A second trailer for Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, released on April 12, 2022, focusing on new protagonist Shez. This revealed a key detail to Black Eagles fans: alongside Edelgard’s new character design, which features silver armor, a red cape, and a longer hairstyle with braided elements, she is shown wielding a brand-new axe. This axe does not resemble Aymr, her signature weapon in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which could speak to larger developments.
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Edelgard’s First Axe - Aymr
In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Edelgard starts the game wielding generic axes, but is shown using Aymr following the five-year timeskip. In the Crimson Flower route, where the player fights alongside Edelgard, she reveals that the weapon was specifically designed for her use and synchronizes with her Crest of Seiros. It grants Edelgard the ability to use Raging Storm, a unique Combat Art that is effective against Dragon enemies and allows her to move again after attacking. Thanks to Aymr, Edelgard is often ranked as one of the strongest Black Eagles.
Like several other weapons known as the Heroes’ Relics, Aymr appears to be made from dragon bones. However, Linhardt - a scholarly member of the Black Eagle House and an expert in Crests - notes that Aymr is not one of the Relics recorded in history. He theorizes that the enemy group “Those Who Slither in the Dark” may have made the axe, and that Edelgard was only able to gain access to it because she allied their forces to oppose the Church of Seiros.
Edelgard’s New Axe - Labraunda
In the first trailer for Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Edelgard is seen wielding a silver double-bladed axe made from metal rather than bone. In the newest trialer, Edelgard’s axe was given an official name: Labraunda. She is shown wielding Labraunda in combat as a Fortress Knight, but no specific properties or abilities of the weapon are stated. Due to its appearance, it is almost certain that Labraunda is not one of the Heroes’ Relics. Fans theorize it may be one of the Sacred Weapons, weapons that synchronize with Crest-users but are not made from dragon bones.
The name “Labraunda” comes from the Labraunda Archaeological Site in Turkey. The site is believed to have been a sacred shrine that features a statue of Zeus wielding a labrys, or double-headed axe. The names Labraunda and labrys come from the same linguistic root, and it is theorized that the Labraunda sacred site may have been a place where the labrys was venerated.
What Labraunda Could Mean For Edelgard’s Character Arc
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes will be exploring an alternate story to Three Houses, in which a mercenary named Shez becomes involved with the Garreg Mach students as Byleth takes on a potentially antagonistic role. Edelgard wielding Labraunda instead of Aymr indicates that, in this alternate story, she may not team up with “Those Who Slither in the Dark.” This may mean that Edelgard - alongside her retainer Hubert - may not oppose the Church of Seiros and could ally with Kingdom and Alliance leaders Dimitri and Claude.
In the years since Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ release, Edelgard has become one of the game’s most controversial characters. Some fans think her more villainous role is interesting, while others feel her actions are unforgivable, or merely dislike that her route is shorter than the others. Taking Edelgard in a new direction with Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes could give the series a chance to explore a character who some feel was not utilized to her fullest.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes will release for Switch on June 24, 2022.
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