Fridge / Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes

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Fridge Brilliance

The Three Lords

• Edelgard's weapon is the Sacred Relic called Labraunda. Three Houses states that Aymr was created by the Agarthans for her to use. Because she severs her ties with the Agarthans before the war, Edelgard doesn't really obtain the axe in the main story as Aymr is the S-rank reward of Chapter 16 (where you defeat Epimenides) in the Scarlet Blaze route.
  • In Azure Gleam, Edelgard is mind-controlled by Thales to fight the combined forces of the Church, the Kingdom, and the Alliance against her will. In the final chapter, Edelgard can be seen equipped with Aymr, highlighting her (forced) partnership with Those Who Slither in the Dark.
• During the secret chapter, Edelgard and Claude mention their ambitions to overthrow the Central Church. Edelgard remarks that her goal is for Rhea to surrender and dismantle the upper echelons of the Central Church, which shocks Claude as he assumed that Edelgard was also aiming to kill Rhea. This explains why Rhea was still alive in the Azure Moon, Verdant Wind, and Silver Snow routes of Three Houses - Edelgard had Rhea incarcerated because the Central Church was still active (through Seteth and the Knights of Seiros). Albeit, a character in Abyss in Three Houses explains that Edelgard had other intentions for Rhea in those routes, namely to use her against the Agarthans in some way.
  • The only route where she actively kills Rhea is in the Crimson Flower route, and even then, Edelgard proposes that Rhea surrenders first before attacking, but by then Rhea has become closer to a berserking monster and refuses to back down. Indeed, Edelgard doesn't even kill Rhea in Scarlet Blaze, just ordering her restrained, and Rhea ends up mutually killing Thales.
• Compared to their original post-timeskip designs in Three Houses, the official artwork for Three Hopes has Edelgard and Dimitri wear much lighter-colored armor, Edelgard using a different crown that doesn't evoke horns, and Dimitri no longer wearing bestial furs. Claude's outfit, on the other hand, is now primarily dark with gold accents, a complete reverse of his original design. These changes reflect how the Lords end up in this game compared to their Three Houses counterparts, with Edelgard and Dimitri losing a lot of the darker aspects of their characters while Claude embraces his own.
• Unlike Byleth, who upon meeting the three Lords immediately senses that each of them is hiding something, Shez has a much more optimistic response to them. At first, this matches up with the story initially being Lighter and Softer. Then you realize that the less dramatic plot comes with the downside of the Lords never managing to fully overcome their issues (something that can be seen during the bonus chapter via their dialogue with the phantoms), so while all three are guaranteed to survive this time around, none of them has reached their full potential. This also explains why Shez ultimately doesn't make as much impact on the plot as Byleth did and the war is still ongoing at the end of each route no matter what, while Byleth picking a side meant an automatic win for them.
  • Of course, the Lords also don't have much of a reason to trust Shez with personal information given that they're just a former classmate, so despite doing their best Shez still makes for a less efficient emotional support than Byleth. They do end up becoming one of the people their chosen lord trusts most, but not to the same degree as Byleth.
• Given how sympathetic he is toward Edelgard's manipulated state, it can come across as arguably out of character for Dimitri to simply walk away from her without a word at the end of Azure Gleam. However, if one listens closely then dialog during the previous fight in gameplay gives perspective on what he is doing and why he doesn't need to talk to Edelgard yet. Namely, he already explained to her what he is doing. Upon her being defeated during gameplay, he proceeds to gently apologize to her and asks that she wait there "for a little while." The cutscene follows this interaction (with the climax of the fight and Edelgard briefly getting back up to try to fight again), and Edelgard should be aware enough to remember it.
• The three lords get an ability when they master their respective unique master classes that highlights their roles in the game.
  • Edelgard gets Stormer of the Land upon mastering the Emperor class. This signifies her quest to unite Fodlan by conquering Faerghus and Leicester.
  • Dimitri obtains Savior of the Meek once he masters the Great Lord class. In all three routes, Dimitri provides protection to the Church of Seiros and is the only lord who doesn't initiate a war on the other territories.
  • Claude acquires Seeker of Greatness when mastering the Barbarossa class. This could allude to Claude attempting to find the fastest way to survive and end the war with minimal casualties, even allying with either Adrestia or Faerghus to achieve his goals.

Innate Abilities

• Characters can learn a powerful, innate ability if they master a certain class outside their preferred ones. For example, Shez learns Range Master by mastering the Dark Knight class. There's a brilliant reason why certain characters are assigned a particular class.
  • Shez needing to progress through the Cavalier tree to reach the Dark Knight class makes sense when you consider their goal throughout the game; defeating Byleth. A Cavalier's weapon is the Lance, which holds an advantage against Swords in the series famous Weapon Triangle, and Byleth themselves is a Master Swordsman, meaning that mastering the use of Lances is likely to give Shez a significant edge. In that sense, it could be seen as their Budding Talent, similarly to how other characters have their Innate Abilities in class trees related to whatever their Budding Talent was in Three Houses. Plus, their inclination towards the Dark Knight class also plays upon the use of dark magic as a result of Arval's influence.
  • Edelgard learns her innate ability by mastering the Gremory class. Fitting as Adrestia prides itself on magic users and Edelgard herself has a Budding Talent for Reason in Three Houses.
  • Dimitri gains his innate ability from the Great Knight class. While in Three Houses he has a Budding Talent in Riding, which he would momentarily be a part as a Paladin class before advancing to Great Lord, the Great Knight class also utilizes heavy armor, which highlights his well-known immense strength. His Supports with Raphael in Three Houses also have him state that he wore heavy suits of armour as part of his training, so it's likely something he's used to.
  • Claude's innate ability comes from Wyvern Lord. Given his Almyran background, his Budding Talent in Axes and affinity for flying mounts, and Wyvern Rider being one of his two available classes in the Cindered Shadows storyline, this makes perfect sense.
  • Hubert's comes from the Dark Knight class. Back in Three Houses, Dark Bishop is an Advanced class rather than the Master class it is in Three Hopes but combined with the tight window with obtaining the Dark Seals needed to create a Dark Bishop forced players to make Hubert progress into a Dark Knight since he can't access the gender-locked Gremory, the only strictly infantry magic Master class, as well as to take advantage of his Budding Talent in Lances.
  • Ferdinand is talented in Lances, Axes, and Riding, and has a Budding Talent in Heavy Armor. It's no wonder that his innate ability would be from mastering the Great Knight class. His father is also a Great Knight, meaning that Ferdinand mastering this class symbolizes his goal to be a greater noble than him.
    • This is also the same case with Hilda as (aside from Riding) she has a high affinity with the requirements of a Great Knight, what with her talents in Lances, Axes, and her own Budding Talent in Heavy Armor. It also fits her lazy theme as compared to other characters, she would not have to master another weapon archetype or branch far from her recommended classes.
  • Bernadetta's reason for needing to become a Great Knight despite having subject weaknesses in Axes and Heavy Armor in Three Houses could be seen as similar to Hilda's, with her nervous disposition compelling her to wear it as an excuse to stay behind while the others rush ahead. It could also be that such a heavy, sturdy suit makes her feel safer, similarly to how staying in her room does. It could also be used to reference her Budding Talent in Riding, since in Three Hopes, Bow Knight is part of her natural progression as an Archer rather than a strong recommendation.
    • The ability she gets from it, Inspiring Agility, is essentially what Pass, the skill she gets from awakening her Budding Talent, is in classic Fire Emblem, which fits her bouts of hysteric need to run and hide.
  • Petra needing to become a Falcon Knight to obtain Flyswatter alludes to her Heroes alt, which is a Pegasus Knight. Pegasus Knight is also the first flying class available for Petra to take, which allows her to take to the air as fast as possible without having to wait for Wyvern Rider.
  • Linhardt needing to become a Trickster highlights his lazy nature, as it uses Faith magic like his standard classline does and all he really needs to do to achieve it is practice swordsmanship, compared to Holy Knight where'd need to master both lances and horse riding. Additionally, eagle-eyed players will notice that, in the original game, Linhardt always carries a Training Sword with him for whatever reason even when fought as an enemy during the time skip save his strongest encounter during the Azure Moon route, making this a likely reference to that rather strange tidbit.
  • Dorothea's needing to master the Holy Knight is likely a compromise on her Faith Budding Talent, due to her recommended class line ending with a Gremory, which uses both Reason and Faith magic. As for why she doesn't get it via Trickster considering her strength in swords, it lies in the abilities offered. Trickster offers Gather, which draws in enemies to the user, while Exalted Breath offers incentive to heal, something Dorothea can get behind.
  • Caspar getting his innate ability as a Dark Knight might not make much sense since it's way out of the way for Caspar in typical circumstances, especially since Reason is one of his subject banes in Three Houses... unless the context from his interactions with Mercedes and Jeritza is put into play. From his and Mercedes's paralogue in Three Houses to their new support conversations in Three Hopes, Caspar has shown a single-minded goal of besting Jeritza in a duel, something he has been unable to do, even with the weapon triangle advantage of axe against lance. So, what better way to try to prove his superiority than to try the "beating them at their own game" tactic, with the Dark Knight class thematically as close to Jeritza's Death Knight class as possible?
  • Monica learns her innate ability by mastering the Trickster class, making her as close to fighting as Kronya, her Agarthan identity stealer from Three Houses, in gameplay as possible. Is it really a coincidence that Kronya intended to take over Monica's identity to seamlessly integrate among the surface-dwellers with little to no chance of discovery? Aside from mentioned personality changes from Three Houses, her abilities in combat probably might not have been questioned if it was known that the real Monica had a hidden talent for classes like Assassin and Trickster.
    • Not only that, but Monica's father, Baron Ochs, is also a Trickster, as first seen in the DLC paralogue with Hapi and Balthus in Three Houses. Had he not been duped into using a Hero's Relic he couldn't control in exchange for the false promise of his daughter's safe return in Three Houses, he may have had a chance to utilize those skills in combat (in Three Hopes, he wields a more class-appropriate Rapier). Since the good baron is alive in this continuity's Scarlet Blaze path, Monica can potentially follow in his footsteps if she so chooses.
  • Dedue's Innate Ability coming from the War Master is a clear nod to his subject strength in Brawling.
  • Sylvain, Felix, and Ignatz have Budding Talents in Reason. Fittingly, their innate abilities can be obtained by mastering the Dark Bishop class.
  • Ashe becoming a Dark Knight for his Innate Ability makes sense on two counts. For one, Ashe's budding talent is in Lances, another is that it links to his admiration to Lonato with him becoming a horse-riding spearman like his adoptive father. However, it also links with his potential distrust of the Church due to what they did to Lonato and Christophe, with him becoming the Holy Knight's opposite as a display of his wariness.
  • Mercedes gets her innate ability from mastering the Bow Knight class, which matches up with her budding talent in Bows and her sacred weapon also being a bow.
  • Annette gains her innate ability from the Wyvern Lord class. This fits her as she's also proficient in axes, has a magic hammer as her signature Hero Relic, and is even a Warrior when fought in the game (and, sadly, it's one of the only ways she can actually use her Hero's Relic in this game). Great Knight not being that innate class learner could, of course, be her eschewing the ways of her father for personal reasons much like in the original game.
  • Ingrid gets her innate ability from the Bow Knight class, which is more as a result of her affinity for Riding back in Three Houses.
  • Lorenz needing Mortal Savant for his innate ability can be because Dark Knight, his recommended Master rank class in Three Houses, is part of his preferred class line in Three Hopes, so Mortal Savant can use his affinity for magic elsewhere without going complete ham in magic and go Dark Bishop.
  • Raphael needing to become a Holy Knight is a nod to his goal of becoming a Knight in Shining Armor. Additionally, while unfortunate, the fact that the Innate Ability he learns, Exalted Breath, doesn't mesh well with his playstyle as a physical bruiser as it's more suited to healers, is also a nod to how unconventional he'd be as a knight.
  • Lysithea getting her innate ability from Mortal Savant is due to her budding talent in Swords.
  • Marianne learns her innate ability from the Holy Knight class, harkening back to her budding talent for Lances and affinity for Riding and Faith.
  • Leonie needing to become a Falcon Knight might relate less with any natural affinity with the class (outside of lancework) and more to her frugal nature; Leonie is one of the few units to have both her recommended class and her Innate Ability class in the same class line, that being the Cavalier. Not only would this take less time, but it'd also save the player money on Seals needed to unlock certain classes from having to go through a completely different classline.
  • Constance obtains her innate ability from the Falcon Knight class, referencing her signature class, Dark Flier. Since the Dark Flier class is not available in Three Hopes, the Falcon Knight class is the only available class for Constance to ride on a pegasus.
  • Balthus gets his innate ability through Dark Bishop, which gels with his Budding Talent in Reason and his affinity for Faith, which he uses as a War Monk in Three Houses.
  • Hapi gets her innate ability from Wyvern Lord, which combines her affinity for Flying and her Budding Talent for axes.
  • Yuri learns his innate ability by mastering the Bow Knight class. While he has a Budding Talent in Bows, Thieves and Assassins can also use bows due to them being the classes' secondary weapon affinity in Three Houses, classes that he previously mastered as a Trickster.
  • Byleth gains their innate ability from mastering the Holy Knight class. This can be seen as them following their father's footsteps as Jeralt's default class upon recruitment is Holy Knight. In addition, this is as close of a Master Class for them to focus on light magic from Sothis's influence due to Gremory, while a master of white and black magic, being a female-exclusive class. It also serves as a Foil to Shez's Dark Knight.
  • Manuela learns her innate ability through the Trickster class. In Dimitri's War Phase Paralogue in Three Houses's Azure Moon route, where she is an enemy if unrecruited, she changes her class from Bishop to Assassin, which is one tier below Trickster on the Three Hopes class tree. This version of Manuela also bizarrely has Physic, a spell that's simultaneously out of her recruitable self's spell list and out of her ability to use, as Assassin is a non-magic class. Manuela's talents in Swords and Faith as well as her high Speed growth make her a natural fit for the Trickster class in both games.
  • Jeritza learns his innate ability from the Wyvern Lord class, referencing his budding talent for Flying.
  • Rodrigue needs to learn his innate ability by mastering Great Knight, a fitting class for the Shield of Faerghus. It is also a cavalry class, which takes advantage of Rodrigue's knowledge as a Holy Knight.
  • Seteth needing Holy Knight for his innate ability can be linked to him being tied to the Spear of Assal, which he can only use in cavalry classes in Three Hopes. Additionally, he has the Cavalier class unlocked when he joins in Three Houses despite his penalty in Riding.
  • Flayn's needing to master the Dark Knight is likely a compromise on her Reason Budding Talent and the inclusion of her affinity for Lances while also ignoring her penalty in Riding, due to her recommended class line ending with Gremory, which uses both Reason and Faith magic.
  • Shamir learns her innate ability through the Trickster class. Her going the way of swordplay can be alluding to her Odd Friendship with Catherine but going about it her own way and taking advantage of her own innate growths into account to pick the Thief path rather than Mercenary like Catherine.
  • Catherine learns her innate ability through the Holy Knight class. For the longest time, Catherine has been away from the county of Charon thanks to Lonato's spiteful move of falsely implicating her for helping murder King Lambert, so her going the way of the knight can help her reconnect with her home nation, as well as showing her devotion to Lady Rhea in another way.
  • Holst learns his innate skill through Dark Bishop. Holst strives to be as well-rounded as possible, and his preferred class line ends with Mortal Savant, a magic-capable class, so him going Dark Bishop can be him taking advantage of his even Magic stat to better himself as both a magic caster and a warrior, as well as bonding with Balthus, who also has to go down Dark Bishop for his own innate ability.
  • Jeralt becoming a War Master can possibly be explained when you consider his drinking habit and the amount of bars he's visited to have accumulated such a nigh-unpayable bar tab. Combine that with him being old enough to stop counting at a hundred, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume he's been in a Bar Brawl or five in his lifetime. Also, him being so old and well-versed in combat to become the strongest Knight of Seiros who ever lived, War Master being his innate talent is a testament to him being incredibly well-versed both on foot and horseback combat.
  • Sothis gets her innate ability from Mortal Savant. This particular class allows her to emulate her host Byleth, who is traditionally a sword user.
  • Rhea gets her innate ability from Gremory, just like Edelgard. This may also be a concession due to her Saint class is a replacement for Mortal Savant.
  • Arval gets theirs from Wyvern Lord. Specifically, the skill in question is the reskin of Trample, Domineer, which is what Arval did over Shez when you recruited Byleth instead of killing them.
  • The Gatekeeper, on the other hand, gets everything except for the female-locked Falcon Knight. Makes sense, since he's essentially a faceless mook, which gives him all the freedom in the world. He will do whatever it takes to guard the gates.
• Prepared to Die is an innate ability that rapidly restores the Warrior Gauge when a unit's HP is at 25% or below and the Warrior Gauge is less than one bar. The only characters who learn this ability (aside from the Gatekeeper) are Jeralt (who dies in all three routes of the first game) and Dedue (who can die in Azure Moon if the player fails to complete his paralogue, is an unavoidable fight in Crimson Flower, and he can possibly die in Silver Snow and Verdant Wind).
  • Even the Gatekeeper isn’t exempt: he'll die during the Siege of Garreg Mach in the Crimson Flower route and be replaced by his identical Imperialist younger brother.

Supports

• From a Gameplay and Story Integration standpoint, it makes sense that there are no S-support endings for Shez nor are there paired endings. The end of each route reveals that the war is still ongoing even after the events of each route have come to a close and peace is yet to be earned, so the characters are not in any position to be able to fully settle down just yet.
• Support conversations being inaccessible until the Time Skip makes sense in hindsight as the Officers Academy closed its operations early due to the political instability all over Fódlan. None of the students, the lords included, got time to properly bond or form friendships due to their time in the academy being cut short and it's only after the Time Skip began that they can communicate more in the longer term.
• It makes sense that there are an increased number of inter House supports, including ones that weren't available in Houses. Meeting others from foreign countries and making friends to breed international cooperation is the main reason the Officer's Academy at Garreg Mach even exists in the first place, and by extension that students would find kindred spirits from elsewhere; Dorothea & Hilda (Outgoing fashionistas with a long line of male admirers), Marianne with Bernadetta (shut-ins who are both quite happy with companiable silence) & Ingrid (Horse lovers), and Petra & Dedue (foreign nationals from vassal states who are both treated like second class citizens).

Recruitment

• Unlike in Three Houses where you could recruit almost every other student except the opposite house leaders and their retainers to your house, Three Hopes has a lot more students who are locked to a specific route when they weren't previously this time around (Ferdinand and Caspar in Scarlet Blaze; Felix, Ingrid, Sylvain and Annette in Azure Gleam; Hilda in Golden Wildfire). This could be because unlike in Three Houses, everyone's stay at the Officer's Academy was cut short due to the political affairs of their respective nations and the school closing down, meaning they never had the chance to explore other possibilities outside their comfort zone, unlike in Three Houses where they spent the full year at the academy.
  • This could also be because unlike Byleth who joined the Officer's Academy as a professor, Shez joins the Officer's Academy as a student alongside them, meaning Shez lacked the status and renown that Byleth had that would inspire a student to switch houses. This also works on a personal level too: Shez's supports with the students only start during the war phase as opposed to Byleth's which started during the school year itself.
    • This also works in a different way - the characters in Three Hopes are recruitable during the war because their bonds with others are nowhere near as strong and those whose bonds are established, are not recruitable. Meanwhile, in Three Houses, the only character who is recruitable during the war is Lysithea, and even then only because of her Commonality Connection with Edelgard.
• Another aspect that is important is the time frame. In Three Houses, most of the students at the Officers Academy had some kind of idea of their future, and were studying there to prepare for it, or to at least look into a potential future. If they joined Byleth's class, the war starting completely changed their future and so they stuck to their Professor due to believing in them. In Three Hopes, the students are only at the Officers Academy for a few months before returning home, where many of them are suddenly thrust into important roles because of the turmoil caused by the altered timeline. So while in Three Houses they had time to make new plans, here they get none, and become better entrenched in their nation's system. Notice how a number of the characters you can recruit in almost every route are ones who aren't in super high-ranking positions (the Ashen Wolves, Petra, Ashe, and Ignatz to name a few), making it easier to defect to other sides. By contrast, characters like Ferdinand, Felix, and Hilda are effectively put into important roles that make them unlikely to defect.
• The method of recruitment is also quite different from Three Houses, where most recruitment was done via a character asking to join Byleth out of admiration of them as a teacher and warrior, with no higher stakes at the time other than the house they belonged to. In Three Hopes almost all recruitment is more persuading the character to surrender and join the opposing side instead of dying for their faction during the war. For specific characters, some more specialized persuasion may be used, such as offering them special knowledge or opportunity to do something that matters to them personally (Hapi getting revenge on "those who slither in the dark" and Lysithea finding a means to restore her life expectancy), or using an already recruited friend of theirs or knowledge of their family's wishes to convince them. That the recruited character stays loyal afterward no matter what is at least partly explained by most of them holding the view that changing sides once may be justified or explainable, but doing so twice would render them untrustworthy for life. Much as the story of Three Hopes leans further into Gray-and-Grey Morality, so too do the methods of recruiting. Many of the characters will express they don't know who is really right in the war, and ultimately decide to fight for whoever they think will end it more quickly while giving them the biggest chance to personally survive. The biggest irony in all of this is that Three Hopes uses classic recruitment methods, that being persuading an opposing unit to switch sides.
  • Also consider how many students of each nation actually defect. The Leicester Alliance, due to its fractured nature, sees all of the students outside of Hilda able to be recruited in the other routes, mainly due to self-preservation as they see that the Alliance is unable to fend off the invading countries, though Lysithea and Leonie will not join in Azure Gleam. The Adrestian Empire, as the country that declared war, sees Petra, Dorothea, Bernadetta, and Linhardt able to be recruited to either route, citing their disagreement with Edelgard's war. Finally, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, due to how close each student was to begin with, only sees Ashe, due to his loyalty to Lonato, defecting to either side, and Mercedes, who can join her brother Jeritza if he is present to talk her out of fighting the Empire.
    • Speaking of the Golden Deer, Lorenz, Ignatz, Raphael, and Marianne join in Azure Gleam because the Kingdom and Federation are allies, and Claude outright hands them to Dimitri. Hilda, Leonie, and Lysithea presumably can't join the Kingdom because Claude still needs some of his best troops to stay and help with his plans to fend off the Empire.

Jeralt's Mercenaries

• Why do you need to spare Byleth so that you can get the Golden Ending for each route? If you assault and almost kill them, you're simply attacking somebody for doing their job. If you avoid them and complete your job behind their backs, however, you truly are getting revenge: you completing your contract over theirs and killing others who got in the way of the job, nothing else. Exactly what Byleth did to you at the start of the game. As Jeralt says, reputation means nothing if you don't get the job done.
  • In a support with Jeralt and Shez, the former reveals the only reason why Shez's companions even died is that they went out of their way to attack Byleth who only fought back in self-defense. Jeralt put the above concept into practice.
  • Jeralt's mercenaries integrating within Shez's chosen army makes sense as well. Mercenaries will often find themselves on all sides of conflict depending on price, ideals, or even preference. This will often see mercenaries who were at each other's throats one day, fighting alongside one another the next, which is what happens if Shez doesn't slay Byleth.
• Unlike in Three Houses where you play a character thrust into a role where you have some level of authority, you're just a hired gun working for Edelgard/Dimitri/Claude's army in Three Hopes, so you're expected to follow their orders. If you suddenly go off to do your own thing and prioritize your desires over completing the mission (in this case, attacking Byleth instead of/in addition to your mission target), you potentially put the entire army at risk, leading to deadly consequences down the road. Which can be very immediate, as killing Jeralt results in Byleth killing an ally in turn: Randolph in Scarlet Blaze, Rodrigue in Azure Gleam, and Judith in Golden Wildfire.
• The first two times you encounter Byleth after the prologue, Shez is the only one who has experienced Byleth's One-Man Army nature firsthand. When they suddenly pop into the battle out of nowhere, everyone else in Shez's chosen army is caught off guard. By the time of their third encounter, your army's scouts have improved, and they're able to warn you that Byleth will be on the battlefield fighting for the enemy and devise a battle plan around them this time.
• In each of the Golden Endings, it is said that while the war is still going on, the wording implies that your side is taking its final steps to claim victory. Meanwhile, in the Normal Endings, while your side may have the advantage, it is implied that the war is nowhere near done. This is due to the fact that Byleth always sides with the victorious party if you take the endings of Three Houses into account, with all four campaigns ending in total victory for their faction. The same applies with the Golden Endings in Three Hopes; Shez may be a talented mercenary, but having Byleth the Ashen Demon, and Jeralt the Blade Breaker on your faction's side means that you have the strongest mercenaries in Fódlan, meaning victory is all but assured.
• The way Divine Pulse is used in this game as opposed to Three Houses is actually telling of Byleth's priorities. In Three Houses, Divine Pulse is used to pull back time to an earlier state, primarily used so that Byleth can pull their students and friends out of danger. In Three Hopes it is clearly used to freeze time to make it appear as though they are warping around. The only person Byleth has is Jeralt who can clearly handle himself, thus Byleth and Sothis only use Divine Pulse as a means to further their offensive abilities. There's also the fact that the way they use Divine Pulse is similar to how Shez and Arval use their Shadowflash so it could be an unconscious response to that.
• On Azure Gleam, Byleth and Jeralt can't be recruited until later in the game (Chap. 12) than on Scarlet Blaze and Golden Wildfire (Chap. 10). In the other routes, Jeralt stresses that he's been trying to avoid direct contact with Rhea ever since he left the Knights of Seiros (for personal reasons that are elaborated on in Three Houses). The Adrestian Empire and the Leicester Alliance/Federation are both hostile toward the Central Church in Three Hopes for different reasons, and the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus chooses to shelter Rhea and the Knights of Seiros when the Empire takes over Garreg Mach Monastery. This means that while Jeralt is closest to Rhea on this route, you spend the least time overall with him and his merc group (three chapters, only one of which is a full-length chapter).

Arval and Epimenides

• Epimenides' wielding the Hero's Relic Hrotti without issue could make sense in a couple of clever ways. One would be that altering and enhancing themselves until they became some other type of being who can live on even if their physical body is destroyed could mean that he is no longer susceptible to the dangerous effects of Hero's Relics. On the other hand, if a human being a descendant of a creation of Sothis is a reason Hero's Relics transform/revert people, then as an Agarthan human Epimenides may never have been vulnerable to the backlash effect to begin with.
• In the secret chapters, when Shez talks about Arval being the voice inside their head, Edelgard and Claude are understandably confused, but Dimitri takes Shez's words seriously. Considering Dimitri admits that he hears the voices of the dead clamoring for revenge in his own head, it makes perfect sense for him not to doubt Shez.
• Unlike Edelgard and Claude, who think that Shez betrayed them when they get possessed by Epimenides in their respective routes, Dimitri immediately understands that Shez is not in control of their actions. Out of the three main Lords, Shez shares their fears of losing control only to Dimitri, so it makes sense that his first thoughts wouldn't be of betrayal.

Music

• While many were disappointed that "God Shattering Star" was not included in the game, it is perfectly understandable. While the theme is usually associated with Claude due to it being part of Verdant Wind's final boss theme, it's innately the leitmotif for Nemesis. "God Shattering Star" being absent from Three Hopes is because Nemesis doesn't appear in this timeline.
• The theme "Indomitable Will" sounds more heroic than its original version, and it always plays when you're facing Dimitri, who is not fighting to conquer (like Edelgard and Claude) but to defend his country. The theme sounds so heroic because you're facing the most heroic Lord of the three.
  • It also plays when you're defending Arianrhod from Edelgard in Azure Gleam, with Dimitri in charge of the army. The theme plays for you.
• The first time you fight Rhea during the Scarlet Blaze path, you hear "The Verge of Death", which is a boss theme usually associated with "those who slither in the dark" (and the Death Knight and Flame Emperor in Three Hopes' parent game). It also plays during when you fight Jeralt if you decide to confront Byleth during the pivotal battle of Part II. Why play this theme when Rhea (and by association, Jeralt) is one of Agartha's greatest enemies? It's not playing for them—it's playing for Shez, whose connections to "those who slither in the dark" (via the powers granted to them by Arval) mean that their revenge against Byleth is unknowingly playing right into the hands of the Agarthans, who seek to eliminate anyone with close ties to Sothis and the "children of the goddess".
  • Another detail on Jeralt's part. Any other time you fight him, "Wrath Strike" is playing, but in the recruitment chapters, "The Verge of Death" is playing instead. If the requirements to recruit Jeralt and Byleth aren't met, Jeralt will die after the battle with him. Meaning in this battle, he's on the verge of death. As will an ally unit via Byleth killing them in turn.

Other/Unsorted

• At first it seems strange that Holst, a member of a family known for having a super-powerful axe that only they can use, is a swordsman. The brilliance comes in when you see that he does not have a Crest, and would not be able to use said axe either way. Suddenly, his specialising in swords, a weapon that has an advantage against the axes wielded by the Wyvern Riders of Almyra, makes a lot more sense.
  • Also, the Wingthresher gets effective damage against flying units in general, making Holst doubly effective against Wyvern Riders.
• Despite his limited role, Myson pretty much confirms what he hinted at in the Three Houses paralogue that included him (and other members of his faction, including Epimenides himself, double down on it). Namely that when Sothis restored the devastated continent of Fódlan, she somehow also sired the humans who would come to populate it, perhaps altering them from creatures she made, or existing animals she found. Myson states that all of the humans aside from his own people (Agarthans) are descendants of a specific "beast" (one of the terms they use for Sothis and her kin, and Epimenides outright calls the people of Fódlan "the spawn of that abomination"). This is one reason why the Agarthans have such a hatred for the people of Fódlan - it is not simply that the people get to live on the surface, it is that to them they are kin to the Nabateans and Sothis herself. To them, the different origins of the humans of Fódlan mean they are indeed not actual humans, but entirely different beings (Epimenides outright calling the Agarthans this world's "true people"). This also meshes with Sothis' assertion to Byleth that she is the mother of all life in Fódlan (the Agarthans living under Fódlan would not be included in that).
• Koei Tecmo would help build a world that revolves around three major nations in a war to unify the continent. The world would first be adapted in a Turn-Based Strategy game and then would be converted into a Hack and Slash game. Is this Three Houses and Three Hopes or is this Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Dynasty Warriors?
• Byleth's unique Silverheart and Enlightened One class allows them to imbue their sword with an element depending on their strong attack. These elements are fire, lightning, and light, the elemental spells that Byleth can use by default in both Three Hopes and Three Houses.
• In Azure Gleam, the minor lord Viscount Elidure openly speaks out against Dimitri's plan to bring Rhea into Faerghus after she is chased out of Garreg Mach by the Empire. While he is outed as an accomplice in Dimitri's father's assassination early on, Elidure's decision may also be influenced by his territory's proximity to the Western Church, who also oppose the Central Church due to doctrinal differences.
• Almyra's attack during the game seems odd considering they never did so in Three Houses to the same extent, but the different timelines provide a reason why it would actually seem like a valid plan: In Three Houses, despite some conflict going on, all the major players were pretty much healthy and at full strength. Had Almyra attacked, they'd have dealt with the Empire, Kingdom, Church, and Alliance all being pretty much healthy and at full power. In Three Hopes though, the Empire and Kingdom are either dealing with, or recovering from, a civil war that is leaving them unable to really focus on other things, and the Church is basically been reduced by two-thirds in order to help deal with the other nations. The game also makes a point that all three story events happen in a specific order: Edelgard goes to Enbarr with some church forces, followed by Dimitri heading home to deal with his uncle, then Almyra attacks. If not for Claude and the Golden Deer students returning home to lend their arms, it's plausible that the Alliance would have been pushed back by Almyran for the first time since the Locket was built.

Fridge Horror

• The idea that Kronya murdered or had Monica killed and then took her identity was already horrific enough as it is. Three Hopes lets us see Monica in the flesh, rather friendly and utterly loyal to Edelgard — and realize that Kronya studied the girl enough to fool everyone else, but didn't care to get all of the details just right like Monica's nickname for Edelgard, or even intentionally got it wrong just to rub it in Edelgard's face. So she was effectively gallivanting around as a sycophant to the one person that knows better than anyone else that she was all but wearing a dead friend's face for infiltration, and Edelgard had no choice but to shut up and roll with it due to her Enemy Mine.
• If one extrapolates Myson's words about their ancestry both in this game and in Three Houses, an added layer of horror is added to the Demonic Beast transformation humans in Fódlan can undergo. Myson calls it their "true nature" in Three Houses, and thus raises the possibility that in a sense the humans are not being changed into the draconic abominations, they are being reverted to whatever creatures Sothis created/birthed that became the humans of Fódlan.
  • More Brilliance than Horror, but it also adds another layer to Rhea's actions in Three Houses. If the current, non-Agarthan generations of humans were born of Sothis' blood/power, that would make them kin to the Nabateans, in some sense/however distantly it may be. As such, Rhea trying to revive Sothis isn't just a means to get her mother back - though she very much wants that - but also to ensure that their kin can thrive as well, while desperately avoiding another Red Canyon tragedy.
• During the Mercenary Complications Paralogue, a group of mercenaries (though their behavior and reputation is closer to bandits in practice, as Shez notes) is sent by a rich and powerful woman to capture Shamir, the woman having employed her in the past and taken an "interest" in her, an obsessive and lecherous interest at that. When facing him, the leader of the group (who already has a grudge against Shamir) says something about Shamir becoming his boss' plaything. And after the battle, Shamir will explain a bit more about the cause of all this. Cue her saying, in her words, "If someone isn't interested, move on" with a zoom in on her chest. Make the connection yourself.
  • While Leonie doesn't have a clue, Shez is shown to know what Shamir's talking about.
• The fact things get worse (due to incomplete things, it's mainly informed on Azure Gleam and Golden Wildfire) when you go for revenge is a reflection of you (as Shez) perpetuating the cycle of revenge and doing a worse version of what happened to Shez.
• In Golden Wildfire, it is possible to kill Rhea as Byleth. After Zaharas, when Sothis has her full memory back. Meaning you can effectively force her to watch as her daughter dies, helpless to stop it.
  • An alternative possibility is that Sothis is fully aware of Rhea, and is entirely willing to grant Byleth the power to kill her to support the cause of Claude/Edelgard much like in Crimson Flower.
  • The worst part is that in Golden Wildfire, Rhea has not gone mad or lost control of her draconic side. In her mad state in Crimson Flower, there was nothing that could have been done to save Rhea. Killing her was probably the most merciful thing that could have been done for her. But in Golden Wildfire, Sothis could have convinced Rhea to surrender quite easily. Claude, however, clearly had no intention of showing mercy.
• If we assume that killing Rhea on Golden Wildfire was contrary to Sothis’s wishes, at the very least the GW gang is in for a very unpleasant afterlife. And if Sothis gets more of her power back, Fódlan could potentially be in for a world of hurt.
• In Azure Gleam, it's entirely possible for Dimitri and the Blue Lions to kill Byleth, and the game mechanics encourage this with how late and difficult it is to get Byleth in this route, how will Rhea react should she learn Dimitri and the Blue Lions had incurred the wrath of the goddess and her mother?