How would you adapt 3H? Which route(s) would you choose/ merge?

[DefyingFates]

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~

Edited March 29, 2020 by DefyingFates

[ZeManaphy]

You could probably get away by combining AM and VW, gameplay wise, they have the same maps with the exception of 2, which are Shambala and Nemesis map being exclusive to VW, while Fhirdiad and Deirdru being exclusive to AM.The narrative is very similar for the most part: Stop Edelgard, with Shamabla expediton as a bonus for the Golden Deer. I would probably have Byleth reunite with Dimitri first. Dimitri's psychosis is influenced partially by Byleth's disappearence, he believes Byleth is dead and is another person he needs to avenge. His return is  key for Dimitri to regain his sanity. I would have the Golden Deer script play after defending Deirdru, only difference being Lord Arundel retreats due to his role in Shambala. Fort Merceus works the same way in VW, while the Palace battle takes place in AM style. The rest is Verdant Wind TWSID confrontation. 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Just one route of Three Houses is a 60+ hour game. I think you have to embrace the brevity of the other medium and do more than just narrow it down to one route. No show juggles as many as twenty-thirty characters at a time. Unless characters are dying as often as they are recruited, but in Three Houses' case, everybody is "recruited" from day 1. A full rewrite of events would also have to be necessary for how many battles need to be cut or offscreened. Battles on a scale of a fire emblem game would be budget sinks to animate. Look at Castlevania, a decently budgeted video game adaptation that takes 4 episodes to recount most (but certainly not all) of an NES action game's plot. The latter two seasons have only one battle each on the scale of a Fire Emblem skirmish. 

You might say "oh, well season 1 can just cover the first three chapters, and then we move from there in later seasons", but then you're looking at a eight-ten year project, and nobody can hold interest in a show moving that slow. Also I've seen the attempts at very faithful (but brief) adaptations of video games, like Persona 4, and it just left me wondering why bother. The video game just seemed like the superior story just by virtue of having no missing plot points and better fleshed out characters. The anime shouldn't attempt to replace the video game when it has a fraction of the runtime.

So, my goal for a Fire Emblem adaptation is to both tell its own version of the story and likely serve as a one-time only marketing tool for that latest game that's only the length of one episode, rather than a season. For Three Houses, I think you either want a prequel story (possibly something expanding on the Nabateans and their extinction in order to emphasize how interesting the world of Fodlan is), or just a straight adaptation of an awesome battle like this, but to have as little exposition as possible, since there's a video game the audience can play that will answer all their questions.

Either will drum up interest in the game without treading too much ground that the game already covers. Unfortunately when I think of great battles in Three Houses, I mostly think of Part 2, which is something I'd prefer to keep unspoiled, to say nothing of the conundrum of "which route do you choose?". The Battle of the Eagle and Lion sounds like a great choice, but again, we're in a position in which ~30 characters are present, and we can't characterize all or even most of them in 20 minutes or less. They could just be cameos without significant speaking roles, letting us keep attention on the house leaders and excluding Byleth because Byleth is not a character he has no narrative stake in that battle and the House leaders are the stars of the game anyway. Who wins the battle? None of them. They're all the last man standing while being badly injured with broken weapons in a 1v1v1 melee at the end. Dimitri seems most reluctant to keep going, Claude hides his exhaustion with some banter, and Edelgard draws a dagger. And we cut to black as they dive at each other one final time - emphasizing that all three characters will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Fire Emblem Three Houses, available July 26th.

Edited March 29, 2020 by Glennstavos

[FoxyGrandpa]

Anime Adaptation (Season 1)

Prologue (2 episodes):

Byleth meets the house leaders, all of them work together to kill Kostess (They'd kill him in Remire Village instead of the Red Canyon to save time). He adjusts to school life, meeting all the student, getting the hang of his / her new life at Garreg Moch. Before he sleeps, he talks to Sothis, who tells him that there is much he / she has to learn. He wouldn't participate in the moch battle, but rather watch from a distance, and critique the 3 house leaders on their individual leadership faults. Edelgard should win, but only narrowly, and her technique should be shown to be poor.

Dimitri Arch (2 episodes)

Byleth would work with the Blue Lions to quell Lonato's Rebellion and Miklan's band of thieves. These episodes would focus on Dimitri, with Ashe and Sylvain playing major roles in each episode.

Claude Arch (2 episodes):

Byleth would work with Claude to solve the mysteries associated with the Goddess's Rite of Rebirth and Flayn's disappearances. This arch would show Claude's detective skills quite well, as well as his interest in the Sword of the Creator. 

I swapped Miklan's chapter and The Goddess's Rite of Rebirth since I felt that Miklan and Lonato's chapters play'd more to Dimitri and the Blue Lion's qualities (namely showing the tragedy of war) while The Rite of Rebirth & Flayn's disappearance plays more to Claude's strengths (scheming & detective work). To accommadate for this change somewhat, Byleth would be initially hesitant to wield the Sword of the Creator after seeing what happened to Miklan.

Edelgard Arch (2 episodes)

In the first episode, Byleth would work with Edelgard to defeat TWSITD in Remire Village. Monica would accompany the group, being particularly chatty with Edelgard. Everything would mostly play out the same. However, to save on time, Monica will kill Jeralt in this chapter. Edelgard and Byleth work together & chase her down. Edelgard will be reserved at first, but after seeing Jerault die, she'll open up to Byleth, and comfort him.

In the second episode, the events of Where the Goddess Dwells will mostly play out in the same way, except Byleth would be much more emotional. Additionally, at the end, Thales will be shown scolding the Flame Emperor.

Byleth Arch (2 episodes)

This arch will mainly center around how Byleth deals with the loss of both his father and Sothis, with all the students, house leaders, and faculty trying to cheer him up. The primary character he'd spend time with is Rhea, who's also feeling a rollercoster of emotions. He'll confide to her the existence of Sothis, but tell her that she's still alive, which would make her happy and look forward to the Goddess's revaluation (which will take place in 3 months because of plot convenience). Near the midway point of the second episode, he'd find Jerault's diary, which would make him be more skeptical of Rhea's intentions.

Battle of Eagle and Lion Arch (2 episodes)

Now that we know all 3 main characters, we'd have them face off. Byleth won't participate in this, but helps each house train. First episode will mainly be about him training, with each of the 3 house leaders thanking him for his help somewhere in the middle of the episode. Second episode would show the 3 houses fighting, with Edelgard emerging victorious. However, she would still win narrowly. This would give her the confidence she needs that now is the time to wage war with the Church.

Ballroom Arch (2 episodes)

This arch would mainly center around the ballroom, with all the student's asking Byleth for advice on what they should do for the ball, and Dimitri & Edelgard confiding to Byleth their pasts.

Throne of Knowledge Arch (2 episodes)

Basically plays out the same as the chapter of the same name, except all the houses help Byleth defend Rhea. Edelgard is gone for the month due needing to discuss things with her father.

To War Arch (2 episodes)

Again, mostly plays out the same as the chapter. Will mainly focus of Claude, Rhea, and Dimitri's perspectives on the situation in the first episode, second episode would show the battle near Garreg Moch. Dimitri would go Sicko Mode on some imperial general to show that he means business. 

Filler Episodes

Pretty much any of the paralogues work as good filler episodes since they focus on a less important character and develop their personalities. Combining some paralogues to focus on a small group of characters (like Lorenz's paralogue merging with Rapheal and Ignatz's paralogue) would probably be good for pacing.

[DefyingFates]

4 hours ago, Glennstavos said:

in which ~30 characters are present, and we can't characterize all or even most of them in 20 minutes or less

This is true. I think it's an unfortunate reality that most of them would be skipped over or reduced to a few moments in the spotlight each (e.g. Ashe with Lonato, Dorothea taking in orphans) so that the narrative can focus on the Lords and the Church heads. I like your idea of a prequel though!

[Vitezen]

We already had a similar thread, so I'll bullet point my outline.

• First half focuses on all houses equally. Mixture between slice of life and political intrigue as we see development for each of the lords. Dedicate some episodes to fan-favorite non-lords. Byleth isn't a member of any house and is friends with everyone.
• Post-timeskip, Byleth wakes up in Garreg Mach occupied by the Blue Lions. After spending a little time explaining what's happened, the Blue Lions meet with Claude and the Golden Deer in battle. Claude doesn't want to fight, but Dimitri is too crazy to understand. Byleth manages to recognize Claude's intentions and prevents everyone from killing each other. The Golden Deer join with the Blue Lions and Claude and Byleth use the power of friendship to cure Dimitri's insanity. Now sane, Dimitri still wants to kill Edelgard, but Claude says that things aren't that simple and that they need to question her, without explaining why.
• The team reaches Edelgard and manages to capture her instead of kill her. She doesn't go crest beast. Claude reveals that he's been keeping Rhea hostage this entire time and knows something is going on, but not what. Edelgard explains the situation with the Slitherers. Everyone is shocked. Claude and Dimitri showing mercy and understanding to Edelgard softens her and brings her to their side. The three factions all march together to destroy the Slitherers. The end.

[vanguard333]

What kind of adaptation are we talking about? Novel? Film? TV Series? If one of the latter two, Live-Action or Animated? Which one would seriously affect how I'd be able to adapt it because of their different strengths & weaknesses. 

I'd probably try to adapt all four routes separately somehow, then have it end on Byleth being teleported back in time to before part 1, and it would have Sothis telling Byleth, "All sides of time have been revealed to you. What will you do now?" It ends there; intentionally leaving unknown what Byleth will do, knowing how all four main choices go down. 

[darkblade2814]

Golden deer, with cindered shadows as the First arc

[Azure the Scale Tipper]

I personally wanted to novelized the Blue Lions route for some time, including details from other routes. Put it on fanfiction.net or something and you do not really have to worry too much about length except for how intimidating it may look.

As for other forms... that’s definitely more difficult.

[Etrurian emperor]

The first half should probably focus on the Blue Lions because the first monastery missions were clearly made with them in mind. They take place in the Kingdom, the conflict happen because of Kingdom politics and both bosses are relative of the Blue Lion characters. 

But I think it should also distance themselves from the Blue Lions post timeskip. Dimitri might have a solid arc but him foiling the scheme of the Slitherers completely by accident and never finding out about them probably isn't how a grand adaption of the story should turn out. It should probably steer closer to Claude's route the longer it goes on because he really does go out to intentionally destroy Fodlan's evil at it roots. 

[paladin21]

Well, I have a few insights about this matter. As a matter of fact, that's how I would have made the game run. As an anime, it should run two seasons, before and after the timeskip. Paralogues would fill the story as needed to deepen characterisation.

1. White Clouds: It would be mostly as in the game. There would be just a few changes to merge the few differences in the routes. Paralogues during this part can be arranged with little to no problem, so there's flexibility as to where to put them.
   1. Byleth would start as a regular professor not tied to any class, with Jeritza being the head of the Black Eagles. During this time, Byleth would join the Lions' missions, while the other two classes would have missions related to their homelands. Byleth would have regular contact with all three leaders. As a result, all of them would agree to a meeting five years later.
   2. After Jeritza's leave, Byleth would take care of the Eagles, making him get closer to Edelgard.
   3. Byleth's choices would lead to oppose Edelgard despite the sexual tension between them.
2. Interlude (OVAs about the beginning of the war). Each OVA would center on three/four characters and the reasons they go one way or another. That would further explain how each character reacts to the war, aligning with Edelgard, against her or by staying neutral. While not enough to make a full season, there's quite enough material to act as a bridge between both seasons.
   1. Dimitri and Dedue trying to survive the coup would be fitting for an OVA, as it'd be an entrance for Cornelia. It's final scene would show several soldiers fleeing in terror with a one-eyed shadow killing them all.
   2. Hilda and Claude would be deepening their relationship, trying to reduce the tensions with Almyra, while there's unrest within the Alliance.
   3. Lorenz and Ashe aligning with the Empire or Caspar and Ferdinand leaving it could make for good OVAs as well.
3. Silver Snow/Azure Moon/Verdant Wind: This story would be a merge of all three of them, with some differences. I'll fit the paralogues 
   1. Upon his awakening, Byleth would meet Edelgard first, having their confrontation. Afterwards, he'd meet Claude and then Dimitri, surrounded by the bandits that roamed around, while investigating. All the students would appear at the monastery, but many of them would leave with a saddened face.
   2. After the reunion, Byleth and Claude part ways. With Claude would leave all the Alliance students but Marianne, and Ferdinand would join the Resistance as well. It makes sense for Ferdinand to be more hurt than any other Eagle with Edelgard, thus being more likely to leave.
   3. Dimitri leaves after the attack on the Monastery (in disgust for not being allowed to torture prisoners, with Felix as the only Lionto be left behind due to a rift with Dimitri). Caspar and Lindhart would arrive shortly after (Caspar didn't join before to get Lindhart from the capital). Caspar and Lindhart have to be in the Resistance to activate the paralogues, so their stories tie in better with them leaving the Empire. Caspar and Mercedes would face the Death Knight, while being close to the Monastery.
   4. Byleth recruits Ashe and Lorenz after defeating them in their respective battles (the volcano and Myrdinn).
   5. While not directly participating in Gronder, Byleth and co. would go there in time to see Rodrigue be killed and having Felix avenge his father (instead of Byleth). Among the survivors, they find Bernardeta and Petra and take them in. They both join as well as Dimitri and the Blue Lions and the rest of the Golden Deer (Claude and Hilda go their way).
   6. After taking back Fhirdiad and Arianrhod with Dimitri, they start spreading troops to infiltrate the Empire. This allows for Lindhart and Leonie to do their paralogue since they're close to it as well. While Dimitri heads to Derdriu with the main army, Byleth would go with a swift strike team to Briggid to retake it and start the infiltration of the Empire from all routes. Using those contacts, Balthus and Hapi would infiltrate Enbarr with Byleth and retrieve the gauntlets.
   7. Joining Dimitri again, they retake Derdriu and recruit Claude and Hilda. Somehow Arundel manages to escape and feigns his own death. There, they would be approached by the man that blames Marianne for her curse, and they'd go to clean her name.
   8. With the army finally complete, they'd take on Fort Merceus, where Jeritza dies after saving them from the bombardment. Right before, Ferdinand and Lysithea would search for his father's whereabouts.
   9. In Enbarr, Dorothea would be evacuating the Opera, and joining the Army as a non-combatant until after fighting Edelgard. By this time, all the other BE students would have been recruited, so instead of them, their parents would appear in battle.
   10. Edelgard would face Byleth in her final battle, falling at his hands. This would make Byleth cry for second time.
   11. They'd go on to fight TWSITD underground, and the Elites when the former are beaten. Rhea gets damaged by Nemesis during the battles, as well as the proyectile attacks earlier on.
   12. The aftermath would leave Byleth single, since his true feeling were for Edelgard, which would make Rhea feel even more resourceful.

A couple of changes could turn this into a golden route: Hubert could survive and confess everything about TWSITD after Enbarr's fall and Byleth's strike on Edelgard could be a non-lethal blow. After the war, Edelgard would go into seclusion to atone, with Hubert following her to upkeep his vow in serving her. Byleth would marry her in secret and visit her often without witnesses, while reforming the church, and eventually leave Fodland with her (and Hubert, of course).

[Lightchao42]

I wouldn't mind if an anime just covered White Clouds, at least to start off with. Besides allowing the showrunners to cover the plot without rushing through things, it would be fun if they devoted time to slice-of-life stuff and the characters doing mundane things around the Monastery. A more relaxed pace would hopefully allow every character to get some time in the spotlight. This would give the opportunity to cover paralogues and Cindered Shadows too, and of course the ball would get an entire episode devoted to it. Byleth would lead the Black Eagles, and all of the house leaders would participate in every mission but the rest of the students could vary. It would probably end on a cliffhanger where Byleth has to choose between supporting or opposing Edelgard (and having Part II be picked up in a second season would help with the pacing).

[Darkmoon6789]

It would be extremely difficult to adapt thanks to having multiple timelines. But I guess the fact that Byleth can somewhat manipulate the flow of time could be used in the story to explore multiple of these timelines as he/she goes back in time to try to change events.

Maybe have the Byleth side with Dimitri/Claude to begin with, but thanks to their connection with Edelgard feels incredibly torn up by her death and wonder what would really happen if they had decided to side with her instead. The war was won but at a terrible cost and Byleth wonders if after Edelgard could have prevented all that devastation. In an attempt to both save Edelgard and mitigate the effects of the war Byleth would go back to before the holy tomb incident using divine pulse. Byleth wouldn't be able to negotiate with Claude after the defeat of the alliance's pairing is life, but they would be unable to save Dimitri from his own darkness like Byleth managed to do in the other timeline. Making them wonder if going back in time was worth it. As saving both him and Edelgard seems to be an impossibility. 

[Silver-Haired Maiden]

So the way adaptations typically work, it would either:

Cover a unique to the adaptation route which would either be a TWSITD wins route or a golden route where everyone comes together and survives.

Or it would do a time jumping story with Byleth rewinding time multiple times to try and get the best outcome possible.

Or it would be a combo of the second one with the first one. Byleth restarts time and doing so either messes everything up allowing TWSITD to come out on top, or doing so allows Byleth to figure out what exactly to do to save everyone.

Which one would depend entirely on the direction they want to go, hopeful or bleak.

[Ivan Tridelan]

I like the idea of having White Clouds with Byleth not being attached to a class until after Jeritza is exposed as DK. Then he chooses to oppose Edelgard in the tomb, as he feels she is jumping the gun and being needlessly confrontational (let's be honest, she acts more or less the same in that chapter as she does in other routes despite having a much stronger bond with Byleth and the rest of the BE).

HOWEVER! At the beginning of SS, rather than just going their separate ways like they do in canon, Edelgard admits to relying on the Slithers to overthrow the church while also wanting to get rid of them. She also admits to having Rhea imprisoned and 5 years of war has tempered her hatred of the woman now in chains. She agrees to release Rhea if the Church is overhauled and stripped of most political and military power (only enough to defend Garreg Mach and pilgrims/merchants). She departs and Byleth runs into Dmitri, proceeding to Azure Moon route up until Gronder. After Rodrigue's sacrifice and Dmitri's mind starts to heal, Claude comes by to discuss why his group was attacked. Byleth at this point reveals the existence of the Slithers and that Cornelia is one. Proceed to AM Fhirdiad, then to Deirdru as Claude is under attack by Arundel's forces. Arundel retreats, proceed to Fort Merceus. After the missiles, Hubert and Edelgard arrive with the BE and Rhea, as Hubert has located Shambala. Shambala gets wrecked, Nemesis shows up causing the 3 lords to officially cease-fire and team up.

Ending: Rhea steps down, admitting her overzealousness derailed the Church from what it was supposed to be, Byleth takes over. Three lords take over their respective nations, hunting the remaining Slithers as they rebuild, Claude bringing Almyrans in to reduce the xenophobia Fodlan shows.

 

There's your golden route, I guess.