haarhaarhaar
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Posts posted by haarhaarhaar
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17 minutes ago, Hero_Lucina said:
Kronya is actually Monica and the Von Ochs house was Agatharian run
the Balthus/Hapi paralogue might mess with this a little
Spoilersince you kill Baron Von Ochs in it and it's revealed he's fighting to recover his daughter Monica. He would have to know what had happened to her if the entire family was Agarthan run
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I guess there's no harm in bulky physical units classing into it in the absence of anything better being available. Like if you're approaching the time skip or wanna train axe after doing Merc or something. But it's only marginally better than brigand anyway in terms of growths - from a battle mechanics perspective at least, I'd never plan a character build with it. I don't think Defiant Strength is worth it, even putting aside the fact that I don't like using low-HP builds - if you do use them, the fliers are the only ones who have defiant skills worth using in Maddening.
With that being said, I wonder how a physical unit that mastered Warrior would play with Hero (inbuilt Swordfaire/Vantage, running three Sword skills, Wrath, and then whatever you like). I'm still not sure it's a better crit build than a properly kitted sword master/assassin or a brawl-based WM, but if you're really desperate to use Hero late-game that might work.
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To add to the Macuil part of your headcanon @Lightchao42, one of the key moments in Macuil becoming disgusted with humanity was, amongst many of his brethren dying, seeing a loved one be murdered in the war against Nemesis. When that Nabatean was later turned into Failnaught, to be used by Riegan, that rubbed salt in the wound, and is the reason why Macuil took the Sword of Begalta with him to Sreng - as a reminder of that person.
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30 minutes ago, Lightchao42 said:
I wonder why the Four Saints all get their names from Irish mythology when Sothis is the Greek form of an Egyptian name. Meanwhile, Seiros and Rhea are both Greek. Since Seiros is an alias and is based on Sirius's namesake, it's plausible that she based it on Sothis's name in-universe.
I can't remember exactly why I thought this, but Sothis is also an alias, no? It was a name she took when she descended on Zanado or something like that?
Honestly the natural grouping for the 22 crests in the game gives us no hints about any unifying mythological theme behind them, with the exception of the 4 Saints. By natural grouping I mean:
10 Elites + Maurice (The Beast)
4 Saints
Seiros & Sothis (Flames)
4 Apostles
Ernest??
The 4 Saints are natural Nabateans, rather than humans, which could have explained it, but then it would make sense for the 4 Apostles to then all come from Irish mythology, or at least the same mythology as each other, but they definitely don't. From a very cursory look, Chevalier is a French/Belgian military rank, Aubin might refer to a French saint called St Albinus, who in fairness literally had a high Faith stat and was said to have caused miracles, Noa might be an Old Testament character that helped illustrate the law behind Jewish property rights, and Timotheos is a famed Greek sculptor. If anything, the Four Saints are odd ones out for being consistent.
1 hour ago, anikom15 said:Leicester Alliance is the one out of left field. The Ottoman Empire was a sultanate, not an 'alliance', although it was more free than the European countries most of the time.
It might be less left-field than you think. Almyra in the Japanese is called Palmyra, which is the ancient Greek name for a city-state in what is now western Syria, which was famous for its fierce military but eventually became a military/administrative centre in the Ottoman Empire. There are a ton of differences between Almyra and Palmyra, but its relation with the Leicester Alliance might be like the Ottoman Empire's with Palmyra.
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2 hours ago, anikom15 said:
Hubert was the one who wrote the letter pointing out the Agarthans, doing so in secret. If he had enough pull on Edelgard, I don't think he would do that. I felt like that was supposed to redeem him somewhat, not entirely, but enough to make him a tragic character instead of a villain (in SS route)
He does it in GD as well, and while I haven't played SS, I'd bet that his reasoning is the same in both routes - he hates TWSITD more than he opposes Byleth/the church (Edelgard definitely feels the same way in GD, although it could be more complicated in SS given Byleth betrays Edelgard). And because Hubert also knows Edelgard's world vision and principles are tempered by her compassion for the people she leads, and because with the death of Edelgard his interests no longer align with TWSITD, he does everything he can to ensure that TWSITD are foiled and don't cause more loss of life with the javelins of light. So in that case, even in death Hubert is a loyal and pragmatic subject, carrying out what would be her wishes from beyond the grave.
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2 hours ago, Lightchao42 said:
Metodey is just a particularly sociopathic mercenary who is already working for the Empire by the time CS takes place, and helping Aelfric was a side job that Edelgard didn't know about. Whether or not he knows the Flame Emperor's identity is unclear, but he's unnerved when he sees Edelgard and Edelgard is displeased to see him. One of the NPCs in Abyss recognizes Metodey and says that "he wouldn’t hesitate to slaughter an entire town" if he could benefit from it, which supports the idea that he's a mercenary.
Really good spot with the NPC quote - that definitely seems to push towards Metodey being a mercenary (although, given that Abyssians are often refugees, and the Empire has had a relatively turbulent recent history, it's not out of the question to think Metodey is an imperial soldier with war crime tendencies). Metodey could be a mercenary who's been doing Imperial dirty work for a long time, and he could still be getting his orders from Arundel (so from TWSITD without knowing it) which would explain his level of knowledge/access in CS and the main story. It's definitely possible too that Metodey, if he is a mercenary, is on two separate jobs from two separate employers (assuming conflict of interest isn't a thing anybody cares about in Fodlan, which it probably isn't) in CS and main story. It's not completely satisfying in terms of how involved Metodey is in the Imperial Army though, or that Aelfric has trusted him enough to act as his proxy.
2 hours ago, Lightchao42 said:TWSITD also seem unaffiliated with Aelfric's plot (mostly because it's never implied in any fashion), and manipulating him into getting the Chalice of Beginnings sounds like too much trouble if they could kidnap the descendants of the Four Apostles themselves. Given Sitri's nature, I think her body would be more valuable to them than the Chalice of Beginnings, so they would rather keep her for themselves rather than using her to control Aelfric.
Yep the narrative of CS definitely doesn't imply it, although TWSITD almost never seem to take the most logical route towards their goals.
And yeah Sitri's body would definitely be important to TWSITD, if they knew about it. I'm not sure that it would be more valuable than the Chalice, though, and it's entirely possible that they don't know Aelfric has Sitri's body, or Sitri's significance anyway (remember Edelgard, Jeritza and Arundel are all surprised that Byleth can wield the Sword of the Creator - it seems unlikely that they knew at this point what Rhea's plan with Sitri/Byleth was). It might even be the case that TWSITD/Metodey doesn't know that the Ashen Wolves all have lost Crests. TWSITD ought to know in Hapi's case at least (I only know bits and pieces about their backstories because I haven't done all their supports yet) but there's no way that Metodey and Cornelia have a direct line sharing information about each other's projects, and they may simply be in the dark about them.
Point being, the rumours of the Chalice and the secrets of the Abyss would definitely be enough for TWSITD to get involved passively, even if they didn't know of any other benefits they might get for sticking their nose into Aelfric's business. But the vagueness of the information means they aren't prepared to invest more than a bunch of mercenaries/expendable soldiers, which is fair enough. Metodey also runs away with his tail between his legs before he has a chance to see that the Chalice is the real deal, the Ashen Wolves all have lost Crests, and that the Chalice has an even greater monster-making power than Crest Stones. CS would ultimately still be a failure for TWSITD, but it wouldn't be one they cared about massively at the point where Metodey bows out.
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On 4/16/2020 at 11:46 AM, CyberNinja said:
chock up the ambush in the Flayn rescue mission to Hubert attempting to get the Professor killed in the Black Eagles White Clouds section.
Do you mean the Death Knight's presence in Ch. 6 in the first place? Because there aren't any reinforcements and no ambushing going on in that chapter. Also, it seems unlikely that Hubert would give the order to kidnap Flayn (he has absolutely no use for her).
Ch. 6 is super confusing from a story perspective though - not a lot of it makes sense. For example:
1. There are lots of rumours of the Death Knight's existence and girls from town being kidnapped, but Tomas and Jeritza have both met Flayn, so shouldn't be needing to kidnap randoms until they get the right person. And, the only girls you recover in Ch. 6 are Flayn and Monica anyway. So where did those rumours come from, and who would benefit from having them spread? Because it seems like the Death Knight would have zero interest or reason to go after random girls from town.
2a. If TWSITD genuinely wanted Flayn's blood, it's hard to believe they wouldn't want to abduct her for experimentation as well. So why would Jeritza take her into some dead end underground passageways and then warp away without taking Flayn?
2b. A possible answer is that they didn't care about Flayn's blood, and it was all a fakeout to plant Monica in the Academy. That would explain why Edelgard lets the fight happen (on BE route) without intervening as Flame Emperor sooner. Although, of course, TWSITD definitely didn't need to go that far in order to plant someone in Garreg Mach.
The freedom accorded to the Death Knight is also, I think, relatively unique. Hubert is a high-ranking noble with plenty of resources in his own right, and therefore the ability to move somewhat freely (not to mention Edelgard could and potentially would have him killed if she thought he was acting behind her back without good reason). The Death Knight is for all intents and purposes an attack dog, but one whose loyalty to Edelgard is unquestioned, which is why she allows his thrill-seeking. It's true we know less about Metodey, but he definitely doesn't seem to be on the same level as these two. So if he is acting without Edelgard's knowledge, it's probably because (like you say) he's working for someone else. But for it to be Hubert, that would mean Hubert has knowledge of, interest in, and the ability to research independently of TWSITD the Chalice of Beginnings, and was keeping that whole investigation from Edelgard - all of that together doesn't seem likely.
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It's true that Edelgard's public image is sometimes worsened by following Hubert's advice, but his advice itself isn't (not even once IIRC) mistaken or without merit, not to mention that it is, ultimately, Edelgard's decision to follow it or not. Hubert's loyalty to Edelgard means that for him, moral goodness is the same thing exactly as achieving Edelgard's goals while protecting her life. He is at least a little concerned with public image as well - he is the first to recommend that Edelgard hide the truth about the destruction of Arianrhod in CF, for example, and although that's a nasty thing to do it was the best course of action in that moment.
However, Edelgard is at least a little more openly passionate, less pragmatic, and more principled than Hubert (not a good or bad thing necessarily, but it does make her more relatable) and the fact that Hubert makes Edelgard compromise or walk back those principles in the name of practicalities is what makes him morally grey but also an effective advisor. He definitely isn't a bad influence on Edelgard - if anything, he sees her goals sometimes more clearly than she herself does. But I'm quite a big fan of Hubert the character anyway (he's my favourite retainer at least), so I'm pretty biased lol.
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On 4/13/2020 at 12:56 AM, FoxyGrandpa said:
It seems like he's just your average sellsword assassin looking to make an easy buck & Aelfric just so happened to employ him. That's the impression I got from the main game as well. Though, if he is a sellsword, it would make it weird that he seemingly knows Edelgard and her future plans, while Edelgard doesn't know him. My guess is that he was hired by Edelgard & she just playing dumb so her plan isn't found out OR he was hired by TWSITD and they told him about Edelgard, so he knows her, but she doesn't know him. Or it could just be fanservice, who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hahahaha this one goes out to all the Metodey fans out there I guess. It's interesting that quite a few people immediately thought he was just a mercenary (all his dialogue is weirdly obsessed with killing and quite lacking in discipline compared to people like Randolph and Ladislava so it makes a lot of sense) but it hadn't really struck me like that at all until I started making this thread. I wouldn't put it past Edelgard to just be acting either, although again for Metodey not to get the memo about that is weird. So yeah more likely to be a TWSITD organised plot, if it isn't indeed just coincidence.
Courtesy of Nico Thaxton and NintendoEverything, there's a translation of an interview with the developers where the lead director says:
Q: The side story is essentially a “parallel world,” isn’t it?
Kusakihara: It’s hard to say that that’s exactly the case. I don’t think it’s completely isolated from the main story, and I think for Yuri and the others those events did actually occur. When you meet the Ashen Wolves in the main game, they treat you as if they’re meeting you for the first time. That being said, it’s assumed that the events of Cindered Shadows have already been resolved. I think Cindered Shadows is essentially how the protagonist would’ve resolved the conflict had they been there.
I don't know if that means Edelgard wasn't actually involved with the episode either (and I have no idea how it could have played out without Byleth and the gang's help). But it would explain why wires weren't crossed in the main story. It's gonna take me a while to check, cos I don't have a save file with the recruited Ashen Wolves that's anywhere near Ch.12, but it'd be interesting if there's unique battle dialogue between any of them and Metodey, and it might swing things one way or another depending on if there is or isn't.
8 hours ago, Ivan Tridelan said:Metodey and his troops could be unofficially "on loan" to Aelfric simply because his actions are causing the Church (their future enemy) a lot of trouble. Sort of like the Lend-Lease/"Volunteer" troops before America officially involved itself in WW1. If he gets his hands on a few artifacts/useful goodies all the better.
It's also possible TWSITD were looking to confirm the existence and possibly the functionality of the buried legend that is the Chalice of Beginnings. The Church has a lot of dirty secrets, and its enemies would love to know them, enough to send some grunts and an expendable officer (Metodey) to check it out.
Yeah I could definitely see it going down this way, the Chalice alone is more than enough reason for TWSITD to get involved. I don't really know how reasonable it is for a cardinal to finance and support his own private army of mercs (but I'm guessing not that hard, if Byleth gets 5k/month at A+ Prof Level and you can buy four battalions with that money). But it must be easier to get the help of TWSITD/a big backer like the Empire for the numbers of soldiers Aelfric uses.
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On 4/13/2020 at 2:55 AM, Espurrhoodie said:
I believe Sothis's name comes from the Greek pronounciation of the name of the Egyptian goddess Sopdet, who was a manifestation of the star Sirius
On 4/13/2020 at 3:43 AM, lenticular said:Seteth's name is probably derived from Setet, another character from Egyptian mythology who is also linked with Sopdet/Sothis/Sirius
I have a feeling we're only just scratching the surface of all the Sirius symbology in 3H - it'd be really interesting to find out all the ways in which that intertwines with the story and the art
On 4/13/2020 at 2:17 AM, vanguard333 said:The red dragon represented the Britons, while the white dragon represented the invading Saxon clans.
So, the imagery is there, but it's hard to extract meaning from it since Edelgard, the red dragon, is technically the invader, which is the reason I think the reference is accidental.
I'm definitely overthinking this, but since Adrestia originally owned Faerghus, and it was Rhea's support/interference that allowed Faerghus to become independent, it might still work as an image?
Also did some research into swords in 3H more generally. Mercurius could just be the Latin name for Mercury (which might explain the 3H flavour text saying it has high hit rate, although all the Archanea regalia weapons in 3H say that). FE Wiki thinks it's from St Mercurius, whose name has the meaning "wielder of two swords". It's also the name of a powerful demon in a Grimm Brothers fairytale, that gives a cloth to a boy that turns objects silver with one side and heals with the other (less relevance to the sword itself though).
Zoltan is a Hungarian name that comes from Sultan (perhaps referring to how Zoltan is peerless in his field of smithing).
Thunderbrand's Japanese name simply means thunderclap (but uses the characters for thunder and emperor), and since Foudroyant just means shining that makes sense. But the emperor meaning also ties in a little with Thunderbrand's design, which is based on the blade Shichishito, given to the Empress Jingu. Technically, her title is Imperial Consort, and the characters used are different to the ones in the Japanese name for Thunderbrand, so again not a huge amount to read in there.
Wo Dao is Chinese for "Chinese sword", and the Japanese name for the weapon simply means "Japanese sword" - am guessing they just wanted to make the sword name show that the sword was of a design considered East Asian.
Blutgang is German for 'Bloodletter', given to the warrior Heime in Teutonic myth by his father Studas, and eventually was broken in battle with Dietrich (there are multiple versions of this myth but Blutgang suffers the same fate in all of them).
Athame is a bastardisation of the Latin artavus, a small knife used to sharpen quills, but now refers to any pagan/Wiccan ceremonial knife.
Ridill was a sword used by Sigurd to cut out the heart of the dwarf Fafnir. It's a weird coincidence that the TWSITD all have weapons that connect to pagan ritualism - Solon possesses the Circe Staff, and Circe was an enchantress in Greek myth famous for turning people into animals. Cornelia is equipped with the Asclepius Staff (Asclepius being a Greek god of healing) although AM Arundel doesn't have any items.
Cursed Ashiya Sword is interesting. The Japanese name is something like "Enchanting Sword Ashura" instead - Ashura/Asura being a class of demigods in Hindu and Buddhist mythology (and a fairly familiar fictional/religious concept in Japan). However, I think Ashiya refers to Asiya, the adoptive mother of Moses in the Qur'an. The Moses story in the Qur'an is fairly similar to the one in the Bible, but in the Qur'an Asiya is the wife of the Pharaoh (not the unnamed daughter as in the Bible) and gets converted to monotheism when Moses returns to Egypt, so is tortured to death by the Pharaoh for it. Most importantly, her name itself means "healer", which would explain why the Cursed Ashiya Sword takes 5 HP per use, it being a cursed form of healing.
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Was having a look at my old VW endgame save file (it's been a while since I played it) and I originally had a couple of questions about the in-game lore behind sacred weapons, but while I was looking into that stuff (might still make a thread on that) I got into an internet hole researching the real-world lore behind the weapons, so decided to stick on the forums what I found. I don't think there's been a thread with all the mythological references going on in Three Houses, so am gonna start one now!
I'll begin with Irish mythology, where most of the sacred weapons come from - FE titles have used a ton of Irish mythology before, though obviously I am gonna limit myself to 3H-related stuff here.
The Tuatha de Danann (who are settlers from abroad) fight two wars in the Irish saga poetry of the Cath Maighe Tuireadh (Battle of Maighe Tuireadh). A Fomorian leader, Conand, who lived in a tower (Conand Tower) oppressed their ancestors, the Nemidians. The Nemidians also gave birth to the native Irish Fir Bolg, whose chief warrior is called Sreng (Sreng, a territory of 'savage natives' north of Faerghus), and who the Tuatha de Danann fight their first war against. Their second war is against the Fomorians, who are originally led by Ciocal, also called Cichol (Cichol, one of the Four Saints). Before the second war the god Dagda (Dagda, a fierce military power across the sea from Fodlan) is forced by three of the Fomorian kings, one of whom is Indech (Indech, one of the Four Saints) to build forts for them. Dagda's children include Brigid (Brigid, an island nation between Dagda and Adrestia), Aengus and Cermait.
The second war commences between the Fomorian leader Balor and the Irish hero and leader of the Tuatha De Danann, Lugh. Lugh's foster mother was a goddess called Tailtiu, who gave her name to the site of her burial, Tailteann (Tailteann Plains). He was said to have wielded the Gae Assal (Spear of Assal). There is a weaker argument that this spear was the same as, or Lugh also wielded, the Luin of Celtchar (Luin). The spear Luin is thought to be a spear Lugh demands as payment in the story The Fate of the Children of Tureann - but the spear in that story is literally called Areadbhair (Areadbhar), and that story also names Lugh's magical horse as Aenbharr (Enbarr, capital of Adrestia). Lugh eventually wins the war by blinding his grandfather, Balor with a slingshot, that had special ammunition described as tathlum (Tathlum Bow). However Dagda was later killed by Balor's wife, Cethlenn (Cethleann, one of the Four Saints).
Comparative mythology links Lugh's origins with Hermes', whose symbol/staff is the Caduceus (Caduceus Staff). Lugh later killed Dagda's son Cermait for sleeping with one of his wives, and was in turn slain by his three sons, one of whom is Mac Cuill (Macuil, one of the Four Saints). One of Dagda's other sons Aengus wields the sword Moralltach (Sword of Moralta) given to him by the same god that gave Lugh Gae Assal. He gives this sword to his foster son Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, as well as another sword, Beagalltach (Sword of Begalta). Diarmuid is famous for the tragic love story of Diarmuid and Grainne, an Irish parallel to Tristan and Iseult (Isolde). Tristan's bow is called Fail-not (Failnaught).
In a different cycle of Irish mythology, Conchobar becomes king of Ulster by his mother tricking the then-king of Ulster, Fearghus Mac Roich (Faerghus), Fearghus literally meaning strength or virility. In Conchobar's halls lies first in his storehouse the shield called Ochain (Ochain Shield).
Incidentally Garreg Mach means something like Plains of Stone in Gaelic, although it's more likely to be Welsh for Little Stone Monastery - see https://curatedcritiques.wordpress.com/2019/08/14/the-welsh-language-in-fire-emblem-three-houses/ for a cool analysis of some Welsh influences in the game.
For non-Irish sacred weapons, Wikipedia claims the Finnish god Ukko (roughly analogous to Thor) wields a hammer, like Mjolnir, called Ukonvasara (Axe of Ukonvasara). The Seiros Shield itself has no mythological referents, it's just extended from the name Seiros which (as I think has been said elsewhere on this forum) is an evolution of the Ancient Greek word σειριος for Sirius, the Dog-Star (which is also tied to Sothis, and is a plot point in the game).
The Inexhaustible has given me a lot of trouble - the only relevant mythological item I can think of is the Pandava prince Arjuna's inexhaustible quivers the Akshaya Tarkash (literally Sanskrit for inexhaustible quivers), but there's no bow called The Inexhaustible or something equivalent that I can think of.
Anyway that's all the sacred weapons and a few other bits and pieces - join in the comments with everything else!!
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20 hours ago, FoxyGrandpa said:
Its more just a general time-saving measure. Reusing content from the main game saves the developers' time & resources, so they'll try getting away with it whenever they can. Fire Emblem itself has done this before in Shadows of Valentia, so its not necessarily a new concept to the series.
Yeah the last FE console title I played was Awakening, which spoilt me as far as DLC goes. Out of interest what are you referring to in SoV?
From a development perspective the character of Metodey is super strange - he appears in one of the few animated cutscenes in the game, despite only being a character for the course of Ch. 12 (and I guess now Ch. 5 of the DLC) and having no genuine impact on the plot at all. Which means the developers/storyboard people went out of their way to create and animate him, when animation is one of the most labour-intensive parts of any game. He could have been replaced with a generic soldier/bandit both in Ch.12 and CS without any loss to the story or our understanding of it. I guess the existence of a character that is basically expendable, but not generic, is enough of a reason to use him instead of a nobody in CS, but it's a shame if that's true.
From his appearance in Ch.5 of CS (he's the only named Red Army unit, and the only boss unit in Aelfric's organisation apart from Aelfric himself) it seems like he's supposed to be the de facto leader of Aelfric's men. He's entrusted to lead the exchange of the Chalice, of course is the boss of that chapter, and after you defeat him, Aelfric leads the remainder of his men himself. So whilst it's definitely possible, even likely, that the developers just got lazy, it isn't hugely satisfying to see him appear in CS for that reason 😞
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2 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:
Caspar takes over house Bergliez and its minister position, Bernie still takes over Varley despite being Bernie, Ferdinant von Aegir still gets Aegir and Ingrid still gets Galatea
It's probably a gradual phasing out of nobles? In those cases you've listed all those people are somewhat qualified (or more qualified than others) to take over those areas, but the key point is that they all have worked personally with Edelgard in this ending - in other words, bought into her anti-nobility philosophy. Bernadetta's father was anti-Edelgard, so couldn't be left in charge anyway, and Ingrid seems vastly more competent than the family she talks about in her supports. In both their cases they are (or could be) reluctant rulers - Bernadetta because it doesn't fit her personality and Ingrid because she still idealises knighthood at least a little, and that means they are extremely unlikely to (assuming they have children) make them into a dynasty. Caspar probably isn't as tactically minded or ruthless as his father, but everything he has achieved, including most importantly his military strength and experience, are things he has earnt, and being a member of House Bergliez' main line means he knows the territory quite well. Ferdinand is the most obviously competent of the four, and Edelgard in their support specifically cites how she enjoys having someone with such different opinions by her side, for political and personal advice.
I guess there might be a bit of nepotism involved, but it seems more likely that the former nobles who benefitted from the best education in how to be a leader under the old unfair system but still buy into Edelgard's anti-nobility are the ones put in charge to ease what will be a generational transition. The alternative (snubbing competent subordinates who happen to be nobles for potentially less experienced and certainly less trusted candidates) is understandably less attractive given Edelgard's desire to complete this transition in her lifetime. Whether this is realistic or not idk, but it's justifiable from Edelgard's perspective.
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10 hours ago, Darkmoon6789 said:
I am rather convinced that Edelgard had minimal involvement in that whole affair
Agreed - it would make absolutely no sense for her to be involved behind the scenes of CS, even as a puppet of TWSITD, but also fight with/for the Ashen Wolves. If anything, she should be preventing her teacher, who she has recently found out can now wield the Sword of the Creator for some reason, from getting involved in anything Abyss-related in the first place if she were genuinely involved in this plot.
10 hours ago, Darkmoon6789 said:When it comes to Metodey. I think he is some kind of bandit or mercenary, that is apparently what most of the Flame Emperor's forces consist of during the raid on the holy tomb.
I've been having a further look into Metodey, and her battle dialogue with him in CS (see vid below) shows that he definitely knew who she was, but it's at least unclear if she recognises him (and from the sounds of it she probably doesn't). Edelgard, as heir to the throne, may be basically a celebrity in Fodlan, but I'm not sure how many people would actually be able to identify her by her face, so recognising her is potentially evidence of being fairly high up in the Imperial army, even if he probably had nothing to do with her until directly before the events in the run-up to the Holy Tomb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFnYb0msUGg
As for Metodey's appearance in Ch. 12 (see image) the game claims his faction is the Adrestian Empire, and he also has an Empire-exclusive battalion.
In the Holy Tomb cutscene, he has a line where he speaks specifically on behalf of the Imperial Army:
Metodey: "Thank you ever so much for guiding us this far. The Imperial Army will now take possession of everything in the Holy Tomb!"
Edelgard also acknowledges giving him an order in the same breath as outing herself as the Flame Emperor, and Hubert then acknowledges her as Empress of Adrestia (see vid below), tying Metodey to the command chain of the Empire directly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RopL8AES7vY
So I think there's actually a decent case for Metodey not being a simple mercenary in Ch.12 main story. And if he's being trusted to raid the Holy Tomb, then there's no way he joined the army and made his way up the ranks to commander in the six or so months between CS ending and the Holy Tomb. So it's likely he is an Imperial soldier in CS, but his faction/battalion don't reflect that because he isn't there on 'sanctioned' Empire business (i.e. is undercover). Other Empire-affiliated enemies hiding that affiliation also don't show their true faction in the main story (Remire goons are a good example) so there's definitely precedent for that.
1 hour ago, Etrurian emperor said:He came across more as a mercenary, the ''replacement'' the Flame emperor mentioned to Costas rather then an imperial noble
Yeah you're right, he probably isn't a noble, and the Empire in general is quite uptight about maintaining the military-aristocracy hierarchy. Maybe he could still just be a higher-ranking goon than most, or even a younger son/remote offshoot of some big noble family? Caspar's supports make the claim that younger siblings get left out of/a lot less from inheritances, so have to make their own way, and the military is a good way to do that. But if Edelgard didn't know who Metodey was around Ch. 5, she wouldn't have been referring to him specifically and would have no reason to think he would do a better job, and it's unlikely she would have used Empire soldiers that early on in TWSITD's plans anyway (if Metodey was one).
1 hour ago, Etrurian emperor said:Its Koei so you should never discount the possibility that they are lazy. The map reuse of Cindered Shadow but also Three Houses as a whole should be a good indication of laziness.
But the Death Knight's rather sudden appearance is rather typical for another reason. In a lot of Koei DLC stages you have the occasional important character just randomly wondering into the adventure and causing mayhem, and the Death Knight appearing definitely reminded me of that.
Yeah the lack of variety of maps is a huge bummer across Three Houses. I didn't know that Koei did that in a lot of their games - have played a couple of their Warriors titles and now you say it it makes sense, but because those games are normally a huge mishmash of characters/power levels anyway I didn't notice it much. I wonder if the guys in charge of DLC development for different games are all using the same playbook or something.
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Hi all! Big fan of the site and the forums, first time posting. Am on my 3rd playthrough of 3H now, after having just finished CS, and noticed a couple of things that made me wonder to what extent, if any, the Empire (probably TWSITD/Arundel specifically) were involved in the events of CS. (below are spoilers for CS and Part I of the main story)
Here's the relevant information/evidence:
1. We know that there are at least two different factions of enemies of the Ashen Wolves that are faced in CS - mercenaries (pretending to be generic bandits) under the employ of Aelfric, and the defenders of the Chalice (the golems that only ever appear when fighting Seiros-associated armies and phantom-like soldiers that make more sense for gameplay reasons than story ones).
2. It seems to have been confirmed both within the game and from meta-game stuff that if Cindered Shadows were properly canon, it would take place sometime after your first encounter with the Death Knight in Ch. 4 but before you face Miklan in Ch. 5. The Death Knight appears on his own (as the only member of the yellow army on the map) in Ch. 2 of Cindered Shadows, and will kill red army units if you let him. If you end the map without killing him, he claims he's had enough fun for the time being before retreating (similar to Ch. 6 of the main story where he gets told off for having too much fun). He does not appear in CS again.
3. In Ch. 5 of CS, where you are supposed to trade off the Chalice for Aelfric, the man keeping Aelfric captive (and the boss of that chapter) is an assassin called Metodey. An assassin called Metodey is also the sub-boss of Ch. 12 of the main story. His job in Ch. 12 and his lines of dialogue are concerned with retrieving the Crest Stones from the Holy Tomb. His purpose in Ch. 5 of CS is to obtain the Chalice. His death quote in CS was extremely suggestive of retreat, rather than literally dying.
4. In Ch. 6 of CS, Aelfric manages to obtain the blood of the lost crests of the Four Apostles. His original plan was to drain the Ashen Wolves of their blood completely, with this hopefully being enough to reanimate Sitri. It is unclear whether the original Four Apostles drained all their blood
5. Umbral Beast Aelfric's Umbral Surge ability allows him to distort space, or something to that effect (Constance has a line of dialogue about it). After the beast uses Umbral Surge, there's a graphic of darkness and glowing energy, the beast is disoriented and can't counter, and the placement effect of your units is random (indicating lack of complete control over the ability). Plenty of spatial magic (teleportation and the like) has been displayed throughout the series, but only one magic has had anywhere near a similar effect - Solon in Ch. 11 of the main story imprisons Byleth in an alternate dimension (described by Byleth as complete darkness). This is also Solon's most powerful magic, and it leaves him temporarily exhausted (in the cutscene he is visibly panting).
There's a couple of different ways to explain all this:
Theory A - Aelfric is working with the Empire. He may not have started off on their side or be especially close to them, but he reached out to them for resources and soldiers. The Death Knight clearly already knows a surprising amount about hidden areas in Garreg Mach (cf. Ch. 6) and in his thirst for a good fight turns up where he's not supposed to by arriving in CS Ch. 2. Since he works directly for the Flame Emperor, even if the red army in that map were Empire or affiliated to them (they could simply be private hires anyway), he wouldn't care about fighting them. This being Arundel/TWSITD's plan, not Edelgard's, solves the thorny issue of "Why???" that most of Part I's plot struggles with (genuinely I don't understand how incompetent Edelgard has to be to let Ch. 4 of main story happen when you're playing BE. The definition of cockblocking yourself.) Even though Metodey appears under her command in Ch. 12 main story, Edelgard in CF later claims that the idea of using monsters in her army (which is what the Crest stones are for) is disgusting and she hates it, but grudgingly allows TWSITD to use them to their mutual advantage. In other words, Metodey may not actually be especially close to Edelgard beyond her being his superior, and is more aligned with TWSITD/a general Empire stooge ultimately obedient to Arundel, who has been loaned to Aelfric and later to Edelgard to help out (which is why Edelgard doesn't recognise him at this point). Why do the Empire help Aelfric at all? Beyond simply being a pain in Rhea's side, TWSITD's interest in creating beasts, in ancient artefacts and in forbidden knowledge also lines up in a general sense. Getting a hold of blood as rare as that of the Ashen Wolves would have been a massive bonus (think of the trouble they went to for Flayn), as well as the Chalice (presumably after Aelfric had successfully used it to reanimate Sitri). It would have been in their interest both to investigate the kinds of monsters that are produced by giving blood to the Chalice and/or confiscating it so the Church in particular couldn't find out any useful information about the kinds of magic/abilities TWSITD might have.
Theory B - The Empire is using Aelfric. They clearly would have known about the Abyss spaces, had realised there was plenty in the Abyss that might be of interest, but the Death Knight's solo expedition gathers no results (in Ch.2 Yuri tells Byleth that he has been sealing off passageways to lure everyone following them, including inadvertently the Death Knight, to the arena map so they can't get to the underground town where the Shadows Library etc. is). Therefore, Metodey and his men infiltrate Aelfric's swords-for-hire and help in stealing the Chalice, but over the course of CS Ch. 5-7 get wiped out. Much of Theory A is still relevant here as well, the difference mainly being that Aelfric had no idea the Empire were involved. Given that TWSITD higher-ups can transform themselves, both the above theories are a lot of trouble just for infiltrating/taking over Abyss, but then again much of what TWSITD do makes fairly little sense. But it definitely isn't outside their MO to let groups that aren't directly affiliated with them destroy themselves fulfilling TWSITD's interests, so this is also a possibility.
Theory C - The developers got lazy/ it's a set of coincidences. The Death Knight appears to spice up what is otherwise a relatively by-the-books level, they just used Metodey since the character had already been made (or perhaps Metodey is canonically a mercenary hired firstly by Aelfric and then later by Edelgard/Empire? I was pretty sure he was specifically an Empire soldier but I don't think I have proof), and a high-ranking Church member with access to forbidden knowledge could have come up with this scheme independent of TWSITD/Empire knowledge.
What do you guys think? Which theory makes the most sense? I should say I haven't played AM, SS, and am only on Ch. 5 of my CF playthrough with all the DLC, (I've completed CF before though) so if there's anything I've missed (information from supports, quests etc.) that's relevant stick it in the comments!
Would you use this underachieving thing? (FE TH) Round 23: Recovery Roar
in Fire Emblem: Three Houses
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Yeah would love to resuscitate this thread if possible! I'd start by nominating Bow/Tome/Fist Breaker skills.