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alias_sqbr) wrote2026-05-21 11:52 pm
alias_sqbr) wrote2026-05-21 11:52 pm
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Umineko Episode 2: Turn of the Golden Witch
Masterlist.
My Episode 1 post is pretty dry and full of details, because I mostly engaged with it as a murder mystery puzzle and world setup. Episode 2 has more about characters and feelings, and is where I got more attached to those aspects. It's also where things start to get Surprisingly Weird.
Halfway through writing this post I had an EPIPHANY and now have a THEORY. I have written it upo in my Theory Post, which will come after I have written up Episodes 1-5 since it draws on all of them.
I just finished Episode 5, and kind of want to finish writing everything up before Episode 6 throws all my ideas out the window, but also I want to see what happens next!!
This starts with a bunch of flashbacks, out of order.
A cute date between George and Shannon at an aquarium. She says that she sees the beautiful blue of the sea and this was only possible through magic.
An unknown person, implicitly Shannon, is tempted by a witch to destroy a mirror protecting the shrine near Rokkenjima. This will let them escape being furniture and know love, "the single element which meant the world, and whose loss meant the loss of the world".
George helps Shannon out when she is about to get into trouble with Natsuhi, and after talking with Jessica, she realises how kind he is, and that he's fun to talk to.
God I just realised she's worked here for 10 years so... since she was SIX and he was like 15?? M-maybe she's older than I thought?? D:
Eva is pushing George towards an arranged marriage meeting, and noticing the vibe with Shannon, quietly but sharply warns her to back off.
A servant who isn't present later during the murder weekend, Lunon, makes Shannon look bad, and she is punished cruelly by Natsuhi. Shannon pours her sorrows out to the Beatrice portrait. Beatrice appears and offers to help Shannon get together with George if she breaks the mirror. She make a weasel wordy promise implying there'll be no bad consequences.
Kanon tells Beatrice to stop messing with Shannon, Beatrice is initially angry but is satisfied with leaving identical butterfly shaped burns on their hands to remind them the conversation was real.
Shannon and Jessica have a friendly chat about a trip George and Shannon went on. Jessica is annoyed that they had separate rooms but Shannon likes that George is a gentleman. Jessica wishes she had a boyfriend.
Beatrice and Shannon have a friendly chat about the relationship?? Beatrice is being weirdly nice and soppy about the power of love, but when she was manipulating Shannon earlier she cheerfully leaned into Shannon's low self esteem bout being "furniture".
Shannon tries to give Beatrice back the golden butterfly brooch which allowed her love with George, wanting the love to progress naturally, but Beatrice says it is is hers now, a gift to do with as she chooses.
Kanon says Beatrice has trapped Shannon. Shannon says that she knows she's still furniture, but now she can see how beautifully blue the sea is, thanks to love. She hands Kanon the brooch so that he can see it too.
He sees Beatrice watching Kinzo with pity, as he rants to himself about his failure to ever see her again, unaware she's right beside him. She says "Without love, it cannot be seen".
Shannon gets Kanon and Jessica to fake date since Jessica pretended to have a boyfriend to her highschool friends. I was not expecting her to be the driver behind so much of this romance! Kanon thinks this is stupid but goes along anyway, then is charmed despite himself by how free and unaffected Jessica is when she gets to be herself, especially in her rockband.
Natsuhi and Krauss only approve of Jessica when she is being a Good Heir and she feels restricted and unseen.
Jessica, much like George with Shannon, tries to encourage Kanon to see himself as a human who can reach for happiness and love, and implies her feelings for him. He coldly says that a furniture cannot ever return a human's love, but then thanks her for thinking of him as human anyway.
Beatrice appears and Kanon realises her goal was to set up doomed relationships. He crushes the brooch while Beatrice confirms this, laughing at the madness that gold and love bring. "She remarks that those who do not go insane are fittingly called furniture, but because of this cannot be controlled by her", hmm.
The day of the conference!
UUurgh painful scene where Rosa abuses Maria for being embarrassingly weird in public.
Natsuhi is Supportive about Krauss's terrible business decisions he never consults her on. They discuss making sure none of the other siblings meet with Kinzo.
Kumasawa tells Natsuhi that Rokkenjima used to be called Azukijima, rumored to be a corruption of Akujikishima (Evil Appetite Island), an island where evil spirits gathered. And now the shrine protecting everyone is gone.
We see Battler and Beatrice in purgatory. She says she can endlessly repeat these events and torture him until he submits to the existence of witches. He says he'll never give in, so it's actually going to be torture for her. She cackles.
Eva gives Rosa shit about Maria being immature and Rosa crushes up a halloween candy she'd given Maria under her shoe. Maria still treasures it as a gift from her mother, telling Kanon that Beatrice can fix it.
Sure enough Beatrice shows up in the garden, not in her usual fancy renaissance gown but more modern clothing. Rosa watches as Beatrices tells Maria to imagine the candy's shape as it used to be, and restores it in a cloud of golden butterflies. Beatrice gives an envelope each to a shocked Rosa and delighted Maria.
Genji greets Beatrice, which is cheerfully coy about her identity. Kyrie pretends not to recognise her from the portrait to see what she'll do, because Kyrie is the best.
Kanon serves Beatrice in the special room that has been waiting for her. She says he should be happy about his upcoming "day of rest": the furniture were told that the ritual will either kill them and release them from suffering, or if they're lucky let them enter the golden land and become human. He'd been looking forward to it but now has second thoughts involving Shannon and Jessica. Beatrice mocks him and says she will spare Shannon and George for the second twilight ("those who are close") if he kneels down and kisses her shoes and persuades Shannon to reject the ring.
Me and the LPers: What about the other twilights? KANON IT'S A TRICK
This feels like a major theme of the story.
Kyrie tells the younger siblings about "Beatrice" and everyone agrees she may be after the money. Kyrie says she's probably being so flashy to cover having a weak claim.
This is SO CREEPY. Who is this PERSON messing with Maria??? Also I had to edit in what felt like important details there, these wiki summaries definitely miss Clues.
Going into this game I knew Beatrice was The Internet's Waifu and was like... ok I can see why someone would find her hot but there is a limit to how mean a hot mean girl can be before she's just an asshole. Even by Episode 5 I can see it more but am still a hard sell on accepting the GLEEFUL MURDER and PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE.
George, Shannon, and Jessica hang out. George admits Eva is going to make his relationship with Shannon difficult but says he is willing to defy the world.
There has been a continuing theme of Gohda thinking he should outrank Kanon and Shannon, and thus be in charge of stuff like serving Beatrice. This makes him pettily critical of them. Dude you don't want to be dragged into the Murder Ritual any more than you already are.
Kanon tells Shannon about his deal with Beatrice though admits the other twilights are still a danger. Shannon refuses to let go of her love for George.
Given all the Game Playing imagery sometimes I wonder if Nanjo is involved in controlling the larger game the way Kinzo is, though it would mean basically his entire "friendly, stuffy, confused old man" persona is a lie.
GO SHANNON. FUCK HER UP.
The word "fragment" has come up a few times, it often means like... a specific timeline or alternate universe.
Krauss and Natsuhi find out about (human visitor) Beatrice and are clearly surprised.
Shannon talks to George about what it means to be engaged if you can't get married, implicitly because she thinks they're going to die. He says they can declare their marriage now as a vow to always be together, then formalise it later, so they do.
We jump to generation 1 + spouses in the (never before mentioned) chapel with Beatrice, having presumably had an unseen conversation with her, because now they're all standing in front of her accepting her existence one by one, though Kyrie hesitates.
The next morning, there is the word "Chapel" on the kitchen table.
The chapel is a standalone building some distance from the mansion, and had been built at around the same time as it. Kinzo had always told his children to stay away from it. The seventh magic circle of the sun was painted over the chapel door in a red substance, and written below it was the English line "Happy Halloween for Maria".
Everyone who wasn't in the chapel plus Rosa goes to check it out. Noone can find the key, and Rosa finds it in the envelope Beatrice gave the witch.
The narration and Rosa herself never bring up that she was in the chapel last night. This plus her having "witnessed" Beatrice's magic makes me think she's working with Beatrice/the culprit.
Inside the chapel are all the adults except Rosa, dead, sitting around a table covered in halloween candy, with more spilling out of the split stomachs. There is also a letter from Beatrice telling everyone to solve the epitaph, and several gold bars.
Meta-layer: Beatrice laughingly says she did this for Battler: Now he can see everyone's face.
Jessica freaks out, angrily saying she wants to kill Beatrice. Kanon realises that he's hurt her feelings by remaining politely distant, but being furniture, cannot understand human emotions. Beatrice tells him of the three ways to hurt a woman: with a blade, in her heart, or by betraying her expectations. Then she says she's going to kill Jessica to enjoy his reaction.
Beatrice has summoned a goat-faced servant with a magic blue blade. To protect Jessica, Kanon manifests a MAGIC RED BLADE from his own arm??!! Beatrice mocks him for exposing his sub-humanity to the girl he likes. Kanon and Jessica try to protect each other, which Beatrice says is enough to qualify for the second twilight (those who are close) then kills them with a Stake of Purgatory.
I forgot to mention last time but: the seven stakes of purgatory are stakes with occult symbols, but in magic scenes they can take the form of skantily clad cute but mean anime girls, with names like "Mammon the stake of lust", and are girlishly enthusiastic about murder.
Kanon dies before he can tell Jessica his real name, but says he isn't furniture any more. To spite him, Beatrice makes his body vanish.
Kinzo tells Shannon and Nanjo he is going to write a will, which will be more of a record of his games and thoughts. But the game cuts away before we see any of the details.
I feel very silly for not solving this until I heard the solution later. I don't even have the excuse of being ESL!
There are four currently known layers to the world:
The Game: events on the island, which Battler is trying to explain as entirely mundane. Everyone in this layer is a "piece", including the versions of Battler and Beatrice who interact with the others.
The meta-layer: A layer on top of "game" places and events where the players Battler and Beatrice argue during the game.
Purgatorio: Where the first tea party happens after a game
The Witch's Parlour: Where the second tea party happens after a game
Meta-layer: Battler and Beatrice argue over the closed room and he refuses to trust her arguments. So she introduces the red truth: anything stated in red is guaranteed to be true. I did not understand why Battler immediately accepted this as valid, if annoying, or how it made sense for him to be able to see what colour words are.
He quickly realises that once something has been said in red Beatrice can't deny it either, so if he can get her to repeat statements that help his argument it's a weapon that helps him, and if she refuses to repeat something that's a sign it's either not true or is too helpful to him.
Beatrice says he can use her nickname "Beato".
In the game/real world, Rosa has taken over as the surviving Adult in Charge and grabbed one of Kinzo's guns. She says this is like the wolf and sheep puzzle from a puzzle book she gave Maria, innocent sheep must all stay together to avoid ever being alone with whoever is the wolf.
At some point Maria says her mother only read that one puzzle, but there were several more, which feels like Foreshadowing.
It's increasingly clear that the author of this game freaking LOVES logic puzzles and other mystery-related logic/game theory stuff, and will take any excuse to have his characters discuss them at length. Luckily I also love this stuff as abstract concepts, even if I get bored sometimes with specific examples.
Since Kanon's corpse is missing, Rosa says he is still a possible culprit, and is generally paranoid, especially of the servants. Only in death would Kanon be proven innocent. Battler doesn't like this.
Meta-layer: Battler is forced to admit that if he refuses to accept that one of the servants used their master key to murder Jessica, he's got no explanation left but magic, and resigns from the game.
A stabbed Kanon shows up in the kitchen, and as the horrified servants try to tend to his massive wound he says Rosa is the one who killed Jessica, and that she plans to kill everyone because she wants all the gold for herself. As the servants try to decide how to deal with this, he gets weirder and creeper and more obviously inhuman, with glowing red eyes like the goat monster.
Shannon runs off and to find a spider web, handing it to Genji and saying spiders are the natural enemy of this kind of entity. Kanon becomes incensed but Gohda protects her. Kanon uses his magic knife to kill Nanjo and Kumasawa, but then Genji stabs him and puts the spider web on his face at which point he dissolves into golden butterflies.
??????? Still have no idea what THAT was about.
Meta-layer: As Battler tries to solve various locked room mysteries without resorting to magic, Beatrice declares in red that Battler is incompetent, then gleefully laughs in red.
The dead servants go missing and Rosa once again says that if she hasn't seen a corpse she assumes that death has been faked and it's all a big servant conspiracy. Like Natsuhi, she apologises to the servants for suspecting them, then takes back all their master keys and kicks them out. George leaves with them.
Battler hugs Maria while crying and apologizes for having doubted the witch. He acknowledges the existence of Beatrice and magic, and Maria tells him that Beato will soon bring everyone to the Golden Land. She says she can protect Battler.
Rosa laughs to herself, remarking that she can't trust furniture at all.
Meta-layer: Battler begs Beatrice to share a red truth which would exonerate the servants. She tells him that her voice cannot reach Rosa because he still denied her. She tells him to become her furniture and lick her shoes while naked.
Genji refuses to break the window to the chapel to get the key to Natsuhi's room from her corpse, as it is his duty to wait on any orders from the Master. Having spent his life repaying Kinzo's favor, he entrusts his fate to the roulette. After they leave, a single golden butterfly appears, but Genji kills it with a single skillful knife throw.
(what is UP with Genji??)
Battler wonders why Beatrice gave them hints to solve the epitaph and Maria says risk is an essential part of magic.
(all of this feels like important characterisation)
Genji, Shanon and George are chased from the chapel by gold butterflies. When they escape the Natsuhi's room and look for her mirror, Beatrice and her goats come through the door. She mocks Shannon for not having even had her first night with George despite having licked Beatrice's shoes to have the chance to be with him. Shannon uses a MAGIC RED BARRIER!! to protect him, but Beatrice is stronger, especially since Shannon can't fully use the mirror.
Shannon declares that having completed her eternal vows with George, she no longer has any regrets, and Beatrice can do nothing to her. Beatrice is overcome by fury, shouting that love is just lust. As Shannon asks George to say he loves her, Beatrice kills them.
Gohda finds Kuwosawa and Nanjo's bodies placed in the courtyard, staked in the knee and foot like in the epitaph. They find George, Shannon, and Genji's bodies, Shannon still staring at the mirror charm.
Battler and Rosa accuse each other of being the murderer, and he goes off to get drunk.
Kinzo wakes up and realizes that he is still alive. He howls that he will soon reunite with Beatrice, whereupon he will swear his love and apologize for his crimes, and even offer up his life. He declares that she will be his for eternity and that he will not allow her to escape a second time. A butterfly appears behind Kinzo's back. Beatrice calls him a fool for thinking that his words and tears would cause a woman to fall for him.
Genji takes Battler to meet with Kinzo and Beatrice in Kinzo's study, where they are playing chess.
Genji tells him to be diligent in his future studies, so that he will not regret something for his whole life due to a lack of knowledge.
(A Clue??)
Off-screen, Beatrice answers all of Battler's questions, and he is forced to accept that magic is real.
"When the seagulls cried, none were left alive."
Rosa grabs a gold bar from the chapel, intending to escape with Maria.
This is all so bizarre I'm just going to quote it.
I don't know where to even START with all this.
Rosa is running from golden butterflies with Maria, gun in one hand and gold in the other, instead of holding Maria's hand. She says there will be nowhere safe on the island.
;_;
Teaparty time!!
Beatrice thanks Rosa for her compliance (HMM) and Rosa remembers all the bullying she experienced from her older siblings, each passing on the mistreatment they received from those older than them.
Beatrice says Rosa's pain cannot be fixed by rewinding time, but by pleasure, then forces her to choke down a 'luxurious' meal made from the blood and bodies of her siblings' tortured bodies.
Beatrice then brings Maria in to be roasted. Maria apologies for being so troublesome when Rosa tried to spend time with men, in a way that feels like Rosa's self reproach.
me and the LPers: BATTLER. WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS. DO NOT FLIRT WITH YOUR DYING 9 YEAR OLD COUSIN.
???? Teaparty:
(for context: Bernkastl and Lamdadelta look like tweens in goth lolita outfits.)
Beatrice asks if Bernkastl has been enjoying the game, saying she knows Bernkastl has been interfering. Bernkastl says she wants to see Beatrice fall apart and lose.
Lamdadelta shows up, saying she's been chasing Bernkastl down since losing their last game, and that it was unwise to pick a fight with the brutal Beatrice.
Bernkastl and Lamdadelta separately tell the viewer (who I always assumed was Battler but these vague wiki descriptions make me think maybe not!) that there are holes in Beatrice's attacks, almost like she wants to lose, but that this makes her harder for someone like Bernkastl to predict.
My Episode 1 post is pretty dry and full of details, because I mostly engaged with it as a murder mystery puzzle and world setup. Episode 2 has more about characters and feelings, and is where I got more attached to those aspects. It's also where things start to get Surprisingly Weird.
Halfway through writing this post I had an EPIPHANY and now have a THEORY. I have written it upo in my Theory Post, which will come after I have written up Episodes 1-5 since it draws on all of them.
I just finished Episode 5, and kind of want to finish writing everything up before Episode 6 throws all my ideas out the window, but also I want to see what happens next!!
This starts with a bunch of flashbacks, out of order.
A cute date between George and Shannon at an aquarium. She says that she sees the beautiful blue of the sea and this was only possible through magic.
An unknown person, implicitly Shannon, is tempted by a witch to destroy a mirror protecting the shrine near Rokkenjima. This will let them escape being furniture and know love, "the single element which meant the world, and whose loss meant the loss of the world".
George helps Shannon out when she is about to get into trouble with Natsuhi, and after talking with Jessica, she realises how kind he is, and that he's fun to talk to.
God I just realised she's worked here for 10 years so... since she was SIX and he was like 15?? M-maybe she's older than I thought?? D:
Eva is pushing George towards an arranged marriage meeting, and noticing the vibe with Shannon, quietly but sharply warns her to back off.
A servant who isn't present later during the murder weekend, Lunon, makes Shannon look bad, and she is punished cruelly by Natsuhi. Shannon pours her sorrows out to the Beatrice portrait. Beatrice appears and offers to help Shannon get together with George if she breaks the mirror. She make a weasel wordy promise implying there'll be no bad consequences.
Kanon tells Beatrice to stop messing with Shannon, Beatrice is initially angry but is satisfied with leaving identical butterfly shaped burns on their hands to remind them the conversation was real.
Shannon and Jessica have a friendly chat about a trip George and Shannon went on. Jessica is annoyed that they had separate rooms but Shannon likes that George is a gentleman. Jessica wishes she had a boyfriend.
Beatrice and Shannon have a friendly chat about the relationship?? Beatrice is being weirdly nice and soppy about the power of love, but when she was manipulating Shannon earlier she cheerfully leaned into Shannon's low self esteem bout being "furniture".
Shannon tries to give Beatrice back the golden butterfly brooch which allowed her love with George, wanting the love to progress naturally, but Beatrice says it is is hers now, a gift to do with as she chooses.
Few people could perceive Beatrice, and only Shannon and Kanon could speak with her face to face. Krauss and Natsuhi could not perceive her at all, so she would play pranks by hitting Natsuhi's head with her pipe. Kinzo also had no magical talent, but managed to summon her once through sheer hard work. The result of that encounter was that Beatrice became bound to the island for decades, losing both her power and form until Shannon helped her. The shrine on the reef had been built by an Eastern magician to seal the evil spirits that had gathered on the island. The mirror's magic was thus of a different form from Beatrice's Western magic and interfered with it.
Kanon says Beatrice has trapped Shannon. Shannon says that she knows she's still furniture, but now she can see how beautifully blue the sea is, thanks to love. She hands Kanon the brooch so that he can see it too.
He sees Beatrice watching Kinzo with pity, as he rants to himself about his failure to ever see her again, unaware she's right beside him. She says "Without love, it cannot be seen".
Shannon gets Kanon and Jessica to fake date since Jessica pretended to have a boyfriend to her highschool friends. I was not expecting her to be the driver behind so much of this romance! Kanon thinks this is stupid but goes along anyway, then is charmed despite himself by how free and unaffected Jessica is when she gets to be herself, especially in her rockband.
Natsuhi and Krauss only approve of Jessica when she is being a Good Heir and she feels restricted and unseen.
Jessica, much like George with Shannon, tries to encourage Kanon to see himself as a human who can reach for happiness and love, and implies her feelings for him. He coldly says that a furniture cannot ever return a human's love, but then thanks her for thinking of him as human anyway.
Beatrice appears and Kanon realises her goal was to set up doomed relationships. He crushes the brooch while Beatrice confirms this, laughing at the madness that gold and love bring. "She remarks that those who do not go insane are fittingly called furniture, but because of this cannot be controlled by her", hmm.
The day of the conference!
UUurgh painful scene where Rosa abuses Maria for being embarrassingly weird in public.
Natsuhi is Supportive about Krauss's terrible business decisions he never consults her on. They discuss making sure none of the other siblings meet with Kinzo.
Kumasawa tells Natsuhi that Rokkenjima used to be called Azukijima, rumored to be a corruption of Akujikishima (Evil Appetite Island), an island where evil spirits gathered. And now the shrine protecting everyone is gone.
We see Battler and Beatrice in purgatory. She says she can endlessly repeat these events and torture him until he submits to the existence of witches. He says he'll never give in, so it's actually going to be torture for her. She cackles.
Eva gives Rosa shit about Maria being immature and Rosa crushes up a halloween candy she'd given Maria under her shoe. Maria still treasures it as a gift from her mother, telling Kanon that Beatrice can fix it.
Sure enough Beatrice shows up in the garden, not in her usual fancy renaissance gown but more modern clothing. Rosa watches as Beatrices tells Maria to imagine the candy's shape as it used to be, and restores it in a cloud of golden butterflies. Beatrice gives an envelope each to a shocked Rosa and delighted Maria.
Genji greets Beatrice, which is cheerfully coy about her identity. Kyrie pretends not to recognise her from the portrait to see what she'll do, because Kyrie is the best.
Beatrice asks how long Kinzo has not left his study for, and Genji answers that it might be several years. She remarks at the irony of the situation for the man who had wanted to shut her up in a cage. The scorpion-inscribed doorknob burns her hand upon contact. Beatrice declines Genji's offer to open it, wanting the roulette to take its own course. She declares that she will enjoy this final game with Kinzo.
Kanon serves Beatrice in the special room that has been waiting for her. She says he should be happy about his upcoming "day of rest": the furniture were told that the ritual will either kill them and release them from suffering, or if they're lucky let them enter the golden land and become human. He'd been looking forward to it but now has second thoughts involving Shannon and Jessica. Beatrice mocks him and says she will spare Shannon and George for the second twilight ("those who are close") if he kneels down and kisses her shoes and persuades Shannon to reject the ring.
Me and the LPers: What about the other twilights? KANON IT'S A TRICK
Battler lets out a yawn and prepares to sleep, saying that it simply isn't his turn to be on the stage. Jessica is irked by his attitude. She tells him that everyone is the main character of their life, and that he ought not to act like a supporting actor
This feels like a major theme of the story.
Kyrie tells the younger siblings about "Beatrice" and everyone agrees she may be after the money. Kyrie says she's probably being so flashy to cover having a weak claim.
Rosa asks Maria about the woman they had met, and Maria insists that she is Beatrice. She tells Rosa that she has met Beatrice annually on Rokkenjima for over two years. During these meetings, they sung songs, learned magic, and drew magic circles. She shows Rosa her notebook, and Rosa realizes the symbols are way too perfectly drawn to have been made by Maria. Maria tells her that Beatrice lives on the island even outside of the family conferences.
Rosa experiences a strong headache. She wonders if she is getting mixed up in her childhood memories, back when she had greatly feared the witch. She contemplates opening her envelope before dinner, but Maria tells her it's very important not to break a promise with Beatrice/a witch. Rosa realizes that Maria looks up to Beatrice, and would probably report any disobedience to her. She becomes very protective of her daughter, not wanting an unknown being to make contact with her.
This is SO CREEPY. Who is this PERSON messing with Maria??? Also I had to edit in what felt like important details there, these wiki summaries definitely miss Clues.
Going into this game I knew Beatrice was The Internet's Waifu and was like... ok I can see why someone would find her hot but there is a limit to how mean a hot mean girl can be before she's just an asshole. Even by Episode 5 I can see it more but am still a hard sell on accepting the GLEEFUL MURDER and PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE.
George, Shannon, and Jessica hang out. George admits Eva is going to make his relationship with Shannon difficult but says he is willing to defy the world.
There has been a continuing theme of Gohda thinking he should outrank Kanon and Shannon, and thus be in charge of stuff like serving Beatrice. This makes him pettily critical of them. Dude you don't want to be dragged into the Murder Ritual any more than you already are.
Kanon tells Shannon about his deal with Beatrice though admits the other twilights are still a danger. Shannon refuses to let go of her love for George.
Kinzo tells Nanjo that both players ought to always make the best moves, as poorer moves are hard to understand and would lower the enjoyment of the game. Nanjo tells Kinzo that he has forgotten the other goal of chess: to simply have fun with a friend. Upon hearing this, Kinzo suspends the match satisfied, suggesting that they may continue it in the afterlife.
Given all the Game Playing imagery sometimes I wonder if Nanjo is involved in controlling the larger game the way Kinzo is, though it would mean basically his entire "friendly, stuffy, confused old man" persona is a lie.
Beatrice tells her that she will not apologize for manipulating her love life, but Shannon thanks her for teaching her to be human, regardless of her motives. This annoys Beatrice, who thinks that a human ought to be frantic regarding the possibility of their death following their engagement. She puts Shannon down as furniture, but Shannon firmly asserts her humanity and autonomy.
Shannon realizes that the best way of resisting Beatrice is by refusing to entertain her. She declares that humans do not know their fates, and so she will live her life to the fullest and rely on her own convictions, not fearing death. Beatrice tells her that the fates of lower beings are no more than Fragments, and that she has the power to kill anyone endlessly. Shannon does not entertain her taunts and leaves with confidence.
GO SHANNON. FUCK HER UP.
The word "fragment" has come up a few times, it often means like... a specific timeline or alternate universe.
Krauss and Natsuhi find out about (human visitor) Beatrice and are clearly surprised.
Shannon talks to George about what it means to be engaged if you can't get married, implicitly because she thinks they're going to die. He says they can declare their marriage now as a vow to always be together, then formalise it later, so they do.
Shannon tells Kanon that having made that eternal promise with George, her fate in the ceremony no longer matters to her.
Shannon questions why Kanon is so adamant on going to the Golden Land, and he tearfully responds that he wants to become human so he can fall in love too. He admits that he likes Jessica, and had been elated when he found out that she liked him too. Kanon had rejected her because he was furniture, thinking that if their love could not be eternal, it would be better not to love at all. He curses the witch for giving him these feelings.
We jump to generation 1 + spouses in the (never before mentioned) chapel with Beatrice, having presumably had an unseen conversation with her, because now they're all standing in front of her accepting her existence one by one, though Kyrie hesitates.
The next morning, there is the word "Chapel" on the kitchen table.
The chapel is a standalone building some distance from the mansion, and had been built at around the same time as it. Kinzo had always told his children to stay away from it. The seventh magic circle of the sun was painted over the chapel door in a red substance, and written below it was the English line "Happy Halloween for Maria".
Everyone who wasn't in the chapel plus Rosa goes to check it out. Noone can find the key, and Rosa finds it in the envelope Beatrice gave the witch.
The narration and Rosa herself never bring up that she was in the chapel last night. This plus her having "witnessed" Beatrice's magic makes me think she's working with Beatrice/the culprit.
Inside the chapel are all the adults except Rosa, dead, sitting around a table covered in halloween candy, with more spilling out of the split stomachs. There is also a letter from Beatrice telling everyone to solve the epitaph, and several gold bars.
Meta-layer: Beatrice laughingly says she did this for Battler: Now he can see everyone's face.
Jessica freaks out, angrily saying she wants to kill Beatrice. Kanon realises that he's hurt her feelings by remaining politely distant, but being furniture, cannot understand human emotions. Beatrice tells him of the three ways to hurt a woman: with a blade, in her heart, or by betraying her expectations. Then she says she's going to kill Jessica to enjoy his reaction.
Beatrice has summoned a goat-faced servant with a magic blue blade. To protect Jessica, Kanon manifests a MAGIC RED BLADE from his own arm??!! Beatrice mocks him for exposing his sub-humanity to the girl he likes. Kanon and Jessica try to protect each other, which Beatrice says is enough to qualify for the second twilight (those who are close) then kills them with a Stake of Purgatory.
I forgot to mention last time but: the seven stakes of purgatory are stakes with occult symbols, but in magic scenes they can take the form of skantily clad cute but mean anime girls, with names like "Mammon the stake of lust", and are girlishly enthusiastic about murder.
Kanon dies before he can tell Jessica his real name, but says he isn't furniture any more. To spite him, Beatrice makes his body vanish.
Kinzo tells Shannon and Nanjo he is going to write a will, which will be more of a record of his games and thoughts. But the game cuts away before we see any of the details.
Nanjo adds on that Kinzo had hoped that a miracle would allow him to receive a blessing there. George points out a relief on the chapel which contained the English words "This door is only opened at a probability of...". Battler cannot figure out the last few words, and George tells him it goes "m", "b", "t", "q", a number of tremendous size. Maria mocks Battler for having poor English. They bring up the rumor of Beatrice being Kinzo's mistress and wonder if Kinzo's miracle was to be able to revive and marry her now that his wife was dead.
I feel very silly for not solving this until I heard the solution later. I don't even have the excuse of being ESL!
There are four currently known layers to the world:
The Game: events on the island, which Battler is trying to explain as entirely mundane. Everyone in this layer is a "piece", including the versions of Battler and Beatrice who interact with the others.
The meta-layer: A layer on top of "game" places and events where the players Battler and Beatrice argue during the game.
Purgatorio: Where the first tea party happens after a game
The Witch's Parlour: Where the second tea party happens after a game
Meta-layer: Battler and Beatrice argue over the closed room and he refuses to trust her arguments. So she introduces the red truth: anything stated in red is guaranteed to be true. I did not understand why Battler immediately accepted this as valid, if annoying, or how it made sense for him to be able to see what colour words are.
He quickly realises that once something has been said in red Beatrice can't deny it either, so if he can get her to repeat statements that help his argument it's a weapon that helps him, and if she refuses to repeat something that's a sign it's either not true or is too helpful to him.
Beatrice says he can use her nickname "Beato".
In the game/real world, Rosa has taken over as the surviving Adult in Charge and grabbed one of Kinzo's guns. She says this is like the wolf and sheep puzzle from a puzzle book she gave Maria, innocent sheep must all stay together to avoid ever being alone with whoever is the wolf.
At some point Maria says her mother only read that one puzzle, but there were several more, which feels like Foreshadowing.
It's increasingly clear that the author of this game freaking LOVES logic puzzles and other mystery-related logic/game theory stuff, and will take any excuse to have his characters discuss them at length. Luckily I also love this stuff as abstract concepts, even if I get bored sometimes with specific examples.
Since Kanon's corpse is missing, Rosa says he is still a possible culprit, and is generally paranoid, especially of the servants. Only in death would Kanon be proven innocent. Battler doesn't like this.
Meta-layer: Battler is forced to admit that if he refuses to accept that one of the servants used their master key to murder Jessica, he's got no explanation left but magic, and resigns from the game.
A stabbed Kanon shows up in the kitchen, and as the horrified servants try to tend to his massive wound he says Rosa is the one who killed Jessica, and that she plans to kill everyone because she wants all the gold for herself. As the servants try to decide how to deal with this, he gets weirder and creeper and more obviously inhuman, with glowing red eyes like the goat monster.
Shannon runs off and to find a spider web, handing it to Genji and saying spiders are the natural enemy of this kind of entity. Kanon becomes incensed but Gohda protects her. Kanon uses his magic knife to kill Nanjo and Kumasawa, but then Genji stabs him and puts the spider web on his face at which point he dissolves into golden butterflies.
??????? Still have no idea what THAT was about.
Meta-layer: As Battler tries to solve various locked room mysteries without resorting to magic, Beatrice declares in red that Battler is incompetent, then gleefully laughs in red.
The dead servants go missing and Rosa once again says that if she hasn't seen a corpse she assumes that death has been faked and it's all a big servant conspiracy. Like Natsuhi, she apologises to the servants for suspecting them, then takes back all their master keys and kicks them out. George leaves with them.
Battler hugs Maria while crying and apologizes for having doubted the witch. He acknowledges the existence of Beatrice and magic, and Maria tells him that Beato will soon bring everyone to the Golden Land. She says she can protect Battler.
Rosa laughs to herself, remarking that she can't trust furniture at all.
Meta-layer: Battler begs Beatrice to share a red truth which would exonerate the servants. She tells him that her voice cannot reach Rosa because he still denied her. She tells him to become her furniture and lick her shoes while naked.
George asks Shannon why she had gone to look for spider webs. She explains that Kumasawa had told her about the legend of Akujikishima, where the evil spirits feared spiderwebs. Shannon feels guilt for releasing these spirits by breaking the spirit mirror, but George tells her that he does not blame her for it. Gohda wonders if the witch truly exists. Shannon confidently asserts so while Genji maintains neutrality.
Gohda remembers that Natsuhi kept her own spirit mirror. George tells them that Natsuhi's family was descended from Shinto priests, and thus the mirror might have real power. He proposes to obtain it as defense against the witch.
Genji refuses to break the window to the chapel to get the key to Natsuhi's room from her corpse, as it is his duty to wait on any orders from the Master. Having spent his life repaying Kinzo's favor, he entrusts his fate to the roulette. After they leave, a single golden butterfly appears, but Genji kills it with a single skillful knife throw.
(what is UP with Genji??)
Battler wonders why Beatrice gave them hints to solve the epitaph and Maria says risk is an essential part of magic.
Battler realizes that this means that Beatrice may not always be making the best moves, making chessboard thinking ineffective. He cannot wrap his head around Beatrice's motives, where victory or loss seemed inconsequential. He realizes that chessboard thinking was making them project their greed onto their opponents, and wonders if Rosa did that. Rosa had been bullied by her siblings while growing up, and her behavior now may merely be reflecting that childhood. Battler wonders if Maria is projecting her pure intentions onto Beatrice.
Beatrice uses the red to state that she keeps her promises. She confirms that solving the epitaph would mean that the murders would end, as rules must be followed in magic. She then asks Battler if humans keep their promises, expressing her exasperation at how they try to find loopholes and such in them. Battler mentions that Rudolf had profited off dubious contracts. Beatrice tells him that fraud is learned.
Battler still insists that Beatrice is a heartless mass murderer and views not giving up as the only way to resist her. Beatrice wonders if a witch's true magical power is measured not by strength but by endurance, and makes a nod to Bernkastel. Battler tells her to get on with the game. Beatrice is delighted that he has regained his spirits and tells him that she will prolong the game for a more powerful finale.
(all of this feels like important characterisation)
Genji, Shanon and George are chased from the chapel by gold butterflies. When they escape the Natsuhi's room and look for her mirror, Beatrice and her goats come through the door. She mocks Shannon for not having even had her first night with George despite having licked Beatrice's shoes to have the chance to be with him. Shannon uses a MAGIC RED BARRIER!! to protect him, but Beatrice is stronger, especially since Shannon can't fully use the mirror.
Shannon declares that having completed her eternal vows with George, she no longer has any regrets, and Beatrice can do nothing to her. Beatrice is overcome by fury, shouting that love is just lust. As Shannon asks George to say he loves her, Beatrice kills them.
Gohda finds Kuwosawa and Nanjo's bodies placed in the courtyard, staked in the knee and foot like in the epitaph. They find George, Shannon, and Genji's bodies, Shannon still staring at the mirror charm.
Battler and Rosa accuse each other of being the murderer, and he goes off to get drunk.
Kinzo wakes up and realizes that he is still alive. He howls that he will soon reunite with Beatrice, whereupon he will swear his love and apologize for his crimes, and even offer up his life. He declares that she will be his for eternity and that he will not allow her to escape a second time. A butterfly appears behind Kinzo's back. Beatrice calls him a fool for thinking that his words and tears would cause a woman to fall for him.
Genji takes Battler to meet with Kinzo and Beatrice in Kinzo's study, where they are playing chess.
Genji tells him to be diligent in his future studies, so that he will not regret something for his whole life due to a lack of knowledge.
(A Clue??)
Off-screen, Beatrice answers all of Battler's questions, and he is forced to accept that magic is real.
"When the seagulls cried, none were left alive."
Rosa grabs a gold bar from the chapel, intending to escape with Maria.
This is all so bizarre I'm just going to quote it.
Genji informs Kinzo and Beatrice that it is time for the banquet. Battler is down on all fours, serving as a footrest for Beatrice. Kinzo thanks Genji for remaining and complains that Shannon is never around when he wants to use her.
After Kinzo and Genji leave, Beatrice makes Battler help her put on the dress. She tells him that she feels no shame at being naked because he is furniture.
The hall is filled with golden butterflies and a large number of goat-headed people seem to be holding a formal ball. Genji announces Beatrice's revival and arrival to a tremendous applause, and she descends the steps with a naked Battler on a chain leash. Bernkastel removes her goat mask and comments at Battler's state, but then puts it back on and leaves.
At 24:00, Beatrice proclaims the start of the banquet. The mansions of the human and non-human worlds overlap, and the humans that had praised Beatrice's resurrection are turned into golden butterflies and sent to hell. Kinzo cries for Beatrice to take him to the Golden Land and is swiftly devoured by the goats. Beatrice kicks Battler. Seeing him feel pain, she decides that he is unsuitable to be her furniture, and calls on the goats to devour him too.
I don't know where to even START with all this.
Rosa is running from golden butterflies with Maria, gun in one hand and gold in the other, instead of holding Maria's hand. She says there will be nowhere safe on the island.
As she descends the stairs, she falls down and feels a sharp pain in her ankle. She regrets having lost both her childhood and her future. She tells Maria to go ahead, but Maria insists on staying with her.
Rosa apologizes to Maria for always putting her off, asking her if she even wants to be with such a mother. Maria responds that there is no good mama or bad mama, but only one mama. She tells her mother that it is the same for her, that both the sweet Maria and the one who is a nuisance are one and the same, and that she wants to be the only Maria for Rosa. Rosa calls herself an idiot, realizing that she did not need the gold and should have just reached out to her. They promise to play together in the Golden Land
;_;
Teaparty time!!
Beatrice thanks Rosa for her compliance (HMM) and Rosa remembers all the bullying she experienced from her older siblings, each passing on the mistreatment they received from those older than them.
Beatrice says Rosa's pain cannot be fixed by rewinding time, but by pleasure, then forces her to choke down a 'luxurious' meal made from the blood and bodies of her siblings' tortured bodies.
Beatrice then brings Maria in to be roasted. Maria apologies for being so troublesome when Rosa tried to spend time with men, in a way that feels like Rosa's self reproach.
Battler appears at that moment and lambastes Beatrice's actions. He tells Maria it is ten years too early for her to have someone eat her, but to promise to let him do so then. He declares that he has regained his will to fight, telling Beatrice that he will crawl through the mud as many times as it takes to resist her.
me and the LPers: BATTLER. WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS. DO NOT FLIRT WITH YOUR DYING 9 YEAR OLD COUSIN.
???? Teaparty:
(for context: Bernkastl and Lamdadelta look like tweens in goth lolita outfits.)
Beatrice asks if Bernkastl has been enjoying the game, saying she knows Bernkastl has been interfering. Bernkastl says she wants to see Beatrice fall apart and lose.
Lamdadelta shows up, saying she's been chasing Bernkastl down since losing their last game, and that it was unwise to pick a fight with the brutal Beatrice.
Bernkastl and Lamdadelta separately tell the viewer (who I always assumed was Battler but these vague wiki descriptions make me think maybe not!) that there are holes in Beatrice's attacks, almost like she wants to lose, but that this makes her harder for someone like Bernkastl to predict.