
File of Lodoss Struggle: The Crown of the Covenant GN 1-3
The legendary fantasy epic The Original Record of Lodoss War follows multiple groups of explorers as they fight to protect their war-torn country from threats ranging from terrible emperors to dark gods. In contrast, the plot of The Crown of the Covenant revolves around a single family: the Marmo royal line. Since these characters are the direct descendants of the main characters in the Record of the Lodoss War, Spark and Little Neese, we are immediately drawn to them. As they travel the island, we also get to witness the effects of the new war on the various Lodoss nations in terms of politics, religion, psychology, and the economy.
This is a story that considers the nuances of life and history rather than pitting good against evil. Lodoss is a broken place where a mystical calm is maintained. Despite the absence of conflict, this does not imply that nations have not cooperated for increased wealth for all. Instead, the various kingdoms can disregard diplomacy and take advantage of one another whenever they can without worrying about the possibility of conflict breaking out.
Although Flaim has undoubtedly suffered the most from the enforced calm, King Diaz is using this as a handy justification. He thinks that Lodoss will benefit from being unified under his leadership, and in all honesty, he might be correct. His actual reasons, meanwhile, are just those of a young guy driven by ego and a desire for power. Propaganda, war, and rewritten history: he will stop at nothing to get his way. The secret, though, is that he underestimates the average man and believes that the people of Lodoss, not the governing class, would determine whether or not he becomes the king of all the lands. This brings us to Lyle, our main character.
The Crown of the Covenant is thematically about the influence legends have on people’s hearts. Lyle is all too familiar with this. He is resolved to be the kind of upright guy Parn was because he has spent years dreaming about the exploits of Parn and the others. He thinks Diaz’s conflict will not bring the island together; rather, it will be the resurgence of Deedlit.
However, he learns from meeting Deedlit that she cannot motivate the populace on her own. The legend of the Knight of Lodoss AND the Eternal Maiden is told, not only that of the “Eternal Maiden.” Even if Deedlit may still exist, someone must assume Parn’s role and become the next Knight of Lodoss in order for the legend to start over. Even though Lyle is prepared to take on this position, he recognizes the power of the legend he is creating for what it really is: anyone can become The Knight of Lodoss if he can, or perhaps better said, anyone can. And that is this story’s potent lesson. It may only take one person to stand up and do what is right for others to follow suit.
I can’t think of anything at all unfavorable to say about these three volumes, either in terms of presentation or story. The artwork is competent and reliable even though it isn’t the most incredibly detailed. Even more effective is the way the panels are framed and how visual storytelling is used to draw attention to the story’s most poignant moments. In the meantime, the narrative forges its own route while replete with references to earlier Record of Lodoss War incidents. The only thing that bothers me about the story right now is that it ends with this first act. For now, Ryo Mizuno is the only one who knows about the rest. Hopefully, it will change in the future.