[CrimsonMoonMist]

That's quite interesting.
So the way the witches utilized the Battler piece by making him smarter was rather, coupled with the 'a piece can't do anything the person isn't capable of' statement, a hint towards the previous writers dumbing down Battler rather than the witches hightening his skills.

Maybe something like Tohya not remembering himself too well by the beginning and getting a clearer picture of Battler as their forgeries went on.

It makes a interesting addition to the Ikuko=Yasu theory as well
since of course Yasu'd characterize Battler like he was before his 6-year long abscence
and that'd keep fueling Battler's characterization after Yasu's EP1-2
through her Ikuko identity when Tohya himself was not certain of it.

I always just thought that being within a tragedy is a completely different thing than reading about a fictional one for intellectual exercise
and that's why he acted the way he did, and the change in EP5 was a mixture between no tragedy having occured yet and him working off Erika,
but this sounds quite a lot more interesting.