Sire Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 (edited) NOTICE: Spoilers! As a "Golden Route," this hypothetical idea incorporates many of the plot points that exist on other routes. Read at own risk! * * * * * * * * * * I know a "Three Houses Golden Route" ideas have been discussed plenty, but here's mine in a chapter by chapter format. There are 11 chapters for Part One, and 14 Chapters for Part Two, for a total of 25 chapters. The basic premise is that Byleth has knowledge of all the routes and goes back to the beginning to "try and set things right." In addition, Byleth is trying to find a way to separate Sothis from himself so the two can exist individually as their own entities. One of the major points is that Jeralt survives and can be said to serve as a "retainer" character to Byleth, who is the main lord of this route. Another main point is to have "awesome" moments where players would lose their minds based off of the gameplay or the storytelling. What is present here is the first draft of the idea. I likely got some details wrong, some sections may be incomplete, and it could use more polishing, but at any rate, here it is! Chapter Notes Part One: Wandering Clouds Spoiler Prologue: Inevitable Encounters - Byleth awakens at the start of the game, now having knowledge of the other routes. Byleth immediately sets out to rescue the three lords from their bandit pursuers. Jeralt follows, uncertain what has gotten into Byleth. - The Bandit Leader still manages to retreat, but the “professor who ran away” sticks around this time. This “professor” will eventually teach the Golden Deer House. - When Alois appears, he recruits Jeralt and Byleth to the Knights of Seiros. Chapter 1: Three Houses - Byleth and Jeralt fight the combined forces of the Three Houses in a mock battle. Alois joins the player for this map. - Jeralt and Alois will likely do most of the fighting while Byleth picks up the scraps. - After this map, Rhea requests Byleth to teach some of the students while he/she is not busy doing Knights of Seiros work. The player will be able to choose 6 students from any of the houses to be in Byleth’s “special class.” Chapter 2: Familiar Scenery - Similar to vanilla, but instead of the respective House handling the situation, Byleth and the Ashen Demons do so. Claude and Hilda tag along for this map as Claude is interested in the history of the location. - After the battle, Byleth asks Claude to look into reincarnation rituals, specifically trying to find a way to separate Sothis from Byleth so the two can operate independently. Claude is surprised that Byleth is being loose with the secrets, but offers to help any way he can. Chapter 3: Mutiny in the Mist - The Ashen Demons set out to provide support for the Knights of Seiros during Lonato’s rebellion. Ashe and Dimitri join the player for this map due to their personal connections. - Dimitri goes to explain the tragedy of Duscar and how it affected him. - Jeralt recalls his encounter with Christophe, Lonato’s son. Chapter 4: The Goddess’ Rite of Rebirth - Knowing the target, the Ashen Demons set up a defensive position and wait for the enemies to arrive, using Jeralt’s influence to gain access to the sacred area. Edelgard and Hubert join the player in this map. - The map is the same, but Byleth and company start off defending the coffin while enemy forces come in from the bottom of the map. When the Death Knight arrives, he will move and attack. - After the battle, Byleth will confront Edelgard about her motives and her secret identity. Hubert gets ready to silence Byleth, but Edelgard commands him to stand down. She states her motives and why she is working with TWSITD, while Byleth asks if she ever considered looking to Dimitri or Claude as allies. Edelgard states they will never see things her way and she must force things by her hand, otherwise things will never change. She then asks Byleth to stay out of her way before departing with Hubert. - Shortly thereafter, the Flame Emperor reports to Lord Arundel that Byleth knows things that he shouldn’t. Lord Arudel is intrigued and ponders on what could have caused these change of events... Chapter 5: Tower of Black Winds - Similar to vanilla. The Ashen Demons are sent to handle this issue, with Dimitri and Sylvain joining due to their personal connections. - After the battle, Byleth warns Seteth about Flayn’s potential kidnapping. Seteth becomes inquisitive and begins looks into matters on his own. Chapter 6: Rumors of a Reaper - Flayn appears to Byleth and wonders where her brother is, as Seteth has gone missing. The new professor has also been reported missing as well. - Manuela is found with Jeritza’s mask right before she was going to investigate his quarters. Byleth stops her and goes in himself to discover the Golden Deer professor dead. Going down the secret passage and exploring further reveals a knocked out Seteth and Monica. - The boss of this map is not the Death Knight, but the Flame Emperor. The Flame Emperor reveals Seteth has been digging in place he shouldn’t and was too focused on protecting Flayn that he forgot to protect himself. The Flame Emperor also says it that this is nothing personal. – Upon defeat, the Death Knight arrives to bail out the Flame Emperor. The party then rescues Seteth and Monica. Seteth apologizes for his tunnel vision and thanks Byleth for saving him. Chapter 7: Field of the Eagle and Lion - With the GD professor dead, Byleth is asked to take over and become the new professor of the Golden Deer House. Gameplay wise, this means nothing as Byleth will still only be responsible for the Ashen Demons. (To put things another way, the Golden Deer students are not suddenly recruited because you become their new professor. Byleth still only has access to the Ashen Demon students. Becoming a professor for the Golden Deer is a story-only development.) - Things progress as normal. - On the map itself, the player will start in the bottom right (the classic GD starting position), with Hanneman and Manuela leading their respective houses as Manuela was never wounded. The Blue Lions will be located in the north. -- The player will only have control of Golden Deer students for this mock battle. Even if other students were recruited into the Ashen Demons, for the purposes of this map they are affiliated with their respective houses. (So if you trained your Felix to one-shot everything, he will likely one-shot you.) - After the battle, the feast scene with all three houses being together is actually shown. - After the feast, Claude takes Byleth aside. Claude says there might be a way to separate Sothis and Byleth, but Seteth unsuspectingly came by and took the book Claude was researching. Sothis likes the idea of having her own physical form, but is worried what may happen to Byleth if they were separated. Claude says he will continue looking for clues before heading off. Chapter 8: The Flame in the Darkness - Similar to vanilla. Remire Village becomes afflicted with madness and the Ashen Demons need to put a stop to it. However, the madness seems to be more potent, and some villagers begin to spout mutations that resemble the Demonic Beasts. Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude tag along for this chapter as NPCs (instead of Jeralt and the CoS Soldiers, as Jeralt is a playable charater in this route). - Edelgard is horrified at the experiments and begins to question her resolve. - Dimitri sees the experiments and his desire for vengeance grows, as well as his suspicions. - Claude sees the experiments and wonders how they got to that state. - When the Flame Emperor appears, he says he will consider Byleth’s previous offer. After the Flame Emperor disappears, Jeralt will begin questioning Byleth on what all is going on. Jeralt is then brought up to speed and continues his own investigation of the Church and Rhea. Chapter 9: The Cause of Sorrow - Byleth knows of Monica’s intent, so he launches an investigation against her with the support of the Knights of Seiros. - With her cover blown, Monica resorts to an alternative plan to disrupt the Monastery. She contaminates the water supply and kidnaps some students to transform them to Demonic Beasts - She retreats to the unused Chapel and is fought there (as Monica), alongside Demonic Beasts and mutated students (like in Remire). Claude and Hilda tag along for this mission. - When defeated, Monica is saved by Thales and is teleported away.- Dimitri and Byleth sees the Flame Emperor and TWSITD interact, and he finds a certain dagger. Byleth tries to steer Dimitri’s desire of revenge towards TWSITD, but Dimitri remains fixated on the Flame Emperor. Chapter 10: Where the Goddess Dwells - The Knights of Seiros have found Kronya’s hiding place. Byleth sets out to settle things with her. Dimitri, desiring vengeance, tags along with his faithful retainer Dedue. - Before the trap could be triggered, Byleth fuses with Sothis mid-battle and successfully incapacitates Kronya. Solon, unable to activate his spell, throws everything he has at Byleth and his companions. - When Solon is defeated, he retreats. Kronya is left behind to be interrogated by the Church. - During Exploration, Byleth can trigger Edelgard’s special scene if he has the correct support rank with her. This plays out similarly to Edelgard’s Imperial route, but this time Claude tags along to witness the coronation. Afterwards, the three share information with each other, specifically trying to find a way to separate Sothis from Byleth. Edelgard has a theory that TWSITD may know something, but she knows working with them is risky. Despite this, the trio decide that it may be worth the risk, so Claude devises a scheme that will attempt to capture TWSITD during the Holy Tomb ceremony that should happen on the next moon. When all is said and done, Edelgard asks Byleth and Claude to trust her. Claude wonders what Edelgard will do, but Byleth (already knowing what will happen) reassures Claude. – This is simply an alternative scene. If this scene not viewed, Claude will ask for Byleth during the month and the three will talk about the plan for Sothis. The thing that is skipped over is El’s coronation. Chapter 11: Throne of Knowledge - With Byleth now fused with Sothis, the ceremony at the Holy Tomb is on schedule. - Jeralt comes by with information on how to separate Sothis from Byleth, but it involves using the Holy Tomb itself. Not knowing how Rhea will react, Jeralt cautions Byleth on how they will proceed with the plans. – However, as Edelgard and Claude (and Byleth) already took a gambit with TWSITD, Jeralt scolds Byleth (or Claude) for taking such a risk. As Edelgard is away, Byleth, Claude, and Jeralt reassess the situation and decide to try and do the separation their way, while being wary of any TWSITD activities. - The Day of Ceremony arrives. All three classes (sans Edelgard and Hubert) and the Knights of Seiros (Catherine) head down to the Holy Tomb to commence the ceremony. – Byleth sits upon the throne, and Claude suddenly jumps up and begins chanting a ritual. Rhea becomes furious at the interruption and commands the knights to stop Claude. Jeralt and the Ashen Demons stand in their way, while the remaining students stand around dumbstruck at what is going on. – After the incantation, Byleth slumps forward from the chair and falls to the ground. Claude rushes to Byleth’s side, while Sothis materializes in the chair. Rhea rushes to Sothis’ side, trading her anger for happiness at seeing her mother again, while Seteth begins piercing the pieces together on what all was going on. – Suddenly, the Flame Emperor and the Imperial Army come in. Their objective is seemingly the same, to loot the Crest Stones. Claude then understands what all is going on. The Flame Emperor goes to Byleth to check on him. She then removes the mask, revealing that Edelgard is the Flame Emperor. Dimitri is driven insane at this revelation. – Byleth recovers from the ritual and stands up. Rhea commands Byleth to strike down the invaders, but Byleth refuses. Before Byleth can explain what is going on, Rhea commands the knights to protect Sothis and to purge the heretics. - The map is now set. Byleth and the Ashen Demons start at the top of the map while Archbishop Rhea and Dimitri block the exit. The Imperial Forces are scattered around the map engaged with the Knights of Seiros and Blue Lion students. The Golden Deer and Black Eagle students are caught in the crossfire and don’t know what to do. Edelgard, as the unmasked Flame Emperor, is under the player’s control for this chapter. – The main objective is to defeat Rhea and Dimitri. A side objective is successfully escorting the Golden Deer and Black Eagle students to safety. - After the battle, Thales and his TWSITD associates warp in to take advantage of the chaos. Thales thanks Edelgard for her service. He then claims Sothis and seals Byleth away in a dark dimension, which triggers the timeskip sequence. Part Two: The Edge of Dawn Spoiler Intermission: The Five Long Years - After Byleth gets sealed away, TWSITD take their activities out in the open. They assault Garreg Mach and claim victory, leaving the survivors to scurry away to the rest of the continent. The Monastery then mostly becomes abandoned and is now home to thieves. – Kronya, who was captured, goes missing after the assault. Her allegiance remains unknown. - Edelgard and the Empire suffer from internal strife as TWSITD bring about civil war. As the Empire is divided and is fighting amongst themselves, they can only offer minimal assistance outside their domain. - The Blue Lions suffer from losing Dimitri, who was “sentenced to death” for the murder of his uncle. Cornelia now controls the Kingdom and is fighting against Dimitri Loyalists with support from TWSITD. - The Golden Deer suffered from an Almyra invasion. Right after the Monastery was toppled, TWSITD launched a “Javelin of Light” towards Fodlan’s Locket. The fortress was annihilated, making it easy for the Almyrans to invade Fodlan. Claude has been occupied trying to handle this situation. - Rhea and the Church of Seiros are out on an inquisition to find Sothis. The Church is known to be merciless in their methods and not even innocents were spared. - TWSITD have been slowly amassing power and are getting ready to reveal their trump card to the world. Once unleashed, TWSITD believe they can finally claim supreme victory. Chapter 12: Reunion By Dawn - Byleth somehow escapes the dark dimension and awakens 5 years later. He returns to the Monastery to see it in ruins, but discovers a darkened Dimitri. Despite being hostile to each other in the battle at the Holy Tomb, Byleth reaches his hand out to Dimitri, but Dimitri refuses. - Dimitri then heads off to blow some steam by killing Bandits. Byleth accompanies him. The map is played as normal. – Jeralt and the 6 “Ashen Demon Students” appear, much like how the Blue Lion and Golden Deer students would usually show up at this time. - After the battle, Jeralt and the students decide to use the Monastery as a base of operations. Dimitri then storms off on his own, saying he doesn’t need anyone’s sympathy. Despite efforts to stop Dimitri from leaving, he leaves anyway. Chapter 13: Ashen Demons - The Church of Seiros decides to return to the Monastery, only to find Jeralt and Byleth using it as their base of operations. Archbishop Rhea, still on a crusade, decides to take the Monastery by force. - The map is similar to its vanila counterpart, but instead of defending against the Empire, it is defending against the Church and Archbishop Rhea. The premise here is the Ashen Demons (and Jeralt’s Mercenaries) pitted against the Church of Seiros. - The Ashen Demons make sure to not use lethal force, as they wish to simply “beat some sense” into the Church instead of opposing it outright. - After claiming victory, Jeralt and Rhea talk things out. Eventually, the Church of Seiros offers its services to Byleth. The first step is to find Dimitri and bring him back into the fold. Archbishop Rhea will remain at the Monastery to bolster morale and defend the location. * * * * * Dimitri’s Arc * * * * * Chapter 14: Valley of Torment - Dimitri is found in the Valley of Torment, killing indiscriminately. Rodrigue appears with several Blue Lion loyalists (Gilbert, Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix) to reclaim their king. The Ashen Demons appear to help out Dimitri and Rodrigue from TWSITD forces sent by Cornelia to finish off Dimitri. - Dimitri is saved and the Loyalists ally with the Ashen Demons to take back the Kingdom. While Dimitri wants to charge straight to the capital and end things immediately, Rodrigue suggests taking Arianrhod so they can receive some aid from the Empire. Chapter 15: The Silver Maiden -While the Silver Maiden itself is under TWSITD control, led by Solon, the surrounding lands continue some resistance with support from House Rowe and the Empire. - Ashe is found helping the resistance as a “Robin Hood” type character, while Dedue makes his triumphant return with some Duscar soldiers. (Dedue was thought to be dead as he took the place of Dimitri during the execution.) Rudolph and Ladislava appear as Imperial reinforcements to help take Arianrhod. - After killing Solon and retaking Arianrhod, a route is open to Imperial lands so Edelgard can assist where she can. While the Empire is in the state of Civil War, Edelgard hopes by helping out the other territories will allow them to return the favor once they have been stabilized. Chapter 16: The Vengeful King’s Return - Dimitri and the Ashen Demons go to retake Fhirdiad from Cornelia’s control. Seeking to buy time and having no remorse for the civilians, Cornelia sets fire to the city and waits for Dimitri’s arrival. - Dimitri brutally executes Cornelia, but his passion for revenge has not been sated. He desires more bloodshed. Byleth asks Dimitri if his desire for vengeance will ever be sated. (More stuff happens that eventually lead to Dimitri calming down, but it will take some time for Dimitri to revert instead of being instantly like in Blue Lions). Paralogue: Life and Death - Mercedes and Annette have been captured by TWSITD forces. They are scheduled to be executed soon. The Ashen Demons ride out to save the two, but an unexpected individual also arrives to help. – The premise and gameplay is similar to Annette’s paralogue, where she and Gilbert were trapped in the bottom right corner. However, Mercedes is trapped with Annette instead of Gilbert, and the Death Knight shows up to help with the rescue operation. – After the battle, Mercedes and Annette join the player. – This paralogue is only available during Dimitri’s Arc. * * * * * Claude’s Arc * * * * * Chapter 17: The Defense of Myrddin Bridge - Judith and Leicester Alliance forces are defending the Great Bridge of Myrddin from Almyan assault. – Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Lorenz, and Leonie are present. Chapter 18: Retaking Deridriu - Help Claude liberate Deridriu from the Almyan invaders. – Lysithea is present. Chapter 19: Broken Locket - Help push back the Almyan invaders past the ruins of Fodlan’s Locket. - Hilda and Marianne are present. Paralogue: Merchant Sons - Supply convoys are being raided by Almyans. Protect the supplies! – The map used is the same in Lorenz’s paralogue, as well as Raphael’s and Ignatz’s paralogue. – After completion, Raphael and Ignatz join the player. – This Paralogue is only available during Claude’s Arc. Paralogue: Light in the Darkness - Dimitri still hasn't completely healed. Edelgard offers to meet up with Dimitri at Gronder Field. What could they discuss there? - This paralogue features Dimitri talking with Edelgard about her identity as the Flame Emperor and her involvement with TWSITD. To give an outlet for Dimitri's vengeance, Edelgard sets up a mock battle at Gronder Field. - After the battle, Dimitri has fully calmed down and returns the dagger. He calls Edelgard El, and then leaves with a smile on his face. Edelgard is also happy to see Dimitri not be consumed by darkness anymore. – This Paralogue is only available during Claude’s Arc. * * * * * Church Intermission * * * * * Chapter 20: Sins of Divinity - Something has gone terribly wrong at the Monastery. The Knights of Seiros seem to be losing their minds and Rhea is not being her usual self. Seteth and Flayn ask for assistance. - Rhea loses herself and transforms into a Dragon, with many high ranking KoS members going berserk as well. The Ashen Demons must weaken Rhea in her Dragon state in an attempt to calm her down. - Eventually, Rhea collapses due to exhaustion from battle and goes into a deep slumber. She has suffered wounds, but is slated to recover given time. * * * * * Edelgard’s Arc * * * * * Chapter 21: The Impregnable Fortress - Now that the Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance have been liberated, it is time to help Edelgard with the ongoing civil war in the Empire. However, there has been no recent updates from Edelgard or from Enbarr. Concerned, the Ashen Demons begin moving out. - They cross the Bridge of Myrddin and Gronder Field, only to find Fort Merceus under the control of TWSITD. A small Imperial resistance force remains (Death Knight, Caspar, Linhardt), but they will surely be defeated if left alone. - The map objective is to rescue the Death Knight and other Imperial survivors while retaking Fort Merceus. - After the battle, Caspar, Linhardt, and the Death Knight himself join the player's roster. Chapter 22: Chaos of War - Enbarr is in flames as TWSITD forces run amok. Rout all enemies. - Dorothea and Petra are present. Chapter 23: Oath of the Dagger - TWSITD forces, under the leadership of Myson, manage to take control of the Imperial Palace and subdue Edelgard. They conduct experiments on her that transform her into a monstrosity that will follow TWSITD commands. - Hubert leads a resistance inside the Palace, and accepts aid from the Ashen Demons to rescue Edelgard. - The gameplay is similar to Dimitri’s finale, with Edelgard being a “boss character.” - The ending cutscene is also similar, but this time, Edelgard takes Dimitri’s hand and they both head out together.- Before everyone could celebrate, an urgent message comes in telling the party to evacuate Enbarr. Shortly thereafter, Enbarr is hit with a “Javelin of Light” and is completely annihilated. – While everyone mourns the loss of Enbarr, Hubert manages to decipher where the Javelin was launched from. The party then sets out to confront Thales. Paralogue: Sealed Forest - There are rumors that maniacal laughter can be heard in the Sealed Forest, and those who go to investigate never return. Seeing this rumor as a potential threat to the Monastery, the Ashen Demons set out to investigate. – It turns out Kronya is still alive, but has cut ties with TWSITD and operates entirely on her own. She had been desiring a rematch with Byleth ever since she was defeated, and she picked up some new tricks along the way. – The map is the same Sealed Forest, with a variety of Demon Beasts to contend with. Also, Kronya has learned how to clone herself, so there are multiple Kronyas running around the map with different weapons and configurations. The real one remains an Assassin with her unique dagger (although some run around with fakes). – After beating Kronya, she will ask Byleth to simply finish her off. Doing so will result in obtaining (Three House’s version of Boots), but sparing her will actually recruit her to the team. Byleth’s only condition is for Kronya to stay as far away from Jeralt as possible... - This paralogue is only available during Edelgard’s arc. * * * * * Those Who Slither in the Dark * * * * * Chapter 24: The City Without Light - The party confronts Thales who has Sothis. - Thales is defeated and Sothis is rescued. Sothis is happy to see Byleth again. - Despite the successful rescue, Thales taunts the party with his dying breath, saying that TWSITD have already won. While the party is uncertain of what he means, Claude theorizes that Nemesis may have been brought back from the dead. - The party return to the Monastery to figure out the next plan. Chapter 25, Finale: The Edge of Dawn - Nemesis and his forces are found at the Tailtean Plains, advancing towards Fhirdiad. The party goes to intercept, with Imperial, Kingdom, Alliance, and Church forces working together to put an end to Nemesis. - Sothis is at Rhea’s side when Rhea awakens from her slumber. Rhea is wondering if she is dreaming, and apologizes again and again to Sothis about everything she has done. Sothis says there’s nothing to worry about as the party has went to handle Nemesis. Rhea says that there is something she must do to set things right, and sets off… - Nemesis, the 10 Elites, and Nemesis’ forces are fought at the Tailtean Plains. Byleth, Jeralt, Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude are mandatory deployments. - Mid battle, Rhea (as Seiros) appears and falls under the player’s control. She has come to eliminate Nemesis from this world and to atone for her actions. - After Nemesis is defeated, everything becomes sunshine and rainbows as this is the golden ending. The End. Other Notes Spoiler The Ashen Demons - This route is known as the “Ashen Demon” route, named after Byleth’s time as a mercenary. The colors of this route is black, compared to the Red, Blue, Yellow, and Silver routes. The main “lord” character here is Byleth, with the “retainer” being Jeralt himself. (Jeralt does not die on this route.) - Aside from Byleth and Jeralt, there are no other “starting” characters for this route. Near the start of the game, players will be allowed to “create their own roster” by recruiting 2 students from each house, for a total of 6. The Lords and their Retainers cannot be recruited (So, no Edelgard, Hubert, Dimitri, Dedue, Claude, or Hilda.) – Despite Byleth not being a professor, Rhea still requests him to teach some students as an “extra class.” While these students are still under their respective professors of their house, the 6 chosen will tag along Byleth on missions as “field trips.” These 6 students will essentially become Byleth’s students and will remain with Byleth throughout the game. Edited August 24, 2019 by Sire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Kronya Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Playable Kronya nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayvee94 Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 My headcanon Ashen Demon roster will be: Leonie Marianne Sylvain Felix Caspar Bernadetta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Branniglenn Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 While it would be cool for the player to "build their own house", it seems awkward and stilted to not have the player be a teacher of one of the three actual Houses. It's random for them to appear in the mock battle beating up other students. It's also random for Byleth to take command of Golden Deer house after their professor's death (who is not a character with a name or appearance so must be made up). While it would be ideal to give all the House leaders equal billing in terms of Part 1 storytelling, the way the story must be adjusted seems to create more hoops to jump through. I definitely do agree with the premise for a golden route, as I thought about it once before. What if Byleth mastered time travel to a point where he could go back several years to where Sothis first awakened? But it feels iffy since I'm pretty sure Part 2 of none of the routes in the game even bring up Byleth's time travel abilities in the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sire Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 9 minutes ago, Glennstavos said: While it would be cool for the player to "build their own house", it seems awkward and stilted to not have the player be a teacher of one of the three actual Houses. It's random for them to appear in the mock battle beating up other students. It's also random for Byleth to take command of Golden Deer house after their professor's death (who is not a character with a name or appearance so must be made up). While it would be ideal to give all the House leaders equal billing in terms of Part 1 storytelling, the way the story must be adjusted seems to create more hoops to jump through. I definitely do agree with the premise for a golden route, as I thought about it once before. What if Byleth mastered time travel to a point where he could go back several years to where Sothis first awakened? But it feels iffy since I'm pretty sure Part 2 of none of the routes in the game even bring up Byleth's time travel abilities in the story. "Build Their Own House" - While this is how it works in gameplay, story-wise everyone remains in their respective houses. Byleth's courses are extra and on top of whatever assignments Hanneman, Manuela, and the "Golden Deer Professor" give the students. - Byleth's classes are "extra credit" and his "students" go on "special field trips" for the battle sequences. The reason Byleth was requested to teach is to retain the existing gameplay aspects as well as work off the fame of Jeralt's techniques. - For this iteration of the "golden route," it works best to be an outsider and allows Byleth more freedom to communicate with the other houses. Also, it may be fun to not be affiliated with a House, but rather the Knights of Seiros (even though Byleth has his own objectives). -- However, working outside the Black Eagles, Blue Lions, and Golden Deer does go against the entire premise of Three Houses, but so is the idea of a golden route. -- This iteration could go back to the classic "pick a house" and work from there, but then more alternative paths will have to be written to account leading different students. --- The Golden Deer or Black Eagles would be the best choices, as Claude delves into the history of Fodlan and has his schemes while Edelgard has the might of the Empire and is the girl who basically set everything in motion. Blue Lions would be a poor choice since working with the Flame Emperor is somewhat required in this iteration. Random Mock Battle - I believe this is an opportunity for the students to try and take on the famed "Jeralt, the Blade Breaker." Jeralt is a big deal at the Monastery, and I can see a mock battle having the students go against him and Byleth as a possibility. - Also, the three houses trying to work together is one of the themes in this route, and I find the alternative battle serves as a fun distinction from the regular routes. -- Granted, "Three Houses vs Jeralt" does clash with the original idea to be training for the Battle of Eagle and Lion, where the houses will be fighting each other instead of fighting together. I have no good answer for this besides "but it looks cool!" Byleth, The Golden Deer Professor - I agree that this is random and sudden, but the same can be said of the existing reason of why Byleth became a professor in the first place. -- The whole reason Byleth becomes a professor is because the original ran away. In this route, he sticks around, but is killed. -- Given that Byleth is already teaching special classes, I don't see it as a stretch for Byleth to take over the the Golden Deer position, if only for story purposes. -- Yes, the original Professor who was just mentioned in some throwaway text will need to be fleshed out a little more, but it should be equivalent to making him a minor NPC. --- Also, I find it interesting we can find more about this "cowardly professor" in this iteration, but that's just me. * * * * * What do you mean back to where Sothis first awakened? Are we talking way back, before Nemesis, or just where Sothis awakened in Byleth? As for Part Two mentioning time travel, I can't recall any references in El's route or Blue Lions. I haven't played Church at all and am in the middle of Golden Deer, so I can't really comment on those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikethemaster2018 Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 (edited) this sounds nice i would like to see this happen actual sad that wouldn't be able to romance the characters(main lords) unless it happen at the end. Wouldn't it mind being a what if story. the game could be like couldn't happen in actual story but a what if like with the offspring stories in awakening and fates stories. I would pick that what if story all the time unless I couldn't get with my Eldegard lol Edited August 24, 2019 by Mikethemaster2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timon Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 It's very well thought out, but it's probably too intricate to be realistical, at least in part 2. To simplify it, I think in this story it would make sense to have the 3 lords playable at the timeskip, as each one loses control of their nation. The whole timeskip would then be regaining control of Church, Empire, Kingdom and Alliance before moving on to the slitherers. That said my hopes for a golden path (which is confirmed to not be in DLC btw) are simply 2: - Playable Jeralt, either as "retainer" from day 1 or simply he joins instead of dying - Dimitri not going ham randomly and understanding that Edelgard is not the responsible On that note I can see an arc of Dimitri still going blood crazed, but against TWSITD, and Edelgard tries to recover her childhood friend. Honestly I'd just love a path where Edelgard and Dimitri find each other again and work together. Their goals are basically the same after all, and their backstory is too sweet to always end in tragedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihilem Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Funnily enough I read almost exact the same story in a fanfiction lately. But the house was called "White Dragons" there and mostly build up of church related students (flayn, cyril etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber99 Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 On 8/24/2019 at 12:25 AM, Sire said: but Byleth refuses. Before Byleth can explain what is going on, Rhea commands the knights to protect Sothis and to purge the heretics. - The map is now set. Byleth and the Ashen Demons start at the top of the map while Archbishop Rhea So can I use this plot line to make a fanfic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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