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Xavi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,766
Lightning for Smash
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It's been around 19 days since the game released and many people has finished their first playthrough, their second and some insane players have done all four routes. I think it's time we have a dedicated thread separate from the OT because of the nature and structure of the game. Many players have been spoiled in the other because of incorrect tagging or just assumptions of what happens in one route would happen in the other routes.

Because of that the OT is filled with Spoiler tags aaaall over the place and it can get annoying if you are following a conversation.

We already had this thread for leaks, but it's been abandoned when the game came out, so I thought creating a new thread was a good idea.


Just please keep it civil, I've seen some users been very condescending with their choices (Church vs Edelgard route) and one can have a civil discussion without resorting to insults.

If mods feel this thread is not necessary then please close it by all means.

**************************


As for myself, I'm currently in my second playthrough (Did the Church route first and now doing Blue Lions). The Blue Lions are pretty ok, I wasn't fond of Dedue at first but reading about the Tragedy of Duscur has been fairly shocking for me. I recently did Chapter 8 and that's the first glimps I saw of the dark/beast side of Dimitri, his tone shift was awesome and scary at the same time.

Also, brown haired Edelgard looks great! I'd love to see an adult version of her.
latest



 
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Oct 26, 2017
5,435
Thanks for the thread.

I'm on chapter 16 in my first playthrough with the Black Eagles

Does sparing other characters affect the ending at all? I couldn't save Hilda and it bothers me (i can't reload).

I did spare Seteth , Flayn and Alois.
 

MadLaughter

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
13,073
My second playthrough I was glad to see that Edelgard didn't know what they were going to do in Remire and openly threatened TTSITD after that.
 

KOfLegend

Member
Jun 17, 2019
1,794
I went with Black Eagles (my favorite house leader is Claude, but I went with BE because the students clicked with me much more than the others) and I was CONVINCED the Flame Emperor was always the leader of your chosen house, because I've seen tons of games do this type of thing. I was legitimately shocked when I looked it up online and it turned out to always be Edelgard. One of my favorite moments for sure.

I haven't played any of the other routes, but I was pretty happy I went with BE because it felt like the most narratively important choice, with Edelgard being the main(?) Villain and all. Does the game make it seem like you chose the most narratively important house if you go with GD or BL? If so, that's extremely impressive.
 
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Holundrian

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,114
Claude is the best and I thought he was the worst before I played. Dimitri sucks. The church sucks. I hope Edelgard doesn't suck
 

MadLaughter

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
13,073
My dream is that they release either a DLC route or semi-sequel where they trust each other and reforge the world together :(
 

Xaszatm

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,903
So, can we discuss that scene that happens in both the Church route and Golden Deer route where we get to see a dragon take on ICBM missiles because that was awesome.
 
Oct 27, 2017
5,364
Claude is the best and I thought he was the worst before I played. Dimitri sucks. The church sucks. I hope Edelgard doesn't suck

Kind of agreed, although I feel like Dimitri's route was weird because it felt less about him, and more so about how awful everyone he had to deal with were. Church route was basically you following orders the entire time, the climax and conclusion was pretty great though. And despite being poorly developed in every other route, Edelgard's is honestly one of my favorites.

They've already stated the DLC's going to be something completely new, no? I agree though, I would've loved a Revelations-esque route :(

The season pass will be at least, but I hope there's still something in the making that we don't know about.
 

Kraq

Member
Oct 25, 2017
807
My first run was with the BE and Edelgard, and I somewhat wish I had opted for the BL/GD instead. Not much of the behind the scenes stuff is well explained, and as someone told me in the OT, it feels like it was meant to be played 2nd/3rd/4th, which I agree with. Plot points left unresolved include:

- Who was your mother?
- Why has Jeralt not aged?
- Why did the bad guys want Flayn's blood?
- Why did Edelgard try to steal the Crest Stones?
- Why does Edelgard send Kostas to kill the other Lords?
- Who/where is the Death Knight?
- How did Sothis come to be inside of you?
- When did Edelgard start working with the bad guys?

As well as some others that I currently don't remember (hopefully some of the above get answered in my current run).

I also didn't really buy the idea that the Church was that bad in this route. Rhea had some guys executed - so what? It's nothing to start a war over. Who cares if she's a manakete? It wasn't clear if it was the Solon/Monica crew or the Church who experimented on Edelgard either, but perhaps on that one I may have forgot if she said which.

Also, why was it brushed under the rug that Edelgard was working with the guy who had Manuela stabbed, and that she worked with the baddies at all? The other students should've been furious. The game never actually addresses Solon & Monica's background and the group they're from either, it just says they're dealt with in a post-credits blurb.

Post time-skip, it felt like things were a little rushed too. Only 6 maps, and Claude gets knocked out of the fight in just 2 maps. It just took me out of it somewhat after the long Part 1.

Gameplay was pretty damn good, no qualms there. Loved some of the later maps, especially the final map.

On my 2nd playthrough with the Golden Deer now. Lysithea is a force of nature, and I really like her supports. I watched the Edelgard/Lysithea support on YouTube as I missed it in my run, and it really opens your eyes on the destructive force of Crests. I almost feel like it should be mandatory as it gives a lot of context as to why Edelgard is how she is.
 
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Lunar15

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,647
- Who was your mother?
- Why has Jeralt not aged?
- Why did the bad guys want Flayn's blood?
- Why did Edelgard try to steal the Crest Stones?
- Why does Edelgard send Kostas to kill the other Lords?
- Who/where is the Death Knight?
- How did Sothis come to be inside of you?
- When did Edelgard start working with the bad guys?

Just so you know, the BL route answers none of these questions. I'm playing through GD right now and I feel pretty certain that it doesn't explain a lot of these either. Church route might. Supports are where most of the answers to these questions are, actually.
 

Ultimadrago

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,135
On my 4/4th route with Blue Lions.
I've heard a lot of people complaining about it, but I'm really enjoying Dimitri's past being explored. I haven't gotten past the timeskip yet.

Also: FEAR THE DEER
 
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Oct 25, 2017
4,637
I find every route to be pretty unsatisfying, especially with incomplete plot threads or underdeveloped parts of the narrative. You basically get the entire picture with all routes, but that just makes each individual one less satisfying

Though I only played through golden deer and read and watched the rest, so the majority of my lens is from that route, but it was interesting seeing some of my biggest complaints given reason by watching other routes. Edelgard's handling in GD was a huge ??? but then I watched church route and the whole reason her ending didnt make sense there was because the cut scene was copy pasted from Church route where it does fit.

But on the positives, the world, lore, and side characters are just fucking phenomenal. Having constant conversations back at the monastery and alongside paralogues to flesh them out was fucking amazing and such an evolution for the series. Then there were so many cutscenes that brought in all the characters that earlier FEs wouldve dropped them, giving thema constant presence.

Also Marianne is fucking precious and if anyone harms her Ill kill everyone in here and then myself.
 

Holundrian

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,114
Just so you know, the BL route answers none of these questions. I'm playing through GD right now and I feel pretty certain that it doesn't explain a lot of these either. Church route might. Supports are where most of the answers to these questions are, actually.
GD explains these.
- Why has Jeralt not aged?
- Why did the bad guys want Flayn's blood?
- Who/where is the Death Knight?
- How did Sothis come to be inside of you?
 

Fulminator

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,199
- Who was your mother?
- Why has Jeralt not aged?

- Why did the bad guys want Flayn's blood?
- Why did Edelgard try to steal the Crest Stones?
- Why does Edelgard send Kostas to kill the other Lords?
- Who/where is the Death Knight?
- How did Sothis come to be inside of you?
- When did Edelgard start working with the bad guys?

Black Eagles Church Route answers the bolded questions

Edelgard sends Kostas to kill the other lords because she believes it would be easier to seize power in the kingdom and alliance if their leadership was in shambles. Not sure if they explicitly state that in game.

I don't think it's ever revealed when exactly she starts working with the bad guys.

Death Knight question is answered by a Caspar/Mercedes paralogue post timeskip
 

Lunar15

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,647
Does anything ever explain why you weren't with Jeralt when he was living in Leonie's town?
 

Holundrian

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,114
wait golden deer route explained jeralt? i dont remember that being there
I dunno where it is said again but Jeralt has gotten an infusion of dragon/blessed/sacred blood whatever the term and that's why he has longevity. I'm not sure if the implication was that he was saved by Byleth's mother this way or if that was a separate incident. The timeline around Jeralt is a bit confusing if you puzzle it together with big breaks between info dumps from the Alois/Leonie stories + his diary + Rhea convos, etc.
 

Kraq

Member
Oct 25, 2017
807
Just so you know, the BL route answers none of these questions. I'm playing through GD right now and I feel pretty certain that it doesn't explain a lot of these either. Church route might. Supports are where most of the answers to these questions are, actually.
Well that sucks, I guess I'll be going with the Church for the 3rd route then. I like that some of the interesting tidbits are tucked away into supports, it's just that I had about 10 questions after Chapter 11 and it's somewhat deflating to have little explained. I wasn't even all that bothered about the Crests until I read Sylvain and Lysithea's supports, and Edelgard's run is supposed to be the one that makes you hate the Crest system!
 

Lunar15

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,647
I actually really like that world details are tucked away in supports, it reminds me of FE7 or other games in the series where you'd get a better picture of the world by people organically talking about background setting rather than through big plot revelations. That said, Three Houses almost goes *overboard* on it and I feel like the main hooks of the conflict are completely obscured from you depending on your route. You can't set up Those Who Slither In The Dark as major antagonists in the first half and then drop them entirely in the second half of most of the routes.

I really loved Dimitri as a character as well as most of the Blue Lions as a house, but man that path answers literally nothing.

i really hope they expand on these guys more

i'd love a prequel dlc or hell even a prequel game dealing with the War of Heroes, etc.

I feel like the DLC will be a prequel set 1000 years ago.
 

Holundrian

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,114
Well that sucks, I guess I'll be going with the Church for the 3rd route then. I like that some of the interesting tidbits are tucked away into supports, it's just that I had about 10 questions after Chapter 11 and it's somewhat deflating to have little explained. I wasn't even all that bothered about the Crests until I read Sylvain and Lysithea's supports, and Edelgard's run is supposed to be the one that makes you hate the Crest system!
To correct every route answers the death knight question I think.
In the library you read about an incident with Mercedes family and her brother vanishing after her entire family died.
If you talk to everyone it becomes clear in the main story that the death knight is Jeritza who is also Emile and Mercedes younger brother.

The library entry in question is "Register of Empire Nobles, Part II - House Bartels"
 

Sieglinde

Member
Feb 20, 2019
970
I find every route to be pretty unsatisfying, especially with incomplete plot threads or underdeveloped parts of the narrative. You basically get the entire picture with all routes, but that just makes each individual one less satisfying

Though I only played through golden deer and read and watched the rest, so the majority of my lens is from that route, but it was interesting seeing some of my biggest complaints given reason by watching other routes. Edelgard's handling in GD was a huge ??? but then I watched church route and the whole reason her ending didnt make sense there was because the cut scene was copy pasted from Church route where it does fit.

But on the positives, the world, lore, and side characters are just fucking phenomenal. Having constant conversations back at the monastery and alongside paralogues to flesh them out was fucking amazing and such an evolution for the series. Then there were so many cutscenes that brought in all the characters that earlier FEs wouldve dropped them, giving thema constant presence.

Also Marianne is fucking precious and if anyone harms her Ill kill everyone in here and then myself.
I don't know i've only completed the church route myself but it's pretty satisfying about the plot threads it has, and i felt like it does give the entire picture to this whole conflict of course the other routes give more insight to the other three lords and what they did but the church route is a complete experience.
 

RumbleHumble

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,128
Finished the golden deer route this weekend. Loved it, but there's still a whole lot of missing pieces for me. Still felt like, based on what I'd read, the more definitive ending. Helps that Claude is just such an all-around good dude.
 
Oct 27, 2017
5,364
Also going to post a bold take here: While the interactions and development of most of the cast was phenomenal, Those Who Slither in the Dark honestly might be my least favorite Fire Emblem villains of all time.

They were so cartoon-y in that pretty much every bad thing that happens in the game (besides some events led by the Church) they are behind it. How they're behind pretty much everything in the game? Who knows!

Kronya, pretty much revealed and then killed off immediately.
Solon, we see once, get back post-timeskip, and is also killed.
Cornelia, all of a sudden evil because MAYBE she was killed and replaced by a TWSITD member because for some reason they're all masters of disguise, and then killed.

Honestly, the whole backstory behind the Church and TWSITD felt very basic for something that ends up serving as the backbone as to why this game happens in the first place.

And sure, I have a feeling we might be seeing a prequel DLC for the game as we did Breath of the Wild and Xenoblade 2, but still feels kind of obnoxious that all the conflict that happens in the game pretty much began because of multiple "Haha, fooled you!" occurrences.

This is why I like the Black Eagle and Golden Deer routes the most out of the four, because they were the ones that did a good job in assessing all of the enemies that were present in the game. Granted, I do think we should've gotten some extra chapters in Black Eagles to see the Empire take down TWSITD, kind of annoying they sort of just put in some text saying, "oh yeah, they were defeated after the game ended." I mean, this force of evil that somehow controlled the entire continent being defeated and then summarized in a few lines of text seems underwhelming.

I get the point of the other two routes though. The Church route being more involved in sharing more of the game's backstory, and Blue Lions showing how manipulative things really got in Fodlan as a result of all that has happened, but them being primarily focused on JUST those things made their experiences feel awkard.
 
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Xavi

Xavi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,766
Lightning for Smash
Alois B or A I forget support explains Jeralt's age (or why he hasn't aged)

Alois

We spoke before about how Jeralt never seemd to age, right?
Once, when he was drunk, he let the secret slip.

He said he'd had the infusion of Crest-bearing blood, and it had greatly extended his life


....

Then I sked him his age. He said he'd stopped coutning after he hit one hundred
 

Kraq

Member
Oct 25, 2017
807
Black Eagles Church Route answers the bolded questions

Edelgard sends Kostas to kill the other lords because she believes it would be easier to seize power in the kingdom and alliance if their leadership was in shambles. Not sure if they explicitly state that in game.

I don't think it's ever revealed when exactly she starts working with the bad guys.

Death Knight question is answered by a Caspar/Mercedes paralogue post time-skip

I'm definitely going Church for the 3rd route then.

Second line makes sense. Considering that Edelgard almost got herself killed by the usual Chapter 1 Fire Emblem bandit leader, I have to really question her competence and leadership. It's a good foreshadow to how she fails when you're not around for the five years. Again, it makes me question whether or not she was right to start a war. Without Byleth around, she would potentially have kickstarted a war that could have lasted for decades that ultimately ended up in nothing.

I've recruited both of those on my GD run, so I should get that paralogue. Nice.
 

Lunar15

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,647
Those Who Slither In The Dark are reminiscent of the Followers of Loptos from FE4. They're supposed to be the dark cult pulling the strings while the actual central conflict is political and personal. But in FE4, you deal with that stuff directly.
 

Sieglinde

Member
Feb 20, 2019
970
Those Who Slither In The Dark are reminiscent of the Followers of Loptos from FE4. They're supposed to be the dark cult pulling the strings while the actual central conflict is political and personal. But in FE4, you deal with that stuff directly.
You also deal with TWSITD directly in 3H at least in certain routes.
 

Kraq

Member
Oct 25, 2017
807
Alois B or A I forget support explains Jeralt's age (or why he hasn't aged)

Alois

I should have been more clear. I did get that support with Alois, but I was wondering how Jeralt came across that infusion in the first place.
To correct every route answers the death knight question I think.
In the library you read about an incident with Mercedes family and her brother vanishing after her entire family died.
If you talk to everyone it becomes clear in the main story that the death knight is Jeritza who is also Emile and Mercedes younger brother.

The library entry in question is "Register of Empire Nobles, Part II - House Bartels"
I had already guessed they were related, but I don't know anything past that. I'll check out the book in the library though, thanks.
 

Fulminator

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,199
I feel like the DLC will be a prequel set 1000 years ago.
that's what im hoping for
Also going to post a bold take here: While the interactions and development of most of the cast was phenomenal, Those Who Slither in the Dark honestly might be my least favorite Fire Emblem villains of all time.

They were so cartoon-y in that pretty much every bad thing that happens in the game (besides some events led by the Church) they are behind it. How they're behind pretty much everything in the game? Who knows!

Kronya, pretty much revealed and then killed off immediately.
Solon, we see once, get back post-timeskip, and is also killed.
Cornelia, all of a sudden evil because MAYBE she was killed and replaced by a TWSITD member because for some reason they're all masters of disguise, and then killed.

Honestly, the whole backstory behind the Church and TWSITD felt very basic for something that ends up serving as the backbone as to why this game happens in the first place.

And sure, I have a feeling we might be seeing a prequel DLC for the game as we did Breath of the Wild and Xenoblade 2, but still feels kind of obnoxious that all the conflict that happens in the game pretty much began because of multiple "Haha, fooled you!" occurrences.

This is why I like the Black Eagle and Golden Deer routes the most out of the four, because they were the ones that did a good job in assessing all of the enemies that were present in the game. Granted, I do think we should've gotten some extra chapters in Black Eagles to see the Empire take down TWSITD, kind of annoying they sort of just put in some text saying, "oh yeah, they were defeated after the game ended." I mean, this force of evil that somehow controlled the entire continent being defeated and then summarized in a few lines of text seems underwhelming.

I get the point of the other two routes though. The Church route being more involved in sharing more of the game's backstory, and Blue Lions showing how manipulative things really got in Fodlan as a result of all that has happened, but them being primarily focused on JUST those things made their experiences feel awkard.
TWSITD are a cool enemy, and the lore is interesting, they just don't flesh it out nearly enough and barely give them any game time. I agree, it is one of my biggest complaints about the game how these guys are set up as huge antagonists and then are glossed over except for one map. I feel like the Church route could have benefitted from a few extra chapters that went more into depth with TWSITD.
 
Oct 27, 2017
5,364
Those Who Slither In The Dark are reminiscent of the Followers of Loptos from FE4. They're supposed to be the dark cult pulling the strings while the actual central conflict is political and personal. But in FE4, you deal with that stuff directly.
You also deal with TWSITD directly in 3H at least in certain routes.

My memory might not be right, but honestly isn't that what Thracia 776 was about? FE4 was always on the political side of things, but then FE5 had Leif taking a small group to kick some demon butt? Honestly, that's kind of the one negative of some routes defeating TWSITD. Going up against them in a united Fodlan, while solving the problems of the Church, would've made for an interesting sequel.
 

Gunny T Highway

Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,990
Canada
I still have one major gripe and that has to do with Kronya. For the most part she is a one and done character where I wish she was more involved in the story. She was pretty much a Macguffin to trap Byleth in the shadow realm.
 
Oct 25, 2017
4,637
ill be really disappointed if the DLC is a prequel, I can never get myself to care to play them. Torna is still sitting on my shelf.
 
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Xavi

Xavi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,766
Lightning for Smash
I still have one major gripe and that has to do with Kronya. For the most part she is a one and done character where I wish she was more involved in the story. She was pretty much a Macguffin to trap Byleth in the shadow realm.
I was convinced we would be able to recruit her at some point (before knowing she killed Jeralt ofc) but yeah, she's a very forgettable character.
 

Sieglinde

Member
Feb 20, 2019
970
My memory might not be right, but honestly isn't that what Thracia 776 was about? FE4 was always on the political side of things, but then FE5 had Leif taking a small group to kick some demon butt? Honestly, that's kind of the one negative of some routes defeating TWSITD. Going up against them in a united Fodlan, while solving the problems of the Church, would've made for an interesting sequel.
I haven't played Tharcia yet so i don't know exactly what happens there, but in 3H they could make that sequel if they want to, just pull something like they had a group of survivors around or something it would be kind of cheap but just to kick off a sequel it shouldn't be too bad certainly doable, but the biggest the problem imo would be which version of a "united" Fodlan they would pick i'm pretty sure at least one of the Three Lords and their armies dies in each route so it would be kind of hard to continue with this story.
 

Terraforce

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
18,910
What questions does GD answer that Church route doesn't? I've completed every path except GD (On chapter 16) and I read ahead and spoiled myself on some things, but it doesn't seem to bring a lot new into the fold that isn't already answered in the other routes.
 

Lunar15

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,647
It's not really a spoiler but I'd rather discuss it with people who have finished the game.

Do y'all think they intended to use the Sauna at any point? Feels weird that it's such a detailed area with its own name but, to my knowledge, no one ever stands there and there's never any lost items there. Or do you think that will be DLC?

I'm perfectly fine leaving "haha sauna" tropes out of the game, but it just felt weird that it was there in the first place yet never referenced.
 

Holundrian

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,114
I expect Sauna to be DLC for boosting support points between several people because right now the grind is quite big if you wanted to get all supports unlocked.
 

Lunar15

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,647
I expect Sauna to be DLC for boosting support points between several people because right now the grind is quite big if you wanted to get all supports unlocked.

That would have been nice post-timeskip where you're really scrounging for new things to do. It'd be better than eating 7 meals a day.