Volkhard

During their time in Faerghus, Cornelia kept Patricia from seeing Volkhard and her daughter, and began to slowly manipulate her. Three years later in 1174, like Cornelia before him, Volkhard had a sudden personality shift and stopped donating money to the Church of Seiros, also returning to the Adrestian Empire with Edelgard. This personality shift can be presumed to mark the point where the real Volkhard was killed and replaced by Thales.

With Edelgard now away from the Kingdom altogether, Patricia became so desperate to see her daughter that Cornelia exhorted her into killing the King of Faerghus, and by extension, causing the Tragedy of Duscur.

Meanwhile, once they arrived at Enbarr, Volkhard and his mysterious organization teamed up with the corrupt nobles of Adrestia to abduct Emperor Ionius IX's children and subject them to horrific experimentation, in order to create an heir with the power to overthrow even the gods themselves. The sole survivor of the experiment was Edelgard, who now bore a second Crest, the Crest of Flames.

Volkhard, whose identity remains a mystery to the player thus far, first appears talking to the Flame Emperor about the recent assault at the Holy Mausoleum, and that the Death Knight is at his disposal.

A few months later, Volkhard pays a brief visit to Garreg Mach Monastery to visit Edelgard, and runs into his step-nephew Dimitri. If Byleth is teaching the Blue Lions, they will also meet Volkhard for a brief moment and learn that Dimitri and Edelgard are kin.

Near the end of the academic year, the Flame Emperor, now revealed to be Edelgard, ascends the Adrestian throne as its new Emperor and declares war on the Church of Seiros, leading to a massive invasion. In all routes except Crimson Flower, the Knights of Seiros are able to resist the first wave, but Edelgard calls for her uncle's reinforcements and overwhelm the Knights of Seiros.

With Ludwig stripped of his title and put on house arrest, Volkhard assumes his role in governing the Hrym territory. He proceeds to enforce harsh taxes and poor living conditions among the masses, all in the name of Ludwig. In all routes except Crimson Flower, Ferdinand hears that his father escaped house arrest and ended up in Hrym territory and he, Lysithea and the professor travel to Hrym to find his father. After quelling the rebellion, the two learn that Ludwig was killed by the mass riot, and Lysithea learns the truth about Volkhard putting the blame on the former prime minister.

Volkhard continues to support Edelgard's efforts to take down the Church of Seiros, while Edelgard and Hubert mask their contempt of him. When Byleth returns to the Black Eagle Strike Force, Hubert reveals to them that Volkhard is in charge of Solon and Kronya's actions and the Empire must reluctantly work with his forces in order to bring down the Church.

When the Leicester Alliance is destroyed and absorbed, Volkhard travels to Derdriu and begins collecting the Heroes' Relics of the former Alliance, including Failnaught, Freikugel, and (if Lorenz's paralogue was not completed) Thyrsus. While Hubert is suspicious of his behavior, Edelgard tells him not to worry and instead focus on invading the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.

Hubert continues to investigate the truth of Volkhard and his group while the war continues, and even comes up with a name for them: Those Who Slither in the Dark. While he and Byleth are discussing their intentions, Volkhard arrives at the monastery and requests their aid in dealing with some of his "experiments" that have gone out of control. Should the player agree and complete the paralogue, Hubert hypothesizes that this is mostly an attempt for Those Who Slither in the Dark to show off their power and keep Edelgard in line, but states this had the opposite effect.

As the Empire's war against the Church of Seiros continues, Edelgard sends the Black Eagle Strike Force to capture Arianrhod, making sure to kill Cornelia in the process, knowing her to be one of Volkhard's subordinates. After finding this out, Volkhard confronts his niece, claiming that Cornelia was going to betray the Kingdom once it was under Imperial control, and warns her that if she continues with her behavior, the Empire may become another Arianrhod. Volkhard leaves shortly before Hubert arrives and informs them that the city was destroyed with "pillars of light" and killed a third of the Imperial troops stationed there in the process. They theorize that Volkhard did this to show again his power and keep Edelgard in line, but tells the rest of the Imperial army that Arianrhod was destroyed by the Church.

Just before the Empire begin their final fight at Fhirdiad, Volkhard arrives to encourage his niece by telling her that their dream of ruling the world will soon come true. However, as Edelgard has no intention of fulfilling her uncle's ambitions and plans to eliminate him and his organization, she calmly retorts that such a future may not come to pass. When Rhea is slain and the Church of Seiros is no more, Edelgard and the Adrestian Empire begin their silent war against Those Who Slither in the Dark, where they will inevitably come into confrontation with Volkhard.

After the Battle of Gronder, Edelgard is wounded and retreats to the Enbarr palace, giving Volkhard control over the Adrestian army. With the leader of the Leicester Alliance, Claude, also wounded at Gronder, Volkhard leads the army to invade the Alliance and destroy them before they can recover. However, Claude was able to successfully petition Dimitri and the Kingdom army for reinforcements and they are able to stop Volkhard in Derdriu. With his dying breath, Volkhard refuses to answer Dimitri's questions about the Tragedy of Duscur and encourages him and Edelgard to kill each other like family.

Arundel makes no physical appearance in his Volkhard von Arundel guise in either Verdant Wind or Silver Snow, but is still mentioned in the paralogue shared by Ferdinand and Lysithea. Unlike in Azure Moon, Volkhard does not take command of the Empire's army after Edelgard was wounded at the Battle of Gronder.

As Thales, he is the boss of each route's penultimate chapter.

Before being replaced by Thales, Volkhard was a pious man, described by Seteth as adherent to the Seiros faith. Records show him donating large sums of money to the Church of Seiros for many years. He also took his sister and niece to the Kingdom in fear that the two would be used as political pawns during the Insurrection of the Seven, although he participated in the Insurrection regardless. He seems to have been loyal to his immediate family, and ambitious otherwise.

The "Arundel" of the present day is a cold and calculating individual, caring little for the lives of others and only for a world controlled entirely by the Adrestian Empire. He imposes harsh taxes on the people of the Hrym territory and killed those who opposed, all while shifting the blame onto Ludwig so he could leave unscathed. Even his family are expendable to him, having all but one of his step-niblings killed so that he can create an heir to the Empire capable of destroying the gods themselves.

He is also shown to be incredibly cunning, given how he was able to play a hand in orchestrating the Tragedy of Duscur without anyone suspecting him or Those Who Slither in the Dark. He was also responsible for Jeritza getting a teaching position at the Officers Academy so he could aid in getting the blood of Flayn.

• Given Volkhard's connections to Those Who Slither in the Dark, his sudden shift in personality, and the fact that they share voice actors in both English and Japanese, it can be assumed that the real Volkhard died in Imperial Year 1174 and was replaced by Thales, similar to what happened to Tomas and Monica. This is further supported by Hubert's claim in Darkness Beneath The Earth that he is investigating how Volkhard, Solon, and Kronya disguise themselves, although the player never actually sees Thales remove his Volkhard disguise as they do with Solon and Kronya.
  • Coincidentally, both of them stand at 186 cm (or 6'1").
  • As of Three Hopes, Volkhard's transformation has been shown, confirming this theory.
• Volkhard is the only member of Those Who Slither in the Dark whose personal skill is not Agarthan Technology when encountered as an enemy.