Any thoughts/ideas? At first I thought it was a mistake and Yana simply forgot to draw them like how she forgets to draw the contract in OC’s eye sometimes but within every panel of current RC the stitches are gone. Feel free to tell me what you guys think if you have any theories!
EDIT: @asthmaticastre actually I don’t think it’s a mistake!
It must be related to the blood transfusions somehow, just like the whole deal with his visibly damaged arms in ch115.
I know it’s common to assume Undertaker might be “disposed of” by Dispatch if they get the chance to take him down, but I think that his greatest, or rather, his only risk of being killed comes from Sebastian, and if he’s caught by Dispatch then the odds of his being killed go down phenomenally.
The entire point of Dispatch is that they aren’t allowed to die; this, I imagine, applies no matter the sins the commit while in reaper form. Grelle was not killed, after all. Undertaker’s crimes are of a far greater magnitude and very different nature, but I still doubt that Dispatch would kill him.
If Dispatch has a possible capital punishment, then wouldn’t there be a high number of individuals willing to commit the crimes required to receive said punishment? Dispatch is an organisation built on the cooperation of desperate people, and it would be sheer folly to create that kind of escape loophole in their system. Somebody, multiple somebodies, would take advantage of it, which is directly counter to Dispatch’s interests.
And, if he isn’t allowed to die, then it’s highly probable Dispatch is more likely to save his life, if worst comes to worst.
I’m aware it’s my umpteenth recap post for this arc, but I’ve seen a lot of posts that are throwing UT’s characterization to the bushes after ch140 + I still can’t believe that this arc is as simple as it appears to be after almost 3 years of it, so here’s one more.
It’s nothing particularly new if you’ve been following my posts or reblogs on the topic for the past year, but less than the arc itself, I’m mostly going to focus on what possibly led to it. In fact if you read @frederickabberline‘s own recap post that is more recent, you will probably see where I’m going in general.
The reason I’m writing this post, despite possibly being proven wrong in a week or so, is because I’ve been into Kuroshitsuji for 6 or 7 years now, there are subplots everywhere that have been left hanging, and I refuse to stop believing that Sensei can craft a good story when she gave us arcs like the Campania or when she writes amazing characters.
Moving on, I’m just going to start with UT’s character:
‘Cause actually ch140 finally confirms that UT’s motivation in the story 100% revolves around the Phantomhive family
But that doesn’t mean that “bringing the twin back” was his only goal for the last 4 years.
Because not only would that imply UT gives 0 shit about our!Ciel selling his soul to a demon and that is so not true
but also because that’d create some inconsistencies with what we’ve seen of his character so far, since bringing back the twin or Ciel’s contract aren’t just what’s on UT’s mind.
I mean, guys, if UT’s motivation centers around the P family, wouldn’t you say that a little something might be linked to his issues with losing so many of them?
And he did express some concerns about our!Ciel too on this matter:
In other words UT most likely has at least 3 goals:
bringing back the dead Phantomhives (for now it’s just the twin though, because Vincent’s body is too damaged and we don’t know about Claudia) => something that’s for his own sake
saving Ciel’s soul from the contract => something that he put on hold despite almost killing Seb during the Campania arc, because Seb can be useful to protect our!Ciel against a more urgent matter, that is…
saving Ciel from the Watchdog duty/Victoria => because in just one year Ciel already did too many mistakes that most likely will end up costing him, like it most likely cost his predecessors.
you could also see this as UT wanting revenge against Victoria because of Vincent and Claudia, it’s the same.
It’s simple logic: if the Watchdog duty is responsible for taking the Phantomhives away from UT, then that explains why UT literally said he was no big fan of Victoria, especially if he believes she deliberately led Ciel’s predecessor(s) to their death. Thus trying to take Seb down can wait because…
…he can be useful to protect Ciel from whatever Victoria/Brown may plan as punishment (the Murders at manor arc being just a preview).
I’m aware that, currently, what’s super hard to decipher about UT’s character is how he sees what’s left of the P family, but I think that’s precisely what this arc is also supposed to establish, mainly through Othello’s introduction (so we might get more insights into UT’s character and backstory, which is always helpful) but also possibly through whatever will happen to Lizzie (since establishing if UT gives a damn about the Midfords would tell us what kind of obsession he has).
Until we get there though, what I wanted to insist on was the idea that personally I doubt that this super long arc is only supposed to focus on just one of UT’s goals (i.e bringing back the twin and why it’s a bad idea), because narratively speaking it’s weird and, for now, it seems to leave a lot of plot holes.
However, since I also think that taking Seb down is on hold for UT, because of more urgent matters, it means that perhaps this arc can also be about UT’s little grudge against Queen Victoria, even if indirectly, as a follow up to the Campania and Weston arcs on some aspects (I’ll expand on that in a minute).
What’s important to keep in mind is that the Bizarre Doll project originally comes from UT before his desertion wondering about if cinematic records could be edited.
Now we don’t know yet what the trigger was that led from curiosity about the CRs to thinking that maybe UT could bring back the dead if he experimented, but I’d bet on Claudia/Vincent/the twin’s death.
The whole point though is that UT would have probably needed backup, while in the early stages of experimentation: to get funds if needed, to get enough corpses, a way to make counterfeit records that he would then add to the corpses’, then a way to get those episodes he used in the Weston arc, etc.
And aside from support, he probably also needed a place to “store” the twin until he could finally manage to bring him back (so the body wouldn’t rot for example), since he saved his body 4 years ago.
So overall, I think that’s the whole point of him joining/using the Aurora society
or even striking a deal with these “eccentric fellows”.
Think about it: his goal was at least bringing back the twin, but in order to achieve this, he first needed to experiment on a lot of corpses and if he received support from “eccentric fellows”, then obviously those same guys would have wanted to see results => that’s the Campania arc.
There is a common theme tied with the Campania arc though, which was introduced in the arc previous to it: the upcoming war between at least Germany and England. Yes, it escaped no one (not even dear Victoria) that UT’s bizarre dolls would make amazing war weapons.
Anyway, UT got what he wanted from the Campania arc and he gave results to “these eccentric fellows”, as well as potential clients of theirs, using what was his first prototype of Bizarre Dolls (CR edited with counterfeit memories).
Then the Weston arc happened and it’s been 6 years, but I’m still wondering about why UT felt the need to be involved in the first place. I mean, sure, because of the Aurora society he made BDs for the ones who were killed by the Prefect 4, but since he had already inserted them (or at least just Agares) back before Ciel even joined Weston, why did he feel the need to pretend being the Principal ever since the cricket match?
For the lulz? Maybe. To see how Agares would manage, since he was UT’s masterpiece at the time? Again, maybe, but he could have done that from afar.
Another explanation could also be that he knew why Ciel was sent to Weston…
…and becoming directly involved was his way to make sure that, this time, Ciel would tell the Queen about him and his second prototype of bizarre dolls (CR edited with “episodes” coming from the corpses’ longing for the future).
Weston was different from the Campania because the Campania was something Ciel decided to investigate on his own, so he had no report to make to the Queen. After Weston though, he just had no other choice but to tell the whole truth, which is
possibly
what UT was counting on…
especially if he knew about Victoria’s war plans and that she would be interested in such a technique.
Obviously, since UT most likely personally despises Victoria, I doubt he would be happy to help her with anything. However, if UT has a deal with those “eccentric fellows” and if those BDs he’s making are a business that “those eccentric fellows” intend on selling to the highest bidder for the upcoming war, then if he really wanted to thwart Victoria’s war plans, he could…
advertise these weapons to her enemies for example.
UT’s Bizarre Dolls might not even be the only weapons “those eccentric fellows” have to sell. For example, if we look at the current arc…
And Sieglinde confirmed that the Blue Sect definitely mastered the technique through probably experimenting and then “dialyzing” those old lords from the Parliament.
Obviously we don’t know yet how the blood transfusions even factor into how/when UT brought back the twin or who invented all those devices that Othello was sent to investigate (ch125), but all in all, what’s important is that…
…Victoria felt threatened when UT is definitely involved again.
As it is right now, there is a lot we don’t quite get yet about the current arc so I only want to mention that maybe there is a difference between “bringing the twin back” and “being behind the blue sect” as far as UT is concerned in this arc.
Of course, it really does seem that the twin is at the heart of the Blue Sect…
…but why/when/how did UT create a whole sect surrounding something that’s so personal to him
when he had the twin’s corpse for 4 years
and he also said
? Especially when that sect initially seemed to be about researching blood transfusions? And when he also seems involved with “eccentric fellows”, according to the Campania arc? Couldn’t we tie everything somehow?
Everything from here onward is theoretical and just my opinion, but looking at what Othello said:
…who knows if “those eccentric fellows”/the Osiris company/the blue sect aren’t a group of humans working with several supernatural beings and experimenting with very advanced technology in different fields?
So an example of explanation for the current arc could be that:
UT initially struck a deal with “these eccentric fellows” in order to be able to experiment as much as he needed in order to make a perfect bizarre doll
because ultimately he wanted to bring (at least) the twin back
but also because at the same time all the other BDs he made to experiment could be sold and used as war weapons, thus allowing “these eccentric fellows” to make money off their deal
meanwhile, another part
of “those eccentric fellows” researched about blood transfusion
(with the help of another supernatural being who helped making those advanced devices?)
which led to them making money by “dialyzing” those old lords from the Parliament
but also possibly in order to eventually sell the technique to different armies for the upcoming war.
Then maybe, after the Weston arc, UT had the idea to combine these two (initially unrelated) methods, or “these eccentric fellows” wanted him to try, leading to the twin becoming “the blue star” and heart of Bravat’s blue sect, despite the fact that UT wanting the twin back is 100% personal.
I guess that’s when it leads to theories about what exactly Lizzie and Tanaka know about this arc, since I still don’t think Lizzie chose the twin’s side (or was crying about not being able to give her blood to real!Ciel in ch113) or that Tanaka just randomly expected the twin to come back one day.
Same for whatever UT meant in ch108 and what that liquid was (since I also don’t buy that he was able to get the twin’s soul back from Seb or whatever).
(I mean, why would it be “too early to awaken” when UT’s been working towards this goal for 4 years?)
Finally, UT being cornered into bringing back the twin as a part of another experiment by “these eccentric fellows” (instead of just on his own terms) could also explain the lack of control that he seems to have over the twin.
Bringing back the twin is something of personal significance for UT, however if Bravat’s sect represents another party that is involved with his revival, it could be that they revere the twin (and the other star lords) to the point that…
…they let this happened (by ‘this’ I mean the violence overall that took place in the town house).
Fair enough, UT probably does not care about Soma or Agni, but would he even want the twin to go this far in order to reach his brother? Sure the twin is dead and has no soul anymore but…
in general it seems UT isn’t pro-violence where the Phantomhives are concerned? I could be reading wayyy too much into this though.
…And it could be the same for Lizzie when you think about it, since she apparently gave some of her blood (at least once in ch112?) and could have been hurt way more than she was when she fought against Seb (ch117).
If UT is the mastermind behind this, then that just screams that he doesn’t care or just that he bet Seb wouldn’t kill Lizzie because Ciel wouldn’t forgive him (even though Lizzie is related to Claudia the same way the twins are). However if the current arc is somehow divided between two parties (UT with his personal goal and Bravat’s sect) then that could explain why Lizzie ended up having some rough times despite her possible significance to UT.
TL;DR Lots of questions, lots of possible answers, lots of uncertainty, my only stance on this is that I doubt we’re just supposed to pile the current arc on top of the rest of the story without any link between the different parts (more than just the 2CT finally being confirmed I mean).
It’s a long arc, it’s a complex arc, it introduced the twin, addressed what happened 4 years ago but now it’s focusing on UT’s motivations too, so is it really just going to end like the Campania and Weston arcs when even those arcs still seem to have unanswered points?
I guess we’ll see on June 18th… Thanks for reading! Sorry it was so long. :3
Undertaker can’t bear to lose another Phantomhive.
Could he bear to lose Elizabeth? Frances or Edward Midford?
The problem with UT is that it’s hard to measure just how far he’s gone:
If bringing back the twin and wanting to bring back Vincent is generally related to him caring about the P family, because of whatever his relationship to Claudia was, then he might care about Frances and her children.
However if Vincent and the twins themselves are just a proxy for dead!Claudia to him, because he’s constantly reminded of her through them, then it’s not likely he gives a damn about them. (One possible hint of this would be his way to constantly refer to the 3 of them with the title “Earl”, which is genderless in Japanese and thus also means “Countess” I believe?)
The campania arc doesn’t help, except in assuming he only baited Seb with Ciel and didn’t mean to hurt Ciel, because “he knew Seb would protect him”, but that doesn’t mean the same goes for the Midford whose lives were in danger too.
TL;DR this arc will give us a definite answer since Lizzie is involved.
There is a possibility he might care if he really considers the entirety of Claudia’s family (even if he might have met Frances’ family less overall).
However if he’s Ann or Kelvin 3.0 then he might only see the twins as relevant (since Vincent can’t be brought back), because they’re who he clings onto, to be reminded of Claudia.
Edit: forgot to say but this is independent from all the UT = Cedric theories, because there is a bigger chance he might care about all of them if they’re actually related (even if I still think he probably wasn’t a good father figure if that’s the case).
If you’re not already familiar, then this might seem like a strange duo to focus on for serious analysis, particularly since their interactions are few and so easy to dismiss. But I believe that this subtle character dynamic is one with a high chance of becoming plot-relevant at some point in future manga chapters.
I’m about to try and convince you:
William and Undertaker serve as literary foils for each other, and are intended to be juxtaposed
There is the possibility that this goes so far as William representing what Undertaker used to be, and vice versa Undertaker what William could be at risk of becoming (most likely with the help of a few hundred years, of course)
There is a high, if not certain, chance they will interact in the manga, and as they are such complete foils, it is very likely this would be in the form of a large plot event
I am going to begin with support from the first anime season, then second Wonderland OVA, and end with the manga where I make my point. Every part of this is necessary for the point I want to make, I promise.
midnight-in-town 