History WhamEpisode / FireEmblem

* Chapter 9: [[Phila, the commander of Ylisse's Pegasus knights, is killed by the Risen Archers alongside her troops in an attempt to rescue Emmeryn from execution, and as a result, Robin's rescue plan fails. Emmeryn thus sacrifices her life to save Chrom from having to trade the Fire Emblem to Plegia to secure her release, leaving so many people devastated, including her brother and her sister.]]

* Chapter 9: [[spoiler:Emmeryn sacrifices herself to save Chrom from having to trade the Fire Emblem to Plegia to secure her release.]]
* Chapter 10 counts as even more of one, as the Plegians who saw [[spoiler:Emmeryn's sacrifice]] don't want to fight anymore, and even their general wants to try to solve this peacefully, knowing full well it's far too late for that. Said general must fight anyways for his family, and his soldiers now only fight for him, and not their king. Couple that scenario with music like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o8NHjkGO5o this]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWO4ff1HXYY this]] right at the start and you have Grade-A Wham Episode material.

* Chapter 18, Ephraim's Route (moreso if the player has already completed Eirika's): Unlike on Eirika's route, where Lyon is wholly innocent and it's a bog-standard DemonicPossession plot, here Lyon reveals that he let the Demon King possess him ''willingly'', and ''fought off the possession'', meaning [[NotBrainwashed he was in control of his actions all along]] and is himself the BigBad, rather than the Demon King. [[WellIntentionedExtremist He plans to use the Demon King's power to help the world.]]

* In the aftermath of Chapter 10, the Fell Dragon Sombron is revived, and Veyle, the girl Alear helped out in Firene, turns out to be his daughter. They steal and corrupt the six Emblem Rings and the Time Crystal, temporarily robbing the player of the game's major mechanic and forcing Alear's army to flee southward to the Queendom of Solm as the [[EliteFour Four Hounds]] give chase. It takes [[spoiler:Ivy pulling a HeelFaceTurn and providing the army with two of Elusia's other Emblem Rings]] to give the heroes hope and a chance to retreat and regroup.

* In the aftermath of Chapter 10, the Fell Dragon Sombron is revived, and Veyle, the girl Alear helped out in Firene, turns out to be his daughter. They steal and corrupt the six Emblem Rings and the Time Crystal, temporarily robbing the player of the game's major mechanic and forcing Alear's army to flee southward to the Queendom of Solm as the [[EliteFour Four Hounds]] give chase. It takes [[spoiler:Ivy pulling a HeelFaceTurn and providing the army with one of Elusia's other Emblem Rings]] to give the heroes hope and a chance to retreat and regroup.

* Chapter 9 of: [[spoiler:Emmeryn sacrifices herself to save Chrom from having to trade the Fire Emblem to Plegia to secure her release.]]
* Chapter 10 of counts as even more of one, as the Plegians who saw [[spoiler:Emmeryn's sacrifice]] don't want to fight anymore, and even their general wants to try to solve this peacefully, knowing full well it's far too late for that. Said general must fight anyways for his family, and his soldiers now only fight for him, and not their king. Couple that scenario with music like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o8NHjkGO5o this]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWO4ff1HXYY this]] right at the start and you have Grade-A Wham Episode material.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'':
** Chapter 5 of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar''. Sigurd is escorted to the capital of Grandbell, ostensibly to be cleared of all treason charges, but Arvis reveals that he has married Sigurd's kidnapped and amnesiac wife Deirdre, and orders his execution. Cue TotalPartyKill and TheHeroDies, end of part 1, begin part 2 starring his son Seliph.
** The end of Chapter 27 of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade''. An Ice Dragon appears out of nowhere and Eliwood's newly-acquired InfinityPlusOneSword moves his body on its own to kill it, only for Nergal to show up and reveal this Ice Dragon was ''Ninian''.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' has a few:
*** Chapter 14, Eirika's Route: Joshua is the prince of Jehanna, and his mother dies.
*** Chapter 14, Ephraim's Route: Emperor Vigarde isn't merely NotHimself, he was DeadAllAlong, and the true mastermind of the war is Lyon.
*** Chapter 17, both routes: Lyon is possessed by the Demon King.
*** Chapter 18, Ephraim's Route (moreso if the player has already completed Eirika's): Unlike on Eirika's route, where Lyon is wholly innocent and it's a bog-standard DemonicPossession plot, here Lyon reveals that he let the Demon King possess him ''willingly'', and ''fought off the possession'', meaning [[NotBrainwashed he was in control of his actions all along]] and is himself the BigBad, rather than the Demon King. [[WellIntentionedExtremist He plans to use the Demon King's power to help the world.]]
** The end of Chapter 19 of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', where Volke is revealed to have been hired by Ike's father all along, and reveals the real story of what happened to Ike's mother: Ike's father killed her when he accidentally touched Lehran's Medallion and went insane, afterwards he cut his own arm so he could never wield a sword again. Volke's true identity is an ''assassin'' hired by Ike's father to kill him if he ever went mad again.
** The end of Part 3 and the beginning of Part 4 of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', where the goddess sealed inside the medallion is released, most of the world's population is turned to stone and TheReveal that the sealed goddess was actually GoodAllAlong and the real enemy is the goddess everyone ''thought'' was the good one. Cue plot shift from continent-spanning war to fighting a ''god''.
** Chapter 9 of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'': [[spoiler:Emmeryn sacrifices herself to save Chrom from having to trade the Fire Emblem to Plegia to secure her release.]]
*** Chapter 10 of the same game counts as even more of one, as the Plegians who saw [[spoiler:Emmeryn's sacrifice]] don't want to fight anymore, and even their general wants to try to solve this peacefully, knowing full well it's far too late for that. Said general must fight anyways for his family, and his soldiers now only fight for him, and not their king. Couple that scenario with music like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o8NHjkGO5o this]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWO4ff1HXYY this]] right at the start and you have Grade-A Wham Episode material.
*** Chapter 13 almost seems to be trying to set some kind of record for most [[TheReveal Reveals]] dropped at once. [[spoiler:Plegia has a hierophant who looks identical to the Avatar and has the same name, and [[BigBad Validar]] reveals himself as the Avatar's father and that the Avatar was born to be a vessel for the Fell Dragon Grima. At the chapter's end, "Marth" reveals ''her''self to be Lucina, Chrom's KidFromTheFuture, who has travelled back in time from a BadFuture where Grima was revived and wiped out humanity, in order to change history. The sudden reveal of TimeTravel elements drastically changes the rest of the story and even gameplay.]]
*** Chapter 21: [[spoiler:The Avatar was the cause of the BadFuture, and Lucina plans to kill them to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong, but is talked out of it by Chrom (or is unable to go through with it if the Avatar is her mother or husband).]]
*** Chapter 23: [[spoiler:Validar isn't as good a schemer as he thought, as it turns out Basilio [[FakingTheDead faked his death]] earlier in the game and replaced one of the gemstones in the Fire Emblem with a fake, preventing him from resurrecting Grima. BUT at the end of the chapter the hierophant appears again and is revealed to be the Avatar from the BadFuture timeline possessed by Grima, and completes the ritual himself.]]
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'':
*** All routes, Chapter 5: Mikoto is killed using the sword Corrin brought to Hoshido, kickstarting the war and Corrin's [[BigFirstChoice big choice]].
*** ''Birthright'', Chapter 17: Flora was leading the army into a trap all along [[spoiler:and kills herself after being defeated.]]
*** ''Birthright'', Chapter 26: [[spoiler:Elise takes the blow meant for Corrin and dies, causing Xander to pull a SuicideByCop.]]
*** ''Conquest'' Chapter 15: Garon is DeadAllAlong and the Garon we know is a monster.
*** ''Conquest'' Chapter 25: [[spoiler:Ryoma commits seppuku rather than see Corrin die for disobeying Garon.]]
*** ''Conquest'' Chapter 27: [[spoiler:The thought-to-be-dead Takumi attacks Corrin, hell-bent on destroying him/her and Nohr. Azura realizes whatever was behind Garon the monster is keeping Takumi's body alive.]]
*** ''Revelation'' Chapter 7: The hidden kingdom of Valla is behind the whole war, and is ruled by the Silent Dragon Anankos.
*** ''Revelation'' Chapter 22: The mysterious woman working for Anankos is Azura's mother Arete, trapped under Anankos's control.
*** ''Revelation'' Chapter 24: Anankos has resurrected and is now controlling Mikoto as well.
*** Hidden Truths DLC: Anankos is a TragicVillain and Corrin's real father.
*** Heirs of Fate Chapter 4: The Hoshidan children and Female Kana come from a timeline where ''Birthright'' happened, and the Nohrian children and Male Kana come from a timeline where ''Conquest'' happened.
*** Heirs of Fate Chapter 5: Shigure, however, comes from a timeline where ''Revelation'' happened. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, everyone but him died fighting Anankos.]]
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses''
*** In a rarity for the series, a ''[[RelationshipValues Support Conversation]]'' manages to be one of these: Edelgard's C+ support with the PlayerCharacter. It starts innocent enough, before revealing that she was subject to brutal experimentation to awaken a Crest within her, and her other siblings were "sacrificed" for this purpose. She then reveals the results of the experiments: she bears a second Crest... the ''Crest of Flames'', the same one the protagonist possesses. Notably, viewing this conversation is required if you want to [[spoiler:side with her later on]].
*** Chapter 11, the second-to-last one before the TimeSkip, where the reveal of the Flame Emperor's identity throws ''everything'' into chaos. It's especially brutal on the Blue Lions route, where the DramaticUnmask comes via a pre-rendered cutscene, and [[spoiler:finding out his hated enemy is his childhood friend and step-sister causes Dimitri to GoMadFromTheRevelation]]. Furthermore, on the Black Eagles route, [[spoiler:this is the point where the story splits and you are offered a choice--join Edelgard in her war against the church or defend the church against her, Hubert, and the rest of the Empire.]]
*** The second battle of Gronder Field on the Azure Moon (Blue Lions) route becomes one when, after the battle, the younger sister of an Imperial general Byleth killed tries to assassinate Dimitri, resulting in Dimitri's ParentalSubstitute Rodrigue [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing himself]] to save Dimitri. This, and a heart-to-heart conversation with Byleth, helps Dimitri come to his senses and give up his quest for vengeance in order to redeem himself and liberate the Kingdom of Faerghus.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes'':
*** Part I of the Scarlet Blaze route ends with the Imperial army foiling an assassination attempt on Edelgard. All signs point to a [[TheMole mole]] in the palace tipping off the Knights of Seiros to her return, and the prime suspect, the former Duke Aegir (whom Edelgard deposed in the prologue to regain control of the Empire), escaped from his confinement.
*** Part I of the Azure Gleam route has Edelgard's initial gambit blow up spectacularly when a very irate Thales takes advantage of her loss at Arianrhod to bend her to his will and steal back control of the Adrestian Empire, right after [[spoiler:Edelgard tells Dimitri that Thales was responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur]].
*** Part I of the Golden Wildfire route sees the Alliance's victory against the Empire at Gronder Field get cut short when Shahid sends a massive army of Almyran soldiers to attack the border and avenge his loss from two years ago. After Claude defeats and kills Shahid, the Leicester Alliance convenes several months later and votes to disband and reform itself as a [[TheFederation federation]], with Claude as its leader and king.
*** The first major battle of Part II of the Golden Wildfire route has Claude [[spoiler:abandoning his new ally Randolph to use as bait so he can kill Catherine, one of the strongest members of the Knights of Seiros]]. ''[[WhatTheHellHero No one]]'' [[WhatTheHellHero is happy with Claude after this]], least of all [[spoiler:Randolph's little sister Fleche, who sics Jeralt's Mercenaries on Claude and the Leicester Federation army in the very next chapter after she learns of her brother's death]].
*** One chapter in Part II of each route [[spoiler:(Chapter 10 in Scarlet Blaze and Golden Wildfire, and Chapter 12 of Azure Gleam)]] has your enemy hiring Byleth to help stop your army in its tracks. After several lopsided beatdowns, you've finally become strong enough to turn the tables and beat them once and for all...[[spoiler:but if you do so, you're forced to kill Jeralt, which causes Byleth to go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and kill a character close to your lords in retaliation]].
*** And even if you [[spoiler:[[GuideDangIt follow a very specific strategy]] to avoid fighting Byleth and get them on your side]], Chapter 14 ends with [[spoiler:Arval (or the Agarthan deity Epimenides acting through Arval) [[WeaponWieldsYou hijacking your body]] and attempting to kill Byleth anyway, leading to a pair of missions where your army has to snap the protagonist out of their rampage, and then the three lords call a temporary ceasefire when they all get sucked into a parallel dimension and have to kill Epimenides and shadow clones of themselves and their [[NumberTwo retainers]] to return to their world]].