As a game that takes place in a monastery, Fire Emblem: Three Houses centers heavily around a strong and devout church system led by the Archbishop, Lady Rhea. Rhea is the character who gives Byleth a warm welcome to Garreg Mach Monastery in addition to offering them a teaching position at the connected school, the Officers Academy.
But despite Rhea’s initial warm and gentle vibe, there’s a lot more to her than she lets on. As the story unfolds, she shows both the likable and controversial sides to herself, leaving many fans with mixed feelings about her as a character.
10 Love: Her Design
Right off the bat, Rhea stands out with her elegant appearance. She not only has a gentle smile but also fancy attire to fit her high position as the Archbishop of the Church of Seiros. Her long dress and cape show off both class and authority.
In addition, her long, pale green hair and flower crown are perhaps the two most iconic features of her design, which greatly resembles another historical figure from the Church of Seiros.
9 Can’t Stand: She’s Ruthless
Initially, Rhea came off as a calm and peaceful lady who wanted the best for the church and its people. However, the first big shift in her personality came after the incident with Lord Lonato.
After Lonato’s failed attempt at rebelling against the church, it was discovered that he had intended on assassinating Rhea. With Lonato’s death, Rhea made it very clear that she and her people would not show an ounce of mercy to anyone who even thought about turning on the church.
8 Love: She’s a Dragon
Dragons are powerful albeit rare creatures that have made many appearances throughout the Fire Emblem franchise. More specifically, characters have been able to transform in and out of a dragon form for combat.
In Three Houses, it is the Archbishop who has the honors of transforming into the mythical beast. After Edelgard wages war against the church, Rhea takes matters into her own hands and shocks everyone by transforming into a huge dragon to fight off the Imperial Army.
7 Can’t Stand: Not Playable
Despite being such an important character to the main plot, Rhea is unfortunately not a playable character on any of the routes.
As compensation, she can instead be an ally unit for certain maps, but it’s not as exciting. Seeing as though Rhea was the only unit who could transform into a dragon, it would have been interesting to have her as a temporary unit to control.
6 Love: Her Voice
Because Rhea has a personality that fluctuates between the extremes of calm and fury, her voice can be vastly different depending on the nature of the situation.
When she’s calm, her voice has a very motherly tone to it that is both gracious and comforting. On the other hand, her voice of rage competes her as someone that should never be crossed unless they’re looking for a death sentence. Fans can all agree Rhea’s English voice actress, Cherami Leigh, nailed her character’s duality.
5 Can’t Stand: She’s Shady
Rhea might come off as warm and welcoming in her first meeting with Byleth, but there’s something mysterious and almost ominous about her too.
Jeralt, a former Knight of Seiros, is the one who urges Byleth to stay cautious of the Archbishop for reasons that he does not initially specify. This leaves the player in the dark and guessing as to what shady things Rhea must have done in the past to lose their father’s trust.
4 Love: Her Admirers
Clearly, not everyone can see eye to eye with Rhea and the church, but the Archbishop does have some pretty devoted admirers who’d do just about anything for her.
For instance, Catherine is one of the Knights of Seiros who goes out on dangerous missions on behalf of Rhea. Similarly, Cyril is a hardworking orphan at the monastery who dedicates all of his time and effort to helping Rhea out. They speak in the highest regard about Rhea and do not let anyone say otherwise.
3 Can’t Stand: Her True Intentions
Depending on which route is taken, more and more may be revealed about Rhea’s hidden secrets. As it turns out, Jeralt was right for Byleth to stay cautious of her.
Unbeknownst to many, Rhea played a large role in Byleth’s birth. In order to resurrect her mother, Rhea implanted the Crest of Flames into baby Byleth, which is why Sothis had mysteriously ended up inside of Byleth.
2 Love: Teaches Brawling
In Three Houses, the members of Garreg Mach faculty each specialize in certain skills such as Faith, Swords, or Reason, and they can then train Byleth in those skills. Archbishop Rhea happens to be skilled in many areas, including Brawling.
At first glance, Rhea seems like the last person to be beating enemies up with gauntlets and her gentle appearance. After seeing her brutality and killer instinct, Brawling makes a little more sense, though that does not stop fans from making hilarious Brawler Rhea memes.
1 Can’t Stand: Relationship With Byleth
Although Rhea is not a playable unit, she can still have support conversations with Byleth. Unfortunately, their relationship is quite odd due to the circumstances of Rhea’s involvement in Byleth’s birth.
In a very awkward support conversation, Rhea examines Byleth at an uncomfortably close distance and points out how they resemble one another. This understandably startles Byleth, even though they are unaware that they have the spirit of Rhea’s mother inside them.
NEXT: Fire Emblem: 5 Reasons The Game Should Have Had A Spoken And Customizable Character (& 5 Reasons Byleth Is Great)
