The Banner Saga Trilogy

On the weight of leadership and shouldering three games’ worth of consequences

- CHRIS SCHILLING

The world is ending. And this time we’re not experiencing the desolate aftermath. No, this time we’re present while it’s all kicking off. Humanity is on the brink as the Dredge, towering golem-like creatures with thick stone armor, continue their relentless advance. Humans have formed an uneasy truce with the Varl, a race of horned giants mighty in size and strength but not in number. Both come together under the titular banner, a red flag that flies proudly at the head of your caravan as you set out to seek shelter. At first, it feels like a symbol of defiance: one (possibly final) act of rebellion, a futile surge of rage against the dying of the light. But by the third episode, it feels ever more like a blood-streaked memorial to the many clansmen, fighters, and Varl you’ve lost along the way. Most games that put you in charge of a group of people ask you what kind of leader you’d be. During The Banner Saga trilogy, you find yourself asking a very different question in return: who’d be a leader?

Who indeed? The weight of the world is visible in the weathered, lined and haggard faces of these characters, particularly those who’ve most lived up to their creators’ name. The burden weighs visibly heavy on Rook, a reluctant leader whose journey spans all three episodes – in our story, at least. It’s there in his greying hair and beard, already a little ragged during the first game. From the start of the second, he wears a thousand-yard stare, with good reason. At the climax of the first, you’re given the choice between Rook and his daughter Alette to fire a magic arrow to finish off a seemingly invincible Dredge named Bellower. But that choice has fatal consequences for the shooter. (Alette’s youthful looks don’t seem nearly so badly affected by comparison, though her mien is inevitably more careworn after her father dies.)