tersius wrote:anybody else struggling to get past the guillotine scene?
Which release are you playing? One release from many months ago had extremely poor programming on my part so that you literally COULD NOT escape the guillotine unless you'd won the Razor Halberd by reaching the end of the first arena challenge before Beatrice, or had gotten a lucky random drop of a short Hand Axe. But again, that was quite some time ago.
Otherwise, in later releases, you should have no trouble breaking Alanna free as long as you equip her with the best weapon she has. I think anything less than a Tiny Dagger would do it... but then again, it may depend on what level you've gotten her to. If her ATK is too low, there's not much you can do. Just remember that equipping a LoinCloth of some sort or another will boost her ATK also.