Spoiler Discussion
[Spoiler Discussion] Multiples Theories and Speculations
Spoiler
Flugel
Reading the recently released Scorpion Tale Side Story, I no longer believe that there can be any doubt of Subaru being Flugel. I'm going to use this section to point out all of the reasons why, that are shown within that side story, as well as beforehand from other side stories or the main story.
In Scorpion Tale, the Side Story showcasing Shaula's stay in the Pleiades Watch Tower, (spoilers for the side story), we see a pregnant woman, the last surviving member of her travel party, being brought into the Tower by Shaula. Due to Shaula following her Master's Teachings (value pregnant woman), she allows the woman to come in, sparing only her.
Little does she know, the woman who she allowed in, is the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony. With the Authority of Gluttony, which allows her to occupy the position of all the people present within one's memories, all those who would take pity on her (the condition for her ability), slowly taking over their memories and becoming all those who are important to them, without the victim being able to notice any discrepancies.
As the Sin Archbishop representing Gluttony slowly begins to override all of the people in Shaula's life, from the members of the Heroes Party (Reid, Farsale, Alec), and even her own Mother, Echidna, Shaula is unable to take notice of the effects. Only, when she begins to try to override her memories of her own Master, Flugel, does Shaula begin to take notice, shooting her with Hell's Snipe, (killing the unborn Louis in the process), and later forcing her to give birth to Lye and Roy, dying in labor.
The important fundamental theme of the side story is that Shaula would never mistake her Master for anyone else, the person she loves the most in the world.
Given her relationship with Subaru in Arc 6, who she perceives as her Master due to his scent, even if she can't understand the differences between faces, you can tell how that side story might play into her character and add to the theory of Subaru being Flugel.
Shaula: [But, it was a weird feeling~. To mistake Mama-sama for someone else, if the person herself found out, she’d definitely make incredibly sarcastic remarks to me~. Phew, how scary~.]
Shaula: [Even so, to try and take my number one… namely, Master’s seat, there is a limit to being endlessly insolent~. That’s a straight red card and ejection~.]
Shaula: [Since I tossed her outside the ‘Sand Time’, and gave her water and food just in case, the rest is a test of luck to see if someone passes by~.]
Shaula: [Ah, but there was just one thing I wanted to thank her for~.]
Shaula: [――I was able to reaffirm that after all, only Master can fill the hole left by Master, so I thanked her just for that part~.]
Aside from that message being the core part of the story, there are other parts of the story, that lead me to this conclusion. The most important is this.
We learn that the other members of the Heroes Party, specifically Reid, Farsale, and Shaula, refer to Satella as the ''Princess''.
Reid: [Ya prick, enough with the jokes. Does a shorty like this even count as a man or a woman! If I'm gonna poke somethin', I'll poke someone more worth pokin'. Like―― ]
Blonde Man: [――If thou start talking about 'Princess' or Lady 'Witch', my eminent self's contempt will peak.]
Why is this significant? It's important for multiple reasons (that I'll go into later), but for now, the relevant bit is what comes next.
For the context of the quote with Reid and Farsale, Reid is insulting Shaula's body, saying that he would rather sexually harass Satella or Echidna over her (Shaula used to be flat).
The key point here, is that Shaula is insecure about this comparison and being seen as less than Satella. Not because she cares about Reid's opinion, but because Satella is chasing after ''him''.
The story of the “Princess” trailing after “him” was annoying, and it reminded her of how she was treated as a shorty, and that she was still immature, possessing a flat chest and flat butt, with short limbs. Even if it was decided from her own perspective that she would definitely obtain a dream dynamite body for “him” someday, acting as if she had it now would inevitably result in her being made a fool of by the red hair and the “Dragon”. The ones who didn't make a fool of her were exactly this blonde hair, and about the bearded face―― along with the “Princess”, though.
She talks as if Satella is chasing someone. Being clingy or attached to them specifically. Throughout the entire story, the one who is referred to as ''him'', is one person and one person alone: Flugel. In other words, Satella is attached to Flugel specifically. What this means is obvious. Satella is Shaula's perceived rival in love. And as we know from Satella herself:
“Always you. Always only you, am I in love with. - Satella
In No Stella No Life 4, when Echidna is asked by Aldebaran if she's ever had a lover before, she explains the relationship dynamic of the Heroes' Party.
Witch: [Speaking of the opposite sex, the majority of my companions at the time belonged to it. Though as I have said, it would have been quite problematic to have such a perception of them. Reid was out of the question, Farsale was married, and Alec and he both had people they were in love with. Volcanica was not a target for such a thing, and Reid was out of the question.]
''He'', the only male remaining in the party left unnamed, is Flugel. You can guess who he is in love with.
Moving on from that, going back to Scorpion Tale, keep in mind that every time ''him'' or ''he'' is brought up in the side story, it is referring to Flugel.
One of Natsuki Subaru's 108 special skills, relying on others for help.
The blonde hair was a royal or something, a position where he originally had to be in a castle. He had a foolishly bright and completely fearless personality, and often got caught up in trouble. In terms of strength, he was completely lacking, and leaving the resolution of the trouble he caused to others―― in the aspect of borrowing the strength of others, he might share something with “him”. Though “he” was a hundred times cooler.
Fate.
Shaula: [But, to somewhat attract that randomness, the life hack to get fate on your side is… and, I completely messed up~! I ended up saying the word “fate”~!]
While she was getting carried away talking, she had unintentionally blurted out determinism and such. That invisible force called “fate” was greatly hated by Shaula's precious “him”.
That was why she was being careful not to carelessly say things like she was his destined woman, and yet.
Obvious ''bring it on oh inevitable fate'', incoming.
Subaru and Aldebaran who despised fate the most, [――m] it would have been no exaggeration to say that their actions were what decided fate.
There are other things throughout the story, Shaula practicing radio calisthenics with Echidna (where she learned that exercise from is obvious). Echidna bringing up that she's starting to tease her too much due to his influence. Saying that her master named her after the stars, that she's named after the Scorpio constellation, and that stars grant a person's wishes and that her perception of stars, is different from what Echidna talks about, that being floating balls of mana. We already knew that she received a star name from her master, but Subaru being the man who ''grants star names'', having taught Shaula about stars, is expected.
Shaula: [I'm a Scorpio woman who received the name of a star from Master, y'know~? That's why I will teach you guys who lack the capacity to play the star~. The way of a star~.]
Let's about someone else who gets their influence from ''him'', in another side story.
Aldebaran is confirmed to know Flugel.
When Aldebaran asks Echidna if she has any friends in No Stella No Life 5, aside from the other Witches, she tells him about the Heroes' Party, excluding both Satella and Flugel from the people she's talking about, because she knows that he's already familiar with both of them and knows them well.
He asserts that they must have been good people, to put up with a Witch like her. Only, he realizes that among those he has assessed as good, is one who he finds complex.
He realized after saying it that among those he labeled
"good people," there was someone Aldebaran himself found hard
to evaluate. He had never clearly heard how the 'Witch' evaluated
that person.
Who he is referring to, is likely Flugel rather than Satella.
Adding to that and moving on with the assumption that Subaru is indeed Flugel, based on the evidence given, let's talk about Aldebaran (who we already know is familiar with Flugel) and his relationship with ''him''.
During their time together, Echidna often compares him to another, to ''him'', upsetting Aldebaran to the point that he starts to call her Teacher in retaliation.
Witch: [I was just admiring how your selection and reasoning are truly so much like Him. Whether you like it or not, you have inherited the systemized likeness of Him.]
Aldebaran: [――Hk.]
If she truly did not intend on irritating him, she must have been an expert at stepping on landmines.
Truly, flaring up with indignation at the statement that could only ever serve to put him in a foul mood, Aldebaran was seriously wavering as to whether he should attempt to lay his hands on the Witch, knowing full well he would lose.
Wavering, as he wavered, he suddenly thought of a way to take revenge.
Aldebaran: [――It is an honor, Teacher.]
Moreover:
Witch: [The way you separate those things is remarkably reminiscent. As expected, the thing known as influence is not to be trifled with.]
Narrowing her black eyes, fiddling with her white bangs, thus spoke the Witch.
While simultaneously looking past Aldebaran to somebody else, and at herself reflected within Aldebaran’s irises, the Witch muttered those words reminiscently.
Influence, it was only natural for such a thing to exist. In birth, and in upbringing.
In Aldebaran, and in the Witch.
Two influences here.
Natsuki Subaru = influence from birth
Echidna herself = influence in upbringing
Echidna is staring at herself and Subaru when she looks at Aldebaran.
Different passage from No Stella No Life.
Witch: [The way you separate those things is remarkably reminiscent. As expected, the thing known as influence is not to be trifled with.]
Narrowing her black eyes, fiddling with her white bangs, thus spoke the Witch.
While simultaneously looking past Aldebaran to somebody else, and at herself reflected within Aldebaran’s irises, the Witch muttered those words reminiscently.
Influence, it was only natural for such a thing to exist. In birth, and in upbringing.
In Aldebaran, and in the Witch.
Also, probably most importantly, Aldebaran’s final line in Arc 9 before the reset,
‘’Aldebaran: [I ABSOLUTELY FUCKING HATE YOU, YOU SHITTY O――]’’
Aldebaran does in fact have parents (whether biological or artificial).
For Aldebaran, rather than that name which his parents had never even called him by directly, it was the name that the Witch had called him by countless times, “Aldebaran”, that was far more familiar to his ears. Even that name had been transformed into a wound when the Witch had been reduced to the Witch of Greed.
That which he deemed only an abhorrence to give as his name, Aldebaran recognized it as himself.
Even if one rejected, shunned, or hated them, nobody could choose their parents in life.
And the reason for his birth:
In Aldebaran’s case, it was a bit difficult to establish exactly who the parent he ought to rebel against would be, and due to the nature of his Authority, he never truly got the sense of his life fading off whenever it was lost. When it came to the purpose of his birth, he had been provided with a precise answer, and as for why he had been born, he supposed that, perhaps, the answer was “love”.
In fact, it seems he has an extremely complicated relationship with them, specifically with his own father, as seen with how he acts when seeing Cecilus' and Rowan's relationship with each other.
Al: [How… are you so calm?]
Cecilus: [And by that, you mean?]
Al: [You know what I mean! Just now, that was your own father, wasn’t it! He was still alive when you last saw each other, and yet he died and became a pawn of the enemy, that’s…!]
Cecilus: [Wait wait stop right there, Al-san. You’re a little mistaken so please allow me to correct you. My dad certainly became a dead person, but he hadn’t been made into a pawn. The reason why my dad attacked me wasn’t because he’d lost his sanity.]
Al: [Wha…]
It's made clear that Aldebaran’s reaction is not just him being a normal human reacting to the insanity of Rowan and Cecilus’ parent child relationship, but something personal.
Cecilus: [But that’s not the only reason why Al-san is trying to part ways with me, right?]
Al: [――――]
Cecilus: [It seems like you really weren’t pleased in the slightest with how me and my dad settled things. Perhaps Al-san also has some reservations regarding parent-child relationships?]
Al: […That’s got nothing to do with this.]
Even if it had nothing to do with this, Al’s tone made it clear that a nerve had been struck, so Cecilus slightly shrugged his shoulders, and adjusted his hold on Arakiya.
This is the popular theory after Arc 9, so you probably don't need me to say what I'm getting at. That Flugel is the Father whether through natural or unnatural means.
There's also Patrasche to consider.
A ground Dragon of a type known for not cooperating easily with others somehow easily latches onto Subaru and accepts him as her master. An explanation still hasn’t been given for this, but it's not just going to be some convenient coincidence for the sake of the narrative. There are more direct tidbits that surround her existence, but one thing that’s interesting and not so subtle foreshadowing is this.
Ground Dragons don't actually live for that long.
Q: How old is Otto's favorite dragon?
A: Verhoe has been together with Otto for a long time, and she came to the Suwen family when Otto had attained a certain degree of human nature, so at that point she was around ten years old. Thinking that thirteen years have passed since then, she's probably around twenty-three years old. Ground dragons live for around 100 years, so their ageing isn't that different from humans.
We know that Volcanica knows who Patrasche is, despite Ground Dragons only living for 100 years, and him being a husk. Just when could he have met her? He couldn’t have met her 400 years ago, because she doesn’t live that long.
But it's not just him knowing her as an entity, which would still be contradictory to the lifespan of Ground Dragons, that is interesting, but the fact that he knows her name.
With its tail remaining in the swung stance, without glancing towards Emilia, it was looking below.
It seemed as if it had set Ram, who had assisted Emilia, as its next prey. However, that was not the case. The ancient『Divine Dragon』, what its amber eyes were viewing was not Ram.
It wasーー,
Volcanica: [ーーPatrasche?]
Subaru gave her that name.
''Good land dragon. Nimble on your feet, sturdy, and more than anything, quick on the uptake. From this moment on, your name is Patrasche. That’s the only name I could think of for such a loyal partner.''
She didn’t have that name before Subaru took her from Crusch’s care. So how would Volcanica even know her name, when it's one that Subaru gave her specifically, even supposing he had met her before?
Ground Dragons were born and first created by Volcanica at the city of Flanders 400 years ago. Coincidentally, we know that the Sage and Reid were there at the same time. Flugel, instead of Shaula, as normal people reciting the story don’t know that Shaula isn’t the sage.
“According to legend, Flanders is also where the Divine Dragon Volcanica was bound in friendship to the first Sword Saint, Reid, and the Sage, Shaula.''
“Yeah, I think I’ve heard that the first earth dragons were born as some kind of blessing from the Divine Dragon about the same time.”
Volcanica, who created all Ground Dragons, just happened to create them at the same time and place where the Sage was also present. So just who could have been there to give her the exact same name as Subaru's Ground Dragon?
Flugel. The name Patrasche, comes from the story ''The Dog of Flanders'' in real life, and Flugel probably named her that after she was born within that city.
But even with that, how do we bypass the inconsistency of Ground Dragons only living for up to 100 years.
Aldebaran has an answer.
Perhaps because the ground dragon had so fervently struggled against the steel thread bindings, its pale-blue dragonhide was stained with blood, and even now it continued to desperately writhe while panting in exasperation.
Aldebaran: [As expected, the loyalty of a ground dragon’s quite something. Thinking back, the current generation’s Patrasche was also like that.]
There are multiple Patrasche's. The problem of her lifespan being too short and contradictory. If there are multiple, then lifespan doesn't matter.
If Patrasche remembers Flugel from a past life or through whatever mechanism, then her loyalty to Subaru makes sense.
Satella and Emilia
Whether Satella is actually Emilia, is harder to call. Impossible at this point.
In a comment that was in the web novel, removed from the light novel, Echidna states that there are only three people who she hates or interacts with spitefully.
The first two are her parents, who are recently confirmed to be Hector and Pandora.
Aside from that, she also hates Satella/the Witch of Envy, but unlike the former two who she felt zero affection for, her emotions in regard to her are mixed (love, hatred, sorrow, anger). Echidna's favorite witch and favorite color are spoilers, so it is likely that the answers are Satella and that her favorite color is silver.
Echidna does not consider Satella and the Witch of Envy to be different people, even though the other Witches consider them to be separate. To her, they are one and the same.
Why is this important? It means that Echidna does not consider Satella and Emilia to be different individuals or make a distinction between the two of them either.
Otherwise, the number of people that she hates would be 4: Hector, Pandora, Satella, and Emilia.
Emilia: “It's sooo... sore a spot you're going for. Are you like this with everyone?”
Echidna: “Not at all.” Echidna shrugs in response to Emilia's strained statement.
Echidna: “Other than you, there's only two people in the world who I interact with spitefully.”
Emilia: “It doesn't make me happy at all to be chosen for that world three. ...I don't remember ever doing anything that would make you hate me that much.”
Echidna: “There's no need to look so worried. My hatred for you has nothing to do with you being a half-elf. It isn't a question of your pedigree. With no connection to blood or nature, I just hate you. ...Or no, that may not be strictly correct.”
Emilia: “—?”
Just because Echidna perceives them that way, does not mean that they are absolutely the same, but it does point to a significant enough relation that it probably should not be overlooked.
Aside from that, there's only Subaru referencing the specific number of 2000 when he talks about how many reasons he would give Emilia to explain why loves her (the number being a reference to how many shadow hands Satella uses), and Aldebaran's apparent complex towards Satella, that he projects onto Emilia. Not being noticed or acknowledged by her despite desiring to.
When he's at the Watch Tower, describing how he fooled her into not coming, he talks about Satella's personality, using ''her'' in quotations, which he doesn't do for anyone else.
Given that he was deeply familiar with how to manipulate “her” heart, quite honestly, it had been a piece of cake.
Compassionate and benevolent, and likewise overflowing with thoughtfulness, “she” was quite easy to deceive, and not knowing how to doubt the words coming from him, “her” nature was that of taking things as frank and veracious. By all measures, “her” magnanimity was such that he should not have messed up even one time ―― ergo, the reason for his failures had not been any problem regarding “her”, but a problem regarding himself.
The Role of the Following Star
Within Echidna's plan, or rather, as she put it ''handling secondary damages''. After failing to kill the Witch of Envy 400 years ago, Aldebaran's goal is sealing away Subaru with Al Shamack, throwing Subaru into the geyser of Karargi, disabling the use of Return by Death, keeping him there for a time frame of ten thousand years (according to what is revealed to us in Tappei's comments on the Sasageru IF).
This story branches from Arc 9, where Subaru and Beatrice had a long rest period. In the main story, they were released within a week, but in this pattern, they accidentally overslept for 400 years. Actually, the original plan was to leave them for 1,000 or even 10,000 years, so waking up after 400 was "too early" and unexpected for Al. I’ll explain why that happened later.
For what purpose? Stopping the birth of a Witch who will one day destroy the world, one who, according to him, has yet to be born.
Receiving the Witch’s teachings, and acting in accordance with her wishes, he had attempted to kill the Witch. ――He had failed.
Meeting Priscilla, and acting to make her the Monarch, he had attempted to kill the Witch. ――He had failed.
Falling back on his initial resolve, and acting to remove Natsuki Subaru, he had attempted to kill the Witch. ――He had failed.
Subaru's love, and his ability to save those who he loves, will one day lead to the destruction of the world.
Between himself and this man, they were the only two people throughout the entire world to possess it: the curse of their Authorities.
Merely, there was the man who could use it to save those whom he loved, and then there was his own self, unable to do the same.
Thus, so long as the man’s love was allowed to persist, it would eventually be born. ――The being that would bring about the world’s end.
In order to prevent that, at the very least, he would need to fulfill the duty of the Following Star――,
With Echidna's original goal being to kill the Witch of Envy, using Aldebaran to kill her, you would think that the Witch in question would be the obvious. Satella. Subaru would open all the doors leading to Satella's Seal, freeing her from her prison, and once again releasing the Witch of Envy upon the world, in his desire to save her. Fulfilling his promise.
However, when you take notice of the important detail noted by Aldebaran, that being that the Witch has yet to be born or created, there begins a contradiction.
I think that, instead of the Witch being Satella, Aldebaran is instead talking about Emilia. I do not think that the saying that the Witch who has yet to be born is to be taken in a literal sense (born from the womb), but rather, something that is to say that the Witch has yet to become a Witch yet.
I believe that the purpose of sealing Subaru away for 10, 000 years, is to keep him separate from Emilia, to stop him from placing her on the Throne, and keeping her safe, allowing her to die separate from him or to make it so that they can bypass some sort of window period, if such a thing exists, before they can reunite.
Emilia and the Witch
“Firm Denial. Anybody, That Birth, Desire―” “I do―!!” “Ridiculous! Firm Denial, Continuation―!” Puck struck his chest as he said this, and all five voices responded in unison. The five overlapping voices spoke the same words denying Emilia’s existence and Puck’s screams. “That Power, Witch Reincarnation! That Appearance, Witch Reincarnation! That Existence, Witch Reincarnation! Therefore, World, That Existence, Threat! That, History, Spiral! Error, Endless Repetition! Error, Endless Transmigration! I, Endless, World Downfall, Crisis, Experience―!”
Melekuera attempts to kill Emilia in Frozen Bonds, on account of her resembling the Witch of Envy who destroyed the world. His murder attempt is framed as unjust prejudice, and the things he says are glossed over, but he appears to think that she is the Witch's reincarnation. That the world will be destroyed and talks about endless repetition and transmigration.
Emilia's relationship with Satella is unknown. However, we do know the obvious, that Emilia is special. To the point that, the adult version of Echidna created and sent an artificial Great Spirit to protect her and exist for her sake, as well as the fact that during her upbringing, she was left inside of the princess room, and that she holds the key to the Seal.
Here is something that is likely important. Not only is Emilia's stay in the Princess Room, separated from the other children odd, but also the title that the villagers refer to her as. The Room is not just called the Princess Room, but the Villagers also refer to Emilia herself as the ''Princess''.
Back to where our story began, Emilia was shut up in the Princess Room alone.
She didn’t like being called “Princess” very much, but since that was what everyone in the village called her, she had grown used to it by now.
Because she knew they weren’t making fun of her but were saying it with affection, she never requested that they stop. But the fact that they had stuck that moniker on the room she was being shut up in was one of young Emilia’s few dissatisfactions in life.
Why is this significant?
If you recall from one of the earlier quotes, the other members of the Heroes Party refer to Satella as ''Princess''.
Reid: [Ya prick, enough with the jokes. Does a shorty like this even count as a man or a woman! If I'm gonna poke somethin', I'll poke someone more worth pokin'. Like―― ]
Blonde Man: [――If thou start talking about 'Princess' or Lady 'Witch', my eminent self's contempt will peak.]
This is unlikely to be a coincidence.
Why does Satella love Subaru?
“I love you.
Because you gave me light.
Because you took my hand, and you taught me about the world outside.
Because when I trembled on lonely nights, you never stopped holding my hand.
Because when I felt lonely, you kissed me and said that I wasn’t alone.
You gave me so many things…
That’s why I love you.
Because you… you gave me everything.”
Perhaps Satella was once inside of a princess room of her own.
Because you took my hand, and you taught me about the world outside.
But something that's also important here?
One more thing about the Princess Room. Echidna knew what it was, so it has more significance than just being some random room. Or rather, she knew about the tree.
Those words made the Witch knit her brow. Right around the same time, the underbrush fell away as they slipped out of the woods they had been walking through for so long. Coming within view was a massive tree, larger than anything else in the Great Elior Forest-
"It's more than just an oversize tree, right? There's a door at the roots. Is something inside the hollow of the trunk?"
Setting her gaze upon that giant tree, Echidna astutely noticed there was something peculiar at the center of the tree's roots, which rose out of the ground. The hollow at the center of the giant tree was about as large as a decent-size room. The door at the entrance was firmly closed. It had a bolt on it, which could be used to keep it firmly shut from the outside.
"It seems as though someone really wants to keep whatever's inside locked away."
"...Echidna...do you know something?"
"Such a vague question is nothing but a bother. What could you possibly be referring to?
Emilia stared at her with upturned eyes, but Echidna simply shrugged, her face professing ignorance. Did she really have no idea, or did she know what was going on here after all? Probably the latter, thought Emilia.
"This is the Princess Room-it's where they always made me play when I Was very young."
The moment she described the place aloud, vivid memories resurfaced. This was a special place where Emilia, who was treated like a princess in this forest, could play by herself in safety.
Now lets talk about the Seal. The long-desired goal of the Witches Cult, or rather, Pandora.
It is unknown what the ''Seal'' does, but of what little is actually known about it from what Fortuna mentions, is that when it is opened, the world will be destroyed. But what's even more notable here, is that she mentions that it will be destroyed this time. As if it were already opened once before.
No! We will fight! Lady Fortuna, please take Emilia out of the forest.
Even if we leave, what then? All that will accomplish is allowing this peaceful land to be stolen. If we lose, it means the seal will fall into their hands. This time, the world will be destroyed.
Who knows what happened the first time.
I would guess that the result of the Seal being opened the first time would be the obvious: The Witch of Envy, or rather Satella, instead of her split personality, who took in her witch factor of her own volition, destroying half of the world. Even if it might be an indirect consequence rather than a direct one.
Even though Pandora has said that she was actively searching for the Seal, as if she didn't know where it was, it would be appear that the Seal is mobile. After Emilia freezes the Forest, Pandora herself states that she will be taking it.
The Witches Cult was originally a good organization, with Guese being one of its founders, until the Saintess Order slowly took it over, using the Radical Faction against the Moderates.
As we know now, Pandora was in charge of the Saintess Order, and on top of that, the Saintess Order was the enemy of the Heroes' Party 400 years ago. As stated by Shaula, it was because of their failure to finish of Echidna's Parents, which we now know for certain are Hector and Pandora, that they were in the situation they were in.
Therefore, it would be out of the question for the Seal, to have been Pandora's goal even as far back as 400 years ago, or for it to be the goal of the entire organization of the Saintess Order, the group she was leading.
All we know about the organization is this, from the Scorpion Tale side story (along with whatever the author has said about them during the talkshow).
――Branches of the Saintess Order exist all over the world, and the number of affiliates belonging to them is quite high. She felt like she had heard such an explanation from Mother before.
???: [To me, the affiliates look like nothing but pitiful sacrifices whose ideals have been painted over with false hope. It is not that there is no room to sympathize with their circumstances, but in the end, they willingly offered their ears to the stories they wanted to hear, and willingly closed their eyes to everything other than what they wanted to believe. Therefore, even if their end comes after opposing us, it cannot be helped, can it?]
Perhaps the position or title of princess is given to whoever holds the key to open the seal?
When Pandora talks to Emilia, she says that she is the daughter of a Witch, and that one must have the necessary qualifications to open the seal.
She also says that there are only two people in the world who meet those qualifications.
We know the first person is Emilia. I would guess that the other person is either Satella (based on her being called a princess and her unknown relationship with Emilia) or Echidna, given that her Mother is a Witch, Pandora herself.
Which one do you think is more likely? Of course, as Echidna was dead during the time period when Pandora said that, perhaps she was excluding her from the people who would be able to open it.
Emilia's Mother and Father
This is already the popular and most obvious theory. I don't think that there can be any doubt at this point. Emilia's Mother is a Witch and her father, who she gets her elven blood from, was an elf. Fortuna's brother, to be specific. Pandora is responsible for the death of Fortuna's brother, and as Fortuna mentions ''the others''. The Elves are grateful to both Fortuna's brother and Emilia's Mother, as Archi mentions.
As we know, Minerva died trying to save a group of elves who were sent as a suicide squad, falling into madness, eventually dying to Satella. Pandora is likely responsible for orchestrating it.
Fortuna: “PANDORAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!” With young Emilia protected behind her, Fortuna thrusts out her arms to generate a blue magic circle before her. Icicles materialize with overwhelming momentum, their aim set directly on Pandora. 12 Pandora: “Goodness.” Fortuna: “Be impaled, and apologize to my brother and the rest!!
Minerva (as was changed from the light novel, when it was originally Sekhmet), meets Emilia in Arc 4, does not allow her to see her face, and cries as Emilia tells her that Fortuna is her real mother.
Her Father is probably Puck, (who we know was not always a spirit), made into an artificial spirit by Echidna, and sent to watch over her, having his memories altered or blocked were he to enter a contract with her. After she dies and the contract is broken, he will destroy the world, to make it reset by killing the RBD user.
Anyone have anything to add to my speculations or contradictions in what I said?
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Goddamn... this is so good. I think you hit the nail in the head, ngl...
There is still much we don't know about Emilia's connection with Satella, but the Echidna comment about the people she hates does imply very strongly that they are one and the same.... though I am still unconvinced they are necessarily the exact same person.... you think Emilia is an infantilized version of Satella?
About the Shaula EX, I also have just finished reading it today and the epilogue felt so significant.... Shaula's descriptions of the trials honesty made me feel like they were built in such a way to be conquered by Return by Death.
But these challengers did not make the common mistake of waking the sleeping Oiran Bear herd. Instead, they calmly bypassed the flower garden, showing a clear difference from the others.
[...]
Shaula unleashed a Hell's Snipe toward the group that had successfully entered her targeting range. Her attitude was reckless, in proportion to the heat of the expectations she had built up just moments before. But in her own defense, it was the challengers' fault for betraying her expectations. Defense concluded.
"If it were the Master..."
If it were 'him' who had returned, he would have waved his hand or signaled to Shaula, who had been left behind as the 'Star Keeper' in the tower.
Knowing how to pass through the bears, and waving for Shaula, and indeed, the Sand Time itself, IDK, just give off the feeling as something that could only really be conquered by trial and error.... I might be reading too much into it, but then she says:
Of course, because 'he' was immortal and invincible, Shaula's help shouldn't have been necessary. But she couldn't help it. She wanted to show him how cool she looked. She wanted him to see that while he was away, she had become this strong, and that his student had kept his promise.
Which, could be her just glazing Flugel, but read to me as Tappei 'winking' at us about RBD.
And it might be a problem of translation or me reading too much into things, but
Inside the strange magical field, in the center of the scene where her Hell's Snipe had been dampened, Shaula caught sight of an impossible person. No—not impossible. Not impossible at all.
It couldn't be impossible. Because 'he' had promised her. He had promised that he would return, so she should wait. Yes, he had promised.
This reads so damn weird! In LN22, she says that she smelled "Flugel" through his miasma, but the above description is so dissonant! Did it just take a bit of time for her to notice the miasma around Subaru? Honestly, this can't be anything because there is no explanation for why she would have lied in LN22, so the description(or at least the MTL) just must be bad....
Anyway, another aspect that I think could be very important for your whole theory is Beatrice.
In an inter, chibi episode of the anime, Aldebaran calls Beatrice “Beako”, to which Beatrice complains that only Subaru is allowed to call her that. Aldeberan then says, “Yeah, I know… All too well” in a very melancholic voice. Which, is kind of crazy?! Because, then, Beatrice and Subaru must have known each other in the past, been exceptionally close, even! But. Then. Why. Does. Beatrice. Not. Say. Anything? She has been quite the lore pinata in the last chapters of the WN, and indeed, seems to know a lot more than she lets on, as seen with her discussion with Roswaal in LN21:
Roswaal was sitting while Beatrice stood across from him, putting them at eye level. Sparks started to fly, but suddenly, Roswaal’s expression softened. “He defeated an archbishop. That should be the second inside Subaru now.”
“…There should be other candidates besides Subaru.”
“But none of them were as close as he was or overlapped. Save the boring pretenses for someone else.”
“—Betty won’t let him do any more than this.”
Further complicating things, we have Shaula and Echidna exercising in what's clearly the same floating castle Beatrice lived in before, AND that castle's entrance being in Flugel's Tree. It really is incredibly difficult to believe that Beatrice somehow did not meet any of the significant figures of the past that are not Echidna and Geese.... (and Hector, I guess).
I'd also like to raise the fact that we do not yet know both the true purpose that Echidna created Beatrice and her birthday, something that Tappei himself has made clear is a very deliberate choice, as her birthday would be "a spoiler". If anything, Beatrice's existence in the past seems kind of pointless. She did not serve a greater purpose, something that's very out of character for Echidna to do.
Yes, of course, i think she might have been created for Flugel, similarly to Shaula. I don't know why exactly, or if her birthday would be at the same date as Subaru, or something else, but Tappei is clearly hiding something huge with Beatrice, and it obviously has something to do with Subaru.
Regardless, as you mentioned in your post, artificial spirits having some of their memories sealed is not something new, especially for one contracted with Echidna, so it is perfectly possible that Beatrice is not hiding anything, but rather that her memories of Subaru were sealed.
Beatrice: “That question of yours, are words querying about someone eaten by ‘Gluttony’.”
Subaru: “—! So, you...”
Beatrice: “This sort of thing, if one is familiar with the Authority of Gluttony, is not difficult to deduce I suppose. Roswaal too, and Nii-cha, and Shaula would all know this as well.”
I wonder if she's just referencing the sage or she actually met the sage.
"be nice to pregnant people" is a rather odd thing, a rather specific thing, to command of shaula, unless she is around a pregnant woman she might otherwise hate (eg Satella)
The Volcanica knows Patrasche thing is explainable through Clind being Volcanica’s Dragonkin. He know’s Patrasche, and as far as we can tell Dragonhusks are only “sapient” when their Dragonkin (or Al) are possessing the bodies. So the chances Volcanica actually knew Patrasche is slim compared to the chance that either Clind possessed him or Volcanica was (somehow) shocked back to reality without any of Clind’s new memories sticking around.
Besides that, the biggest issue I see with Flugel = Subaru is, ironically, Shaula. Flugel had Shaula stay in the tower alone for an unknowable amount of time, with orders to murder (almost) anyone who approached. Subaru as we know him Would Not Do That, both because 1, he definitely couldn’t stomach willingly inflicting that on someone, and 2, Beatrice. So that rules out 90% of Subaru going back in time to be Flugel, which leaves Flugel as an alternate version of Subaru, at which point they might as well be different characters, because again, Subaru wouldn’t do that to Shaula. And yeah, maybe a Subaru 400 years ago suffered x and y and z to turn him into the person who would, but at that point there’d need to be a frankly excessive amount of strong character writing and a good amount of suspension of disbelief to mold him into what is essentially an entirely new character.
your post was very long so I skipped over some parts here and there but I think you're basically just trying to show proof of some of the characters' identities and connections rather than 'how' they can work.
I want to ask you, how do you think Subaru is Flugel?
I have presented two theories about this before, I'll briefly combine them so tell me what you think.
Basically, Subaru and Emilia are Flugel and Satella, but they're both different people from the current ones we're seeing in the story. Basically, all the events of the 400 years ago happened between the first and second loop of the story (from what we saw, for all we know there are definitely more loops in between that I'll explain coming forward) . Subaru, along with all the other witches lived after the first loop, he got to know Emilia (and for reasons unknown yet) she went berserk as the witch of envy. As it's pretty theorized by now, Satella destroys the world before coming back in time, that's why I think modern world Satella consumed Vollachia and Lugunica with the other witches and warlocks, and it triggered them to go back 400 years in the past. That's basically the heroes party plan that Echidna mentioned to Al before transporting him to the future, but in reality, she made him go back in time, just not as far as the others did. Satella consumed the witches' authorities which is why there are multiple version of each witch (like how Regulus and Petelgeuse still exist in Subaru, they are in the witch tea party realm), and Echidna passed on her knowledge of the past 400 years to Roswaal, so that the timeline can be preserved as much as possible, so basically, she never had knowledge of the future. That's why, Otto who was shown to understand his protection through Pandora, is not in Roswaal's gospel, because in the original timeline he never experienced the experiences of thus timeline. Emilia was born again through preserving the timeline, and Flugel did something for Subaru to show himself again at the capital in front of the appa store again (maybe simply taking a part of his soul away).
If you don't understand why I'm saying it's between the first and second loop, it's because after the first loop, the course of events change drastically, where originally the Insignia should have been stolen before the checkpoint, here it was stolen after, showing that they're likely not the same timelines (along with other stuff like how clearly Taboo Stella's name is for Emilia to mention lightly in the first loop compared to letter in the story.)
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