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moltz23 · 1 year ago

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Three Houses (& Warriors: Three Hopes) Trivia: That One Time 3 Stories Ended Without Solving its Loose Ends.

Of all the things people have spoken about Three Houses’ writing, if there’s something I honestly don’t see discussed often as a whole (aka not just in an individual basis), is that KT’s writers were chronically unable to tie up all loose ends with the stories they worked on: Crimson Flower, Azure Moon, and Verdant Wind’s (quick reminder Silver Snow was written by IS instead). This sentiment is even shared by one of the scenario writers involved with both Three Houses, and in the Warriors: Three Hopes spinoff:

Regarding [Warriors: Three Hopes’] Scarlet Blaze, Azure Gleam, and Golden Wildfire chapters, what was the tale you wanted to tell? Iwata: In order to make it a different experience from Three Houses, one of the scenario writers explained about wanting to depict the things that had been left unfinished in the main game. In Scarlet Blaze, it’s the battle against ‘Those Who Slither in the Dark’, in Azure Gleam it’s reaching the truth about ‘The Tragedy of Duscur’, and for Golden Wildfire it’s the appearance of a huge obstacle to Claude realizing his dreams.

In turn, the purpose of this post will be recapping briefly what each unfinished plot thread was about, if we catch glimpses of them in other stories, and how Warriors: Three Hopes decided to give them a proper conclusion.

Crimson Flower: the battle against “Those Who Slither In The Dark”

Forever immortalized as very sneaky plague doctor-looking fellas.

Byleth’s informed starting Part 2 of Crimson Flower that the Empire/Edelgard has teamed up with “those who slither in the dark” for practical reasons in the fight against the Church (mainly, for their manpower and assets), and that the group’s expected to be next on the chopping block once they’re no longer needed.

As the main campaign goes on, the Agathans are treated as an “Elephant in the Room” sort of deal - being brought up only by a few select individuals when the situation calls for it - all while Edelgard and co. are monitoring their movements. Thales/Arundel tries subverting this in at least 2 different instances (Hubert’s paralogue and, most notably, in Chapter 16), but for one reason or another, the situation never escalates further.

The group’s seen one last time just before the final battle, as Edelgard and Thales have a small chat where both agree to keep their team-up going for a little longer once the war’s over. And after the main story’s done, the Empire’s fight vs TWSITD is mentioned in passing during the Epilogue cutscene, multiple paired and solo endings, and even one S-Support, all while confirming the group’s demise sometime later after a certain “Battle of Shambhala”.

Do we get glimpses of it in other routes?

Kinda? Even though the exact circumstances described in CF never take place anywhere else, we see Shambhala being invaded by Byleth and co. in two other routes: Silver Snow (the other other story branch of Black Eagles), and Verdant Wind (Claude’s story).

The main reason this happens in these storylines is thanks to a post-mortem request from Hubert, who was previously aware a certain Imperial fortress would get bombarded by them ahead of time, and determined (somehow) that the missiles’ origins can be traced back to a location believed to be the slitherers’ HQs.

In these 2 stories, the battle against TWSITD is solved in only one chapter, and the main narrative purpose it fulfills is to set up the real, actual final boss of the story (oh and also kill Rhea in Verdant Wind).

How did Warriors: Three Hopes tackle this loose end?

By axing Edelgard’s team up with the Agathans outright as early as possible, which shakes the entire foundation of the story given how much agency Edelgard’s actions hold over the plot. This is very important because the fact neither the Empire nor TWISTD are bound to work together for a common goal allows both sides to properly fight each other openly while the story unravels.

The way the story’s foundation is shaken is also quite important too, as its done by forcing Edelgard and Hubert to assume a very active role in the story against the slitherers which is never seen in 3H’s story besides CF’s Ch. 16, possible only through a one-in-a-million-chance that cannot happen in Three Houses: having Kostas die vs the House Leaders near Remire Village, everyone never meeting Byleth, and having Jeritza become Garreg Mach’s 3rd professor like Edelgard intended.

As you might have noticed by now however, the one big caveat Scarlet Blaze’s exploration of this story thread has is that the conflict shown in it, due to the involved circumstances, will never be the same as the one described in Crimson Flower’s. In hindsight however, given Edelgard’s battle vs the Agarthans in CF is heavily hinted to be anticlimactic and nowhere near as challenging compared to Three Hopes’ timeline (mainly thanks to her having already neutralized all other threats to the Empire by then), I dare say this change might’ve been for the best.

Azure Moon: Reaching the truth about the “Tragedy of Duscur”

This is a pretty cool CG tbh.

Blue Lions gives you many glimpses of the Tragedy of Duscur pre-timeskip. Most notably, Chapter 8 reveals Dimitri is in Garreg Mach mainly to find and get revenge on its culprits, and Chapter 10 shows how he finds out the slitherers’ were involved in the tragedy… right before Dimitri becomes convinced Edelgard was the mastermind of the event and the plot point is derailed completely for a while.

Some time later, it returns in full force during Ch. 17, where an exchange Rodrigue has with Gilbert reveals the body of Dimitri’s stepmother - Patricia/Anselma - was never found in spite of being one of the alleged victims. Then in Ch 18, Cornelia/Cleobulus as a last act of spite reveals to Dimitri that Patricia conspired to make the tragedy happen just to “see Edelgard again”. In Ch. 19, Dimitri tries to get answers from a dying Lord Arundel/Thales - whom he long since suspected to have been part of it - but fails to make him speak. In late Ch. 20/early Ch 21, it’s shown Margrave Gautier found out Viscount Kleiman’s involvement on the Tragedy, and the interrogation of one of his servants reveals not only the dude thinks he did what was best for the kingdom, but also that Patricia was allowed to escape unharmed.

And then the story ends, leaving the mystery hanging. If you bought the DLC, Dimitri & Hapi’s support chain reveals Cleobulus tricked Anselma into believing she couldn’t see Edelgard again due to Dimitri’s father, and essentially emotionally tortured the woman for +5 years until Anselma *cracked* and became a willing participant. Their paired ending also mentions they later worked on to expose TWSITD and the other culprits of the tragedy. Whatever was found in that investigation, it’s ultimately left unrevealed.

Do we get glimpses of it in other routes?

Mostly no. The tragedy is briefly discussed in Ch. 3 of Black Eagles and Golden Deer, but it never goes on beyond what happened and who died. And the circumstances in which Dimitri becomes so hell-bent on killing Edelgard are never ever shown to the player.

Crimson Flower meanwhile, not only confirms Arundel/Thales was 100% involved in it during Ch.17, if that chapter’s main story mission plays in a certain way, Dimitri in his dying speech of hate towards Edelgard will say the following:

Edelgard! You... I will kill you! You will know the regret of my father, who was killed for you! Of my stepmother, who was slain by her own daughter! You will bow your head before all of the lives you trampled for your ideals before you die in misery!

How did Warriors: Three Hopes tackle this loose end?

First, by focusing on the Kingdom politics during the first half of the story. It starts with Rufus (Dimitri’s uncle) launching a surprise coup in the Kingdom - for reasons irrelevant to the story - under the pretext of undermining House Fraldarius’s attempts to use Dimitri as a puppet, all while the revealing he was the mastermind behind the Kingdom side of instigators. And it all snowballs from there while the mystery develops, because unlike Three Houses, Rufus’ involvement isn’t kept under wraps due to a good chunk of evidence going to the grave with him (non-CF), or because he’s sidelined to put more focus to Edelgard's war (CF).

Second, by gradually making Edelgard irrelevant in the story until her character has been effectively written out, the narrative allows the tragedy’s culprits to be the main antagonistic force of the story.

And third, through making the story one of revenge and bringing justice to the Tragedy’s victims, Dimitri in turn is kept in a middle state between his normal and his revenge-obsessed self to justify it, and this permits the plot to have Thales as a fitting final boss, given his status as the brains behind the Agarthan side of the instigators.

Verdant Wind: The obstacle to Claude’s dreams

Look at that dashing smile man.

Starting Part 2 of Verdant Wind, it’s revealed Claude’s dream is one of a world without discrimination and prejudice. And for that, he sees the idea of an unified land, of tearing down the world’s barriers, as a way to allow everyone to start anew, understand one another and realize we’re more different than we would like to admit. And while by the end of the story Claude’s goal for Fodlan is achieved, he never directly has to overcome some obstacle to accomplish it.

Even though Edelgard, the Empire and the Agarthans are clear-and-cut antagonists during VW’s story*, they’re overall quite divorced from Claude’s dream to directly oppose it*. Edelgard is only an enemy mainly due to the threat she poses to the Alliance, as her ideals are not really that different to Claude’s and even admits such. TWSITD meanwhile, are not that involved in the story besides the lategame of Part 1 & 2, and at their core they’re just a xenophobic hate group, meaning they threaten everyone equally.

So in the end, only one candidate remains which fits the ideological angle of obstacle, which Claude does bring up during the plot but never serves this role in spite of the build-up it gets during Part 1: the Church & Rhea. The main reason for it is simply due to Byleth becoming both the new Archbishop and Claude’s biggest supporter during Part 2 during Rhea’s absence, all while the plot forces Rhea to be not only be rescued so Claude can have someone who can answer all the questions he seeks about Fodlan’s mysteries (which is another plot point of the story), but also conveniently kills her offscreen in a sacrificial manner once all’s said and done.

Do we get glimpses of it in other routes?

Sort of, but nowhere near as openly as you would expect. In Crimson Flower, Claude says the following about what he would’ve done had he defeated Edelgard at Derdriu:

In all honesty, I was hoping to become a supreme ruler and lead Fódlan to peace myself. But... that won't be happening now.

Also, compared to how he acts with Edelgard in her route, Claude in Azure Moon is ominously adversarial towards Dimitri after being saved (even insisting he does not owe him any debt whatsoever), and even says the following:

I'm leaving Fódlan. There are things I have to do. Dreams I need to see to fruition. That's why I became the Alliance leader to begin with, actually. But it left me no time for what I was really after.

How did Warriors: Three Hopes tackle this loose end?

Simple; by having him actually clash with the Church (and also the Kingdom by proxy). The plot ensures such by introducing Shahid - Claude’s half-brother - for the purpose of: 1. preventing Claude from ever becoming invested in Fodlan’s past and mysteries, and; 2. from finishing his fight with the Empire.

Time to process what had just happened after Solon revealed himself in front of everyone? - WHOOPS Shahid is invading, so back to the Alliance Claude goes!

Time to invade the Empire proper after fighting them in Gronder Field? You bet- WHOOPS Shahid is at it again!

With both of these plot points aborted and, due to Claude & Edelgard shifting gears after some uneven success in their campaigns, both deciding to team-up finally allows Claude in the second half of this story to finally pick up a fight against someone whom can ideologically serve as an obstacle to the dream he yearns to see a reality. Because without any bonds nor close connections to someone with power in the Church - more so if they lack Rhea’s approval, her own biases be damned -, the reality is that the church is not gonna allow it.

Now that I’ve gone over all three plot points, I do think only one answer remains to be answered:

Why couldn’t all these 3 story threads be finished in Three Houses?

Anyone who’s been aware or has heard of Three Houses’ development cycle would probably answer this question with something like “Well, because the game was rushed, duh!”, but I believe there’s another possibility which explains the “why” from a narrative perspective.

Because these 3 plot threads are side plots.

I’m fully aware this is probably a very spicy take, but please bear with me for a second.

The ideas explored in them can be very intriguing, don’t get me wrong, but as Three Houses shows, it’s not easy to dwell on plot points which are not the driving force behind the main story:

In Crimson Flower, Edelgard needs to wage war on Fodlan to force the continent to change in the way she sees fit. Due to this, fighting TWSITD in the process when it’s made abundantly clear their assistance is needed, risks massively derailing the campaign in the process and also handicap her war efforts. In hindsight, Ch. 16 is more of a godsend than anything.

In Azure Moon, Dimitri must rise from the brink, reclaim Faerghus and oppose Edelgard to bring peace. However, solving the mystery of the Tragedy of Duscur, and thus force conflict with all of its instigators (which BL heavily hints many lie within Dimitri’s own Kingdom) isn’t a wise idea during times of war, more so given the main antagonist of the story played no actual role on the event.

In Verdant Wind, Claude must secure the Alliance’s future by opposing the Empire, and retrieve Rhea to have her spill all the lore-juice missing from his knowledge fountain. For this campaign he’s also openly allied with the Church in spite of his misgivings with its teachings and its old Archbishop, so the whole idea of opposing them during the story (when said church also wants to rescue that Archbishop) is just plain awkward.

Fascinatingly - and I noticed this just as I was writing all this text -, this situation is pretty much inverted in Warriors: Three Hopes. Unlike Three Houses, the 3 stories of the spinoff, in execution, use the war as a pretext to explore the plot threads left hanging in the routes KT worked on back in Three Houses. And because of this, the stories actually end once those plot points finally reach their resolution, in spite of the war being technically not over once that happens.

So…what do you all think? Do you think it was a wise choice to finally “finish” each plot point left hanging in a spinoff? Or should the devs have been given more time to figure things out back in 3H? I personally would like to see the 3H writers come back to some future entry, all but with the condition they’re given far more freedom with the stories as with Three Houses they were pretty clearly limited to a very specific set of structure and plot beats they had to follow (I even did a post about it like 2 weeks ago, for those interested).

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