Who Has To Die, And Can You Spare Them

[ZanaLyrander]

Okay, so right off the bat, let me say that this entire thread is gonna be riddled with major spoilers, so turn away now if you don't wanna see them.
What I'm trying to figure out is which of the main characters have to die on each route, and whether or not it is possible to spare them. This will be limited to discussion of characters that are recruitable on other routes, anyone who is never playable doesn't count.
 

Spoiler

From what I've determined, Scarlet Blaze seems to have the largest body count in this regard. I haven't yet determined how to spare Ingrid or Sylvain, pretty sure both of them have to die on that route which makes me sad. Until recently I thought Annette was in the same category, but apparently if you use the backdoor intel strategy on the map where she would otherwise die, you can spare her, which was a relief. I suppose Rodrigue also counts in this regard since he's recruitable in Azure Gleam, but that one didn't hurt so much.

In Azure Gleam, the only one I have been unable to spare (aside from Hubert apparently dying offscreen, still kinda confused about that?) is Caspar. Pretty sure you're not forced to kill anyone else, but correct me if I'm forgetting anyone.

And in Golden Wildfire... I'm fairly certain you're not forced to kill any of the main characters other than Catherine? That sounds wrong to me even as I'm typing it, but I can't remember being forced to kill anyone I cared about on that route. Let me know if I'm forgetting anyone.

Also, if there is a way to spare any of the characters I've listed here on these routes, please let me know, hurting my children is painful every time, if I can avoid it I would very much like to do so.

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by ZanaLyrander

[Kruggov]

Spoiler

Apparently on Azure Gleam if you hold off on defeating Caspar, eventually Count Bergliez arrives to relieve him, and Caspar retreats.
I don't know if it's true or not.

 

[ZanaLyrander]

6 minutes ago, Kruggov said:

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Apparently on Azure Gleam if you hold off on defeating Caspar, eventually Count Bergliez arrives to relieve him, and Caspar retreats.
I don't know if it's true or not.

 

Spoiler

Ah, thank you, I'll definitely have to try that. Caspar is a good boy and doesn't deserve to die.

 

[TheHBK]

8 hours ago, ZanaLyrander said:

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Ah, thank you, I'll definitely have to try that. Caspar is a good boy and doesn't deserve to die.

 

Spoiler

I don’t know the exact conditions, but you don’t have to kill Caspar no. It’s kinda tricky though, you need to rush some objectives or something.

It should be noted that SB is the only path where a house leader can die (don’t recruit Byleth, don’t snipe the snipers in the penultimate mission, Claude will die).

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by TheHBK

[ZanaLyrander]

Spoiler

I figured out how to spare Caspar. When he spawns, you have to take out Lindhart's father instead, and rush to capture the stronghold at the bottom right that acts as Duke Aegir's evacuation point. With that stronghold captured, Duke Aegir can no longer escape, and he confronts you directly with a bunch of great knights backing him up. Kill him, and the mission ends, Caspar lives.

This means that the only path where any of the students actually have to die is SB, because I still don't think there's any way to spare Ingrid or Sylvain.

 

[vikingsfan92]

Spoiler

GW has you kill Ladislava for sure. Only played until chapter 9 (haven't completed the main mission of the chapter either) so there maybe more deaths.  Ladislava may not be a playable character but one I personally liked for a minor charcter and is someone you can speak with on both SB and CF from three houses in between missions.

 

[ZanaLyrander]

1 minute ago, vikingsfan92 said:

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GW has you kill Ladislava for sure. Only played until chapter 9 (haven't completed the main mission of the chapter either) so there maybe more deaths.  Ladislava may not be a playable character but one I personally liked for a minor charcter and is someone you can speak with on both SB and CF from three houses in between missions.

 

Spoiler

Oh definitely, it's not a bloodless conflict on any route, major characters still die. But as far as I can tell, SB is the only route that forces you to kill any of the students from the other houses.