Hey! This is actually a question I’ve been thinking about a lot (and I’m sure we’re not the only ones who’ve wondered this) because it’s really a big hole in the story at the moment- why does Eto need someone else to do the job? And I’ve been thinking that maybe it has something to do with all those red herrings and deception that Eto was the OEK.
From my own interpretation, the OEK isn’t a single person who is considered ‘royalty’ among ghouls or someone who declares themself a King, but a title given to a one-eyed ghoul who causes a revolution. The OEK from 100 years ago brought about such a big change in the balance between ghouls and humans that the latter were forced to form the CCG as a counterbalance. That previous King earned the title. And that means that no one is the OEK at present- the title is up for grabs by whoever becomes the next revolutionary.
Even though Eto has stated she is not the King, there was too much misinformation going around for me to think that was entirely correct. The Bin Brothers loyalty to the King’s cause, Tatara saying the ‘King is passing’ during the Anteiku Raid, Nico say the little girl in bandages ‘might’ be the OEK, the fact that Eto actually needed to tell Aogiri she wasn’t their King, Kaiko asking Furuta and Arima if they think its possible Takatsuki is the King and them being unsure- it all points towards them being led to think that on purpose.
Eto was right though, she wasn’t the King because she didn’t bring about a revolution big enough to gain that title. But I think she used the guise of the OEK myth and the power behind it to make Aogiri. She used that title and the ghouls idealisation of that idea to gather them together. Ghouls usually don’t live together in large numbers- there’s too much competition for territory, for food, even their kagune were specialised for fighting each other. So it had to be something big that could bring so many together to create Aogiri- like the promise of protection, of a better world for ghouls, the OEK’s goal.
I think once upon a time, it’s possible Eto thought that she would one day be the OEK. She has Ukina’s journal that seems like it holds all the secrets about V and the Washuus- Ukina herself was clearly trying to expose them and uncover the truth. I can imagine young Eto reading about how wrong the world is in her Mother’s diary and fancying that one day she would carry on that ideal and finish her Mother’s work. To “smoke out the liars” and create a world where someone like her had a place to fit in.
But of course, it didn’t quite work out. First Eto suffered defeat when she was 14. After that, she realised she couldn’t do it by herself and formed Aogiri. But then where did that get her? It’s been about 14 years since then and they were no closer to bringing about a change. The CCG are now stronger than ever and have pushed Aogiri into a corner, wiping out a good portion of their bases throughout the Wards. Everything that Eto worked towards was failing and I think that’s why she looked so tired before her Aogiri speech:
She even says herself that Aogiri’s goal of ‘a world in which ghouls can live openly and freely’ and her own aim to ‘eradicate the warped root that lurks behind it all’ is as distant as ever. I think she might’ve realised a long time ago that violence wasn’t going to work- that her way of going about things was wrong. That she’s the wrong person for the OEK job. But she’s taken it too far now to turn back and there’s no way to undo all that- without Aogiri drawing all the attention of the Doves, other ghouls really would be in trouble.
Which is why I it looks like she’s been planning for a long time now to groom someone else as the King. A one eyed ghoul who doesn’t have the same blood on their hands as Eto. Someone better suited for the job. And that’s where Kaneki comes in. He really is the perfect candidate- someone who believes in people born for love and revolution. Someone who has lived as both a human and a ghoul, unlike Eto who was brought up only in the ghoul world. Someone who has friends and loved ones in both worlds. And I think that role actually suits Eto better. She’s never outwardly been a true leader, she’s always been pulling the strings from backstage- it’s what she does best. She enjoys manipulating others. And I guess that’s what could be happening now with all this setting up for the future. Haise was too scared to embrace his ghoul side so Eto had to intervene and push him hard enough that he cracked. Just in time for her to finish her book and turn herself in. The timing is way too perfect.
There’s another side to it too though. So far, it seems like Eto wants to take
down the Washuus and V. But standing in the way are the CCG
Investigators under the Washuus, who have all pretty much been
conditioned to think of ghouls as mindless animals. I don’t see any way
Eto could be the one to change their minds- she’s killed too many of
them, both herself and by creating Aogiri. But Kaneki on the other hand?
He’s fought along side them, become their comrade. And sure, there’s
still a LOT of distrust towards him but there are also others who
consider him a friend, a teacher, a mentor… (or at least did before the Tsukiyama Raid). But I wonder if some of those Investigators might understand him a little better if they read Eto’s book too.
The Bileygyr King book has been a long time in the making, going back at least 4 years if not longer. With it, we see Eto has changed tact- she’s using her biggest asset, her way with words, to change people’s minds instead of the violence she’s used in the past. As I said in the post about her book [x]– humans are a much better target audience than ghouls as they can protest and push for change without fearing the CCG. Ghouls are more than ready to be able to live in a world where their existence isn’t a death sentence, it’s the humans that need to accept them. And it’s working. In the space of a couple of weeks (?), she’s already changed more than 14 years of Aogiri ever did. There are crowds of humans protesting outside CCG buildings. On the ghoul side, Aogiri just lost their main leader and the Tsukiyama Empire, which employed probably more ghouls than we know, has fallen. I guess both sides need someone to gather behind, someone to be the figure head of this movement (because Ogura Hisashi is definitely not the right person). They need a Nameless like the character from Eto’s book *cough*Haise*cough*.
There’s probably much more to it and it’s almost a guarantee that some bombshell will be dropped that none of us predicted but this is what I’ve been thinking with all we know so far! There are also a lot of other questions that don’t make sense and kind of hint that there might be something different going on behind it. Like why are Eto and Kanou continuing the half-ghoul experiments? Is it in case Kaneki fails?
Is it because the more OEG’s to join in the better? Who knows, maybe Eto really is making a bid for the OEK title by coming public as Takatsuki? Maybe there already is a OEK that Eto is referring to? Ok I’m going to stop now before I write a novel, you can probably tell I’m a little overexcited about this upcoming arc!
Hello! Do you mean because of what Eto said at the end of the last chapter?
Hmm… Honestly I’m not sure because…
It’s what Nico said in ch87. Of course they could be lying, but for now with the info we have, I’m sticking to the idea that what Eto said was meant to be about Furuta only (who’s linked to V and the CCG like Kanou was). 🙂
We’re probably certain to learn more in the next chapters, but I’m sure you know there are hints of Furuta being Souta, aka the one who dropped the bars on Rize allowing Kanou to transform Kaneki into a OEG, so it could be that Kanou and Souta/Furuta were accomplices all along, despite Souta’s position in the Clowns’ gang (or not if Kanou truly is linked to them).
Kanou being the Clowns’ boss is not impossible though, because Kanou joined Aogiri mostly because Eto had the power and the numbers to give him a lot of experiments to work on in order to fight against the “twisted birdcage”, but he could have been involved with the Clowns’ gang before the accident with Rize, ordering Souta to create the perfect occasion if he was the boss.
The pros of him being the boss are the following points:
When Itori said the accident with Rize wasn’t exaclty an accident she never said anything about Kanou himself. Tatara is the one who told Kaneki Kanou was fishy.
When Kaneki asked Itori about Kanou in vol 9 she said: “My, oh my… You’re asking me of all people about this? I mean, how about vague stuff, is that alright?” So yeah maybe she was trying not to deal info on him if he was her boss in that chapter?
Itori also said not knowing about Madam A who was involved with Kanou at the time and that sounds weird considering she had info on Kanou who’s a tad more mysterious and linked to the plot…
That’s what I have so far, there could be more hints around the story though.
Still, Souta aside because we don’t know him well, the Clowns seem to be neutral, not really siding with the CCG or Aogiri, so either Kanou doesn’t actually give a damn about Aogiri if he’s the Clown’s boss (meaning he has his own plan about Kaneki despite fighting against the CCG and V with Aogiri), or he just happens to know the Clowns and asked one of them a favor three years ago.
If Furuta is Souta, since we know he comes from the Garden, it could be that a younger Furuta was totally depressed about his childhood/life in such a place and so if Kanou was just starting to rebel against V + the CCG, he might have given a taste of freedom to a younger Furuta (which would explain why he seems to be under Kanou’s orders if we’re to believe Eto’s words) who then met the Clowns himself, became “Souta” but Kanou would still ask him for favors from time to time.
I’m waiting for the next chapter before speculating more on that to be honest 🙂 But it’s cool to think we might be getting more info on the Clowns, I can’t wait!
I hope it helps a little? Sorry, for now I’m a bit unsure on this question. Thanks for passing by!
These panels are from chapter 47 of TG, after Kaneki returns to Itori to tell her about his experience with the ghoul restaurant. They end up talking about Rize, since he wanted the information about her in exchange for what he learned. Before we knew anything about Rize and V, the panel struck me as kind of odd because isn’t it a little strange to put focus only on someone’s hand during a conversation?
But looking back on it now, it’s easy to see what the reason is. Itori’s making a V with her fingers (illuminati confirmed). Whether she intentionally did that, I don’t think so, but who knows.
Then there’s the really obvious V reference in the last panel of Souta/Furuta:
After what Eto said in the new chapter, I think we can say Furuta is Souta. What bothers me is that she called him a clown of Kanou, which implies that the Clowns and Kanou are allies.. and it would explain a little more in regards to how Kanou got ahold of Rize after the accident to perform the transplant. I also think that the motivation behind Souta dropping the steel beams on Rize is becoming clearer- Rize escaped from V, V needed to get rid of her. So Souta drops the beams on her, Kanou gets his donor and subject for his experiment, and the clowns get a new subject of entertainment (Kaneki). 2 (3?) birds with one stone. But the plan didn’t really go accordingly, I’m guessing, because Rize is still alive.
I’m glad that some light is finally being shed on some of this stuff, but as he’s doing that, Ishida is opening up more things that need answers. Oh Ishida how are you ever going to wrap up this story..
I’m pretty sure CCG is a puppet of V. Seeing as how many of their top investigators come from “Garden.”
And how the CCG “came from a much older organization.”
And how Yoshimura looked at Yoshitoki Washuu in the Anteiku fight and Yoshitoki basically said, “don’t look at me like that it’s just business.” Suggesting he knew Yoshimura, and was possibly coming down on V’s promise to not save him because he wouldn’t give up his daughter.
Heck they program the RC scanners at the front of the CCG building to not recognize their ghoul members.
I’m 99% that while V may not share their intent with lower down levels of the CCG the upper investigators know. Eto all but pointed out the Washuu are in cahoots with V.
As for lower class investigator? They have to have fodder willing to fight a battle they believe is to exterminate all ghouls when really V want to control the balance. V uses angry people who have lost people to the ghoul/human cycle of grief to ultimately steer their force to control the ghoul population.
So I’m pretty sure it’s not so much “Arima tricking the CCG.” As it’s V using one of their powerful puppet garden child in the puppet Washuu’s CCG, to get a job done they want, that is also taking down a powerful ghoul on CCG watchlist as a Cochlea escapee publicly.
V needs to capture Shachi to get information to “Take care of the Rize problem.” as he was her adopted “father”
I just hope if Arima manages to capture Shachi they won’t be able to make him talk and tell them Rize was last with Yomo, that would be very bad…
What I’m getting here is that every kakuhou has a unique rc cell pattern, so it’s like a thumbmark. But it seems said rc cell patterns can be inherited, like Yoshimura and Eto. Kaneki has the same rc cell pattern as Rize so the alarm didn’t set off when he went thru it.
With that, I think it’s more like the gate was rigged so that the rc cell patterns from different ghouls in V won’t get detected.
So if any other ghoul who exhibits a different rc cell pattern from the ones that the gate was programmed to ignore, it would set off the alarm.
It’s true that little moment between them was cute, it almost felt like a date, especially for Eto I think. ^^
When it comes to theories though, I think everyone on tumblr is more or less on standby because the last few chapters were a bit overwhelming and confusing (the timeline for example), so it’s really hard to say how the arc will progress for now in my opinion.
Eto does seem interested in Kaneki as more than just a pawn though, and since he’s one of her readers, things might develop interestingly between them with how she introduced her last work.
For now I stay convinced that Kaneki, with his memories, doesn’t care about siding with the CCG or Aogiri, because both created chaos in his life whenever he was starting to find peace, but when it comes to Eto herself, he might be trying to help her as Yoshimura once asked him.
It’s really hard to say haha, but yes, V being interested in Kaneki doesn’t sound good, and I could see Kaneki allying with Eto against V somehow. Maybe. My thoughts are slightly a mess when it comes to the future possible developments.
We will see this week end if explanations are coming our way, thanks for passing by in any case. 🙂
Oh nice!! You’re right, it took me a little time to find it but…
He’s looking like Charlie Chaplin on 4/16 indeed and it could be because he’s a really good actor, managing to be involved with all the organizations, as you pointed out.
Well, at least for now we’re sure he’s linked to 3 of them: the CCG obviously, V thanks to Arima in ch61 and Aogiri, since he’s apparently the one who told them when and where to attack at the end of the Roze arc. All we need to see is if he’s truly linked to the Clowns, which probably depends on whether Souta and Furata are the same person or not.
Honestly I always took this calendar page to be because he was shown to be an excellent actor in the first place, before we even knew he was involved with all the organizations, haha!
But I totally prefer your interpretation actually, since it’s true he is so far the only character (Kaneki aside?) to be really involved with the 4 important organizations.
Lol, that guy is the ultimate troll, I really like him a lot ^^
As you guys know, many things were more or less revealed in the last chapter and I wanted to discuss a few things in order to organize my thoughts when it comes to Kaneki and the Clowns.
For this post I am going to assume:
that the CCG and V are allied through an agreement with the Washuus (if this doesn’t make sense, please refer to the full explanation linked above). According to Eto, it probably happened a century ago, when the CCG was created to counter the one eyed ghoul she talked about.
that Furuta might be Souta (here is the theory if you need it)
As always, this post is only my personal (and very long) interpretation so you don’t have to agree considering that there is still a lot of mystery. 🙂 If anything is unclear, feel free to ask for a better explanation.
1) The Clowns: a part of V or not?
**The pros for this theory:
Furuta/Souta has ties to V: Furuta’s ties were mentioned in ch61 and the “twisted birdcage” was always associated to Souta’s character in the Tg trump cards set or in the calendar. So Souta could be a double agent or the Clowns could all be a part of V in the first place.
10 years before :Re, the Clowns’ annihilation took place in the 4th Ward and even though Arima was there, we know a few Clowns managed to survive. However, now that we know Arima has ties to V, it is *possible* Arima spared some of them because they attracted V’s interest.
Kuzen was brought in the organization once because he was strong enough to interest them after all, so it is possible the same happened for Uta and the few remaining Clowns, since Uta was strong and charismatic enough to lead the 4th Ward for example.
They know quite a lot on many subjects and Itori’s network of info is really impressive, so it could be that as members of V they have access to the CCG’s database (especially since Furuta probably wasn’t a member of the CCG three years ago and yet Itori knew well what happened during the Anteiku raid arc).
**The cons:
We know Souta is behind the accident with Rize and we know that Aogiri needed Rize and Kanou for their goal at the time, so the accident with Rize put a halt in Aogiri’s plans until Kanou joined them.
We also know V see One Eyed Ghouls as threats to the equilibrium and Kanou did the operation on Kaneki because he wanted to create more OEGs to fight against V (more precisely, Kaneki was the last test before the operations on Kuro and Shiro).
It could be that Souta did all that under V’s orders of course but…
When Kaneki joined Anteiku, it wasn’t long until Uta and Itori heard about it and that’s when his crazy travel started. They pushed him down several paths to see how he would react and change and in the end, the majority of the Clowns grew fond of him, even though OEGs are a threat for V’s equilibrium.
Kanou once mentioned to Kaneki (ch98) that a “particular reality was hidden” and that without knowing this reality, Kaneki also “won’t be able to see the truth”.
Considering this entire chapter was Kanou trying to make Kaneki realized about the “twisted birdcage”, we can be sure Kanou was talking about V back then, before they were introduced by Yoshimura in ch119.
However, coincidentally or not, the talk about a “hidden truth” happened before with one of the Clowns (ch47).
Itori is also the first one who explained to him how natural OEGs could be born and also that there were rumors about a natural OEG (Eto), but when it comes to the panel above, not only does it sound like an advice, but the subject also doesn’t seem to be something to laugh at. This panel could be a hint that the Clowns are aware of V but not necessarily that they share the same philosophy.
The Clowns have their own name as a group as well as their own motto and I’m not sure V share it:
=> TL; DR: So, even if the Clowns are with V, there is a good possibility that they don’t follow V’s “philosophy” or don’t care about whatever goals V have. Maybe they were indeed brought into the group because Arima spared them during the Clowns’ annihilation on V’s orders, but their link to Kaneki goes deep and Kaneki’s interactions with Uta and Itori tend to make me think they might not be on V’s side.
The Clowns and their role in the story don’t have to be about the Aogiri vs CCG conflict like everything else is after all; if anything their role might be more about Kaneki’s story in the first place, like the :Re folks.
Because, if we’re really going towards an all-out conflict between the CCG and Aogiri in the new arc without taking care of the Clowns first, that might mean Kaneki has his own issues to face besides the war between ghouls and humans (even though this war is totally linked to his own path in Ishida’s world).
2) Sasaki and Arima vs Kaneki and Eto
Now that we know Arima has ties to V, I’m seeing the scene of V14 with a different eye (lol).
When Washuu Yoshitoki heard about Kaneki during the Anteiku raid arc (ch133), he called Arima who ended up meeting Ken at V14. Arima was able to experience how strong Kaneki got and as we all remember, Kaneki was then taken into the CCG and his new life began as “Sasaki Haise”.
I think that when Arima saw how strong Kaneki was, he also understood that Kaneki was extremely valuable in the CCG’s fight against Aogiri (which is why the idea was later pushed on Haise that he had to either form or become a ghoul investigator “stronger than Arima Kishou”).
Also considering the link between the CCG and V, V probably approved of the idea and that’s why Kaneki Ken was allowed to start another life as a pawn in the fight against Aogiri, but with that in mind, it’s quite certain that V/the Washuus (and maybe even Arima himself) really consider him to be Arima’s quinque and nothing else.
Kaneki was saved because they knew he’d be interesting if used accordingly to their plans. This is probably the only reason why the CCG and V agreed he was to stay alive, even though he was strong enough to be dangerous and to threaten V’s equilibrium (especially since he sided with Yoshimura in TG).
And the plan was working well… until Eto came into the picture.
Eto always interested in Kaneki ever since the arc with Kanou’s lab in TG, but recently that interest sky-rocketed with possible romantic feelings on the side for her.
As we learned with ch61, Eto isn’t apparently the OEK (unless she lied of course, but why would she when she admitted to being the founder of Aogiri?) and there is a possibility that she believes Kaneki is the rightful OEK since he defeated her in the last arc (the other possibility being that she believes that OEG of one century ago to be the spiritual leader of Aogiri as the OEK).
Anyway, leaving all the speculations aside, because he’s strong and because he’s a OEG, Kaneki is the ace card of this battle, as Arima probably realized three years ago: Ken proved he was able to win against Eto, which means he’s able to fight against any investigator and win, and who knows if he wouldn’t be able to win against Arima now too?
Eto left him with a present after the last arc, he got ranked up to Associate Special Class and moved to S3 as a ghoul investigator: for now the two organizations see him as someone valuable to have on their side for the fights to come. I have no idea whether the final fight between Aogiri and the CCG will really be for this arc, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Eto were to try making him join Aogiri before the major conflict breaks out (through a meeting with Takatsuki Sen maybe?).
That’s Eto’s point of view though, as well as the CCG’s when it comes to the valuable OEG Kaneki Ken… so the question should be where Kaneki thinks his place is in the first place.
3) Kaneki as a Clown?
This part is entirely theoretical and until a month or two ago, I wouldn’t even have thought to write it publicly but here goes. I don’t mean to say that Kaneki is already a Clown but that he might become one, if they really don’t side with V of course.
Here is why: it’s almost certain that Kaneki recovered a lot of his memories after the last arc and if we start from there then here is what he should be remembering:
He had an abusive mother who died and left him with an abusive aunt, so for a long time, Hide aside, he was really lonely.
Kanou then turned him into a OEG and he was taken into Anteiku. The start was rough but after some time (the Tsukiyama arc), Kaneki was stronger, he had friends (both ghoul and human) and he had a stable and rather happier life for the first time ever.
Then Aogiri came into the picture and shattered that stable life.
It took him a long time before Yoshimura and Touka helped him realize he could come back to Anteiku and be happy again.
Then the CCG attacked Anteiku and shattered his second chance at recovering stability and a possible happiness.
So technically by now, Kaneki should remember that three years ago, Aogiri and the CCG both destroyed his peace at different times, so… if that’s the case, why should he be siding with either of them in the first place?
As I was explaining in another post, it’s probable he remembers meeting with Uta and Touka/Nishiki/Yomo as Sasaki Haise in earlier chapters and yet it appears he didn’t rat them out.
As a result, it can be interpreted that throwing Tsukiyama off the roof in the last arc was him giving Shuu a chance at survival (as Hori pointed out), just like he might be trying to find a way to save Hinami from being “disposed” (some speculated that this was what the calendar in the last chapter was about) and that would explain why he doesn’t go see her -> the less he appears to care, the less people will think he had a hand in that.
(Even Urie thinks he’s being harsh)
So in case he doesn’t side with Aogiri nor the CCG, why would he go with the Clowns instead of going back to :Re for example?
Well, it seems Kaneki really believes he has to fight (because Yoshimura asked him to save Eto, because crushing Aogiri was his goal for a long time…), which means that if he doesn’t side with Aogiri or the CCG, he has 3 choices:
fighting on his own with perhaps one or two allies (like at that time with Banjou and Tsukiyama), but how is he supposed to maybe take on two strong organizations on his own? He just wouldn’t be strong enough alone.
go to :Re, but I doubt Yomo and the others would agree to throw themselves into such a war when they also don’t side with Aogiri and the CCG. Leaving the CCG and Aogiri to destroy each other would be probably the wisest choice in their opinion and I’m pretty sure Yomo would act as he did when Anteiku was attacked. The :Re group wants to live on, not to fight such a hopeless war (especially when they have reasons to hate both Aogiri and the CCG).
join the Clowns. As I said, even if the Clowns turn out to be with V, their link with Kaneki is something weird but deep and I think they’d find it more interesting to be allies with him rather than to watch him go die alone.
Actually, you could read TG (not :Re) by only looking at Kaneki and the Clowns, and somehow, the whole thing can be taken as the Clowns testing Kaneki to see how much he would be able to hold on and grow up by going through so many different things. And the result of that “test”? Well, they all said (minus Souta) they actually liked Kaneki because he was interesting, so I don’t see why Kaneki wouldn’t be able to join them, especially since it’s one “side” he hasn’t tried yet.
Also, it seems that…
…They might already have a plan involving Kaneki (unless Uta was lying, it’s not impossible), so while him joining them isn’t the highest possibility for now, it’s not completely far-fetched either.
Seriously, considering the Clowns seem to be the neutral chaotic group of the story (not apparently siding with the CCG or Aogiri, which is why I’m still not convinced they’re truly a part of V), Kaneki siding with neither of the “big organizations” would still have his place in the battle by siding with the Clowns.
=> TL;DR of the whole post: Considering the relationship between the Clowns and Kaneki up until now, it’s not impossible to say that Kaneki might end up getting closer to them, no matter if the Clowns are with V or not. The Clowns seem to have their own goal anyway and it might be linked to Kaneki.
However, in the case the Clowns really need/want Kaneki to join them (for their goal or just for the heck of it), I wonder if that doesn’t mean the Clowns’ true opponents will turn out to be the :Re group at the end…
Because, while Aogiri and the CCG are fighting the main battle, they have the numbers to rival with each other, which is not exactly the case for the Clowns and :Re, who are more neutral when it comes to the human vs ghoul conflict in the first place anyway. It’s like, both Aogiri and the CCG have approximately a thousand of men ready to fight the other side, while the Clowns might be a group of 10 members and the :Re group might be even less.
To sum up, a chessboard is a square, right? It has four sides, so it could be said for now that Aogiri and the CCG are facing each other from two parallel sides (V acting from behind the CCG), while the Clowns might face the :Re guys on the other two parallel sides of the chessboard.
As for Kaneki? Obviously he’s in the middle of the chessboard, as the ace card/major pawn of the CCG vs Aogiri fight for now, but maybe after that he will stay at the center, as the reason the Clowns might fight against :Re.
(I’m really not sure about the part on the :Re guys becoming enemy with the Clowns actually, but since the Clowns were mainly the reason Kaneki was forced to grow up so harshly in TG, while :Re represents a possibly stable and happier way to live, calling them opponents is definitely too soon but still something to keep in mind, just in case. I’m not entirely seeing it for now, it’s just a possibility)
Thanks for reading and sorry if it doesn’t make much sense.
This post is the result of a discussion with @neropet earlier today. Credit to Nero for coming up with this idea in the first place, and for talking this post over with me while I was writing it.
With chapter 61, we learned some jaw dropping information about the One-Eyed King – that the King is not what we thought. Not only is the King not Eto, but the title apparently does not refer to any person. Instead, the King is a symbolic title that refers to a one-eyed ghoul who is going to change the world. So the King does not exist – yet.
There was speculation a few months ago about Eto’s goals in her confrontation with Sasaki on the roof, and the idea that perhaps she was trying to turn him into the new King.
That idea only seemed to grow stronger when the chapter “The Second King” came out, which prominently featured the fight between Eto and Sasaki, and may imply that he is the second king.
However, I think the biggest piece of evidence came from the most recent chapter, when Eto reveals to Aogiri that she is not the King.
She trails off, telling them, “The One-Eyed King is…”
And the very next panels contain none other than Sasaki, when she finishes her sentence and concludes, “Not me.”
Also notably, on this page, Arima and Furuta are speaking about him as well, and apparently V has taken an interest in him. The last we heard of V, they were looking for Eto, the one-eyed ghoul who they believed was upsetting the balance of the world.
V may see him as another threat to this balance, which is exactly what Eto has in mind for the One-Eyed King.
So, if this is actually Eto’s plan, and she wants him to take on this title, how does she plan to convince him to do so? Why would he want to associate with her, after everything she’s done?
We know she’s already started to manipulate him, the same way she has done to her past victims, by targeting them where they are most vulnerable.
She licks his eye and tells him she likes him and they are the same, and that stuns him into inaction for a few moments:
And then when he deals a serious blow to her, cutting her body in half, she strikes again, and tells him she loves him.
We know that he wants to be loved. Eto knows that he wants to be loved. She tells him that purposefully, to get under his skin. And his reaction to her words is starkly different from the way he spoke to her during their fight, rudely and abrasively. He says that he’s honored.
It seems like Eto’s tactics were not ineffective.
Since his change on the roof during that fight, we have not seen into his thoughts the way we used to. It’s been unsettling to not know what the main character is thinking. But we have gotten one glimpse into his thoughts in this time, and it was a thought about her:
Although, certainly her manipulations were not enough alone. He has not suddenly joined her side. He has continued to target her in the six months that passed between their fight and the present day in TG:re, and is still apparently focused on eliminating her.
So why would she think that he would fulfill the role she has in mind for him, if her efforts to change him on the roof were not enough? What if she has another method up her sleeve? Another way to tie him to her more securely?
Perhaps a physical tie, like her kagune?
There’s two other people that Eto has given her kagune to, and both of those people are associated with clocks, and time:
Noro is always with Eto, and when he’s not, he’s been depicted with a clock. He watches the clock carefully, and takes action at certain times. Why is this? Perhaps this was for the Aogiri raid, when there was a raid on Cochlea going on at the same time. But the other person who was given Eto’s kagune was tortured with clocks, and this seems like too much of a coincidence.
Additionally, during the fight on the roof, Eto taunts, “We don’t have much time. You are about to meet your maker.”
There was a time limit to this fight, apparently imposed by Eto. Perhaps the same was true of Noro, and that was why he was either always with her, or watching a clock. Perhaps the powers she gifts by implanting her kagune only last so long, before they result in decay of the person she implanted it in?
We know how Noro ended up:
Perhaps this is the end result of her kagune implantation? And perhaps something similar may happen to Sasaki?
She’s given Sasaki her kagune in a similar way to what we’ve seen her do before.
When Eto first confronts Kanae/Karren, the scene ends with a black panel and a “bite” sound effect, implying someone ate something. Based on what we saw happen in future chapters, and Eto’s words leading up to that moment, I think it’s safe to say she fed Kanae an “apple”, her kagune.
And we saw her feed someone else something similar, 15 chapters later:
We also know that she intentionally left this for Sasaki, and she wonders about how he enjoyed her gift, and how his arm has regrown:
We also know that now his arm looks freaking weird:
Did she know something like this would happen?
And finally, to add onto this idea about time being connected to her kagune implantation, Sasaki is desperately searching for her, and becomes infuriated when he can’t find her. And in this panel, we see him counting down days on a calendar. We also see that the scaling on his hand extends up his arm, past his elbow, far past where his arm was severed.
Is his arm worsening? Has he realized that there is some kind of limit? Is that why he’s focused on finding her himself, without telling the CCG about the information he has on her?
tl;dr: What if a side effect of Eto’s kagune implantation is a time limit on the person, forcing them to return to Eto to minimize or postpone any ill effects? And what if this is the case with Sasaki, providing Eto with a physical tie to him in order to force him into the role she wants for him – the role of the One-Eyed King, the half ghoul who will change the world?
Ahh this is interesting! It’s strange how fixated on time Eto seems to be, even thinking about how old she’s getting. The consequences of Eto’s kagune implantation really worries me though.
So Ishida is obviously familiar with (or has done research on) the cordyceps fungus. All this kagune implantation with Eto really reminds me of a species of cordyceps called the ‘zombie fungus’ (ophiocordyceps unilateralis if you want to get technical) which parasitizes and zombifies ants. It’s spores attach to the ant, allowing the fungus to spread through the body. Fugal cells release chemicals in the brain that hijack and control the ant’s behaviour (in really creepy, specific ways). Once the ant moves to the perfect spot for the fungus to grow, it kills the ant and sends out branches through the body, eventually rupturing through the ant’s head.
If you (hypothetically) convert that to Tokyo Ghoul terms, the fungal spores/cells would be the RC cells from Eto’s kagune, the ant is Noro/Kanae/Kaneki, and the fungal branches that rupture out of the ant would be the upgraded kagune with eyes and mouths like Eto’s. Even Noro appearing like a corpse/skeleton is reminiscent of the husk of the ant left behind afterwards.
Perhaps the time limit is something like the life cycle of the fungus. That it takes a certain amount of time before the kagune spreads out and you end up like Noro? That if Karren had lived longer, she would have eventually been like Noro too?
There’s hope for Kaneki though, because although this fungus can infect different species of ants, it is specialised for one or two in particular. Its effects in other ants aren’t as successful. Seeing as Kaneki is a half-ghoul (and an artificial one at that) Eto’s kagune might not work the same as in Karren and Noro who were full ghouls *prays to Ishida* i swear it’s not wishful thinking
There are a lot of different types of cordyceps (and parasites) so I’m sure there’s probably another that fits better but the zombie fungus is one of the more interesting ones. Eughh I don’t even want to think about any of this becoming canon- let’s hope that it doesn’t come to something as drastic for poor Ken
Thanks for passing by!
midnight-in-town 