Valkyria: Azure Revolution – The Reveal of “The Circle of Five”?

I would like to begin this article by pointing our readers to a particular image from the title art of Valkyria: Azure Revolution.

Here lie the “circle of five”, whose vengeful actions brought forth an inferno of war. With their execution, the blood of the brave legions is redeemed, and a just peace born. They rest eternally in the land of their birth, by the grace of the Holy Mother.

This was initially presented to us as something without context, but with the reveal of four new characters, the plot just got a little more interesting.

Introducing the Five Grand Criminals. They are a group who is identified within the mythology of Azure Revolution as coming to posses great power (in some form or another) during the war against the Rus Empire. One of the five is Amleth, the main character who is renowned for his combat ability.

The rest of the five all acquired a name for various forms of non-military power.

Suleiman Kahlenberg, a man of numbers and stoic composure, for his political skill and influence in government. Basil Sabanci. Basil Sabanci, a man with a charming and disarming personality (and very intense taste in fashion,) who inherits a factory from his stepfather and uses the money from the company he grew to success to finance war against Rus. Fleet Ericksen, a man with a soft demeanor who assumes a position of power within news media as a voice to influence public sentiment. Violet Szand, a spy who uses her good looks to acquire intelligence for the Five, and whom also fabricates information for the enemy so that Jutland Kingdom can profit from it.

If we refer back to the quote from the title card, it seems history after the Revolution paints the Five in a negative light. It would also suggest that Amleth’s existence was erased (whether by death, or simply not being able to live in the public eye.) Why does a group that purportedly fought on behalf of the Jutland Kingdom receive such disdain from its historians?

Because the Five instigated a war with the Rus Empire all the while plotting some sort of act of treason against the Jutland princess, Ophelia. But the next question is – if they acquired so much power during the course of the Revolution, how did they come to lose it? Especially the social and political power from the media and government. How did the Jutland Kingdom come to turn against the Five? And how close is Amleth to the other Five?

Names, images, and profile descriptions are from this Siliconera article.