One thing that bothers me about the cliffhanger: how and why did Grell and Othello end up at the Phantomhive manor?
Initially I thought that maybe the death list indicated yet another soul to collect in the Phantomhive manor (after Agni ;_;), but then again, from the way Othello speaks, it’s implied that their reason for being here has to do with tracking UT. So the question is, if that’s the case, how did they track UT in the first place?
Did they ask Bravat/did Bravat immediately sell him out?
Not impossible to consider, since we know absolutely nothing about the link between Bravat and the Undertaker in the first place. We don’t even know if UT recruited Bravat as a pawn, or if Bravat’s sect and UT joined for the sake of a common experiment for the count of another organization (like the Osiris company for example), etc.
However, real!Ciel = lord Sirius = the blue star and it seems Bravat is rather fond of him and the other star lords in a fanatical way so…
I doubt Bravat would have led Shinigamis right to real!Ciel since he’s an unauthorized BD and he took great care of them till now.
Same idea but with Lizzie?
Mostly because we don’t know what Othello and Grell did between collecting Agni’s soul and showing up to the manor + because we don’t know where Lizzie is at the moment, even if Paula said that apparently she went to be by real!Ciel’s side (so she should be at the manor or arriving soon in theory?).
Just think about it, the Shinigamis investigated the Sphere music hall (maybe more than once?) so they could have stumbled upon each other and Lizzie could have sold UT out, especially since…
her only reason for staying at the Sphere music hall seemed to have to do with trying to “save real!Ciel” (instead of being mad at our!Ciel I mean), whatever this is supposed to imply.
For example, if she’s talking about not having the same blood type, then it’s mostly irrelevant. However if she’s talking about trying to rescue real!Ciel from the blue sect because she’s a clever girl, then she could have noticed the potential threat caused by UT and could have given his whereabouts to the Shinigamis recently if she met them.
It’s a bit wonky considering the timeline (since we’re still on the same day of Agni’s death and Ed going to fetch Paula) so not the most likely, but I still wanted to mention it.
Othello figured it out?
One way or another since he’s clever, but possibly even more easily if we remember this part from ch125:
Because Ciel possibly looks like 4 people: Vincent, Rachel, possibly Claudia and, of course, his twin brother.
So far I had considered the possibility of Claudia the most because of “50 years ago” but, again, since Othello and Grell investigated the Sphere music hall, for all we know Othello possibly stumbled upon the 4 star lords in their room.
So, imagine this: at some point Othello quickly saw the twin in the Sphere music hall, but since he’s an advanced BD or for whatever other reason, he didn’t think a lot about it. Then Othello met Ciel in Bath in ch125 and was striken by the resemblance.
Afterwards, all he had to do was to ask Grell about who Ciel was, maybe check the Shinigami files about Ciel’s family (the ones that Sascha and Ludgar had for example) and notice that Ciel had a twin brother who supposedly died 4 years ago.
And then, once they were done with collecting Agni’s soul and maybe rechecking the Sphere music hall to find the twin (but he wasn’t there), Othello convinced Grell to head to the Phantomhive manor to possibly catch the twin & whoever brought him back.
Plot convenience?
More often than not, it can be a thing in the story and in that case there is no need for an explanation.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
Guess we’ll see next month!! Let me know if you have other ideas. 🙂
EDIT: the more I think about your idea @kurorealciel
the more I like it. Yeah they could have tailed real!Ciel and the guy who killed Agni after Agni’s death. :))
I don’t actually think Undertaker is actually past redemption. He’s done horrible, horrible things. That’s without question. I mean, some of these things seem rather unforgivable. He’s hurt innocent people and even those he claims that he cares for the most. He has a long list of crimes, so it might seem strange that I think there’s some hope for him.
To me, Undertaker is a good example how someone can become so twisted in their own desires and goals that they blind themselves to the reality. I’ve said this multiple times, but I do think his intentions were good. He was trying to save this family. He wanted to save them…but it’s gone so far the other direction. In his attempt to do this, he has caused a lot of pain and suffering, and I don’t think he can even see that.
That’s why I want Undertaker to have some sort of ‘wake up call’ and be able to see what he’s done. I have a previous post that Lizzie might even be the one to deliver this call because she might remind him of Claudia, but I want Undertaker to have that epiphany that he has become this dark, twisted being causing pain. Instead of being their savior, I want him to see he’s become the villain.
I want him to feel guilt.
I think he can still feel guilty if he’s ever able to see what he’s really done. I want him to see it, and to feel even more pain than he’s caused. That would be the beginning of his redemption. Of course, feeling guilty isn’t enough, but it would be a first step. I’m not sure what the next step is at this point, but I do know where it has to start.
For me, I don’t think Undertaker’s facade was to make us feel more empathy towards him. He hid this more serious side that we’re now seeing under all the laughter and silliness. Which is the true Undertaker or are both sides equally a part of him? We know that part of his act was to stay in this position where he could remain close to our!Ciel, and to remain nonthreatening until the moment he revealed his true identity. That wasn’t to elicit sympathy, although her certainly had ulterior motives.
Do I think he has a tragic past? I do, although that doesn’t excuse all that he’s done. I think this past has just what has brought him to this point we now see. It’s what made him who he is and led him to do these things. It’s no excuse, but it was most likely a catalyst. His past might be truly heartbreaking, but I still think the whole concept of his redemption lies in whether or not he can recognize what he’s done and what he does from that point on.
There’s also an excellent post by @midnight-in-town that you can find here that covers some of the same idea.
I think reapers must have souls, since they do this work in an effort to earn salvation for their souls. What would be the point of this punishment until they attain redemption if they no longer have souls to redeem?
I suppose it’s possible, but maybe demons have no interest in the souls of reapers? Might not be appetizing….
If I may…? I would say it’s almost certain that reapers have souls and demons (generally) find them unappetizing:
Due to this scene in the circus arc (volume VI). While it might be assumed he was speaking about the “large number of souls” previously mentioned, I believe this was an insult aimed at William.
In any case I think it implies that Sebastian finds reaper souls distasteful
OC: “How can you revive dead people…. you are crazy…!”
Undertaker: “My, my… whether one is dead or alive… is it really that important? Aren’t you happy to meet your brother again after a long time?”
Oh wait, this sounds kinda familiar?
I’m pretty sure I’ve heard this from someone somewhere before… quite recently… just who was it…. a supernatural with a f*cked up view on human life and death… who could it be… hmmm…
“Today is the release date of GFantasy! After this month’s chapter was finished, my assistants and editor told me that they got a different impression from when they read the draft version. Personally, I regard [this month’s chapter] as a horror chapter… what do you think? Please support both the physical copies as well as the digital version [of GFantasy]! –Toboso”
“I was told “I never thought [he]’d bite [him]”, but if you think about it systematically, then you’ll see that there was no other choice. (Kuroshitsuji chapter 141) –Toboso”
Recently, I made a post saying how I’d like for the ghost of Claudia to show up and slap Undertaker. Basically, I don’t think she’d like the way he has of ‘protecting’ the family or even approve, but he’s so deep in his own delusion and twisted by his goals that he can’t seem to see that.
Well, what if Claudia could talk to him in one sense?
We don’t know a lot about Claudia except that she was a Watchdog. From what we’ve seen or not, she was a beautiful late that could and did fight. This also could a description of Frances, as well as Lizzie.
We haven’t seen Lizzie for a long time, and we know she’s been with the cult. Undertaker has most likely even seen at some point. Now imagine that she shows up soon – ready to fight and to protect those she loves.
Undertaker doesn’t seem to have the strongest grasp on reality right now. What if seeing her actually reminds him of Claudia? If this happens, he might actually listen to her words and might be able to at least glimpse just how twisted he’s become.
I knew I had something else in mind when we discussed this the other day and I finally remembered what!
Anyway, I def agree on the idea. 🙂 I don’t know for sure who’s supposed to give UT a wakeup call or trigger it, but Lizzie amongst others could be a good candidate for the reasons you pointed out. Also considering this…
I think it vouches that any chance of Lizzie siding with the twin in the future will gradually decrease, especially when Sensei also confirmed before that Lizzie was in love with our!Ciel. I even mentioned previously that I could see the twin attacking her (for getting in the way, out of jealousy that our!Ciel might be worried about her), which is yet another reason to believe that slowly the characters will wake up about why bringing back the twin definitely wasn’t a good idea.
Moving on tho’, to add on the idea that Lizzie in particular could remind UT of Claudia and that it might make him reflect about his actions, I remembered this…
And it sure is a nice way of summarizing the current arc, isn’t it (the skeleton UT is holding symbolizing the dead twin I guess)? Look at Lizzie tho’…
…see the crown of thorns (with roses) on her head? Well…
we saw it before on occasions that could remind us (and UT) of Claudia. 🙂
I know it’s just symbolism, so don’t take it too seriously, but I like the idea: you were the one, I believe, who pointed out that the skeleton on UT’s scythe wasn’t a part of its original design (even if we don’t know whose skeleton it might be), just like there are reasons to guess that the skeleton he’s dancing with on the cover of ch54 is Claudia’s (the locket speaking for itself).
Besides, we know there seems to be a pattern about the women of the P family as you also mentioned (they’re strong-willed and fighters, which is why UT could have found Claudia interesting in the first place), so this gives the idea even more of a basis and that’s why I strongly enjoy it. xD
As for the Othello’s line on the last page, I already explained it in this post!
And afaik there was also some confusion about whether RC’s line “A mere servant shouldn’t speak without the master’s permission” was directed at Tanaka or Sebastian, so if you wondered about it, too, take a look at this post.
Aside from those two, there’s one more thing that I personally find a bit questionable / am not really sure about, and it’s this scene:
“But the experiment itself began ages ago. It all started the night I took the young Earl home.I laid him in one of my custom coffins and…” says Undertaker in the YP edition, but his wording in the original Japanese version is a bit different.
He says
“But the experiment itself began way before that. Ever since the night I took the Earl home, I put him in my special coffin and…”
so he does not explicitly state that his experiments began the night he took RC home. He just says he started experimenting on RC ever since that night.
Idk, it’s entirely possible that YenPress’ interpretation is correct and that UT’s ‘Bizarre Doll’ project began just 4 years ago, but I always kinda thought that he started experimenting way before that (like around the time Cloudia died), so I personally found the translation “It all began that night…” a little bit questionable, but yeah, maybe it’s just me.
midnight-in-town 