Dimitri

However, hostile encounters with the Flame Emperor and Those Who Slither in the Dark slowly drive Dimitri to become more ruthless. After the Ball, he confides to Byleth that Edelgard is his stepsister and that he gave her a dagger as a gift during their childhood. Dimitri suddenly hears voices and sees the Flame Emperor conversing with Thales. Believing that the Flame Emperor was responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur, he confronts them. However, the Flame Emperor denies involvement and vanishes, leaving behind a dagger which Dimitri recognizes.

After Byleth merges with Sothis, Rhea instructs them to descend into the Holy Tomb and claim their power from the throne. The Flame Emperor interferes, seeking to raid the tomb of its Crest Stones, which leads to a skirmish. With most of the Emperor's forces dispatched, Dimitri unmasks their leader. To his shock and dismay, his suspicion that the Flame Emperor is Edelgard is confirmed. Outraged over her perceived involvement in his family's death, Dimitri snaps and slaughters her remaining forces. She is forced to retreat, but not before Dimitri vows to make Edelgard suffer for her crimes and kill her.

Edelgard ascends the Adrestian Empire's throne, deposing Ionius IX and declaring war on the Church of Seiros. Dimitri fights beside Claude in the front lines to protect the Monastery from invasion. Although Edelgard and her vanguard are repelled, the invaders are reinforced by a larger army, forcing Rhea to enter the fray as The Immaculate One. Byleth attempts to aid her, but Thales sends them plummeting into a ravine. Garreg Mach Monastery eventually falls into Imperial control, scattering the Knights of Seiros and personnel of the Officers Academy not affiliated with the Empire.

Dimitri is the other Blue Lion besides Ashe in the party that explores Abyss. Moved by the pleas of the Ashen Wolves to aid them in protecting the residents, he is impressed as to how outcasts are able to find sanctuary beneath Garreg Mach.

After the fall of Garreg Mach Monastery and Byleth's disappearance, Dimitri is falsely accused of murdering Grand Duke Rufus, branded a traitor by Cornelia who declares Faerghus a vassal state of the Empire, and imprisoned for alleged regicide. He is able to escape imprisonment due to Dedue's apparent sacrifice but is presumed dead. At some point, he damages his right eye and is forced to wear an eyepatch. He lives a solitary life as a vagabond. Rumors of a sadistic warrior capable of slaying scores of soldiers begin to propagate throughout the Empire.

In 1185, Byleth returns after a five year absence and finds Dimitri, now a shell of his former self, alone in the ruins of the Monastery surrounded by fresh corpses of Imperial soldiers. He mistakes them for a ghost but soon realizes that they are alive. A bandit gang raiding a nearby village spurs the two into combat. During the skirmish, they reunite with other members of the Blue Lions, fulfilling the promise they made as students. Determined to overthrow Cornelia and kill Edelgard, the Blue Lions reclaim the Monastery as their stronghold.

With the Blue Lions reunited, Dimitri immediately plans on killing Edelgard by mobilizing his allies. The Monastery is suddenly attacked by Imperial forces in response to the Knights of Seiros returning to it. The Imperials are defeated and its leader Randolph is captured. Dimitri taunts Randolph, mocking his motivations as a general as well as concluding that they are both murderers. While Dimitri intends on slowly torturing the captive general, Byleth interferes and mercy kills Randolph.

Acting on Byleth and Gilbert's counsel, Dimitri gathers more allies and support from the rebelling Kingdom nobles still loyal to him as the rightful King of Faerghus. In response to Rodrigue's pledge of support, they go to Ailell to link up with soldiers of House Fraldarius. However, they are intercepted by the forces of House Rowe led by Gwendal. After vanquishing the enemy, Rodrigue bestows Areadbhar to Dimitri and joins his crusade. Seeking to secure the Great Bridge of Myrddin, Dimitri faces off against the Empire. If Dedue's Paralogue was completed in the Academy phase, he survives after helping Dimitri escape imprisonment and reunites with his classmates. With the bridge under his control, Dimitri confronts Dedue and is relieved that he survived thanks to the aid of the same Duscur men he saved years prior. Dedue renews his pledge of loyalty to his liege, but Dimitri makes him promise not to throw his life away again.

Dimitri commands his forces to march into Adrestian territory, leading them to Gronder Field where the Blue Lions previously emerged victorious in their mock battle five years ago. For the first time since the war began, the three nations meet on the battlefield. The three-way battle is fierce and though Faerghus forces Edelgard to retreat, it is ultimately a Pyrrhic victory. Dimitri is outraged that she has escaped his grasp once more, but he is fatigued from the battle and urged by his allies to not pursue Edelgard due to Imperial reinforcements.

Suddenly, Fleche, a young maiden they encountered on the Great Bridge of Myrddin, appears on the battlefield and manages to wound Dimitri with her sword. Before she can land the final blow, Rodrigue shields Dimitri, which allows Byleth to cut her down. Rodrigue's sacrifice finally reawakens Dimitri's conscience, and he realizes that his lust for vengeance has not only consumed himself, but affected others as well. Rodrigue absolves him of any responsibility for his death and tells Dimitri that he should live for his ideals rather than stay shackled by ghosts of the past. With his dying breath, Rodrigue remarks that Dimitri resembles his late father Lambert. As a heavy downpour begins to fall, Byleth offers their hand to Dimitri and promises that they will continue to guide him. The other Blue Lions also vow to continue fighting alongside him.

Afterwards, Dimitri apologizes to his allies for his foolishness. While not giving up on his quest to kill Edelgard, he declares his intent to liberate and reunite the Kingdom. Marching to Fhirdiad for the first time since his exile, Dimitri marshals his forces into the capital. Dimitri and his allies are able to overrun Cornelia's fortifications and retake the city. When Dimitri confronts Cornelia, she reveals that his stepmother Patricia instigated the Tragedy of Duscur in order to be reunited with Edelgard. Dimitri is shocked by this claim but returns to the task at hand after she dies. With Cornelia ousted, Dimitri reluctantly walks out onto the castle balcony to find the people of Faerghus cheering his return. Dimitri takes his rightful place as King of Faerghus and continues his campaign against Edelgard.

A messenger from the Leicester Alliance arrives in Faerghus with dire news that Volkhard is spearheading an Imperial invasion of Alliance territory. Dimitri and Byleth heed Claude's plea for assistance. They arrive in Derdriu with the assault already underway, but the Alliance has fortified the city and stalled the Empire's advance with skirmishes. The Kingdom's pincer attack turns the tide of battle and Volkhard's forces are defeated. Volkhard is mortally wounded, he evades Dimitri's questions concerning The Tragedy of Duscur and instead goads him to kill Edelgard before dying. Claude confesses that he gambled the Alliance's survival on Dimitri before he even retook Fhirdiad. He then hands Dimitri Failnaught and announces that he is abdicating as leader of the Alliance since the lords of the roundtable conference unanimously voted to accede into the Kingdom. After informing them of Rhea's imprisonment in Enbarr, Claude departs Fódlan on a personal mission.

With the combined might of Faerghus and the former Alliance now at his disposal, Dimitri launches a proper invasion of the Empire. His army routs the garrison of Fort Merceus, slaying the Death Knight and securing a foothold in Imperial territory. A messenger from Margrave Gautier informs them that Faerghus has been pacified and will join forces with the Alliance army marching south. Dimitri briefly returns to Garreg Mach Monastery to interrogate a prisoner, who confesses that House Kleiman was a conspirator in the Tragedy of Duscur. Although disturbed by the revelation, he promptly returns to the front lines. As his forces approach Enbarr, Dimitri attempts to parley with Edelgard to learn her motivations for starting the war. She accepts on a whim and remembers her childhood in Faerghus after Dimitri returns her dagger, but the two are unable to compromise their world views.

Dimitri besieges Enbarr and defeats a transformed Edelgard in battle. He attempts to reconcile with her, but she throws her dagger into his shoulder and he instinctively pierces her heart with Areadbhar, killing her. Forlorn, Dimitri is led away from the throne room by Byleth. In the aftermath, he is crowned the ruler of a united Fódlan. He spends the rest of his life reforming the continent; particularly alleviating poverty, improving foreign relations, and introducing a participatory form of government. With the assistance of Byleth, the new Archbishop of the Church of Seiros, Dimitri ushers Fódlan into a new golden age.

Dimitri is hiding in the Dukedom of Fraldarius after Dedue helped him escape execution in Fhirdiad. When the Resistance Army takes the Great Bridge of Myrddin, Gilbert is sent as an envoy to propose cooperation with Faerghus. Seteth allows them safe passage across the bridge, but declines to join them as he believes their advance towards Enbarr is reckless. Subsequently, news reaches Garreg Mach Monastery that Dimitri has died after his forces were decimated routing the Imperial Army at the Battle of Gronder Field. During that night, Byleth sees Dimitri. He laments the deaths of Rodrigue, Gilbert, and Dedue as well as his inability to restore the Kingdom or defeat the Empire. Before Dimitri is able to finish, Byleth is woken up by Seteth and the prince is nowhere to be seen. While several of his former classmates mourn Dimitri's death, Ferdinand speculates on whether he could still be alive when Byleth tells him about their dream. Overall, it is left ambiguous whether it was all a dream in Byleth's head, if he was a ghost, or if Dimitri survived the Battle of Gronder Field.

Dimitri is able to escape execution in Fhirdiad thanks to Dedue's help and raises an army in secret. After the Alliance army secures the Great Bridge of Myrddin, Judith declares that an army flying the banners of House Blaiddyd has marched through Alliance territory unopposed and is rushing towards Gronder Field. Rather than sending envoys to negotiate safe passage through the Great Bridge of Myrddin, the unknown army instead heads further east into Ordelia territory and frees the bridges from Imperial control.

Dimitri arrives on Gronder Field with his Kingdom Army, resulting in a three way battle between against Edelgard's army and the Leicester Alliance's army. The fierce battle that unfolds consumes the three armies, but the Alliance's army ultimately emerges victorious. Consumed by his quest for vengeance, Dimitri ignores his fatigue and chases after Edelgard, only to collapse from exhaustion. Left vulnerable, the Empire's army surrounds Dimitri and brutally executes him. Dedue, however, survives the fight and then vows to avenge him.

Dimitri ascends the throne of Faerghus and consolidates his power throughout the Kingdom by swearing fealty to the Church of Seiros. He gives asylum to Rhea and the Knights of Seiros in Fhirdiad, exiles Cornelia to prevent intrigue in the capital, and has Rodrigue escort her to Arianrhod and garrison the city with Fraldarius soldiers to ensure the loyalty of House Rowe. After the fall of the Leicester Alliance, the remnants of the Eastern Church flee to Fhirdiad. When Arianrhod is destroyed by javelins of light, Dimitri swears to avenge the fallen.

As the Black Eagle Strike Force marches towards the Kingdom capital, Dimitri tells Rhea that his heir will continue the Blaiddyd bloodline and directs her to position the Knights of Seiros to flank Edelgard's forces before he intercepts them at the Tailtean Plains. The rain delays Rhea's advance, forcing the Kingdom to make first contact with the Empire. Hubert notes that Dimitri has grown shrewd, as his younger self would have simply charged the front lines rather than adopt a defensive formation in anticipation of Rhea's maneuver. Dimitri is distraught when some of his soldiers willingly turn themselves into Demonic Beasts, and chides Dedue for giving them Crest Stones without his knowledge and consent. Should Byleth face him, Dimitri will express horror that the professor sided with Edelgard and shows regret that he has to kill them. Dimitri is eventually defeated and slain by Edelgard. If Dedue is defeated before transforming into a Giant Demonic Beast, Dimitri will instead pass peacefully in his vassal's arms.

Near the end of his academic year in Azure Moon, Dimitri develops an obsessive hatred of Edelgard after discovering she is the Flame Emperor and is determined to kill her personally. The series of tragedies that follow Edelgard's revelation and declaration of war takes a heavy toll on his psyche. By the time he reunites with Byleth, Dimitri has lost any semblance of happiness and composure he had as a student, becoming brooding, cynical, and ruthless. When reunited with his former classmates, he is brusque and coldly dismisses them as mere tools to exact his revenge. Dimitri's five years of isolation have also exacerbated his survivor's guilt. He openly converses with apparitions of his deceased parents and Glenn, promising to appease them with Edelgard's death. His indignation blinds him to the needs of others and he demonstrates a reckless disregard for his own well-being. Despite this, he still shows empathy to those orphaned by war.

Dimitri is unable to justify killing for one's ideals, and so he rejects the notion of taking up arms for a higher cause as sophistry. Thus, he dehumanizes all killers as monsters and is not above maiming and torturing his captive foes. This disdain extends to himself, as shown by his willingness to be wounded and disfigured by his enemies. However, he is oddly sympathetic to those who are also motivated by revenge, and was willing to die by Fleche's hands as atonement for her brother's death.

Byleth's influence determines Dimitri's fate. In the routes where they do not instruct him, Dimitri will die consumed by vengeance or peacefully in Crimson Flower, but solely if Dedue is defeated before he transforms into a demonic beast. If he is Byleth's chosen house leader, his obsession with appeasing the dead finally fades after Rodrigue sacrifices himself to thwart Fleche's assassination attempt. This event restores Dimitri's sanity and he resolves to fight for his beliefs together with his allies, unburdened by the ghosts of his past. Reflecting on his exile, Dimitri would later confess to Byleth that experiencing poverty during his life in the slums deeply affected him; the plight of the poor inspired him to change Fódlan from the ground up. Though unsure of his fitness to be king, the people's support upon liberating Fhirdiad bolsters his desire to serve them. Despite coming to terms with his actions while lost to madness, Dimitri still expresses a bit of his own bitter resentment over it, but has personally devoted himself to make the most of his life to atone, finding peace with himself with his beloved professor there to continue to guide him. After the war, Dimitri becomes a benevolent king beloved by the masses for his societal reforms and participatory form of government.