Nintendo has barely addressed the callbacks to Fire Emblem: Three Houses found throughout Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, which is out now. The game holds together well on its own, yet digging through its menus and conversations turns up references to Dagda, the Garreg Mach monastery, and the Agarthans, giving the whole thing the feel of one big note attached to the earlier title. Below is what we know about how the two games connect, along with the reasons figuring out whether Fortune’s Weave functions as a prequel or a sequel is more difficult than it first appears.
Prequel or Sequel?
Fortune’s Weave works as a prequel to Three Houses. The game sets it roughly 800 years before the main story, though the time gap isn’t fixed. In-game evidence points to that rough placement, allowing some room for difference depending on how the calendars of Dagda and Fodlan compare.
One clue comes from Dagda’s war against Brigid, which Dagda lost. Another comes from Fabio’s mention of the Garreg Mach monastery’s founding taking place roughly 250 years earlier. Dietrich also calls Lamine his great-grandmother, and since Lamine was one of the 10 Elites, that puts Fortune’s Weave a few generations after the War of Heroes, which happened 1,000 years before Three Houses.
There is no precise dating here. The source relies on estimates and inferences, so the 800-year figure stands as a best guess rather than a confirmed date. What is certain is the sequence: Fortune’s Weave precedes Three Houses rather than following it.
Crests and Godmarks
Fortune’s Weave reveals that Crests exist beyond Fodlan, proving Three Houses‘ claim false. The bloodlines of Dagda carry them, calling them Godmarks instead. Noble standing or respect does not come with them at once. Certain people treat them as “demon” marks and avoid those who bear them, much like how Esmeralda is treated in Dietrich’s route.
The game also calls crests diadems for combat purposes. Like in Three Houses, they activate in battle occasionally and grant special bonuses. Dietrich bears Lamine’s Crest, which restores his HP when it activates. Esmeralda’s Valor diadem is a version of the Crest of Blaiddyd, the same Blaiddyd whose blood runs in Dimitri’s veins in Three Houses. She is much more stable than ol’ Dimitri.
The bond runs further than appearances suggest. Both the Four Saints (such as Seiros) and the Four Apostles generate Crests, and the Apostles served merely as lore figures in Three Houses. Timotheos, an Apostle, may or may not have established Abyss, the setting of the Cindered Shadows DLC. Since the underlying mechanics are identical between the two games, anyone familiar with Three Houses will instantly recognise the system here, even though the wording differs slightly.
The Agarthans
The Agarthans are the proper name for the group Fodlan folk call “Those Who Slither In the Dark.” They are the behind-the-scenes villains of much of Fodlan’s modern history. In Claude’s route and the Silver Snow route, aka the “Church path,” you learn that the Agarthans were behind most of the atrocities that befell the Adrestian Empire and the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. They engineered uprisings designed to break Fodlan’s nations away from the church’s control, and they did not care how they went about it. Torture, unethical experiments, murder — pretty much any option was on the table, as long as it produced results.
The game also attempts to clone the 10 Elites of Fodlan, and you confront Agarthan leaders at the end of both Claude and the Church routes within their hidden underground base. That is the same Agartha that serves Vritra, which Fabio describes as the serpent coiled around the world and a massive computer dictating what everyone should do.
According to Agarthan lore, they came into the world from some other place and witnessed the Nabateans enslaving humans, which they found objectionable, particularly humans’ devotion to what they call these so-called gods. The Agarthans, among whom Fabio was included, equipped the 10 Elites (who in fact numbered more than 10, though history tends to favor neat, tidy numbers) with Crest weaponry, and sent them forth to kill Nabateans. That is their account of the War of Heroes.
Faced with the horrors humans wrought and disinclined to witness them become demonic creatures, the Agarthans went below ground. The parallel to British mythology stands out. Across the U.K. and Ireland, tales of ancient peoples who withdrew beneath the earth in the wake of rising new societies are plentiful. The Tuatha Dé Danann of Ireland is among the better-known instances. They had no use for computers or wars against gods, however.
Sothis Is Different
Sothis is much more lethal and frightening in Fortune’s Weave. The game’s status as a prequel explains the change.
A long stretch of centuries separates the War of Heroes, when the gods battled Nemesis, from the period when Edelgard’s footsteps resound through Garreg Mach Monastery. Three Houses‘ arrives. During that span, Sothis drifts through sleep, grumpy and somewhat rude, serving merely as a guide to Byleth. She has not stirred from her slumber for ages and has lost memory of much of the past.
That, it turns out, is a good thing. Fortune’s Weave’s Sothis is at the height of her powers. She “undid” the world in a way that reshaped it.
What This Means for Players
The connections exist, yet they remain delicate. Nintendo has barely promoted them, which is why some players still cannot say with certainty whether Fortune’s Weave comes before or after Three Houses in the story. The game stands alone, but its lore offers a reward for those who have already spent time with Three Houses.
A table comparing the two games is below, showing how they manage the same systems.
| System | Fortune’s Weave | Three Houses |
|---|---|---|
| Crests/Godmarks | Known as Godmarks in Dagda | Known as Crests in Fodlan |
| Combat activation | Called diadems | Activate occasionally in battle |
| Sothis | Lethal and awake | Sleepy and forgotten |
Unpacking the lore here is a real pleasure, and the Agarthans’ descent into the earth draws on British folklore in a way that feels natural rather than forced. The shared systems — Crests and combat activations — tie everything together smoothly.
The Bottom Line
Fortune’s Weave is a prequel, and it is a prequel that respects the player who knows Three Houses while remaining accessible to newcomers. The connections are woven throughout the game, from Dietrich’s family history to the Agarthans’ origins, and they reward careful attention.
Weave takes its name from the timeline gap between the two games. The approach to Sothis is particularly interesting: her lethality in Fortune’s Weave, which makes it a deliberate choice. It creates a character who feels very different from the familiar cranky Sothis of Three Houses, and it is a bold move.
A band of villains known as the Agarthans carries a rich history, and comparing them to the Tuatha Dé Danann gives readers more to think about when it comes to their legend. Their involvement in supplying the 10 Elites also ties straight into the War of Heroes.
The lore here weaves two Fire Emblem games into one delightful, dense patchwork. The source’s honesty about the gaps and estimates is refreshing, and the willingness to lean on British folklore for the Agarthans’ origin story adds a small yet charming touch to the whole.
After finishing Three Houses, Fortune’s Weave gives players a fresh perspective on the story. Those who have not finished it can still play without trouble, since it works alone too. In either case, the links between both games are present and ready to be uncovered.
Source material: “How Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave Connects to Three Houses,” Polygon.
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