If someone could solve all the mysteries of Umineko with just the first 4 episodes, I would be impressed. The epitaph in particular would be very difficult, as it requires certain skills that an average person does not possess.
eh it has definitely happened already. in particular, there was a theory about the culpritās true identity and method that was made before the answer arcs were done. I remember seeing it actually, before it was revealed, which kinda made it easy for me to solve by episode 5 as I remembered the theory. it was on tv tropes along with hundreds of other theories, though at that time it was āincompleteā as in lacking a few points(the theory was also in thinking of the person as an accomplice instead of the actual/main culprit). ah but I cant actually be sure if the theory was just from 1 person or if multiple people just helped supplement the theory until it ended up correct.
and oh yeah, going back and seeing clips from ep 2, thereās some points that disprove the theory of ākanon and shannon not being their actual names so they can circumvent the redā:
beatrice stated that "when jessicaās corpse was discovered, only battler, george, maria, rosa, genji, gohda shannon, kumasawa and najo were in jessicaās roomā¦ oh and jessicaās corpse of course."
its also worth noting that beatrice includes the corpse of jessica, therefore if you pull the ākanon and shannon got killed earlier while these two have other namesā, then their corpse should be included or shown. thereās also the red of ātherefore, in both cases of the two locked rooms, no humans exist that you were not aware ofā
Not saying itās impossible, I just think it would be very difficult. Plus, just determining the culprit is a small detail to the mysteries of Umineko.
Wish I could have been apart of the initial zeitgeist as the series was being released.
Please be respectful of the amateurs here guys, weād like their experience to be as uninfluenced as possible. We have another topic for spoiler discussion of the Episode donāt forget.
Not that youāve spoiled anything yet, just trying to maintain some control 
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Well shucks! I couldāve sworn he said he was 13 when he left the family register. 12 and 13 are close, right? But not close enough ā if he were older, it wouldnāt be a problem. But Beato couldnāt have had a child after she died. Obviously.
Iāll give this theory more thought. Itād spoil things for the Beatrice/Battler shippers, but I was already betting on Beato being an Ushiromiya. Back to the drawing board?
Thatās already spoiled if sheās telling the truth about the age gap.
eh ive used earlier episode truths. also, it only really came to my mind since I was rewatching some older letsplays, particularly the reactions when beatrice said in red to battler that āyou are incompetentā.
Anyway, Iām not too nervous about these red truths. My proposition is not that someone else has the name of Shannon or Kanon and that is to who the red truths refer, but that no one is named Shannon or Kanon (for the purposes of our story) and all truths about them are vacuous truths.
I believe it was said that the miscarriage happened on the same day Battler was born.
It is said that Battler is Kinzoās grandson, not his son, so thatās out of the question.
Iāll just assume that the second date is the date Battler committed his sin. Makes sense to me. Iād only assume that Battlerās birthday is there because the second date refers to something specifically about him. Now we would need to know why itās important to know that Battler committed that sin on November 29th.
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Iād like to know how you explain the combination of Lambdaās truth āNo one else can go by Kanonās name! A different person canāt claim that as their name!ā with this little fact I posted earlier:
In a magical scene. By my rules, I can disregard it.
Just because I introduce myself to you as āZacharyā that does not necessarily make my name āZacharyā. Sorry, you canāt distract me with reasoning like that
Then canāt you disregard that the miscarriage happened in the first place?
I think you might be getting at something here. From that line, it can be argued that Kanon has multiple identities and he changes his identity based on the role heās given. When Kanon stops seeing himself as furniture or is relieved of his duties as servant, his identity changes.
Hmm this might not be as easy to explain with plain English as I thought ā thereās a lot of chances for equivocation and half-truths which are, of course, where witches love to live. Iāll give it a go, though. @Karifean, is your argument something like this?
No one else can go by Kanonās name! A different person canāt claim that as their name! To translate this to a conditional: If a person is not Kanon, then they cannot go by the name Kanon.
Then you have the contrapositive: If there is a person who goes by the name Kanon, then that person is Kanon.
Which leads you to a nice little syllogism: There is a person who goes by the name Kanon. (When he introduces himself as Kanon in Episode 1.)
That person is Kanon.
Syllogisms are a mainstay of good logic. āAll men are mortal, Socrates is a man, therefore Socrates is mortalā is another nice little syllogism. However, this is where I think equivocation lies.
What do we mean by āis Kanonā? We donāt mean āis named Kanonā because we know thatās not his name. We mean, of course, the person who goes by Kanon in the story. The person who Jessica loves, and who thinks of Shannon like a sister, and who introduces himself to Battler as the servant Kanon. So the real conditional is something like this.
If a person is not the person who goes by the name Kanon, then they cannot go by the name Kanon.
If there is a person who goes by the name Kanon, then that person is the person who goes by the name Kanon.
There is a person who goes by the name Kanon.
That person is the person who goes by the name Kanon.
This is all true! But itās trivially true. It borders on tautological. Donāt get me wrong ā the first premise tells us that there can only be one person who goes by Kanon in this story, and that is useful. That tears down some theories and encourages us to build new ones. But we already know the person who goes by Kanon is the person who goes by Kanon.
Kanonās real name isnāt Kanon, and thatās also something we already know. The trick is to use that common knowledge to come to new conclusions. We have to keep thinking, or we might as well surrender to the witches.
(One further note on the clarity of language ā the translation I found on the wiki said the only one who can claim Kanonās name is the person himself. Thatās why in my post I interpreted the conditional as if someone can claim Kanonās name, then itās āthe person himselfā and called it out as a vacuous truth since no one can claim that name. Iām doing something different for no one else can go by Kanonās name, because I think āgoes byā has a different connotation than āclaims.ā)
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As stated, EP1-4 provide enough clues for those reading carefully to solve the game (they really should, since they ARE question arcs). Keep at it, guys! (insert a Rika Furude cheering you on) This reminds me of when Super Dangan Ronpa 2 was being translated on the SA threads and you had people guessing theories (and I still laugh at the fact that some of the peopleās most wild guesses were what actually happened. Maybe the same will happen here?)
Oooh, boy, being in the fandom while the games were just coming out, while it sounds fun and nostalgic now, it was really hell then. While stuff gets heated now, it wasnāt nearly as bad as when the games were still being released anew. Many people were angry when the truth, and though the clues are in EP1-4, many people refused to go acknowledge it. Iām just glad the people getting into Umineko nowadays arenāt as ready to fight each other as it was back in 2011, oooh, boy. I do miss that screenshot generator, though, that was one good thing from that time and Iām sad that it doesnāt work anymore.
I think we all know our logic battles are in good fun, right? And we need to keep two eyes open and think about both sides of every theory. But since I just gave that big speech about how we have to keep thinking ā¦ here are a couple of things we should probably keep thinking on.
If the character who-goes-by-Kanon may not be dead when the red truth says Kanon is dead, what would that mean? How would that change our reasoning about each case? Letās not leave out Shannon, either ā what red truths about Shannon would we have to reconsider? Can we make any ground by reconsidering them, or is this truly a dead end?
If, as @pik3rob suggested, Battlerās sin was commited on November 29th, what would that tell us? The only thing I can think of is that would mean he committed his sin after the family conference. The family conference always happens in October, which Rudolf complains about in the first scene. However, Beatrice says the sin sheās asking Battler to remember is a sin fitting for Rokkenjima, which suggests it either took place on Rokkenjima ā¦ or his absence itself was the sin. Once again, can we make any ground with this supposition? Are there any other clues dropped about the timeline that can help us?
P.S. Does anyone have any other wild guesses about Battlerās parentage? I already gave my wildest.
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Kinzo had a child with his mistress, and the grandchild was Battler. Rudolf actually is the father, and he unknowingly impregnated Kinzoās daughter with Battler, making Battler a product of incest.
Iām just trying to incorporate that mistress into the story somehow.
Kyrie. Itās the easiest, cleanest answer.
It would give an easy way to kill him in Episode 1, if we have to. it explains his mystery appearance towards the end of Ep 2. Yet another solution for Nanjoās death at the end of Ep 3.
I do have a question though. How does our theory affect this red?
figuring out his sin is hard, especially since battler seems pretty forgetful of his past.
however, if we think about it, what else was the significant thing that happened at that time besides battler leaving? or rather, why dont we look at why battler left?
rudolf and kyrieās marriage? sure, but why dont we also look deeper in how that happenedā¦ thats right, angeās birth.
now look, dont you guys think that ange having red hair is pretty weird? I mean, look at the whole ushiromiya family, it is pretty unique and different, not to mention its not really a natural hair color. blonde, brown and black hair runs in the family. no one else has itā¦ besides battler.
of course though we know beatrice intent was on using wordplay on his birth to deny battler, you cant dismiss it all entirely. that theory could also be still used just in another way.
so this is my theory:
battler was, as beatrice said, a kid that rudolf took. this explains how he is the only one with red haired in the family at first, that is because he wasnt really an ushiromiya.
however, rather than 6 years ago, it was right at the start with asumuās kid being swapped, and it is still not sure if rudolf did it as a ploy for the inheritance at that time yet and just wanted some kid to raise.
so lets say things were going well on their familyā¦ until one time when battler got too drunk and ended up on bed with kyrie. as for how and why kyrie would do it, perhaps she was also drunk or was reminded of rudolf with battler so she let it happen.
anyway, rudoolf found out about it. and because heās a good father, as piece battler recounted during his test with beatrice, he tried to spare battler from responsibility and would take in the baby or supply kyrie with funds like he did when battler was rebelling. all while this happened, asumu died some time, though I cant remember if it was before or after ange was born. so rudolf took the next step to make things easier and safer, he married kyrie.
then as we saw how events happened, battler got mad at rudolf and rebelled, all while not knowing his sin. as for how this sin could result in tragedyā¦ that part is sill in development.
maybe I guess rudolf got mad at being a cuck so took the chance to ruin battlerās life once he returned to the conference, or perhaps kyrie got mad at know all about the truth and plotted to kill battlerā¦ just that the other people got caught in the crossfire.
I do like this theory, and thatās where I hoped to go when I suggested Beato (Beatrice II) could be Battlerās mother. But Rosa saw Beato die in 1967, and Battler is 18 in 1986. How do we reconcile these facts? If you think of a way, we can redeem our theory together!
EDIT: Hereās a thought ā if Battlerās true mother is a secret, perhaps the day he was born is a secret, too. Perhaps his true birthday is that November 29th date. Our story takes place in October, so he wouldnāt turn 19 for a month. But ā¦ no, thatās a little convoluted. Itās still the same year, and if Battler had his birthday in July, he turned 18 this year, not 19. He could be wrong about his birth year, too, but that just opens us up to supposing anything about Battlerās birth could be a lie. Should we be supposing that?
I have a way to counter this red. Kanon attacked all 5 people within the group. He was able to make enough damage to slowly kill them, however the actions of another character killed him before the rest were able to fully die. Maria then hid the body.
Ange was born soon after Battler left. So what youāre saying is Battler at the age of 12 got drunk and impregnated Kyrie? A bit too implausible for me.
We could be supposing that. After all, it might not be a coincidence that the other Beatrice died in a year where Battler could still theoretically be 18 years old. We also know that Nanjo has been to the Kuwadorian before, and because of this, itās not too weird to assume he might have been there to deliver Battler. It also places suspicion on Nanjo for killing George, since he would know Battlerās true birthday and would be able to write that in red.