Okay! I went to replay a couple of scenes from this episode before diving back into the discussion. I picked and chose and played with time travel, so I’m sure I missed something important. But I wanted to look at carefully at three things: Gohda’s and Kumasawa’s initial testimony, Jessica’s final phone call with Battler, and Kyrie’s final phone call with Battler.
I’d like to make an argument from human nature. There’s something called the Rashomon effect – it’s when multiple witnesses to an event produce conflicting testimonies, not because any one of them is lying, but because each is speaking from their own perspective. When we encounter something inexplicable and dangerous, we hasten to put it into context so we know what to do next. But our context is not always the same as person next to us.
In other words, it wouldn’t be strange to see characters disagreeing about what happened that night. One could say the victims were hit by a golden beam like magic, another could say it was the laser sight of a sniper rifle, one could say they saw and heard Kinzo giving the orders, another could say they heard Kinzo’s voice and assumed, etc, etc.
It’d be stranger, actually, to see them all agreeing. And it’s especially strange seeing them agree on one particular point. That’s what I’d like to examine.
… Okay, first things first, I have to admit I wasn’t able to find the exact words Gohda and Kumasawa’s testimony paging through the text. I don’t think the exact words were given, someone says ‘it was, it was …!’ and then the game cuts to the dungeon. I think later on Battler says Godha was cagey and inexact, which is human nature.
If someone can point me to the text clarifying, though, I’d appreciate it! Let’s focus on Jessica and Kyrie, shall we?
So I initially I read Kyrie’s words very charitably. Here’s (some of) what she says: 'If … a demon or witch does appear in front you … There’s no need whatsoever to doubt whether it’s real or not. … Understand that it is what it seems to be.
You might think there must be some trick, or that there’s some true hidden nature behind it. … If you have time to think of something like that, … it’d be much more constructive to plan out how not to damage the mood of whatever you’re facing. … Even mistakenly, … you must not say ‘In that case, try showing me magic’ … … Because to prove that, they’ll probably even use an even crueler way … to show you.
This is practical, not metaphysical advice. Kyrie believes she is about to die, and she wants Battler to survive where she could not. She’s telling him not to waste time thinking about whether or not magic exists. She’s telling him not to underestimate the danger, or to think it’s some illusion he can just step through. Whether or not the power used to kill everyone else was magic, it still killed them. If the culprit wants Battler to think it was magic, fine. Go along with it. But don’t provoke the culprit, get out of this alive, or else the truth will never be discovered.
That’s the subtext of what she says next, I think:
I understand. I understand why you can’t believe.
… So that’s why I give you this advice.
Believe.
Even after being shown things not of this world so clearly, … I still think we weren’t able to believe any of it. I’m still like that. The true form of this thing that keeps attacking me, trying to shoot through my forehead, … is something I don’t understand, … and I can’t believe it.
So, … I want you alone to believe, to understand, … to accept the existence … of what we couldn’t accept. If you do that for me, our deaths won’t be wasted. … It’ll also been worth it for me to make this phone call.
It’s not ‘believe in witches, because witches exist.’ It’s ‘believe and behave as though witches exist, so you can get through this.’
Man, Kyrie is so cool, isn’t she? She’ll never know the truth of what happened or why she had to die, but she reaches out to Battler so he can find the truth himself. She believes in the importance of the truth so much, she uses her final moments to tell him everything she knows!
Wait. Wait. Let’s rewind. What does she tell him, again?
Then, Kyrie spoke … about Kinzo appearing and the family conference starting, … about the six being killed and the five of them being contained …
… About how she escaped somehow … and ran away to where she was now, and how everyone had finally been killed … It was all spoken dispassionately, with no dramatization, just as she had seen it.
Oh, no.
We’re already in trouble, aren’t we? She told him Kinzo was at the family conference. We know that can’t be true. And one of the principles I tried to establish was if any character claims to have seen or spoken to Kinzo, they must have a reason for doing so. We have to spin the chessboard around, and question Kyrie’s motives. But I like Kyrie! Was she the culprit casting blame on Kinzo so she could cover her tracks? Battler found her body later, unlike Kanon’s, but she could’ve been found out and killed in revenge or self-defense, for all we know. Like @pictoshark said, there’s not a lot to go on with this gameboard.
But I definitely tried to give lots of non-murdery reasons for someone saying they saw Kinzo. Like number three, she was deceived, or number five (heh, thanks for the correction, @aspirety), her claim was influenced by someone else.
What about this? The culprit was with her, had a gun or whatever weapon was used aimed at her, and told her to call Battler and tell him Kinzo killed everyone with magic. Kyrie is clever, so she slips what hints of the truth she can. She says outright ‘the true form of this thing that keeps attacking her’ is with her, and she doesn’t believe it’s magical. But she veils it in telling Battler to believe, so the culprit allows it. It’s only when she says it would have been ‘worth it for me to make this phone call’ that she gets killed, because she’s indirectly referring to the fact that the phone call was forced by the culprit, and the culprit doesn’t want her to say any more. Will something like that work?
But there’s one more thing I wanted to look at, remember? Let’s rewind even further, to another phonecall.
Listen to me, Battler! Listen closely, okay…?
Now I totally see why Godha-san and Kumasawa-san were evasive about the six that got killed in the dining hall. … Those guys … aren’t Human.
I saw it, so what was I supposed to do?!! Those guys warp and set up barriers, ahhaha, and do whatever they want, okay…? It’s like some kind of manga, or anime…hell, and we seriously can’t keep up …
Ahhahhahhah… … From the very beginning, fighting was useless… They really aren’t opponents you’ll be able to fight with that hat-stand spear you’re so proud of…
George-niisan’s done for, too. That… was an instant death… Heheh, the next test is yours, Battler. … I wonder if your test will go the same way as ours.
… Be careful, and don’t misunderstand.
No. … Don’t misunderstand…and assume your enemy’s Human. …The enemy…isn’t Human.
… They’re demons…that can freely wield a terrifying magic. No matter what, don’t get the wrong idea about that… cough,coughcough!! Be…careful…
Okay, first I have to note: when she laughs in this text, there are extra h’s, ahhahha instead of ahaha, like it’s not so much as a laugh as a struggle for breath – and at the end, she even starts coughing. It’s easy to forget in that heart-pumping magical battle that this is a girl with weak lungs.
But I also have to note : she’s basically saying the same thing as Kyrie. Don’t underestimate the culprit. Don’t assume they’re a human like you, if assuming will get you killed like me. Believe.
But I’m making an argument from human nature. On the surface, this makes the argument for magic stronger. Two sources Battler trusts contacted him, independent of one another, to tell him to believe magic is killing people on this island. Jessica and Kyrie weren’t even together at any point, that we know of, to discuss the situation and come to a consensus.
But doesn’t that just make it stranger, and more against human nature? If multiple people witnessing a traumatic event have a hard time coming to the same conclusion about it, why are these two people agreeing on this point and this point alone? Why did they both decide to contact Battler to tell him this, when they could do or say anything? I think someone has forced them both. Someone who has a vested interest in convincing Battler that the forces responsible for the Rokkenjima killings aren’t human.
Which brings us back to ‘what is so special about Battler?’
There’s definitely more to talk about like Kinzo’s death and ‘no, seriously, who is Beatrice?’ (The Beatrice in the rain, the Beatrice who is about to kill Battler, the Beatrice in Kuwadorian …) And now that @aspirety has confirmed we have enough information to find out what Battler’s sin is, I really want to figure it out! But this is what I have for now.
