Oddity in the best ending *spoilers*

[Blazing Camp]

I never understood why Alenia and Zahhak were there either. The only way I can explain it is that they were their for redemptional reasons. Like showing that they really were'nt that evil at all. I agree whoever said that they were doing what they thought was best for Falena, it's just that in the end they became desperate to please Gizel (especially Alenia because she has some schoolgirl crush on Gizel and was jealous of Sialeeds) so they took the raging nostrum to somehow defeat the Prince who they beleived was a rebel.

It was a good ending though, OOC mabye but good. :P

[Agahnim]

I've had some time to reflect on this, having gone through the game myself, having watched a friend go through the game, and now being half way through my second playthrough I think I know why Alenia and Zahhak were there.

Foremostly, Zahhak and Alenia truly believed that what the Godwins wanted was what was best for Falena, and seemed to have taken a Machiavellian stance on a lot of their actions (the ends justifying the means); believing miltary strength and forced national unity to be the keys to a strong, unified nation. Additionally, Alenia really seemed to be blinded by her affections for Gizel Godwin, and thusly her disdain towards Sialeeds, and this all resulted in drastic efforts to do whatever was necessary to try and impress Gizel (I think its safe to assume that her disdain towards the Prince was her following the belief established by the Godwins that he was the leader of a rebel army bent on preventing Falenan strength and unity). Zahhak on the other hand, is related to the Godwin family (by blood), and is a Queen's Knight at the suggestion of the Godwins, so one would imagine that there would be a very strong tie between Zahhak and the Godwins, that would probably drive Zahhak to prove himself to them through whatever means necessary.

The other factor that I feel is easily one of the main reasons behind the attitudes and actions of Alenia and Zahhak, is the intoxication of the Sun Rune, that Marscal mentions very late in the game. It seems that you don't need to actually bear the Sun Rune to be intoxicated by its mental drain. It seems to me that there is a possiblity that Zahhak and Alenia might not have been as 'evil' as they appeared to be (perhaps Alenia's 'school girl' like behaviour at the Sacred Games was related to her being distracted from her reality as a result of being taken in by the Sacred Games, and therefor away from anything related to the Sun Rune) and if it were not for the Sun Rune, may have just been loyal Queen's Knights in favour of the Godwins, as opposed to being the type who would take Raging Nostrum to try and defend Gizel.

However, you could also argue that Salum Barows was under the intoxication of the Sun Rune, but he never seemed to be as close to or deeply related to the Sun Rune as the Godwins or Alenia and Zahhak were.
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"The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience."

[Rune hunter]

I also found the ending abit odd. I mean Mascral was trying to kill you a few minutes ago and now he's all buddy buddy with them? Does this mean the Prince forgave them for there actions?

[Dragonstar13]

To be honest, at the end of the game when I saw this, it felt like the end of a test.

I think Zahhak and Alenia, thought that the Prince would never be able to handle the hardships of ruling Felena. Especially if it meant going to war with other countries. To show how weak the royal family actually is, Godwin decided to try to invade by force. To have a an absolute strong country, they couldn't afford to be weak.
When the Dawn rune was stolen, this was probably shown as the last straw, to how weak the current Queen and King were. So they felt they needed to take some action quickly. If you talk to Zahhak, he'll disagree with how Ferid is so loose with his knights. Instead of demanding absolute loyalty, he'll allow them to speak their mind. So to Zahhak, this is a sign of weakness. Alenia always hated weakness, and why she believed in Godwin and Gizel. To her, they actually want to achieve the strong country, that she wants to see.
Now, understanding all that. When Alenia and Zahhak finally died, they realized they were wrong. The Prince is more the capable of protecting Felena, when push comes to shove. So the ending, could just symbolize they're happy you won. They threw everything at the Prince, including dirty tricks, but in the end the Prince still prevails. They know, and now understand Felena is going to be okay with a strong army they probably longed for. So this is my guess as to why they're placed there, instead of Barrows. Who may, or may have not actually learned his lesson, when he died. Although I'm not sure if Salum would of been as upset with the Prince, as Euram was, but considering Euram's reaction, Salum may have not been happy to see the Prince's Victory. Or maybe he would even try to trick him again. After all, in the first bad ending, he kills him.
This is just my theory. So as a thank-you from them, they all pour their powers, or whatever, to reviving Lyon.
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[Elzamine]

It's all speculation really.
I won't deny I did find it a bit odd when Zahhak and Alenia showed up, but that said, I found it odd when Marscal was there too.
They're all rather diverse characters though. Since you can easily argue both sides of their motive, regardless on what their thinking was, they were all going for the same goal, just not the best way about it.
As noted I think Salum was less concerned about Falena, and more concerned about what he could gain from it. As far as I'm concerned, he never showed interest other than his own gain, really. This would also explain why Childerich wasn't in the last scenes. He wasn't out to help Falena, he just liked to kill. If Gizel was going to give him the opportunity to do so, obviously he was going to take such, which he did. As far as I'm concerned, I imagine Childerich would have killed Gizel if the opportunity and benefit arose, really.
I still feel like Zahhak and Alenia are out of place somehow, but I can at least see some sort of reasoning behind it. Really if it's all about reviving Lyon, the more people, the better.
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-My DeviantArt-