"Long ago, the gods granted their favor to King Raithwall, who would oversee the subjugation of a territory spanning from Ordalia to Valendia. Here he forged the Galtean Alliance."

—Ashe

King Raithwall (覇王レイスウォール, Ha-Ō Reisuwōru^?) is a historical figure in Final Fantasy XII. He was Ivalice's first Dynast King, and is the ancestor of Princess Ashe.

StoryEdit

"Many were the countries and kingdoms dotting Ivalice, and many were the wars waged in this time. Legend says that Raithwall, a noble from a small country in Valendia, was granted a sword and magicite from the gods, and with these artifacts, a mission: to unify the land. His strategic genius and deep empathy with his people were evident in his rule of Valendia, and from there he went on to take control of the remaining two continents. Soon all Ivalice belonged to the Galtean Alliance, and a Golden Age had begun. Now king of all he surveyed, Raithwall's was a benevolent and just reign, guiding the Alliance for near half a century. After his death, the Alliance held firm and knew peace and prosperity for four hundred years until its dissolution with the passing of the last of Raithwall's direct descendants."

—The Age of King Raithwall, Sage Knowledge

King Raithwall lived centuries before the events of the main game, a nobleman from a small country in the Valendian continent. The gods of Ivalice saw the potential in this king, and gave him the Treaty Blade, which would later become the Sword of Kings. With this, he traveled to the Pharos at Ridorana where he cut three shards of nethicite from the Sun-Cryst.

These shards were the Dawn Shard, Dusk Shard, and Midlight Shard. Using these three shards, he ruled Valendia and successfully united it with the other continents, Ordalia and Kerwon, into the Galtean Alliance. His rule was a great one, and he became known as Ivalice's first Dynast King.

During his rule, he gave his Treaty Blade to the Gran Kiltias of the time. It is unknown why he gave the blade to the Kiltia sect, but the Gran Kiltias did not question his motives, and sealed the blade in the Stilshrine of Miriam. At some point he also defeated the Esper Belias.

Eventually, King Raithwall died, most likely of natural causes. He was buried in a tomb, located in the Nam-Yensa Sandsea, with the Dawn Shard. In order to make sure no one could steal the Dawn Shard, Belias guards the tomb and continues to do so until the player party arrives and bests the Gigas in battle.

TriviaEdit

• Raithwall's back story is fairly similar to that of Dorgalua Oberyth from Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, which was also directed by Yasumi Matsuno and shares other similarities with the Ivalice Alliance. Like Raithwall, Dorgalua Oberyth unified the war-torn Valerian Isles under his rule, and would later be crowned the "Dynast King".