[Game] Umineko - Spoilers, Theories, Interpretations

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Ssol

Battler is the only person left on the island and Beatrice killed him so that implies that Beatrice is not a person.

That red is... one of the things that I think was just done for effect and won't ever be answered, actually.

"Beatrice is a landslide" is still the stupidest theory I've ever heard... not that lye is any better.

Originally Posted by Ssol

There's no confirmation either way, but in the anime it's pretty clear that Battler is not there.

How is Bern talking to the readers/viewers? That makes no sense in-story. Lambda talks to the screen in Ep2 as well, but it's clear there that she's talking to Battler.

Again, where were you going with this?

Originally Posted by Ssol

It's possible that he visited some 1998 worlds but we were never shown this...

Actually, I watched the translated video of that scene on YouTube... there's a still frame that flashes by with Sakutaro and the Stakes, so yes, he did visit 1998.

But that's not my point. Are you suggesting that we discredit the 1998 world entirely?

Originally Posted by Ssol

I guess you can argue that she was talking about the sin not being between meta-Battler and meta-Beatrice but that makes it kind of pointless in my opinion.

Battler 1: Asumu's son
Battler 2: Our Battler, the Meta-Battler, Unknown's son

Beatrice 1: Kinzo's Beatrice, probably looked like Virgilia, supposedly died before 1952
Beatrice 2: The Beatrice who lived in Kuwadorian, died in 1967
Beatrice 3: The Beatrice currently on Rokkenjima

And heck, why not:

Beatrice 4: Meta-Beatrice, who may be a combination of the three Beatrices above, also might be a natural disaster of some kind

Which Battler and Beatrice is the sin not between again? Red truth should NEVER be taken at face value, and I think at that point she was trying to obfuscate matters...

[Ithekro]

Paranoia is setting in again on the red.

[Kamar]

I've always just figured the loophole there is that it wasn't Beatrice he sinned against, but whoever is acting as Beatrice.

[luckyssol]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

That red is... one of the things that I think was just done for effect and won't ever be answered, actually.

"Beatrice is a landslide" is still the stupidest theory I've ever heard... not that lye is any better.

Many people have tried to come up with theories to explain this. Are you saying it will never be answered?

There's got to be an answer that involves "Beatrice" being something that can destroy corpses and kill Battler. But whatever it is it can be survived since Eva did in episode 3.

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

How is Bern talking to the readers/viewers? That makes no sense in-story. Lambda talks to the screen in Ep2 as well, but it's clear there that she's talking to Battler.

Again, where were you going with this?

Why do all the meta-world scenes show Battler when they are talking to Battler but not those scenes? I think there is a larger reason for this other than "they just didn't show his sprite".

Where am I going with this? What rule says I have to write everything related to the post I'm replying to? I think rogerpepitone has good theories and I just wanted to know what he thought. If you don't like it then don't reply.

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

Actually, I watched the translated video of that scene on YouTube... there's a still frame that flashes by with Sakutaro and the Stakes, so yes, he did visit 1998.

But that's not my point. Are you suggesting that we discredit the 1998 world entirely?

I must have missed that screen. That's really strange since Beatrice never showed him that world.

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

Battler 1: Asumu's son
Battler 2: Our Battler, the Meta-Battler, Unknown's son

Beatrice 1: Kinzo's Beatrice, probably looked like Virgilia, supposedly died before 1952
Beatrice 2: The Beatrice who lived in Kuwadorian, died in 1967
Beatrice 3: The Beatrice currently on Rokkenjima

And heck, why not:

Beatrice 4: Meta-Beatrice, who may be a combination of the three Beatrices above, also might be a natural disaster of some kind

Which Battler and Beatrice is the sin not between again? Red truth should NEVER be taken at face value, and I think at that point she was trying to obfuscate matters...

I see your point. The line where she says the sin is not between Beatrice and Battler is meaningless since she could be referring to a number of different Battlers and Beatrices. That really helps us solve the mystery.

My guess is that it refers to Battler on the game board and the human Beatrice when she was alive. If that's the case then the sin could be between Battler and someone who is pretending to be Beatrice.

So rogerpepitone's theory on Shannon works even if she is also pretending to be Beatrice. That's what you are trying to say right?

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by Ssol

Battler is the only person left on the island and Beatrice killed him so that implies that Beatrice is not a person.

I wouldn't be so sure, I think there are still some paths opened.

For example the usual "Trap X" theory might explain this trick. But it could be something even more convoluted. There are many ways to interpret the word "kill", some of the accepted definitions include causing the death of someone even if indirectly.

For example if you know there is some danger and you don't warn someone of that danger, you might be considered a murderer. Even worse if you told the person in question to go to that danger. In "and then there were none" there is a similar case described.

So now let's imagine that the natural catastrophe is true, and let's imagine that Beatrice knows it is bound to happen. The red truth could be valid in that she knew that by saying nothing everyone would die, and by not saying anything she "Killed" them all.

[chronotrig]

I doubt Battler saw any new 1998 worlds in EP5, but we know that he did see what we saw of 1998 in EP4. As Ange was disintegrating, she apparently passed her memories of that 1998 world on to Battler. So it's possible to explain away all the 1998 scenes as "something Battler thinks he saw through Ange's memories".

This means it's possible they were all fake, just a ploy by Beato, Bern, or Lambda. But even if they are real, there's no guarantee that they come from post-EP3.

[LyricalAura]

Geekodot's theory got me thinking about the first twilight of Episode 3 again. TL;DR version: at least one servant didn't die until after 6:25am, and the chain was only supposed to have five rooms.

Spoiler for Chain construction and time of death:

Previously I was thinking that since the doors to the courtyard don't have locks, that meant that the boiler room's rear exit also didn't have one, so the culprit could have used that to help set up the locked room chain. But in retrospect, that doesn't actually make sense. In Episode 1, Genji said that the doors leading from the courtyard didn't have locks, but he also said that since the boiler room is normally kept locked, the culprit must have a master key. If the rear door to the boiler room didn't have a lock, then the culprit could just have walked in from the courtyard and the key would be meaningless. Unless Genji contradicted himself, that door must have a lock. And all of the keys to the six rooms in the Episode 3 closed room chain were locked up inside those rooms. That means all of the doors were locked, including both of the boiler room doors.

Because of that, since no one was hiding in the closed rooms, the chain could not possibly have been set up unless at least one servant locked themselves inside their room and was still alive at the time that the room was unlocked in the morning. Beato declared that all of the victims were dead in red, but she didn't do that until after the mansion search party had already returned to the guesthouse at 7am. Since they started opening rooms at 6:25, there was a window of over half an hour for someone to actually kill the victims after the chain was breached. If we suppose that the servants deliberately set up the chain on their own, then the culprit didn't have to move any bodies or even figure out where the victims were. They just had to follow the search party around and kill anyone who wasn't already dead after the searchers left.

Kyrie or Rosa could have done this, since they separated from the search party before any of the rooms were opened. Alternately, one of the people in the search party could have lagged behind to "examine the scene more closely."

Spoiler for Who burned Kinzo, and oddities:

The order of rooms being opened was:
1. Parlor (Shannon)
2. 2nd Floor Honored Guest Room (Genji)
3. 3rd Floor Waiting Room (Gohda)
4. 2nd Floor Guest Room (Kumasawa)
5. Boiler Room (Kinzo, letter)
6. Chapel (Kanon)

The chain has some weird things about it though. First, unlike the other five rooms, the chapel isn't inside the mansion, so the siblings would be unlikely to stumble upon it. Why go all the way out there instead of using the dining room or something? It's possible that a distant room was used for a reason.

Second, Kinzo's corpse. Even if the servants are putting on some kind of act as a distraction, it's absolutely a bad thing for Natsuhi to have that corpse turn up. Since the siblings already suspect that Kinzo is dead, it wouldn't be possible to explain that away later in a way that they would believe. Also, since Gohda was apparently involved in the chain setup, having Kinzo there would potentially mean telling him about Kinzo's death. Perhaps we should suspect that Kinzo wasn't supposed to be part of the chain, but one of the servants betrayed Natsuhi and added it in?

Third, I argued a couple pages back that it was strange to have a letter from Beatrice in the boiler room, since the parlor was the obvious entry point for the search party. You'd normally expect the letter to be in the first room or the last room in the chain, which would be either the parlor or the chapel respectively, but the boiler room is the fifth in the chain starting from the parlor.

So what I'm thinking is that one of the "victims" tampered with the sequence of rooms in the chain by burning Kinzo and inserting an extra room. Either Kumasawa inserted the boiler room and letter, or Kanon inserted the chapel.

Assuming each of the "victims" had their own master key and the key to the next room in the original chain, it's actually very easy to insert a new room after the one they were originally assigned to. For instance, if the boiler room was inserted, then Kumasawa was assigned to the second floor guestroom and had the key to the chapel. She can lock that key inside the boiler room with her master key, then get the boiler room key from the keybox in the servants' room and lock herself inside the second floor guestroom. If the chapel was inserted, then Kanon had the parlor key and was assigned to the boiler room, so he can do something similar.

As for which of them actually did it, Kanon has a massive grudge against Natsuhi and may be dissatisfied with his job. The chapel is useful for him because it ensures that he won't be found until last, meaning there won't be any warning to the other servants that something is wrong. On the other hand, Kumasawa is one of the prime suspects for the knock in Episode 5, which would give her access to the head's ring she'd need to write the letter from Beatrice. She was also shown as being outside during the magic scene after midnight.

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by chronotrig

But even if they are real, there's no guarantee that they come from post-EP3.

Again, I really think this is overthinking the issue.

If we're being misled... WHY are we being misled? What would the point be?

Furthermore... there were only three games up until that point. Only one of which Eva survived. So...

Yes, I know, kakera, but I don't buy that there are a multitude of games going on in separate universes at the same time. It just seems kinda... counter-intuitive to what we've been shown, you know?

The "hundreds of possibilities" thing worked in Higurashi because of the sheer number of times the game had gone on... but with the way Umineko numbers its games, I'm pretty sure there only have been 5 up to this point.

Originally Posted by Ssol

Why do all the meta-world scenes show Battler when they are talking to Battler but not those scenes? I think there is a larger reason for this other than "they just didn't show his sprite".

No, please, go on. I want to hear this. What larger reason?

Really, the only person they can be talking to is Battler. Who says everything has to have a larger purpose?

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

The "hundreds of possibilities" thing worked in Higurashi because of the sheer number of times the game had gone on... but with the way Umineko numbers its games, I'm pretty sure there only have been 5 up to this point.

I personally don't think "kakera" and "games" are the same thing. Beatrice creates games and numbers them with a precise order. However Bernkastel mentions the existence of many different kakera. Bernkastel do not create kakera which means they already exist. The existence of kakera unrelated to Beatrice's games is confirmed in the Ep4 secret tea party.

Also in Ep5 Bernkastel says she know the solution of the epitaph because she has seen it browsing through kakera until she has found one where the solution is exposed. I guess it could be argued she has simply seen Ep3, but when Battler himself goes to see it, there are parts that are not available and the only thing Battler could see was the same thing we have seen in Ep3. I don't really get how Bernkastel could find the solution simply with that, and since we know the sea of Kakera Battler is found in is very vast, I assume Bernkastel found a Kakera where the epitaph's solution was clearer

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

I personally don't think "kakera" and "games" are the same thing. Beatrice creates games and numbers them with a precise order. However Bernkastel mentions the existence of many different kakera. Bernkastel do not create kakera which means they already exist. The existence of kakera unrelated to Beatrice's games is confirmed in the Ep4 secret tea party.

No, I'm well aware of that.

What I mean is that I don't think Beato's games occur in any kakera other than the ones we're shown.

[Jan-Poo]

Ah I totally agree with that. There's only been 5 games so far. Also I don't think Battler can see or know anything that isn't part of those games. However I think Bern can.

It is still a mystery how Battler can know what the Ange of 1998 knows, but I guess Chronotrig's idea makes sense.

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Ah I totally agree with that. There's only been 5 games so far.

Therefore, how can the 1998 universe be the result of any game but Ep3? Is what I'm getting at.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

It is still a mystery how Battler can know what the Ange of 1998 knows, but I guess Chronotrig's idea makes sense.

I think that spiritual journey thing he had kind of gave him the answer, in a way... maybe it just put all the pieces in order for him, so he could finally see the truth...

[chronotrig]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

Again, I really think this is overthinking the issue.

If we're being misled... WHY are we being misled? What would the point be?

Furthermore... there were only three games up until that point. Only one of which Eva survived. So...

My point here is that maybe we are not the ones being mislead. Battler was shown these scenes, so if you turn it around, you can argue that these scenes were created solely for Battler's benefit. That doesn't mean they're not true, but it might mean they're biased in some way or another.

What I mean is that I don't think Beato's games occur in any kakera other than the ones we're shown.

It's a bit unfair to say this, since I haven't posted my gold text theory in a coherent way yet, but according to that theory, each game is actually a collection of Kakera. Also according to that, not a single game has been "completed" because we've never seen a coherent explanation for events. "Magic" means "lies". We have never been shown a "truth" that doesn't violate red text and doesn't rely on magic.

This means there doesn't exist a future for any of the games, though certain kakera that represent possibilities within a game might exist. So saying "Ange's 1998 is from the world of EP3" doesn't make sense. At best, it's the result of a single possible world that could have been part of EP3.

Hopefully that made some sense

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by chronotrig

My point here is that maybe we are not the ones being mislead. Battler was shown these scenes, so if you turn it around, you can argue that these scenes were created solely for Battler's benefit. That doesn't mean they're not true, but it might mean they're biased in some way or another.

Except that the magic scenes in the 1998 world are very obviously in Ange's head, awesome as they are.

So what would be the point of showing them to him...? Unless, of course, they're very, very crucial to solving the mystery.

...Did I ever post my CRACKish idea that Kasumi might actually be Asumu?

Originally Posted by chronotrig

It's a bit unfair to say this, since I haven't posted my gold text theory in a coherent way yet, but according to that theory, each game is actually a collection of Kakera. Also according to that, not a single game has been "completed" because we've never seen a coherent explanation for events. "Magic" means "lies". We have never been shown a "truth" that doesn't violate red text and doesn't rely on magic.

This means there doesn't exist a future for any of the games, though certain kakera that represent possibilities within a game might exist. So saying "Ange's 1998 is from the world of EP3" doesn't make sense. At best, it's the result of a single possible world that could have been part of EP3.

Hopefully that made some sense

Actually, it did. I see where you're coming from, now.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

Therefore, how can the 1998 universe be the result of any game but Ep3? Is what I'm getting at.

Well according to my perspective it can't be any other way ^^;
The games are created by Beatrice, I don't have enough informations to determine how exactly this work, but Beatrice's games aren't real. With this I mean they aren't totally real, but it's unclear how much real they can be. The magic scenes are obviously false at least in the real world, and actually we know that the false things are not limited to those, see for example Kinzo telling Natsuhi that the one-winged eagle is engraved in her heart.
It is my belief that Beatrice can manipulate the games at will, not just magic scenes. She's bound to some rules she made herself but if she can show giant cakes falling from the sky she can show anything she wants. This is what games are. They might have a real world source but the finished package is nothing but Beatrice's creation.

However, regardless of Beatrice's games the real world exist, and within it an infinite number of Kakera exists. The Rokkenjima incident really happened and it happens regardless of Beatrice's games. There are infinite kakera each one with a different outcome of the Rokkenjima incident and all of them exist even if Beatrice is not using them.

[Neofio3]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Well according to my perspective it can't be any other way ^^;
The games are created by Beatrice, I don't have enough informations to determine how exactly this work, but Beatrice's games aren't real. With this I mean they aren't totally real, but it's unclear how much real they can be. The magic scenes are obviously false at least in the real world, and actually we know that the false things are not limited to those, see for example Kinzo telling Natsuhi that the one-winged eagle is engraved in her heart.
It is my belief that Beatrice can manipulate the games at will, not just magic scenes. She's bound to some rules she made herself but if she can show giant cakes falling from the sky she can show anything she wants. This is what games are. They might have a real world source but the finished package is nothing but Beatrice's creation.

However, regardless of Beatrice's games the real world exist, and within it an infinite number of Kakera exists. The Rokkenjima incident really happened and it happens regardless of Beatrice's games. There are infinite kakera each one with a different outcome of the Rokkenjima incident and all of them exist even if Beatrice is not using them.

Essentially, as I see it, Umineko places You, the viewer, in the position of detective. So far, our proxy body within the game is piece Battler, while meta-battler is a personification of our theorycrafting. What piece Battler sees is our hard evidence. The gun here, the body placed in this position, the soy sauce left in the fridge... By definition, the detective cannot know anything than the hard evidence.

The entire game (not just Beatrice) acts as our "witnesses". For witnesses, the detective asks them questions, and they, in turn, provide him with their version of events. Said witnesses may be completely trustworthy. They may have ulterior motives. They may be delusional. They may be the culprits themselves. The detective, being non-omniscient, cannot actually know if what they say is true. The detective, in fact, should start out with the assumption that witnesses are not trustworthy, and only with collaboration with hard evidence (piece Battler's observations), can their truth be determined to be genuine. Seen in this light, the Red Truth acts as a crutch, "training wheels", because we're not quite up to stuff as detectives ourselves, or we lack the evidence required. The Red Truth is simply laziness in the part of the detective, where a truth is simply "magicked" into being, just because.

[Ithekro]

It is starting to sound like semantic in wording here about 1998 and Game 3.

It is a future based on the events of Game 3's universe. It may or may not be the future of Game 3, but it is the events that needed to be seen for some reason. Otherwise there would be no point in showing us or Battler any of it. Even to confuse us would be wasted since we were already confused.

As for Bern...troll that she is, she's honest about her trolling (scary as that is). We'll have to see what Game 6 brings to the table, but I'm under the impression that Bern's motives are to keep Battler motivated to win the game absolutely in order to end it. Much like another potential Bern once cheated to get out of a game by placing all her pawns on Lambda's side of the field, thus having nine queens in rapid turns...or checkmate in short order. (time travel to the future happens there too...but to 1985 if I recall...to get the future to remember so the past remembers too....weird).

So I not quite done thinking Bern's on our side...if only because it suits her goals...assuming that she doesn't want an endless game...boredom being poison for witches and all that.

[MeoTwister5]

I think the one thing we can agree on regarding the world of 1998 is that while we can't exactly prove without a doubt that it was the continuation of Ep3, we do know at least the following:

1. Eva survives in a manner that may or may not be similar to Ep3's, which at least indicated that she was the only one that has been consistently proven to survive Rokkenjima at least once.

2. Battler is seemingly dead in these worlds. This brings into question that assuming that piece Battler actually stared down the barrel of the shotgun and was shot by a crazed Eva, he is so far the only person that can realistically be believed was killed by a human and not by a witch. Furthermore, the ending of Ep3 felt completely out of step with the entirety Ep3, as if to say it was a magic scene with a weirded out Eva.

The focus I think would go to Eva. Assuming that the world of 1998 where Witch Ange comes from may not have been the future of Ep3 (and personally I think there is the possibility it is not), this suggests that Eva's survival isn't an isolated fluke. This reinforces the realistic possibility that Eva had all the tools to survive Rokkenjima if she was the one who solves the epitaph. Furthermore, it also reinforces the idea that alongside the gold is a survival plan for whoever finds it.

And even then, the mere fact that the solver survives indicates that the gold gives the solver a bigger chance at survival.

I am inclined to think that the person who finds the gold isn't necessarily the culprit trying to hoard the gold for themselves. The temperament that Eva showed in the days after Rokkenjima, her eventual psychologic decline and treatment of Ange is more indicative of a person who just underwent an ungodly amount of pyschological and emotional stress rather than a calculating mastermind. Wherever this 1998 comes from, we know that Eva comes out with the gold. However, I am inclined to disagree that she's the culprit for that, despite what Ange would think.

We then go of course to piece Battler being shot by Eva. The scene always felt completely out of whack for me. Evatrice is almost completely convincing in showing that Eva wasn't the culprit, which makes Eva shooting Battler completely non-sensical. There was no point in her shooting him if she really was innocent, and the scene itself to me points to a completely unrealistic scene. It is as if the scene was addendum to the meta attker between Erika and Battler prior to the golden land. I am more inclined to think that the entire scene of Eva shooting Battler is a red herring.

[Neofio3]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

We then go of course to piece Battler being shot by Eva. The scene always felt completely out of whack for me. Evatrice is almost completely convincing in showing that Eva wasn't the culprit, which makes Eva shooting Battler completely non-sensical. There was no point in her shooting him if she really was innocent, and the scene itself to me points to a completely unrealistic scene. It is as if the scene was addendum to the meta attker between Erika and Battler prior to the golden land. I am more inclined to think that the entire scene of Eva shooting Battler is a red herring.

Or, following the wolf and sheep puzzle analogy, a moment of perceived self-defence. The two argue amongst themselves that one of them is the culprit, then Eva shoots Battler to ensure her safety.

Eva may not even be completely rational at that point. Assuming the scene where she and Rosa found the gold is real, and given it was her who convinced Rosa to keep silent about it, she may even believe the murders are her fault, at some level (and by extension that she is responsible for the death of her family). Which explains her quasi-confession to Battler about it.

[MeoTwister5]

Originally Posted by Neofio3

Or, following the wolf and sheep puzzle analogy, a moment of perceived self-defence. The two argue amongst themselves that one of them is the culprit, then Eva shoots Battler to ensure her safety.

Eva may not even be completely rational at that point. Assuming the scene where she and Rosa found the gold is real, and given it was her who convinced Rosa to keep silent about it, she may even believe the murders are her fault, for some reason (and by extension that she is responsible for the death of her family). Which explains her quasi-confession to Battler about it.

If it were the case it would perhaps be believable but she went from an emotional wreck to perfectly calm, calculating with even a short Hannibal Lecture on Battler before pulling the trigger. Given the context of the final scene it felt completely out of character. It's not like they were in a heated argument or were fighting over the gun. Eva calmly raised and pointed the gun on him, spoke, and shot.