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Players are expected to be familiar with Fire Emblem: Three Houses by the time they start Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. This is because of the in-game references that serve as callbacks to the original game. Three Hopes places a heavier focus on the three leads instead of their main protagonist, Shez, who doesn’t seem to have much personal conflict beyond the Ashen Demon and Arval’s origins. This led to some fans noticing unexplained parts of Three Hopes’ campaign mode.
6 Sothis
One of the most alarming changes from Three Houses to Three Hopes is Sothis and their relationship with Byleth. The connection between these two characters was explored in Three Houses and its DLC, Cindered Shadows. In Three Hopes, Sothis’ connection to Byleth isn’t explored in-detail because Byleth is not the main character this time around.
Returning fans will already know who Sothis is and why she has a connection with Byleth. Despite this, Sothis’ presence in the story completely vanishes if players are pursuing the true ending. In the bad ending, Byleth allows Sothis to control them in order to help exact revenge on Shez for killing Jeralt. This could be in part to the game focusing more on Shez and Arval rather than Byleth and Sothis. However, the fact Sothis and Byleth did have a few one-on-one Events prior to Byleth joining (True Ending) is what makes this particularly confusing.
Sothis makes her first appearance in the cutscene “Sothis” through Byleth’s body. This is followed by an Event in which she introduces herself to Byleth as “the beginning.” Sothis appears to have all her memories intact and even refers to Byleth as her vessel, which is something she didn’t realize until more than halfway into White Clouds/the Academy Phase.
5 Azure Gleam: Ferdinand and Hubert
Ferdinand von Aegir and Hubert are the self-proclaimed (at least on Ferdinand’s part) “Twin Jewels of the Empire” who fight at Edelgard’s side. Three Hopes makes it impossible to recruit Ferdinand, which is a major change from Three Houses where he could join the Blue Lions or the Golden Deer. As always, Hubert remains loyal to Edelgard, but no one really expected Hubert to be recruitable when Three Hopes was first announced. Given their strong roles in the Scarlet Blaze route and even with Ferdinand serving as a major antagonist to Claude in Part 1 of Golden Wildfire, one would think both Ferdinand and Hubert wouldn’t be reduced to footnotes in Azure Gleam. Ironically, that is exactly what happens.
Towards the end of Part 1 of Azure Gleam, Edelgard falls under the control of Thales in Arianrhod. Players fought both Hubert and Ferdinand at Ailell and Arianrhod respectively, but they’re completely written out of the game after Chapter 9. Speaking to an NPC at camp will state they “disappeared from the Palace soon after [Duke Aegir was reappointed by Edelgard]”, but their fates are never explicitly identified. Some think Hubert was killed by Those Who Slither in the Dark while Ferdinand was put under house arrest so that he wouldn’t interfere with his father’s strict rulings. Whatever the case, it’s a huge mystery and a glaring plot hole for two fan-favorite characters. They aren’t the only units to be written off since Azure Gleam seems to have no trace of Leonie or Lysithea either.
4 Escaping Zahras
The chapter in the True Ending where Epimenides sends the three lords and Shez to Zahras was met with disappointment. While it did explain why Arval had reasons for wanting Shez to kill the Ashen Demon, it serves more of a level to use all three house leaders than anything else. In Zahras, the Shez and the lords must temporarily put aside their differences if they want to escape. However, the interaction between the characters may draw a few question marks for some fans. For one, Dimitri seems to show no hostility towards Edelgard for her army killing Ingrid and Sylvain on Scarlet Blaze.
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The major plot holes pop up in Azure Gleam: Edelgard’s brainwashing is magically cured once she’s in Zahras, and she doesn’t even show up in the Event that takes place after they’ve escaped. When Shez asks Dimitri if he wants to regroup with their allies or go after Edelgard, Dimitri chooses the former. In fact, they don’t seem too concerned, and Claude even mentions how she couldn’t “have gotten too far.” From a gameplay standpoint, this is so players can spend one last chapter training their army and building up last-minute Support points.
Story-wise, this is particularly jarring because it makes it look like Dimitri (and Claude) is waving off Edelgard and Thales, especially when he was so adamant about chasing them down prior.
3 Azure Gleam: Hegemon Husk
Hegemon Husk makes an appearance in the Unnatural Power cutscene where Thales uses a Crest Stone to utilize Edelgard’s two Crests and cause her transformation. After Dimitri blacks out, the scene shows Hegemon Edelgard attacking Arianrhod… and that’s the last Hegemon Edelgard is seen in the entire game. In fact, this version of Edelgard doesn’t show up in any of the other routes.
One would expect to fight the Hegemon Husk in Azure Gleam’s final battle to mirror Azure Moon in Three Houses. Instead, players fight a brainwashed Edelgard and Thales. Unlike Three Hopes, Edelgard willingly transforms into the Hegemon Husk in Three Houses in a last-ditch effort to defeat Dimitri. Hegemon Husk’s entire existence in Three Hopes seems to serve only as a cameo/callback to Three Houses.
2 Azure Gleam: Edelgard’s Fate
Edelgard stays mind-controlled for Part 2 of Azure Gleam (excluding the Epimenides chapter) and will even fight Dimitri’s army in the last battle. After defeating Thales, one would expect Edelgard’s brainwashing to be “cured,” but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. Edelgard’s mind has been reduced to that of a child, and the final cutscene has Dimitri leave Edelgard in the ruins of Garreg Mach. Her fate is left unknown, and the ending narration doesn’t even mention her.
Thus, Edelgard’s fate at the end of Azure Gleam remains one of Three Hopes’ biggest unresolved mysteries. In all fairness, the endings of Three Hopes make it clear that the war is not over, so there’s a possibility she does return to normal, but it obviously doesn’t happen on-screen.
1 Golden Wildfire: Almyran Royal Family
The Almyrans serve as a thorn in the Alliance’s side - particularly for House Goneril. At the end of the prologue (Golden Wildfire), Claude and the Golden Deer are sent to push back against an Almyran raid at Fodlan’s Locket. It’s here where players first see one of Claude’s many relatives, Shahid. When Three Hopes was first announced, the blurb for Golden Wildfire implied that Claude would be fighting Almyra to stop them from raiding Fodlan. This gave hope to some fans that more of Almyra itself would be explored. Unfortunately, this ended up not being the case.
Shahid makes one last appearance at the end of Part 1 (Golden Wildfire) and is killed off by Claude. For whatever reason, this magically stops further invasions from the Almyrans, and Part 2 unfolds similarly to Scarlet Blaze and Azure Gleam. Considering Shahid’s relationship to Claude, wouldn’t it make sense for the Almyran army to send more troops into Fodlan to avenge their would-be king? Claude’s goal instead shifts to uprooting the Central Church and stripping it of its power in order to end the war. Meanwhile, Almyra goes on existing somewhere in the background.
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