The Cause of Sorrow

The Cause of Sorrow (Japanese: 涙のわけ The Cause of Tears) is the ninth chapter of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Plot

Main articles: The Cause of Sorrow/Script (Black Eagles), The Cause of Sorrow/Script (Blue Lions), and The Cause of Sorrow/Script (Golden Deer)

Main article: The Goddess Tower/Script

As Garreg Mach Monastery prepares to throw a grand ball for the students, Rhea and Seteth explain that this month's mission will be to investigate a chapel on monastery grounds that was recently broken into alongside Jeralt. Jeralt leaves shortly afterwards on another mission, leaving Byleth and the students to prepare for the ball and a dancing competition called the White Heron Cup. The night before the ball, the lord character proposes that Byleth and the students reunite at the monastery in five years' time, on the day of the Millennium Festival. The ball is a success, and the students enjoy a fun night while Byleth has a dance with Claude. Afterwards, a fatigued Byleth departs the ball. If they are a member of the Blue Lions, they meet Dimitri outside, who recounts his childhood friendship with Edelgard during her year-long exile from the Adrestian Empire. He admits that when she left Faerghus, he gave her a dagger as a parting gift. Byleth meets the character they have the highest support rank with in the Goddess Tower. Returning to bed, they notice Rhea wandering off, and Sothis bids them follow her. Byleth hears Rhea singing a song that Sothis concludes she must have written.

The day after the ball, Jeralt returns, and Alois reveals that Demonic Beasts have been spotted inside the chapel and that students who didn't seem to be in their right mind were spotted heading in that direction before hand. Byleth, the students, and Jeralt rush to the chapel to slay the beasts and rescue any survivors. As they defeat the Demonic Beasts, they transform back into students before dying. After the battle, Jeralt approaches the chapel, but is unable to find any evidence. Monica appears and seemingly thanks Jeralt for his aid, only to stab him in the back and mortally wound him. Byleth uses Divine Pulse to rewind time and attempts to stop her, but an unidentified mage appears and blocks their strike, and Jeralt is stabbed once again. The mage escapes with Monica, claiming that she is still needed for another role, and Jeralt apologizes to Byleth before dying in their arms.

Afterwards, Byleth and Sothis investigate Jeralt as he bid them three months ago. They discover his diary, which recounts Byleth's birth in the Horsebow Moon in 1159. In his diary, Jeralt notes that Rhea claimed Byleth's mother died in childbirth, but he is unsure if she is telling the truth. He further recounts that the infant Byleth never cries or laughs, and that a doctor said that the child's pulse was normal but that they lacked a heartbeat. Jeralt, terrified of Rhea, takes advantage of a fire that breaks out to fake Byleth's death and disappear. Afterwards, Sothis realizes why her fate is intertwined with Byleth's. Byleth reports to Rhea, who claims that Byleth's mother was a nun at the monastery and asked Rhea to save Byleth's life at the cost of her own. Rhea begins a statement to the effect that Byleth's mother was connected to her somehow, but ultimately dismisses them before elaborating further when Alois arrives to deliver a report.

Calendar - Ethereal Moon

Ethereal Moon
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1 Alois's Birthday	2	3	4	5	6 Story Event	7 Free Day Fistfuls of Fish Bonding Bites Choir Festival
8 Instruct	9	10	11	12 Bernadetta's Birthday	13	14 Free Day
15 Instruct	16 White Heron Cup	17	18	19	20 Dimitri's Birthday	21 Free Day Faculty & Knight Mixer
22	23	24 Story Event	25 Garreg Mach Establishment Day	26 Investigate the Old Chapel	27 Saint Cichol Day Seteth's Birthday	28
29	30	31

Character data

Black Eagles Blue Lions Golden Deer

Characters
New units
None
Available characters

Characters
New units
None
Available characters

Characters
New units
None
Available characters

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Item data

Items

Name Obtainment Method Gold Monthly stipend Silver Shield Tournament prize Morfis Plum (×2) Quest reward: The White Heron Cup Lavender Blend (×2) Quest reward: The White Heron Cup 500G Quest reward: The White Heron Cup Black-Sand Steel (×2) Quest reward: Adventures in Wood Carving Wootz Steel Quest reward: Adventures in Wood Carving Goddess Statuette Quest reward: Adventures in Wood Carving Nuvelle Chamberlain Co. Quest reward: A Servant's Essentials* Nuvelle Attendants Co. Quest reward: A Servant's Essentials* Nuvelle Stewards Co. Quest reward: A Servant's Essentials* Healing Staff Chest, Salvation at the Chapel Energy Drop Save all of the students in Salvation at the Chapel Umbral Steel Save at least one of the students in Salvation at the Chapel

Strategy

Main article: The Cause of Sorrow/Salvation at the Chapel

During this month, if you speak to the Gatekeeper, you can directly choose which student you have a scene with in the Goddess Tower, provided that unit is able to S rank Byleth in the current playthrough.

This month is the White Heron Cup, and the winner receives a certification in the Dancer class. You can select any student member of your own house to represent you, including Flayn and any students you have poached from other houses. The unit needs 13 Charm to win, and you can give your representative a whopping 5 Charm by doing some dancing lessons at no activity point cost. When choosing who to make a Dancer, keep in mind that the Dancer specializes in swords and authority, while also being able to use magic. It's also worth noting that plot complications in Crimson Flower and Silver Snow could make Edelgard, Hubert, and Flayn extremely poor choices to give your only Dancer certification. To a lesser extent, depending on the route, Ashe, Lorenz, and/or Dedue may not be recommended choices as a Dancer since they will be rendered unavailable for the first few chapters of Part II; the latter can even be gone for good if his paralogue isn't completed before the start of chapter 12. There are a few factors that one should consider for who makes the best recipient of the Dancer certification. Option one is to give it to your worst unit, since dancing is unaffected by the dancer's prowess in combat. Option two is to give it to someone who can squeeze the most utility out of Dancer; typically this means a Riding boon to get Movement +1 and/or Physic access for back lines support if nobody needs dancing. Option three is to give it to someone who can benefit from Sword Avoid +20 and the 5 point Charm boost; Dimitri and Ferdinand in particular are very evasive and boast sword boons; that last option can be a major point of contention however, since using the Sword Avoid purely for combat is effectively discarding the Dancer's unique utility, and strong evasion can be replicated by simply having high speed.

In news unrelated to the White Heron Cup, this month's tournament is in black magic. Since Hubert, Lysithea, and Hapi only have dark magic in their base spell pools, they need to be in the Mage class in order to gain the Fire ability and participate. Note that unlike other tournaments involving weapons, the tournaments involving black magic is somewhat more complex, due to how every playable unit has a varied spell list, meaning that some units have a particular spell while others do not. When a unit is chosen as a participant in black magic tournaments, they will use the spell that is at the top of their inventory list (not their Status page); for example, Ingrid and Marianne will use Thoron (provided it is unlocked) instead of Blizzard if they are entered into a black magic tournament.

Jeralt is absent from the monastery and due to a story event that happens at the end of this chapter, he will be permanently unavailable for Faculty Training from this chapter onward. This renders Seteth as the only person who can teach Authority prior to Part II. Additionally, the rest of the Knights of Seiros, Gilbert, Alois, Catherine, and Shamir, will be absent for the next chapter and unavailable for Faculty Training or Seminars. Of the remaining available tutors, Seteth, Hanneman, Manuela, and Rhea, none can teach heavy armor, and only sword, reason, and faith are taught by multiple people for Faculty Training. If heavy armor or any other less common skills are required for an upcoming class exam for Byleth or as a recruitment requirement for other students, it is recommended that the training for those skills be undergone in this chapter.

Trivia

• In earlier versions of the game, Edelgard in the event "To the Goddess Tower" of the Blue Lions route used to refer Dimitri by name during his flashback. This is no longer the case as of version 1.2.0.

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

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References

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Playable characters Black Eagles Bernadetta • Caspar • Dorothea • Edelgard • Ferdinand • Hubert • Linhardt • Petra Blue Lions Annette • Ashe • Dedue • Dimitri • Felix • Ingrid • Mercedes • Sylvain Golden Deer Claude • Hilda • Ignatz • Leonie • Lorenz • Lysithea • Marianne • Raphael Other Alois • AnnaDLC • Byleth • Catherine • Cyril • Flayn • Gilbert • Hanneman • Jeritza • Manuela • Seteth • Shamir Ashen WolvesDLC Balthus • Constance • Hapi • Yuri Non-playable characters AbysskeeperDLC • Duke Aegir • Fleche • Gatekeeper • Duke Gerth • Ionius IX • Jeralt • Judith • Ladislava • Nader • Randolph • Rhea • Rodrigue • Sothis Bosses Acheron • AelfricDLC • Alois • Lord Arundel • Bias • Blaiddyd • Caspar • Catherine • Charon • Chilon • Claude • Cornelia • Daphnel • Dedue • Death Knight • Dimitri • Dominic • Baron Dominic • Edelgard • Felix • Ferdinand • Flame Emperor • Flayn • Fraldarius • Gautier • Gloucester • Goneril • Gwendal • Hubert • Ingrid • The Immaculate One • The Immovable • Judith • Kostas • Kronya • Ladislava • Lamine • Linhardt • Lonato • Lorenz • Mercedes • Metodey • Miklan • Myson • Nader • Nemesis • Baron OchsDLC • Odesse • Pallardó • Pittacus • Randolph • Rhea • Riegan • Rodrigue • Seteth • Shamir • Solon • Sylvain • Thales • Wandering Beast • The Wind Caller Background characters Lord Arundel • Count Bergliez • Cornelia • Margrave Gautier • Glenn • Count Gloucester • Count Hevring • Holst • Lambert • Monica • Patricia • Rufus • Seiros • Sitri • Tomas • Tiana • Count Varley Personal weapons and regalia Aegis Shield • Areadbhar • Asclepius • Athame • Axe of Ukonvasara • Aymr • Blutgang • Caduceus Staff • Circe Staff • Crusher • Failnaught • Fetters of Dromi • Freikugel • The Inexhaustible • Lance of Ruin • Lúin • Ochain Shield • Rafail Gem • Scythe of Sariel • Seiros Shield • Spear of Assal • Sword of Begalta • Sword of Moralta • Sword of Seiros • Sword of the Creator • Tathlum Bow • Thunderbrand • Thyrsus • Vajra-Mushti Chapters Part I P: An Inevitable Encounter • 1: Three Houses • 2: Familiar Scenery • 3: Mutiny in the Mist • 4: The Goddess's Rite of Rebirth • 5: Tower of Black Winds • 6: Rumors of a Reaper • 7: Field of the Eagle and Lion • 8: The Flame in the Darkness • 9: The Cause of Sorrow • 10: Where the Goddess Dwells • 11: Throne of Knowledge • 12: To War / Outset of a Power Struggle Part II Silver Snow 13: Reunion at Dawn • 14: A King Without a Kingdom • 15: Valley of Torment • 16: The Rose-Colored River • 17: The Impregnable Fortress • 18: The Chaos of War • 19: Conclusion of the Crossing Roads • 20: The City Without Light • 21: Following a Dream Azure Moon 13: Reunion at Dawn • 14: The Delusional Prince • 15: Valley of Torment • 16: The Rose-Colored River • 17: Blood of the Eagle and Lion • 18: The King's Triumphant Return • 19: The Golden Deer's Plea • 20: The Impregnable Fortress • 21: Our Chosen Paths • 22: Oath of the Dagger Verdant Wind 13: Reunion at Dawn • 14: The Alliance Leader's Ambitions • 15: Valley of Torment • 16: The Rose-Colored River • 17: Blood of the Eagle and Lion • 18: The Golden Scheme • 19: The Chaos of War • 20: Conclusion of the Crossing Roads • 21: The City Without Light • 22: Fódlan's New Dawn Crimson Flower 13: Beyond Escape • 14: The Master Tactician • 15: Tempest of Swords and Shields • 16: Lady of Deceit • 17: Field of Revenge • 18: To the End of a Dream Paralogues Part I Black Market SchemeDLC • A Cursed RelicDLC • Death Toll • Dividing the World • Falling Short of Heaven • The Forgotten • Land of the Golden Deer • An Ocean View • Oil and Water • Rumored Nuptials • The Secret MerchantDLC • Sword and Shield of Seiros • Tales of the Red Canyon • True Chivalry • War for the Weak Part II Darkness Beneath the Earth • Dividing the World • Eternal Guardian • The Face Beneath • Foreign Land and Sky • Forgotten Hero • Insurmountable • Legend of the Lake • Retribution • The Secret MerchantDLC • The Silver Maiden • The Sleeping Sand Legend • Weathervanes of Fódlan Cindered Shadows 1: The Fourth House • 2: What Lies Beneath • 3: The Rite of Rising • 4: Danger in the Dark • 5: Betrayal • 6: Return to Me • 7: Wolf Pack Locations Fódlan • Adrestia • Faerghus • Garreg Mach Monastery (Abyss) • Leicester • Almyra • Brigid • Dagda • Sreng • Zahras Groups, objects and concepts 10 Elites • Ashen Wolves • Black Eagles (Black Eagle Strike Force) • Blue Lions • Calendar • Children of the Goddess • Church of Seiros (Knights of Seiros) • Crests (Crest Stone) • Divine Pulse • Golden Deer • Heroes' Relics • Insurrection of the Seven • Monsters • Those who slither in the dark • Tragedy of Duscur • War of Heroes Lists Abilities • Chapters • Characters • Classes (Class change) • Hidden treasure • Items (Monastery items) • Quests • Scripts • Supports • Weapons Related topics Class mastery • Downloadable content • Movie Gallery • Music Library • Name chart • Other games (Warriors: Three Hopes) • Pre-release information (Unused content) • Timeline