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The ending never confirms what exactly happened to her, she just kinda... vanishes. She isn't seen or mentioned again after giving her infodump speech, so I'm not sure what we're supposed to make of her disappearance. She could've died, or run off to Zanado like on AM, or she's still living in Garreg Mach, it's pretty much left up in the air. The thing I find strange though is that she doesn't go berserk like on SS. On both routes, she goes with Byleth and co. to Shambhala, Thales fires off the javelins and she goes dragon mode to shoot them down. On SS, this triggers her dragon madness and she has to be taken down by force, but on VW she's severely wounded and seemingly dies offscreen. Even though nothing happened differently between the two routes.

Agreed. Also, Edelgard's another route-exclusive and a very divisive character on top of that. And Sothis is... yeah I'd rather not think about that one. So that pretty much leaves Dorothea and Mercedes for female bi options who aren't route-locked.

If you check out her post-skip dialogue choices on VW, Byleth talks a lot about Rhea and how important it is that they find her, even more so than on SS. There's no real explanation to why she's suddenly so attached to Rhea, especially on a route where they have such limited interaction prior. It feels almost like something from SS they forgot to edit out when they made VW.

It feels like such a huge plot hole. On SS, tanking the javelins is enough to kneejerk her into berserk dragon mode for the final map, but on VW she's... suddenly fine even though the exact same thing happened to her there? It's the same cutscene and everything, it makes no sense at all. And all so we can have sweet zombie Nemesis singing opera in the shower instead? lol

Crimson Flower and Azure Moon are both predominantly character-driven routes, with Edelgard and Dimitri's backstory, character development and relationship with Byleth being the main focus. Personally, I think this makes CF and AM the two best routes in the game, as Edelgard and Dimitri really are the two central characters and driving forces behind the story. The routes that make them the focus tell the strongest, most compelling narrative, imo. Verdant Wind and Silver Snow are the lore-dump routes. They explain everything about Byleth's birth, Nemesis and the history between the Agarthans and the Nabateans, but the stories themselves come off as half-assed as a result. So while more of the game's backstory is delved into on VW and SS, we end up with narrative disasters like zombie Nemesis, Byleth's sudden Rhea obsession post-skip, Dimitri's dumbass redshirt death at Gronder and the whole "God-Emperor Byleth" ending. Claude in particular gets steamrolled the worst, since his own route hardly gives him or his goals the same attention as CF and AM give Edelgard and Dimitri. Also, CF does have an ending. Rhea and the Church are defeated, the three regions of Fódlan are united under one banner and Edelgard’s goals of reforming the corrupt nobility system realized. If you're talking about there being no on-screen fight against TWSITD, this is explained in Hubert's paralogue: Hubert basically plans to assassinate Arundel and whoever's left of TWSITD's leadership after that.

Perfect, thanks! Looks like Nuvelle Attendants might be his best option. With that I should be able to get him up to 85 avoid before adding in attack speed. He's definitely a unique unit in 3H. Unlike anyone else in the game except maybe Manuela, he doesn't have a very clearly defined class path at first. Which makes his precision-guided set of banes (I swear, they gave him those exact three banes on purpose so people wouldn't try to stick him on a wyvern lol) stand out all the more. Sniper and Grappler/War Master, on top of being amazing classes on their own, play right into Yuri's strengths as an incredibly fast, high-crit unit. I think you'll have lots of fun with him on your next playthrough 🙂

Definitely, it all comes down to playstyle preferences. I'm actually not a huge fan of physical tanks myself, units like Dedue or Gilbert for me usually end up benched in favor of dodge tanks like Ingrid and Yuri, or "well-rounded" units like Sylvain and Seteth. That does sound like an interesting setup for him. I'm thinking for my first (and likely only) Golden Deer run, I'm gonna use nothing but unconventional meme builds (Sniper Lyssie coming at ya!) for my units. I'll definitely keep your Sylvain idea in mind. Which battalion did you use on him? I'm guessing something with high avoid, but is there one that also boosts magic? It's especially fun when you give him the Chalice of Beginnings too lol Overall, I feel like Yuri's super slept-on as a unit. That brawling build on a War Master (or Grappler if you don't feel like fighting that axe bane) Yuri is pretty damn strong. Between the avoid stacking and his ridiculous speed growth, he's practically invincible. He can quad pretty much anything, and with Killer Knuckles you can turn him into a crit machine on top of that. And his crest, though the activation rate's a bit iffy, synergizes perfectly with a brawling setup. He also makes a pretty excellent Sniper thanks to his bow budding talent. Hunter's Volley and Deadeye with his crit rate are devastating, especially if you give him a Killer Bow and a high-crit battalion like Goneril Valkyries.

Enemy phase, mostly. He can get in and score the kill for sure, but why would I want to get him out when I could leave him there and let him mop up some more enemies on their turn? I wouldn't write off Sylvain as strictly a player phase nuke. Unlike, say, Lysithea or Bernadetta, he's more than capable of holding his own on the enemy phase, and I typically find that a better strategy than pulling him out after a kill. I do see your point there, however I'd argue that Ferdinand's avoid-boosting personal means that Sylvain benefits more from Gautier's +20 than he does. That's just my take, though. I agree that the more avoid the better, but unless I'm building a dedicated dodge tank I don't feel the need to maximize avoid on all my units. Take my go-to Seteth build for example: he gets +15 avoid from Lance Prowess, +10 from Wyvern Lord and +5 from Cichol Wyvern Co before factoring in his attack speed. That's less than Sylvain gets with Lance Prowess + Gautier, but still enough to reliably enemy phase. I wouldn't take the same risks with him as, say, a dodge tank Yuri with Brawl Avo +20, Brawling Prowess, Brigid Hunters and an Evasion Ring, but I know I can take him into the enemy phase and he'll be okay.

Gautier's still a really strong choice for Sylvain, though, thanks to its atk and avo boosts. Since he can't become a Falcon Knight and benefit from its +10 avo bonus, that +20 avo from Gautier helps him tremendously as a Paladin. And where he's unlikely to be relying on offensive gambits anyway, giving him a Stride battalion doesn't hurt him that much. Making him a black magic dodge tank isn't really a good idea to begin with anyway. He doesn't have the magic growth to pull it off successfully without a crapton of stat boosters, and it means he misses out on Swift Strikes and his personal relic.

This is true. Of course, if Sylvain was able to use Gautier right away just for being Sylvain while Ferdie had to wait for B Authority, I might be more inclined to give it to Sylvain out of sheer convenience. Same goes for battalions like Nuvelle, if Coco can use it earlier than anyone else then she's automatically my best Dark Flier candidate. All this would do really is allow certain characters to benefit a bit more from their "canon" class paths, but nothing so busted that it forces a specific build on anyone.

Well, some personal battalions do tend to be tailor-made for their intended units. For instance, Cichol Wyvern Co. just happens to be a perfect match for a natural Wyvern Lord like Seteth. And Gautier Knights is one of Sylvain's best choices as a Paladin, being a Stride battalion with solid stats and high avoid. I'd say there's a few others too, like Nuvelle Fliers on Dark Flier Constance or Hevring Prayer on Bishop Linhardt like you mentioned. These units being able to use their personal battalions for free would definitely be beneficial, imo, even without adding in bonus skills.

Definitely agree on this one. On my very first playthrough it took me a minute to figure out why I couldn't give Ingrid the Galatea battalion. I hadn't completely figured out how authority worked yet and I just assumed she'd be able to use it no problem. After all, it's hers lol Thinking back, that would be a nice little bonus for characters like Sylvain or Seteth whose personal battalions work really well on them, since removing the need for authority means they can level their weapon skills faster (read: get Swift Strikes faster).

Ah, I didn't know they were from other games. I actually thought they were OCs at first with the way they fit in so well with 3H's setting and characters. Ooh, that looks like an interesting map! A survive mission there would be a fun challenge, especially with the enemy siege mages/ballista and Wyvern Riders (looks like Musse has her work cut out for her lol). Also, I couldn't help but notice the sea to the west, is this battle taking place in northern Alliance territory/near Derdriu? Am I detecting a possible Golden Deer guest appearance...?

Other. Dancer outfits for everyone, regardless of whether or not you made them your dancer. Byleth got one, after all. Only makes sense that the others should too. Also, the option to switch between pre and post skip hairstyles on NG+ (separate from changing clothes) would be nice. Sucks that we can't give Lysithea or Ingrid their pre skip hair in part 2 without switching them back to their school clothes, or give Dimitri his post skip hair in part 1 without pimping him out in full regalia while the others are still in uniforms. Swimsuit/Bunny Flayn can't become a thing, either. It just can't.

That's a really good way to put it, I think. Both terms are insulting to the characters as well as their fans.

Everything's looking great so far! Love the new characters you've added, Musse and Kael are such a hilarious duo and Jade seems pretty cool. I can't wait to see who else joins Fleche's group.

Who said I didn't? I just don't see it used as commonly (or in the same amount of seriousness) on a regular basis so it doesn't really bother me the same way.

Well, Lonato's rebellion didn't really have anything to do with Edelgard's plans. He was being manipulated by the Western Church, which itself was being manipulated by Arundel. Edelgard didn't really have anything to do with the assassination note and the attack on the Holy Mausoleum, aside from Arundel forcing her to loan him the Death Knight. It's likely she didn't even know they were manipulating Lonato and assumed that he was just a disillusioned Kingdom lord who wanted to spark a bigger revolution by making himself a martyr. If she (or Ashe) were able to successfully talk him off the legde, the note would likely go undiscovered by anyone (or thrown away once Lonato found it in his pocket) since neither one of them actually knows about it. After which, one of two things would probably happen. Either the Western Churchies would still try to invade the Holy Mausoleum, even though their distraction attempt failed, and get their faces cut off by Catherine because the place is still under high security, or they'd just bail on the plan entirely. Neither outcome really affects Edelgard's goals at all, unless Arundel finds out what she did and kills her as punishment. Which doesn't really seem likely since she goes on to sabotage his plans way worse (helping Byleth and the others find where they're keeping Flayn, killing Solon and Kronya, etc.) and he hardly notices. However... This is completely true. Though Edelgard may spare Lonato if she had the authority, Catherine being there kinda ruins all chances of that happening since she'd just cut him down without hesitation. This dialogue is perfect, though! Edelgard's lines sound exactly like things she'd say. This legit should've been in the game.

Not so much a hateful term, more of an objectifying one. I just find the term and the subculture that goes with it to be very skeevy and disrespectful to women. Taking admirable, relatable or sympathetic female characters and reducing them to cutesy stereotypes, sticking them on "tier lists" based on sex appeal, claiming a certain character as "theirs". I'm not gonna go deep into the ethics of how much you can mistreat a fictional character, but all these things paint a pretty good picture of how certain avid anime fans (and members of the gaming community) view women, that they can't see a female character past how "doable" they are. It reflects poorly on the community as a whole too, as many times (typically on other sites) it's assumed that any praise for a female character is coming from a horny straight guy. Which is particularly disrespectful and alienating to female fans, as well as LGBTQ+ fans like me.

Ah, I do see your point there. I hadn't even considered her convo with Byleth afterwards, I was mainly thinking about her similarities to Lonato and how she prefers to minimize casualties whenever she can. I agree that she wouldn't spare Lonato under the circumstances provided by the game. However, one thing I find interesting is that Lonato has no unique battle dialogue if Edelgard engages him. In other words, he likely knows nothing about her or how she feels about the Church. That leads me to wonder, what if they did exchange a few words beforehand and Lonato began to see that maybe his stand wasn't so hopeless after all, as there are others (the future Adrestian Emperor, no less) who disagree with the Church's actions. Edelgard could potentially get him to stand down and gain his support as a Kingdom lord (a la Gwendal) in the coming war. Sort of an "I spare you, you help me" deal. Of course, for this to work, we'd either have to assume nobody else (especially Catherine) hears them or have the conversation take place offscreen after the battle. Also, much like choosing to keep the Lance of Ruin in ch.5, sparing Lonato would decrease support with Rhea. Just a thought, though. With a little bit of rewriting it could work, but having Ashe be the only one able to spare him would definitely be the easier option.

Maybe defeating him with Ashe or Edelgard could give you the option to spare?

Agreed. Such a shamelessly misogynistic term/concept, I hate it. Especially when it's used to describe strong, well-written female characters who amount to so much more than some straight guy's sexual fantasy. Even used jokingly, I feel like it's in such poor taste nowadays. I hate "thot" for the exact same reason.

I may have actually watched that one on mute/low volume since it was late at night. Sorry if I didn't hear the music because of that. I can definitely go back and give it a listen. I get what you're saying though, about bringing in some songs that aren't as "mainstream". Gourmet Race has a bit of a meme behind it, if I recall. So it makes sense why you'd want something fresh and a little less overdone. Yeah, Silver Snow's a pretty terrible route imo. For starters, I can't stand the idea of directly supporting Rhea, knowing that so many of Fódlan's problems are ultimately her fault. Especially when the big choice is literally between her and Edelgard, my favorite lord and the one who promises to fix everything. Certainly doesn't help either that the route makes a complete waste of Dimitri, my other favorite lord. They even hint that he's still alive after Gronder, but he does nothing. Just one little scene that's never brought up again and then poof, he disappears from the story without a trace. I haven't even played it for myself, to be completely honest. I just watched the entire route on YouTube to see how much I'd be missing out on. Overall, the only part that looks enjoyable is the final map. Half of that's because of the music and the other half's because the final boss is Rhea lol

I'd never thought about playing Fire Emblem to Kirby music before but now I might just have to try it! Warp-skipping CF's final map to Gourmet Race maybe? I was thinking for the final chapter you could use A Funeral of Flowers, the final boss theme for Silver Snow. Here's the links to both the Rain and Thunder versions: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xVaRibExiaA (Rain) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxDUGHp34Y (Thunder) Spoilers if you haven't played Silver Snow:

Perfect! Meteor Dorothea's one of my favorite boss killers on CF. Flattening enemies from halfway across the map just never gets old, especially when you know they'll wreck you up close (RIP Dedue lol). I'm still disappointed that she's had two alts now in FEH and neither one gives her a siege spell. Making her second alt another dancer unit was such a cop-out imo (and my god that outfit, what the hell were they thinking? She looks like goddamn Rhajat). Btw, I know you mentioned music in one of your previous posts, and I was wondering if you planned to use any of 3H's songs for the battle maps. If so, I think I know of a good one to use for the final boss.