- [Opening Lines]
- Shulk: Long ago, the world was nothing more than an endless sea cloaked in a boundless sky, reaching as far as could possibly be imagined. Then two great titans came into existence: the Bionis and the Mechonis. The titans were locked in a timeless battle. Until at last... only their lifeless corpses remained. Eons have passed. Now our world, this vast land stretching across the remains of the Bionis, is under attack from a relentless force known as the Mechon.
- Egil: Why didn't you do it? Killing me would have saved your world.
- Shulk: I've forgotten all about that.
- Egil: Forgotten about it?
- Shulk: I realised that we both share the same pain. Egil, I don't have any reason to kill you.
- Egil: Even if you do not, I still do!
- Shulk: I know. But I won't do it.
- Egil: If you do not kill me now, my blade will annihilate every last one of your people. Even then?
- Shulk: I can't kill you, but I can stop your blade. And I'll do it. Over and over again, until... we understand each other.
- Alvis: Do you wish to change it? The future. It is every man's desire to change the future. Is that not so? Even if everything was predestined, will you not oppose it?
- Shulk: In my head, there are two versions of me. One of them is saying that. It's telling me, 'Listen to what Dunban said.'
- Reyn: What about the other one?
- Shulk: It keeps shouting, 'Make them pay!' 'Destroy every single one of them!' And it won't stop getting louder.
- Reyn: That doesn't sound like you. Sure it ain't my voice in there?
- Shulk: Might be! It's a bit of a loudmouth!
- Reyn: There you go then!
- [Shulk and Reyn laugh]
- Dunban: Shulk. How are you holding up?
- Shulk: I'm fine. But... you...
- Dunban: I will shed no tears.
- Shulk: Huh?
- Dunban: A year ago, I felt the same sense of deep loss that I do now.
- Shulk: The Battle of Sword Valley.
- Dunban: After that battle, many of my friends did not make it home. While I was being brought here on that stretcher, they were all I thought about. But I decided I would not cry. Everyone who died in that war had something they wanted to protect. Family, friends, loved ones, their home... So they fought to protect them. And we won. No matter how painful, no matter how hard, it's nothing to be sad about... I decided that there and then.
- Shulk: Dunban!
- Dunban: Shulk, Fiora would tell you the same thing. She wanted to protect us. Or rather, she wanted to protect you. And you're alive now. So I will not cry.
- Shulk: OK.
- Dunban: Remember the gift of life that Fiora gave you, and treasure it.
- Shulk: I... I can't say that I understand. But... I hope to, someday.
- Dunban: That is all I ask. Believe me, I am always just trying to understand.
- Zanza: You did a great deed in granting me a new Monado. I will gladly take you as my new disciple, Shulk.
- Shulk: Never! I don't wanna be your vessel or your disciple! I just want to live my life as a Homs. In a world without you!
- Zanza: That is most regrettable. You could have entrusted all to me and attained peace. But perhaps the vision of mortals will ever remain limited. Using one's power to change the world. That is a right possessed only by gods.
- Shulk: Is that why you laid waste to Mechonis?
- Zanza: Of course. Along with the beings called Machina, who followed Meyneth. They had evolved and become insolent under her protection.
- Reyn: So you're saying us Homs are next in line, eh?
- Zanza: You are correct. You yourselves have proven that Homs are a dangerous species. How unfortunate. I had a desire for friendship. But granting intelligence to the lives I created was a mistake. A god should not long for friendship.
- Shulk: You're wrong! Meyneth chose to exist alongside us! She grew to consider us her friends. You should have accepted that! But what you were hoping for was not friendship. You wanted worthless slaves. Our lives as food!
- Zanza: Just as I suspected. It appears that I was mistaken to grant free will. However, all will soon be over. The Telethia will exterminate all life on Bionis. I will then create a new world! Just as I have done many times before!
- Zanza: Do it! Kill him! Kill him!
- Shulk: That voice. Who is that?
- Zanza: Strike him down!
- Shulk: I will. I'll kill him. A thousand times.
- Zanza: Yes! Finish him! End it! It is what you want!
- Shulk: Yes. I want to. I'll kill him. For Fiora. For the Emperor. For my home!
- Alvis: You must find your Monado. Are you ready?
- [Shulk experiences a series of flashbacks of the violence between Homs and Mechon he has experienced throughout his journey and comes to his senses, rejecting Zanza's influence over him.]
- Shulk: No! This isn't what I want!
- Dunban: What is it, Shulk?
- Shulk: It's about the Monado. I'd like to ask your permission to use it a little longer.
- Dunban: Why ask me?
- Shulk: The Monado was your sword. But... I need it to achieve my goal. So...
- Dunban: Don't sweat it. You are far more skillful at wielding that thing than I ever was. Keep it. It's yours. Besides, I have a new sword. That old coot had the decency to forge this for me. I owe it to him to make the most of it!
- Shulk: Dunban...
- Dunban: You've fought your way this far. That is proof enough the Monado has accepted you. Don't take my word for it. Believe in yourself, Shulk.
- Shulk: Believe in myself?
- Dunban: Never lying down, never giving up. That's our pride and strength as Homs. And we have to make sure those metal monsters know it.
- Shulk: You're right!
- Reyn: A vision again? Don't tell me, another death?
- Shulk: Yeah.
- Reyn: I knew it. The Shulk I know doesn't just chicken out for any old reason.
- Sharla: This vision... Was it like before?
- Shulk: Kind of. I saw an underground ether river. And Otharon...
- Reyn: An ether river. You know what? That sword lets you see the future. All that power and you still keep getting it wrong.
- Shulk: Better to use my brain than my fists.
- Reyn: Shulk, I may rush in head first, but at least my head's useful for something.
- Shulk: OK, OK. I get the idea.
- Reyn: I ain't done yet! You're useless on your own, Shulk. That's why we're here.
- Shulk: Reyn, I...
- Reyn: Next time you have a vision, you tell us. We bear the burden together, as a team. You have a vision you don't like, we'll change the future together. Got it?
- Shulk: Got it.