As one of the central characters in Fire Emblem's 16th installment, Rhea is either adored or hated by fans for her portrayal in Three Houses' story. She is certainly kind and motherly with a lot of followers, but it is also unnerving thinking that she could be hiding something for her arguably selfish intentions with a sweet smile.
Despite some controversy behind her, Rhea is one of the most intriguing characters in the game and her role helps define what Three Houses is about. There will be spoilers ahead, so be cautious if you have not progressed further in the game. Here are 10 secrets you missed about Rhea in Three Houses.
10 Was Initially Playable
In the final build of Three Houses, Rhea is strictly an NPC or NPC-turned enemy depending on the route you play. But with a wonderful thing called data mining, the game's codes can be discovered. Rhea is shown to have growth rates, critical hit and level up quotes, and additional dialogue for increased ranking in weapons or skill mastery. To this day, it would be grand to have her as a playable unit in Silver Snow.
9 Only NPC To Have C-A Support
Rhea's stance in the story varies depending on the route the player chooses. Even if the player opts to go with Edelgard, they are still capable of being in support conversations as Byleth since there is a possibility to go for the Silver Snow route instead.
Even if Sothis can automatically get an S rank support with both Byleths, Rhea is the only non-playable character that can have a C-A support just by gifting her items, increasing weapon proficiency, and recently, having tea time with her.
8 Alluding To Her Past Self
If you caught on with the details the game gives you surrounding Rhea, you will figure out that she is Seiros and founded the Church of Seiros after defeating Nemesis. It is made clearer when you fight against her in Crimson Flower or when she gives the player exposition in Verdant Wind or Silver Snow. Not by coincidence, her birthday is on January 11th, known as the 11th of the Guardian Moon, which also falls on Saint Serios Day.
7 Mentioned One Too Many Times By Cyril
There is no other character in Three Houses deeply devoted to Rhea other than Cyril. He talks about her all the time, and some people thought that Leonie mentioning Jeralt can be annoying.
Cyril takes it to another level as he has mentioned the archbishop exactly 55 times in his supports. It's a shame the poor kid is known for his loyalty to Rhea other than his other traits, but it goes to show that Rhea left an impact on certain people.
6 Her Weapon Proficiency
In the game's first cutscene, Rhea/Seiros really knew how to pack a punch when facing off against the King of Liberation Nemesis. Instead of her Sword of Seiros, all it took was a punch to take him out before finishing the job with her dagger. Also alluding to her past self, it makes sense as to why one of her weapon proficiencies is brawling, alongside faith magic and swords.
5 How The Cutscene Differs In Japanese
Localizing a game is never easy, but Treehouse did the best they could for Three Houses and managed to stay faithful to the game's original Japanese script, even if there are some slight differences. In the first cutscene featuring Seiros fighting against Nemesis, the Japanese version has Seiros picking up the Sword of the Creator, and saying in joy, "Mother."
Compared to the English version, which has her say, "He's gone now, Mother," they are similar in speech but different in context. The English version implies that her revenge has been resolved for what Nemesis did at the Red Canyon, but the Japanese version makes it clear that Nemesis had Seiros' mother in his possession as the sword.
4 Total Number Of Vessels She Created
Rhea was very desperate to get her mother back that she was willing to go further beyond in recreating life herself. In total, she created 12 vessels, each failing to bring her mother back.
Byleth can be considered the 13th vessel as Rhea placed the Crest of Flames' stone in their heart as they were born, but they showed little to no emotion until Sothis was awakened by the time they protected Edelgard and stopped time.
3 How She Saved Jeralt
Throughout the game, Jeralt is a capable NPC who helps out in a few maps in the first half of the game. One of the strange things about him is that he has the Crest of Seiros. Due to protecting Rhea from an attack that would otherwise kill him, Rhea gave him a blood transfusion which not only saved his life, but also expanded it greatly. While in awe, it's not hard to blame Jeralt for being terrified of her.
2 Somewhat Related To Byleth
Rhea created a dozen of vessels to host her mother's consciousness, but they ultimately failed to bring her mother back. Once she created Sitri, who eventually fell in love with Jeralt and gave birth to Byleth, one can argue that Rhea is technically their grandmother. Rhea may have not physically given birth to Sitri, but she does see her as a daughter figure and couldn't bear the idea of burying her after passing away to save Byleth's life.
1 She Can Survive, But Only If...
Rhea, simply put, is a tragic character with a motive that is relatable, but filled with cruel intentions. In Crimson Flower, she is maliciously beaten down by Byleth and Edelgard. In Azure Moon, she retires as archbishop and moves to Zanado.
In Verdant Wind and especially Silver Snow, she is severely weakened to where she does not have a lot of time left. But for the latter route, the player has the option to S-Support Rhea, which not only gives her a happier ending, but also saving her after going mad.