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I've been thinking this over for months, but now that I've beaten all four routes a second time I have a suggestion for a Golden Route/ anime adaptation/ whatever. Part 1: The three professors teach all three Houses, but Byleth is specifically the head of the Black Eagles (the former is already implied in Supports and you could skip the latter, though this would jar with how fond Edelgard is of the Professor later on). In an adaptation this would also let you mix and match who is present for what in Part 1, e.g. Edelgard or Dimitri at Remire (because of their reactions) and Claude at Conand Tower (because of his interest in Heroes' Relics). The exception to this is the Holy Tomb, which everyone is present for (but of course Dimitri's reaction to the Flame Emperor reveal takes centre stage). Part 2: The start of Part 2 could go one of two ways. Option 1: Events proceed as per Silver Snow until the capturing of the Great Bridge of Myrrdin. As this destroys the Empire's hold on the Alliance, Claude throws his lot in with the resistance army and joins us. This means we attend the Gronder rematch while not knowing who the "third faction" is as in Verdant Wind. However, Dimitri's encounter with Fleche and Rodrigue's death still happen and Byleth and Claude take him with them because he's too shocked to do anything by himself. (This would require Dimitri to go full rage mode right after the Holy Tomb as well as torture Randolph in the Battle of Garreg Mach). Option 2: Part 2 starts with Azure Moon, though the villager doesn't know about the dead Imperials; Byleth finds that out for themselves along with Dimitri. Everything continues as normal until Gronder Field where, instead of fleeing Claude sticks around to understand why the Kingdom attacked him after the battle. Once the Fleche situation is resolved he throws his lot in with the Kingdom. Everything else proceeds as normal: Dimitri's post-Gronder transformation takes place and the story shifts to Azure Moon, complete with retaking Fhirdiad (which adds the Kingdom's forces to the Alliance and Church's). The Deirdriu attack is skipped, but everything else plays out as normal up to and including Hegemon Edelgard. (Claude and Seteth also show up for the peace talks, though this is still Dimitri's idea.) [In Option 2, this is also where we learn more about Claude's ideology of people coming together despite their origins and beliefs, which is why he's upset that they couldn't work things out with Edelgard.] The Shambhala attack proceeds as per VW/ SS and Nemesis is reborn after it falls. Nemesis attacks, with Rhea unable to help because she's recovering from saving Byleth, but it's all for naught as she goes berserk right after, meaning everyone now has to put her down (after she explains to Byleth who they are). It's left ambiguous whether she survives this battle. (The order of these two battles is dependent on whether you want an epic or a bittersweet finale.) Claude leaves for Almyra, and Byleth rules Fodlan while Dimitri disappears in an attempt to atone (as implied in SS). Crimson Flower: Because Crimson Flower is so drastically different from the other routes, it would be better served as a separate story still. Using the adaptation approach this would be treated as an OVA or three that branch off after the Holy Tomb (like Steins;Gate 0). And while this wouldn't much the scale of fighting Rhea, obviously it would be nice if this also included the final fight in Shambhala too. No need for Nemesis though. Edelgard finally confronting Thales for everything he did to her would be catharsis enough. If we had two short films detailing Crimson Flower as we know it, a third would suffice to cover this (you could incorporate Hubert's Paralogue into it - maybe he figures out where Shambhala is by analysing what the Arrow of Indra is made of and where those materials are readily found)? Bonus: Cindered Shadows: This would also be an OVA. Just one film would suffice I think. I know it's polarising but Cindered Shadows has a really nice story that I'd love to get more attention~