Here we go: part one of a long overdue recap. I decided that splitting it into two parts would help make it feel like it isn't as much of a headache to consume. The aim of this recap is to make all of the important information more easily digestible. Smaller plot and character points (such as Corrin's fear of cats) will not be covered in this recap. Just because something isn't in the recap does not mean it won't matter in the future, but if it does, it will be a minor detail. Knowing these smaller details will increase your overall enjoyment of the last chapters, but once again, they are not necessary information.
Chapter 1: Common Thieves
Around a decade ago, Hoshidan King Sumeragi arrived at a meeting with Nohrian King Garon in what the former believed were peace talks. However, Garon had actually prepared a trap for the rival king. Sumeragi was killed, and his daughter, Princess Corrin, was presumed dead as well.
Fast forward to the present day, and a robbery in an estate belonging to the Nohrian royal family sends the two maids who guarded it, Flora and Felicia, into self-imposed exile. They are found by Hoshidan soldiers and sent to the capital of Hoshido, Shirasagi, to be interrogated by High Prince Ryoma, firstborn of the late Sumeragi. They reveal that the thieves responsible for the estate robbery used tactics from the fallen kingdom of Kohga. Saizo and Kagero, Ryoma's personal retainers, head to Nohr to investigate due to a personal tie to the fallen kingdom.
When the retainers return, it is with three prisoners – the cocky archer Niles, the stoic Rinkah, and most surprisingly of all, the presumed dead Corrin. This information is sent to Princess Hinoka and Princess Sakura, both daughters of Sumeragi.
Chapter 2: All the Time
Corrin, unable to recall her past as a princess, meets Takumi, her younger brother. The two instantly form an intense distaste towards one another. Queen Mikoto, the wife of Sumeragi and current ruler of Hoshido, embraces her long-lost daughter, only to receive an awkward cold shoulder. Corrin manipulates Ryoma, feigning remembering an old memory. Using this newfound trust, she negotiates the release of her partners in crime and begins planning to rob the royal family blind. However, Takumi is not so quick to trust her.
Chapter 3: Princess
Flora and Felicia are allowed to serve the Hoshidan royals and become retainers to Corrin, who regards them with indifference. The mood between them is fragile thanks to their previous encounter during the estate robbery back in Nohr. Hinoka and Sakura meet their sister, who once again is unable to recall or properly communicate with her family. She acts crudely to frighten Sakura as a cruel joke before bragging to Hinoka about her life as a thief. This naturally concerns her sisters.
Corrin sneaks out of Castle Shirasagi and discovers Princess Azura, a Nohrian princess who wound up as a political prisoner in Hoshido shortly after the fall of Sumeragi and presumed death of Corrin. The two get along quite well thanks to their shared feelings of being caught between worlds.
Chapter 4: Very Strange
Corrin and Azura get along quite well thanks to their shared feelings of being caught between worlds. Saizo and Kagero arrive to separate them, however. The retainers are far more interested in Corrin's knowledge of Kohga.
Ryoma and Takumi scold Corrin for escaping from Castle Shirasagi. In the argument between them, Corrin recalls watching her father die. Takumi believes this to be another lie, while Corrin grapples with the implications of the memory. Niles and Rinkah distract her from this by sneaking in the key to her room.
Felicia and Rinkah quite literally bump into one another. Felicia tells the thief about how she and Flora entered into servitude. The two are actually daughters of the chieftain of the remote Ice Tribe, a small nation under Nohrian control. Nohr had kept them as political prisoners. She laments the fact that her people are likely suffering, only for Rinkah to laugh at her, enjoying hearing about the suffering of the Ice Tribe for reasons Felicia can't guess.
Chapter 5: Who You Are
Corrin recalls her first meeting with Niles, where he saved her from being killed by a gang. She took him to Shura, who had raised her for as long as she could remember. This man, one of the few survivors of Kohga, taught her, Niles, and Rinkah how to survive and fight. In the present, Sakura attempts to bond with her, which she uses as an opportunity to case the castle.
In Nohr, the young Princess Elise laments the estate robbery. She would often disguise herself as a commoner and venture out into the streets of the capital of Windmire. This led her to meet and become friends with Corrin, Niles, and Rinkah. However, Elise was in the estate at the time of the robbery, leading them to discover her true identity. Knowing of their hatred for nobles and royalty, she believes they will always resent her for who she truly is.
Elise catches wind of a Hoshidan princess being discovered alive, however she does not yet know that it is Corrin. She dons her commoner disguise once more and ventures into Windmire's underground to deliver supplies to an injured man that she had found near the secret entrance she used to enter the underground. This man reveals himself to be Kaze, the brother of Saizo and a Hoshidan ninja who had come to Windmire to spy on Elise.
Chapter 6: I Don't Wanna Die
Hinoka confronts Corrin about her boorish behavior, but is rebuked as Corrin explains that she is a result of where she grew up. She simply would not have survived had she not become who she is now. As they speak, several servants suddenly strike, attempting to assassinate Corrin. The two princesses fight them off, only managing to take one alive. The surviving assassin, the young Mozu, explains that rampaging Nohrian soldiers had forced them into this position out of fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Mikoto is using a magical barrier around Hoshido that makes Nohrians mentally unable to cause harm to the royal family. By employing Hoshidan assassins, Nohr overcomes this obstacle. Corrin takes Mozu under her wing and convinces her to help with the heist.
Elise convinces her older brother Leo to assist in getting Kaze back to Hoshido. They decide to propose a diplomatic meeting celebrating the return of Hoshido's lost princess as a way to sneak Kaze in.
Chapter 7: The Time for Honesty
With the help of Corrin, Saizo and Kagero are able to decipher Leo's coded message, revealing his intentions of bringing Kaze back. Corrin introduces Mozu to her friends, but is interrupted by Azura, who wishes to mend relations between her and Takumi. Instead, Corrin punches Takumi despite being inside the barrier, sealing the fact that she is not a born Nohrian. Azura only barely manages to get the two to agree to working harder to make things work between themselves.
Meanwhile, Leo is told by Garon that he and his siblings will be accompanied to Hoshido by a soldier named Hans, who wields a strange sword called Ganglari. Leo is immediately suspicious.
Chapter 8: Personal Feelings
Azura attempts to help Corrin and Takumi bond by having them practice ballroom dancing together. However, Corrin leaves early after another memory of growing up in Hoshido surfaces. She tells Azura that she's fine, only for Azura to point out that she's crying.
Niles and Mozu begin to bond as she discovers the thrill of the heist. Sakura asks Corrin for advice on being braver, to which the elder sister says that the first step is convincing oneself that they are brave. Rinkah hides an injury she sustained while gathering supplies for the heist, convinced that revealing it would only make her a burden. Leo speaks to his retainers, Odin and Jakob, about the upcoming gala in Hoshido. He urges Jakob to not let his romantic past with Flora distract him.
Chapter 9: The Right Way
Corrin recalls meeting Rinkah for the first time. Shura had brought the girl to Windmire, having found her half-dead and abandoned in a snowbank up north. In the present, the leader of the nation that brought down Kohga, Kotaro, arrives at Hoshido. Corrin and Kagero agree to partner up to kill the man, but after remembering Shura's advice against needlessly pursuing revenge, Corrin abstains. However, a mysterious ninja wearing a blue bandana kills Kotaro, leaving before he can be identified.
Leo suspects that Hans and Ganglari's presence are part of a plan executed by Garon. After getting Kaze back home, he focuses on trying to uncover the plan before it's too late.
Chapter 10: Nohrian
Elise discovers that Corrin is the lost princess of Hoshido. While still somewhat prickly towards the young princess, Corrin ultimately forgives her deceit. Corrin later runs into a young Nohrian man she initially believes to be Xander, the crown prince of Nohr. However, the man is actually one of the prince's retainers, Siegbert. For a moment, he seems to want to say something to her, but ultimately refrains.
Saizo and Kagero reunite with Kaze. Hans speaks with another of Xander's retainers, the maniacal Peri, who is in on the plan. Mozu, Niles, and Rinkah finalize the heist and prepare to execute it.
Chapter 11: Mother
Corrin is forced to attend the gala, making her unable to help the heist. While she not-so-happily engages with Xander and notes the strange looks she's getting from Nohrian princess Camilla, her friends begin the heist. Flora and Jakob talk bitterly to one another before ultimately being unable to not reignite their love. The heist succeeds, with Corrin's friends able to make off with a hefty amount of Hoshidan treasures.
Leo corners Hans and Peri, who reveal that Ganglari is a sword that absorbs and is powered by the souls of those it kills. They plan to use it to assassinate Mikoto under orders from Garon. Leo attempts to stop them, fatally wounding Peri in the process, but he is too late to prevent Hans from unleashing Ganglari's full power. This power kills Hans, but also releases a massive surge of energy. The Nohrians escape amongst the chaos.
Corrin searches through the rubble for her family before discovering a mortally wounded Sakura, who explains she had taken the blow intended for her mother. She asks if she had been brave and if Corrin truly considers her a sister, but dies before the latter question can be answered.
Corrin is thoroughly traumatized by the events of the gala. Both she and Azura believe they had failed Sakura by not protecting her. The two of them soon escape Shirasagi with the help of Corrin's friends. They plan to fight Nohr so they may prevent tragedies like the one that killed Sakura from happening again. Ryoma discovers the letter they wrote explaining this, in which Corrin admits that she has accepted the truth of them being her family and laments having not been able to say this to Sakura.
Chapter 12: Enemy of Ours
Midori, a little girl with a prodigious knowledge of medicine, travels with her cousin Asugi to achieve a singular goal: the destruction of Nohr. For these two are from a fast-approaching future where the war between Hoshido and Nohr results in both nations falling to ruin. Midori, the daughter of Kaze, and Asugi, the son of Saizo and Kagero, run into Mitama, a fellow time-traveler. The two rejoice at being reunited, with Mitama being especially excited to see her mother, Sakura.
Corrin and company arrive at the estate of Lord Trayon, an incredibly tall tower. They were given a mysterious note telling them to come to the town surrounding the estate, and upon arrival they witness a prisoner thrown off the tower as a form of execution. However, two hooded figures rush over to the girl and cast wind spells to slow her descent. The three of them make off with a prized possession of Trayon's.
The three reveal themselves to be Nina, Ophelia, and Forrest. These three are also from the future, but they do not reveal this information to Corrin. What they do tell her, however, is about a legendary blade known as the Yato that can supposedly change the tide of the war. After admitting they had sent the mysterious note, they request to join up with Corrin, using Trayon's treasure as part of a map to get them to the Yato.
However, a familiar figure interrupts them: the ninja with the blue bandanna. They get into a brief fight before he vanishes. Nina identifies him as Kana, an old ally of hers who is now working to achieve his own agenda. The only one who suspects that Nina's origin may not be as clear-cut as she says is Nyx, a new member in Corrin's group. This old woman trapped in the body of a little girl finds the newcomers to be suspicious and decides to keep her eye on them.
In Nohr, Siegbert, the future son of Xander, deals with mixed emotions as his unknowing father grapples with the death of Peri, who he had trusted with his life. Siegbert seeks solace in his fiancé Velouria, a half-human, half-wolf creature known as a Wolfskin. What none of them know, however, is that Peri is in fact very much alive and now in the possession of Ganglari.
Chapter 13: Deviations
Takumi, who is currently helping the war effort, finds himself gravely wounded by an enemy archer. Before the killing blow against him can be dealt, he is saved by Mitama, Asugi, and Midori. He loses an eye but is otherwise well-off. They tell him about their origins as time travelers, explaining that a friend of theirs named Dwyer had figured out how to do it through other worlds known as Deeprealms. He initially doesn't believe them, but after seeing Mitama's devastated reaction to hearing of her mother's death, he decides to journey with them.
Siegbert organizes royal retainers Selena, Laslow, and Odin so they may hunt down Nina and her two friends. He enlists the help of Velouria as well as an alcoholic flirt named Soleil.
Chapter 14: Drink Up
While planning her next move, Corrin meets Kana, who insists that she can not trust Nina's group. He tells her that the Yato is far more dangerous than she's been led on. She rebukes his claims but does not attack him, believing that he truly doesn't want to harm her.
As Takumi struggles to use his weapon, the Fujin Yumi, thanks to a lack of confidence after losing his eye, Midori goes into more detail about what happened in the future. She explains that she and the other time travelers originally intended to work together, but as goals clashed the group divided, and Dwyer didn't make it out of the Deeprealms. They decide to head to Ryoma to tell him about the situation.
Ryoma, currently assisting a rebellion in the Nohrian-controlled land of Cheve, crosses paths with Corrin, who had come to the rebels to look further into rumors about the Yato. The two briefly argue over whether she should help her family or go her own way, but she refuses to budge. Ryoma reveals to Corrin that Flora and Felicia had managed to recall distant childhood memories involving Rinkah. Rinkah, truly the next in line to rule the Flame Tribe, was kidnapped as an infant by their Ice Tribe rivals. However, when negotiations ended up failing, she was left for dead by the Ice Tribe, leading to Shura discovering her. After learning this information, Rinkah decides to stay with Corrin regardless.
Siegbert interrogates Lord Trayon and discovers that Nina has joined up with Corrin and is now in Cheve.
Chapter 15: Let me Leave
Ryoma, currently assisting a rebellion in the Nohrian-controlled land of Cheve, crosses paths with Corrin, who had come to the rebels to look further into rumors about the Yato. The two briefly argue over whether she should help her family or go her own way, but she refuses to budge. Ryoma reveals to Corrin that Flora and Felicia had managed to recall distant childhood memories involving Rinkah. Rinkah, truly the next in line to rule the Flame Tribe, was kidnapped as an infant by their Ice Tribe rivals. However, when negotiations ended up failing, she was left for dead by the Ice Tribe, leading to Shura discovering her. After learning this information, Rinkah decides to stay with Corrin regardless. Corrin tells Ryoma that she never found Shura once they went back to Windmire, and doesn't know if he's even alive.
Selena accompanies Soleil to a bar where the latter proceeds to drink until she passes out. Before that, however, Soleil drunkenly admits that her drinking is merely to help cope with a past event involving a girl named Caeldori.
Kana and his fellow time traveler Shigure encounter a maniacal Peri, who is following the directions that the sentient Ganglari is giving her about its supposed "sibling." The two decide to secretly follow her, believing it must have something to do with Corrin.
Chapter 16: Glad to Help
Corrin's gang are held captive by two Nohrian border guards named Benny and Charlotte. Mozu manages to convince them to let them go. The Nohrians are still tracking them down, but take a night off to enjoy a local tavern. There, Velouria talks about how Siegbert saved her life after her village had been destroyed by marauders. Kana scolds Shigure, who reveals he was using his pendant's magical properties to slow Peri down so she could be easier to follow. These powers take a toll on Shigure's physical well-being. At the Bottomless Canyon, a massive crevasse separating Hoshido and Nohr, Takumi is found and imprisoned by Leo, who is there on a research expedition. He refuses to tell Leo where the others are, even though Leo tells him that they are in grave danger. This danger soon becomes apparent to Asugi and Mitama, who catch Midori walking dangerously close to the edge of the canyon while not actually being aware of her own position. However, before she can get to safer ground, the ground below her gives out, sending her tumbling into the canyon.
Chapter 17: Get Away
As their lead in Cheve brings them to the Bottomless Canyon, Nyx tells Nina that she knows they aren't who they say they are, and gives them an ultimatum: tell everyone the truth, or Nyx will let Corrin know about her suspicions. However, this never occurs, as they suddenly run into Asugi and Mitama, who are being pursued by a crazed Peri. Adding onto the situation is Siegbert's group, who have finally caught up to them. As everything begins to break into chaos, Azura attempts to pacify Peri using her pendant, only for Ganglari's power to backfire and envelop them all in a blinding light.
Chapter 18: Like a Blade
A dazed Soleil wakes up in a strange, ancient hallway to see Midori is with her. The latter explains that they're both inside of the Bottomless Canyon. Meanwhile, Mitama and Asugi find Siegbert and Velouria. The former group use Siegbert as a hostage to force Velouria to cooperate with them.
Azura wakes outside of the canyon with Shigure tending to her. She's temporarily lost her voice as a cost of using her pendant. Shigure takes it away from her, explaining that it's for her own good.
Nina is on her own in the canyon when a strange voice speaks to her about betrayal. She is struck by a splitting migraine which makes her collapse. Soleil and Midori suffer the same effect, falling into some strange type of sleep. Soleil recalls when she was still living in her timeline. She had met a girl named Caeldori and had become almost immediately smitten with her. Soleil used piano lessons as an excuse to spend more time with Caeldori.
Takumi, still imprisoned by Leo, watches with surprise as Corrin is shoved into his cell.
Chapter 19: Answer Me
Nina's dreams remind her of her life as a child, living with Forrest and Ophelia in Castle Krakenburg. She overheard Forrest's father Leo and Ophelia's father Odin talking about the danger she was in. They caught her listening in, leading to her asking what danger she was in.
Ophelia runs into Odin in the Bottomless Canyon and immediately bonds with him despite him being there to arrest her. She decides to not tell him that he is her father just yet. Corrin and Takumi catch up with each other. Nyx and Niles find Azura, forcing Shigure to give her back her pendant and leave her.
Soleil's dream continues, forcing her to relive when she discovered that Caeldori was a Nohrian spy that was using their bond to collect information. When Soleil confronted her, she insisted that though she was a spy, she had truly grown to love her. Soleil didn't believe this, and when Caeldori attempted to disarm her, she stabbed her in the gut, killing her. Soleil wakes from her dream to see Laslow above her, and in a moment of emotional weakness, hugs him and calls him father.
Chapter 20: Alignment
Midori, Laslow, and a broken Soleil run into Asugi and Mitama, who are holding Velouria and Siegbert hostage. Laslow grabs Midori, apologizing to her as he in turn holds her hostage. After heated arguments, they eventually agree that working together will be to their benefit. Midori hears that strange voice in her head once more, telling her she won't claim its gift.
Ophelia and Odin meet Mozu and Forrest, who yell at them to run away from Peri, who is chasing them with the intent to kill them. They then find Rinkah, who tries to fight Peri. Unfortunately, Ganglari regenerates any wound dealt to Peri, who viciously cuts Rinkah's arm off. Ophelia decides to fend Peri off so the others can escape with Rinkah. Though the others do manage to escape, Ophelia is killed.
Takumi and Corrin are rescued by Kana. Corrin, now aware of Nina and her friends being time travelers thanks to Takumi, figures that Kana must be a time traveler as well. Selena and Jakob inform Leo that Peri is alive, but before they can decide on how to deal with this news, they discover Takumi and Corrin have escaped. They fight, and just as Selena seems to be about to kill Corrin, Takumi manages to summon the power of the Fujin Yumi and strikes Selena with its full might, with only her pauldron keeping it from tearing her arm off.
Nina's dream continued. She was forced to leave Krakenburg without saying goodbye to her best friends. A man named Niles said he was going to escort her to a safe place, and that people were after her in order to get to her outlaw father. Soon into the journey, Nina discovered that this father she hated for putting her in danger was Niles himself. Mercenaries cornered them, and Nina was only able to escape thanks to Niles sacrificing himself. She would grow up as an outlaw just like her father, though still resented him. Years later she would find herself face to face with Forrest and Ophelia once more, who invited her to join them in their journey to the past.
Nina wakes up with Forrest's group, still hearing that voice in her head. She follows it in a trance, eventually finding a strange bow in a large chamber. She takes it, becoming engulfed in purple flame. As she passes out, a blinding white light explodes across the Bottomless Canyon and returning all of those withing it to the surface. In Castle Krakenburg, Garon smiles as he learns that the bow, Skadi, has gained a new wielder, saying that soon his aspirations will come to pass.