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The story of Those Who Slither in the Dark's leader Thales from the Fódlan Saga of Nintendo's Fire Emblem.
Background[]
Past[]
Not much is known about Thales and his background, but he is known to be a dark priest of the Argathans, a highly advanced civilization in Fódlan who possesses incredible technology, who were also assisted by Sothis and her children who were known as the Nabateans. They later use their technology to conquer Fódlan and have humanity rule themselves. But eventually, they would later become so arrogant and power-hungry that they even looked down on humanity, having racist and misanthropic views towards them.
Thales, at one point, was a part of the War Heroes, alongside fellow Argathans like Epimenides, and their allies Nemesis and his Ten Elites, fighting against Seiros and her Church of Seiros and Wilhelm I, the future emperor of the Adrestian Empire. Despite their efforts, they were ultimately defeated in the end, with Epimenides and Nemesis being a part of the casualties and the Agarthans forced underground. Following his defeat by the hands of Seiros and her allies, Thales became incredibly vengeful and vowed to eliminate Seiros, the Church, and all that opposes him and his cult of remaining Argathans.
As Volkhard[]
Rise to Power[]
At some point later on, Thales murdered Volkhard von Arundel, a head of a minor noble family within the Adrestian Empire, and took his identity to infiltrate the empire. He would later become a lord when Volkhard's sister Anselma (now going by the name Patricia) would become a consort of Emperor Ionius IX and gave birth to Edelgard, before she was eventually exiled from Enbarr. During that time, Thales slowly installed puppet figures around not just the Empire but also the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance to gain a significant amount of power and support.
In the Imperial Year 1171, during the Insurrection of the Seven, he would take Edelgard to the Kingdom of Faerghus in an apparent exile while playing a key role in supporting Duke Ludwig von Aegir in shifting the Emperor's power to the cabal of the seven noble families. Meanwhile, his "sister" Patricia would go on and marry King Lambert Blaiddyd of Faerghus. In the year of 1174, he and Edelgard would return to the Empire, where he and several of his slithers and other noble conspirators like Ludwig would subject her and ten of her siblings to brutal experiments to implant a Crest, a token of draconic power passed down through one's bloodline.
The Tragedy of Duscur[]
Two years later, following Edelgard's brutal experiments by the slithers, Thales, Cleobulus, and several of their conspirators, like Patricia, Rufus Blaiddyd, and Viscount Kleiman in the Kingdom would conduct a large-scale massacre in Duscur, in which numerous people were killed, among them being King Lambert and Glenn Fraldarius, the son of Lord Rodrigue Fraldarius and older brother of Felix. Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, the Crown Prince of Faerghus, was the sole survivor of the massacre and the witness to the whole attack. Despite trying to tell the people of what happened, the masses refused to believe him and blamed the people of Duscur for the tragedy, as well as several nobles whom were suspected of aiding them, like Christophe Gaspard, son of Lonato Gaspard and Ashe Ubert's older adoptive brother.
Due to the tragedy, the majority of the Duscur were subjected to discrimination, and they were targeted for extermination, with their lands being annexed by the Kingdom and placed under the dominion of House Kleiman. The tragedy also had a massive impact on several major characters, especially in the case of Dimitri, who suffered a grave trauma from the tragic event and became more violet and vengeful as a result.
Garreg Mach Monastery Infiltration[]
Later on, a year before the events of Three Houses began, he sent two of his subordinates, Solon and Kronya, to infiltrate Garreg Mach Monastery to learn more of its secrets and the weapons they could potentially use. This would lead to Solon murdering Tomas the Liberian, using him as his disguise, while he would kidnap and later murder Monica von Ochs, with Kronya using Monica's identity as her disguise.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses[]
Part I (White Clouds/Academy Phase)[]

Thales saving Kronya from Byleth.
Thales first appears in the Academy Phase as soon as the plot twist happens when Jeralt Eisner is killed by Kronya, disguised as Monica. Trying to save their father, Byleth Eisner, uses the Divine Pulse to rewind time. However, just as they draw the Sword of the Creator to intercept Kronya, Thales teleports in and blocks the attack, leaving Jeralt's assassination an inescapable fate as the two quickly retreated.
After Jeralt's death, Thales and Kronya met the Flame Emperor, who was clearly disgusted by their crimes in spite of being their working partner and their "key" to the salvation of his people. In the Azure Moon route, Dimitri and Byleth eavesdrop on them, with the former believing that the Flame Emperor was responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur. He attempted to kill them, but they were quickly noticed. As a result, Thales and his allies quickly escaped.

In the non-Empire routes, he later appears during the Garreg Mach Monastery Invasion, where he stops Byleth from attempting to aid Rhea by hurling his ball of magic towards him, sending Byleth over a hedge into a valley, leaving him missing for five years. Due to this, he and Edelgard managed to capture Rhea and the Empire overtaking the monastery.
Part II (War Phase)[]
During the War Phase, Thales, sometimes under his disguise as Volkhard, serves as an antagonist in different degrees depending on the route the player chose.
The Crimsom Flower Route[]
In this route, Thales mostly appears as Vokkard and serves as an "ally" to the Empire. That being said, he is willing to be quite controlling and ruthless towards them should they step out of line.
Volkard appeared in front of Edelgard and Byleth after Edelgard killed Cornelia (who was a member of the Slithers), trying to find out the reason. Having no answer from his niece, Volkhard used his "javelin of light" to eliminate House Rowe's important members and a third of the Imperial troops stationed there in another attempt to keep Edelgard in line, but it only made Edelgard to push everything on Rhea and the Church of Seiros without yielding.
Before the final battle between Edelgard and Rhea/Seiros, Volkhard visited his niece and stated his dream of ruling the world will be fulfilled, but Edelgard secretly planned to eliminate him and his faction alongside Byleth once she had dealt with Rhea.
The Azure Moon Route[]
Upon Edelgard's dethronement of Duke Ludwig von Aegir, the former Prime Minister of the Empire and Ferdinand von Aegir's father, Volkhard took over Duke Aegir's land and started an even worse oppression than the already corrupt Duke Aegir, who became a scapegoat since Volkhard took harsh texes only under Duke Aegir's name. As a result, Duke Aegir was killed by people in his land after he escaped Edelgard's house arrest.
After Dimitri reclaimed the Holy Kingdom, Volkhard was eventually defeated and killed by Dimitri during the Empire's invasion against the Leichester Alliance. Ironically, when he killed Volkhard, Dimitri never even realized that he had killed the man responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur, nor did he discover any trace of those who had slither in the dark (though he doubted that the Tragedy of Duscar was conspired by someone in the dark).
The Verdant Wind & Silver Snow Routes[]
During the war, Thales learned that Byleth - and by extension, Sothis - has reawakened and is leading the Church's Resistance Army/Alliance Army against the Imperial forces. He attempted to kill their forces at Fort Merceus by dropping javelins of light to destroy the fort; however, this attempt fails, as the Death Knight informed them to flee after the battle.
After vanquishing the Empire and killing Edelgard, the Resistance Army/Alliance Army discovered the existence of Shambala, the underground base for Thales and Those Who Slithered in the Dark, thanks to Hubert, who defected in his final moments to make Byleth destroy the faction and avenge Edelgard's childhood tragedy. Upon seeing his enemies arriving at Shambala, Thales attempted to destroy them all to spite Sothis, even if it meant to destroy his base, but he was eventually defeated.

Thales' demise.
Nevertheless, realizing his defeat, Thales attempted to take down the entire base and killed everyone with him using his javelins of light. Though most of the missiles were intercepted by Rhea, who transformed into the Immaculate One, a few were able to strike Shambhala, killing Thales himself from the collapsing rubble, while Byleth and his companions all survived.
Depending on the route, Thales can still cause trouble for our heroes, even after his demise.
In the Verdant Wind Route[]
Before his death, he and his Slithers managed to resurrect Nemesis, allowing him to raise an ancient army, including his Ten Elites, to kill Seiros. This led to countless cities being decimated by Nemesis, who marched towards Garregg Mach Monastery to kill his arch-nemesis but was luckily stopped by Byleth, Claude, and the Golden Deer House before he could cause any more damage.
In the Silver Snow Route[]
Due to imprisoning Rhea for so long and gravely injuring her with his missiles, Rhea turns berserk and transforms into the Immaculate One, leading to a fierce battle. Knowing full well that Rhea could cause too much destruction and chaos in Fódlan, Seteth concludes that they must kill her to stop her rampage. After a long battle, Rhea is eventually defeated. If the player does not have a full support with Rhea, she will die as a result, which means that in death, Thales managed to accomplish his goal of killing Seiros.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes[]
Prologue[]
Thales first appears disguised as Volkhard, having learn of Edelgard's plot to lead a coup against him and Ludwig to reclaim the Imperial Palace. With the help of Count Leopold Bergliez and Waldemear von Hevring, as well as some of her fellow classmates, Edelgard and her forces defeated and captured Ludwig, while forcing Thales to drop his disguise as Volkhard, exposing himself as a result. He then escapes from Enbarr, being hunted down by the Empire as a result.
The Scarlet Blaze Route[]
Three years following Edelgard's coup, Thales and his slithers would make their move by forming an alliance with Ludwig and gives order to Solon to instigate a series of riots in the Empire-controlled territories of both Hrym and Ordellia. All of this was so Ludwig would go and seize Fort Merceus, using it to stage a rebellion against the Empire and springboard an attack on Enbarr, while using the hostages of Edelgard's loyal followers to follow his rebellion. However, Edelgard decides to divert her attack on the kingdom to deal with the chaos, which led to the imperial forces stopping the chaos, retaking Fort Merceus, and killing Ludwig and his followers, as well as Kronya, who was sent to assist Ludwig.
Due to Ludwig's death, Thales decided to lay low for the time being. However, he later learned that Rhea and the Knights of Seiros are advancing to Garreg Mach Monastery in hopes of reclaiming it and to kill the man in control of the monastery, the Minister of Religious Affairs in the Empire, Grégoire von Varley. Thales, seeing this as an opportunity to cause further chaos, then decides to head to the Monastery to attack both the Empire and Church forces alike.
The Azure Gleam Route[]
TBA
The Golden Wildfire Route[]
TBA