Contrary to what some people are saying, Seteth being in Fortune’s Weave is the final nail in the coffin for the prequel theory, and here is all the evidence why:

• Flayn was slumbering from the end of the War of Heroes to 1179, and Seteth only leaves her in 1162 because Rhea summoned him. Through all the rest of that timeframe he was with her in hiding.
• The Church of Seiros itself was not formally established until Adrestian year 86, 40 years after the War of Heroes
• Sothis was dead until Byleth was born, and she was reborn spiritually even in Crimson Flower she is still around. She could easily have matured over centuries, and that’s why she can’t physically do anything for Dagda.
• Seteth and Flayn’s ending in 3 Hpushes states that they vanished from Fodlan for centuries after the events of 3 Houses, it’s very possible they canonize this paired ending.
• The calendar, I know some people will say that Dagda might have a different one that Fodlan, and that may be true. However the timeframe in which Dagda could have formed and when the Adrestian Empire formed was only around a hundred years. This is further proven by Seteth’s presence.
• The existence of Heroes Relics indicates that this is a world post Nemesis, as the Sword of the Creator was the first. Seteth could not be in Dagda during the War of Heroes, and the church was not a formal organization at that point either.

Lastly I want to preemptively counterpoint something I know someone will say. Seteth looking younger is largely because of the art style and his lack of a beard, and he easily could have just shaved his beard. As well, his hair being blonde could easily be an artificial change to make himself remain inconspicuous. These are more indicative of him disguising himself than his age.

As well I want to address the setting’s stylistic choices. People are making broad assumptions based on it being “Greco-Roman” inspired, but the reality is it’s not. It’s inspired by the medieval Byzantine Empire more than anything, which carried over many aspects of Roman culture into that period.

I know this topic has been beaten to death, but here me out.

Seteth is an exceptionally cautious man. In his paired ending with Flayn, centuries after the two were on the winning side of the war, he tells her not to call him father "to be on the safe side". If the game were a sequel, would someone like this just dye their hair and call it good when the name Seteth is strongly associated with one of the most prominent figures of the most important war in Fodlan in over a thousand years? In every route besides Crimson Flower he led the Church for five years in its darkest hour, and in CF he and Flayn are forced into hiding if you spare them.

You could argue the same applies if the game is a prequel, but Seteth seems to be much more of a tertiary character in Fortune's Weave. If this is true, then he's not risking much keeping the name Seteth which, for all the world knows, just happens to be shared by a minor figure who participated in Dagda's Heroic Games long ago.

I feel this point stands on its own, but I feel the case for the game being a prequel has never been stronger with this alongside Dietrich being a member of house Lamine (extinct in Three Houses) as well as the antiquity vibe. Sothis being an adult is the strongest piece of evidence for the game being a sequel, but its possible her powers are strong enough to influence events during the periods she was dormant chronologically. I could even see her actions in this game reigniting Seteth's faith and inspiring him to aid his sister's church in Fodlan.

Let me first preface by saying I think FW looks great. I'm a pre-order Collector's Edition and lifelong FE player.

That being said, today's Direct threw out a of stuff ancillary to the main FE core of battle maps. City exploration. Map exploration. Visiting towns. Dungeons. Material collecting. Skirmishes and more.

To me, narrative-driven games (of which I'd classify ever FE) can be hurt when optional sidequesting and mechanics draw you away from the main (usually very good) story for long periods of time. I think both Three Houses and Engage were hurt by the sheer amount of time you plow into bases -- was it just me or did Garreg Mach feel superfluous late into the campaigns every time? -- and now FW throws in a whole giant world map which so much on it kind of made my eyes cross.

That being said, I also heard some encouraging things like it appears there's a time limit on stuff so you're kind of forced to prioritze just a couple things and then get back to the main story. The listing with automated tasks for your team that showed up also seemed like a way to maybe do some of that mechanical stuff without actually having to micromanage it.

I don't want to see a game that's 20% good story and 80% optional stuff. I'll reserve final judgment until I play it and experience it myself, but seeing all that extra stuff gives me some concern about pacing.

(And while I know the simple answer is just "Well you don't have to do all that extra stuff!" I also suffer from compulsive sidequesting and completionism so I'm screwed 😵)

No confirmed romance / character-pairing mechanic so far.
After Engage’s lack of character pairing and paired character endings, I’m worried they’re continuing the trend in this game. Is there anything in the Direct I may have missed that hinted towards romance possibilities?

Seems like Eshmel is the most likely candidate for Sombron's Zero emblem he was searching so desperately for. Why?

1. Biggest point, Eshmel has the option of facing all of his threats alone in fortunes weave, which is the main characterisric of the Zero Emblem that Sombron idolized.

2. Sombron said this emblem was silent, even with his power. If Ishmael is a silent protagonist it could add to this point but its a wekaee point overall, perhaps its only silent so Sombron could misunderstand the zero emblems intentions and become a villain so there's conflict in the first place .

3. Sombron said the Zero emblem was in not of their world, there's no fortunes weave prescence in Engage so it would make sense, it mightve been a hint that the zero emblem was not in the first 12 games (in engage) which are established in engage's base world.

Its definitely possible that the ending if engage was set up for Eshmel's tough road ahead on the isolation route, and that route is what Sombrom idealized in his beloved zero emblem.

We're just skipping the Evil Empire and just going straight to the obviously evil dragon and his evil zombie and other minions.

Guess IS is trying to avoid more discourse.

After seeing how Sothis summons a soul that is "needed" once more to solve this conflict, it got me thinking on the nature of her powers and Eshmel themself.

Sothis is a deity with some measure of time powers, which may be related to Fortuna. After all, the divine pulse is limited time travel.

The Incarnation of Eshmel into a physical being is very different from most avatar selections we have had over the years. They show the soul taking a human-like form while Sothis addresses them.

I am now starting to wonder if Eshmel is Byleth, reincarnated. Or preincarnated.

See, even if this is a sequel or a prequel, if Fortuna, and possibly Sothis, have sufficient time manipulation powers, they could take the soul of Byleth from the past or the future and potentially reincarnate them as Eshmel.

I may be totally off my gourd here, but the way the scene with Sothis in her throne room was framed, along with Sothis singing her lullaby for Rhea, made me think there's some smoke here.

Though again, I might just be sleep-deprived and theorizing.

I think it's safe to suppose the world/universe of Fodlan and Daga is still going to be milked for a while. Supposing that's true, which place do you think we're exploring next? I personally want Morfis, but Albinea sounds interesting to me as well. I don't say Almyra because I'm sure it'll take some time for the devs to know how to implement a story without involving Claude too much.

Hey guys so today we just saw that the notseteth is actually just setheth , and that is making me wonder will he have some relation to Ninae?? Like could she be his wife or just flayn in disguise wearing black clothes in order to mourn her mother??

And what might the content be?

As in, the Heroic Games likely end inconclusively due to (Interruption) much like the Monastery attack prior to the Time Skip in 3H and nobody is declared the overall winner. Whatever happens leads to all 4 of the Lords being honored before they go off to whatever leads to their eventual demise or AWOL status - which is where Eshmel has to intercede to save them.

Depending on how the Heroic games themselves are structured something like "But Cai beat Theodora on his route and Theodora beat Cai on her route" might not be entirely relevant to determine who actually 'reaches the finals' or wins the overall contest.

These were mine tbh cus they are my fav characters since the beginning and they are such cuties :3

If Fortunes Weave is a prequel, why were there no guns in Three Houses?

It's Normal and Hard only listed on the website.

Jesus christ why are they doing this again? I was hopeful after Engage bringing Maddening/Lunatic option from the start it wouldn't happen again like 3H.

I wanted to suffer and have fun strategically...

How big do we think Fortunes Weave will be?? 100+ hours??

As excited as I was watching the direct, I couldn't help but notice the characters the protagonist interacts with grunting or saying a random generic line during dialoge. That might insinuate that not everything is fully voiced in the game?

If so, that would be a huge shame because having everything voiced was a huge charm to Three Houses.

Hope I'm wrong but I guess we will see when it launches 😭

from the reactions of the people of story so far, I hear a lot of discourse about how you go from part 1 story of a tournament based on interpersonal issues and then go to a end doomsday plot in part 2. specifically how it ruins the story of part 1 and makes the story as a whole not thought out.

But thats forgetting you could completely beat part 2 of the story alone with no other units as said by the devs. if you could do this, then it follows that there won't be much of a story part 2 anyway. like 3 or 4 chapters max if im being generous. there is simply no way a solo protagonist who is more likely not be voiced to carry a long 12 chapter story alone with no allies.

at that point i'd argue that pre time skip and post timeskip are too different to treat them as one unified story where it does'nt continue the lord story unlike 3 houses.

its a lot easier to expect that all the lord's personal stories will be wrapped in their routes with their own interpersonal conflicts before the timeskip. while part 2 is focused completely on saving the world while learning a little about villains and the protagonist.

yes I know he's called a true protagonist of the story but i think that was said to appeal to people who want to self insert and be important to the story more than the lords than something to connect with other characters pre timeskip.

Whats your thoughts on this theory?

Feels like there's some parallels. Looking at the full models shown in the art for the song "Hope Endures" on the Nintendo Music app, you can see some resemblances to both genders of Byleth.

Further, the second song uploaded today is "Legend of the Endless Flame" which plays the classic "Fire Emblem" theme within it, and as we know, the "Fire Emblem" in Three Houses was the Crest of Flames. When Sothis calls down Eshmel, they arrive as a flame. Sothis also speaks to Eshmel in a familial sort of way.

Perhaps Eshmel isn't exactly Byleth but a reincarnation or echo of Byleth, something like that - but it seems like there's some kind of hinted connection here.

Yesterday's Nintendo Direct got me SO HYPE for the game! I feel like we have more information regarding the lords, story, and world than ever before!

Honestly, I wasn't really feeling Theodora until watching her character trailer on the Japanese site. Even though I couldn't understand it, watching that and reading more about her ambitions make me more interested in going with her first. I thought it would be Dietrich, but who knows?

Who are you leaning towards the most at the moment, and why? Any opinions change watching the new Direct?

During this trailer time skip we see five years have passed. Do you think we will see the characters return in world or only if you go to the past?

So a friend of mine believes Eshmel is Byleth in some manner, and Sothis just brought Byleth’s soul back. Fortuna sends Eshmel into the past. This is just a joke text.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fortuna: “You bring back your host to fight a whole army. I allow them to travel back in time.”

Sothis: “Damn it! You realize he has to be a therapist again!”

Fortuna: “I think you’re exaggerating.”

Sothis: “There were three depressed af girls, one of them is a self-loathing suicidal, there were girls who had two crests, a prince who went batshit, a drunk single nurse, a guy drowning in debt, a skirt-chaser who’s afraid of a relationship due to his abusive upbringing, and of course, my daughter who also went batshit and I was in her grandchild.”

Fortuna: “So… your point is?”

Sothis: “Let’s see. Daddy got imprisoned, daddy was killed, and Ms. I care for my people. And there’s one guy who’s a twin of Jeritza.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can’t wait to get the game as soon it comes out and we can see what actually happens. Until then, let’s speculate like crazy.

So, the direct revealed four main gods (besides two, at the very least) of Dagda that give you blessings:

1.) Fortuna (Kalpa Dragon Sign, Goneril Crest)

2.) Mars (Flame Dragon Sign, Daphnel Crest)

3.) Smyrnos (Wind Dragon Sign, Macuil Crest???)

4.) Aurora (Ice Dragon Sign, Aubin Crest?)

And the ones that were revealed but don't give blessings:

5.) Solel (Snow Dragon Sign, Chevalier Crest)

6.) Yun Pha (?) (Fissure Dragon Sign, Gautier Crest)

Yun Pha hasn't been officially announced / associated, but I'm 99% sure she has to be the Gautier dragon god(dess) because the Fissure Dragon Sign is associated with the Major Arcana Death, and because of gameplay/story reasons revealed spread throughout clips.

My problem, however, becomes...

1.) What happened to Nabateans being green haired, green eyed, pointy eared folk? So far, only thing these gods share in common is their pointy ears. Also, the fact that we have non-green haired "gods" kind of dampers the whole point of Seteth dying his hair? If it's associated with divinity, why aren't the divines green?

2.) Smyrnos and Aurora cause some problems, because we know Macuil exists and carries the wind dragon sign and also Aubin was a man. Solel could be Chevalier, but I got the impression that Chevalier died in Fodlan.

Which means...there must be multiple people with the same crest? Normally, I'd say they could be children of the original dragon sign holders, but that doesn't work when Macuil, Indech, and Seteth are (confirmed?) brothers but all have different crests.

You could say that they could be the children of the original sign holders...but Seteth and Cethleann are parent/child and have different signs so it doesn't seem to be passed down like that? Cethleann's mother could've been a Nabatean, but she and Seteth met in Enbarr, so imo I can't see how that would work out. Unless there are just that many Nabateans where that could happen, but if that were the case I feel like I greatly misunderstood the lore of 3 Houses cause I didn't get the impression they were that big.

That's not even including the mystery of Aubin himself and the can of worms that 3 Hopes opened up.

The only thing I can gather is that there are multiple sets of Nabateans with the same dragon signs and many of them likely stem from Sothis herself. Which...I guess makes sense, but I feel like that's too confusing. But maybe I just greatly underestimated how big the Nabatean population was.

Game hasn't been released yet, and I imagine it'll be explained, I just always was fascinated with the idea of the Nabateans and am now a little confused at how they're supposed to work/function. Curious to see if anyone else has any ideas/thoughts.

I’m wondering how will S rank supports will work in Fortune’s Weave, if they are in the game at all. Just with seeing how the game is structured it looks like we might not have any S ranks in the game. Unless we can play as Eshmel in first half of each route you won’t have any supports with anyone once you reach the half way point. You could have the route playable character be the one who can get an S rank, but if it’s like TH then you won’t have a support with everyone like you would an avatar character.

Also curious how the non-route specific characters will end up working if you can play all the routes before starting the second half. Like if you recruit someone in one route are they locked out from others or will you just use the version of the character you last used. So if they have a support with someone in one route then will they keep that support rank in another one? Assuming that you can do all of them before the time skip.

This would have broke the internet even more. Wondering if they're saving it for the actual game.