The clue’s in the name, really. Fire Emblem: Three Houses, as expected, has three main routes. Each route follows a specific House and their attempts at engaging with the narrative trials and tribulations in the story. However, there’s been whisperings of a fourth route which is available if select criteria are fulfilled in the first portion of the game before the time-skip. Check out our Fire Emblem Three Houses secret route guide to learn how to access this fourth route and its consequences.
Fire Emblem Three Houses Secret Route Guide — Is There A Fourth Route?
The answer to the question of whether or not there’s a fourth route is yes. While Dimitri and Claude’s Houses enjoy one route apiece, you can actually encounter two routes with Edelgard’s House — the Black Eagles. However, it’s actually fairly easy to miss out on the second alternative route here because it involves a number of circumstances lining up for you, and you’ll also have to have a number of pre-requisites to trigger those circumstances which (surprise) the game doesn’t tell you about. There are clearly spoilers for the story below, so continue at your own peril.
Fire Emblem Three Houses Secret Route Guide — Requirements and Consequences
Here’s what you need in order to prompt Edelgard to talk to you to make this secret route a reality:
- Support Level C+
- To be in Explore mode
You can only encounter the conversation that sparks off the secret route if you’re in Explore mode between 8/2 and 22/2 in the game. You have to find Edelgard on campus and talk to her during this mode. When you find her, she will ask you to make a choice between following her or staying at the monastery when prompted. You MUST pick to follow her, or you’ll be locked out of the Fire Emblem Three Houses secret route.
The next time you have to make a choice for this route is after the battle called Conflict in the Holy Tomb. You’ll have to pick to protect Edelgard. If you weren’t able to have the earlier conversation mentioned above with Edelgard before this battle, then you won’t have the option to side with Edelgard as opposed to her opponents, effectively locking you out of the fourth route option. If you do pick this fourth route and have gone through the related dialogue options as we indicated, you’ll have some characters leave your party. These characters will be inaccessible going forward: Rhea, Cyril, Catherine, Seteth, and Flayn. Be sure to take this into account!
Now you know that the Fire Emblem Three Houses secret route exists, which fate will you choose? The Black Eagles have a compelling story either way, so if you’re someone that’s already had a gander at what the Golden Deer and the Blue Lions have had to offer, this could definitely be the approach needed to switch things up. Still not sold on the Black Eagle House? Maybe knowing a little more about their strengths and weaknesses could sway you — we have a guide for that too.
