Foreshadowing / The Beginning After the End

• When Elijah Knight is first introduced, he is able to skip the Adventurer's Guild exam due to having some sort of special status. Afterward, it is noted that what little is known about Elijah's Mysterious Past is that he was raised by the dwarves, and that the person backing him was responsible for exempting him from the exam. Even Elijah himself isn't aware of where he came from, as his memories only came to him in "confusing and painful flashes" which sometimes leave him unconscious for brief periods of time. Later on, it is revealed that the dwarves have been heavily compromised by the Alacryan spy network and many of their nobles are willing Les Collaborateurs, including Elijah's guardian Rahdeas. Considering where Elijah grew up in and how little is known of his past, it is safe to say he has a major connection with the Alacryans and their Vritra overlords. It turns out Elijah is Nico, the Evil Former Friend of Arthur's past life King Grey, and has been working with Agrona in order to exact his vendetta on Grey/Arthur.
  • Elijah is able to manifest black metal spikes, a form of magic only demonstrated by servants of the Vritra such as Kai Crestless and Uto. He also tends to wear mostly black outfits, and the Vritra are a straight example of Dark Is Evil and Evil Wears Black wherein their servants wear black clothing or armor.
  • The Webcomic is less subtle about his true identity through a few specific Call-Forwards: At one point, he is able to perceive Arthur as King Grey, causing him to be briefly overwhelmed by his true identity's hatred of Grey. On a more subtle note, there is a moment where Elijah tells Arthur he joined a club to pick up girls, to which Arthur remarks "Were you deprived of love in your past life or something?", alluding to the incident that led to Nico turning against Grey: The latter's apparent murder of the former's fiancée (and their shared Childhood Friend Love Interest) Cecilia in a duel.
• When compared to other dragons regardless of form, Sylvie is noted to appear rather differently from the rest. Dragons normally have pale white skin/scales and hair, but Sylvie has black scales and hair on top of having a prominent set of horns; while in her human form she does have light blonde hair, she does keep her horns when the other dragons do not. What else tends to have black skin and horns? The Vritra and anything that has their blood in it, foreshadowing that she is not only part Vritra, but the daughter of Agrona himself.
• It is noted that Jasmine's family, House Flamesworth, is a rather prominent noble house in Sapin. However, Jasmine herself does not seem to take very kindly to mentions of her family, especially her father Trodius. It is eventually revealed that the Flamesworths, as their name suggests, have produced some of the best fire mages in the kingdom, and that Jasmine was shunned and ostracized by her family for not conforming to tradition due to her mastery over wind magic. Not to mention Trodius proves to be a despicable individual in his own right given how he turns out to be an Abusive Parent as well as an eventual Dirty Coward, General Failure, and Les Collaborateur, explaining why Jasmine has that much animosity towards any mention of him in particular.
• After Arthur nearly attacks Lucas after the latter brought a group of mercenaries to kill off his surviving party members to prevent them from ratting out his misconduct, he gets warned that he has made an enemy of one of the most powerful houses in Sapin and that he needs to lay low as the Wykes would target his loved ones. Just how influential are the Wykes? They were able to get Bairon, Lucas's older half-brother, knighted as one of the Lances, the strongest mages on Dicathen. This ends up biting Arthur in the long run as when he does kill Lucas for his role in the attack on Xyrus Academy, Bairon is one of the Lances who gets Arthur Arrested for Heroism.
  • The Webcomic hints at this reveal earlier in that Kaspian tells Arthur that "even if [he's] strong enough to bring the entire Wykes House to the ground, it'll be meaningless unless [he becomes] strong enough to kill Lucas's half-brother" after the incident with Lucas. Not to mention, Bairon gets an Adaptational Early Appearance in that he gets named during the Council announcement (none of the Lances were named at the announcement in the novel), giving Arthur quite the rude awakening when it comes to who he had just made an enemy of.
• Arthur infers that the main reason why the newly-formed Council revealed the existence of another continent is to act as a Genghis Gambit and unite the three kingdoms of Dicathen against a common enemy. Not to mention, he has reservations about giving Gideon more pieces of technology from his past life after just giving him the blueprints for a steam engine. Arthur ends up being proven horribly right about both. It turns out Alacrya, the other continent, is the domain of the Vritra Clan who had been planning to invade Dicathen for millennia. Not only that, the Alacryans end up getting their hands on the steam engine and use it to create an armada of steamships to transport their invasion force.
• There are several signs that Kai Crestless, one of Arthur's fellow Disciplinary Committee members, is up to no good. His presence makes Arthur feel uneasy, he suspiciously takes up larger patrols than the other members, and at one point, when Arthur asks him about his unique powers, he casually threatens to kill him. Not to mention in the Webcomic, when Arthur is pursuing a suspicious individual, he gets distracted by Kai calling for him, which causes him to lose track of the individual he had been chasing. Sure enough, when the Radicals launch their attack on Xyrus Academy, Kai is revealed to have been The Mole and sabotages the barrier the Disciplinary Committee had set up to prevent any aid from coming in.
• At one point, Arthur asks his father Reynolds why his mother Alice only uses her healing magic for minor wounds. In response, Reynolds tells him that his mother does so because of a traumatic experience she underwent in the past. Eventually, when Arthur's parents tell him they are rejoining the Twin Horns at the start of the War Arc, they finally tell him the reason why. In the past, the Twin Horns ran into stingers, and though Alice was able to heal them in the short term, one member, Lensa, lost her mana core in that Alice closing her wounds prevented the doctors from treating her core for poison. As a result, Lensa ended up being Driven to Suicide. The fact that she had not only robbed her friend of her only joy in life but indirectly caused her death is what traumatized Alice.
• When Arthur finds the dying Lance Alea, she imparts onto him a vision of what killed her and her team, that of a black-horned demon. In their fight, the demon merely toys with her until she chips off his horns. At that point, the demon stops playing around and subjects Alea to a Cruel and Unusual Death. This foreshadows two major developments. The first is that Arthur learns during the War Arc that the demon is a Vritra-blooded Retainer named Uto, and the fact that he managed to kill one of the strongest mages in Dicathen despite his rank shows just how outclassed the Dicathians are by the Alacryans. The second is that his reaction to his horns being damaged foreshadows that their horns are the source of the Vritra-blooded's power and thus their weakness, as shown when the Scythe Seris, a being far stronger than Uto, severs his horns and gives them to Arthur.
• In the aftermath of Alea's death, it becomes apparent that Director Goodsky knows more about the forces that killed the Lance than she lets on, and that she is keeping everyone including the Council Locked Out of the Loop regarding her actions. Arthur figures that Goodsky is hiding something the moment he sees her shocked reaction to him presenting Alea's dog tags. It is soon revealed that Goodsky is a former Alacryan spy who turned against her people, and her Hiding Her Heritage is because she feared the Council would turn against her should they have found out, either over the reveal that she was once one of the enemy or because the Council is corrupted by them (the latter of which turns out to be the case).
  • In the novel, this foreshadowing is made apparent through Goodsky's own Internal Monologues, some of which blatantly reveal that she is an Alacryan. In the Webcomic, these monologues are made more subtle in order to conceal The Reveal, which occurs at the end of Season 4 with a Wham Shot of Goodsky turning around to show a tear in the back of her robes, which itself reveals that she has the same Power Tattoos that the Radicals have been found wearing.
  • In addition, after Arthur is Arrested for Heroism after the attack on Xyrus Academy, he gets thrown in the same prison cell as Goodsky. When Arthur asks Goodsky how much she knows about the forces working against them, Goodsky apologizes to Arthur and says she is compelled not to tell him. It is revealed that Goodsky and all other Alacryan spies have a Geas placed upon them that prevents them from revealing anything about their plans, and in the process of having it removed Goodsky ends up in coma that she ultimately never wakes up from as she is mysteriously killed right as the Alacryan invasion force lands on Dicathen.
  • Goodsky's ultimate fate is the first sign of how much Agrona can control those who share his blood. When Agrona forces Seris and her rebellion back into his service, he proceeds to subject the few who defied him on the spot to excruciating deaths much like Goodsky by igniting their runes.
• The conversation Arthur has with Rinia before he and Tessia return to Xyrus contains several hints towards future developments in the story, especially for when the Cerebus Syndrome kicks in. Appropriate, as Rinia is a diviner.
  • Before she goes into telling Arthur about his future, she brings up how her sister (and Virion's wife) Lania died to illustrate how her powers as a diviner are Cast from Lifespan. In trying to save Virion from being assassinated, Lania kept looking into the future in order to stall for time so that the war between Sapin and Elenoir could come to a close. By the time that war ended, Lania had burnt up so much of her lifespan she died a few weeks after its conclusion. In the end, Rinia meets the same fate as her sister. Even as the war slowly turned against Dicathen and the Alacryans conquered the continent, Rinia kept using her powers to find an outcome where the Dicathians would eventually retake their homeland. She did not live to see that outcome, as Kezess sent an lone asura to purge the Dicathian resistance for going against his plans, which forced her to use up the very last of her lifespan to show Arthur how to defeat said asura (on top of having been struck down by said asura beforehand).
  • She brings up how she was getting many glimpses of Arthur before she met him, which she notes has never happened before regarding any single person. She hypothesizes that "Dicathen is entering a new era" and Arthur "always seems to be at its epicenter". Sure enough, it turns out that she was already aware of Arthur's past life as King Grey.
  • In looking into Arthur's future, she notes that she "might have made some rather troublesome enemies", which has been why she has been living as a hermit. Her seclusion becomes understandable once the true nature of the Divine Conflict that drives the story comes to light as both sides would have viewed her as a Wild Card and would have wanted her dead for their own reasons. On one hand, Agrona and the Vritra seek to master fate itself as a means to win the war, which led them to into uncovering the secrets of reincarnation. On the other hand, it is revealed in the climax of Volume 9 that she learned her divination arts from Mordain, an asura who was exiled from Epheotus after he stood against the Indrath for committing genocide upon the djinn. Naturally her being an associate with a Persona Non Grata in asuran society made her a prime target for assassination, as when Kezess orders the extermination of the Dicathian resistance, Rinia is singled out for elimination.
  • Finally, she closes out the conversation by warning Arthur to beware "the abandoned soldier who has nothing to lose", which not only foreshadows the aforementioned Elijah/Nico, but also his motivation behind his vendetta towards Arthur/Grey.
• In the aftermath of the mission to Ashber and Rahdeas's treachery being exposed, Arthur learns that Aldir - who had been keeping hold of the dwarven Lances' artifacts - has been missing for quite some time and the Council has been unable to contact him. Arthur only learns from Agrona that the reason for Aldir's absence was that Kezess had ordered yet another failed Decapitation Strike upon Alacrya, the outcome of which Agrona had used to revoke Epheotus's involvement in the war as a violation of the treaty.
• At the end of Volume 6, Agrona is able to contact Arthur through the latter's bond Sylvie after she finally assumed her human form. This conversation serves to foreshadow several different reveals later on. Agrona not only reveals that he is aware of Arthur's past life as King Grey, but says that he has been in contact with "an old friend" of his. Not only does this hint at Elijah/Nico, but it also hints that Agrona was responsible for both his and Arthur's reincarnations in the first place. In addition, the fact he was able to hijack Sylvie is not only a major hint towards him being her father, but is also the first sign of him being able to control others who have his blood, such as Tessia and the entirety of Seris's rebellion later along the line.
• At the start of Volume 7, the imprisoned Rahdeas calls for Arthur so he can recite a specific poem for him. The poem not only eerily parallels Arthur's childhood and alludes to him being reincarnated, but one of its verses goes as follows: "What happens when your foe, who has crossed both time and space, is actually brighter than thee?" Given how Rahdeas is a servant of Agrona, it serves to hint not only how Agrona is behind Arthur's reincarnation in the first place, but has the whole war in the palm of his hand and Arthur can do nothing but delay the inevitable.
• It is noted that there is something unusual about the beast will that Arthur extracts from the elderwood guardian and later gives to Tessia. Namely, she frequently experiences intense difficulty and Power Incontinence attempting to assimilate the beast will, and both Virion and Aldir note that there is a possibility the elderwood guardian might have been mutated. Sure enough, it turns out the elderwood guardian Arthur slew was a failed Vritra experiment. This revelation plays a major role in the climax of Volume 7, as it means Agrona has control over Tessia's life through her beast will which he uses to blackmail her parents into letting his forces into the Council Castle at the close of the war.
  • This reveal is also hinted at a few times even before Arthur gives Tessia the beast will. During the foray into the Dire Tombs, the party are accosted by giant worms. This takes Kriol and Brald by surprise as "it doesn't make sense for a new mana beast species to enter a dungeon like this", hinting that something or someone had been operating in the dungeon. The elderwood guardian itself has a black, featureless face with a Crown of Horns, which as mentioned above are the hallmark of the Vritra. Lastly, when Arthur attempts to assimilate the beast will for himself, his existing beast will from Sylvia not only opposes the elderwood guardian, but almost devours it. While Arthur at first chalks it up to his and the elderwood guardian's elements not being compatible as Virion had taught him, in hindsight it is also because the Indrath whom Sylvia hails from are the mortal enemies of the Vritra who experimented on the elderwood guardian.
• When Arthur first meets Myre, she tells him that the dragons "remain selective and greedy - the Indrath Clan particularly so" even among the rather prideful asuras. This hints to the major Reveal at the very start of Volume 8 when Arthur learns that in the distant past, the Indrath Clan committed genocide upon the djinn out of petty jealousy for their mastery of aether exceeding their own.
  • If one looks between the lines, The Reveal that the asuras are Jerkass Gods can be seen entirely in their name. In Hindu Mythology, the gods are divided between the benevolent devas and the malevolent asuras. Despite the apparent naming mismatch given how they seem to be closer to the former than the latter, the asuras of the novel, especially the Indrath and the Vritra, are eventually revealed to be Jerkass Gods of the highest degree with no regard for the lives of mortals in the midst of their Divine Conflict.
• Speaking of Myre, Arthur deduces that she has a certain level of influence within the Indrath Clan. This is because of her powers, the fact she had been able to keep him with her, and her own personal interest in him. However, what really cements her high status is that Windsom, whom had been addressed by a few other asuras as an Elder, bows to her when he comes to pick up Arthur, and when Arthur asks him who Myre is Windsom says that he is in no position to tell him. At the start of Volume 6, during the flashback to when Arthur departs Epheotus to return to Dicathen and join the war, he learns that Myre is in fact Kezess's wife and the Matriarch of the Indrath Clan, meaning he had been training under the queen of the gods the entire time.
  • After Arthur asks Windsom who Myre is, he then says to him "You know, when I first met you, I figured you were pretty up there. Now, not so much". In response, Windsom says to Arthur "Watch your tongue, human. Even if I were among the lowest rank of asuras, I'd still be stronger than any of you lesser races in Dicathen". Windsom's statement gets proven horrifically correct at the end of Volume 9. After Kezess declares that the Dicathians have outlived their usefulness to him, he sends Arthur's former sparring partner Taci to exterminate them all. Even though Taci is merely a boy by asuran standards, he is able to single-handedly best the remaining Lances, the strongest mages on Dicathen, to the point of near-death, on top of causing countless more casualties during his rampage until the Came Back Strong Arthur returns to put him down.
• At the end of Volume 10, it is revealed that Sylvie is the one responsible for Arthur reincarnating outside of Agrona's control unlike Nico and Cecilia. After her Heroic Sacrifice at the end of Volume 7, Sylvie's spirit was displaced across time and space to observe Arthur's past life as King Grey. At the moment Agrona was about to reincarnate Grey's soul into his vessel of choice, she snatched Grey's soul and brought it to the Leywin family to be reincarnated into Arthur as a Stable Time Loop. This reveal is hinted at a few times in the volume.
  • While he recovers from his Heroic RRoD following the Siege of Vildorial, the comatose Arthur briefly has a vision of Sylvie. After he apologizes for not being able to bring her back, Sylvie tells him "Don't worry about me. I've got all the time in the world" shortly before he wakes up. This foreshadows how Sylvie became a Non-Linear Character after her sacrifice and is no longer bound by time and space.
  • Arthur ponders how he is an instance of Create Your Own Hero on Agrona's part in that through some unknown factor, his reincarnation did not go according to Agrona's plan. He then notes how thanks to Agrona's own daughter Sylvie, he was given the power to stand up against him. The end of the volume reveals that the second statement is more literal than he would have expected.
• When Arthur visits the Hearth, Mordain mentions that he is troubled by the possibility of Kezess sending dragons to Dicathen as part of the Bargain with Heaven Arthur had made with him, for it means that "he already has loyal soldiers in position to strike when [Arthur is] no longer of use to him". Sure enough, when Arthur returns from the aether realm after having resurrected Sylvie, he learns that Kezess had sent down his forces to occupy all of Dicathen in in the two months Arthur was in the aether realm.
• After Perhata and her Wraiths capture the rogue Sovereign Oludari, she tells Seris and her assembled followers that while their lives may be spared at the moment despite their treason against Agrona, they will have to return to his side whether they want to or not when Agrona gives the order. Later, when Agrona debriefs Nico and Cecilia after they return from Dicathen, he tells them that Seris and her rebellion will end up serving him in the long run. When Agrona begins the final stages of his plan and launches his invasion of Epheotus, he takes control of Seris and all of her followers by way of his blood and - after making examples of the few who resisted - forces all of them back into his service.
  • This turn of events was further hinted at a few times beforehand. When Arthur corners a Wraith and attempts to interrogate him, the Wraith tells him that Agrona is watching him through his own eyes before exploding right in front of him. This experience haunts Arthur as he realizes that despite Seris rebelling against Agrona, he still has a means to control her and her followers by way of their Vritra blood. He also tells Caera that he cannot let her in on his plan to acquire the fourth keystone because of this reason as he has to keep her and all of his Alacryan allies Locked Out of the Loop as his plan will put him out of commission for an untold amount of time.

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