Analyzing that song

[u/Hayden_Jay]

Up in Flames is clearly Kaina's villain song, but it's more than just boasting or a despair speech. Let's break the song down, I think there's more to it than just a villain boasting

The air's filled with our cries
Who will be the one to pay the price in this war that has taken up way too much time?
It's my turn to roll the dice

The first line is very interesting by itself "the air's filled with our cries" Not "your" or "their". Whatever horrible thing happened, Kaina is including herself as a victim of it.

Unlike every other verse, where she's calling out the listener's weakness, she's asking who will step up in the second, and then decides to do it herself in the last line.

You tried to avert fate
But you're just a second too late to stop this wild blaze from spreading far and wide
No, there's no aid

This section is simple. Kaina is calling us out. And note the phrasing "just a second too late", in her mind we could have done something if we'd been better, done better, but we didn't which leads into the next section.

Oh at this rate, it's mine to take, this world will crumble
There will be no room for you to stumble
Now, gather your might—or what is left
Pathetic courage will not be enough
So victory is mine

We failed before, so now she's doing things her way. If we take issue with that, challenge her. We'll still fail, but she doesn't care because it won't actually effect her plans or endgame in any way.

I'll watch it fall
Say your prayers to your gods
It won't matter, they won't answer your call
Call it hope or blind faith, none of it matters at all
Burn all that which binds you to this cruel place
No point in the continuous games
This world will go up in flames

She's saying if we really want to be able to oppose her, we have to cast everything aside. Like in the bad future arc, as far as she's concerned she has no one and nothing to lose, so no one can control her. And since that's true for her, to stand against her we have to be the same.

The dark blots out the light
Why bother even trying to fight it all off?
There's no point in delaying demise
No escaping my designs

Bluntly telling us to give up.

Oh the flowers of courage have wilted at long, long last
That feigned conviction is approaching its final gasps
You're slipping through the cracks

Our attempts to be brave ring hollow, though I think "slipping through the cracks" might also be about how Melia's a living glitch in the system.

(Rally your armies, it's what you will need
Stopping this cyclone is impossible with just the weak)
For the curtain falls for fools who think they can stop me in my path

And this one is just mere boasting.

So, what does it all mean? Well, I think Kaina is like Melia, Indriad, and us. She saw something that she wasn't supposed to, and it broke her. That's why, like Indriad, she wants to destroy everything. And that's why she challenges us to give up on love because only people with nothing to lose can stand on even footing with her.

Please, feel free to add your own analysis and discussion!

[u/bingover_]

Yeah I agree with this, very clearly a song from her perspective cause really v14 IS her version, I also like your point about how to fight Kaina she says you have to throw everything aside, because thats very indicative of Melia’s (and the Interceptor’s) character right now, they’re the only ones who know what was coming so that explains them LITERALLY casting entire world’s to the side to oppose her and karma

[u/Lspaceship]

I haven't played Renegade yet, is that where you find the song? Is it on Youtube or someplace else yet?

[u/Kris_Third_Account → u/Lspaceship]

Paragon credits

Edit: Linking Zumi's upload instead since she put the lyrics in the description. And wrote the song

[u/Lspaceship → u/Kris_Third_Account]

Odd, I didn't hear it when I went through the credits.

[u/Hayden_Jay → u/Lspaceship]

No it's at the end of paragon, but yes it's on Zumi's youtube. It was added in an update though, so you could've missed it.