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themisteriousentity · 6 months

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"Golden Deer is boring though it's lackluster, the characters aren't as strong as the other paths there's less conflict-"

You fool. You absolute buffon. Golden Deer is perfectly designed. Not only does it feed into the whole "alliance" theme well by having the characters still work together despite their differences and feelings well before hitting those A supports, but it's ALSO the only route that actually puts the focus on YOU the player. Or, rather, Byleth themself

Black Eagle is about whether or not you can agree to Edelgard's ideals of acceptable sacrifice and perspective that there's only 1 way to do things. The branching happens when you decide whether or not you agree, but ultimately it just explores opposing or agreeing with Edelgard. Anything more than that is really just incidental to that main concept, whether it's Crimson Flower or Silver Snow, the entire time you're focused either on helping Edelgard achieve her goals or you're focused on showing her how wrong she is alongside the Black Eagles who think it's their duty to correct Edelgard's wrongs (and I have a whole separate thing in regards to how the cast acts in Crimson Flower verses Silver Snow). It works really well for characters designed around an empire, a domineering form of government where (usually) a singular ruler determines the course and focus

Blue Lions is focused entirely on working on past issues and learning to bring yourself into the present, but it's done almost entirely through the cast more than the player. The Blue Lions themselves all have their own traumas and deep-seated past issues that hinder or help progress. While both Blue Lions and Black Eagles have a lot in common when it comes to traumatized characters and ideology, the ideology is front and center, while in Boue Lions, their interpersonal conflicts are front and center. This shows especially in the final (non romance) scene, where Dimitri decides that his personal attachment to Edelgard and past memories still matter, and he reaches out a hand, despite her immediately trying to kill him. It's fitting for a route designed around a kingdom, which is usually built entirely on interpersonal dealings between the ruling class

Golden Deer, however, is designed very differently. Unlike the other 3 routes, the player, or more specifically Byleth, is put as the driving force instead of the Lord. And this is actually what makes Golden Deer such a good route and one with the best ending of all of them. Claude has ideals, but he isn't a person who wants to force others to follow his path like Edelgard. Claude has lived a life of strife where his past motivates him, but it doesn't chain him the same way it does Dimitri. Instead, he works on understanding everyone around him and working together towards agreed upon goals, while taking on stuff that isn't agreed upon onto himself. But more than that, while all the Lord's value your opinion, Claude is the only one who actually takes what Byleth wants (rather than just what they think about specific matters) into consideration for his plans. Repeatedly you tell Seteth in Silver Snow that you don't want to kill Edelgard, but he pushes that you have no choice. Pretty much the entire first half of Azure Moon is Dimitri ignoring you. And in Crimson Flower, you've all but completely submitted to Edelgard's will with a couple of exceptions (which actually proves my point because it's specifically in regards to the Golden Deer because you can fight the entirety of Crimson Flower while sparing all of them except for Judith). But in Verdant Wind, Claude doesn't hide that he has a problem with the church and wants Rhea gone. In Golden Wildfire, without Byleth, he's more than happy to just get rid of her without a second thought. But when Byleth is the protagonist, he goes out of his way to accommodate your wants into his plans and goals. When you express as the player that you want to reason with Edelgard and ponder if you can't walk the same path, Claude agrees with you and says he'll make it happen if he can, with the other Golden Deer mostly agreeing. When that,can't happen you both lament the fact that Edelgard gave you no choice together. He makes finding Rhea a priority, mostly because as curious as he is in general, he wants to help you find out answers only Rhea can give you. And all of the Golden Deer do this to some extent, with each other but also with you as the player. I think Hilda and Marianne's A supports with Byleth show this best personally, but that's a personal opinion. And it just works so well for a route designed around the idea of an alliance, people coming together and agreeing to work towards a goal bigger than themselves

And that's not to say the other routes aren't as good as Golden Deer, they're all equally well written, but it just makes me sad when I see people giving the Golden Deer route grief just because the characters aren't the same when it does its theme so beautifully

#fire emblem three houses #fe3h #claude von riegan #claude fe3h #golden deer #byleth eisner #byleth fe3h #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #edelgard von hresvelg #blue lions #black eagles #crimson flower #silver snow #azure moon #verdant wind #edelgard fe3h #dimitri fe3h

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moltz23 · 5 months

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Did a Potential Overhaul in the Post-Timeskip Cutscenes mess up with 3H's Development? - Development Mystery/Theory

Back in 2021, Nintendo released a video called Fire Emblem : Vol 1 to celebrate the franchise's 30th anniversary. And around 30:35, the video shows the 3H Movie "Rematch", used for Chapter 17 of the Azure Moon and Verdant Wind routes.

With a catch.

It's not the same one that ended up on the final game:

A glimpse into an alternate reality?

People went wild back when they noticed Edelgard and Claude in this version are using the outfits of their Emperor & Barbsrossa classes rather than the Armored Lord and Wyvern Master ones seen in the game we got, leading to much speculation surrounding what this meant for Three Houses. And it goes without saying that, while unseen, fans suspect that Dimitri uses his Great Lord outfit rather than the High Lord's in this version. So... The heck is up with this movie???

Well, as uncovered by VincentASM from sereneforest.net, it's highly likely this take of the movie shown in the promotional Nintendo/FE video is from an early build of the game. A build so early, that Edelgard skin and eyes were more saturated, and characters still didn't use unique palettes when using generic classes (which was incidentally used in February's JP Nintendo Direct of 2019).

Your call as for which version looks better.

It doesn't just end there though; if Three Houses' datamine is anything to go by - namely, the internal order the classes have in the code - we can find evidence that can answer why the endgame lord classes were used in this variation rather than the "middle ones" early on: simply put, Armored Lord, High Lord, and Wyvern Master did not exist during most of 3H' development. In turn, this explains why the Flame Emperor Class - Edelgard's enemy-only class for Part 1 - is internally, a model swap of her Emperor class rather than Armored Lord's: the latter didn't exist during development of Part 1, so Emperor was used as a base instead.

With this evidence uncovered and the answer giving resolution to the promotional footage shown, hopes waned down for the future of 3H, and everyone moved on.

This raises two questions I haven’t seen anyone point out before, though.

How much (if any) did this change mess up the post-timeskip movies? Is it the reason why the Silver Snow Theorem happened?

To explain these inquiries further, I'll go into greater detail about each one:

1. Two Types of Animated Movies.

Corporate needs you to find the differences between these two pictures.

Three Houses uses 2 types of animated movies for important scenes. The first one (see the one on the left), was done in-house by KT through pre-rendering shenanigans with the 3H engine. Meanwhile, the second one (on the right) was outsourced to SANZIGEN.

The distinction between both is relevant because the movie showcased in the FE Castle Conversations video - as well its final version - belong to the former category. Meaning that, should the character designs get tweaked during development, in the best case scenario, as far IS & KT were concerned, swapping models should be enough to keep things up to date, which might as well be what happened with the "Rematch" movie once the House Leader's main post-timeskip designs were swapped.

But what about tweaking the other type of movies, though? The ones commissioned to the animation studio? I can't imagine the whole process being cheap in their case, more so given that 8 out of the 11 movies commissioned to SANZIGEN feature the 3H lords post-timeskip:

What's important here is that ☆ = Doesn't feature any 3H lord in any capacity.

Granted, the smartest course of action in this instance would've been to simply commission the post-timeskip movies near the end of development to avoid consistency/revision issues, for which there is a plausible chance that’s the case. After all, in the E3 2018 trailer for the game - which was the first instance we ever saw footage of it - the only animated movie outsourced seen was the one from the intro.

But... What if that’s not the case?

Call me paranoid if you want, but I raise this worry for a reason-

2. "The Theorem of What?????"

Love this banner so much.

A few months ago I did a breakdown on how 3H distributes it's movies across routes, and if there's anything that stood up a ton besides the predictable stuff, is that the game followed a clear pattern which determined which routes would get the most movies, versus which ones would get screwed instead. In my breakdown, I coined this pattern "The Silver Snow Theorem" which proposes the following:

"The amount of movies and fullscreen CGs present in a route’s main story by Part 2, is directly and inversely proportional respectively, to how much the narrative follows Silver Snow’s story beats."

And as a refresher, Silver Snow matters to the development of Three Houses because: A. That's the first route the developers worked on; and B. was used as the basis for the other 3:

Which route specifically did you create in the beginning to establish the world-building? Kusakihara: It was one of the two paths in the Empire route—the one fans refer to as the “church route”: “Silver Snow” [...] afterwards, we had Koei Tecmo’s scripting team start work on the nitty-gritty of the other house leaders and the story of their respective routes.

While Silver Snow having this much influence over the Part 2 movies is noticeable in hindsight, truth be told, I did initially brush it off as just a side effect of being used as a template for development. Looking back now though, a part of me now wonders if the Part 2 movies were first commissioned once Silver Snow was late into development and AM and VW had been already decided to borrow a ton from the route’s first half. Because if that’s the case, then there might have been cutscenes outsourced to SANZIGEN that did feature Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude with their second post-timeskip lord classes rather than one ones fans are most familiar with.

But then, it was decided during development that the house leaders would rather use different outfits instead. And this might have caused problems with budget since changing those outsourced cutscenes ain’t an easy task compared to the ones KT made in-house.

Like, seriously.

Goes without saying that all this is merely conjecture. But I feel it’s worth making the question because, to reiterate, the Silver Snow Theorem highlights that the more a route follows Silver Snow’s story beats to a tee, the more animated cutscenes (and less CGs) it gets. And given evidence points out the lord’s main post-timeskip classes fans are familiar with were a late addition… I guess y’all know where I’m going by now.

I usually don’t make threads focusing on fan theories and stuff, but this has been in my mind for a long while so I wanted to see what you guys think about it. Do you think more movies with the lord’s 2nd classes got made before the outfit swap was made? Or perhaps the issue the devs ran with that caused the Silver Snow Threorem might be due to something else entirely…? Also, what's y'all's opinion on SANZIGEN's movies compared to the ones done by KT?

#fire emblem #fe3h #fire emblem 3 houses #fire emblem: three houses #theory #fan theory #development #trivia #crimson flower #azure moon #verdant wind #silver snow #edelgard von hresvelg #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #claude von riegan #khalid

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dragongutsixofficial · 11 months

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all byleths deserve a little kiss on the head and to be very happy

#fe3h #byleth eisner #silver snow #azure moon #crimson flower #verdant wind #i dunno just feeling extra soft for byleth rn

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big-sapple · 3 months

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Who all in-game knows that Byleth slept for five years? Do the other students get told that or do they just assume she was off doing mercenary work or something?

#fe3h #fe3h fanfic #fire emblem three houses #three houses #verdant wind #golden deer #azure moon #blue lions #crimson flower #black eagles #byleth #fe3h byleth #fe3houses #silver snow

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paraloguesofash · 5 months

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#drawing up plans (ooc)#fodlan winds (white clouds)#a funeral of flowers (silver snow)#apex of the world (azure moon)#the edge of dawn (crimson flower)#between heaven and earth (verdant wind)

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wenja45 · 1 year

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Why Edelgard is better written in non-CF and why she is the worst written lord in Three Houses

Its me once again and the CF Stan's paint Edelgard as having a character growth throughout the short route but that is far from the truth it's just copium levels of delusions. The truth is she is better written in non-CF routes in AM you can feel sympathetic to Edelgard and see what she is trying to do and how far she has fallen to achieve her goal as well as the in depth relationship she had with Dimitri when she was a kid and she is also more competent in AM and VW and SS. In both VW and SS you can also feel sorry and understand more about Edelgard and you can finish of TWSITD gameplay wise at the end which gives you the satisfaction of ending the threat of TWSITD.

Now let's look at CF Edelgard is reduced to be less competent and in fact becomes much more of a moe character towards the silent protagonist (hearing the distant reees of edeleth stan's) the Devs failed spectacularly in making Edelgard into a protagonist and Anti-hero you feel nothing towards Edelgard and in fact she is literally a flat character with her whole narrative is going to point A to point B to point C in conquering and also non stop whining that people are defending themselves.

Now let's go over why Edelgard is the worst written lord if not character in Three Houses. First of all is the horrible dialogue that Edelgard has "No U" ring any bells, the butchered writing in Crimson Flower reducing Edelgard's mental capacity and shows none of the Anti-hero promise, blames others for defending themselves, as a villain she barely shows up and is still incredibly vague on her end goal, lost to Dimitri in the AM debate despite how supposedly smart she is, in all the routes she loves Byleth for little to no reason (again hearing the distant reees of edeleth stan's) there most likely more that I can't remember but the point still stands that Edelgard is written so so badly it just comes across that CF was written as a joke or a parody that was never finished which it is not finished and has no ending. As a villain Edelgard is a bad one despite being better written than her protagonist self she gets outstaged by Serios in the villain role and she just became grrr me angry dragon evil.

This may come as a suprise to the Edelgard and CF cultists but guess what the majority of the people in the FE fanbase preferred and sees Edelgard as the villain/antagonist and the majority of people like her as a villain whilst her protagonist self is a mess of a flat character.

Also and interesting fact here is that the majority of the people who played AM and VW got to like Edelgard whilst in CF it only made people who once liked Edelgard into despising her what kind of bad writing does that to a character.

#edelgard von hresvelg #edelgard fe3h #edelgard critical #edelgard positive #hegemon edelgard #crimson flower #verdant wind #fe3h #azure moon #fire emblem three houses #silver snow

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rakkiankh · 1 year

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I started a save file for a silver snow route a few months back that I just now picked back up, because even though I have a save file of over 700 hours, my one playthrough of silver snow wasn't part of the chain. I found some new favorite classes for some units that I wanted to use after my last playthrough, some new ones to test, and this time around I was doing Ferdinand as my dancer.

Since I wanted to do a purely silver snow route though, I decided to not train Edelgard and Hubert at all. Even at chapter 7 when everyone in my class (consisting of every student currently recruitable + shamir) except Flayn are currently over level 20, Edelgard is level 5 and Hubert hasn't seen a single battle the entire school year. I even put them in the lounge wear outfits so they fit their roles as bench warmers.

And it just makes me think of Edelgard, who is excited to have been chosen by Byleth, and the possibility of having a powerful ally on her side in her upcoming war only to be completely blindsided by being completely ignored. No meals, no tutoring, no extra battles. Made to sit in the corner from everything ranging from the battle of eagle and lion to revenge for the death of a loved one, all while wearing a tank top and basketball shorts for the entire school year. Hubert doesn't know what's going on either, he hasn't even had a single conversation with their teacher. They are incredibly confused.

#i dont hate edelgard and hubert i just dont want to level them up when i know theyre gonna betray me #edelgard von hresvelg #hubert von vestra #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #i fully admit that i chose to do silver snow specifically over crimson flower is partially because #i read a really good dimiclaude fic set in silver snow #granted in that fic most of the golden deer and blue lions are dead but im not doing that #i did play verdant wind and azure moon before this route so i will be doing crimson flower next so dont worry #edelgard and hubert will get plenty of love then

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pathofemblems · 1 year

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✶ · ⊰ pandreo || verses : three houses ⊱ · ✶ ⤷ contains : basics, history, misc. notes, phases, solo endings, & supports (continued under the read-more) . I. BASICS .

Age : 15 - 16 (Academy Phase); 21 (War Phase) Birth date : 6th of the Guardian Moon (January 6th) Birth place : Viscounty of Nilsson, Leicester Alliance Affiliation : Church of Seiros Default route : Silver Snow Recruitable routes : All Class progression : Commoner → Monk → Priest → Bishop

II. HISTORY .

· Pandreo was born to clergy members of the Eastern church and was raised alongside other members children and the orphans the church would take in. Around two years later, Panette was born. · When Panette was six, she ran away. In the year that followed, their parents searched for her, though it was mostly a ruse to show they cared about their children when they didn't. Eventually, they stopped searching and abandoned Pandreo and the church shortly after. Many years later, it was found out that Panette had been taken in by a minor noble, yet no one knew what happened to their parents. Some people think they disappeared to another country and changed their names. · Even though it was suspected before the birth of their children, it didn't become blatantly apparent that Pandreo's parents were corrupt until roughly a year after his sister was born. They often used their position within the church to swindle people out of their money with promises of making their lives better, as well as trying to send orphaned children to minor nobles or even to Almyra for a price. There dad was also a well-known drunk and gambling man. · Pandreo was taken in by another clergyman of the church, informally adopted. From there, he was taught to read and write, primarily scripture. Aside from the man who raised him, he was inspired to keep going after hearing heroic tales of the goddess and the saints. · Even though the Leicester Alliance isn't the most traditional, including the Eastern church, Pandreo was still judged for trying to make service fun for everyone. He was often called disrespectful by his peers, especially when he picked up the habit of howling. Often, the elder members of the church would skip out on his dinners and potlucks, but the younger ones always attended. Despite the judgment, the small get-togethers he put together always brought in new members and a fair bit of coin. · Years later, at age fifteen, Pandreo was sent to Garreg Mach with the hopes he could become a member of the Central church in order to garner favor for the Leicester Alliance, whether that be through becoming a knight or continuing his clergy work. Instead of attending the Officer's Academy like most would, however, he became a member of the staff, often relegated to cleaning and scribework to slowly work his way up the ranks.

III. MISC. NOTES .

Strengths : Faith, Reason Weaknesses : Axe, Flying, Heavy Armor Hidden talents : Lance, Riding Favorite tea : Almond blend, honeyed-fruit blend, four-spice blend Notable hangout spots : Cathedral, dining hall, fishing pond, greenhouse—may be found elsewhere, but most often in these areas Lost items : Annotated book of scripture, ceremonial beaded necklace, list of party supplies Favorite gifts : Board game, goddess statuette, owl feather, tasty baked treat Least favorite gifts : Hunting dagger, training weight, whetstone Favorite dishes : Cheesy verona stew, Daphnel stew, Derdriu-style fried pheasant, fish and bean soup, fish sandwich, fruit and herring tart, Gautier cheese gratin, peach sorbet, onion gratin soup, saghert and cream, sautéed pheasant and eggs, sweet and salty whitefish sauté, super-spicy fish dango, sweet bun trio Least favorite dishes : Country-style red turnip plate, fried crayfish, pickled rabbit skewers, pickled seafood and vegetables, spicy fish and turnip stew Other : · Like Rhajat in Fates, who knew she'd be reborn as Tharja in another universe, Pandreo's aware that he'll be reborn in Elyos. Even if there's no proper in-game way for this to happen, his level of awareness is route-dependant. In Silver Snow, it's eerily accurate, with remembering names and events, as well as who he'll see there someday. In Crimson Flower and Verdant Wind, things are blurry and much more dream-like. The only person he can recall with certainty is Byleth. In Azure Moon, however, he has absolutely zero awareness of his reincarnation. · Despite being a staff member, his age makes it easy for him to become friends with the students. His party-going ways are definitely amplified away from the Eastern church, which can get him into a fair bit of trouble with some of the other staff. His parties are typically held in the nearby forest as bonfire events, but they can sometimes take place in the dorms. · If Byleth decides to teach the Golden Deer, then Pandreo is immediately recruitable. For the other two houses, Byleth needs at least a C in either Faith or Reason and decent stats in Magic.

IV. PHASES .

White Clouds : Like Cyril, he can be seen working around the monastery. Even if he's recruited into a house, he still works on top of his classes. Being a student gives him some extra credit with the likes of Seteth and some of the higher ranking clergy, at least. Silver Snow (default) : Since he's a staff member, he's instantly recruited once the War Phase starts. During Byleth's five years of absence, Pandreo provided aid in the search for Rhea and kept vigilant watch over the decaying monastery. His personality doesn't change much, even if he expresses regrets on fighting against former students, especially the Black Eagles. He may make comments in secret about how he wonders if Edelgard was doing the right thing if he had been a part of the Black Eagles house before the war. Azure Moon : Despite the friends he made while being recruited into the Blue Lions, he admits he's not well-versed in the ways of Faerghus. He's not there out of any loyalty to Dimitri or the Kingdom, but instead due to his confidence in Byleth's abilities and because of the church's connect to Faerghus. While he does show concern for Dimitri, Pandreo often bites his tongue when it comes to everyone's dedication to getting him on the throne in such a poor state. His personality may seem a little more withdrawn in this route. Crimson Flower : His confidence in Byleth far outweighed his devotion to the church, with the help of Rhea's desire for violence. Even though he doesn't necessarily regret siding with Edelgard, like several other recruitable students (like Hapi, for example), Pandreo will express that he's not entirely onboard with the way Edelgard is handling things and that he's really only there for Byleth. His penitence for having to kill others is more apparent in this path, yet at the same time, he's more ruthless in battle. Verdant Wind : Since the Leicester Alliance is where he was born, he has no issues siding with Claude, especially since the church is still in play anyway. Claude is seemingly the only ruler he has no issue with, as a lot of their ideals and ways of handling them align. He seems just a little more carefree down this route, even for his usual self.

V. SOLO ENDINGS .

Crimson Flower : After the war, Pandreo's views changed, leaving him questioning his faith and wondering about the likes of others. After he helped defeat those who slither in the dark, he left Fódlan to travel the world. He spent his time learning of the various cultures and religions that were previously closed off from Fódlan, and when he returned, he devoted himself to creating a church that was open to all belief systems and became a well-respected scholar of theology. Other routes : Despite initial backlash, Pandreo was able to inject some of his fun-loving ways into the church. This push eventually led to the Church of Seiros developing a less strict, more welcoming aura, and they garnered many new followers over the years. Some history books state that churchgoers wanted Pandreo to become a canonized saint, but that never happened... Except for in the east. (The only difference between routes is that Pandreo focuses on the Central church in AM and SS, while heading back to the Eastern church in VW after several years.)

VI. SUPPORTS . ⤷ For funsies. This isn't a ship bias list or a wishlist, it's simply who I think he'd speak with if he was a playable character in 3H. I thought of putting my ideas for support chains, but that would've made the post longer than it needed to be.

Church of Seiros : Alois, Flayn, Manuela, Seteth Black Eagles : Bernadetta, Dorothea Blue Lions : Mercedes, Sylvain Golden Deer : Claude, Ignatz, Lorenz, Lysithea, Marianne Ashen Wolves : Balthus + Byleth * romantic-only pairings : 0 * platonic-only pairings : 5 * can be taken either way : 4 · Can only reach B support with Manuela, Seteth, Bernadetta, Sylvain, Lorenz, and Lysithea.

#✶ · ⊰ pandreo ⊱ · devoted partying #✶ · ⊰ pandreo ⊱ · headcanon #✶ · ⊰ pandreo ⊱ · v: 3h . white clouds #✶ · ⊰ pandreo ⊱ · v: 3h . azure moon #✶ · ⊰ pandreo ⊱ · v: 3h . crimson flower #✶ · ⊰ pandreo ⊱ · v: 3h . silver snow #✶ · ⊰ pandreo ⊱ · v: 3h . verdant wind #// this was fun to write out tbh.#this will most likely be #a request thing since i don't want to force the verse onto ppl.#but yes i'm very happy with this! :') //

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noxtivagus · 1 year

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i miss fe3h 🥺

#tag later #i shld play again sometime soon!!!! i did verdant wind first then uhh i can't remember if it was azure moon or crimson flower #either of the two n i started playing less during my silver snow route :<<#fe3h is rlly special to me though #i seem to really love stories that have stuff on age in a way huh #i always loved to imagine being in. fe3h. w the school setting n all #claude my beloved 🤍#he's so charming n smart n pretty n #hdklfajsdfkasdjf i rlly brainrotted abt fe3h a Lot back then #i love fire emblem i rlly want to play the other games too!!!! i like leo. n lucina. some of my favs in the series #i love the music so much.. edge of dawn is personally v significant n emotional to me #i forgot the title but i rlly love that one song for shadows of valentia #n ofc hdfaksdfj lost in thoughts all alone!!!! n. others too i just forgot the names wtf #IM SORRY IM LISTENING TO SOME OSTS RN N I SMILED IMMEDIATELY W THE NIGHT OF THE BALL HAHA #HAHAHAHAHHAKDFJDSLKFJDASLKFJSLDKFJS #pls the things i wrote abt that..#claude von riegan owned my heart fr #embarrassing. only the night sky in all these stories knows what i've wrote hahahahahahaha #yk i love settings that r rather elegant. n school. i love fe3h so much i love strategy too n. YEAH. JRPGS MY BELOVED FR #the.. goddess tower.. oh dear.#CRIES IM WATCHING A VIDEO N APOLLO LAUGHED AT ME HAHA #i'm smiling oh my god claude ilyvm AAGHHH HE'S SO #A WISH!!!!! HFADLKFSDJFKLDSJS >< HIS WORDS IHY #we're so alike fr i like him sm but he's so charming in a way god he's so stupid (affectionate)#thinking of stuff i've wrote n why have i always liked that sad sort of friends to lovers.. wtf man #NAH I'M NOT READING NYMORE THIS IS TOO EMBARRASSING WTF YOUNGER ME WAS EVEN MORE CRINGE?????#😭😭 NOOOO THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING......#i'd write like these sm more different now but oh my god i'm too shy for that too but Maybe just to see how differently i'll write #writing for me says a lot abt how i'm like n how i grow n change in time but.. recently i've been denying myself that lately n it hurts #who tf cares if it's cringe or embarrassing i want to just hold unto myself bcs that. that is a part of me. why should i change?

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patroklides · 1 year

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tag drop pt 5

— iv. verse. ✧ ﹂CRIMSON FLOWER.﹁ — iv. verse. ✧ ﹂AZURE MOON.﹁ — iv. verse. ✧ ﹂VERDANT WIND.﹁ — iv. verse. ✧ ﹂SILVER SNOW.﹁ — iv. verse. ✧ ﹂WHITE CLOUDS.﹁ — iv. verse. ✧ ﹂SCARLET BLAZE.﹁ — iv. verse. ✧ ﹂AZURE GLEAM.﹁ — iv. verse. ✧ ﹂GOLDEN WILDFIRE.﹁

#— iv. verse. ✧ ﹂CRIMSON FLOWER.﹁#— iv. verse. ✧ ﹂AZURE MOON.﹁#— iv. verse. ✧ ﹂VERDANT WIND.﹁#— iv. verse. ✧ ﹂SILVER SNOW.﹁#— iv. verse. ✧ ﹂WHITE CLOUDS.﹁#— iv. verse. ✧ ﹂SCARLET BLAZE.﹁#— iv. verse. ✧ ﹂AZURE GLEAM.﹁#— iv. verse. ✧ ﹂GOLDEN WILDFIRE.﹁

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moltz23 · 6 months

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When the Darkness gets Miscasted - An Essay about Three Houses' "those who slither in the dark"

As someone that joined the FE fandom with Sacred Stones, I gotta say, “Those who slither in the dark” are an interesting experiment as far as antagonistic factions go. In spite of being the most alien-like group featured in the franchise (as of Engage), regardless of the 3H story branch picked, TWSITD in the long-term serves as an villainous third wheel of sorts, going from being very active late into Part 1, to vanishing almost entirely by Part 2, not even getting an proper send-off in half of the routes. So what happened?

Well, after pondering about it for a while, I believe the reason TWSITD fell into this situation is because their unique traits don’t mesh well with the broader purpose the story gave them. In other words, I’m saying “those who slither in the dark” were miscasted.

To explain what exactly I mean by this, a brief recap of the group is in order:

Part 1: The Nitty-Gritty of the Slitherers.

This concept art of Shambhala is so cool.

In Three Houses (and Three Hopes by proxy), “Those who slither in the dark” is an organization that causes strife in Fódlan anonymously:

“In the long history of the Church of Seiros... No, long before even that… There have been an endless number of threats to the peace of Fódlan. Yet, those who oppose us still operate in the shadows, their identities a mystery.” - Rhea in Report: Red Wolf Moon

Their origins can be traced back to remnants of Agartha: an ancient human civilization of Fódlan once that waged war against Sothis and her kids - trying to seize control of the continent from them -, but got themselves wiped out when Sothis retaliated. The remaining survivors then retreated underground, bowing revenge against Sothis, her spawn, and those spared by her wrath. And from then on, this remnant cut contact with the outside world for over a millenia, thus becoming - as far as everyone else is concerned - “those who slither in the dark”.

The ones who call themselves Agarthans want mainly 2 things: Payback against Sothis’ surviving kin ie. Rhea, Seteth, Flayn and Byleth (once they know they’re Sothis reborn); and

obtain what Sothis denied Agartha: dominion over the surface.

“Let no crisis go to waste” is the group’s core motto, as whenever something bad happens in Fodlan, they will likely be there to reap the benefits, usually by:

Acting as benefactors, providing resources (or the means/knowledge) others would normally be never able to gain normally.

Doing Crests experiments once the avenue is open.

And body-snatching, letting them act in the open without giving themselves away, all while opening a new pool of resources and connections to draw from.

As for their Modus Operandi, their general plan is to get involved in a major conflict where they gain something by their chosen side coming out on top (which is known as a proxy war). Given their track record, their MO looks like this:

Find a pawn who could gain enough followers (or already has them) to kickstart a large-scale conflict, and offer your services.

Once the fighting starts, provide support to show your pawn how much of an asset you are to their cause.

If your pawn gets killed or the conflict ends with the opposition alive, then retreat underground, and let the years pass by.

Go back to step 1.

The group’s identity - as in, what differentiates them from other villainous groups - is comprised by the following:

Design-wise, save for one exception, all non-disguised Agarthans have ghastly white skin and dress in black.

Resource-wise, they have access to giant automatons, electric turrets, kinetic orbital missiles (called “javelins of light”), demonic beasts, and more.

Character-wise, regardless of each member’s individual personality, every one of them always showcases hubris and xenophobia. In a related note, every member is also portrayed unsympathetically.

Soundtrack-wise, the group’s heavily associated with dubstep.

Finally, when it comes to TWSITD’s narrative purpose in the main stories:

Their general objective is to serve as the puppeteers behind the scenes, trying to manipulate events behind the scenes and their pawn of choice (ie. the Empire/Edelgard) to achieve their ends.

Meanwhile, as far specific objectives go, they:

Kill Jeralt, and thus, force Byleth to fuse with Sothis before Rhea can have them sit on Sothis’ throne, thus unintentionally foiling the Archbishop’s agenda.

Give Edelgard the means to remove Rhea from the story at the end of Part 1 (used only outside CF) through their Demonic Beasts.

Set up the Final Boss of Part 2 of Verdant Wind and Silver Snow by the story having Byleth’s party reach Shambhala, their HQ.

Help Azure Moon’s story explore the Tragedy of Duscur subplot.

Help Crimson Flower’s story explore the TWSITD alliance subplot.

Part 2: Those Who Experiment In The Dark.

As alluded early, the Slitherers stand out from other major villainous factions in FE due to being the very definition of experimental. I use this term because no major villainous faction in Fire Emblem prior to them has had to contend with the following factors:

1. Access to Modern/Sci-Fi Technology:

While everyone else in the setting - including the Agarthans to an extent - use medieval western-inspired resources, only they get exclusive access to modern/sci-fi weapons like giant robots, turrets, and orbital missiles.

2. Deal with Multiple Handicaps:

I previously covered this in a past-article (that can be found here), but for those unaware: the manner the plot in Three Houses is written ensures the Slitherers' path towards their goal isn’t a straight one:

In spite of initially having Edelgard be just a puppet in someone else’s plans, they end up working for her thanks to some deals both parties make behind the scenes, thus leading TWSITD to backstab their former collaborator once Edelgard makes her move and becomes Emperor. Once that happens-

They take a backseat from the plot midway through the story, relinquishing their spotlight to Edelgard while she drives the story onwards. Meaning-

They rely on Edelgard winning to get anywhere, which would normally not be an issue if it wasn’t for how-

Edelgard plans to get rid of them once they’re no longer needed. Not only that, but she also screws the group over in every route in some form.

And that’s not even going into the other two problems they have to deal with:

A. Their orbital/kinetic missiles being impractical: I also did an analysis on those things, but long story short: two routes imply they can’t abuse the weapon at their leisure; their most desired target (Garreg Mach) is protected by a jamming spell/device; and if we go by the evidence at hand, not only the missiles were crafted back when Agartha was still a thing 1000 years before the main plot, we have no evidence they have the means to replenish their stock due to the javelins being orbital missiles (aka dropped from space).

B. Nemesis being unreliable: So, here an interesting fact about Nemesis: dude never died in the introductory movie (perhaps he just went into sleep, not unlike how most Nabateans & Byleth do when wounded enough?), and had to be sealed because, to indirectly quote Rhea’s words in Verdant Wind, no one really knows how the Crest of Flames works.

The known credit the Slitherers get with Nemesis’ return in Verdant Wind is that they were definitely prepared in case he woke up. After Shambhala has been destroyed, the story shows that not only they held him in a coffin somewhere in their catacombs, multiple flavor texts allude they are the reason Nemesis has the reanimated corpses of his old allies for Verdant Wind’s final battle. Beyond that, no one really knows why Nemesis returns at the very end only in Claude’s route, and how much TWSITD may be behind it. He just… returns.

3. They Lose Their Original Purpose (in 2/4 of the Post-Timeskip).

Quick development trivia for y’all: Silver Snow was the story branch of Three Houses that started it all, laying the foundation of every other route that came after. And in it, plus Verdant Wind - for sharing similar story beats - “those who slither in the dark” fulfill a specific purpose in Part 2’s story: setting up the scenario for the final battle to happen though having the player’s party going to Shambhala (their HQ), whether it’s by: wounding Rhea lethally, thus playing a part in her sudden dragon degeneration (Silver Snow); or by having an army prepared for Nemesis once he wakes up in Shambhala after their defeat (Verdant Wind).

But then, Crimson Flower and Azure Moon changed everything. Because both stories deviate from Silver Snow by using Chapter 11 to set up their own Final Boss in advance (Rhea in CF, Edelgard in AM), the writing team behind those routes was forced to solve the following issue:

“What happens when the story doesn’t need to go to Shambhala? As in, when the story has no need for the Slitherers to set up the final battle?”

The solution found was simple: TWSITD would blend-in with the Empire, and be forced to stick with Edelgard to reach the end of the road they crave. In turn, each path would show how well that situation ends for them.

(As a quick tangent: 3H’s The Cutting Room Floor page having unused unit data for a playable Edelgard and Dimitri in the Shambhala map - and nothing else - does very little to corroborate the idea that both CF and AM ever intended to visit the place in the stories beyond the planning stages).

No major antagonistic group in the series before the Agarthans has been ever given such a mixed bag to work with. And I believe it’s no coincidence either, as it very much appears most of these handicaps were placed to ensure TWSITD doesn’t have enough control of the plot to allow a “Golden Ending” to happen just by defeating them early. Still, this doesn’t change their unique situation as it causes unfortunate problems for them, and it’s precisely this what I want to address to finally explain why this group of antagonists were miscasted in the stories 3H tells.

Part 3: The Bad, Good, and Nasty side of the Agarthan.

Let’s get the bad out of the way first: even though their general objective in the story is to act as the puppeteers behind the scenes, in a twist of irony, the Agarthans are at their weakest when trying to manipulate their way into victory. The reasons are twofold:

A. Their handicaps limit their level of threat and control imposed. And…

B. Due to their anonymity shtick, they straight up don’t appear unless the plot calls for it.

These two details explain why they fall out of relevance by the time the timeskip takes place (and for the Three Hopes spinoff, this too goes for Azure Gleam’s second timeskip), and when they finally reappear, their performance ultimately falls flat despite all the spectacle provided. For all their efforts, the Slitherers unfortunately have a lot going against them that stops them from accomplishing the main objective the writers set out for them (and worse of all, this is by design).

Incidentally, another problem that quickly springs up for TWSITD is that, once they are forced to fight outside the darkness and can no longer count on their surprise/shock factor, they’re

taken care of in a pretty swift fashion (see AM Chapter 19 and VW/SS Chapter 21/20). And this is because, at the end of the day, they are just an organization of people that has historically relied on other nations’ armies to put up a fight vs the Church after the fall of Agartha. As trying to foolishly fight regardless, just exposes them for what they all are, warts included.

“[those who slither in the dark] are looking down on us. They think we cannot touch them. But the closer we get to them, the less true that becomes.” - Hubert, in Darkness Beneath the Water.

But enough negativity! Let's get to what the Slitherers are truly good at. My reasoning behind why TWSITD were miscasted, given a role they would never be able to fill its shoes comfortably, is because Three Houses’s stories not only show them at their worst, but also at their best. And what is what they excel at, you might wonder?

It is Terrorism. Just, flat out terrorism at its finest.

In execution, by the Agarthans using their anonymity shtick as a strength, they are allowed to:

A. Appear out of nowhere to cause havoc and quickly vanish once the job’s done. And-

B. Confuse and worry the hell out of the enemy.

Arguably the stand out examples of this is Part 1 of White Clouds, and Part 2 of Three Hopes’ Scarlet Blaze route. Whether it is to test out and perfect their “experimental assets” intended to be used by the Empire once Edelgard declares war on Garreg Mach in the former’s case, or by providing the perfect stage for Ferdinand’s father, Duke Aegir, to attempt a coup against Edelgard’s Empire in the latter, TWSITD’s surprise appearance completely disrupts the direction the plot was going for, and forces the characters to handle them directly in the hopes of - somehow - foiling their end goal, just for the group to vanish soon after, leaving everyone with a sense of unease, worry, and fear, upon witnessing they are not dealing with just some random group of villains anymore.

Simply put, “those who slither in the dark” are at the top of the game when they are causing terrorism and exploiting their enigmatic aura of theirs. So it’s a shame that Three Houses still ultimately decided to have the organization stick to their “puppeteers” shtick no matter what, even if it is for the sake of deconstructing the idea or in an attempt to try to make them work somehow.

Finally, while I feel the point this article’s been trying to make has already been made, I still wanna wrap things up by addressing the nasty side of TWSITD: their one-dimensional malice.

While Fire Emblem as a franchise is no stranger to cartoonishly evil antagonists, never before the Agarthans have we gotten an entire major faction with not even a trace of nuance. In a series where major villainous factions have done stuff like human sacrifices and child hunts, there has been always someone that either: can display basic decency; can be recruited and allowed work off their bad karma; or had long since defected the group, and might try to help the playable characters in some way. Heck, archetypes like the Camus exist because people have noticed some conventions are used a lot for the sake of giving the enemy-side some nuance, with varying degrees of success and reception.

The Slitherers by comparison, get none of that. And in spite of it… I feel it may be on purpose.

Let me remind everyone for one last time, what the Slitherers' backstory and shared character traits are:

Their background can be summed up as a “millennial legacy of hate which willingly isolates from society as a whole”. Also-

Displaying hubris and xenophobic tendencies appears to be an unwritten rule for every one of its members.

Considering these two facets, I just can’t help but wonder if the 3H writers drew the line with the TWSITD as far as nuance goes simply because, as far they themselves were concerned, those who hurt others due to a sense of entitlement, superiority, and hate, are beyond saving. And I say this because ever since last year, this exchange from Azure Gleam has been in my mind a lot as of late:

Cornelia: As for your loyal knight and the former Duke Fraldarius… They're certainly giving it all they have, but a paltry force that size will hardly buy them any time. And once we've wrung the life from them, you'll be next. How tragic it'll be, facing your beloved citizens for the final time with a noose around your neck. Dimitri: You know, I almost appreciate seeing such bold-faced sadism. There's not a hint of nuance to it. Cornelia: Is that a compliment I hear? You'll make a lady blush if you're not careful. - Event: Behind the Mask

I’ve been figuring out how to complete this whole thing for over a month now and oh man I am so glad I can finally move on from it. Now the only thing that remains is to thank y’all who checked and read this huge wall of text to the end.

To finally close things off, I have a few last questions for everyone: What are your honest thoughts on “those who slither in the dark”? What did you expect of them? Did they surprise you? And would you improve on them if given the chance (and how)?

#fe3h #fire emblem #fire emblem: three houses #crimson flower #azure moon #silver snow #verdant wind #those who slither in the dark #slitherers #twsitd #three hopes #scarlet blaze #fire emblem warriors: three hopes #agarthans

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