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| “ | No. But while you are here, you may as well listen. I am sure you recall hearing about Kronya, Solon, and Lord Arundel. I am investigating their true identities. I want to know their origins. Their numbers. Their base of operations. Their plans. I want to know where they acquired their dark powers. How they disguise themselves. Many intriguing mysteries surround these people. Wouldn't you agree? [...] I have a name for them. Those who slither in the dark... | „ |
| ~ Hubert talking about Those who Slither in the Dark. |
| “ | There will be no salvation for you and your kind. Those responsible for such gruesome deeds in Duscur and Enbarr. | „ |
| ~ The Flame Emperor showing disgust upon Thales' crimes. |
Those who Slither in the Dark, also known as the Agarthans, are the main antagonists within the Fódlan Saga of Nintendo's Fire Emblem franchise.
They are a mysterious faction led by Thales and are at war with the Church of Seiros. It is also revealed that the mysterious Flame Emperor and their army allied with them to achieve their goals, but said goals are seemingly at odds with Thales' own. They were responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur and the following mayhem that stirred the whole game's plot and it is their goal to bring about an age of darkness upon the world.
Biography[]
Past[]
Those who Slither in the Dark are descendants of a long lost civilization known as Agartha. Thousands of years ago, the people of Agartha once coexisted with the Nabateans, the children of the Goddess Sothis, but eventually, they turned their back on their Goddess and dedicated themselves to the advancement of technology for their prosperity. In time, the Argarthans became greedy, arrogant, and imperialistic, eventually challenging Sothis herself for dominance.
To punish the Argarthans' hubris and arrogance, the Goddess' daughter, Seiros, fought a war with the Agarthans and destroyed their nation and eliminated the majority of their race. However, Fódlan was so devastated by the conflict that Sothis was forced to expend most of her energy to recover it, causing her to fall into a long slumber in her Holy Tomb at Zanado.
However, this didn't mark the end between the Argathans and the Nabateans. The surviving Agarthans retreated underground to what would be their base, Shambala, and their descendants became Those Who Slither in the Dark, who would devote centuries to plotting their revenge.
Nemesis & Ten Elites[]
Those Who Slither in the Dark convinced a bandit leader named Nemesis to break into the Holy Tomb. The bandit killed the Goddess in her sleep and took her remains to the group. They forged the Sword of the Creator from Sothis' bones.
Edelgard and Lysithea's tragedies[]
Mages from Those Who Slither in the Dark killed and replaced key members of House Ordelia from the Leicester Alliance, and imprisoned the Ordelia children to conduct Crest experiments on them. In the end, the sole survivor was Lysithea von Ordelia.
Soon, the mages conducted the exact same experiments on the Hresvelg children from the Adrestian Empire, with Edelgard von Hresvelg being the sole survivor.
As a result of their experiments, both Edelgard and Lysithea had two Crests, had their hair turned white, and lifespans shortened.
Tragedy of Duscur[]
Academy Phase[]
The Slithers made an alliance with the Western Church, who attacked the Tomb
TWSTD's members, led by Solon, would later experiment on the people on Remiere village, driving them insane and making them murderous. Byleth and their students would fight them. Byleth would later learn about Solon's true identity as Thales.
A month later, Solon would create several demonic beasts from students. Byleth destroyed the beasts, but their father Jeralt was killed by Kronya, who had disguised herself as Monica. A month after that, Solon tried to lure Byleth and their students to the forest to kill them. While he succeeded at first, Byleth was resurrected and killed Solon.
Post-Timeskip[]
Crimson Flower[]
???
Azure Moon[]
Verdant Wind[]
???
Silver Moon[]
???
Members, Allies and Sub-Factions[]
Majority[]
- Thales (leader) (deceased in all routes except Crimson Flower chapter, where his fate is left ambiguous, and Golden Wildfire chapter, where he goes into hiding.)
- Kronya (deceased)
- Solon (deceased)
- Cleobulus (deceased in Crimson Flower & Azure Moon chapter , her fate is left ambiguous in Verdant Wind & Silver Snow)
- Epimenides (deceased in Fire Emblem Three hopes , if the player recruits Byleth and left alive if the player kills Byleth. He is indirectly mentioned in Three Houses, but his whereabouts are unknown.)
Lesser Agents[]
- Myson (deceased in all routes except Crimson Flower chapter)
- Patricia von Arundel (deceased)
- Anaximandros
- Dolofonos
- Remnants in Shambala (fought in Verdant Wind chapter; all deceased) - The remnants of the organization after Thales was slain in Shambala. They invaded the Alliance by working with Nemesis and the Ten Elites, but was killed by the Alliance army. Although, it was revealed that there were still remnants out there and Claude managed to destroy their force once they invaded the Monastery once again.
- Odesse
- Bias
- Chilon
- Pittacus
Flame Emperor Army[]
The national emblem of the Adrestian Empire
The Flame Emperor Army is a military faction led by the mysterious Flame Emperor and are in a reluctant alliance with Those Who Slither in the Dark. However, it is revealed that the Flame Emperor was Edelgard, who was planning to turn against Those Who Slither in the Dark all along. The army was mostly destroyed during the battle in Garreg Mach Monastery.
Five years later, all of its remnants, including the Death Knight, serve the Adrestian Empire afterwards and fight for Emperor Edelgard against the Church of Seiros, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the anti-imperial houses in the Leicester Alliance.
- Flame Emperor (deceased in all routes except Crimson Flower chapter in Three Houses; alive in Three Hopes, but mentally broken in Azure Gleam chapter) - Defected in Crimson Flower chapter and Three Hopes
- Death Knight (deceased in all routes except Crimson Flower chapter in Three Houses; alive in Three Hopes in all routes except Azure Gleam chapter if not recruited) - Defected in Crimson Flower chapter and Three Hopes
- Metodey (deceased) - A subordinate of the Flame Emperor. When Byleth was requested by Rhea to make a trip to the Holy Tomb beneath Garreg Mach, Metodey tracked them down in order to seize the Crest Stones hidden within. He was slain in the subsquent battle against the Flame Emperor, as he was begging for his life and claiming he was just following orders.
- Hubert von Vestra (deceased in all routes except Crimson Flower chapter in Three Houses; alive in Three Hopes in Scarlet Blaze & Golden Wildfire chapters and presumed deceased in Azure Gleam) - Defected in Crimson Flower chapter and Three Hopes
- Kostas (deceased) - The game's first mini-boss, serving as the typical bandit villain in Three Houses. He and his band were hired by the Flame Emperor and attacked Edelgard (not knowing that she was the Flame Emperor), Dimitri, and Claude at the very start of the game. Abandoned by the Flame Emperor for his failure and later killed by Byleth.
Nemesis & Ten Elites (All deceased)[]
- Nemesis (leader)
- Ten Elites - Composed by Blaiddyd (parentally related to Dimitri and maternally related to Claude), Riegan (related to Claude), Lamine (related to Mercedes), Goneril (related to Hilda), Charon (related to Catherine), Fraldarius (related to Felix), Gloucester (related to Lorenz), Dominic (related to Annette), Gautier (related to Sylvain) and Daphnel (related to Ingrid).
- The Ten Elites are Nemesis' allies who aided him to plunder Goddess Sothis' tomb. After Nemesis and the Ten Elites were slain, Seiros deceived Fodlan's population into believing that the Ten Elites were her allies who helped her to destroy Nemesis, before claiming that Nemesis went corrupt out of a hunger for power. Together with the Four Saints, the Ten Elites were revered as the heroes of ancient Fódlan, the original holders of the Crests, and the founders of many noble bloodlines in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leichester Alliance. A number of locations across Fódlan are also named after them. In the Verdant Wind route, they were brought back to life and summoned by an also revived Nemesis. Then, they attacked the Alliance with the help from Those Who Slither in the Dark's remnants. However, they were destroyed by the Leichester Alliance's army and their true nature was revealed.
- Maurice (formerly the Eleventh Elite) - The formerly Eleventh Elite under Nemesis and the ancestor of Marianne. He was written out of history after his transformation into the Wandering Beast after he overtaxed his crest and the sword, Blutgang. More than a thousand years later, Byleth and Marianne investigate the details of the Wandering Beast in order to prove Marianne's innocence. They slew the Beast and retrieved Blutgang, which comfirmed that Maurice was the true identity of the Wandering Beast, and allowing him to finally rest after over a millennia. Byleth and Marianne showed the sword to the scholar who accused Marianne of being the Wandering Beast, convincing him of her innocence.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- None of the four routes in Three Houses had fully revealed the overall plan of Those Who Slither in the Dark nor their true intentions, so their true plans and all of their major crimes can only be pieced together by completing all routes of the game.
- The Blue Lion Route/Azure Moon chapter is the only route where Those who Sliter in the Dark (potentially for most parts) never ever get eliminated, even with the death of Lord Arundel, who was revealed to be Thales. However, the Tragedy of Duscur's full process is revealed. Dimitri deduced there were people plotting behind the Tragedy of Duscur in secret, but he was not aware of their full existence or discovered Shambala.
- However, after the introduction of the Ashen Wolf, there will be an exception to this if Hapi is recruited in this route and get paired with Dimitri. In their paired ending, as a victim of Cornelia Arnim's experiments, Hapi will expose the existence of Those Who Slithered in the Dark to Dimitri, and helped him into eliminating them to avenge his father and many other victims in the Tragedy of Duscur. This is the first and only confirmation that Those who Slither in the Dark get eliminated for real in the Azure Moon chapters.
- In Black Eagle route/Crimson Flower chapter, the elimination of the organization happens off-screen, and the protagonists are actually in league begrudgingly with them, although both Hubert and Edelgard know how far the organization shall go and would eliminate them once they were done with Rhea.
- Only the Golden Deer route/Verdant Wind chapter had fully uncovered the deepest secrets lied within the organization's overall plan, with the reveal of Nemesis and the Ten Elites' true nature as villains. However, the Verdant Wind chapter never fully explores the Tragedy of Duscur's truth or Edelgard's tragic childhood.
- The Church of Seiros/Silver Snow chapter has Those who Slither in the Dark's true nature revealed, their base discovered and their force eliminated, just like Verdant Wind chapter did, but neither Nemesis nor the Ten Elites make an appearance.
- The Blue Lion Route/Azure Moon chapter is the only route where Those who Sliter in the Dark (potentially for most parts) never ever get eliminated, even with the death of Lord Arundel, who was revealed to be Thales. However, the Tragedy of Duscur's full process is revealed. Dimitri deduced there were people plotting behind the Tragedy of Duscur in secret, but he was not aware of their full existence or discovered Shambala.
- Barring Edelgard (Flame Emperor), the Death Knight and Hubert that are merely Thales' allies instead of his direct minions, and Monica (who is possessed by Kronya in Three Houses), Kronya, Solon and Cleobulus (while possessing Cornelia) are by far the only playable characters in Fire Emblem Heroes that are members (not allies) of Those who Slithers in the Dark. Also, Epimenides/Arval is the only member of the organization who is playable in both Heroes and Three Hopes. Edelgard is available as Academy Phase, War Phase and with the Flame Emperor armor.
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 Villains
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