Ever since Awakening brought the series from the brink of extinction, Fire Emblem has often had to shoulder the burden of ambition. Developers have been told to go big or go home, and seemingly risen to the occasion each time. Fire Emblem: Three Houses, for example, has now had seven years to cement itself as a critical and commercial success. This is in no small part due to the game’s several branching storylines, which itself evolved from Fates‘ own Pokemon-esque dual version release. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave not only serves as a follow-up to one of the series’ most popular titles, but as a foundational entry in the Nintendo Switch 2’s still burgeoning library of games. With all of that in mind, you might say that Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave was born with its work cut out for it.
Fortune’s Weave‘s narrative and combat have quickly earned recognition as some of the series’ best. Above all, Fortune’s Weave manages to stand out by its sheer sense of scale. Players are given the option to tackle four unique routes simultaneously, each of which is broken into multiple acts, all for a total runtime that utterly dwarfs most previous entries. At the center of this experience are the four Flame Lords, ambitious protagonists who are drawn into an international tournament known as the Heroic Games. They serve as a draw for players in their own right, but they are flanked by four equally deserving heroes, and one must wonder if we really got the best batch.
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave Snubbed Its Most Compelling Protagonists
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave Flame Lords
- Cai
- Dietrich
- Theodora
- Leda
Each of Fortune’s Weave‘s leading Lords offers their own reasons to play. For one, they each have a unique Blaze Art, which are powerful moves that can easily change the tide of battle. There are plenty of other differences in core gameplay, such as their ability to acquire key resources during downtime between chapters. For example, Dietrich is able to gain additional renown by vanquishing enemies during a skirmish, while Theodora does so by sending supplies back to her home country of Saramis. More importantly, of course, is the rich narrative that each character has to offer. Cai’s is structured in such a way as to be a soft tutorial for anyone new to the Fire Emblem formula, while Leda takes players on a more intense revenge quest. Dietrich’s route is a lore-filled deep dive into unanswered questions from Three Houses, while Theodora lays a strong foundation for when all four characters converge into a single endgame.
Put the consoles in the correct order.
As the perfect cherry on top, Fortune’s Weave subverts Three Houses and Fates by not making the player choose between each route. Instead, you can dive into every route in a single playthrough, or none of them at all. Wherever you place your focus, the Flame Lords aren’t the only warriors competing in the heroic games. There are four other finalists in the Heroic Games, each of which have motivations just as compelling as our playable protagonists.
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave Rival Lords
- Orchel
- Anatolia
- Talimun
- Bertrand
Rumor has it that developers originally intended to include them as playable characters alongside the four who made it to the final cut, but they were ultimately cut for time. They do still have some extra focus, thanks to Paralogues found partway through the Heroic Games. Completing these side missions even allows players to recruit them later in Fortune’s Weave, but this still pales in comparison to how the game would’ve changed if they were allowed to take center stage as playable characters.
A Role Reversal in Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave Has Profound Implications
The Pros of Replacing Fire Emblem’s Flame Lords
Many longtime fans of Fire Emblem came away from Fortune’s Weave with these secondary protagonists as some of their favorite characters, and it’s not difficult to see why. Talimun’s charm as a merchant makes him instantly likable, without sacrificing any thorns beneath the surface that make him a more dynamic character. Orchel is initially treated as comedic relief thanks to her cartoonish strength and eccentric attitude, but her mysterious form raises enough questions that it’s impossible not to focus on searching for answers. For all the positive buzz they’ve earned, this is still only from the impressions they make as members of the supporting cast. Thankfully, there’s a whole wealth of potential bubbling beneath the surface players have been allowed to explore.
Fortune’s Weave introduces Fabio, the series’ first playable Agarthan, who tours Dietrich through one of their high-tech facilities in the game’s opening hours. Three Houses rarely visits Agartha, despite its denizens being the game’s overarching antagonists.
Most immediately intriguing is the tragic tale of Bertrand, also known as the White-Maned Demon. Bertrand is actually the object of Leda’s quest for revenge, which we are meant to understand is a futile mission founded on misunderstanding. If Bertrand were playable alongside Leda, it would’ve made both sides of the conflict feel that much more rich, not dissimilar to the bitter rivalry between Edelgard and Dimitri. Anatolia also stands out for her one-of-a-kind storyline, as her ties to the People of the White Egg would allow players to see more of Agartha than Three Houses or Three Hopes ever did.
Rife conflict and rich lore aren’t the only important angles to explore. After all, Fire Emblem is about strategy above all else. The rival Lords actually feature unique Blaze Arts, likely a vestige from their intended role of standing alongside the other Flame Lords. This means they are already fully-formed as in-game units, and would’ve evidently had no problem leading the battlefield. They wouldn’t slouch in the overworld either, as Talimun’s command of the merchant’s guild lends itself very naturally to the game’s resource management systems. Likewise, Orchel could interact just as richly with the game’s Gods and their temples.
Many longtime fans of Fire Emblem came away from Fortune’s Weave with these secondary protagonists as some of their favorite characters, and it’s not difficult to see why.
If the rival Lords were merely snubbed, then their corresponding companions are doubly underrated. Lords in Fire Emblem have almost always come with their personal retainers, and the protagonists of Fortune’s Weave are no different. Theodora’s duo of advisors is the most traditional to the series’ formula, but even the excluded Lords have their own posse of side characters. Orchel is accompanied by Seteth, who himself hails from Three Houses. Talimun’s right-hand woman is Ursula, whose resemblance to Marianne (right down to her Crest) makes her the game’s next strongest tie to its predecessor. Bertrand’s imprisonment is enforced by Gabriel, who would serve as a uniquely antagonistic mentor figure before warming up as he does to Cai. Anatolia is surrounded by heroes loyal to the player’s own avatar, who could create a perfect transition into the final conflict of Fortune’s Weave.
The Cons of Including Fire Emblem’s Favorite Rivals
One must assume that if the developers made the choice to include one set of four and not another, it must have been for a reason. Ballooning the game’s already absurd amount of content into twice the size would’ve been profoundly impractical, so running with eight playable Lords in Fortune’s Weave is an ambitious idea that we’re likely better off without. Still, that leaves the question of what developers and players may have had to lose by entertaining the four opposite protagonists instead of the Flame Lords we ended up with.
This likely comes down to a few individual reasons, some positive and others negative. That is to say that some of the existing playable Flame Lords have solid reasons why they might’ve been guaranteed a slot, while the Lords who got snubbed may have one reason or another for developers to give them the boot. The best example of a positive reason is undoubtedly Dietrich, whose ties to Fodlan is a perfect way to entice fans returning from Three Houses. Our best proof in the opposing corner is Bertrand, whose imprisonment in the colosseum is essential to his character arc, but would restrict players from any of the overworld activities that give the game so much life.
It’s also worth remarking that for both quartets of characters, there is a perfect 50/50 gender split. As soon as developers cut the playable routes from eight to four, diversity must’ve been a priority to some extent. This means that if Leda or Theodora were cut, for example, they should only be replaced by Orchel or Anatolia to preserve the game’s existing gender equality. This somewhat limits the potential combinations in a four-route system, as it would be difficult to make room for both Leda and Bertrand to co-exist as protagonists, despite the juicy potential their interconnected stories would create.
Fortune’s Weave recently revealed an Expansion Pass that promises to prominently feature the previously snubbed protagonists. However, this will likely take the shape of a reduced role akin to the Ashen Wolves in Three Houses‘ Cindered Shadows DLC. For my money, Orchel and company deserved more. In keeping with their original intent as main protagonists, the four rival Lords have the potential to have lead Fortune’s Weave as well as their counterparts did, if not better.
- Released
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September 17, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen / Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, In-Game Purchases
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
