A Critique on Fire Emblem Three Houses's Comically Evil Villains 

BIG CHONKER VIDEO INCOMING. So how about those Agarthans?! Another Fire Emblem Three Houses video, but this is a huge one about our favorite slithery baddies. Hope y'all enjoy the show. This took a lot of work to write and edit, so please leave a like and comment below your thoughts to help this video's ratings for the sick algorithm. Finally, if you haven't subscribed yet but this video has appeared in your feed, please do so! The channel JUST hit 92 000 subscribers. But we're still a ways away from the Play Button. Thanks!

For a game that's so big about nuances, perspective and morally ambiguous characters, the Agarthans REALLY stand out as stupidly evil. Their lore is the only thing I find interesting about them.

Props for surviving having to say 'Nemesis's' several times

The Agarthans as a whole are the very definition of the phrase "more than meets the eye". Their cartoonishly evil actions are but the first layer of one surprisingly huge yet legit intringuing (imo) iceberg.

Something I've found curious about the Agarthans is how we never see any civilians, while Kronya (supposedly the lowest in rank) is killed by one of her own in the name of the cause. For all they talk about how superior they are to the rest of life on Fodlan, how much or how little do they really value the lives of their fellows?

I've heard people say that Monica should have been a student of yours from the beginning, and that after she's taken with Flayn, her personality changes, but she's still a playable unit, until the moment she reveals herself as Kronya. I'm actually ok with how it goes in game (that's really sad 😭) but I do think that would have been a really interesting way to go about it. And it would fix the problem you talk about at the end!

Is it just me or are Fire Emblem antagonists either really interesting or really comically and obviously evil? No middle ground.

Personally, I like portraying Odesses, (the Agarthan leader during VW’s final battle), as a guy who is frustrated and disgusted by Thales’ actions and experiments, but only follows along out of concern for his fellow Agarthans. Though that’s just headcannon/fan fiction based on they guy’s two lines of dialogue.

Given how Age of Calamity gave us more interactions with the Yiga Clan and even had them defect to our side in the story, I can see the devs for 3 Hopes trying something similar with the Agarthans. I doubt they will do a full face turn since THEY ARE the main enemy in Fodlan but perhaps we might get a new Agarthan character that gives us a more median perspective of their kind beyond just being evil and arrogant. Who knows, perhaps the new character they showed Byleth fighting will be such an Agarthan that will take on a more Camus or Mustafa-esque role for their faction.

I recall my first time playing AM and being really confused about the slitherers falling off the face of the planet after being set up as major villains before the time skip. The whole time, I was expecting Thales to return, little knowing I had already killed him! Then, in the final map, I wondered why some random evil mage showed up instead of the leader of the slitherers! Not to mention, it's the only route where they aren't explicitly killed off, so who knows what they might do in the future

Despite being the main string pullers lore-wise, I feel like development-wise the Slitherers were added kinda late. It explains their lack of characters, the illogical choices, and the inconsistent plot participation. It is like IS took all of the potentially complicating lore elements like the Tragedy of Duscar, the child experiments, and the relics and slapped the Slitherers on them to make them the cut-and-dry villains. Maybe the initially intended for there to be a golden route? Because those three aforementioned lore elements would have been more interesting if perpetrated or at least instigated by the three main factions themselves.

my own personal belief is a bit of a massive reach but here's my theory on the Slithers: My theory is that the first conflict between the Nabataens and Agarthans was also an Agarthan civil war. It's extraordinarily unlikely that an entire race of people would see attempted genocide, even as retaliation in-kind, as an acceptable resolution to their conflict. As such, those Agarthans who dissentted may very well have sided with the Nabataens. We notably only know of 2 explicitly named races of sentient humanoids in Fodlan: Nabataens and Agarthans and surface dwelling people are categorized based on nationality, i.e. Adrestian, Duscur, etc. The reason then, why we don't see any "good" Agarthans, is that all the characters we know of as "Agarthans" are explicitly those driven underground festering in their hatred for generations and warped physically after centuries underground, with any surface-dwelling Agarthans having long since discarded their former name for their race and simply going as "humans"

44:12 I think that Cornelia dies in Silver Snow and Verdant Wind anyways, except that we don't see her as Cornelia. I think that Bias, the Gremory that controls the Titanus robots in Shambhala, is the real identity of "Cornelia". So, in the routes where you raid Shambhala, you also end up killing Bias/"Cornelia" during gameplay, just without a dedicated cutscene.

My take: Solon was the best executed character of the dubstep molepeople faction.

Personally, The Agarthans are basically the Thabians if Duma hadn't destroyed the city. Everything about the story about Agartha and the rise and fall of Those Who Slither in the Dark sound a lot like the story of Thabes and its people. Both were founded in a collaboration between humans and dragons and both are stated to be advanced civilizations because of it. The difference is that Duma, fearing humanity's amassing power, led an army of Divine Dragons and destroyed the city for 3 days, and the survivors that fled would go on to spread the story about the city being brought down by their own hubris. Meanwhile, Sothis only got involved with the Agarthans once they declared war on her and the Nabateans. It's ironic in a way that Duma, whose actions are portrayed as bad, ended up ensuring something like TWSITD would never happen (the closest we get are the Grimleal but they worship a god rather than seek to kill beings like Naga and Grima). Sothis, on the other hand, is portrayed as good yet her actions in not only not stopping the Agarthas till it was too late but also not making sure they were all dead, resulted in the eventual story of Three Houses.

I don’t care if they’re “comically evil”; TWSITD’s history, mysteriousness, and competent manipulation of the continent over at least a thousand years makes them excellent villains imo. They don’t feel generically evil; they’re doing all this because they have a devout belief that they’re saving their world from the “beasts” that sent them underground. It’s a great representation of human hubris and arrogance dooming their entire civilization. Edit: Also, them being mere humans behind all that technology makes them more relatable in that we can put ourselves in their shoes and see things from their perspective. There’s no evil god or dragon to fell in this game, just endless wars on a continent long past its prime.

Dmitri's survival isn't a big deal imo. Assassination attempts are always horribly messy affairs. Look no further than the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand for an example here. It's very possible that Dmitri had run away from the main caravan to look at a bird or something, saw his father get beheaded from several hundred feet away, and then got saved by Gilbert. Or perhaps they killed someone else who was wrongly identified as Dmitri.

The problem of creating a lore based in lies and half-truths is that sometimes it can get hard to explain; but, I think you did a great job.

I think regard Thales’ use of the javelins you have to keep in mind the fact they view all surface humans as essentially beasts. While Thales acts polite to Edelgard as flame emperor a lot of the time, he sees her almost certainly like an unruly dog. Useful, but needing to be put in her place with force. He and his fellow Agarthans probably can’t even imagine the idea of these surface humans being anywhere near competent enough to actually threaten them except for Byleth, thanks to the Sothis thing. Hence, Edelgard murdering Cordelia is, in his mind, like when a pet misbehaves, and needs to be taught a lesson by it’s owner. Ignoring that, I think it would be cool to learn what exactly set off the conflict between the Agarthans and Nabaeateans

I think Kronya is a case where she showed up in the marketing, so people (myself included) assumed she would be around longer or more important to the plot.

While the Slitherers make good villain's in that love-to-hate sort of way, I think their addition was a mistake as it muddies the game's themes. In a story about three people doing what they think is right, each making sketchy decisions (the degree of which has been argued many times before), having a secret organization actually responsible for everything just feels like a copout. It gives Rhea/the church a better excuse to behave the way they do because their opposition is so much worse than them, and in a game begging you to question what a society with crests would look like, the Slitherers distract from the point by being behind some of the most sinister aspects of the world.

I wouldn't say Dimitri's survival is that weird, even if it wasn't intentional on the slitherers' part. As we've mentioned, their hubris is a common point of downfall for them, they probably thought "well, he's just a kid, we can leave him for last" and by the time they got to him either his crest awakened and he put up enough of a fight or Gilbert and reinforcements were already arriving on the scene, with the weakened Agarthans running out of time. Heck, maybe they dealt him a fatal blow and never expected him to survive, but Gilbert was there faster than any armor knight adjacent should be arriving anywhere. As for why let him live afterwards, well, they couldn't really make too big a move too quick lest they attract attention to themselves, plus whoever was still loyal to the previous king I think would do whatever they could to ensure the survival of the crown prince, so actually getting a chance at Dimitri would have been tough. It's not the strongest point narratively, by a long shot, but it's not really anything weak or stupid, I'd say it's just there

You know this video gave me a better appreceation for TWSITD. I previously hated them and wished they didn't exist. They were still missused but they seem cooler now, At least in the past before the start of the game.

My two favorite endings in FE (for the games I've been able to play) have been Awakening and Verdant Wind. Awakening has such good buildup to it. The scene where everyone calls out to Robin is fantastic, and a true reminder of the main theme of the game. Plus, this isn't a normal threat-- Grima is the size of a mountain, and it's up to you to decide how to truly end it all. And then VW is just so gosh darn ridiculous with going down into Area 51 and fighting mole people who have dubstep and nukes and then a grandpa zombie bandit lord with hardcore opera

I definitely agree with the missed opportunity of not including an Agarthan you could recruit. I initially thought one of the dlc characters would fill that void, especially since some of the main support conversations stress the whole "you can't paint everyone with the same brush" involving Duscur, and having an Agarthan that does not share the views of TwSitD would have expanded on that, instead of doubling down on "nah, the mole people are all unrepentant evil monsters! They don't count."

I'd have liked to see some route changes so that we could actually seen TWSITD as final villains on two routes. 1. What we got in SS should've instead been the canon ending of Cindered Shadows, so that all the house leaders and Rhea fail without Byleth. 2. SS should've had Cornelia poisoning Dimitri's mind throughout. Then he could survive or be revived after Talitean, and been a puppet king final boss of the route, with TWSITD rallying behind Cornelia after the fall of the empire. 3. CF could've had Edelgard work more with Alliance defectors led by Count Gloucester, instead of TWSITD. Then end after defeating Rhea with an actual ending against TWSITD.

Having videos like yours that break down how the story was told rather than just theorizing on top of it is really cool to see as someone who loves writing stories. Beyond the fire emblem bubble, I think this is some of the best content about stuff like this on youtube. Haven't touched three houses in a year or two but your videos always make for a great watch. Cheers!

About recruiting one of the slitherers, I think Kronya would've had the prefect chance in chapter 10. After being swallowed by the spell of Zahras, Byleth finds Kronya there as well, and you are given the choice to leave her there or to save and recruit her. I think she would've been willing to cooperate with us, as Solon, who she thought was her ally, just used her as a mere sacrifice for the spell moments before.

Maybe the real reason Thales nuked Arianrhod was so that Empire didn't reverse-engineer their tech. Since we know at the very least Cornelia had Titanus there.

Love these long videos! Time to get snacks! 🍿

Time to get the foods and drinks for this one.

You are seriously the man for making these deep dives

Thales is trurly dissapointing in the game. I find weird how this group manage to replace many famous figures without people noticing but were too lazy to look for Byleth's body in the cliff.

This is honestly one of the best and most in-depth videos on the FETH storyline. Thank you!

There are some TWSITD enemies in the final Throne Room Map on the Verdant Wind path that have names, and I've always wondered why they were given names and what the purpose of that is. Thanks for making this one!

Great video! I love your videos that give deep dives into FE lore because I forget so much of it when I actually play them lol

Once again, loved your video and all the thoughts that went through it ! Looking forward to the next one !

Keep up the videos Mr. Station been watching your vids for a long time love your content.

Thank you for making this video! I love TWSITD and I’m glad you went all in on analyzing them!

Being honest, one thing I always thought would've been nice would've been that Kronya, instead of being a psycho, was actually a character that acted more out of self-preservation, like, she acted as she did because it was in her best interest, because she knew that Agasthans don't tolerate failure, and as such, tried to go her mission the best as she could, and when she got ambushed in the forest, she grows frustrated instead of going full murderhobo, she had almost completed her mission, she could go back home, and now Byleth and their class want to take that chance away from her, so she lashes out, wanting them dead, not because of her being a psychopath, but because they are a nuisance to her and a risk to her safety. Not only that would make her more interesting and sympathetic, but also worthy of being a redeemed character that might join the group. I have two possible moments for that to happen, one is exactly after Byleth is caught in the spell Solon uses, and the other is as a paralogue in the war phase. If it was exactly after what happened with Solon, she would be in complete despair, she has lost her home, she has been betrayed, she has nothing else, and all she has left is to disappear in the spell she is in, with that in mind, a new map would appear, one made of darkness, with several places where you can light fires to see better, but acting more like a fog of war map if not done. Here there would be two ways of going about it, either follow the cry for help of Kronya, who is fighting against creatures made of pure darkness while she can't barely fight, since she is being overrun by the enemies, or leave without her. Leaving without her would be a lot easier, since she is getting many of the enemies busy and they haven't picked up on your presence except for the weaker versions that aren't a difficult enemy to deal with, but you will lose the ability to get her, and when you get to her, you will be able to save her by giving her the athame back, which will be a 1-2 range weapon now and has a might of 9 instead of 6, thanks to the spell that took them there having awakened the sleeping power of the athame (I always thought that for an agarthan weapon, the fact that it was worse than normal weapons was weird, and would synergize well with her keen intuition, being the only usable unit that can use it as her personal skill), since she lost it and that was why she wasn't able to fight back, and she was holding on with an iron sword (which will break if you don't help her soon enough). Once you get to her, she will ask you why you do it? She killed Byleth's father after all, but thinking that saying that will make you leave her behind in there (and also, not talking about it in there makes it a possible topic to talk in the support conversations), she stops saying it and says trying to convince you of helping her "Strength in numbers is our only way out I guess. If we want to survive, we might have to do this together." and both leave the place, while having to fight more of this creatures, that are starting to cause more trouble, and if you haven't lit the torches in the level, you don't see where they are coming from (this level would probably be a nightmare in the higher difficulties, so, I can see people leaving Kronya alone because of that, but, again, saving someone is more difficult than leaving them there, but even in that case, you would still get the athame). And if you make it to the end with her, she will say "I don't know why you came there, but thank you and... sorry about what happened outside.", refering at the fact that she killed Byleth's father and then, through the Sothis fusion thing, Byleth breaks from the spell and this time, Kronya is with him, and ready to defeat Solon, having a unique dialogue with him if they both fight, where she is furious with him for leaving her to die there, and he says that she has outlived her purpose, and he intends to fix that as soon as possible. If it was a paralogue, however, she would be spotted in the forest where she was defeated, but she wouldn't be recognized since people were only able to see a moving shadow and dead animals, and when you find her, she is honestly in a horrible state, she is completely berserk and not only attacks you, but also some beasts that are in the forest, that also attack her, but aren't much of a threat to her, since they are hitting from afar and she is dodging like crazy. She has been years in that spell, and you can see the effects that had on her mind, since she is freaking out all of the time, her hair is long and messed up, and the sting-like things in her suit have the tips broken, with one going so far as being ripped in the middle, and her stare is one of unbridled horror. Whatever was in that darkness really traumatized her, and since she had to fight tooth and nail to get out of there, maybe the way byleth got away weakened the spell enough for her to get out. And there would be a choice again, first defeat the beasts, which is necessary for her to join in that part, and then fight her, and if is Byleth the one who deals the finishing blow, there will be a choice like with Lysithia, where they can spare her now that she is no longer a threat, or exact their revenge against her for killing their father. Depending on which one it was, the dialogues in the support conversations would be different. In the first one, Kronya would be a lot more apologetic and trying to explain herself, as she sees that even though she was saved by Byleth, they look like they are still holding grudge over her past actions, and explains why they did what they did, talking about Agartha and who the agarthans are, and why she believed in their cause, but also felt so betrayed when Solon used her to cast the spell, while in the second one, her dialogue would be more of a sittuation where she realizes that she has nowhere to go now, and as such, tries to find a way to be of service to the rest of the group, because that's what she knows, that she is only appreciated when she is of use, and uses that mentality inside Byleth's army, something that makes Byleth furious, because at first he thinks that Kronya is acting like she can fix what she did with simple things like he thinks she is doing, but when she expreses why she does this in the A support, it's made clear that the reason why she does this is out of fear of abandonment, being left out again, while at the same time explaining what she saw in those who slither in the dark. This probably is too long of a comment, but felt like it could be an interesting way of looking at how a possible Kronya redemption might look if she wasn't a psychopath, but more of a grounded character.

I really like your part on dimitri's survival of duscae. Makes a lot of sense and showed me sth I wasn't aware of before

Amazing Video, I watched it all the way through. Since I only beat Blue Lions this has shown me a lot more about the games backstory overall 👍

The "modern" Agarthans were totally evil and irredeemably so, but they didn't start out that way and their descent into evil actually makes a whole lot of sense. To begin with, there is one undeniable fact about Sothis: She is an invader. Fodlan was already populated by people when she decided to set up shop. While she may have been benevolent, a dictator is still a dictator. Think of it as your mom showing up to your house one day and then going back to treating you like a child, dictating your life and choices. That would get on even the most even-headed person's nerves. So the Argarthans eventually growing cold and hostile towards the Nabaateans and Sothis was pretty much inevitable, especially given that they were treated as lesser than the Nabaateans. After the war, they were forced underground, into exile. Now, here's the part that leads to their current incarnation: Resentment festers when everyone around you feels it. They are isolated from the world because revealing themselves would lead to their destruction. They blame the loss of their home on Sothis (semi-rightfully, she DID invade their home, but their actions resulted in their exile). Exiled people tend to hold grudges, and when everyone is holding that grudge, forgive and forget is kinda off the table. So their second attack on the Nabaateans results in the War of Heroes, where Nemesis falls and they are forced back into hiding. Not to mention, fellow humans decide to side with the remaining Nabaateans. This results in their hate towards them, referring to them as "beasts", seeing them as essentially trained animals doing Sothis's bidding. So, their loss of home, autonomy and subsequent perceived betrayal by the fellow humans, coupled with their long exile and isolation, leads to a VERY unhealthy outlook. So, even though they are comically evil, it's not unprecedented.

Something i have to point out: you forgot to mention their actions in the leicester alliance, since it's heavily implied that they are the ones who forged the document that divided the kingdom, which resulted in the creation of it and their aid in the assassination of claude's uncle with house gloucester

very interesting topic to talk about! been enjoying your videos keep up the great work!!

Another excellent video! I'm going to be thinking about Thales Acting In Unslithery Ways re: the CF nukes for a while... Still mourning the lack of a playable Shambhala visit on that route!

This video has provided me with a much needed perspective. Thank you.

Excellent analysis as usual, Ghast. I like Those Who Slither in the Dark in concept, but a bit less so in execution. I know they're not perfectly written, but bad guys that manipulate things from the shadows (and do it pretty well all things considered) are always fun to see. Plus the technological aspect of their culture is really interesting. Would be interested to see them expanded on in Three Hopes.

After Three Hopes came out, I was shocked to find out Thales existed during the battle between Nemesis and Serios.

Nemesis has to be by far my favorite final boss in a Fire Emblem game , he's just a generic Bandit leader just like the ones you fight at the start of every fire emblem game but he was given almost uncontestable power and the backing by an extremely powerful faction to essentially just wreak as much havoc as possible and did just that. There is no argument from him about his intentions he was hired to murder Sothis and did it, he was tasked to lead an army and commit genocide and did it, and when he was revived and kept in stasis for a thousand years his only desire was to take his undead army with him and kick the ass of the woman who killed him. In a game with dragons and mole people with magic ICBMs its really refreshing that the most influential character in the entire setting was just a really angry dude with a whip-sword.

After experiencing mobius from xenoblade 3, I can’t hate the villains of 3 houses like I use to. Also nobody can top how corny and evil for evil’s sake king Garon was.

I disagree on the note that the Javelins of light in Crimson flower were a mistake. Edelgarde is not afraid of Demonic beasts, and so they would not make her feel helpless. Demonic beasts can be spotted by scouts and information networks they are a threat you can fight. The Javelin of light being fired was supposed to demonstrate to Edelgarde that she couldn't fight the Agarthians lest they destroy any cities she controlled. On top of that though you have the fact that most demonic beasts at the time were likely committed to the war effort. Pulling assets in use out to try and intimidate Edelgarde would have set them back much farther than a single javelin of light.

How can you say they’re the most comically evil villains when King Garon is right there?

I’ve always assumed that Dimitri survived Duscar because Glenn kept him safe until Gilbert arrived. After that, Thales who wasn’t in the kingdom anymore, couldn’t assassinate Dimitri without revealing Duscar wasn’t a rebellion. Plus, Dimitri’s death would have made Rufus king, possibly causing him to pull his act together and make Faeghast a more stable empire and a larger threat to the slithers.

After watching your video, I realized how much I actually missed from the story of the TWSITD, although I played through all of the routes. Maybe a recruitable character from the TWSITD, like you proposed, would have made me appreciate them even more than I already did. What a shame they didn't do that...

Loved the video!

I love the videos that go so in-depth about FE3H lore. Maybe the 3 hopes game will go more into the history of TWSITD.

To be speculative I don’t think Sothis was oppressive generally speaking she’s shown to be good natured and her surviving descendants could be proof of that, the ones that we’ve seen anyway, two of the saints became hermits but are not bad people, they all have every reason to despise humanity and even if some view humans with some cynicism they’re not going around taking it out on them, Rhea seems to be the special case but in context the borderline insanity and desperation is not exactly unrealistic, and despite her many faults, she is still redeemable. So again to be speculative I assume the thing that caused the agarthans to instigate a war on that scale was something more primal, as stated within the game Nabateans had multiple settlements so the agarthans might’ve felt anxiety and fear over their people eventually becoming a minority, making Sothis and her people the objectively dominant group so they started a war in hopes of snuffing out the Nabatean flame before it becomes an inferno, and the whole thing could’ve been fanned even further by the agarthan’s religious sect that saw Sothis as a false deity and a usurper of their own god/gods. So honestly I very much agree that they should’ve shown a genuine exception to the rule in regards to agarthans, preferably in the form of a recruitable unit, as it is now we’ve seen little to no evidence that the agarthan survivors are anything but arrogant, sociopathic megalomaniacs that continue to be the main force behind the suffering of Fodlan’s people. I want to be optimistic about the spin-off’s story fleshing out the world of three houses more but then I’m reminded of age of calamity so I’d temper my expectations.

Thank you so much for the Solon defence man. I may be the biggest fan of the guy and he gets so overlooked for how he behaves towards Claude, and genuinely manages to be more memorable and successful than any of his peers. He deserves his title and man I hope he's somehow playable in Three Hopes :c #SolonSupremacy

There's an Overly Sarcastic Productions Trope Talk video about "pure evil," and how it gets a bad rap for being shallow, or (snrk) unrealistic, even though it has legitimate narrative uses. Even though it is indeed uncharacteristic of Fire Emblem games to employ the trope of antagonists (tertiary though they are) with zero redeeming qualities whatsoever, if anything all that does is make it a refreshing change of pace from the norm! All told, I have to agree with your conclusion that, while not perfect, this rare shot at it was indeed executed quite well.

Cornelia was quite a good minor antagonist considering she only really got 1 chapter of screen time, only missed opportunity was not showing us what her agarthan appearance was (aka cleobulus)

This video showed me that FETH story is deeper than what I thought. Maybe I didn't know much about it since I have only played azure moon route but I think I will be picking the game up again pretty soon

After Three Hopes, I can't help but feel that while Thales was the leader, Solon and Cordelia were the real brains of TWSITD. Especially since Anaximandros in particular complains that all Thales is good for is barking orders.

Suggestion: it would help a lot if, when introducing characters into the detailed explanations, you put a picture of the character up with their name written onscreen. I know that I had a lot of trouble keeping all the players separate. Just the name written down in correlation with the face would help a lot in recalling the events.

This video was really informative especially given how complex the agarthans’ lore is. If Three Hopes ends up being the Golden route then I may just consider that story as canon for the sake of simplicity.

I think what I like most about TWSITD is how much they affect the main cast, mostly edelgard and rhea. Like, thinking about how different things could have gone if edelgard knew the more, and for that, well done

Great video! Another theory I'd love to see is who the hell is the teacher who Byleth replaces at the beginning because I felt like that was never addressed again in the game.

sick content

I find the Agarthans really interesting, especially their lore. It's a shame that they are portrayed without any nuance outisde of history books and have very little spotlight overall. They could've made for much more memorable villains than they ended up being. An absolutely amazing video, I really appreciated the lore compilation. It's really hard to get all the lore on basically any character or or faction in the game due to its scattered and partially hidden nature, so I love your deep dive with all my heart. Thank you so much!

It's a shame that the first Argathan who reveals themselves is the only one who was putting in the effort of maintaining their cover, not just shapeshifting and calling it a day.

46:00 Dont forget the biggest influence of all, Saint Maira, who basically laid the foundation for the people of Jugdral to form their own revolt. (Tho tbf, the game doesn't mention him much either, since he's basically *the* Forgotten Hero. Only the guidebooks do like his connection to Bragi. & I haven't fully watched in case you brought something else up.) And the CH7 conversation really recontextualizes what could make so many Loptyrians end up like Manfroy. which IMO, does so much more to help humanize a group than just knowing a good individual, even if it asks more from the reader.

Solon: Underrated. Pretty good villain. I personally wish we could have snuck in one more fight with him in the story. Maybe during the monster chapter. Thales: Lame. Don't find him interesting or entertaining. I've seen more than one blind playthrough confuse him with Solon which says alot about his memorability lol. Kronya: Wasted potentinal. Didn't get enough screen time. Cornelia: Traded in an interesting or entertaining personality for a bigger chest. Feels like devs realized they wasted their first female Agarthan so they added another one. I also hate that we never see her Agarthan/True form.

I wished we had more interesting key Agarthan players in 3 houses. Solon villain-wise was the best one and most interesting, Cornelia being second, Thales would be 3rd being a hit or miss (depending on the route) and finally Kronya being the weakest/least interesting Agarthan. I really would've loved to see an Agarthan character as a Bow Knight wielding a regalia bow that's sorta similar like the Oliphantier class from Echoes. However, this one was responsible for the death of Duke Oswald's heir, or having an active role during the massacre in Duscur.

And then we get Engage which has a story analysis that could be summed up as: "Fell Dragon bad, kill it."

This video is wonderfully made! I always hated that this game had so much lore in the background yet we were forced to take part in some unnecessary war. They should’ve given us more cutscenes or something! The fact that dimitri and edelgard’s arc end without them getting revenge was so stupid to me. I hope the sequel coming out answers more questions because there is so much lore and world building, left on the table.

I can tell just by the gameplay segments this video took a loooooooooong time to make

You know, it will be interesting to see if we get any new interesting lore in FE: Three Hopes. Even if it's an alt universe, Like Age of Calamity, all of the lore up to the point divergence should be the same. On Pan, random theory I just had is that he isn't an Agarthan, he's actually the tactician from FE7, Blazing Sword. You know, the one that showed up helped Lin and Eliwood and then just vanished without a trace? There's literally no evidence for this, and Pan is probably an Agarthan plant like you suggested, it's an interesting idea.

I find the Agarthans interesting because they are Fire Emblem's most accurate portrayal of Nazis and other fascist groups, and if you view them as a death/magitech cult that barely understands how its own tech works and is so lost in its own propaganda, then their actions make more sense. EDIT: About Thales and his interception of Byleth's strike, I always viewed it not as him negating DP, but rather him having a ripple-effect proof memory and being aware that Byleth was going to try and intercept Monica this time.

Love That Video

Great vid. I hope 3 hopes fills in these plot holes

When the Ashen Wolves DLC was announced I hoped they were Agarthans, I wanted to know more about them since we know so little.

The Agarthans are the best example in the game of the scenario writers' inability to properly write mystery and intrigue. A mystery is useless as a device if there's no reveal, and there are very few reveals in the game. If a mystery isn't revealed, it's not really a mystery. It's just missing information. The writers somehow thought that simply not telling the player things was a good way to create intrigue, but it isn't. At a certain point players just stop caring, because if they'll never find out, then it's not worth it to think about. It makes it seem like we're just not supposed to care about the Agarthans at all, and while I don't think that was really the original intent, it's the way I think most players feel. They might matter, but the game doesn't want to make them matter by actually telling us about them.

My largest issue with the Agarthans is that they serve no narrative purpose. It feels that Kusakihara decided mid-way into the story: "Massacres? War? Famine? No! People can't do that! But these guys can!". They are a scapegoat for all of the evils in modern Fodlan, which drives me mad. There are nations and peoples driven to murder each other for little more than the chance they do not retaliate in a losing war. Are we to believe that they do not exist in Fodlan? I like the description of Hubert's feat at 37:27 - the "in some unexplainable way". For a quick detail: These missiles are not shot. They are dropped. They lack fire to propel them, and are guided upon entry. Considering that Agartha, prior to her first war, had skyscrapers, it is not unimaginable to assert that these are not missiles that are launched; they are orbital missiles that are dropped and guided. Hubert's feat of not only tracking them, but *discovering* Agartha's location is literally an impossible act made possible by him achieving limited Theosis. So, it is not the stupidest thing Arundel could do; it is made silly because there is, quite literally, no way that Hubert could have found the base, but he did anyway. I think the purpose of the missile is two-fold. If we are under the impression that Hubert cannot channel Sothis, then it was likely done for intimidation, but also to prove something. Edelgard is their current savior. However, that knowledge of Crest experimentation is done. Everything they are working toward can, as far as Agartha cares, can be swept under the rug and forgotten, like most of Fodlan's history. Agartha have the technology and research now to do as they please. However, when Hubert channels an intellect greater than Thales of Miletus, the story falls apart. It goes from being a clever tactic to stupid.

Galaxy Brain: Dimitri did die and was replaced by an agarthan per Talus's plan, but at some point, he got bumped on the head and forgot. The psychosis is caused by the split between his assumed identity and his initial slitherer identity, *brain tap*

I like the Agarthans because, like you showed, they do have unique and interesting lore about who they are and why they exist. However, I don't like them overall because, just like Fates, they're an easy way out: Another exclusively chaotic evil faction pulling all the strings, when the writers could have used that time to develop the stories of all four routes further.

Those moles may be cartoonishly evil but damn if they dont have some good lore.

I don't mind the Agarthans as villains, they are the reason behind some of Fodlan's most significant historical event. I do feel that they don't have much in the way of story but maybe it is that way for a reason in the story. This is a shadow organization that loves to keep their hands close to their chest and only reveal what they are planning when they feel they have secured ultimate victory. Their hubris is their main weakness, they loose by underestimating how strong the warriors of Fodlan are and by revealing that hand not knowing that doing so allows the heroes the ability to change how they approach any situation with them.

Personally, I don't mind the Agarthans being objectively evil. We already have the sympathetic, morally grey antagonist with Edelgard (or Rhea, depending on which way you go). Not every villain needs to have some tragic backstory or even a valid argument. I guess if you wanted to add some nuance, there could be a way to kill off Thales and Cornelia right before or after the time skip and frame the war as their deaths being too late to stop the events they set in motion, highlighting their status as underlining cause for trouble and how even in death, they still cause misery to Fodlan.

Probably they couldn't kill Dimitri in the Tragedy of Duscur. He's a monster, after all.

Shouldve been a slitherer in the ashen wolves. Sneaked into the underground at least

There definitely should have been a paralogue post timeskip with Kronya. Like she was thrown out of the void spell in a completely random place when byleth breaks out and in those 5 years she's formed a splinter group of Agarthan bandits and hates TWSITD for the betrayal. The prologue can have the choice of killing her or recruiting her at the end. She could have supports with some specific people who have ties/history with TWSITD where most people hate her to start and then over the course of the supports you get to learn more of their side of the story.

"A slither who escaped shambhala and wanted to explore the outside world" - bro you just described my oc Also small thing (that honestly doesnt matter in the long run) about cornelia but she actually was replaced before the plague and the imposter caused the plague herself.

Hey, do you think we will see something more about the Agarthans in Three Hopes? I surelly hope so.

I do still find it amusing that you can sum this game's backstory as "molemen versus reptilians" :p

It should be noted that not all documents in the Shadow Library are genuine, and referring to the Agarthans as "Those Who Slither in the Dark" is a huge red flag, since that's very distinctly Hubert's name for them. Of course, that raises the question of why Hubert would introduce such a document and why Seteth would consign it instead of destroying it outright. It is also unclear why, in the proposed scenario, the rebels would even need more Relic-like weapons given that they actually held the originals, nor is it explained where such weapons would disappear to after the rebellion succeeds. People often forget that the war fell into a stalemate in CF for a reason. In the lore, the Relics are that strong. And there just being a stash of Crest stones in Faerghus actually makes sense, given that it was Nemesis's land during the War of Heroes, so it's entirely possible he got some loot hidden away that wasn't expropriated properly be the Church in the aftermath, especially given that the Empire didn't achieve total victory in that war. Also, the fact that neo-Agarthans constantly have to work through human interests while being so cartoonishly evil leads me to believe the story would be better off without them, with all parties having full agency. The absolute latest moment when neo-Agarthans legitimately contributed to the plot was with propping up Nemesis, and there would've actually been no difference in the course of everything else if they got wiped out by Seiros then and there. If anything, Edelgard's C support hints that Duke Aegir was at least somewhat informed of the Crest experiments, so it's not too outlandish to suggest that such works could've actually been done by Imperial researchers in secret, chasing the power and legitimizing influence of Crests with no actual regard for the superstitions of their divine origin. Playing Goddess, if you will. The neo-Agarthans aren't smart, they're just playing into an open goal, with the system Seiros inherited from Nemesis already predisposed towards working for their ends. They are terrible at infiltration to the point that Dimitri of all boars can see problems with their guises, but their technology is an outside context problem and shields them from proper scrutiny. Solon, while the best of the lot, still gives himself away for no purpose in Remire. The way things go so well for them makes it look like they're genius manipulators, but in reality they're just taking credit for the corruption inherent in the system, and their "grand plot" is really just a series of events that are only connected by Fodlan's broken feudalism and religion. People often argue that Edelgard misblames the Church for the neo-Agarthan misdeeds, but it is ultimately the Church that gives them such a solid base to work with. It also seems strange to me to take such an issue with the bombing of Arianrhod while glossing over the way Thales got caught completely off-guard on a low-priority mission in AM, to the point of the Javelins never launching in that route because the one guy who could launch them got punked so hard he forgot to teleport out. And Arianrhod isn't even the stupidest thing Thales does in CF. That would be him staying in Fhirdiad to watch the show instead of going to Shambhala to launch missiles the moment the fighting is done. Neo-Agarthan competence is neo-Agarthan propaganda. Also, we know exactly nothing about the neo-Agarthans' endgame, what they would do to the "lesser beasts" after completing the Nabatean genocide. And this is in part because we don't need to know: they're evil and they get stopped on all routes, the end. This is in stark contrast to every other contemporary force, and not in a good way. P.S.: speaking of a recruitable neo-Agarthan and 3 Hopes, there was that shot of what looked like Monica in the trailer...

Imagine if they do a dlc/game where you play as the agarthans before the events of 3 houses. That way we can learn first hand about everything that happens and can even introduce some morally gray characters who arent 100% on board with Thalas’ plan

I’ve wondered before about whether or not it would work if Hubert (or even Edelgard) was a slitherer who defected. They never really involve literal small children, but given that they’re meant to be “pure evil,” it doesn’t really seem like a hard boundary. I’m imagining if they’d replaced Hubert with a slitherer at around the same time as Arundel to have another in with their “weapon” Edelgard, but his “loyal to Edelgard” act eventually turned real and lead to him siding with her over TWSITD, and this giving a different justification for him knowing where Shambalah is. I like Hubert as a character already, but I feel like, out of all the established characters, he would make the most interesting foil for the slitherers (though it would functionally be limited to crimson flower since he’s not recruitable).

I personally find that Rhea is my favorite villain in Three Houses, which is one reason why I like Crimson Flower the most. She has a tragic backstory and good intentions behind her morally questionable actions (not that Edelgard would know the entire story or care). She has a number of interesting relationships with other characters, which is why it's a shame she can only support with Byleth. Of course it's somewhat justified given she keeps distance from others as Archbishop. From a story perspective, she's effectively built up as an antagonist, and doesn't debut at the last minute like Nemesis, Berserk!Rhea and to some extent, Edelgard's Hegemon form. From a gameplay perspective, she's a challenging final boss- not too easy like Hegemon Edelgard or Nemesis nor overly hard like Berserk!Rhea. Some people complain about Crimson Flower(and to some extent, Azure Moon) not including the war with the Agarthans, but I find that it makes the most sense to end on a climactic note with the battle against Rhea.

Now we just need Part 2 for THree Hopes.

Personally I don't think that the Agarthans being comically evil is necessarily a bad thing. They essentially lost everything, were forced underground bound to never see light again, it makes sense to me that they would feel nothing but hatred towards the church (since it is run by Nabateans) and use the humans as pawns and regard them as lesser beings (highlighting their hubris mentioned in the lore). My problem is that, as said in the video, some of their action don't make sense, maybe are caused by their hubris since they think they are the most powerful faction, but they could've been handled better; they are also criminally underutilized despite being one, if not the most, important faction in the game. The lack of supports/chapters/paralogues/whatever doesn't do them justice and this causes the player to not be intrigued by them and regard them as cartoonishly villans which, for a game that puts an emphasis in revealing what lies behind appereances, a big letdown. I really hope that 3 hopes will handle them better and explore Fodlan's history and secrets even more.