ilios's zero. Though, she starts out with lower weapon ranks, this is somewhat made up for by her two personal weapons, which she will always be able to wield.

In order to make full use of Olwen, you need to spend a few resources on her. Ambush has a solid synergy with Dire Thunder and you can give her some Holy Water to temporarily patch up her offense if she is not in a position to kill any given enemy  with the first two hits of Dire Thunder. Due to her natural frailty and middling accuracy, she is a natural candidate for the Dain and Odo scrolls, and is actually among the best candidates for the later. The Hezul and Heim scrolls can be useful as well, because the former boosts her durability and the latter helps her consistently level her magic stat. She can also make decent use of the Fala scroll, as all of its boosts will help her, if only marginally. Should the player choose to Olwen, it would be a good idea to give her the Skill Ring from Chapter 15 so she can hit reliably with Dire Thunder. Few units could benefit from its effects more than the fragile but powerful Olwen.

Ultimately, Olwen and Ilios are somewhere near each other in usability on average, with the player's preference for a more offensive unit in Olwen, as compared to a more safe one like Ilios, being the deciding factor. Also note, it is slightly easier to remedy many of Olwen's weaknesses due to being available for more levels before her cap, due to the Crusader Scrolls being usable for more levels. Remember, you have to pick between Olwen and Ilios, so choose carefully.

Olwen's support rating with Reinhardt is a bit of an anomaly. Though Reinhardt (in classic Camus Archetype fashion) is unrecruitable, they still give one another +10% to hit and evade.

SpotPass
*Enemy only, joins unequipped

Description

 * Blue Mage Knight
 * A mage knight in Friege's army. Her ideals sometimes puts her in opposition with her beloved brother, Reinhardt. Appears in Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.

Base Stats
Rarity: ✯✯✯✯✯

Paralogue 2-2 - Siblings of Thunder
Rarity:


 * Normal


 * Hard

Thracia 776
"Not...in a place like...this... Rein...hardt..."

- Olwen's death quote in Thracia 776.

Heroes

 * Olwen/Heroes Quotes

Possible Endings
Olwen - The Blue Mage Knight (青の魔道騎士 Ao no Madō Kishi)
 * After the war, Olwen returned to the Frieges' land and contributed to its reconstruction. Whenever she remembered her brother Reinhardt, she burned with anger at his pitifulness. Perhaps because of that, the man whom she married was surprisingly ordinary.

Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)
Olwen is illustrated in the trading card game with the following cards:

Etymology
Olwen is the name of a character from the Welsh myth Culhwch ac Olwen. Her name means "white footprint," as it is said that white lilies would grow where she stepped. In the myth, she is courted by and eventually married to Culhwch, a cousin of King Arthur.

Trivia

 * The Paladin in Olwen's SpotPass team in Fire Emblem Awakening represents her subordinate, Fred.