Fridge / Fire Emblem: Three Houses

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Fridge Logic

See Headscratchers.

Fridge Brilliance: Lords

• When Byleth first meets Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude, they immediately ask them to join their respective nations in a way Claude even calls heavy-handed. But recall some recruitment conversations in past Fire Emblem games and how quickly some characters would switch sides, then recall that these three are the Lords of the game. They're just doing what all Lords do — but this time, they're trying to recruit you!
• Byleth's official profile lists their age as "??", but Jeralt's journal^note and Sitri's gravestone, should one complete the "Cindered Shadows" DLC indicates their age as being 21 at the start of the game. What gives? Well, when introducing you to Rhea, he claims that you were born after he'd already left the Knights of Seiros. His journal indicates that that's a lie: Byleth was born at the monastery, but Jeralt faked their death when he lost faith in Rhea so that he could sneak them away. Byleth's age is listed as a mystery because Jeralt doesn't want Rhea to find out who you are.
• Byleth is commonly described as not showing much, if any, emotion, with even Jeralt himself pointing out how he's never seen Byleth laugh or cry, suggesting something odd with them. Then it's revealed that Byleth was stillborn, and was only revived when Rhea implanted Sothis' crest into them. The reason why Byleth shows no emotion is because they are literally just a walking corpse animated by Sothis' power.
  • They start demonstrating feelings throughout the year they spend in the monastery, though. The game frames it as being a result of them having more human contact with all the students and staff, with the house leader of your choice even commenting the first time Byleth smiles, but there's another curious thing that happened at the start of the game: Sothis's awakening. And she often shares the same feelings as Byleth, which points towards her sleep being part of what caused their emotional stuntedness.
  • Additionally, with Jeralt expressing surprise early in the game that Byleth is acting on their own accord rather than to wait and see, some of Byleth's Leeroy Jenkins tendencies in the first part of the game makes sense. With Sothis' awakening, Byleth is finally acting based on their emotions for the first time and develop to be more in touch with their emotion in time.
• Byleth's future personal class, Enlightened One, has proficiencies in sword, brawling, faith, and authority. We see Seiros capable of all four from the beginning movie scene in the fight against Nemesis. She leads an army (authority), she is a child of the goddess (faith), and she takes on Nemesis with a sword (self-explanatory) before resorting to her fists and feet (brawling) to finish the job.
• In order to go with Edelgard in the Black Eagles route, you have to go with her to see her coronation as the next Emperor, or else you automatically side with Rhea and the church. There are some perfectly valid reasons for Byleth to do so, however:
  • Edelgard mentions that normally, crowning the next ruler of a nation requires a member of the church to oversee it. She instead brings Byleth, who acts as the witness instead, due to her disdain for the church. In doing so, Edelgard has effectively pinned any future actions as being Byleth's fault. Byleth now has a real motivation to leave the church; to avoid being blamed for her coronation. Alternatively, by going, Byleth now feels a sense of responsibility to oversee Edelgard as the next Emperor and can join her to see the path laid out completed.
  • If Byleth goes with her to the coronation, Byleth sees how passionate Edelgard is about her future and doing what she thinks is right by standing against the church. This allows them to see that Edelgard's attack on the tomb was not motivated by a hunger for power or other such evil desires, but out of a desire to stop what she sees as the corrupted church. Without that understanding going in, Edelgard's actions come across as a straight betrayal of trust and thus Byleth has no reason to go with Edelgard.
    • While you have a choice to follow Edelgard's lead, you can also go against her even if you went and saw Edelgard's coronation, showing that despite having an understanding of Edelgard's goals by seeing her coronation, Byleth may also be horrified at how far Edelgard is willing to go for her goals and can go against her when prompted.
  • Actually, why Rhea snaps in the Black Eagles route can also be explained, being an example of lacking critical context. While Rhea was already unstable, why does she snap in particular in this route? Edelgard just attempted to steal the Crest Stones, which as revealed in the Verdant Wind route, was made from her murdered fellow Children of the Goddess and the Holy Tomb now served as a grave for them alongside their mother. At this point, she believes that Byleth is Sothis. So when Byleth sides with Edelgard, Rhea believing that Byleth wouldn't do so if they were Sothis, she does not take it well in the slightest, to say the least.
    • Moreover, it was after a year of various incidents that would have not been helping Rhea's temper in the slightest. One noble moving against the Church, an attempt being made to steal Sothis's bones or Seiros' remains — both of which play into her Trauma Button of the Red Canyon. Flayn, a.k.a., Cethleann, one of Rhea's few surviving family, being kidnapped and her blood stolen. The Flame Emperor being connected to Remire Village, and the attempt to steal Sothis's spine, which is the Sword of the Creator. All of which connects to Edelgard. Throw in Kronya's killing of Jeralt, who was someone that Rhea trusted enough to bring back on board without hesitation, and using more Crest Stones to transform students into monsters… Rhea's rage is not unprovoked even before the nature of the Holy Tomb is brought into play.
    • Rhea remembers and cares for Edelgard's ancestor, Wilhelm I, fondly. Her rage towards her should she battle her as Seiros makes clear that she greatly treasured him, and takes Edelgard's act as spite towards him and a stain to his memory.
    • Another more simple reason is the fact that Edelgard attacking her own school unprovoked and from Rhea's POV, her own professor decided to betray the faculty and assist in the looting of the Crest Stones. Rhea must have thought that Byleth's common sense has flown out the window and fell into a chasm. It is like a teacher helping a school shooter in his crimes just because he is his student. Anyone would've snapped in this context.
• Why Claude comes off as a lot less… troubled in all routes, especially compared to his fellow house heads Dimitri and Edelgard. A couple of reasons come to mind:
  • The first is that he did not grow up in Fódlan, and so there would have been no reason for him to be a target of the machinations of Those Who Slither in the Dark. He therefore doesn't have a reason to rage against the system or desire utter revenge like Edelgard and Dimitri, nor the immense trauma Rhea has, and so he's much more willing to cooperate to achieve his goals than achieve them through brute force.
  • The second is that he doesn't have enablers the way the others do. Hubert, Dedue, and many of the church staff are too blindly obedient to their respective leaders and would not tell them that they are behaving wrongly. These followers’ Yes-Man tendencies most likely give their leaders more cover to feel justified in stewing in their problems or to ignore the criticisms from (not blindly obedient) supporters like Ferdinand and Felix. Meanwhile, Claude’s two main confidants/supporters are Hilda and Lorenz, who each take their own glee in telling Claude off if they think he’s gone too far.
  • Finally, despite a childhood of alienation, distrust, and assassination attempts, both his parents are alive at the time the game starts and love him. This is in contrast to the complicated family history of Dimitri (who had very loving parents, but they died in a tragedy that his step-mother may have initiated) and Edelgard (whose mother may have been an agent of Those Who Slither in the Dark and whose father, despite being the Emperor, could not stop his children from being subject to Crest experimentation), that each directly led to their respective issues.
• Hegemon Edelgard only appears in the Azure Moon Route because that is the only route that pushes Edelgard to her limit. In the Crimson Flower Route, Edelgard fights alongside Byleth, who bears the Crest of Flames and wields the powerful Sword of the Creator. She doesn't need to sacrifice her humanity. In the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow Route, the Kingdom was eliminated early with the death of Dimitri, meaning Edelgard's only threat was the Alliance and a few followers of the Church, leaving her confident that they could turn things around. The Empire was still strong enough to defend itself, and when pushed back, Thales/Arundel was still around and she could rely on him if needed.
  • She also had less time to prepare in the Church and Golden Deer routes. On the Blue Lions route, her main enemies take a huge detour after the Battle at Gronder Field, to retake the Kingdom and then save the Alliance, just to then turn their attentions back to the Empire. In the other routes, they maintain the offensive, and Edelgard can do nothing but establish closer and closer layers of defense.
• The game doesn't provide an explanation for why Byleth doesn't use Divine Pulse to save themselves when falling into the chasm after being blasted by Thales. However, even if the player hasn't used Divine Pulse at all in gameplay, from a story perspective, this happens after the single biggest battle Byleth has yet been in, wherein they helped repel a large portion of a massive invading army. It's reasonable to assume they had used up Divine Pulse for the time being. Another consideration is how Thales previously appeared to be able to react to a use of Divine Pulse (where he warped in to block an attack aimed at Kronya), meaning even if Byleth did have any uses of Divine Pulse left, they might have failed to change anything (depends on if it was only fate that kept Byleth from changing things, or if Thales' own powers played a part too).
  • And regarding the fate aspect, given Byleth ends up injured, hidden, and dormant at approximately the same time for five years regardless of route could imply that it is another "fated" aspect of the timeline and thus impossible for Byleth to successfully interfere with. Put another way, even with time powers, there are many things that "will be" as well as things that "can be," and only the latter can change.
  • It might also be that it takes a second of focus to use Divine Pulse, and falling into the chasm isn't exactly conducive to that.
  • Another possibility that could also apply to the other times Byleth seemed to forget that they had Divine Pulse... they didn't really forget. They actually did use it, but the timeline refused to change. We only saw them try and fail to save Jeralt for the sake of narrative.
• In the beginning, Byleth and the three house lords make up the full melee weapon triangle. This is also true storywise.
  • Edelgard wields axes. Ultimately, she emotionally cripples Dimitri (lances), but on the other hand, Byleth (swords) is her downfall in all paths. 3 out of 4 story branches have them as her enemy, and even with them as her ally, she ends up as a much different person thanks to Byleth compared to her other incarnations.
  • Dimitri uses lances. All in all, Byleth (swords) is little more than a skilled individual to him on any route other than his own, and so they largely have little effect on him. Edelgard (axe) manages to overtake his finer judgement, meaning only with Byleth (who can trump her) being at his side can he overcome her.
  • Byleth uses a sword. Unless s/he joins her, s/he's always going to fight against Edelgard's (axe) empire and only faces Dimitri (Lance) at the behest of Edelgard, meaning s/he never truly faces his/her weakness during the story unless s/he's backed up by somebody who has his/her enemy's weakness.
  • Claude, being a bow user, doesn't really have any direct ties to anybody. Storywise, in addition to being a neutral party to the war, his own route deals with taking care of the true cause of the conflict that was hiding behind the others while not being able to do much to resolve the issues that had overtaken Fódlan himself, as his endings always leave Byleth in charge of the united kingdom. In the end, he wasn't a direct part of the personal conflicts, and if the battle gets thrown his way, then he always loses, but if given his chance, he snipes the actual threat behind the front lines.
• The three lords have a theme with time that represents how they turn out in their own routes and the other routes where they are not chosen:
  • Edelgard represents the future, which is even her title in Heroes. Her single-minded determination to see the future fulfilled causes her to disregard the past and the present. Her knowledge of history are half-truths and in other routes not her own, she ignored how her war caused more pain to those in the present. Her inability to compromise on her vision on the future ultimately leads to her demise outside her own route. She only succeeds in reaching her future once she is able to trust others with her past and being more conscious of the people around her in the present.
  • Dimitri represents the past. Dimitri's past fueled most of his actions and outside of his own route, is trapped in it and thus, he could not see a present or future. Being trapped in his past led him to be killed in other routes not his own, and he only changes for the better once he starts living for himself in the present and moving steadily toward the future.
  • Claude represents the present. Claude's past shaped himself and while he has grand ambitions for the future, he also realizes the importance of the present and works on what is going on right in front of him before focusing on the past and future. This led to his route unraveling many of the fallacies of Fódlan's history while also allowing Claude himself a chance to survive in every route to adapt.
    • To further highlight Claude's focus on the present, his final antagonists both represent the future and the past, mostly in their themes and music. "Those Who Slither in the Dark" employ futuristic technology that is completely out of place in Fódlan (and the series proper), and their music leans more towards the very modern EDM or dubstep genre. They look to the future with their wicked schemes and machinations. Nemesis, revived by said group, represents the past, being a powerful historical figure brought back from the dead. His musical theme is very operatic in nature, a genre and type of music that had its start long ago. He's a herald of a time long gone, brought back to seek revenge on those who live in the now.
  • Rhea, as a major player in the plot, can be seen as representing all three periods of time: She longs to recreate her happy past by reviving her mother, but her grief keeps her trapped in the present, as she cannot truly connect with anyone in the monastery, has ruined her potential relationship with Jeralt that could have helped her move on, by keeping him in the dark about the circumstances of the death of his wife and the condition of his baby, and despite her remorse, didn't learn anything from it and still never told him the truth until it was too late. Rhea additionally keeps Fódlan stuck in its current stagnant status quo. As for the future, Rhea represents each of the three lords as a leader, but she represents what the three lords would have become if they fail to overcome their current issues. Like Claude, Rhea is an outsider who, despite her warm and likable demeanor, cannot open up to her allies and followers, is quite a schemer whose plans have alienated people around her, and has to hide her true identity to get her plans moving in Fódlan. Like Dimitri, she's traumatized by a massacre that claimed many lives including her parent, and hides a deranged, violent self underneath her warm persona that is obsessed with avenging the dead regardless of the dead's actual desires, and their obsession with the dead is partly fueled by insanity. They also have a strong obsession with killing the object of their hatred without getting all the facts, which is her downfall in the Crimson Flower route. Like Edelgard, Rhea seeks to do what is best for Fódlan by controlling it, is a control freak whose methods can alienate her allies, and both are ruthless when it comes to dealing with their enemies and enforcing their vision on Fódlan.
• Each of the three lords can gain supports with certain Garreg Mach faculty and knights, and is a reflection of their origins and personalities:
  • Edelgard forms supports with Hanneman and Manuela, two people who originated from the Adrestian Empire, and more notably are not Knights of Seiros. Edelgard is more likely to forge bonds with her educators who treat her as a student instead of a princess, as opposed to the Knights who spout off devotion to Rhea or about the Church. Their supports with her play an important role of softening Edelgard’s extremist views in the Crimson Flower route; Hanneman teaching her that Crests aren’t inherently bad, just abused by nobles and he wants to use his research to dismantle the nobility by giving Crests to everyone. Manuela teaches Edelgard that belief in the Goddess does not have to be connected solely to the Church nor is it a form of blind devotion, and belief and prayer does not stop people from taking their own initiative.
  • Dimitri forms supports with Catherine, Gilbert, and Alois, the former two are people from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus who knew Dimitri from his childhood, and the latter is devoted to the Knights of Seiros, who the Kingdom has strong ties with. Catherine and Gilbert are deeply affected by actions they committed in relation to the Tragedy of Duscur that traumatized Dimitri, and his supports with them focus on the concept of loyalty, but also running away from shame or trauma and reconciling with that guilt. For Alois, his support is a breath of fresh air for the suffering prince, with his light heartedness and jokes offering reprieve from Dimitri's internal darkness.
  • Claude forms supports with Shamir and Cyril, who like him are outsiders to Fódlan, Shamir from Dagda and Cyril from Almyra. Both of his supports focus on thoughts of returning to their lands of origin, reflecting on Claude eventually returning to Almyra to become it king. However the conversations with these two show how their values are opposites of Claude's personality, and challenges the latter's perspectives: Shamir is calculated like Claude, but is stoic and cold with no goals in mind other than working for herself, whereas Claude is a cheeky trickster with a good heart who wants to work to help others. She teaches Claude to be more aware of his surrounding and careful with himself. Cyril is Almyran like Claude, but is very critical of his home country for their treatment of orphans and the practices that cause so many orphans, and on the other hand his excessive devotion to Rhea throws Claude off, as he loves Almyra and has a strong distrust towards Rhea and the Church of Seiros for various reasons. Cyril informs Claude of the deep flaws Almyra has, convincing him that there is a lot that needs to change there too. He also convinces him that not all of the Church's actions are bad or secretive and that he doesn't need to make an enemy of Rhea to accomplish his goals, that indeed he has something in common with her in his desire to help the powerless.
• The actions of the house heads in the cutscene showing off the students foreshadows their end goals in the three routes:
  • Claude is displaying a map of Fódlan to his classmates, a symbol of how he wants to break its isolationist barriers to interact with the world outside of Fódlan in Verdant Wind.
  • Edelgard is magically showing off her Crest of Seiros, hinting how Crests are a major motivator behind her actions to dismantle nobility and start the war.
  • Dimitri is seen sparring and shows off immense strength in the fight, displaying how he becomes fixated on fighting everything in order to kill the Flame Emperor in Azure Moon before finding a genuine reason to fight: to liberate the Kingdom and the continent from the Empire in the time skip.
• While other students may express distress at their first kill in combat, Dimitri is the only character adamant about his disgust for killing, expresses how he sees it as a purely evil action, and is deeply disturbed by and ashamed of his own love of combat and bloodthirsty side. Why? He witnessed the massacres following the Tragedy of Duscur, and saw the final, suffering moments of his father and close friends. Of course he’d have such a visceral reaction toward it!
• Byleth bears the Crest of Flames, or in other words, the Fire Emblem.
• On the Black Eagles route, Edelgard mentions that she was afraid that Byleth would side with the Church so they would be with their 'family'/fellow gods. In other words, joining Edelgard means deciding that your blood does not define you — very fitting for her meritocratic perspective.
• A fan noted that after playing all four main routes, the choice of their names for their respective protagonists fits if you consider Byleth as the sun that guides them as in place with the overall nature themes.
  • Crimson Flower - Edelgard is the flower as she requires Byleth to truly flourish and bloom, whereas in the other routes she is cold and distant hiding her emotions and true feelings towards the world like a bud which has yet to bloom. Crimson reflects the blood price being paid for the flower to bloom. Edelgard's ideals cannot bloom without Byleth as she constantly needs to compromise herself making her wilt much like a dead flower standing up on the strength of its stem alone.
  • Azure Moon - Dimitri is the moon and is a reflection of Byleth's light, which could be a reference to how he require Byleth the most and without it he's stuck in the eternal darkness of the night. Dimitri is a reflection of Byleth's light, with it he reflects his light and guides people in a dark time, but without it he reflects the darkness and is overwhelmed by the night.
  • Verdant Wind - Claude is the wind, since he's the needs Byleth's aid the least since it's possible that he survived every route. He simply carries Byleth's warmth while spreading his message. He gives aid to Byleth in Silver Snow and in Azure Moon after you save Derdriu. Claude's message and ideals can be ignored as a simple breeze without Byleth's warmth to enforce his message. Verdant also refers to green, which is the color Almyra is represented by.
  • Silver Snow - The snow is that off Rhea's heart and what obscures the truth, since you do learn a large amount of plot from the church route and you are what melts Rhea's cold heart. Without the light of someone she serves, Rhea feels purposeless and freezes without its warmth. With the light she is redeemed with Byleth, feeling the years of repressed guilt and regret.
• The Holding Hands motif between Dimitri and Byleth on the Azure Moon route. Pre-timeskip, if selected to meet Female Byleth at the Goddess Tower, Dimitri will tell her that, in his opinion, the goddess would never even offer her hand to someone begging to be saved, and that even if she did, humans can't reach out and accept it. By the start of Part 2, Byleth is literally fused with said goddess, and she does, indeed, offer Dimitri her hand — which Dimitri refuses at first, but accepts once he is finally at the point where he wants to be saved.
• The Combat Art "破天", lit. "Breaking Sky", is translated as "Rend Heaven" in Fire Emblem Fates, but translated as "Ruptured Heaven" in Three Houses, and shortened to "Ruptured Sky" in Fire Emblem Heroes. However, all four names exactly describe how Byleth escaped from the darkness of the Forbidden Spell of Zahras casted by Solon after fusing together with Sothis in Chapter 10: by literally cutting the sky in the main world with their Sublime Creator Sword, which used to have the "Ruptured Heaven" Combat Art with the Sword of the Creator form.
• Of the three Lords, Edelgard notably has the least amount of supports outside of her own house. Subtracting them, the only people Edelgard can support with are Lysithea, Constance^note After the Cindered Shadows DLC expansion was added and Professors Manuela and Hanneman. This is noteworthy since Edelgard has major trust issues when it comes to seeing her vision for Fódlan come into fruition, so she only lets those who she can absolute trust get closer to her.
• Dimitri is the only one of the three Lords who has a weapon incorporated into his school uniform. It's not even his main weapon. Yet, he's the only one who is passionate about learning swordsmanship, especially from Byleth, who is established to be a Master Swordsman. The Lord being a sword-user is a tradition in the Fire Emblem series, reflecting him being the closest to the usual Lord-type the series usually has… at first glance, at least.
• Each lord represents mind (Claude), body (Dimitri), and soul (Edelgard). Each lord is smart, strong, and driven but each one has an abudance of one if traits that stems from lacking in the other two.
  • Dimitri is noted as being very powerful and his backstory shows he focused on training to the point of obsession. This comes from his own thoughts betraying him constantly and his will not truly being on his duties but more trying to make up for what happened to him. Post timeskip, without Byleth, he loses his mind and kets himself get consumed by revenge to the detriment of all else.
  • Edelgard is passionately driven, to the point of making plans and scheming while still in the academy, but in the end her own strength is just a tool to her and her own view is so warped that she needs guidance to keep her from walking down paths that drift further from her goals. As shown in Azure Moon her own body is just a tool to get what she wants.
  • Claude is always scheming and trying to learn about the world around him. As his deeper thoughts show, however, without Byleth's aid he's actually trapped in his own mind. Unlike Dimitri he's still in the present and taking everything into account but in reality it's almost a worse prison because everything he does, all the progress he makes, feels hollow when he has no faith in neither goddess nor other people. He wants to help but ultimately the help he needs is to realize what the actual reward of his planning would be instead of just scheming and waiting for solid wants and desires to show up.
• All three of the lords get a support and ending with one of the Ashen Wolves, Edelgard with Constance, Dimitri with Hapi and Claude with Balthus, so that leaves only Yuri without one. Except that he can be romanced by a Byleth of either gender, gets a bit of Developers' Desired Date in Cindered Shadows and is the Ashen Wolf that is most associated with the Church, much like Byleth is compared to the lords. Fitting that the leader of the Ashen Wolves is the guy whose paired up lord is the main protagonist of the game.

Fridge Brilliance: Other Characters

• Several characters' stats, proficiencies, weaknesses, and personal skills perfectly reflect their personalities and backgrounds:
  • Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude have Imperial Lineage, Royal Lineage, and Leicester Lineage, respectively, which grants them an extra 20% more experience. Being the future leaders of their respective factions, they are expected and pushed to grow much stronger and faster than all of their fellow peers.
  • Bernadetta's shyness prevents her from interacting closely with others. Her preferred weapons are lances and bows, weapons that can attack from a distance. She also has a hidden talent for riding and mounted units can move again after attacking, perhaps to retreat back. The skill unlocked with said hidden talent is Pass, which allows her to move past spaces occupied by foes, which shows in her C-support with Felix where she maneuvers past him to escape from him. Her personal skill, Persecution Complex, reflects her tendency to retaliate back with intensity should she feel herself being persecuted, as in the case of her past when her father tried disciplining her. Her weaknesses are in Swords, Axes, Brawling, and Heavy Armor, which are more suited for someone on the frontlines, something Bernadetta has almost a psychosis against.
  • Ferdinand, who has a Crest of Cichol is proficient in swords and axes, but has a preference for lances, Seteth, who is the Cichol, has this same situation, the holy weapon associated with the crest of Cichol is the Spear of Assal which is a lance. Lances and Swords are associated with the nobility Ferdinand strives to emulate and he likely took on axes as part of his one sided competition with Edelgard.
  • Ashe is proficient in axes and bows, which are usually associated with bandits and thieves. This, along with his personal skill Lockpick, is because Ashe used to be a thief to feed his family before being adopted by Lonato, as explained in the B-rank support conversation with Byleth.
  • Sylvain's personal skill, Philanderer, allows him to inflict more and take less damage while adjacent to a female ally. Being the Casanova Wannabe he is, it's only normal he would want to show off and make a better impression.
  • Lysithea's lifespan is shorter due to the crest experimentation that she experienced. She also has one of the lowest HP stats in the game. Her personal skill, Mastermind, allows her to gain double the skill experience earned in battle — reflecting her being a studious and hardworking prodigy. Additionally, her weaknesses in the Weapon Triangle trio and Heavy Armor can be attributed to most of the weapons either being too huge for her petite body size or too heavy for someone with a reduced physicality.
  • Marianne loves animals to the point that her personal skill is called Animal Lover where she regains HP when adjacent to a mounted unit. She's also proficient in riding and flying.
  • Lorenz starts the game with an E+ rank and proficiency in Reason, though the rest of his stats are all E rank, apart from riding and lance. Given that Mercedes mentions offhandedly that Lorenz went to the Fhirdiad Royal School of Magic, it's likely that he gained those traits there.
  • Edelgard has a weakness in Faith. Not only does she oppose the church, as someone who built themselves back up after being in a very dark place, she saw piety as a weakness in character, as said with her B support with Manuela. As for her weakness in Bows, it is because she is usually very direct, something bows by nature doesn't allow her to be, which, incidentally, is a subject strength for Claude.
  • Hubert dislikes heights. It's no wonder that he has weakness in Flying. His weakness in Axes is because axe wielders usually take a direct approach on the front lines out in the open and is associated with brute force, something that wouldn't be fitting for someone who's more a more calculating behind the scenes kind of guy like Hubert. That's also why he has a strength in Bows. Incidentally, this also contrasts with his liege Edelgard, who has the opposite proficiencies in axe and bows. His disdain for the Church of Seiros is also reflected in his Faith weakness.
  • Caspar has weaknesses in Reason and Authority, AKA the more brain-intensive study fields, something the "fight first, think never" Caspar struggles in. Like Edelgard, Caspar is a very direct and straightforward individual, which is why bows are also a weakness of his, and may object bows are a “coward's weapon”.
  • Linhardt's weaknesses are in Brawling and Axes. Both weapons are heavily associated with violence and blood, and considering Linhardt is Afraid of Blood, he would be far more reluctant to use them compared to other weapons. Linhardt being neutral in all other skills aside from the above two and his proficiency skills is an indication of him being Brilliant, but Lazy; he's shown in Petra's supports to be quite skilled with weapon combat on a theoretical level, meaning it's not impossible for him to pick up new skills and use them efficiently, but without Byleth's influence, he'd rather not try and put in the effort. His skill in Faith also makes sense since he'd rather not fight to begin with. Not only that, but despite his neutral stance towards the religion itself, Linhardt is deeply fascinated with the Church's history and his personal knowledge towards the subject likely carries over into his faith training.
  • Dorothea's weaknesses in Riding and Flying can be attributed to the fact that riding animals in your finery is not exactly the most stable fusion. Although, in traditional warfare, mounted combatants were considered more elite or specialized than others, aka, a more noble path. As someone who dislikes nobility, it makes sense she'd be firmly against learning skills that many nobles are specifically good at.
  • Petra has a weakness in both fields of the magical arts. Not only does she follow another religion entirely, Petra's still having issues with the language of Fódlan, so a field that is very wordy is going to be Petra's bane. Cyril, whom has the same weaknesses as Petra, is in a similar situation, though in his case, it's because he's flat-out illiterate.
    • Petra also has a penalty in when on Stable Duty, but interestingly doesn't have a weakness in Riding itself. Both sides make sense considering Brigid is a heavily forested archipelago that seems to favor flying mounts over grounded ones. She likely wouldn't be familiar with the diet and care a horse would require. However, Petra is studious and works hard to overcome her weaknesses, so her determination likely deters a possible weakness in Riding when she's learning from her professors, which may also be why Riding is the required field when recruiting Petra to the Blue Lions/Golden Deer.
  • Dimitri's weaknesses are in Reason and Axes, which are topics that Edelgard, the target of his Irrational Hatred, can excel in. His weakness in Reason can also be explained by Dimitri being very driven by his emotions rather than logic, to the point where he dies in three out of four routes because of his desire for taking revenge (with one route having his death be caused by a Leeroy Jenkins moment that no rational individual would have gone through with). His axe weakness can also be attribute to axes being highly associated with traits of violence and savagery, and when you consider those same traits in regards to his feelings about the Tragedy of Duscur...
  • Dedue's weaknesses in Riding and Flying are less an issue with him and more that animals are scared of Dedue, as seen with his B+ Support with Annette. His weakness in Faith can be attributed due to him believing in other gods.
  • Felix's weakness in Authority can be attributed to his Personal Ability Lone Wolf. Ingrid remarks that his tactics when leading troops are both unorthodox and useful in some situations, but not very pragmatic in a traditional fight.
  • Sylvain's weakness in Bows is to better make him a foil to Felix, who has a strength in Bows. It's also likely he prefers to show off on the front lines or otherwise take a more flashy position in the battlefield other than supporting from the rear as an archer.
  • Mercedes has weaknesses in the Weapon Triangle trio and Heavy Armor. She's not the type for violence, which is what weaknesses usually imply. Dimitri's support with Mercedes even shows that she doesn't know how to hold a sword, let alone swing it.
  • Annette's weaknesses in Bows and Heavy Armor serve to make her a foil to not only Mercedes (another magic unit with potential with a physical weapon type), but to her estranged father Gilbert. Additionally, use of a bow requires a lot of precise aiming, which Annette, being rather clumsy and careless, wouldn't be great at, which also translates to her wearing plate. A downed knight in full plate is a dead knight after all.
  • Claude's weakness lies in Lances. Lances are associated with the Fódlan nobility and Claude did not grow up around that culture. Much like Shamir and Petra, his weakness in Faith is because he doesn't believe in the Church of Seiros at all.
  • Lorenz's weakness lies solely in Brawling, the least sophisticated of all the weapon archetypes. Not only that, but using them would make him look more barbaric than any other weapon, damaging his potential chances for a suitable partner and conflicting with his image of refined nobility.
  • Raphael's weaknesses in Bows is (once again) because Raph prefers the direct approach, though Three Hopes has it in his Supports with Leonie that standard issue bows do not measure up to his muscular might and break on him as a result. Meanwhile his weakness in Reason lies in that he does not do well in situations that have him use his head, though his neutrality in Authority means he's not exactly a hopeless meathead. His weakness in Riding may be because he's just too heavy for animals to normally handle.
  • Ignatz's weakness in Flying is revealed in Three Hopes, where he admits to being afraid of being struck by lightning during Expeditions, and as being on a flying mount puts him in the sky, it would make him feel like he could be struck by lightning any minute. His personal skill Watchful Eye increases his hit rate by 20. Ignatz wears glasses, thus allowing him a more accurate line of vision. Ignatz is also surprisingly observant, picking up small details about people that others miss.
  • Hilda's weaknesses lie in Faith and Authority. Someone who is a compulsive delegator like Hilda is not gonna make her a popular commander, while Hilda finds praying too much work.
  • Marianne's weaknesses in Heavy Armor and Brawling can be attributed to, like Mercedes, not being the type for violence.
  • Flayn's weakness in armor likely comes from the fact that she's one of the smallest characters and isn't particularly physically formidable.
  • Flayn and Seteth both have weaknesses in Riding. As they're both dragons in human form, it's possible that horses can sense this and feel uncomfortable around them and are much better off trying to ride Wyverns, which are descendants of dragons.
  • Manuela and Hanneman's strengths and weakness are a yin-yang parallel to each other, not just in regards to Reason and Faith (though Hanneman doesn't have a weakness in Faith).
    • Manuela's physical weapon proficiency is in Swords, while Hanneman's in Bows. Hanneman often snipes at Manuela and Manuela is quick to cut back.
    • Manuela's special unit archetype proficiency is Flying, while Hanneman's proficient in Riding and has a weakness in Flying. Manuela's flighty, while Hanneman's grounded in logic. However both have a weakness in Heavy Armor, alluding to them having some form of common grounds at the end of the day.
  • Jeritza's weaknesses are in Faith and Authority. It's made abundantly clear in his supports with Mercedes that he despises the Crest system for how much pain and suffering it brought onto not only himself, but his beloved mother and older sister, thus having low faith in the goddess and the church. As for his low authority growth, it's shown that his Blood Knight Death Knight identity makes him not hesitate to disobey orders from authority, such as being willing to abandon his soldiers to the javelins of light in the Verdant Wind/Silver Snow routes. This isn't helped with him being The Dreaded, making him difficult to approach and having limited supports.
  • Anna's weakness is in Reason and Authority. Her low Authority gains can be explained by Anna not only being usually by herself, but she keeps everything very professional and doesn't try to bond with people, which can be seen in the fact that she's the only one that can't have any supports at all, not even with Byleth. As for Reason, the Annas in the past games have been very eccentric, and having a Secret Shop would be very contrary to someone who has a Money Fetish like Anna.
  • Catherine's weakness is in Reason, and much like Caspar, it’s a field that the "slice first, ask never" Catherine would have difficulty with, as she has a very blasé approach to life.
  • Yuri's weaknesses are Lances, Axes, Riding, and Flying. Lances are seen as symbols of knights, a group of people Yuri feels uncomfortable with, and axes are seen as a weapon of brute force, something he doesn't like doing. Meanwhile, the reason for his weaknesses with Riding and Flying are revealed in Three Hopes, where Expeditions and his A Support with Marianne reveal not only does he hates having to ride in a saddle, but it's also compounded with long hair animal dander allergies, thanks to Fódlan horses being unusually shaggy.
  • Balthus's weaknesses are Lances, Bows, and Flying. Balthus is known to be a very direct individual (and is the fourth unit like this) and those three skills involve being as far away from the opponent as possible, something that as a brawler like him wouldn't benefit from.
  • Constance's weaknesses are Axes and Heavy Armor. Both of them represent each side of her split personality; her normal, haughty behavior has her stress the importance of being a lady, which having an axe would the most unladylike weapon someone would think of, but her more lethargic personality when exposed to direct sunlight wouldn't benefit from heavy armor, as it would make her even more sluggish.
  • Hapi's weaknesses are Brawling, Authority, and Heavy Armor. Hapi doesn't like her ability to summon monsters, so it makes sense for her to distance herself from the more animalistic fighting style of bare-handed combat, while her disdain/disillusionment toward authority figures would make her a poor commander. Meanwhile, as someone who lived in a village far away from civilization, she wouldn't have many opportunities to learn about wearing heavy armor. Interestingly, despite being a fairly big critic of the Church of Seiros, she does not have a weakness in Faith, likely because her issues stem from how she was treated by the knights rather than from the faith itself, at one point seeming to imply that she believes in the goddess if only so she could make complaints about the church to her.
  • Data mining (or hacking the characters in question into your party) reveals that even some of the non-playable characters get in on this bit of fridge brilliance:
    • Jeralt has been on the run from the Church of Seiros in general and Rhea in particular for Byleth's entire life. Thus, he has a weakness in Flying, the most conspicuous travel method possible, and a strength in Riding, a less-visible way to outrun potential pursuit.
    • Sothis has the lowest rank in everything with zero strengths AND weaknesses due to Exhaustion-Induced Idiocy: It's hard to learn anything and find out what you do or don't like to learn when you can barely stay awake long enough for a meaningful conversation.
    • Kronya is weak in Lances, Axes, Riding, and Flying because she's an infiltrator and assassin, and all of these are extremely difficult to conceal at best.
    • Cornelia is weak in Authority due to Chronic Backstabbing Disorder and Heavy Armor due to being a spellcaster.
• In addition, characters have Budding Talents for stuff that seems odd at first, but make sense with their personality, relationships, backstories, etc.
  • Byleth's Budding Talent is in Faith, aka Light and Healing magic. Faith is heavily associated with the Church of Seiros, and seeing how they're a vessel of Sothis...
    • Add to this Rhea's skilled in Swords, Brawling, Faith, and Authority, all growths that get a bonus from Byleth's Enlightened One unique class. The only thing Rhea teaches that isn't on that list is Reason. This all indicates that Rhea and Byleth are not so different.
  • Edelgard has a Budding Talent for Reason magic. Given she rejects the Church of Seiros and wants to remove their grip on the world, she would naturally decide that if she will use magic, it will be one that runs opposite to her enemies. Also, Reason magic is depicted as being related to the Arts and Science, so naturally a progressive type of magic would suit her best.
  • Dimitri has a Budding Talent for Riding. As someone who tries to be noble and righteous, it makes him a Knight in Shining Armor like he tries to project outwardly. It also helps him get over his possible skittishness over potentially harming a horse from his bouts of freakish strength.
  • Claude has a Budding Talent for Axes. Being known as a schemer and a tactician, Claude knows that if his plans ever fail, he can simply fall back on raw power. This is also a reference to Fates, where Axes and Bows, his affinity weapon, are on the same spot in that game's weapon triangle. Alternatively, this could also be due to the fact that he's part Almyran, who are usually known for having lots of axe-wielding Wyvern Riders, thus he's learning to embrace his heritage.
  • Hubert has a Budding Talent in Lances. He’s Edelgard’s right hand, and in the Black Eagles route, her main supporter, making him The Lancer for her. Plus, it creates a Weapon Triangle dynamic between the two that somewhat reflects their personalities and relationships with each other; Byleth as a sword has power over Edelgard, Edelgard as an axe has power over Hubert, and Hubert as a lance has power over Byleth (or at least, he wants to).
  • Ferdinand has a Budding Talent for armor. Edelgard is proficient in armor, and Ferdinand has an intense rivalry with her. It makes sense, then, that one of the areas Edelgard is good in also is one that if trained in, Ferdinand can use as well. Heavy Armor is also a attribute of the nobility due to how expensive it is to commission full plate armor.
  • Bernadetta has a Budding Talent for Riding. As someone who is timid and skittish, her having riding means she can use an animal to get in, attack, and then retreat, which is something many of her supports essentially involve her doing to other people; following, and then retreating when she gets noticed. Also, fellow nervous wreck Marianne is more comfortable among animals more than people, and animals are often therapeutic for those who are as troubled as she is.
    • Marianne's most natural job progression will lead her into the Holy Knight class. Who would be her mount? Surely none other than her dear friend featured in a lot of conversation with her, the noble Dorte.
    • Anna has a Budding Talent for Riding as well. As an intrepid proprietor, Anna can likely see the bonuses of riding around a horse, which allows her amazing movement.
  • Dorothea has a Budding Talent for Faith. Being a former songstress that was taken from poverty, she saw how fake people, especially those in the nobility, could be, thus she could only rely on her charm to push her though, which is also why it starts out as a subject weakness. While she never regains her faith in the Church, she does believe in Byleth ... who is the vessel of Sothis.
    • It's also possible that while she may not believe in the faith, she still has potential of using the magic itself. Her personal abilities give her allies healing, showing that she does have the potential of supporting them. She also is heartbroken by the effects of war so of course she would want to study white magic to minimize damage and casualties.
  • Mercedes has a Budding Talent for bows despite being magic focused. As her Sacred Weapon, the Tathlum Bow, is one, it means she would naturally have a gift for wielding it, but due to the events of her life, would naturally avoid using it unless given motivation to do so.
  • Ashe has a Budding Talent for Lances. As someone who wants to be a knight but is concerned about his past as a commoner, it shows his desire to be a knight like his adoptive father, as lances are weapons associated with chivalry and knighthood. If given the motivation, Ashe can grow to follow in his footsteps.
    • Marianne has a Budding Talent for Lances as well. While it could be due to Lances being the affinity weapon of both Pegasus Knights and Cavaliers, which features horses as mounts, it's later revealed in the War Phase that her family's Hero's Relic, Blutgang, is a sword, which historically gets beaten by lances. Due to Marianne having a intense loathing of her Crest of the Beast/Maurice, it could stand to reason she'd want to learn how to be better at what usually trumps swords. Additionally, the skill Marianne gets from unlocking her Budding Talent is the Combat Art Frozen Lance, which does magic damage, just like Blutgang.
  • Felix has a Budding Talent for Reason magic. As Reason magic is often associated with science or understanding, it makes his status as something of a Only Sane Man among his house more fitting, plus it serves as a divergence from his Faith-using father. As for why Reason starts off as a weakness and why Faith isn't, it could be due to Felix's rather blunt and "to the point" attitude, which is not usually a mindset for a subject that embodies creativity, or inheriting at least some aptitude for Faith from Rodrigue.
    • He's nonetheless bad at it between a low Magic growth and only two spells, which are in fact identical to Dimitri's, and the latter has a marginally better spell list (Dimitri gets a third offensive spell, Aura, if trained in Faith) despite having an even lower Magic growth and permanent Reason weakness.
  • Sylvain has a budding talent for Reason. This seems arbitrary, except his support with Annette foreshadows this — Sylvain manages to point out a formula that is displayed as incorrect while viewing it upside down, something Annette missed. He's also shown to be rather insightful and logical in general behind the philandering. Sylvain is quite smart but pretends not to be to spite the expectations his family have placed on him.
  • Hilda has a Budding Talent for Heavy Armor. As someone who dislikes the front line but is very strong, this fits perfectly for her, because armored units can't get around very fast, so they tend to fall behind into the back row because they simply can't keep pace.
  • Ignatz has a Budding Talent for Reason magic. Being interested in painting, he would normally have an affinity for something like Reason magic, but as we find out, his merchant family had wanted Ignatz to become a knight after deciding that his older brother would inherit the family business, forcing him to suppress his creativity. Byleth simply kicks it in the pants and into high gear.
  • Lysithea has a Budding Talent for Swords. She also has a Crest of Charon, which she shares with Catherine. In their B support, Catherine and Lysithea become something akin to sisters over their shared crest, so she learns something she normally dismissed to be closer to Catherine. The Charon House's Hero Relic, Thunderbrand, is also a sword, which also could help Lysithea have more innate talent with swordplay.
  • Flayn has a Budding Talent for Reason. Saint Cethleann is noted for her healing skills. What better way to persuade possible questioning eyes than pick up a topic that runs opposite of what Cethleann is best known for? She’s also very curious of the world, and a progressive magic system based on science is bound to be a breath of fresh air for her.
  • Jeritza has a Budding Talent for Flying. In his C support with Byleth, he mentions that the Death Knight persona is just that: a persona, and has revulsion around the persona, as the Death Knight was born from a psychotic break, and he has trouble holding it back at times.. As such, taking an interest in riding on wyvernback can give him a much needed break away from being the Death Knight, and allow him a sense of freedom from the pain and trauma associated with the Death Knight.
  • Yuri has a Budding Talent for Bows. As someone who loves working in the shadows, a bow can benefit from killing someone without them knowing. This also explains why he was asked by the Church to kill a group of people, they recognize his potential for using the bow.
  • Balthus's Budding Talent for Reason makes perfect sense when you learn that he is already a graduate of the Officers Academy. He already knows the stuff he learned there, but has forgotten a detail or two. With Byleth's help, he can eventually remember everything he has forgotten; basically, a simple refresher course.
  • Constance has a Budding Talent for Brawling. This fits both of her split personalities: her normal self has the fiery temper needed to land a good hit, and her more passive self — when exposed to sunlight — doesn't have to worry about holding a heavy weapon, making both sides cooperating with each other.
  • Hapi has a Budding Talent in Axes. An axe is not only a weapon but a tool as well, which in her village, would use constantly to chop wood or anything else requiring an axe since they are far away from civilization. Since Hapi would most likely know how to use an axe as a tool, she can easily figure out how to use it as a weapon with a little guidance.
    • She also mentions that swinging axes are a great way of letting out her negative feelings, preventing her from sighing and summoning monsters by accident, forming a form of percussive therapy.
  • As a subversion, Annette reveals in her supports that her skills in magic is due to hard work and concentration, making her one of the few students to lack a budding talent. Similar arguments can be made for Caspar and Raphael, who train very hard for different reasons and lack budding talents.
    • Similarly, both Ingrid lacks a budding talent. It's mentioned she train regularly to become a knight, meaning that she would naturally have no interests in anything but their dreams. The same applies to Leonie, who in her case wants to imitate her idol Jeralt.
    • Linhardt lacking a budding talent is a similar situation to the above five, in reverse. As he mentions himself, he prefers to focus only on what interests him and quickly tires of things. Thus, he lacks the diligence to study and master a new topic before he gets bored.
    • Petra lacking a Budding Talent as well makes sense given she is technically already focused on learning something that she has a hidden talent in; speaking/writing the Fódlan language. With her focus on learning, she likely has no time to consider other avenues, plus not being from the mainland, she likely already has her cultural habits, and thus sticks to them. Her support with Byleth also reveals she trains hard to be the future ruler of Brigid, which helps explain her lack of one as well.
  • Conversely, none of the teachers or knights have a Budding Talent, with the exceptions being Flayn, Jeritza, and Anna. Not only are all the knights and teachers adults with years of training, many of them previously attended the monastery, and so any possible hidden talents would either have been discovered already or not realized in time, so the possible potential went amiss.
    • Flayn is an exception because she never got to attend school due to Seteth keeping her safe from people interested in her Major Crest of Cethleann, and thus develop any additional traits from being around other people. Such a reason can be similar to what Jeritza went through.
  • Byleth's lack of skill weaknesses, while at first appearing to be simply for player convenience, is likely due to their mercenary upbringing requiring them to be prepared for any job. Likewise, Leonie, who was also trained by Jeralt, also lacks any skill weaknesses.
    • Ingrid's lack of skill weakness is due to her dedication to become a knight, meaning that in the event that her main weapon is unavailable, she will be able to improvise. Her neutralities in both types of magic is likely due to her Strength and Magic growths being equal.
    • Ferdinand also lacks any skill weaknesses. He's a major Determinator, so any weaknesses he might have had are likely being compensated by pure force of will.
• Certain characters can be recruited if you beat them after the timeskip with Byleth. There's some fridge brilliance in these characters.
  • If you side with Edelgard, Lysithea could be recruited. The Empire boasts itself with mages, and Lysithea is talented with magic. Like Edelgard, she also has two crests due to the crest experimentation she underwent. Finally, she also abhors the crest systems, and even becomes a commoner in most of her endings.
  • If you side with Dimitri, you can recruit Lorenz. Like the knights of Faerghus, Lorenz is skilled with both lances and horseback riding. He also values honor and his responsibility as a noble, a trait common for the people in the kingdom.
  • If you pick Claude, Ashe can be recruited. The Golden Deer is mostly filled with commoners who are excellent with bows, and Ashe is the only commoner outside of the house to have a high affinity with bows.
    • Ashe and Lorenz are only (re)-recruitable in part two if you had them in part one, and also are re-recruitable on Silver Snow. This not true of Lysithea.
• While recruiting students to your house isn't problematic in itself, the problem to some arises when a member of those two houses, plus the faculty, side with the Black Eagles to later fight on Edelgard's side of the war, as it can basically be seen as a betrayal to their respective nation. While their loyalty to Byleth is a primary factor, some from outside the Black Eagle students do have potential or stated reasons to side with the Empire:
  • Leonie and Alois both have their loyalties to Byleth, but also with Jeralt, both of whom promised him to look after his child after his death. In addition, they both realized that Jeralt had reservations with Rhea, leading the both of them down this path.
  • Lysithea sees her twin Crests as a curse due to the second one being forced on her to the detriment of her lifespan, and holds no love for the value society places on Crests as she would rather be judged for how hard she works. (In fact, she can even surrender to you if the player never attempted to recruit her — as Claude told her to do so if she lost the fight and that Byleth and Edelgard are trustworthy.)
  • Felix hates the idea of chivalry and duty and sees his father, Dimitri, and Dedue in a terrible light. He explains that this path is his to go down and not one guided by those above him. It doesn't help that Glenn was killed trying to save Dimitri, something that's been eating away at him for a long time.
  • Mercedes, a character who is highly devoted to the Church to begin with, sees the danger of the Church and the Crests, as her step-father basically abandoned her mother and her after her mother bore him a child with a Crest to help him with his standing and her adoptive father only really cares for her due to her Crest, using her to get ahead in life and become a noble. Also if she finds out that her younger half-brother is the Death Knight, she might take this chance to become closer with him and help him through his issues.
  • Marianne also suffered under the system, as her particular crest made her hated and is a source of self-loathing, and it is implied that part of the reason she allied herself with Edelgard is for the sake of abolishing the system. Because of Byleth, she has a reason to live for again — as her A-support of them says — and has nothing to lose.
  • Sylvain has a lot of problems because of the crest system, as well. He had to deal with high expectations, people choosing to trust him as a Crest wielder rather than a person, and — worst of all — he lost his brother; Miklan — who had become so envious of Sylvain for having a crest that it severed any familial relationships they would have.
  • Ashe has personal reasons to side with Edelgard, if recruited. He lost his adoptive father, Lord Lonato, because of the Church of Serios and wants to find out why the church executed his adoptive brother. His brother's death led Lonato to lose his sanity and seek revenge on the church. In this route, he will never forgive the church because of being Locked Out of the Loop. Ironically, he stays Locked Out of the Loop if he joins Edelgard.
  • Ingrid had a lot of arranged marriages because of the Crest system as well. She was also almost married to a Jerkass merchant. Ingrid was only able to cancel that marriage thanks to Dorothea, who knows about the merchant's true colors. However, the merchant wanted to kidnap Ingrid after the group found out about the merchant's true colors. If it weren't for Byleth and Dorothea, who knows what would have happened to her.
  • The Gloucester house supports the Empire anyway, so Lorenz would have no hesitations to fight with the Black Eagle Strike Force if recruited.
  • The Alliance is stated to routinely backstab each other for power — it makes sense that people like Ignatz and Raphael would turn on the Alliance who might have been throwing them under the bus. In fact, Raphael doesn't even appear as an enemy at all on Crimson Flower. Ironically, doing so would be siding with the nobles who are known to backstab the others for power, like Gloucester, while the genuinely good nobles stand against the Empire.
  • Hanneman's sister suffered like what Mercedes' mother had to endure, married so she can produce a child with a Crest for a noble who was losing influence, as while she didn't possess a Crest, her future children can possess Crests. Unlike Mercedes' mother, despite all the children she bore, none of them bore Crests, and her husband being abusive (which only got worse after failing to bear him a child with a Crest), combined with her already weak health, led to her death, leaving Hanneman unhappy with the system and became disgusted with nobility in general, renouncing his nobility. While he would rather give everyone Crests to bring more equality and bring down the value of Crests by making it more widespread, getting rid of them is probably an okay alternative. Additionally, if he is not recruited in non-Crimson Flower routes, he will always default to siding with the Empire.
  • Manuela has a more personal and slightly sinister reason — she wants to get revenge on the Death Knight. And of course, if you ally with the Death Knight, what will get you closer to him than if you had to face him on the field of battle? Manuela is also an Imperial citizen, as the Mittelfrank Opera Company is based in Enbarr.
  • Speaking of Neutral characters, Shamir, despite her service to Rhea and the Knights of Seiros, she's still a mercenary from Dagda, so she probably figured that sooner or later, she would have to fight against the church. In fact, failing to recruit her has her side with the church due to her feelings for Rhea, only to be killed as a result.
  • Annette probably has the least reason to even join the Empire side, considering her father, Gilbert, is a prominent Knight of Seiros. While she does have a bit of resentment, the only way we can see this resentment towards Gilbert is on the Blue Lions route… where she's had plenty of time to get over it. Including any resentment towards the institution who stole her father away. And of course she's going to acknowledge a world where her hard work is recognized over her crest.
  • Hapi is already very cynical about the church in general, due to what she's suffered. It's no wonder why she joins up with Byleth and Edelgard to go against them.
  • Thanks to his stepmom making his life crap and targeting him because of his being descended from a commoner, Balthus is given plenty of motivation to get rid of the current status of nobility and hope for his mom to no longer suffer at the hands of his stepmom.
  • Constance has no love with the former nobles of the Empire, so when learning about Edelgard's past and that she dismissed most of the nobility, she figured that siding with her is not only a way to regain her house, but also a metaphorical "Up yours" to the same nobles that dismantled it.
  • Yuri saw the Empire as the strongest faction and doesn't want his gang to be in the crossfire. There is also the fact that Edelgard's reforms can give his people an easier life so they don't suffer.
  • This even goes in reverse for why students in the Black Eagles House would side with either the Kingdom of Faerghus or the Leicester Alliance:
    • Ferdinand sees Edelgard's conquest as going too far and believes that as a noble's duty, he should side against his country in order to save the people of Aegir.
    • Petra has developed resentment of Brigid being a vassal state of the Empire. The war is a chance for Brigid to finally be a free land once again.
    • Bernadetta is terrified of being by her family despite her father being disposed as a noble and wants to be as far away from him as possible.
    • Linhardt hates blood and violence. Since the Adrestian Empire is the aggressor no matter what, he wants to make sure that there is little bloodshed towards any innocents during the war.
    • Caspar's sense of justice and Edelgard's refusal to explain her actions will have him see her as a tyrant who should be stopped.
    • As a commoner, Dorothea is disgusted on how normal people are being affected by the Imperial army and she helped out those who were in trouble prior to joining up with Byleth again, so understands the severity of the war.
• Several characters get attack bonuses in addition to the standard hit/avoid. These bonds are also closer than usual.
  • Byleth & Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Yuri, and Flayn: Byleth helps the former three overcome their worst traits, and Yuri flirts with Byleth regardless of gender. Flayn feels a close bond with Byleth.
  • Edelgard & Hubert, Dimitri & Dedue: The second party is a vassal and confidant of the former.
  • Claude & Hilda: While Hilda can be recruited out of house, she does care for Claude, and will die rather than let the Empire hurt him.
  • Annette & Mercedes: Best friends.
  • Annette & Gilbert, Flayn & Seteth: Daughter and father.
  • Mercedes & Jeritza: Siblings.
  • Felix, Sylvain & Ingrid: Childhood friends. Of note is that they have a close bond with each other but not Dimitri, implying Dimitri has become somewhat more self-isolated due to his mental struggles.Avoided in Three Hopes.
  • Dorothea & Manuela: Manuela was Dorothea's senior in their opera company, and Dorothea says she looked up to Manuela. Of note is that Manuela always teaches the Black Eagles unless Byleth does first.
  • Ferdinand & Lorenz: While most supports between characters that don't know each other usually start with some tension, these two are superficially similar and get along from the start.
  • Raphael & Ignatz: Despite Ignatz blaming himself for the death of Raphael's parents, Raphael just wants to be friends again.
  • Catherine & Shamir: Partners in the knights, with subtext.
  • Alois & Leonie: While this may seem random, both Alois and Leonie look up to Jeralt, and if recruited to the Empire, do so because they believe that's what Jeralt would've wanted, and to protect Byleth.
  • Hilda & Balthus: Holst and Balthus went to the Officers' Academy together, and Hilda has known Balthus since she was a child.
  • Dorothea & Hilda: While this goes unused in the final version, both women are very feminine and have similar interests despite coming from opposite upbringings. Hilda is also one of the more relaxed nobles.
  • Bernadetta & Marianne: While this also goes unused, both characters have a difficult time interacting with other people. It's likely that they can detect that the other feels the same way and thus are more comfortable around each other.
• Depending on which route you are playing, if you didn't recruit the student during the first half of the game, then they will be completely absent during the War Phase. If you pay closer attention to their dialogue and/or paralogues in other routes, their absence makes sense:
  • Annette does not appear in Verdant Wind or Silver Snow. Unlike in Azure Moon, where Dimitri assumes the throne with the Church's support, in these two routes he is exiled with Cornelia making a power grab. Annette's uncle opts to side with Cornelia and the Empire over the loyalist and explicitly keeps her and her mother away from the conflict. In Crimson Flower, while he likely did try to keep her from the conflict, it ultimately proved fruitless when the Black Eagle Strike Force invades Firdihad and Rhea seemingly forces the remaining Kingdom Forces to try and fend them off.
  • The Ashen Wolves quartet (Yuri, Balthus, Hapi, and Constance) will completely disappear in every route. Due to living in Abyss, they have absolutely no personal stakes in the conflict and likely fled for their own safety.
  • Lorenz will not be present in Crimson Flower. As noted in other routes, despite being part of the Alliance, House Gloucester casts its allegiance to the Empire. In Silver Snow and Azure Moon, they will arrive as reinforcements to support the Empire in fighting for control of the Bridge of Myrddin. In Crimson Flower, it's the Empire Strike Force who launches the preemptive attack, and reinforcement from Gloucester proves to be unnecessary.
  • Marianne doesn't appear in any route outside of Verdant Wind. Of all the nobles described in the game, Margrave Edmund is perhaps the most pragmatic and would prefer to wait until the dust clears to throw in his full support to the victor.
  • Raphael also doesn't appear in Crimson Flower. It may seem odd at first, but he has his little sister to take care of during the war. Edelgard has Byleth on her side, meaning she will not be taken extreme measures as seen in the other routes - where Raphael had to be involved.

Fridge Brilliance: Crests/Nabateans

• Certain Crest weapons will damage the user if they don't have the appropriate Crest. Others do not, but heal more per turn should the wielder have the appropriate Crest. At first, it seems random which is which, until you realize some very important details about their construction: The 10 Elites' weapons were all made from the bones and hearts of the dragons they share a Crest with. They were forged to be incredibly dangerous weapons first and foremost, and most certainly without the consent of their sources. The Four Saints, on the other hand, crafted their weapons with much more benevolent aims in mind, resulting in the weapons both not having Crest Stones, but also not inflicting harm upon those who would wield them. The Inexhaustible, for example, is a Saint weapon and glows blue, as opposed to Failnaught, which is an Elite weapon and glows red. Inexhaustible does not harm the user at all, while Failnaught will inflict backlash against anyone without a Crest, because one was crafted from a place of benevolence while the other was crafted by the Agarthans with only hate.
• Crests and Heroes Relics have indeed been a boon for protecting the continent from invaders, as even "Those who slither in the dark" technology can't compare to the weapons forged from dragons and the power obtained from their blood that they created. Thus, Hanneman's artificial crest research would be a vast boon for the unified continent in each ending when recruited, as even the average soldier can now have a crest-like tool when needed and make any attempted invasion by a foreign country backfire.
• Despite the Four Saints descending their crests and having as much political and religious importance to the land as the Ten Elites, they do not seem to have a noble house established anywhere in Fódlan, with their crests being borne by completely different houses: Hevring (Cethleann), Aegir and Berglitz (Cichol), Varley and Essar (Indech), and Ochs (Macuil). This is because they are not the descendants of the Saints, as they had no children and gave their crests through blood transfusions with future founders.
• According to Sylvain, the Crest bloodlines have been getting weaker. This is reflected in-game, as most of the Major Crest-bearers are Nabateans (Rhea, Seteth, Flayn, the Immovable, and the Wind Caller), had it implanted (Byleth, Edelgard, Lysithea), come from isolated regions (Balthus, Hapi), are inbred (Constance), or are implied to have received it from the original bearer (Jeralt and Yuri). Felix, Catherine, and Anna are the only exceptions.
  • Crest bloodlines getting weaker also makes sense from a biology standpoint: a child receives half of the materials from each parent, and this also applies to Crest blood. Unions with both partners bearing Crests - or just Crest blood in general - would ensure the baby gets a 'normal' dose of Crest blood, yet if only one partner has such, the baby gets a half-dose. Rinse and repeat over generations, and of course the supply of Crest blood would be dwindling in the present day; regular blood is an infinite supply as long as humans are around, while Crest blood is the exact opposite due to the near-genocide of the Nabateans.
• Depending on what route you pick, you can find out that Flayn spent centuries asleep after getting wounded in the battle with Nemesis. Given this, the timing and details of Byleth's Convenient Coma leading into the five-year timeskip make a lot more sense. It's likely that Byleth was significantly injured at the final battle of the White Clouds section of the game, given the circumstances of it — the castle crumbling around them and potentially getting blasted to cinders by dragon fire via enraged Rhea (Black Eagles), or falling off a cliff (everything else), for example. Byleth fell into a deep sleep while their/Sothis's power helped them recover from that. It also explains why Byleth didn't suffer any muscular deterioration, as is common in coma victims — presumably Flayn didn't have to relearn to walk, despite having slept for far longer. Basically, entering a dormant state to heal is something that Nabateans have the ability to do, and Byleth is Nabatean enough to do so as well.
  • This also explains why if Seteth is the one to find Byleth after the timeskip, he's the only person not really confused by them mentioning they slept for 5 years. Since he was already talking with Flayn and Rhea about how Byleth might now be "Kin" to them prior to the attack before the timeskip, this mostly just confirms to Seteth that his theory was correct.
• Rhea's change in demeanor in the Black Eagles route should Byleth side with Edelgard can easily come across as very sudden, and it is. It also can be seen as a moment where Rhea's instability and now broken hope to revive Sothis overwhelm her and drive her mad, and to an extent it likely is. But there is also a side to it that makes a ton of sense in another way. At an early point in the preceding battle, Edelgard orders that her soldiers "take every one" of the Crest Stones, and Rhea responds with an enraged "do you even know what those stones are?!" When one considers that the stones are the hearts of her kin, and that the last time such a mass collecting of Crest stones happened was when Nemesis massacred her people and cut up their bodies, Edelgard's raid is unintentionally causing Rhea to relive the most traumatic/horrible period of her life. In her eyes, Edelgard just became the same as Nemesis, and Byleth becomes no better when they side with Edelgard. Indeed, since they carry Sothis' Crest Stone (albeit on their heart) and uses Sothis's powers, they become, in her eyes, a new Nemesis.
• Why is Rhea a Brawling trainer? Because she is actually Seiros, and as seen in the opening movie, Seiros is quite skilled bare-handed.
• Rhea at first seems oddly more traumatized than any of her kin by the events of the Red Canyon. But then we learn on Verdant Wind that she was the only Nabatea to survive Nemesis' assault on Zanado. The other surviving Nabatea had left the canyon some time before. Thus Rhea was the only one of them to witness firsthand the horror and trauma of what happened there, Indech and the others only hearing about it. (In fact, Rhea may have only narrowly avoided being a victim herself…)
• Seiros's crest stone vanishing at the end of Crimson Flower is just as much symbolic as it is literal. In this route, Byleth fights against the church and the status quo of Crests. The death of Rhea (the institution), the death of Sothis (the goddess), and the removal of Crests. (The Crest Stone.) Byleth's hair returns to normal… s/he's become a regular human, who s/he ultimately chose to side with, and to hand the future for. Humans.
• Why does the Church (or rather Rhea) keep the ability of Heroes' Relics to transform people into monsters secret? Because the Nobles Houses are very successful at keeping the relics away from those who would be in danger usually. And as canon shows with Dedue and his men in CF and TWSITD in general — the monster creation is weaponizable. And due to the sheer amount of Nabatean material in the direct aftermath of the Red Canyon and Seiros' Shield's specific ability, Rhea probably has seen the monster creation weaponized before.
• In the opening, when Seiros has killed Nemesis, she holds up the Sword of The Creator, close enough for the blood to stick to her cheek, while symbolically talking to her deceased mother. When one learns who her mother is, and what happened to her, no wonder Seiros holds the sword so close during her comment. It’s one of the few things that remains of her mother.
• While the game never explicitly says why Rhea and her allies decided to stall technological progress, the history of the Nabatea (at least as far as Rhea understood it) provides implied answers. Namely, first they helped humans progress, enabling them to grow into a powerful and prosperous civilization with incredible technology. However, the result were wars that eventually led to a massive war against the Nabatea themselves that devastated the entire continent and took at least a thousand years to heal from. So then the Nabatea opted to live apart from humans, let them progress as they pleased without interference. The result (from Rhea's perspective, as in truth the root cause was enemies from the past) was Nemesis genociding most of their remaining kind, including their progenitor. So Rhea and her allies opted for a new approach, to steer Fódlan toward worshipping the goddess Sothis, and for Rhea to be a influential part of Fódlan's power structure through the centuries while keeping technology that could enhance war or reduce faith in the goddess stymied.
• Unlike the Black Eagle students, Flayn heats up fast in the sauna despite originally coming from the tropical climates of Enbarr in Adrestia. It might have to do with secretly being a dragon; cold-blooded reptilian creatures are more receptive to drastic temperature changes compared to warm-blooded humans.
• Seteth's hobby is writing fables. He's probably the one who wrote the church's mythology.
• The identity of the Cardinals of the Church are a closely guarded secret, likely so that Seteth and Rhea can more easily slip back into their positions in the Church by claiming to be one of said Cardinals.
• In Cindered Shadows, the form Aelfric takes when merged with the Chalice of Beginnings and Sitri is (on the stats/info screen) noted to have been influenced by Crest Stone shards. Yet no such shards are mentioned to have been in the chalice or near it. Then one recalls that Aelfric is one of Rhea's "children", i.e. someone she granted her Crest to by giving them her blood and shards from her own Crest Stone, i.e., the shards that influenced the transformation came from within Aelfric's body.
• Crimson Flower features a bit of dialog that implies why Rhea keeps so many secrets from Seteth and Flayn despite them being family. Should they survive, Seteth writes a letter expressing that he must prioritize Flayn's safety and return to a life in hiding. Rhea's only response is a resigned "As expected, I am the only one left." The implication is she never believed Seteth would stay by her side, just as he didn't at the end of the War of Heroes. She doesn't appear to begrudge him prioritizing Flayn, but this also means she doesn't see him and Flayn as caring enough to stay with her to the end. From Rhea's perspective, her life was effectively still one of solitude as it had been ever since she lost everyone in Zanado, and she would eventually be the "only one" of her mother's progeny to keep fighting.
• The general lack of Heroes' Relics in the empire fits perfectly from a symbolic standpoint: After all, they all require a Crest to be used safely while the Sacred Weapons that are more commonly associated with Adrestian characters can be used by anyone. This fits in quite cleanly with Edelgard's ideals of a meritocracy where Crests are not the be-all end-all.
• In-story, the Crests are a very big deal when soemone has one - even a minor Crest. But in gameplay? Aside from a few, they're not much more than the ability to use an endgame weapon without harm. many view the Crests as procs that, while not unwelcome, generally don't have the same level of excitement as seeing an Aether Proc. Why is this? Well, it actually ties into one of the game's themes... in multiple ways:
  • Multiple characters question the validity or even the rationality of the Crest system. Given that they generally don't make a user objectively better than someone without a Crest simply because of a chance to proc on a hit, the player might actually also question it as well - because a character without a Crest can outperform a Crest bearer because they were given a chance. Who gave them this chance? you.
  • If the Crests were deliberately overowered like Geneology's Holy Blood, or the crest-bearers were just objectively better (much like the royals in Fire Emblem Fates), it would make it harder for the viewer to sympathize with Edelgard's ideal of a meritocracy or even the characters questioning the importance of Crests. Because their effects are minor but not game breaking? You're more likely to see a unit for their potential as well as the skills they bring to the table.

Fridge Brilliance: Unsorted

• The main color each house uses share unit alignment colors and their plot in the story:
  • The Blue Lions are blue like Player Units, and with Faerghus's connection to knights and chivalry, appear the closest to classic fantasy heroes.
  • The Black Eagles mostly use red as their main color, as in Enemy Units, as they are often the antagonists in all routes save for their own.
  • The Golden Deer are yellow like Other Units, as they stay outside of the conflict between Black Eagles and Blue Lions. In Fire Emblem Warriors, yellow was the color of the third faction facing both the player and the enemy. The Golden Deer act as the third faction facing both the Blue Lions and the Black Eagles in most routes.
  • The Church of Seiros is green like Ally Units. With the exception of the Black Eagles, they often are allies to Byleth.
• Most of the students in the Blue Lions have fur on their clothing after the timeskip. This is perfect considering Faerghus has a cold climate.
  • Mercedes is the only one of the Lions not to have fur in her time skip outfit. This is a reflection both of her pacifistic nature and a nod to the fact that she was originally from the warmer climates in Adrestia; she likely wouldn’t wear fur for those reasons.
• Cyril's notes for the Advice Box are drawings instead of written questions, which is another case of Gameplay and Story Integration. His support with Lysithea reveals he can't read, which also means he can't write.
• At least one student in each house possesses a Major Crest. Felix has the Major Crest of Fraldarius. Aside from her Crest of Charon, Lysithea also possesses the Major Crest of Gloucester. Only the Black Eagles lack a Major Crest, since their storyline revolves around stopping the influence of Crests in Fódlan. The kicker here is that someone actually possesses a Major Crest of Flames: Edelgard.
• Ashe can support two particular students outside his house: another orphan, Cyril, and another student adopted by a noble, Marianne.
• Sylvain is a big skirt chaser, and his supports reflect this — he has a support with several female characters, but most of them don't go to an A-Rank, which gives them a paired ending. This is a reflection of Sylvain's secret contempt for the girls he tends to flirt with. He knows that a lot of them are only interested in his Crest, and that he's likely to just end up in an arranged marriage to a noble girl anyway, hence why he doesn't have an A-Support even with girls that already have their own Crests.
  • Likewise, the few girls he can get an A-rank with are all people who manage to see through Sylvain's flirting one way or another: Dorothea is sympathetic towards Sylvain's circumstances of being wanted only for their talents, Mercedes makes an effort to understand him due to having experienced the harsh side of bearing a Crest, Ingrid is one of his closest childhood friends, and Byleth is patient enough to be given a personal explanation from Sylvain himself.
  • Regarding his interest in Byleth, despite being completely jealous of them for growing up without the social baggage that having a crest would cause, Sylvain is also likely relieved that Byleth, having no opinion about the crest system in general due to their upbringing, was able to see him as a person rather than seeing him as a trophy husband or great noble to suck up to because of his crest.
  • Sylvain doesn't A-support with Bernadetta or Marianne, despite having largely platonic supports with them and knowing they'd never use him. The issue is that he knows he habitually hurts women emotionally. Both of these women are very emotionally fragile and would be far more hurt by him than any of the other females he can A-support with.
• Mercedes is the only one from the Blue Lion House to be proficient in both Reason and Faith magic. Perhaps this is because she was originally from the Empire, who boasts the largest numbers of mages.
• At least one of the students in each house comes from outside of Fódlan. Petra is the princess of the Brigid Archipelago while Dedue is from Duscur. Similarly, the foreigner in the Golden Deer is Claude himself, who originated from the kingdom of Almyra. The Church of Seiros is not exempt, either — Shamir is from Dagda, and Cyril, like Claude, is Almyran.
• Two of the main healers, Marianne and Mercedes, are shown to be very devout to the teachings of Seiros. The same thing can't be said for Linhardt. This ties into the fact that the Black Eagles route is potentially about conquering the church, though as Linhardt is not notably antagonistic to said church like others in the same house it is also a sign of how it is only potentially so.
• The Leicester Alliance is known for having a history of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder among its leaders, which leads to a collection of nobles who, despite swearing an alliance with each other, are ready to break away from the group should things prove opportunistic for them. Perhaps as a representation of this, the Golden Deer is the only house that lacks any loyal students aside from their leader being non-Black Eagles, as every student can be recruited to another house. Even Hilda, the closest Golden Deer has to a second-in-command, can be recruited to Blue Lions or the Church Route. Hilda can be recruited to Black Eagles only during the month between choosing against Edelgard and the timeskip.
  • Similarly, for Edelgard and Dimitri, their Number Twos have known their lords for years to allow Edelgard and Dimitri to trust them. Hilda, on the other hand, only knew Claude for a shorter time period and thus, doesn't have the full loyalty that Hubert and Dedue had with their respective lords (until the five-year time skip should she not be recruited).
  • Hilda can never be poached to the Black Eagles unless you side with the church. Several of Hilda's supports and some of the conversations she had in the game reveals that Hilda is very observant and crafty with her surroundings, which includes observing people. Along with being Edelgard's literal next-door neighbor in the monastery, Hilda would have noticed how unnerving some of the princess's actions were before the start of the game, and in the Verdant Wind route she admits that she wants no part in joining Edelgard's plans on starting a war, so Hilda decided that she could never join the same path as Edelgard would have. Even if Byleth sided with Edelgard, Hilda would have already made up her mind about Edelgard and refused to join Byleth. For this reason, she likewise refuses to surrender and be spared when confronted in battle after the timeskip in the Crimson Flower route, preferring to die facing them than join.
    • This can also explain why she can be recruited into the Blue Lions house. While she admits that she doesn't care much about Dimitri or the Kingdom, Hilda would also notice that Dimitri is kind but traumatized by the events of his past and as such, wouldn't mind joining the Blue Lions when prompted, believing that Byleth would be able to help him.
    • Another reason is that Hilda really cares for Claude despite their bickering, so the church and Blue Lions routes will most likely ensure his safety and not make an enemy out of him. The Black Eagles route, on the other hand, is the route where Claude can possibly die depending on your choices.
  • Since the Leicester Alliance has no official ruler, there is no central figure for the Lords to swear fealty to. As a consequence, Claude is the sole lord of the trio who does not have an official retainer. Similarly, when you learn more about Claude's backstory and trust issues, he would be the one Lord who doesn't want one.
• Those Who Slither in the Dark are almost all unnaturally pale, because they are the survivors of an ancient civilization who retreated underground for centuries. They are pale because they never saw sunlight for most of their lives.
• Why are there so few playable units that can naturally learn dark magic? One reason is that, like how it was back in Valentia, "Those who slither in the dark" are the main practitioners of dark magic, and so most enemy units that do use it belong to that group, with only the rare few who practice it normally. Second is that Lysithea and Edelgard were experimented on by "Those who slither", with the experiments giving them access to dark magic, while Hubert has taken to studying any scraps given by said group, allowing him to learn their magic even if he can't replicate the weapons given away. Jeritza, who is closely affiliated with Hubert and "those who slither in the dark," can also learn dark magic. One of the Ashen Wolves, Hapi, also learns dark magic; she has a Major Crest of Timotheos, the New Game Plus item that bestows this crest on its holder is called the Dark Dragon Sign, and she also happened to be experimented on by "those who slither".
• Linhardt doesn't stand out as a magic user and a healer compared to the other students, due to his lack of exclusive spells and average growths. But there's a good reason for it; Linhardt hates fighting and battle as a whole. Why would he be motivated to excel in combat if it means he'd get sent out in battle more if he was?
• The Kingdom sides with the Church of Seiros in the Black Eagle Route due to the fact that they are loyal to the Church. Faerghus gaining its independence from the Empire was legitimized by the Church of Seiros.
• In some ways, Edelgard bears some similarities with Seiros. Edelgard shares Seiros' crest as well as a bit of her appearance. She's also able to wield Seiros' Sword in the Church route. Like Seiros, and by extension Rhea, Edelgard could turn into a more powerful form at the cost of her humanity (Hegemon Edelgard). In the Blue Lions route, Edelgard tries to kill Dimitri with a dagger, the same weapon Seiros killed Nemesis with.
• Despite having put a lot into backing Edelgard, "Those who slither in the dark" don't have named commanders aiding the empire in Edelgard's final battles on the Church and Golden Deer routes, unlike when they still back her in the final battle of Black Eagles and Blue Lions. It's due to their failed attempt to kill Byleth at the fortress with the missiles, as it allowed Hubert to locate where their base of operations was. So they had to hastily prepare for an invasion by an invading force from the victor, and barely prepare their backup plan Nemesis on Golden Deer in time.
• In the opening cutscene of the war, the player can see red flashes in the battlefield similar to when Nemesis attacked with the Sword of the Creator. Later, it is revealed that the 10 Elites (plus Maurice) were actually allied with Nemesis. The red flashes are the other Heroes' Relics of the 10 Elites, fighting the forces of Seiros.
• A subtle bit of foreshadowing during the intro cutscene and the truth of who Nemesis actually was. It shows the battle between Rhea and Nemesis, and all of the soldiers on Nemesis’ side are Brigands. And what is the Brigand class often associated with? Thieves.
• Why can Manuela and Seteth bond and potentially marry? Recall Seteth's devotion to Flayn. Seteth would do anything to protect her, and her disappearance leaves him emotionally devastated. Then we find out that Manuela went above and beyond searching for her: she worked out the likely culprit, confronted him, got stabbed, and remained conscious long enough to point out the passage the culprit escaped through. Despite her flippant behavior being completely at odds with Seteth's sternness, her actions reveal a remarkable care for the people in the Monastery, including Seteth's family. So, not only does her compassion earn his respect, it also shows how similar they are after first blush. It also helps that Manuela can also support with Flayn.
• Why don't "those who slither in the dark" drop their missiles when the Blue Lions are marching onto Enbarr? The war is about to end and not in their favor, so that would be as good a time as any, right? Well, the only one we actually see using them is Thales, who was killed in the battle for Derdriu. What's more, he was taken by surprise and was fighting on the front lines — hardly a situation that allows you to drop missiles on your own location. It's very likely that Thales is the only one who can use the missiles, and by killing him, the Blue Lions unknowingly saved themselves from an Arianrhod/Fort Merceus.
• Near the end of the Black Eagles route, Dimitri tells Rhea that even if he dies, the Blaiddyd bloodline will live on. This is a pretty throw-away line that doesn't really tell you who he's talking about...but then you remember that he has an uncle. An uncle who is still alive, since Cornelia never framed Dimitri for his murder. An uncle who is also, according to Sylvain, a skirt-chaser. Dimitri probably has some bastard cousins running around.
  • This also leads into Fridge Horror. His uncle gets assassinated on three out of four routes, and in the Blue Lions route, we specifically see Cornelia saying that once Dimitri's dead, the Blaiddyd line will be extinct. If Dimitri had cousins, he probably doesn't anymore.
  • This also leads to Fridge Horror on the Black Eagles route. Dimitri's uncle and possible cousins are never dealt with. Who's to say that in ten-twenty years, we won't see a pissed-off Blaiddyd come back, fully grown, to avenge their family and Kingdom and reclaim their throne? Really does make Edelgard into another Arvis...
  • On the flipside, it's possible that they died when Seiros set the capitol on fire. Which means the Blaiddyd family line is gone in the Black Eagles route. Perhaps Seiros really should have let people evacuate...
    • Except his uncle doesn't live in Fhirdiad. He's the Grand Duke of Itha, so he lives over there.
    • Granted, since Cornelia knew about the bastards, it's possible that Edelgard would know too, and would make dealing with any potential successors a priority. Whether she would handle the matter peacefully or lethally is up to the beholder.
• As mentioned under Gameplay and Story Segregation, the fact that Hubert, whose preferred prestige classes are Dark Mage and Dark Bishop, doesn't have easy access to Dark Seals. Given that the Death Knight works for Edelgard, and helping Hubert therefore would help out Edelgard, why doesn't Hubert have one and have to get it from the Death Knight? Actually, this is quite easy to explain — it helps obfuscate the fact that Edelgard is really the Flame Emperor. If he had one, he would have to explain where he got that Dark Seal from, and if he mentions it was from the Death Knight while being confronted, nobody would question it, as he has several witnesses explaining where he got it.
  • Even if Byleth were to side with the Adrestian Empire, Hubert still doesn't have easy access to Dark Seals, despite having the Death Knight as an ally and the Empire's continued Alliance with Those Who Slither in the Dark (a group with many dark magic-users in their ranks). However, the working relationship between Edelgard and Those Who Slither is very strained, especially on the Crimson Flower route, where the "Fell Star" — one of the biggest perceived threats to Those Who Slither — remains Edelgard's ally. Given that Thales (correctly) suspects Edelgard of plotting to dispose of his cult once she has dealt with the Church, he may be depriving her of a valuable resource should she retaliate.
  • It seems almost like a cliche or Poor Communication Kills that Edelgard didn't point out that Those Who Slither in the Dark are the true enemies, as they have been the cause of most background conflict prior to the game. Why wouldn't she have joined with Claude to get rid of them? For one, they didn't know where their bases were (when they fired the lance on the Golden Deer route, Hubert narrowed down their base). She still needed them to accomplish her goal — you never turn on your own allies when you still need them. Strategy 101.
  • Her refusal also means she doesn't entrust anyone but herself to deal with them, which fits her dislike of losing control. Hubert, though, would want them crushed even if by the losers, which is why he leaves behind a letter to their base on Golden Deer/Silver Snow (no missiles were launched in the Blue Lions route for him to trace back to their base, but he would likely still leave a letter with what he knows).
• The fact that several Crest stones are available only on New Game Plus makes a lot of sense — it's not a guarantee that you'll pass down a Crest, as shown by Miklan. So even if their bearers in the past did have children, there's still a chance that they didn't inherit a Crest.
• Manuela will show up in your party with a pretty high Sword stat. In her supports with Ferdinand, however, they mention a play Ferdinand saw that Manuela starred in, her character wielding a sword. It's likely that the reason Manuela is so good at sword fighting is because she practiced it a lot during rehearsals. Dorothea — another diva from the same opera company Manuela was a part of — is also proficient with swords, for likely the same reason.
  • On the other hand, despite not only defaulting to Priest/Bishop but also running the infirmary in-story, Manuela is fairly lacking in white magic; her only spells beyond the Heal and Nosferatu that all units get when starting their Faith training are all support spells rather than offense or healing (Ward, Silence, and Warp), and even when kept in a magic class, her Magic will usually hardly be higher than her strength. This makes perfect sense after viewing Hanneman's support conversations with Alois, wherein it's revealed that Crestbearers have a much higher affinity for magic than non-Crestbearers. Even adding in characters who merely have a budding talent, like Felix and Sylvain, almost all proficient magic-users have Crests, but Manuela does not. (The other exceptions are Dorothea, who is Manuela's protege, and Hubert, who exclusively learns the rare Dark magic that's largely tied to the Agartheans.)
• Manuela's not a very good dedicated healer, despite being the school's physician. While suspect at first, it makes sense as she explains that she specializes in traditional medicine. This makes sense as there's plenty of people who know white magic that can heal physical wounds. Manuela explains that white magic can do very little against sickness and infection, things that nurses in schools in real life often are taught to deal with.
  • This also makes sense in that she can't learn physic (remote heal) in a way, while most of her spells are support spells. Manuela mentions the difference between healing magic and medicine in one month, and sure enough, one of the things white magic does (Boosting vital energy) is her specialty. She uses white magic to boost her patients while using medicine to help them recover.
• Both the Crimson Flower and Azure Moon routes use "Apex of the World" as the final map's track. This is to emphasize how similar Edelgard and Rhea/Seiros are at this point in these stories. Their tragic pasts have compelled them to take extreme measures to change the world, and in doing so, they've lost their humanity and transformed into literal, but more importantly, metaphorical monsters. That's the reason this track isn't present in the Silver Snow route: Rhea's only fought because her injuries accidentally triggered dragon degeneration. You're not fighting a woman who chose an evil path, you're (potentially) putting down a mindless beast the woman unintentionally became.
• Ferdinand is one of the hardest units to recruit, as he won't join by simply asking you, as his B-support is locked post-timeskip, and he needs a proficiency in Heavy Armor which Byleth has no real reason to train. In several of his supports, it's shown that his heavy rivalry with Edelgard is out of a desire to help and guide her properly, and in Crimson Flower, he ends up being almost a second retainer to her, alongside Hubert. Of course it would take an incredible amount of effort, you'd need to make a really good case to get him to defect from Edelgard and the Empire he devotes his life to.
  • Caspar is similar. His royal house is tied to the Ministry of Military Affairs and his father is the current Minister, but unlike Ferdinand, who gladly takes up the role as second retainer to Edelgard, Caspar knows he's second in line and doesn't care as much, including many of his endings where he abandons his house to become a wandering warrior; this is shown by how Caspar looks for Brawling, which Byleth has a natural affinity for, so Byleth has an easier time to recruit Caspar. And additionally, Caspar's C-Support conversation with Edelgard has him mention that he doesn't really care if he didn't inherit anything, because it means that he can make his own future. So even if he had losing a family to risk by joining Byleth, he had less qualms about leaving because his other family members can pick up the slack in response to his absence.
  • Or you can recruit Ferdinand by simply raising your Heavy Armor skill to D+ and getting his invisible C+ support.
  • Both Ferdinand and Caspar's B-Support conversation with Byleth are locked until the time skip hits, thus making it hard to actually recruit them. Considering the positions their family had in the empire, they had more at risk (family for Caspar and heritage for Ferdinand) by joining Byleth among the rest of the Black Eagles, especially outside the Crimson Flower or Silver Snow routes.
• Despite going to war with Those Who Slither In The Dark in the Black Eagles' epilogue, none of them mention anything about Nemesis despite him being used by the Agarthans in the Golden Deer route. Why? Because it's speculated that Sothis's power kept Nemesis alive all these years, and since the route ends with Byleth's Crest Stone dispersing after killing Rhea, Nemesis must have died after the Crest Stone vanished, meaning Those Who Slither In The Dark can't use him against Edelgard and Byleth.
• The Japanese title of Three Houses, 风花雪月, is not only a Genius Bonus, but it also referenced the routes available in the game. To note:
  风= Verdant Wind (Golden Deer Route)
  花= Crimson Flower (Black Eagles Route)
  雪= Silver Snow (Church Of Seiros Route)
  月= Azure Moon (Blue Lions Route)
• Linhardt and Leonie's post-timeskip paralogue becomes inaccessible on the Crimson Flower route if you kill Flayn and Seteth in Chapter 15. Seeing as The Immovable is Saint Indech, he most likely refuses to humor those who've killed his fellow Saints, who are his last remaining family. Seeing as Linhardt suspected that The Immovable was Indech from the start (and he can come close to realizing that Flayn is Cethleann in supports before the timeskip), he probably concluded that asking one of the Saints for a weapon after killing his brother and niece is asking to get killed without the pretense of a challenge.
  • He's also shown to disappear after losing, meaning he has a means to hide and protect himself, and will likely leave now that he has no treasure to protect even if Edelgard is informed after the paralogue. So he is in no danger.
  • If played in the Crimson Flower route, neither Edelgard nor Hubert are available for the paralogue in contrast to other routes where Dimitri and Claude are both available (with Claude having a special dialogue if brought for the paralogue). Due to Edelgard's heavy dislike of Nabateans, and how Linhardt suspected that The Immovable is Indech, Linhardt told Byleth to not tell Edelgard anything about it before the paralogue begins in case she reacts horribly at the possibility of The Immovable being Indech himself. After the battle, he asks Byleth to only inform Edelgard of what happens at a good time and not otherwise, still keeping Indech's identity to himself.
• Of course the Wind Caller falls asleep when he is defeated. Nabatea go into dormancy to recover if they use up too much of their power, and he was fighting more seriously than the Lord of the Lake was (who was only testing them).
• Why does the Death Knight show a lack of respect towards those in the western church and later on to Solon despite them being his superior, remains stationary in the first 2 fights with him, and mention that he was specifically told to let Byleth and their class go if he ran into them? This is foreshadowing the fact that his boss aka Edelgard has Teeth-Clenched Teamwork with Those Who Slither, and most likely ordered Death Knight to be as unhelpful as possible.
• A bit of meta/game design brilliance: the Black Eagles are the only house who "need" Dark Seals to get the most from a unit's natural strengths (since Hubert is the only male unit who learns Dark Magic). They're also the only house with a character who naturally trends toward the Thief class. Petra is very likely to outspeed the Death Knight by their second or third appearance, giving the player a low-risk method of obtaining the seals (viz. having Petra steal them immediately before ending the mission).
• Rhea's dialogue is very clear that Serios and Wilhelm von Hresvelg, the first Emperor of Adrestia, were very close. So why does the knowledge Edelgard claims was passed down from the first emperor paint Serios as a villain? Because it's been a thousand years and the message has been corrupted and/or context has been lost.
  • Either that, or it's an in-universe Values Dissonance; previous Emperors before Edelgard most likely had no problem with the information as is and agreed with Seiros, and Edelgard is the first to see problems with the actual truth about Seiros.
    • Most likely the first — the accusation in particular being the war was over whether Nabateans or humans ruled the continent... Seiros' fury against Nemesis being extremely personal isn't exactly hidden. It doesn't take much to put together that Nemesis did something (aka: Near Genocide of the Nabateans and desecration of their bodies to create weapons). Especially as Nabatea wouldn't have been forgotten at the time. Note that the dubsteppers call Nemesis a thief while Edelgard doesn't — they kept the inciting incident for Seiros vs Nemesis from her.
    • While the above about the slithers keeping info from Edelgard may be true, it is important to note that Edelgard thinking the fight was over what type of being should rule the continent is apparently a mistranslation. What the dubbers put as "a simple dispute" really said something more like "they simply fought." i.e., Edelgard doesn't claim to know why Nemesis and Seiros fought (and sadly does not seem to want to find out); rather, her focus is that the fight was not due to Nemesis being a chosen of Sothis who was corrupted as the church claims.
• Each final boss's particular gimmick makes sense, given what we know about them.
  • Nemesis may be leading a powerful army, but it's the army (and his resources) that are the biggest threat. Nemesis himself is a powerful enemy, but he's only effectively untouchable for the majority of the mission because his Ten Elites grant him an absurd stat-buff and attack immunity so long as they live. Once they're taken out, he's significantly more manageable. This reflects how he only became a major threat because TWSitD made him into one, and why Rhea and the Byleth-Claude team could beat him — both cut him off from his more dangerous tools, and he underestimates them when having the upper hand.
  • The Immaculate One is, for all intents and purposes, just a bigger, meaner Black Beast, and the Black Eagle Strike Force has plenty of experience taking those down. Especially one that doesn't move, is a huge target, and is berserk enough for the "Gambits are noisy enough to Draw Aggro" rule to still apply.
  • Hegemon Edelgard has brought the full power of the Crest of Flames within her out, yet she manages to be weaker when harnessing it than Nemesis is, who sustains an entire undead army with his Crest of Flames, and makes poor decisions with her attacks. This shows how the artificial means of gaining said power have not been the boon for Edelgard that "those who slither in the dark" or Edelgard assumed it would be, and how attempting to throw away the things that pushed her forward (the past) has left her weaker mentally than she was when she began, and she will even prioritize attacking targets like Dimitri (whom she rarely hits) for reasons that she assumes are logical, but are guided by personal feelings.
• Loog rebelled against the empire and managed to win despite controlling the lands that had a harsher climate and probably couldn't support as large of a population or army as the remaining empire. How did he win? The Heroes' Relics. At the time of its founding, the Kingdom controlled all of its present-day territory as well as Leicester. That accounts for the bloodlines of nine of the Ten Elites and their corresponding Relics. The only one the Empire had was House Martritz and the Rafail Gem, as well as Aymr.
  • However, Leicester was still an Imperial land back then, which mean that all the Relics associated with it (Failnaught, Freikugel, Luin, and Thyrsus) were as well.
    • Actually if you view schedule details and check up on the Leicester Founding Day, it says that it celebrates when the Alliance broke away from the Kingdom. Meaning Failnaught, Freikugel, Luin and Thyrsus were Relics on Loog's side.
  • Additionally, we don't know if the Rafail Gem was House Martritz's Relic since Mercedes's mother, whom we know she got her Crest from, was married into the House.
  • In the Abyss library, it is revealed that Loog primarily owed his victory to the support he received from the Agarthans.
• Each of the Golden Deer gain their own Color Motif post-timeskip with each of their colors representing something about that character:
  • Claude is gold. He is the leader of the Golden Deer, secretly Almyran royalty, and the least emotionally troubled of the three lords, and never falls down a dark path, even as an antagonist despite implying at such in the Japanese version.
  • Hilda is pink. She is known for using her looks and charm to get others (mostly men) to do her work for her, is quite fashionable, and enjoys crafting her own accessories.
  • Lorenz is purple. Purple is commonly associated with nobility and Lorenz takes great pride in his noble status.
  • Marianne is blue. She is a Shy Blue-Haired Girl who also invokes True Blue Femininity. Blue is also the color of depression, which Marianne likely had pre-timeskip.
  • Ignatz is green. Most of his paintings seem to be either landscape paintings or of the Goddess, Serios, and Saint Cethleann, who all are associated with green.
  • Leonie is orange. Who else wears orange? Her idol Jeralt.
  • Raphael is yellow. He is a friendly Gentle Giant and several of his supports feature him trying to make someone happy.
  • Lysithea is white AND purple. In the East, white is associated with death and purple is a rare color in nature. Bearing two Crests is extremely rare and Lysithea doesn't have long to live as result thanks to the experiments that gave her said Crest.
• Solon reveals that "those who slither in the dark" have Crest Stone-like objects in their chests when ripping Kronya's heart out to crush it. This seems odd, until it's revealed through the Crest Stones used as giant monster weapons that the demonic beasts they start mass-producing all use artificial Crest Stones, allowing them to even make unique types to suit their objectives. Unlike the actual flesh of the Nabateans or their blood, they managed to replicate one of the things that would make them see themselves as gods. The Remire tragedy, a result of using Flayn's blood, is also implied to be them perfecting the means to awaken said artificial Crest Stones for this purpose, since they require the blood of the Nabateans to continue their research. The flesh of the Nabateans is also not implied to not rot, as it's still alive even as part of the Heroes' Relics, meaning they have all the resources needed to produce more Relics.
• A meta example. In-Universe, the Goddess Rite of Rebirth is said to be the day where the goddess is said to have arrived in the world. The date of the celebration is 7/26 (July 26th); if read on the real world calendar, this is the same day that Fire Emblem: Three Houses was released world-wide. So the goddess did, in a sense, arrive into the world.
  • When saving the game at the Prologue, take note of the date it is: 4/20, April 20- as in, Fire Emblem's very own birthday.
• An interesting similarity between Byleth and Nemesis is that in the latter's army, there are exactly 12 unique units, the 10 elites, Odesse, and Nemesis himself. How many units can you deploy in the final map? 12.
• Wyvern Riders require Axe proficiencies to promote. Then why does Seteth, who by default is a Wyvern Rider, wield a lance? Because he is Really 700 Years Old who's been in hiding for most of the time and axes are a relatively recent weapon for Wyvern Riders, starting with Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. Before that, they used lances just like Pegasus Knights (and were originally promoted Pegasus Knights). Seteth is utilizing tactics from past games because that's what he is accustomed to. Not only that, the weapon that is associated with him as Saint Cichol is a lance, which he presumably wielded in the past against Nemesis and his army; thus, he would be very comfortable wielding lances.
  • This could also explain why Faith users get the Nosferatu spell early on, even if the rest of their White Magic list is healing-focused and they never get much offensive white magic: it's a holdover from the days when magic was Cast from Hit Points (such as in Gaiden/Echoes). These days, it's a vestigial part of the curriculum, since safer casting methods exist and the spell itself is terrible, but it's taught either due to tradition (Faith implies it's the longstanding church that directs the teachings) or because it demonstrates theory useful for later spells.
• Petra, despite being a Brigid princess, is a "Commoner" in terms of gameplay. Gameplay and Story Segregation? Maybe not so much, actually. A Noble will have claims to land, wealth, and social ties in Fòdlan. All of which are things Petra does not have — befitting her status of a political prisoner, since anything she would be entitled to doesn't mean much in Fòdlan.
  • Also, while Petra is a princess, she isn't from Fódlan, and would be at best like that of an exchange student. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that she was entered as a commoner because not only the above, but because from a political perspective, she lacks any weight in the academy.
  • Additionally, Fòdlan nobility has something Petra doesn't: Crests.
• Claude's annoyance at being referred to as the "Master Tactician" in Verdant Wind seems odd, especially considering it's a rather impressive title. But then you realize that, considering how he entrusts the job to them even post-timeskip, he probably considers Byleth more worthy.
• In the S support image of Jeritza, Byleth is seen wielding the Sword of Seiros instead of the Sword of the Creator. In every route besides Crimson Flower, Edelgard uses the Sword of Seiros as a Battle Trophy, but here, Byleth uses it instead. It is Gameplay and Story Integration that Edelgard prefers axes and Byleth prefers swords. Also, Byleth does not have the Crest of Flames anymore, so the Sword of the Creator — because it's a Heroes' Relic — would be useless or too fatal to use. The Sword of Seiros, on the other hand, is a sacred weapon, and anyone can use a sacred weapon with no penalty.
• Jeritza can only support Mercedes (his half-sister and reason for living, more or less) and Byleth. Another case of Avatar-sexual? Maybe not necessarily — Jeritza's supports with Mercedes suggest that his Death Knight persona is a Superpowered Evil Side and that he might suffer from all sorts of psychological issues such as dissociation, as shown by the fact that he killed his and Mercedes's father and despite Jeritza ordinarily being able to keep it under control, it can still come out, even against Mercedes. It can actually be some clever Gameplay and Story Integration — he's afraid of what he's become, and intentionally distances himself from others, only opening up to Byleth and Mercedes.
  • This also puts some of his actions into perspective:
    • Wandering at night, alone — he is trying to keep the Death Knight persona under control, so not to lash out at any students. And especially not Mercedes.
    • Not being able to teach Byleth skills pre-timeskip and otherwise being dismissive if talked to. It gives people a reason to keep their distance from him, and hopefully away from him if the Death Knight persona surfaces.
    • Why he's so reluctant to chase you around until much later on. Jeritza is Fighting from the Inside.
    • Why he helps you out on Verdant Wind and Silver Snow — apart from wanting to aid Hubert in getting revenge on Those who Slither in the Dark, it's Jeritza in control. He runs to direct Byleth's attention away and goads them to follow so that they will not be killed by a javelin of light.
    • Why he gives up his weapon as well — the only route in which he survives is Crimson Flower. The only route in which you can have Mercedes and Caspar but not unlock their paralogue is Crimson Flower. On every other route, he intentionally gives it up to Caspar so he wouldn't risk harming someone who he doesn't want to.
  • Constance and Bernadetta can now also support Jeritza.
    • In their A-support, Bernadetta admits that they have a lot in common — avoiding people due to difficult pasts — though their trauma affects them differently. Bernadetta also isn't afraid of the Death Knight in particular, unlike most others.
    • Constance knew Emile as a child, and they were close back then. The Death Knight tends to lose himself in combat, but Constance constantly plans ahead, which evens itself out. Constance likewise isn't afraid of Jeritza because, as she mentions in their C-support, she is a gifted mage and could take him out if she needed to.
• At first, it might seem strange that Leonie was granted the Inexhaustible instead of Bernadetta, who had the corresponding crest. However, this connects to the fact that most of the crests themselves were not granted to the descendants willingly, as all but a few are forcefully taken by the Ten Elites who ingested their blood and made relics out of their bones, the crests later being inherited by their descendants (exceptions being the Crests of the Four Saints and Seiros, which were given willingly to humans). Many of the characters who received hero relics obtain them through inheritance, an inheritance that their ancestors had taken forcefully from its source. Leonie, on the other hand, obtains it by proving her worth to the Immovable himself, and thus, is granted the Inexhaustible as a result.
• The Golden Deer are the only house that can potentially survive every route beyond their own with all of its members intact, if you assume that Claude survived the offscreen battle of Gronder and retreated to Almyra. Given Claude's more neutral stance, how his plans on Crimson Flower ensured the Alliance would get out of any result with minimal casualties, and the Alliance's more neutral stance on non-Verdant Wind routes, this makes sense. It's quite possible that pragmatism is Leicester's answer to Faerghus's chivalry.
• The murals at the start of each month depict a story. The recurring characters are a young man and a stag. They live their own lives, falling in love and having families. But they intersect when the man kills the stag leaving its mate and child behind. Eventually the man is enlisted in the war, which shows him about to engage the son of the stag he killed. Just like in the main story there is no real villain, just a difference in perspective. It also foreshadows the main cause of the plot, as the hunter made armor out of the bones of the stag he killed.
• Many units have Secret A.I. Moves that are not possible within the normal standards of what you can do. While this is likely just a gameplay thing to make the enemies hard, it makes sense that the students without your guidance would seek alternative routes for power, and naturally take up unique abilities over the five years you were gone.
• If the player chooses the Black Eagles and sides with Edelgard after the Holy Tomb incident, they will no longer be able to hire battalions affiliated with the church at the guild after the timeskip. As Crimson Flower is the only route where the church is an enemy rather than an ally, this makes sense. ^note If the player sides with the church or gets railroaded onto the Silver Snow route, however, they will be able to hire Empire-affiliated battalions after the timeskip.
• Why can Felix and Ferdinand, despite their loyalty to Faerghus and Adrestia respectively, be recruited to fight for the other country or Leicester? Because they do not have the same Undying Loyalty displayed by Dedue and Hubert. If Felix is recruited to the Golden Deer, post-timeskip, his reasons for defecting to Leicester despite having spent the last five years fighting the Dukedom boil down to self-preservation and believing Leicester has a better chance against the Empire. Ferdinand in his B-support with Byleth on any route besides Crimson Flower explains that he refused to be Edelgard's puppet, and if talked to after the battle of Gronder on Verdant Wind, he reveals that he believes Edelgard is "running amok", and that he is duty-bound to stop her.
• When you completely break a giant enemy's armor, you're usually rewarded with smithing materials. This is because you literally break the enemy armor (for example, the giant shield of the titanus or the demonic beast's mask) which leaves behind fragments that are small enough to carry away and smelt with.
• Constance and Hapi both lack Hero's Relics, despite Balthus and Yuri both having one. Then you realize that Nemesis is revived at the end of Verdant Wind using the Crest Stones of Noa and Timotheos, meaning the Agarthans likely stole their Crest's Relics at some point to do so. This also explains where they got the resources to make the Dark Creator's Sword that Nemesis wields.
• Cindered Shadows gives an explanation for how characters with powerful magic in various Fire Emblem games can get captured and held in seemingly normal restraints or prisons. Namely, a Silence spell renders them unable to use magic until it is removed or wears off.
• In her B support with Seteth, Manuela relates how she first visited the monastery as a child. She wandered off from her parents, following a beautiful singing voice she heard and sang back to it. The voice was singing from somewhere out of sight, and she never found who it was. She came to believe the voice was the goddess herself, and the event helped her discover her own talents as a songstress. On its own, the story is simply a sweet, mysterious tale, but then one recalls that in the game, we see that Rhea likes to sing in solitude, though her voice travels some distance. Manuela may not have heard the goddess' voice, but rather the voice of the goddess' daughter.
• Most of Lysithea and Edelgard's supports are very vague about the conclusion to their Your Days Are Numbered plotline (the closest Lysithea gets is her ending with Felix mentioning that she died sometime before him). This is probably due to the fact that Lysithea can be recruited into the Crimson Flower path, meaning her endings could happen in parallel with Edelgard's. So if one had an ending where they explicitly died, while the other had one where they were cured, it'd end up feeling very unfair.
• The Ashen Wolves all represent one of the factions in the game. Wait a minute, this is three houses — there are four Ashen Wolves, so who's the fourth? Obviously... that's Yuri. Because he's working for Rhea — therefore he represents the Church of Seiros — Silver Snow.
• The Crimson Flower route is the shortest one in the game with 18 chapters. This actually makes sense: in all the other routes, the Empire starts off with the upper hand post-timeskip and it's an uphill battle to defeat them. But in Crimson Flower, you're playing as the Empire, meaning that by the time of the timeskip, half of Fódland's already been conquered and you can easily steamroll the rest.
  • On another note, all of the other routes start with the primary objective of winning the war, but then take a detour when the main lords decide to also uncover truths that are important to them and/or all of Fódlan. But Edelgard stubbornly refuses to believe she’s wrong about the “truths” of Fódlan she learned from TWSITD and from the Hresvelg line, she wouldn’t waste time trying to uncover the actual truth. She’d rather just get the war done with.
• As mentioned above, Dorothea has a budding talent for Faith, but when fighting her as an enemy, she’s in the Warlock class. On other routes, fellow mage Lysithea can upgrade into a Gremory, who utilizes both types of magic. Becoming a Gremory is actually very easy for Dorothea, so why not her too? Well, one obvious reason would be that without Byleth, she never discovered her budding talent. But, as a general for the Empire, who literally started a war with the Church, Dorothea would have abandoned the need for Faith as soon as she joined the Black Eagle Strike Force, and cutting out the option of being a Gremory.
• If Manuela isn't recruited in the Azure Moon route, she'll appear in Dimitri's paralogue "The Silver Maiden"… as an assassin. It seems strange considering if she is recruited, she is in the Priest class, which heavily utilizes white magic. However, consider that white magic is derived from faith, along with her sword proficiency, it all makes sense. She's no longer in a faith-based class because she lost her faith in the goddess, so she utilizes her other proficiency.
• Ashe, Hilda, and Linhardt all couldn't sleep which is why they join you in Abyss mode. Seems weird for Linhardt of all people to be up at this hour, right? Not so much — it's noted in the main game that when he gets focused on a particular subject of research, he may forgo sleep entirely for extended periods.
  • Which can also explain his tendency to nap all the time — because he borks his sleep schedule doing that.
• When choosing a class for Constance, all of her clothes, armor included, are bright shades of dark and light pink, with some light blue here and there, contrasting the more subdued hues of the other characters' classes. Since she’s trying to revive her house from ruin, it makes sense she’d want to stand out compared to everyone else; it would give a member of House Nuvelle the chance to shine in the war, and help be recognized/rewarded for her efforts.
• While most assume that the official confirmation of Almyra having a Middle-Eastern theme came with the reveal of Claude's real name, it was already hinted before that. After the timeskip, check Claude's battalion — "Immortal Corps". Now, which real-life empire was known for their elite unit called "Immortals"?
• Sylvain's A and A+ supports with Felix and Ingrid, for the most part, go smoother than the C and B supports. Why is this? While they're at war and had to put aside any petty arguments, they're also back in the same age bracket. Sylvain is almost 20 at the start of the game, while Felix and Ingrid are 17 for most of the academy phase. In the war phase, Sylvain is 25 while they're 22/23. The age gap isn't as noticeable.
• Note the order that the Blue Lions sound off in their version of Chapter 12; Dimitri, Felix, Ashe, Sylvain, Mercedes, Annette, Ingrid, Dedue. This is, for the most part, their order in the roster, except for Dedue, who goes between Dimitri and Felix. Dedue can also be permanently lost.
  • This happens again in their version of Chapter 22, where the soundoff order is Dimitri, Dedue (if the criteria was met), Felix, Ashe, Sylvain, Mercedes, Annette, and Ingrid. This is their order in the roster, including Dedue being in his correct place (between Dimitri and Felix).
  • This also roughly matches when their character archetypes would've been recruited. The Lord (Dimitri) first, Dedue (Draug) as the starting companion who can defend everyone else but mostly the Lord, Felix (early-game Navarre), Ashe (early-game Gordin), Sylvain (early-game Cain), Mercedes (early-game Lena), Annette (Linde), and Ingrid (early-mid game flier).
    • The other recruitable characters follow this, too. Seteth and Flayn are clearly very important characters introduced into the story much earlier than they can be recruited, and Gilbert as the late-game unit that's more of a "Just in case I need someone powerful or fill a spot" (Gotoh).
• In the Azure Moon version of Chapter 13, note the groups. Mercedes and Annette spawn in the bottom-left corner. Ingrid, Felix, and Sylvain spawn in the top-right corner. Ashe, curiously, shows up with Gilbert. Of course Ashe is going to be the only one who doesn't spawn with another student, he's the only Blue Lion who starts with no connections beyond home country!
• While Sylvain and Ferdinand have similar builds, Ferdinand has a lower Defence growth and base. This makes sense, as Sylvain grew up with Miklan and thus toughened up a bit as a result. Ferdinand, meanwhile, did not experience the same abuse, hence why he's squishier. He's also smaller than Sylvain in both height and width, and thus has less bulk to begin with.
• The fail condition for the first half of Cindered Shadows' 4th chapter is specifically Byleth's death. This might seem a bit strange, considering that Byleth isn't exactly a plot critical character for this mission. But the reason is actually mechanical. Should a unit with the item required to complete the map die, the item will go to the convoy. Since Byleth is the only way to access the convoy, their death would render the level unplayable, hence why their death is that level's lose condition.
• The lyrics of Edge of Dawn make it clear that Edelgard valued her time at the academy immensely and on some level wished they would never end. This ends up being reflected in her post-timeskip outfit, which actually heavily resembles the female Garreg Mach uniform when the two are compared. Both outfits feature six buttons on the chest, a pair of decorations on the waistline of the skirt, and very similar sleeves and boots.
• Interestingly Edelgard cannot support with any of the Knights of Seiros, coinciding with her own animosity towards the Church. This is despite the fact that two of them, Shamir and Alois, can actually switch sides and fight for the Empire against the Church.
  • Coinciding with this, the only one of the two who Hubert is capable of Supporting with is Shamir. Given his general distrusting personality, you'd think he'd at least have similar misgivings towards Alois that he does to Shamir but then you can look deeper into the motivation of the two former Knights. Alois joins the Empire purely out of Undying Loyalty towards Byleth. By that point in the story, Edelgard and Hubert alike have developed complete faith in Byleth so by extension, Hubert has no reason to mistrust Alois' motives. Shamir however is a different matter, being both of Dagda descent and a former member of the Church. It takes until reaching an A-rank support with Shamir that Hubert finally accepts that Shamir was telling the truth of not holding past grudges against the Empire or maintaining fealty to the Church.
• Crimson Flower is the one route the player can only enter if they consciously choose to do so rather than get railroaded onto. Quite fitting for the lord harboring a desire to build a world where a person can choose their own path to carve.
• Pre-timeskip, Edelgard and Dimitri wear gloves and gauntlets with their school uniforms respectively, while Claude is the only one of the Lords to not wear something on his hands. The former two have killed and have a lot of heavy secrets to hide, hence their "hiding" the stains on their hands. Claude, despite hiding his heritage, has the least amount of skeletons in the closet, and is open to others if they return the favor.
• All of the Adrestian nobles have the same naming scheme, which is "Firstname von Lastname." ^note Edelgard von Hresvelg, Hubert von Vestra, Ferdinand von Aegir, Linhardt von Hevring, Caspar von Bergliez, Bernadetta von Varley, Hanneman von Essar, Jeriza von Hyrm/Emile von Bartels, Constance von Nuvelle, Mercedes von Martritz. All of the Faerghus nobles also have the same naming scheme, which is "Firstname Middlename Lastname. ^note Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Sylvain Jose Gautier, Annette Fantine Dominic, Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Cassandra Rubens Charon, Miklan Anschutz Gautier, Lambert Egitte Blaiddyd, Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius. The Leicester nobles, meanwhile, follow both patterns. ^note Claude von Riegan, Lysithea von Ordelia, Marianne von Edmund, Judith von Daphnel, and Balthus von Albrecht coexist alongside Lorenz Hellman Gloucester and Hilda Valentin Goneril. Given that the Alliance is the youngest nation, it hasn't had the time to develop its own unique naming pattern yet. That more follow the Adrestian pattern is likely due to the Empire being the largest and most powerful nation and Leicester being founded on freedom from Faerghus.
  • Meanwhile, regardless of where they come from, all the commoners follow the same naming pattern, which is simply "Firstname Lastname," or just their first name. ^note Dorothea Arnault, Petra Macnary, Dedue Molinaro, Ashe Ubert, Raphael Kirsten, Ignatz Victor, Leonie Pinelli, Manuela Casagranda, Shamir Nevrand, Alois Rangeld, Cyril, Yuri Leclerc, Hapi, Byleth Eisner. As they come from more humble backgrounds, they don't need to stand out.
    • Petra not having a middle name despite being Brigid royalty is because she's not from the Empire. Cyril lacks a last name due to being a war orphan, while Hapi lacks one due to being from an isolated village.
  • Seteth and Flayn also lack last names. As they are actually Saint Cichol and Saint Cethleann, they don't really need last names. This also applies to Rhea aka Saint Seiros, who is revealed to have no last name via datamining.
• While the Noble and Commoner classes mostly play identically (being a weak, unspecialized class) and appearing to be distinct purely for flavor, the Noble class actually has a +5% modifier to the Charm growth. As they have to lead, the noble students have likely been trained to exude charisma before they enrolled. It also subtly highlights the advantages of noble birth.
• Normally after the completion of the Black Market Scheme paralogue, Edelgard will step in to explain who Baron Ochs was and that he was involved in a deal to get his daughter, Monica, back. She'll note Monica was found recently, explaining why he was not aware of this yet. However, should you do the paralogue after Monica has been revealed to be an enemy, then Edelgard will simply look on with a "..." as Hapi and Balthus wonder about who he was and why he did all this. Presumably this is to avoid questions she does not want asked, like why after a few months had passed the Empire had not yet informed Ochs that his daughter had been found. After all, if anyone were to be able to tell it wasn't really Monica, it would have been him, and Edelgard could not have her hated ally revealed yet.
• Through their supports you learn that Hubert has gone behind Edelgard's back to carry out actions she would not be okay with for the sake of her goals. This may explain some of the seemingly out of character Kick the Dog actions that Edelgard carries out in non-Crimson Flower routes, such as a letter she sends to Petra if the latter joined another house, effectively trying to blackmail Petra into joining her army or else Brigid would be their next target of Invasion. ^note By comparison when you first initiate the Crimson Flower route, Edelgard makes it a point to tell her classmates that she would understand if they choose not to ally with her and would not force them to. This would also be in keeping with a implied threat he makes toward the families of his classmates if he fights any of them in the Battle of Garreg Mach. Alternatively, Edelgard may be fine with her classmates not supporting her, but them choosing to actually oppose her may be another matter. During the Black Eagles version of the Holy Tomb, Edelgard asks her classmates to stand down because she doesn’t want to fight them... then orders her soldiers to steal the Crest Stones and kill anyone who gets in their way, suggesting that the latter is more likely. Then, during the battle at Garreg Mach, Edelgard doesn't threaten the families of her former classmates, instead just threatening the students themselves.
• The Azure Moon route is ultimately the most straightfoward of the four routes and the one where the player learns the least about Those Who Slither in the Dark, Byleth's origins, the Nabateans and the origins of Fódlan. This is a given that since, of the three lords, Dimitri is by far the most reactive. Unlike Edelgard and Claude, Dimitri initially has no major goal to reform Fódlan and after this Trauma Conga Line the only thing he directly cares about for a while is getting revenge on Edelgard. It's only late into the Azure Moon route that Dimitri starts to consider what he will need to do for Fódlan if he wins the war.
  • Dimitri's path is also more focused on him than Byleth. Much of it is getting Dimitri out of his Ax-Crazy ways, go back to reclaim his own kingdom, and then think about Fódlan. He's also so obsessed with the past that he completely disregards the present and the future. The story is about he has to care of himself first before worrying about anything else.
• Azure Moon is the route in which you learn the least about Those Who Slither in the Dark. While this is a consequence of Dimitri's tunnel vision-driven obsession with killing Edelgard, it also ironically reflects Edelgard and Hubert's rather dismissive opinion of Dimitri. From the very first chapter it's apparent that Edelgard does not hold Dimitri to the level of respect she gives Byleth or even Claude ^note Edelgard chews Dimitri out for thinking Claude was trying to lead the bandits away instead of just saving his own hide. When defeated in Verdant Wind and Silver Snow, Hubert will have a letter delivered to Claude and Byleth respectively, letting them know what he knows about TWSITD, while he does not offer that same courtesy to Dimitri.
  • The fact that, in the Blue Lions route, the Agarthans never launched Javelins of Light and never provided information to figure out whereabouts of their base wouldn't help matters either.
• Ferdinand and Lysithea's paralogue, in which they try to save Duke Aegir from rioters, is not available in the Crimson Flower route. In all the rotes, Duke Aegir is stripped of his title and placed under house arrest, with the key difference being Ferdinand's presence. In other routes if recruited, leadership of the territory is passed onto Lord Arundel, who abuses his station to heavily tax the commoners. In Crimson Flower, since Ferdinand remained loyal to the Empire, he ended up inheriting the leadership of his territory so the commoners are never pushed to the point where the events of the paralogue would occur.
  • For players more critical of the Crimson Flower route, this could also be to avoid making the Empire look bad.
• On the meta level, while many of the life-sim elements and side quests in Monastery appear tedious and monotonous, they 1) reward the invested effort by allowing to explore the story deeper and get to know the students better in a realistically gradual way, and 2) provide opportunities for stats and level grinding and/or earning support points, which enable you to poach more students and therefore avoid fighting and likely killing them during the war phase, letting you literally and figuratively Earn Your Happy Ending not only for yourself and your chosen team, but also for other sympathetic characters.
• What's with Byleth's seemingly purely aesthetic dagger? It's established that daggers are a symbol of cutting one's own path in Faerghus. Jeralt, their father, was originally a knight from Faerghus, and most likely a nobleman. He checks all the marks. He has a middle name, he's horseback rider that uses lances, and has fur incorporated into his outfit. He probably gave Byleth that dagger for the symbolism. The dagger's sheath is also royal blue, the color of the kingdom.
  • Also, it's probably the easiest and best thing to use during a surprise attack.
• There is an old superstition that giving someone a knife as a present is bad luck, because it may 'cut the relationship.' Maybe someone should have told Dimitri that when he was younger.
  • Likewise, the in-game Lord class specializes in swords and lances. Edelgard and Claude favor different weapons. Dimitri is the best person for it.
• Hilda and Cyril's paralogue being the only one available during Chapter 12 doesn't just make sense from an out-of-universe perspective (the player can't recruit them on Silver Snow until Chapter 12), it also makes sense from an in-universe one as well. All of the other Part I paralogues are either personal errands (Yuri/Constance, Seteth/Flayn, Balthus/Hapi, Ashe/Catherine, Manuela/Hanneman, Ingrid/Dorothea, and Anna) or national internal matters (Ignatz/Raphael, Sylvain, Lorenz, Alois/Shamir, Felix, and Dedue), and with the Imperial army coming down on their heads, the Church has to suspend all non-essential missions. However, Hilda and Cyril's paralogue deals with a foreign army attacking Fódlan's borders, and the denizens of Fódlan absolutely cannot afford to face an all-out war with Almyra while the Empire is fighting everyone, so they get a pass.
• If one is to take the Tarot Motif themes into account, the characterisation hints can be brilliant. Dimitri is Strength/Justice (He and Ferdinand's motifs are unsure, meaning one could be the other). Dimitri is incredibly strong, but also very just. Ferdinand, too, is incredibly just. Claude is the Moon — a guiding light, but more mysterious and unearthly.
  • In a slightly bigger reach, Sylvain, who is death, states that he sees everyone as equal.
• Edelgard is shown to repeatedly defeat Ferdinand in combat. His preferred weapon type historically loses to her's. In fact, Edelgard has higher stats than Ferdinand in all but three categories (HP, Lck, Spd) and ties in a fourth (Def).
  • The HP and Lck leads are easily explained. Edelgard underwent a blood reconstruction surgery, reducing her lifespan, and the misfortune is obvious. Ferdinand did not suffer this surgery, and thus maintains his lifespan. Their Def scores being equal is likely due to Edelgard's heavy armor strength cancelling out the loss from the surgery.
  • His Spd lead, meanwhile, is likely due to him simply being taller and thus having a longer stride. (175/180 cm to 158 cm)
• Metawise, the separation of the Empire into the Kingdom and Alliance makes historical sense. The Empire started as the Frankish Empire and split into France and Germany/Austria, and England for a while was controlled by the Normans/Angevins from France.
• Edelgard's alliance with Those Who Slither in the Dark is a rather shaky one fueled by their mutual hatred of the Church rather than any loyalty between them. Edelgard even makes several unveiled threats towards them that she plans to eliminate them after Fódlan has been conquered. It should come as no surprise then that the TWSITD several attempts at eliminating Byleth specifically seem to be done to spite Edelgard. Regardless of the route you play, Edelgard expresses great interest in recruiting Byleth as an ally, only exemplified after it's revealed that they can wield the Sword of the Creator. TWSITD likely sees Byleth is a future threat and at first tries to sever Edelgard's attempt to make them an ally (the destruction of Remire Village, the death of Jeralt), and then they make several attempts on Byleth's life.
• At first, most Fire Emblem fans may find it odd that all the Black Magic spells in this game have Greek letters placed in front of their names even though they otherwise act the same as they did in previous titles. Later, we find out that said dark magic was either mainly practiced by or was invented by the Agarthans/Those Who Slither In The Dark. And what is the Theme Naming behind all their named members? Greek figures.
• Jeritza's presence as a teacher seems strange as he's the only teacher without a specific house attached to them, serving as a specialist teacher. But he's the combat instructor- Manuela and Hanneman are both poor offensive units, and the teacher Byleth replaced ran away from their students at the first sign of trouble. As shown with the Gautiers, nobles are expected to be capable fighters and defend their land in combat, so it wouldn't do that a school nobles can attend to be incapable of teaching combat. He doesn't get a replacement after leaving, because Byleth is more than capable of filling the role!
• Kostas' only real character trait other than "violent thug" is a disdain for nobility. At first this seems like just a bit of rudeness added for flavor, but think about the fact he was recruited by Edelgard. Presumably this is what drew her to him; had he proven himself a useful long-term ally, he would have been more than eager to help abolish the system of nobility.
• On the Church, Blue Lions or Golden Deer routes, Thales will be the one to attack Byleth and send them plummeting down, triggering the 5-year-long time skip. However, on the Black Eagles/Crimson Flower route, it will be an enraged Rhea instead. Also, towards the end of the Church and Golden Deer playthroughs, Thales commands his Agarthans to stop Byleth and the party at all costs and unleashes Javelins of Light when they lose, even if it means destruction of their base Shambhala — a move eerily mirroring the order to torch Fhirdiad by Rhea/Seiros during the final battle of Crimson Flower. Even the context is pretty similar: they both have lost their second-in-command in the previous battle (Edelgard for Thales, Dimitri for Rhea), find themselves cornered in their last stronghold and try to pull a Taking You with Me. This serves as a Foreshadowing that, at the end of the day, there's somewhat less difference between them than either side would admit:
  • As two sides of the Gharnef archetype, they are both embittered by being wronged in their pasts — specifically, having significant parts of their nations destroyed by the enemy — and seek for revenge, manipulating events from the shadows.
  • They both see the humanity as foolish and incapable of getting along on their own and deem themselves and themselves alone worthy to rule over them, albeit with different approaches to their rule — Rhea tries to show more benevolence in her reign, with mixed results, while Thales's vision is much more openly tyrannical and malevolent.
  • Either of them is willing to go to any lengths to achieve their goals, disregarding well-being or potential harm done to those they see as their tools: Thales subjected Edelgard and her siblings to terrible experimentation in a ruthless pursuit of having a warrior empowered with two Crests, while Rhea was willing to go all the way to see Byleth become the new incarnation of her mother Sothis, even at the potential risk of them losing their personality.
  • In the end, while Rhea had far better reasons behind her grievances, being obsessed over them had a detrimental effect on her sanity, putting her at times dangerously close to her Arch-Enemy.
• If Bernadetta's such a shut in, why does she attend class? Edelgard says that she makes sure she goes, but what if you want to recruit her to the Blue Lions or Golden Deer? You get your answer as you recruit her: She tells Byleth that she feels at ease around them. Hence, she shows up in class even without Edelgard forcing her because because she actually wants to be there.
  • Also, if she is such a recluse, why does she have such a high number of support chains? It's because she wants to make friends, something her father explicitly forbade her from doing (especially if they were a commoner). Bernadetta makes it clear that she hates her father, and she would rather anger him than give in to her own social anxiety.
  • Bernadetta also experiences one of the more notable growths during the Time Skip, both physically and mentally. Likely being around her Black Eagles companions (and subsequently away from her father) allowed her to mature in both body and mind.
• It may seem ironic that, for all of Edelgard's declared meritocratic aspirations, in Crimson Flower endings, characters from the nobility end up taking the majority of positions in the government. However, upon checking historical information — such as early years of Soviet Russia, independent India and the like — this situation actually seems less ironic and more of a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome. In a society that until recent times had a rigid societal hierarchy and limited inter-class mobility, scions of the upper classes are the most likely to have the best education available, and the majority of personnel sufficiently skilled to run an aspect of a country will come from those.
• Post traumatic stress disorder is shortened as PTSD. Pre/Post-timeskip Dimitri fits that term perfectly.
• Kronya killing Jeralt seems rather sudden from a story angle, and Kronya's reaction to Thales saving her from Byleth's attack to stop her makes it seem like she never expected Byleth to do so. After thinking it over, this makes sense when one considers the level prior was the Remire Village incident, which ended with the Flame Emperor trying to convince Byleth and Jeralt to team up with them to defeat Those Who Slither In The Dark. Most likely Kyonya or Thales learned of this and realized the implications of Byleth and Jeralt doing so, and had Kronya as Monica setup things so that they could kill Jeralt. Kronya says Jeralt was getting in "their" way, a statement which doesn't make too much sense unless the events of Remire Village were that important to TWSITD's plans, but make more sense if one thinks she means Jeralt possibly teaming up with the Flame Emperor was a possiblity. Furthermore, notice how after this level, the Flame Emperor stops trying to speak to Byleth about joining together, especially on Crimson Flower. By killing Jeralt, TWSITD rob the Knights of a powerful warrior, but also make it hard for Byleth to even entertain the idea of joining with Edelgard.
• According to Shamir in Three Hopes, the Pagan Altar down in Abyss is actually a Dagdan deity of Fate. In gameplay, it allows you to trade renown for additional items (and vice-versa), which can easily be brushed off as a gameplay-only thing. However, when you consider the story events of Jeralt's death and Byleth's 5-year-injury/sleep happening in every route, even despite Byleth's attempt to prevent the former with Sothis's power (and her subsequent statement that if Divine Pulse couldn't change it, this must've been the will of Fate), it's suddenly plausible that the Pagan Altar is influencing the major events involving the monastery, perhaps even the entire land itself depending upon its power, considering that a war is inevitable in every route for both Three Houses and Three Hopes despite the varying particulars.

Fridge Horror

• Rhea in general is a master of this trope. One of the earliest examples is the Lap Pillow scene at the end of Chapter 10. To the untrained eye, it looks like Byleth is being soothed following the aftermath of the last battle, and in a sense they are... but then you realize that at the time, Rhea sees Byleth as a vessel to revive her mother and wishes to merge their mind with Sothis, which likely will erase Byleth's identity. When you realize Rhea is not only talking to you, but also through you, what would normally be comforting actions gain a new, disturbing light. Even assuming that Rhea doesn't believe Byleth will be erased or taken over doesn't remove the disturbing implications so much as makes her ignorant or naive regarding them.
  Rhea: Close your eyes, dear one. Sleep, just a while longer. I will be watching over you, always and forever...
• Depending on just when Rhea precisely developed romantic feelings for Byleth and to what degree she regarded them as separate from her mother at the time, there can be disturbing incestual subtext with her mother who she knows is awake within Byleth during most of part 1 of the game. That said, the actual S rank support only happens years after Rhea knows her mother's mind has left Byleth.
• Rhea said she created Byleth’s mother as the last of twelve attempts to make an artificial body for Sothis' Crest Stone. But it’s not clear if this made these creations only a case of Artificial Human (or rather Nabatean) or if they could also be genuinely considered Rhea's children. If the latter is true, then Byleth could find themselves in a romance with someone who is technically their grandmother.
  • And Cindered Shadows potentially made it worse. One could argue if you really wanted to make the Byleth/Rhea relationship work, that "Byleth boinks their grandma" was simply speculation. We didn't know what their mother was like after all, we didn't know what their relationship was like. Cindered Shadows has Rhea explicitly say that Sitri looked upon Rhea as if Rhea were her mother. Does this whole situation count as Platonic Writing, Romantic Reading? Admittedly, Rhea never states she shared Sitri's sentiment in the same way, only that she wanted Sitri to have a bright future, and that she saw her as her child in the same sense that she saw Cardinal Aelfric as her child (i.e. a spiritual leader sense and someone under her close care and protection in the monastery).
    • Platonic Writing, Romantic Reading would mean that the writers unintentionally made the relationship come off as romantic instead of some other interpretation of it, but they clearly wrote Rhea's S-support to be a romantic one, no two ways about it, so they definitely knew what they were doing. Also, maybe people take that line from Cindered Shadows a little too literally. Rhea only says that Sitri *looked* at her like a mother, not that she actually thought Rhea was her mom, and I don't think they referred to each other as "mother" and "daughter" respectively either; for all we know, that could've just meant that Rhea was someone that Sitri really appreciated and looked up to in a role model kind of way, akin to the relationship Dorothea has with Manuela.
• More of Fridge Sadness, but it's possible for Byleth to have Leonie's B support after their father's death, but before you are able to talk to her at the monastery. In her support, she's aggressive towards Byleth talking about how what Jeralt meant to her and comes off as standoffish. But when you talk to her at the monastery, she genuinely seems heartbroken for both herself and you. While it's mostly due to how supports work, if it happens then it's really sad thinking about she tried to talk about Jeralt to you without breaking down in tears before showing what she's really feeling just days later.
• If she isn't recruited, Marianne does not make any further appearances in either Black Eagles route or the Blue Lions route after the timeskip. Her A support if she is recruited reveals that before the timeskip, she had been praying for her own death before Byleth's influence caused her to stop. Considering Byleth wouldn't be there to help her open up in these other scenarios...the implication is not comforting.
  • A slightly happier alternative is that she just didn't care to show up to fight in the war, considering how her attitude towards war/social events pre-timeskip was "do I have to go?" Granted, it still suggests Marianne is still depressed, but better than the other option.
  • Marianne has an extra chair in her room while everyone has one. If you look at where the chair is located, it would mean the worse could happen if she wasn't supported.
  • Marianne mentions in previous supports with Byleth that she's only really at the Academy because her father wants to make her a more desirable bride for a rich, influential nobleman. Best-case scenario, he went through with that and Marianne is still alive in the timeskip. Still miserable, still depressed, but now also married to someone who views her as a person as secondary to her political influence. Poor Marianne.
• Thinking about what could have happened if Flayn hadn't been rescued in chapter 6 is not pretty:
  • Since she was kidnapped to harvest her blood, "those who slither in the dark" may have simply kept her alive and taken more blood as they needed, which would be horrible by itself.
  • Or, they may have decided that having another Crest Stone was more worthwhile than waiting for her to produce more blood and, well...
  • Or, most disturbingly, they decide to take the female Nabatean they have in captivity and use exceptionally horrific methods to give them a steady supply of blood and Crest Stones.
  • Of course, they can do what they did a millennium ago. They can "weaponize" her.
• Ignatz and Ingrid's support has a drawing of Seiros look like in Ingrid's words "a maniacal demigod". Now remember what happens to Rhea in the Crimson Flower route.
  • Even worse if you happen to recruit both of them into Crimson Flower and see their support chain for the first time there. It comes across as some particularly eerie foreshadowing.
• It's noted when Nemesis revives that him ingesting Sothis's blood is what allowed it to be possible. This means the remnants of "those who slither in the dark" could one day weaponize Edelgard, who also gained some of her blood for the second crest, on the likes of Blue Lions or Church of Seiros routes, and have an army of Undead Imperial Forces under her command to lead just like Nemesis himself, resurrected by the Crest of Flames just like her.
  • Considering that on Blue Lions and Silver Snow, there are still people who care about her (Dimitri, the entire Black Eagle house), they'd probably want to bury/cremate her body in secret just so her grave isn't desecrated. So "those who slither in the dark" wouldn't have her body, whereas they seemed to actively be storing Nemesis' just for this purpose.
  • On Verdant Wind and Silver Snow, should Dedue survive it's explicitly noted he destroys Edelgard's body, removing any chance of it being used by "those who slither in the dark."
• On the Black Eagles route, you can kill Claude, who is the son of the Almyran king. One can imagine he wouldn't be too pleased to hear about that, and what better time to get revenge than while the Adrestian Empire is still weak and recovering from war?
  • Actually, Edelgard's paralogue deals with this possibility, regardless if Claude lives or dies, there is an invasion force heading towards Fódlan's Throat. And they are dealt with rather easily, and the fortress being reinforced to prevent further invasions. so Fódlan is in no danger from future invasions, and even should Almyra attack, it is the the late Alliance's Nobles's responsibility to repel the attacks, and in the BE, they are in a relatively strong position despite formally being dissolved, so the Empire could focus on post-war rebuilding. And considering Claude has half siblings who have tried to kill him, it's even likely killing Claude might give Edelgard favor with them should they ascend the throne.
  • Cyril states in his and Hilda's paralogue (which you would need to get on another route) that the attacks on Fódlan's Locket aren't the Almyrans seriously attempting an invasion — it's them having fun. Nader's happy reaction to being defeated in Edelgard's paralogue is pretty much stating that he's having the time of his life. If Almyra really wanted to attack, their army would be a lot stronger than what we fight.
  • Regardless, Fódlan is in a good position for the time being, Fódlan's Throat is an impenetrable fortress, protected by Leicester military which is still relatively powerful due to Edelgard's strikes causing minimal damage to the Alliance as a whole, and Fódlan as a nation are no strangers to attempted invasions by Almyrans. And considering Claude has half-siblings who have tried to kill him, it's even likely killing Claude might give Edelgard favor with them should they ascend the throne. Either way, Almyra won't be able to invade after losing so many people in such a short time, and it is the entire point of the wall to keep Almyrans from invading.
• Many of Dimitri's epilogue slides such as Felix, Dedue, and Marianne mention that many years after the game, Dimitri eventually dies, and in some slides, to illness. Considering that the Blue Lions are the only route where Those Who Slither in the dark aren't fought directly, only Thales is defeated in his Arundel guise, and that there is still a significant amount of Agarthans with an intact base, who's to say Dimitri wasn't assassinated in those slides and the rest of the Lions aren't aware of this? Note that none of Claude's or Edelgard's endings allude to their death, and they decisively finish off Those Who Slither In The Dark.
  • It's actually not many of his slides — those are the only ones (well, and Flayn, but her outliving her husband is to be expected). His solo ending and his paired epilogues with Female Byleth, Mercedes, Ingrid, Annette, Catherine, and Gustave don't mention him dying at all. Also, if the Agarthans could get to Dimitri, they would have been way more likely to Kill and Replace him like they have with every other important figure they could get close to (Cornelia, Arundel). Add in that they aren't actually in that great a position — you eliminate their entire leadership down to a named Mook, Myson — and there's no way they could have something to do with it.
  • A brighter but also not so nice look at it at the same time is that Dimitri could have gotten ill from overworking himself. Considering how hellbent he was to atone for his time of being Ax-Crazy…
• The white beasts fought in the final chapter of Silver Snow are humans transformed by their blood-link with Rhea and her now uncontrollable dragon form. We learn earlier on that Jeralt's age and crest of Seiros are the result of Rhea using her blood to save his life in the distant past. Byleth's own father could have become another rampaging monster they'd have to put down, if he had survived long enough or if Rhea's degeneration had happened sooner. Albeit, those humans also were given pieces of Rhea's heart, i.e. her Crest Stone, in addition to Rhea's blood, unlike Jeralt, so such a transformation may not have been possible for him.
  • In a way, the Church of Seiros is quite similar to the Healing Church in that both use blood infusions from non-humans to heal, and that this has the potential to eventually turn you into a mindless raving beast!
• Petra’s death, whether as an enemy or recruited unit, simply because she chooses to help Edelgard/Byleth achieve their goals instead of returning to Brigid post-timeskip. Not only does her grandfather lose his son and granddaughter to war (both involving the Empire), but Brigid will likely undergo a Succession Crisis now that heir to the throne is dead.
• Rhea's berserk form, and the way her body seems to have pronounced veins and torn wings, gives a strong impression that not only is her power going out of control, but that she's inflicted with some form of radiation sickness. Since the "Javelins of Light" are partly magical in nature, and have even turned the once fertile Valley of Torment into a permanent Lethal Lava Land for many years, it's entirely possible that contact with so many missiles has afflicted her with some magical variation of said illness. Since she also refuses to sleep, whatever effects a dragon's slumber does to heal their bodies can't counteract the effects.
  • Seteth's surprise at Rhea's berserk form seems to confirm this idea. Also, she notably doesn't take it in Crimson Flower, where she conveniently doesn't get hit by the Javelins of Light, or Verdant Wind, where she rests for longer. The Javelins of Light did something to her, and the results aren't pretty.
• Even if Seteth and Flayn are still alive at the end of Crimson Flower, their lives probably won't be improving anytime soon. Edelgard is likely going to publicize her understanding of history, which would not only reveal the existence of the Nabateans, but paint them as Always Chaotic Evil, meaning they'll probably be the target of considerable Fantastic Racism. Seteth's main professional skills are in administration, which he won't be able to put to use, given how much force Edelgard is willing to use to keep Nabateans out of power. That could easily force them out of Fódlan, meaning they'll be separated from their remaining family and unable to visit the grave of Flayn's mother or any other place in Fódlan important to them.
  • Flayn seems to realize this in her defeat quote if she and Seteth are spared.
    Flayn: Farewell, Professor. We shall most likely never meet again.
  • Granted, Seteth was planning on leaving for quite some time, and considering he must have access to a vast amount of funds due to being a noble and head of finance in the Church, plus experience of hiding and changing identities over centuries, he and Flayn will at least be safe and comfortable, or perhaps they can find a better life in other continents.
• It seems like the talks of the Battle at Gronder field being a massacre even if you managed the difficult task of managing of not killing any of the students is a case of Gameplay and Story Segregation. But remember, in the Verdant Wind route Dimitri dies off-screen in the aftermath. Who's to say the same can't be said of anyone else who seems to disappear from the story afterward?
  • Goes From Bad to Worse once you play the Silver Snow route. It happens entirely off-screen but it's implied to have carried an even larger death toll than versions of the battle in the Azure Moon or Verdant Wind routes. Without Byleth and the Knights of Seiros there to bolster their numbers, both the Kingdom and Alliance get completely wiped out in this fight.
  • The only students you encounter in Silver Snow are Ashe and Lorenz. Assuming Marianne committed suicide or became possessed by her crest, that means literally everyone you didn't recruit period died there.
• Although Edelgard managed to escape to Faerghus with her mother and uncle, the whereabouts of her siblings during the Insurrection of the Seven never was mentioned. With their father powerless to save them, it’s highly likely TWSITD began the Crest experiences on the Hreavelg siblings shortly afterward, thus leading to their eventual madness and death.
• Jeritza reveals to Mercedes that his father wanted to marry her to produce more Crest bearing children and keep the Lamine bloodline to himself. Although somewhat alleviated by the fact Mercedes and the head of House Bartels weren’t related by blood, it brings up the horrifying possibility of Crest bearing houses intermarrying to keep their Crest to themselves and increases the chances of their children having a Crest.
  • In her support with Edelgard, Constance implies this was the case in House Nuvelle in order to keep their Crest of Noa a secret.
• According to his supports with Ingrid, Sylvain had already established his flirtatious act at age eight, and is stated to have hit on much older women as a young child. In Real Life, children displaying this kind of Troubling Unchildlike Behavior is a huge red flag for sexual abuse. What's more, in the present day he views his romantic life as entirely contingent on his Crest and noble status. He expects any woman to approach him to only be interested in how they can use him to elevate their social standing. It isn't hard to imagine Sylvain having been objectified for his Crest starting from a worryingly early age, with his promiscuity starting as either a coping mechanism, or a warped childhood understanding of how to form bonds with others.
• Jeritza is Jekyll & Hyde with the Death Knight. This puts his aloofness and distance from everyone else, even when he joins you on Crimson Flower, into perspective... a horrifying perspective. He will only support Mercedes and Byleth... because he's afraid of hurting others. He does not relish in his Superpowered Evil Side. He fears it. One can only imagine just how broken and pained he is.
• While it may not make sense for Blue Lion students to defect to the Empire, it can be assumed that they were present in the Holy Tomb and witnessed Rhea's breakdown and attempt to kill Byleth, Hubert, and Edelgard. Thus them seeing Rhea's darker side can explain why they would defect from their own nation considering said nation allied with Rhea, and considering NPC dialogue and Seteth and Flayn's dialogue implies that Rhea has taken a turn for the worse, would help their decision to defect from the Kingdom as many others have due to Rhea.
• In Silver Snow, it's mentioned that Rhea gave some high-ranking and very loyal church members pieces of her crest stone. Her crest stone is her heart. Which would mean a) she somehow cut off pieces of her heart with the heart still being in her chest, or b) that she got someone else (most likely Seteth) to literally cut her open regularly to remove pieces of her heart.
• In Seteth and Flayn's paralogue, the fanatics of the Western Church are occupying tombs belonging to Cichol and Cethlenn, two saints revered by the entirety of the Church. This is hilarious because as we know Seteth and Flayn are said saints, and the fanatics are trying to kill them out of their own self-righteous belief and because they misinterpret what the thought to be dead Cethlenn and Cichol want. This becomes less humorous when it foreshadows Seiros's motivations as an antagonist in Crimson Flower, who is trying to kill Byleth because in her insanity, she blames them for taking her mother away, when in reality Sothis actually is aiding Byleth and woke them up in the first place. This paralogue also additionally foreshadows Dimitri's own obsession with the dead and misinterpretation of what the dead desire.
• Edelgard carries the dagger that Dimitri gave her everywhere. She probably considered killing herself with it during her imprisonment by the Slitherers.
  • Assuming the Slitherers would even let her keep a weapon she could use against them just as easily. She likely didn't have it on her during that time.
• In the game there are two types of regalia: The Hero's Relics and the Sacred Weapons. Almost all regalia are tied exclusively to one Hero or Saint, but there are exceptions such as Aymr, the Sword of Begalta, the Sword of Moralta, the Tathlum Bow, and the Axe of Ukonvasara. The Aymr is said to have been made to Edelgard's specifications which is why it's a Hero's Relic despite Rhea/Seiros never having been slaughtered by Nemesis or the Ten Elites (though her giving out pieces of her crest stone to a few church members can raise a few questions), but no such reason is given for why there are Sacred Weapons tied to Riegan, Fraldarius, Lamine, or Gloucester. It is possible that as members of the Ten Elites that they stole the preexisting weapons from the Nabateans either before or after slaughtering them.
  • The Sword of Belgata, (given from The Wind Caller) makes sense when you remember that Macuil was a skilled blacksmith, and most likely did modifications to fit the sword in question to the Crest of Reigan.
• Sylvain's Defense growth of 40% is one of the highest outside of clearly tanky characters like Dedue, Raphael, or Gilbert. This seems arbritrary until you realize he grew up with Miklan.
• For the people replaced by the Agarthans, such as the real Monica, Tomas, and Cornelia, Kill and Replace is ironically one of the best options for their potential fates. After all, Those Who Slither In The Dark do love their experiments, and it's not like anyone would be looking for them...
• So with the DLC adding Jeritza as a playable character.... you learn through his supports that he's a broken person. You can also break him even further by not recruiting Mercedes. And because Mercedes is not a Skippable Boss, you have to go out of your way to make Jeritza kill Mercedes. Imagine how absolutely broken he is after all of this...
• Why does Edelgard become extremely ruthless and unyielding towards the end of all routes beside her own? Well, it's obvious that partially it's due to not having Byleth on her side (she even admits in her route that without their guidance she would've become "a harsh leader with a heart of ice"). But another contributing factor is that Hubert is the only one who stays with her and close to her all the way. Most notably, Ferdinand, who wants to be her Honest Advisor, either leaves her service (definitely on the Church route, or if recruited on the Blue Lions or Golden Deer routes) or falls in battle early (if not recruited on BL/GD routes). The other Black Eagles also either switch sides, die in battles, or (likely the case with Petra and Dorothea if encountered in Enbarr) don't dare to challenge her authority.
• In fusing with Byleth, it is possible that Sothis passed on her immortality to them. Which means that besides Flayn, Seteth, and Rhea, Byleth could outlive any of their love interests, not to mention all of their friends and everyone they've ever known.
• Of the three Lords, Dimitri tends to suffer the most tragic death on routes that are not his own. The tragedy being that this all could have been avoided if Byleth was there to support him during his darkest hours. In Silver Snow particularly, in which all three lords end up either dead or missing in action, many of the deaths could have been avoided if the Kingdom had just formed an Alliance with the Church (which they admittedly attempt, but Dimitri is too impatient to wait for the church soldiers to rest before challenging Edelgard at Gronder Field).
• If you play the Azure Moon route and support with Gilbert you learn that he was so filled with shame for his failure to protect the Royal Family during the Tragedy of Duscur that he abandoned his name, his old life, and his family. If you play the Verdant Wind route you learn that not only did Gilbert survive the Battle at Gronder Field, but he was last seen carrying the corpse of Dimitri, the last member of the Royal Family. Given the type of despair Gilbert was driven to after the Tragedy of Duscur, you can only imagine what his state would be like after this second failure.
• While most students at the academy have had some sadness in their lives, a few have had terrible abuse or trauma given to them.
  • Bernadetta's father, who was slowly falling out of nobility, took his anger out on his poor daughter, desperate to create 'the perfect wife' so he could still have noble connections. However, he instead ended up abusing her horribly, including tying her to a chair to force her to stay still. It got so bad that Bernadetta's mother ended up stealing her away to the Officer's Academy in the dead of night, an occasion that made Bernadetta think she was about to die. Due to the fact that her father's abuse gave her a horrible anxiety disorder, it's no wonder Bernadetta is so afraid of connections or criticism, even believing that the all-complimenting Sylvain, who read her book, must be making fun of her, and even wonders for a second if she should actually do something bad to stop him from ever mentioning it again.
    • Bernadetta is very small before the Time Skip before growing quite a bit in five years. It's not hard to imagine that in addition to being physically and emotionally abusive, her father also wasn't feeding her very well.
    • Adding to the likelihood of this is her obsession with sweets and the fact she's overly worried about people knowing she's eating them, which would be kind of weird even for someone as anxious as Bernie, unless of course she actually does have history of getting in trouble for being caught sneaking food.
  • Edelgard lost all her siblings to Crest experimentations, and also lost most of her lifespan, living for years in a dungeon, trapped away. There's no wonder as to why she hates Crests so much... or to why she doesn't even value her life, to the point where she urges Byleth/Dimitri to kill her after she loses her war (that is, on routes other than her own).
  • Dimitri lost all of his family from betrayal, and was the sole survivor of the party at the Tragedy of Duscur. Even years later, they continue to haunt him. There's no doubt that Dimitri has some sort of terrible mental illness from the experience, and even worse when you realise he had to conceal it until he just couldn't any more, and ended up causing a bloodbath of his own.
  • Sylvain's entire personality has been shaped by abuse — confirmed physical abuse by his own brother, Miklan, implied emotional abuse by his father (in the Japanese version, he mentions that his father will do bad things to him if he finds out he ran away to fight in the war) and implied CSA, which makes his flirting with Ingrid's grandmother not quite so amusing any more. He has a high defence growth (40%) similar to those of a typical future Heavy Armour specialist, which is a bad reminder of how his brother hurt him, including pushing him into a well and leaving him on a mountainside — which is even worse when you consider that he lives in the coldest place in Fódlan. He is angry towards Byleth for having a powerful Crest with no repercussions, has no ability to trust anyone new, hides his intelligence (as seen in his supports with Annette), and has eye bags even in his pre-time skip portrait. He refuses to flirt with Bernadetta and Marianne because he recognises how damaging it would be to them, and only really connects with Mercedes, who sees through his persona with kindness, Dorothea, who recognises someone who is only valued for their inherent talents, and Felix in their A-Supports, where it is implied that Felix knows how little Sylvain values his own life.
  • Lysithea, like Edelgard, was the only survivor of an experiment to implant a second Crest, losing most of her siblings and friends who have undergone the same procedure, and emerging with her health damaged and lifespan shortened. Again, it's little wonder that she came to despise the Crests and belief placed into them, to the point where trying to tie her magic abilities to her Crests rather than her work, skills and knowledge is a major Berserk Button for her. In fact, on the Golden Deer route Lysithea, after discovery of similarity between the two, vows to avenge Edelgard after the latter's defeat and demise, whereas on the Black Eagles route she'll be eager to switch sides and join Edelgard in her campaign against the Crest-based nobility even if she hadn't been approached in the Academy phase.
  • Then there's Marianne. The poor girl, adopted by a small noble hoping to increase his influence through a marriage of convenience, was shunned and abused simply due to her "improper" Crest that is believed to be cursed and bring misfortune (due to its association with Maurice, one of the Elites who eventually turned into a Demonic Beast). What else could be expected from it — other than her turning into an utterly broken asocial loner and, at one point (as she admits in A-Support with Byleth), contemplating suicide?
  • Jeritza/Emile, as mentioned before, was estranged from his mother and half-sister when they fled to Faerghus, and ended up killing his father when the latter decided to bring Mercedes back to have Crest-bearing children. Out of the trauma brought by this event the Death Knight persona was born, haunting him ever since and turning him into a bloodthirsty monster now and again. Even after getting a position from Edelgard, he fears that the Death Knight can activate at the worst time, struggles to keep it in check and openly hates it — and by extension, himself. Suddenly, the lines about his desire to have Byleth 'pierce' him sound less like a combat-or-erotic Double Entendre and more like a call of desperation. Granted, he gets better towards the end Crimson Flower, but still...
• Claude's fate in the Crimson Flower and Azure Moon playthroughs have a tinge of Esoteric Happy Ending. While he goes MIA in Silver Snow and can be killed by the player if they choose in Crimson Flower, it gets confirmed by Word of God that Claude does survive each route in canon. The problem though is that while he may escape to Almyra with his life, his fate may still not exactly be the best one. Unlike Verdant Wind, where he goes home with the accomplishment of winning a war and unifying Fódlan under his belt, the other three routes sees Claude fleeing after the Alliance collapsed. And its mentioned that Claude experienced the same type of prejudice in Almyra that he did in Fódlan, so it's likely he only has more hardships in store in the future in the other three routes.
• There is some unnerving implications about the fake Lord Arundel (who's heavily implied to be a disguised Thales) being considered in-universe as another instigator of the Insurrection of the Seven, despite the fact the first act the real Arundel did during said event was fleeing along with his niece to the Kingdom for the sake of her safety. The way both Hubert and the Church's books talk about Arundel and Duke Aegir's alliance, 5 years after the Insurrection had taken place, make clear that, to give the impression Arundel had always been on board with the plan, they had to have teamed-up nearly instantly once the former returned to the Empire with Edelgard, which suggests both had been likely in contact for some time already. What makes it even worse, is that in Lysithea's A Support with Byleth, she mentions that 3 years prior to the Insurrection, she saw Agarthans working along with Imperial staff for their crest experiments in Ordelia territory in plain sight, and given her words in her paralogue that those who fled from Hrym (which was under the Duke's control back then) to Ordelia were forced to return in the end, ultimately implies and corroborates that, not only the Duke had been in contact with the Agarthans for quite some time already, but that he is more or less singlehandedly responsible for allowing them to gain so much foothold in the Empire to begin with (and by proxy, eventually sending Fódlan into ruin).
• One shudders to think what would have happened if Edelgard had refused to cooperate with the Agarthans. Given that they have de facto political control of the Empire, she almost certainly would have been assassinated or rendered politically impotent, and then the Agarthans would have forced her Trauma Conga Line childhood on a new Flame Emperor (most likely either her, Ferdinand, or possibly Dimitri's children) and the continent would end up right back where it started.
• If Jeritza does have Dissociative Identity Disorder, then that has extremely disturbing implications. After all, Dissociative Identity disorder is caused by repeated, horrific trauma between the ages of 3-9-which means that Emile's time in House Bartels would have been a living nightmare. It's even possible that the Death Knight existed in some form beforehand as a more benevolent Protector-and that Emile hearing his father discuss his plans with Mercedes was the straw that broke the camel's back and made the Death Knight front properly for the first time.
  • Also, how do we know Jeritza himself isn't an Alter of Emile? Yes, Jeritza fronts, but that's no indication that he and Emile are the same Alter. Perhaps Emile splintered Jeritza off after finding out he killed his father and hasn't been "awake" since.