Krauss is the worst overall I would say. Not that Eva gives you much reason to like her, but Krauss out does her.
Okay guys, I feel like itās time we had a nice chat about a bit of an awkward subject when it comes to Uminekoās mystery, something we need to nip pretty early before it starts festering and causing a lot of problems later on. That is, the nature of āmagicā, and knowing how to distinguish between truth and illusions.
We kinda assaulted the idea of magic in the podcast, but I donāt believe our assault was conclusive. Iād like to recap where weāre at since the podcast. How do you guys reconcile with the depictions of magic while attempting to solve the mystery of Umineko?
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Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. I guess the biggest thing about how I attack the sections that explicitly show magic is with a great degree of distrust. One of the major things that we discussed in the podcast is that those sections seem to come from an outside narrator whose motives are dubious at best and malicious at worst. I feel like the narrator is on the side of the witch and so is just telling us that all this stuff is done with magic. It seems a lot like how we see Beatrice at the end of the first tea party killing Eva and Hideyoshi with the stakes through the small crack in the door. It is merely a magical explanation to an event. At least that is the way that we thought about it in the podcast anyway.
Having said that, it would seem to me that these sections are not without their own clues. These sections do have to explain all of the evidence that we see (such as Kanonās body disappearing) and so we can get some idea, by cross-referencing the two perspectives, as to some details that we might want to focus on. There also seem to be some events in the magical explanations that would seem to have some significance outside of merely fact. One example that Iām wrestling with is the bit at the end of Kanon and Jessicaās death where he tries to tell her his name (incidentally I think this is the third twilight that we were having so many problems with in the podcast). While Iām not sure if Kanon died there and Iām sure not buying all the goat butler junk, I think that in whatever actually happened there was something about Kanonās name that came up. We may not know exactly what but I feel like there is a kernel of truth in all of these magical explanations. As another example, Kanonās presence in the other two major magical scenes involving all the other murders. I feel like there is some truth to all of these scenes. In some way I think that Kanon was involved. The tricky part is sorting out what is the tiny bit of truth that is buried under the lie. It seems like Iām just cherry picking (and in some ways I am) but I a sure that there is something (or several somethings) hidden in each of these magical scenes. In short, donāt throw the baby out with the bathwater. Magic is bullshit but we have to pay attention to what the magical explanations tell us because Beatrice makes mistakes and might put us on the right track with just a little bit of the explanations we are given.
So some of this is my own musings and some of this is from the podcast. Go look for the truth buried in the mess of my writing if you want to figure out what is what Kihihihihihihihihi cackle cackle cackle
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Does that mean all narration is unreliable? Or is there a distinction to be made between narration we can and canāt trust?
Hmmmmā¦ tricky one to answer. Obviously if we doubt literally all of the narrative then there is no point in even reading this story. On the other hand we donāt want to just believe everything that we are told. I think that, when things are told from Battlerās point of view we can basically trust it (that is assuming that Battler is not just completely crazy) so that is a good starting point. However, we need to go beyond that.
The narration that comes from the unknown narrator howeverā¦ I think that we have to be very careful when making any theories based on information given to us in these parts. This unknown narrator pops up time and again right from the beginning. We normally think that these narrators are neutral and give an objective point of view on what is going on. But in this case that is a dangerous assumption. My stance is that this narration is very dubious. We canāt just take it at face value and we need to bear in mind that what we are told is going on is not necessarily what is actually going on. Think about when you get two children who get into a fight on the playground. You try and figure out what went on but you are well aware that each child is going to try and spin it their own way and in their favor. That is essentially what I am talking about. Each child has some truth as a kind of base of their story but you know that their series of events wonāt be the full story and may just have some stuff that isnāt true in order for them not to be punished. In order to find out what really went on you need to examine their story (what we are told in the narration), witnesses (Battler) and what you can see for yourself (Battlerās observations and the Red Truths). You could even put on here the character of the people involved in order to think about what would happen. Basically what Iām saying is that we have to do the same thing that we always do when we are told conflicting stories, weigh and evaluate what we are told with other evidence in order to decide what is true or false. There isnāt a clear distinction made on what is trustworthy and what isnāt, but that would take away any challenge if there were.
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Thereās something interesting to note here. You keep making mention of an āunknown narratorā. But I believe that the identity of the narrator can be clearly defined as any point. Most of the narration in Umineko is told in first person perspective, but the āIā changes from time to time. Sometimes itās Battler narrating.
Sometimes itās George.
Sometimes itās Kanon.
Or Shannonā¦
And then sometimes, it even appears to be Beatrice herself.
Then there are other times where the narrator is an unclear, third person narrator who appears to be removed from the characters. But what if, that narrator was a character? What if it was Beatrice herself, narrating the events of the gameboard to Battler? I donāt think itās so far-fetched.
Now, the second point I wanted to make was, regarding Battlerās perspective. Yes, he is the challenger of Beatriceās game, and he is also assuming the role of the Detective, so weāre generally inclined to trust his thoughts and observations. But, if thatās absolutely true, then magic must exist.
What, Beatrice appearing at the end of Episode 1 wasnāt enough for you?
In these scenes at the end of each episode, right around the ninth twilight, āthe witch revivesā, Battler clearly sees Beatrice, golden butterflies, etc. Thereās no way to talk around this. How, oh how, can we reconcile with this fact?
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@Aspirety, you and I are on the same page when it comes to the whole point of view thing. The narrator sometimes shifts from Battler to various other characters. The unknown narrator that I keep referring to only refers to when the story shifts from 1st to 3rd person. Plus, a lot of times when it seems to be coming from one personās perspective it actually is kind of a mix of their perspective and a third person. Meh, itās a little hard to tell all the time.
About your second point I might point something out that I said earlier[quote=āSeraphitic, post:65, topic:27ā]
I think that, when things are told from Battlerās point of view we can basically trust it (that is assuming that Battler is not just completely crazy) so that is a good starting point.
[/quote]
In other words, it is entirely possible that Battler has gone kind of crazy at that point and that is why he saw these things. There is also the fact that the end scroll tells us that these events are being related to us from a piece of paper that was found in a bottle that was cast adrift on the sea. It may be that, if the letter was written by Battler, he may have gone crazy on the island and wrote that note with the witchās revival. The first episode is a little different from the others since, in my theory at least, itās the one that started it all. Battler isnāt playing on a gameboard in the same way as he normally is. In this way it seems to me like we shouldnāt really view Episode 1 in the way that we do all the others. Basically what Iām saying is that Battler āseeingā Beatrice revive is kind of shaky as an objection.
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Seraphiticās take makes a lot of sense to me. Sounds like youāre basically treating scenes with an unknown observer like witness testimony, trusting it only as much as the people who saw it, along with whatever evidence is left behind on the scene and seen by everyone else. Since weāve got plenty of magic scenes by EP2, youād need something like that if you want to solve Umineko as anything remotely like a classic mystery novel.
If you can ignore the scenes entirely, why did the author spend so much time on them? If theyāre perfectly true, then Beatrice wins by default, and the author intentionally wrote this story to waste our time. The ātestimonyā angle solves both of those issues.
Generally speaking though, this isnāt something thatās done in the classic mystery genre. It actually was fairly common to see scenes from the point of view of minor characters, but the stories told by these characters usually had to be reliable (for no in-world reason, just as a storytelling convention). For your argument to stand, we basically need to establish a new rule unique to Umineko, which means youāll need to prove that such a rule is actually necessary and show how it works.
There ought to be some part of Umineko, probably early on, that gives you the information you need to find a clear answer to this question.
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I forgot that I never thought to share these here.
These are a series called Umineko Motion Graphic, a series of animations set to music depicting the events of each of Uminekoās episodes as they were released. This one is episode 2. Make sure you have annotations turned on for translations!
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More song lyrics! These are from the Episode 2 ED, āMelodyā or āSenritsu ~Shirabe~ā, with lyrics edited by me, adapted from here.
If I close my eyes, I can see light
If I listen closely, I can hear the pulse of the earth
Sweet temptation, my heart is bewildered
The wind tears me apart
When one must vanish, two must vanish
The light of life illuminates a melody
The ephemeral flowers scatter on their own
History is a merry-go-round that continues spinning
Shuddering my tensed body and biting down on my lips
I gaze upon the truth
If I open my eyes, I can see light
If I cover my ears, I can hear pulse of the wind
Sweet temptation, my heart is anxious
The wind surrounds me
When one must vanish, two must vanish
The light of life illuminates a melody
The ephemeral flowers scatter on their own
History is a merry-go-round that continues spinning
Shuddering my tensed body and biting down on my lips
I gaze upon the truth
Even as I reach out my hand to grasp a small light,
As we waltz together, it remains out of reach
The ephemeral flowers scatter on their own
History is a merry-go-round that continues spinning
Shuddering my tensed body and biting down on my lips
I gaze upon the truth
I gaze upon the truth
Me o tojiru to hikari ga mieru
Mimi o sumasu to daichi no toiki
Amami yuuwaku tomadoi no kokoro
Kaze wa watashi o kirisaku
Hitotsu kiereba futatsu kie yuku
Akari wa inochi sasu shirabe
Hana wa mizukara chiri yuku mujou
Rekishi wa mawaru mawaru merii goo rando
Kowabaru karada o yurashite kuchibiru kamishime
Shinjitsu o miru
Me o akeru to hikari ga mieru
Mimi o tozasu to kaze no ibuki
Amami yuuwaku urei no kokoro
Kaze wa watashi o tsutsumikomu
Hitotsu kiereba futatsu kie yuku
Akari wa inochi sasu shirabe
Hana wa tsubomi de kare yuku mujou
Daichi wa mawaru mawaru merii goo rando
Furueru karada o yurashite kuchibiru kamishime
Shinjitsu o miru
Chiisa na akari te o nobashite mo
Tsukamenai anata to watashi no warutsu
Hana wa mizukara chiri yuku mujou
Rekishi wa mawaru mawaru merii goo rando
Kowabaru karada o yurashite kuchibiru kamishime
Shinjitsu o miru
Shinjitsu o miru
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So first of all, I want to try to figure out how the game even works. First off, we seem to lose when we acknowledge the existence of the witch and magic. It seems reasonable to assume that a possible win condition could be to actually prove that a witch doesnāt exist, however, this is basically impossible and the story goes great lengths to make that clear. However, Beatrice stated that another win condition for us would be to find the hidden gold while she supposedly tries to kill everyone. So it stands to reason what even the hidden gold is. One possible theory would be that at the location of the gold thereās also some kind of paper explaining the history of the mistress Beatrice of which we already heard of in episode 1. Of course, the gold could just be metaphorical and stand for the truth, since if we would find that, then we would no longer base our denial on the possibility of a human committing the crimes, but the certainty that a human has committed the crimes.
As I donāt have a way to conclusively get a one single truth yet though, my only possibility is to be on the defensive and present one possible way how a human could have done it. And here it is important to not make the mistake that Battler made, namely, to use a different analogy, because screw chess, to try to play Advance Wars like Fire Emblem. (for those that donāt understand the reference, both are turn-based strategy games, in the former you do and are required to sacrifce some units, in the latter you donāt.) And that gives me the possibility to also blame one of the 18, although Iāll not refrain to say that a 19th human called Beatrice might have done some murdering as well if itās useful to me. And with the person Iām going to blame, it really seems like an obvious weak spot in the locked rooms presented, as Bernkastel suggested in the Ura Tea Party. Also I should probably give a name now. So my pick falls on Gohda, although I assume that Rosa is also a wolf if we want to go with this episodeās analogy.
So why Gohda? Simple. While the first twilight could have been committed by anyone really and you guys also showed the possibility of Rosa committing the second and even the murders in the servant room, the ones in Natsuhiās room are the most difficult to explain. For Natsuhiās I felt that [quote=āSeraphitic, post:40, topic:27ā]
How do Gohda, Shannon and George die? [ā¦] murder-suicide
[/quote]
this is the best approach. So here I asked myself. Considering their deaths, which of these could have been a suicide? Shannon is out because stake through head is impossible as suicide Iād say. Gohda and George though are still qualified, and with Gohdaās master key making all the other locked rooms unlocked, my choice went to him. Killing Kanon and Jessica could have very much been him as well, and as a cook he might have enough experience from other animals to prepare the scene of the first twilight as well. However, there are still three problems: How did he kill Kumasawa and Nanjo without Shannon and Genji telling it, how did that one letter end up in the parlor and how were the rest killed after Gohda himself was dead? Solution: it was Rosaās idea to kill everyone from her family so that sheād inherit everything, she managed to get all the staff on her side, maybe by promising them some of the money, and with this theory, it is likely that she actually did commit the second twilight in the way you suggested, planning to blame everything on Kanon so that sheād still get the money. Oh, and she did not only want to kill her siblings, no, her nephews and niece were also in the way, just to make sure. Of course, with this reasoning, thereās the question āWhy kill Nanjo and Kumasawa then?ā Well, Nanjo is dangerous as a doctor, it could somehow reveal her scheme to the ones on the island, and Kumasawa probably didnāt let herself be bought and was thus a dangerous variable. Plus, it makes the murders seem senseless. So in the end, it was to her advantage that George wanted to stay with Shannon, as heās easier killed that way, maybe she even planned that. You could even go as far as say that this is the reason why Shannon really started a relationship with George, just with the complication that she actually fell in love with him, which is why Gohda had to kill her as well in Natsuhiās room. As to why he killed himself as well, maybe he couldnāt bear the guilt of killing such a nice couple. With my reasoning of all the servants being under kahoots, this might even be the only murders he actually committed himself, the preparing of the first twilight could easily been only passive assistance or even no assistance and a bit of luck on Rosaās part as well, and with Genjiās knife skills displayed throughout this episode, it is more easily imaginable to see him cutting some throats. Now, the next part: Almost everyone from the family is now dead, but thereās still the annoyance of Battler, something Rosa couldnāt even have planned for. So she improvises, places the letter in the parlor herself, waits for Battler to find it, to then claim that heās a wolf as well.
Said letter could even be the one from the rose garden, as @Seraphitic showed us that we actually donāt know the contents of it, although it doesnāt really matter in the end.
From now on it goes into pure speculation as to what happened, as we ever only get a fantastical explanation for the final five deaths. Battler is then left in the hands of Genji, who is probably instructed to kill both Kinzo and Battler at that point. Rosa then probably even kills Genji as well, as she is shown to be untrusting at heart in this episode. However, then Maria probaby gets Rosa to realize what terrible things she has done, so in a vain effort to run away from the truth, she grabs her daughter and runs, being chased by the āGoat demonsā that are the guilt a human feels. On that way, however, she falls and sprains her ankle, and as it was mentioned in a throwaway line in the first episode, on an island there is no one that can hear you scream, so even a seemingly harmless injury like a sprained ankle can be fatal. Especially if she just blindly ran in one direction and fell at a place that isnāt that frequented, maybe even the forest. Either way, it is easy to assume that Maria tried to foolishly look for help, ventured into the forest since that is where āBeatriceā lives, and thus wasnāt even found by the officials and starved to death.
Okay, my speculation for the final five really sounds more like some amateur fanfiction. Well, itās still a defense, even if itās not a good one.
When I was reading this again in your quote, I had the idea that the m, b, t, q stands for million, billion, trillion, and quadrillion respectively, so that it basically indeed shows astronomical odds, something like 1 in 1000000000000. Of course, I could be totally wrong, and apparently you guys spoiled this little tidbit in the podcast, so oh well.
Also, I heard you guys like notes, so I thought Iād post the ones I made during playing as well. http://pastebin.com/K8GkGYWu
EDIT: I got an idea what might be the third twilight in this instance of the game. As we already learned that the twilights can apparently be in different orders, couldnāt it be that the third twilight is when all the siblings acknowledge Beatrice in the chapel? Also hopefully you didnāt get the idea yourself later in the podcast, I just paused that to write this idea down.
2nd EDIT (Kinda annoying when Iām the only one posting, but canāt be helped as Iām probably the only one thatās currently only up to episode 2): Adding a few little points to @Seraphiticās list of stuff thatās similar or same between episodes, this time though a bit more from the supposedly magic side. I basically looked as to who was injured by the same stake (injured because we donāt know if that actually killed or was done after death). As these each represent one of the deadly sins, this might even be symbolic for some kind of motive, who knows.
Kanon was found with the "Stake of Satan"
Nanjo was found with the "Stake of Belphegor"
Kumasawa was found with the āStake of Leviathanā
What I find interesting here is that Kumasawa is associated with envy in both episodes, something that I personally didnāt really see in her character. Same, although to a lesser extent, goes for Nanjo being associated with sloth. Kanon being associated with wrath though is pretty obvious in both death scenes.
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Ok Iām back, I finally finished episode 2, it only took 5 months instead of over a year 
I almost didnāt do this because Iāve been super tired and donāt really feel like having discussions about this right now but I figured Iād put it out there at least and maybe come back in a day or two if I feel like actually discussing stuff.
Hereās my post on episode 1 if you want to read it, I will probably reference things I said there quite a bit. Minor spoilers for Higurashi for everything up to my thoughts on the second tea party, I will put another warning and wonāt go into anything that would completely ruin the game but I will go more into the identity of one of the characters that will definitely reach into spoiler territory.
I definitely was a lot more engaged this time, episode 1 didnāt really draw me in that much until the very end episode 2 didnāt really either until I got to the chapel scene. That scene, which is the first time meta-Battler and Beatrice interact was super fascinating to me and it and their later interactions really sold me on this story.
As for the story itself, it started off pretty slow again, the scenes with Shanon and George werenāt particularly interesting to me and seeing all the character introductions and inheritance arguments play out basically the same initially was a bit frustrating. One thing that worked really well in Higurashi is even though each episode had a long slice of life build-up before the action started, it was very different every time and gave interesting perspective to the characters and the world which was very different from episode to episode.This episode of Umineko was basically the same except with the added bit about Shanon and George at the beginning with was nice but a bit long and frustrating since I wanted to get back to the main story.
The first major divergence with Beatrice showing up in person and talking to people was definitely interesting was a big twist to the game and continued to confirm what I thought after episode 1 that witches do exist in the world of the game. It was really interesting to see the conflict between Beatrice and meta-Battler play out and it gave a better, although still fairly weak-feeling, reason as to why Battler tries to constantly deny Beatrice which was one of the things I was confused about after episode 1. Also itās really unclear so far what meta-Battler as Iām calling him actually is, whether heās actually Battler in the world, or if heās Battler somewhere else observing himself and the others. Iām currently leaning more towards the latter because even when in-universe Battler gives up, itās unclear whether meta-Battler also gives up since he comes back and denies Beatrice again, once in the in-episode epilogue and again in the first Tea Party. It also felt kinda weird how quickly Battler gave up after the third closed room. The first two he kept going and going trying to find a flaw but the third one it felt like he gave up really quickly which I wonder if a reason will be given later or whether thatās just me overthinking things. Also it was interesting that it was revealed that Kanon and Shanon have magical powers and how the existence of the goat-headed servants of Beatrice were revealed. They explain several things in the first episode but also create a ton of new questions.
Onto the epilogues, oh boy they ramped those up to 11. The in-episode epilogue started off really interesting with the scene in Kinzou study and quickly descended into horrific awfulness with the āpartyā that was really hard for me to get through. The scene with Rosa and Maria at afterwards was also interesting, I noticed in the results textroll that Mariaās wish was something like āto have a good relationship with her motherā or something (Iām heavily paraphrasing because I wasnāt paying full attention) and I wonder if that scene had anything to do with that or whether the wish hadnāt happened yet. It also seemed to be revealed in that scene that the goat-demons could be killed by mortal weapons but it was pretty vague. The first tea party was also really horrific. The first episodeās from what I remember was a pretty tame discussion between the characters, similar to the things in Higurashi, but this one took a very different turn and I donāt even know what to think about it, it was quite something, itās unclear to me why Rosa in particular was the only human involved, maybe because she was the last one to accept Beatrice? Itās unclear to me and also unclear whether Beatrice thought she was being nice to Rosa or maliciously torturing her but it doesnāt feel that important.
Warning: Some Higurashi spoilers below (I donāt feel like tagging/not tagging things line by line, most of this isnāt spoilers but there are some someone major spoilers regarding the identity of a character from Higurashi and some spoilery commentary on the world of Higurashi):
[Spoiler](Everything above this was written before I read the second tea party) The second tea party on the other definitely was important and revealed a ton of stuff about the meta narrative. It set up the meta-conflict clearly (at least to me) as a battle of Beatrice against and unnamed witch (I have some theories about who they are abut Iāll get to those in a sec). There are also two other witches involved, Bernkastel (who basically explicitly confirms that sheās Rika from Higurashi, even her music is the exact same music that plays during the final chapter of Higurashi I think) who won a āgameā against the other witch, Lambdadelta (Iām fairly sure thatās her name? Also itās seems to be implied she had some involvement in the events of Higurashi but she never showed up explicitly in it that I remember so itās unclear what her role was so far.) Lambda seems to be mostly although not entirely on Beatriceās side and Bern seems to be mostly on the unknown witchās side. Thatās basically how I understood it to have gone down but it set up a lot of mysteries that Iāll be interested to see how continue to play out.
As for the identity of the 4th witch, I have 3 theories, Iāll give them in order from the one I think is least likely to the one I think is most likely. The second theory is that the witch is a spirit who doesnāt have human form in the game which seems unlikely since it goes against how Higurashi worked and also would just be really uninteresting and obvious. My second theory is that itās Marisa who does constantly refer to herself as a witch but doesnāt appear to have any in-universe powers or any interest in ādefeatingā Beatrice but itās possibly just her not revealing herself (at least āon cameraā) yet and waiting to see how things play out, this could make sense because itās similar to how Rika was in the first few chapters of Higurashi, but this also feels pretty unlikely. Finally, it could somehow be Battler, this is potentially supported by Battlerās seeming ability to become meta-Battler and talk to Beatrice directly but seems unlikely because the witch is referred to with she/her pronouns and Battler in the game is always referenced, even in the meta sections with he/him, it could be some sort of spirit inhabiting Battler but that seems unlikely too. I donāt honestly think any of these are close to being right, imagine episodes 3 and 4 will give some more clues and episodes 5-8 will start to fully reveal things.[/spoiler]
Anyways, that ended up way longer than my thoughts on episode 1, probably because there was a lot more to work with, in some ways I really like the explicitness of the mysteries compared to Higurashi and the directness of the confrontation so far, but I also really liked the vagueness of Higurashi in a way too. I also feel like a lot of what has happened so far in a distraction from whatās really going on behind the scenes, as with Higurashi and Iām interested to see how things continue to play out, both with the base and meta-narrative of the events of the game, but also with the meta-meta-narrative of the whole exploration of 7th expansion universe as a whole and the interaction between the witches.
I probably wont respond to replies right away but Iāll try to come back and get to them eventually if I have more energy in the future, the best place to reach me and see my (extremely slow and sporadic) progress through episode 3 and beyond (hidden in a bunch of other stuff) is on twitter at Captain__Amber. Iāll probably be back with another post like this in like half a year
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I dove right into this chapter after the first, and whether that was a good idea or not shall be a question I ponder until the end of time. While it lost me toward the end, everything up to that point was intense, thought-provoking, and powerful.
It starts sweet; a look at the budding relationships between Shannon and George, and Kanon and Jessica. Iām a sucker for romance, so I didnāt mind this at all. We get a deeper insight into love, and this is when I began to feel that love was one of the main themes of Umineko. Shannon says at one point, āKnowing love was the same as gaining a soul. ā¦The same as being reborn from furniture into a human.ā It really speaks to the power of love and what one will sacrifice for it. This was reinforced as we charge into the opposite end of the spectrum with Jessica and Kanon. Jessicaās love is unrequited by Kanon who only sees himself as furniture. Itās realistic and heartrending to see Jessica rejected and then feel the pangs of jealousy toward her servant, something most of us have felt for others. Shannonās quote below is probably my favorite moment in the novel so far. Iām sure this would be a plot point further in, and the meat on this hook had me drooling.
We are introduced to the game of chess between Battler and Beatrice, where the core of this chapter lies. I was deeply drawn into it before I even realized it. I found myself pausing at points to think about the answers to the puzzles, and when Battler spoke my thoughts I was elated, like I was sitting in his seat against this irrational creature. Whenever Battler had an answer to Beatrice, whenever he uttered āItās useless,ā I cheered. These scenes were always tense and had me on the edge of my seat. The red truth was a nice twist, as not once in this novel did I think I was going to get any concrete answers. I still probably didnāt. I canāt trust anything.
Then, come the fantasy elements. I didnāt expect them, nor do I have the will or the way to understand them. The sword fight was cool and Shannonās last stand were cool, though. Kanon showing how utterly badass he was by fighting for Jessica was one of the high points of chapter for me, even if it was in vain. It was said that when Kanon and Jessica fell to the ground, they were said to look like the Gemini constellation, which are two people lying next to each other. I looked into this, and it is associated with the twins of Greek mythology, Castor and Pollux. When Castor died, Pollux shared his immortality with Castor so that the twins may stay together forever. I believe this is analogous to Jessica teaching Kanon his value as a human, in death. Shannonās last stand with George tore me apart, especially as I saw George getting killed before he could say I love you to Shannon, and yet still I was surprised.
Along with the minor differences in this chapter from the last, like having Rosa instead of Natsuhi alive, I grabbed at a gnawing thought in my head that these gameboards were going to get better and better each time. I believe that Kanon will remember his humanity for the next board, instead of doubting it here. That he will remember the emotions in his heart and the sacrifice Jessica made for him, and that this lesson will uproot from this Earth and soar into the next. Maybe Rudolf or Eva will live alongside Rosa or Natsuhi next time? Maybe Battler will break the eggs of his suspicion toward his family to make the omelette of Beatriceās demise? I love the idea, and I hope to love the execution.
Could they have hit me harder over the head with this one? Beatrice is obviously lovesick and wants to replace the old and insane Kinzo with the fiery and spirited Battler. 
On a serious note, though, Beatrice is at best amoral, and seems to only do things to alleviate boredom, going so far as to toy with Battler instead of outright destroying him. Iām pretty sure thereās more to her than meets the eye, and my theory is that the chess game between her and Battler are fragments not different worlds but the same world, resurrected over and over again. Witches (or at least Beatrice) can revive humans, so why not fragments? It may all be a test to see for Battler. A test for what, though, I have yet to figure out.
Anyway, everything after this makes my head spin and my throat close, so I have no choice but to read on for more answers. I love Umineko so far. No piece of literature has made me think this much, though the most mysterious stories Iāve read are Lovecraft, so that doesnāt mean much. Iām eager to continue. 
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Wonderful post! I really love that youāre tackling some of the themes that have cropped up in this episode, love is certainly something that the characters discuss a few times.
Did you justā¦ borrow my brain? For a second? This sounds like the kind of thing I would write and I would very much encourage you to look into any other such mythology or literary allusions you come across. Make me proud!
This is the point in the series where a lot of people dropped out because of the glorious fantasy scenes. Iād be interested to see you try to tackle them! Do you think they really happened? Battler has been tasked with denying the witch but is this even possible? Also, maybe the biggest question I have for you right now Do you trust the Red? itās a pretty big part of the āmechanicsā of Beatrice and Battlerās game so Iād be curious to know where you sit on the board.
All in all, a really good post. You seemed to focus a lot on Jessica, Kanon and Beatrice in this post but Iād be interested to hear your thoughts on some of the other characters, like Rosa, who defended her daughter Maria to the very end, of Kinzo, who lived this time by virtue of his study, and Gohda, who really is the best character there. 
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Wow, I totally forgot to mention Rosa. Honestly, itās hard for me to like her, moreso in this episode than in the last. She routinely hits Maria, which is extremely hard to watch, and even though she does feel bad about it she continues to do it, especially as she descends to her (arguably justified) paranoia toward the end. During the end, she chooses to try to escape Rokkenjima with a gold ingot taking priority over her daughter. Now donāt get me wrong, she isnāt unsympathetic, not by a long shot. Being bullied and hit as a child unfortunately causes that behavior to bear fruit as an adult. I can see how motherly she is deep down, and Iām rooting for that part of her to continue surfacing. I know she can be a good person and a good mother, her resisting Beatrice at the end proves that. Until I see her change, however, I have to go with what I know. I expect the same sort of development from all the siblings.
As for Kinzo, his obsession with Beatrice seems kind of depressing here. Beatrice sees him as a sad old man and I canāt help but agree, a little. Problem is, I forgot he was alive half the time. I actually like Gohda, too. Heās vain and a showoff but heās obviously loyal to the family for what they did for him. Plus, the way he helped Genji against goat Kanon was pretty awesome.
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Wonderful post, Zosonte, you definitely seem very enthusiastic approaching Umineko! But, I should ask, do you have any theories at the moment or do you think that the clues that constitute the mystery are still very few? Though youāve said in earlier posts, or at least so Iāve understood it, that you wonāt attempt to solve the mystery, but just watch the events unfold? Well anyways, I am looking forward to them if you have any.
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I was able to solve the closed rooms up until the servantās room I believe. Then, I was just floored and couldnāt figure it out anymore. I think Iāll just read on from here, as I have no idea where to go from here.
Crossposting from the Umi LP thread.
The presentation and atmosphere of Episode 2 is incredible. It starts getting really creepy and unsettling for any who oppose her. The multiple Beatriceās appearing, the loud distorted cackling that keeps looping, itās as if the game itself is breaking. I love when games pull this kind of thing.
But also, thereās this scene in the middle here with the quiet and melancholic piano melody (forget the name sorry) where Beatrice tells Battler she doesnāt break any promises. All the aggressive energy Beatrice threw at Battler to make him resign is gone, it feels very solemn and detached, like Beatriceās mood has really changed. Itās a very unique scene compared to all the fighting Beatrice and Battler are usually doing.
And then she fucking loses her shit on Shannon at the end of the chapter, with the screen flashing red and loud cackling looping, really really fast, really bringing us back to that feeling of insanity. Itās as if the music and presentation of the visual novel is a representation of Beatriceās mindset at any given time.
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My friend finished the episode 2ā¦ Oh boyā¦ He posted his theory on Reddit.
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It seemed on the SA letās play people didnāt like the pacing of the George/Shanon parts of episode 2, but I think itās very clever. Theyāre trying to avoid telling us whatās going to happen next? Will everything reset or will the rest of the story be flashbacks?
People there also said Jessicaās love for Kanon came from nowhere, but I disagree. You could see a lot in episode 1 that she treated Kanon in much the same way as George treated Shanon.
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