Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes: Epimenides Ending

Choices you make in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes affect NPCs around you and the game’s ending. One of the most important decisions in the game is presented in Chapter 2. Whichever side you join affects the ending of the game. In turn, you get a total of 3 endings of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. Most of the players think that these are the only endings. But they don’t know that there is a secret ending to Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes that includes a being known as Epimenides.

Fire Emblem Warrior: Three Hopes’ Endings

As we’ve mentioned earlier, there are three endings to Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. Each of these endings comes into play judging on your actions throughout the game. In Chapter 2, you’re presented with a choice to choose any one of the three houses in the game. These endings are known as Scarlet Blaze, Azure Gleam, and Golden Wildfire ending.

If you have played Fire Emblem Three Houses and only ended it once, then you’re missing an opportunity. Because Fire Emblem Three Houses, like Three Hopes, has different endings. Read about them in our FETH: All Four Endings Explained.

Anyways, while you’re playing Fire Emblem Warrior Three Hopes, you might want to check out our character guides. We’ve covered Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Linhardt, and Hubert’s guide, with more on the way.

Scarlet Blaze Ending

Scarlet Blaze Ending occurs when the player decides to side with Edelgard and the Black Eagles. It means that you’ll side with the Empire. In this ending, Edelgard joins with Shez against the evils of Thales. They decide to defeat him once and for all.

But, Rhea intervenes in the battle and attacks Thales. They’ll engage in a nail-biting battle filled with magical explosions. The fight presumably results in the death of Rhea and Thales. It frees Fodlan from both the dominant forces of Rhea and Thales.

In the end, Edelgard will stand tall. She hopes for a peaceful era for the future of Fodlan.

Azure Gleam Ending

As for the Azure Gleam Ending, it occurs when you side with Dimitri or the Blue Lions. In this ending, you’ll be siding with the Kingdom. Dimitri will grow tired of Thales’ evils and decide to stand up against Thales.

He will engage in a battle that will decide the future. Dimitri will emerge victorious in the end, and Thales will end up dying after facing the consequences of his evils. Edelgard will be defeated.

Claude will unwillingly accept Rhea as his future ally. Shez and Dimitri return to Claude. And in the final scene, all of them will look up at the sky as they decide what to do for their future.

Golden Wildfire Ending

If you side up with Claude, then you’ll get the Golden Wildfire Ending. Claude, or the Golden Deer side with the Alliance. When you side with Claude, things will turn out to be quite different.

The ending will be worlds apart from the other two endings. Claude and Shez won’t be able to take on Thales, but they’ll stand against the Central Church. They will engage with Rhea in a deadly battle to determine their future. Just when victory seems near, Rhea will transform into a dragon to defeat Claude and Shez.

Claude and Shez will be able to defeat Rhea in the shape of a dragon. Then, Claude suggests ending the war. Although in this ending, we don’t get to see Dimitri or Edelgard. What became of them is a mystery for all.

Epimenides’ Ending 

But these aren’t the only endings of Fire Emblem Warrior: Three Hopes. There is a secret ending. In that ending, you’ll have to defeat Epimenides in the Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes. If you’re looking for the Epimenides Ending, here’s how to trigger it.

In the secret ending, you’ll have to fight Epimenides and defeat them. But before we can get on how to trigger it, you must know what it holds.

What Is Epimenides’ Ending

Epimenides ending, most commonly known as the Secret Ending, doesn’t happen during Chapter 14 of Fire Emblem Warrior: Three Hopes. Instead, the game adds two additional chapters. These chapters are named ‘The Hour of Vengeance’ and ‘Into the Chasm’. The story will continue in these chapters.

For the Epimenides’ Ending, it doesn’t matter what side you choose. Whether you choose the Golden Deer, Black Eagles, or Blue Lions, Only the playable characters will be with you.

How To Trigger Epimenides Ending

Whether you get the secret ending depends on your decision to kill Byleth. If you kill them, then the Secret Ending won’t happen. But if you keep Byleth and recruit them, things change.

Killing or recruiting Byleth part occurs quite late in the game, and there is no specific point in the story at which it happens. It will be different for whichever side you take on. But one thing will be common between all of these points. Before the battle where you encounter Byleth starts, you’ll get a message which will say, ‘Your actions in this battle will greatly impact the outcome of the story”.

Once you get this message on your screen, that’s your signal. If you want the secret Epimenides’ Ending of Fire Emblem Warriors’ latest game, then here’s what you need to do. Save your game and ensure you are ready to load from that saved game.

That is Because you need to make sure that you’re able to recruit Byleth successfully. You’ll get access to the additional Chapters 15 and 16 and the Secret Ending.

While you’re at it, check out our Fire Emblem Three Houses Weapon Triangle guide, where we explained what it was and why developers removed it.

How To Recruit Byleth

As we’ve mentioned before, depending on which side you take in Chapter 2, you’ll get to recruit Byleth at different points in the story. So we’ll go through each of these individually on how you can recruit them. That is because Byleth is important to unlock Epimenides ending in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes.

Scarlet Blaze Path

If you choose to side with the Black Eagles and Edelgrad, then you can recruit Byleth in Chapter 10. During the Final Battle of Chapter 10: Subjugation of the Western Kingdom, you’ll get to recruit them.

You’ll have to ensure Baron Mateus stays alive till the end. With that, you’ll have to get the Resonating Lightning Strategy. Don’t defeat Byleth in the side mission. And defeat the final boss of this battle as quickly as possible. So here are the steps you need to take.

When the fight begins, get the Resonant Lighting Strategy. You’ll need the Resonant Lighting strategy to recruit Byleth. Then, once the battle begins, order your units to capture the strongholds around Baron Mateus. You must not kill him; make him surrender. He needs to be alive as he’ll come in handy later on.

When Baron Mateus Surrenders, activate the Resonant Lightning strategy by aiding the Sorcery Engineers. The step will force Jeralt’s mercenary to appear on the map earlier than expected. Then you can then order your forces to capture the rest of the strongholds.

Once you’ve captured them, Byleth and Yuri will appear. You need to defeat Yuri and head to Rodrigue from the path of Shoal to the east. Byleth will head back to defend Rodrigue, but Baron Mateus will destroy the bridge connecting Rodrigue.

Go to the Kingdom’s main boss and defeat Alois and Rodrigue. Byleth and Jeralt’s mercenaries will have no other option but to join you when the battle finishes.

Azure Gleam Path

While going with the Azure Gleam path, you’ll get to recruit Byleth in the final battle of Chapter 12: A Trick of the Goddess. To recruit him, you’ll have to unlock the Locate Ambushers Strategy. Then, make sure you aren’t spotted by Mercenaries and don’t complete Defeat Byleth Side Mission.

Unlock the Locate Ambushers’ Strategy before the battle begins. You’ll find it at a Survey Spot on the map labeled Menja Territory. Save your game before the Battle. But because one mistake will fail your chance to recruit Byleth.

When the main mission begins, use the Locate Ambushers Strategy. Here, you need to make sure that none of your units are seen by a mercenary. If they see you, the objective will change, and in turn, you won’t be able to recruit Byleth. On the bottom-right stronghold, use the All-Out Defense to get them out of the way.

Now, a green arrow on the map will appear. Follow its guidance to avoid mercenaries. Defeat any Stronghold Leaders you come across to open the closed gates. If you are successful with it, your main objective will change, and now you’ll have to Defeat Fleche.

Before you can do so, a new Main Mission will appear that you’ll have to defeat the Mercenaries. Defeat them and make sure that they can’t infiltrate the Allied Base. Finish this and then focus on Defeating Fleche.

Complete the Defeat The Trickster side mission because we did that in our run. However, we didn’t get time to test if it affected the battle’s outcome thoroughly. But there’s a possibility that it is a necessary step.

After that, you’ll get a new Mission to Defeat Randolph. You need to defeat Randolph before Byleth can get there. Meanwhile, you need to ignore the Side mission ‘Defeat Byleth’. Because if you manage to defeat Byleth, then you won’t be able to recruit them.

If you were successful in defeating Randolph without defeating or facing Byleth, the battle would end. Now, both Jeralt and, more importantly, Byleth will join your party. Once you have Byleth recruited, you can get to the Epimenides ending in Fire Emblem Warrior: Three Hopes.

Golden Wildfire Path

If you decide to side with Claude in Chapter 2, then you’ll get to recruit Byleth after Chapter 10: Love and Loss. To recruit Byleth, you need to stay with Claude and not complete the Side Mission ‘Defeat Byleth’. When the final boss comes, defeat the boss quickly.

You’ll have to help Claude reach his destination in the final mission. Once he gets there, your next objective will be to escort him back while avoiding Byleth. Make sure to avoid Byleth because if you encounter them, you’ll have to defeat them.

While escorting Claude, send some of the units to the upper left corner of the map. They’ll come in handy when the Final Boss of the mission, Fleche appears there.

As soon as you escort Claude, Fleche will appear on the map. Now Byleth will rush back to protect her. This is the signal to switch to the units sent in the boss area. Use them to defeat Fleche before Byleth even gets there.

If you are successful, you’ll be able to recruit Byleth and Jeralt.

Chapter 15

Once you finish Chapter 14, a cutscene will begin; this indicates that the steps you took for the secret ending were successful. Now Chapter 15 will begin; that wouldn’t have occurred if you didn’t recruit Byleth.

When chapter 15 begins, Shez is possessed by Arval. They then try to finish off Byleth. The rest of the team members pursue Shez and Arval. They are then defeated by your party members, but they disappear.

But then, Solon appears as a boss. You need to defeat Solon to complete the chapter. Here, Solon will be injured by the leader of the House you decided to side with. But, he’ll manage to escape from them.

Solon is killed by Shez, who is still controlled by Arval. The sacrifice of Solon by Arval opens up a mysterious portal. The portal leads to Zahras, the dimension of Darkness.

The heads of the three Houses will arrive here, but they will be swallowed by the Portal and go into Zahras. Here, Chapter 15 of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes comes to an end.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16 reveals that Arval was controlled by force. This force is known as Epimenides. Now heads of all three houses, Claude, Dimitri, and Edelgard, all join forces to defeat Epimenides in Fire Emblem Warrior Three Hopes. Shez will join the heads of the houses in the fight.

After a gruesome battle, the newly formed alliance succeeds in defeating Epimenides. Epimenides will disappear, and with it, Arval, too, will disappear. This is the end of Shez and Arval’s story, which isn’t explained in other endings of the game.

Rewards

The reward for Epimenides’ secret ending is that, first of all, you get Byleth and Jeralt. You can unlock them after they join you earlier in the game. Next up, after finishing the game, you’ll get Arval as a playable character.

To buy Arval, you need to load a completed save. Then, go to Shez’s quarters, and there, you need to interact with the journal. You can then buy Arval using 60 fame points.

Summary

If you’re a player that is interested in the lore of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, then this ending is for you. The ending explains what will happen to Shez and Arval. Their story was left out as a gap by the other three endings if you killed Byleth.

Not only that, you’ll get to meet and defeat the force Epimenides in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. That is important for a lot of the fanbase as it was controlling Arval for the whole time. So if you are a fan of the lore of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, this ending is meant for you.