Fridge / The Eminence in Shadow

Fridge Brilliance

General

In General

• While the dynamic of the older, stronger and responsible sister and younger, weak and naive brother is just another staple cliche in Light Novels, it makes a lot of sense that Cid, who has read of these tropes before, wants this to happen. Remember Claire's line that she learned a lot from her brother. It tells that Cid has been secretly training her since the beginning. Not only is he emulating that scenario to fit his fantasies but by making his older sister the center of attention, he can go about doing his own devices without interference.
  • Since Cid has already read Light Novels and their tropes, obviously he does not approve of a relationship between himself and Princess Alexia, knowing that girls as important as her are red flags for what's coming: an Unwanted Harem. Having a group of beautiful girls flocking over to you will bring lots of attention. Truth be told, he's right.
• While Cid does show some honor in not taking his bloodlust out on those he deems pitiable, another reason is that he wasn't going to kill anyone who might have the potential to become a future hero. After all, some great heroes started as underdogs.
• There are several reasons why there is a difference in the amount of Demonic Possession cases per race:
  • The elves have a longer lifespan than humans and therianthropes, which eliminates the need for more children and causes Oliver's blood to be less diluted.
  • Therianthropes are no strangers to polygamy with Delta having more than a hundred siblings. So it's possible that some of the descendants of the therianthrope hero were males that formed harems thus causing her blood to be more widespread amongst the therianthrope race thus causing more cases of Demonic Possession albeit not to the extent of elves.
  • Humans by now have only been shown to have monogamous relationships, which makes their blood less widespread with the implication that the cult had to go through selective breeding to ensure her blood is at least present within the royal families they have control over as shown with Oriana (Rose) and Midgar (Alexia).
• Cid tailors each of his enemies' defeats to be as mentally and emotionally damaging as possible.
  • Zenon is a training instructor so Shadow makes him look like an amateur by trouncing him with the basic techniques of swordsmanship. Alexia takes note of this and compares the fight between the two like a parent training a child.
  • Lutheran boasts about how he was one of the greatest swordsmen and that his illness got in the way. Shadow responds by slicing his sword arm, to show the old man that even without his illness, he'll still be no match to Shadow.
  • Fenrir wants to die to someone strong and see the peak of power. Shadow gives him "The Reason You Suck" Speech, that he could have gotten it if he hadn't given up so easily.
• While Beta's The Chronicles of Master Shadow is mainly a gag throughout the story, it's also her painting her lord in a better light after the cult is defeated. After the cult is exposed of their deception, someone, like the famous writer, Natsume would be more than happy to publish the "real" events.

Light Novel

Volume 1

• Ironically, Alexia, the girl who hated living under her older sister's shadow, is rescued by a man named Shadow.
• Zenon is confident to become a Rounds member because not only did he capture Princess Alexia but he also thinks he will succeed where Grease had failed years ago by acquiring one of the cult's targets, Claire Kagenou whose brother Zenon had detained to be used as The Scapegoat and a hostage to force Claire to comply with his demands.
• During the fight between Shadow and Zenon, Alexia notices how it's less of a fight and more of like a practice session between an adult and a child. That's because it actually is but for Alexia's benefit. Cid did mean it to her that he liked her swordsmanship so he's showing the princess how basic sword techniques can overcome the Bushin Style with Zenon being Shadow's unfortunate practice dummy.
• In Chapter 7 of the manga, it's shown that Nu immediately bolted to Cid's side when Hyoro started hitting on her. Then it's later revealed in the next chapter that Nu used to be a student of Midgar Academy. Suddenly, her action is more or less born from personally seeing how much of a creep that guy is.
  • She could have been one of the agents assigned to protect Cid or one of the Seven Shadows told their subordinates about what's happening at the academy. Either way, despite what hidden agenda her master has for the two, Nu obviously did not like and outright hated Hyoro and Jaga's poor treatment of him. By the time she heard Cid was coming and was about to approach him, she likely overheard Hyoro cheering on that Cid got dumped by the princess. So, her close intimacy with Cid right in front of the two boys was to express how much she loves her master all the while secretly insulting them that they are just second-rate nobodies.
• As Master of Garden has shown, while Alpha can cure Demonic Possession, she lacks experience in healing humans with her and Epsilon needing six hours to cure Nu. This is why Alpha chose to Mercy Kill Millia since she was experimented to a far greater extent than normal possession, which made Alpha conclude that killing her was all she could do to end her suffering.

Volume 2

• Rose Oriana can be affiliated with the flower her name is based on. Red roses represent love and romance; meaning her love for Cid Kagenou/Shadow. On the other hand, there is another type of rose called the black rose which represents loss and sadness; that is the death of her father and/or losing the dream to be with Cid. In addition, the color of the black roses matches the color and theme of Shadow Garden. This means Rose's induction into Shadow Garden has long been foreshadowed.
• When Shadow faced Iris at the Bushin Festival, he expressed nothing but disrespect towards her. Considering how much time he spent with Alexia, he has a good amount of information on who Iris is, especially her insistence that Shadow had used an artifact for power. There is also the possibility that his disrespect comes towards her self-doubt in their fight since unlike Annerose, who continued to fight with valor despite knowing the sheer difference in skill and power, Iris was completely paralyzed out of fear during their fight and only fought properly once she decided to assist Beatrix.
• Epsilon's choice to become a pianist is because the piano is one of the most difficult instruments to master and she has enough experience controlling something as complex as her bodysuit.
• Rose's induction to Shadow Garden takes inspiration from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter: A beautiful girl(Rose) who faced many suitors(Perv) till finally she met her true love(Cid), only to be taken by the Moon People (Shadow Garden) and had her past stripped from her. Rose's final shots in Season 1 have her trying to grab what's left of the memento from Cid, coincidentally turning to the Moon.
  • Also, what is also a crucial element in the story? An immortality elixir.

Volume 3

• Crimson sent out his minions to collect potential hosts, specifically male ones for Elizabeth's revival. That's because he's aware that women can develop Demonic Possession and he's playing it safe in case one of these women might tamper with the revival.
• Due to his Blood Knight tendencies, it's not hard to imagine Cid making several trips to the Therianthrope territory that has a near-boundless worth of fighters for him to challenge against. Cid might have gotten word about the war occurring at Yukime and Gettan's villages and decided to go there.
  • Gettan betrayed Yukime and his mother in order to gain power from the cult and get revenge against his tribe's attackers. However, the Stylish Bandit Slayer showing up and murdering all the attackers rendered his efforts for nothing, which drove him to become more insane than he already was.
  • It's also possible that Cid might have encountered and killed multiple of Delta's siblings, leaving those like the future Third Leaf to be picked by Gettan as one of his assassins.
• Why Alpha is quick to believe that Cid intends to abandon her and Shadow Garden is mainly due to her being the closest to Cid and understanding much of his character, including his habit of discarding anything non-essential for his goals.
• By the end of the Corporate Warfare arc, Yukime is left as the only remaining lord of Lawless City. And guess what her color symbolizes especially since she regained much of her sweetness and optimism now after finding closure. With Elizabeth freed from her vampirism and left town and Juggernaut dead, maybe Yukime can lead this city to a better tomorrow.

Volume 4

• Another reason King Oriana sent Rose to Midgar, other than for her safety, is in hopes his daughter would be protected by the Stylish Bandit Slayer. Even if Rose didn't tell her father about him, the king was probably smart enough to gather information about the low crime rates happening in Midgar's territory and learned about the person with incredible skills to not only wipe out the bandit population but also cut down the cult's numbers.
  • Assuming he may have found out about SBS way earlier, his reasons for building an alliance with Midgar was under the belief that the kingdom was actively fighting against the cult. This could also explain how Klaus knew about Shadow before his daughters did as King Oriana might have discussed his findings to him.

Volume 5

• It's revealed that the person who held the Tenth seat of the Knights of Rounds had been killed years before, most likely at Cid's hands. In retrospect, Cid's bored attitude against the cultists stems from him having already faced people who bragged about being or wanted to be in the Rounds. Even funnier is that the first Rounds members he faced on-screen were one (Lutheran) who was kicked out of the group and the other (Nelson) who ranked lower in the hierarchy.
• Fenrir muses that the deaths of several Rounds allow the others to take the remaining Tears of Diabolos for themselves. Who's to say he isn't the only one to think like that? What if the Knights of Rounds were using their newfound unity to set up their rivals to be killed by Shadow Garden?

Volume 6

• Klaus pawning off Iris to the cult is his way of undermining them. Iris is a poor excuse for a leader and military commander, making her useless in leading cult operations. Then, he probably learned that Iris somehow got Shadow mad to nearly nuke the entire kingdom, so giving the cult a walking Berserk Button would guarantee their annihilation.
• Why did Shadow Garden appear when Shadow killed all the Night Swords? Aside from possibly remembering Alpha's words, Shadow also called them because after failing to get money a few times too many ^note His time as John Smith left him with no money and earning, from his view, Mitsugoshi's anger and his theft of the Hope Family make him look like an amateur when he realizes he stole fake art., he needs their help to take all the Night Swords' wealth and pick out which one is valuable.
  • Also, he probably figured he might as well share the spoils and make up to his friends for nearly ruining Mitsugoshi Company from that John Smith incident.
  • Cid was also improving where Mundane Mann had failed; getting everyone's attention. Back at the Bushin Festival, Cid's Mundane guise was doing well to draw people until Rose showed up and diverted everyone to her killing her father. When the Night Swords were about to flee out of fear of Cid's Jack the Ripper guise, Cid decided to withhold on facing the powerful Millia mutant and immediately take the Night Swords out first to ensure all the attention goes to him and only him.
• If Jack the Ripper is implied to be the Expy to The Joker then that would make Christina the Expy to Harley Quinn, as the two of them are women corrupted by the Monster Clowns.
• Shadow Garden's member total going from 666 to 710 in a few months could be done due to Shadow Garden gaining additional recruits with help from Yukime and her Snow Fox Corporation, who either helped them smuggle possessed girls to them or gave them information about places where they were being held.

Anime

• Why does most of the opening have nothing to do with the actual series, looking more like the Seven Shadows are in a Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World situation? Because Cid is a Chūnibyō par excellence and such a situation would fit his wildest fantasies.
  • It could also be a glimpse into how the Seven Shadows would’ve lived their lives had they not been cursed.
  • Alternatively, it was to foreshadow the white-red outfits the Seven wore in the pool episode.
• Marie's fellow prostitute mentioned how Shadow murdered the corrupt clergy in Midgar Kingdom, implying that individuals from Midgar, like nobles had gone to the Lawless City to sleep with the prostitutes which allowed Yukime to learn about Gettan and the Thirteen Night Swords and later, giving the information about the latter group to Shadow Garden.
• Chi and Omega battled the Clovers elsewhere from Gamma to ensure they wouldn't get caught in her Lethal Klutz antics.
• After Shadow escapes, Iris sees the sun before dropping to her knees and turning her head away from the light. The truth comes to light but it's a truth (that Shadow is stronger than Iris and the rest of Midgar's knights) that Iris refuses to accept.
• Why did the anime have John Smith (Cid) using Martial Arts against Alpha? Because that is Cid's best skill and the fact that Alpha pushes Cid to resort to it shows that she actually did get strong and has impressed Cid.
• It's funny how Skel and Po's deception to Mitsugoshi about the spa tickets is what prompts them to make the golden card with Cid's name on it, to prevent those two from pulling another stunt like that.
• While the anime staff add events from the Web Novel's Oriana arc as a nod to the source material it also helps explain Perv and Mordred's actions.
  • Cid frees civilians, Anti-Perv soldiers, and political rivals from a correctional facility, possibly controlled by the cult. The civilians will now have hatred towards Perv while the rest joined up with the Anti-Perv Faction, giving them more influence and power. So Perv immediately holds his wedding with Rose to quell the tension.
  • Cid joins a volunteer army made by the Anti-Perv Faction to bolster their forces. His empowering of them with his magic leads them to wipe out both Perv forces and cultists. The three corrupt knights that harassed Marie even mention that they were sent out to destroy towns that knew of the cult's activities. With his faction weakened Mordred had no option but to release monsters to take care of the problem.
• The Kidnappers' return is likely engineered by Yuuka who most likely got the information from Akane. Whether or not the Kidnappers succeed in their mission, Yuuka expects Akane to be deeply traumatized from the ordeal.

Other

• Due to her past as the leader of the Templars that purged possessed children, 559 is obviously not well-liked amongst Shadow Garden. It is also what might have motivated her to paint Rose as a traitor. If Rose, someone who was blessed with Shadow's power, betrayed the organization, 559 would be seen in a better light since she, who was also blessed, remained loyal to Shadow.
• In "Master of Garden", Omega reveals to have teased Lambda back before their induction into Shadow Garden. It's not hard to see why Omega is under Epsilon's command, who also loves to tease her rival, Beta.
• Why hasn't Chi asked for her eye to be repaired given that Shadow Garden's magic is advanced enough to heal any damages? Because she wants there to be a constant reminder of the sins of her previous servitude to the Cult of Diabolos that led so many of her fellow possessed being killed.

Fridge Horror

• We have witnessed some insights into Cid's past as Minoru that confirm that he was genuinely insane. But did something happen to him that made him this way or was he always like this ever since he was born?
  • Not to mention where were or what happened to Minoru's parents? Did they realize that their son has severe mental issues?
    • According to Cid, Minoru's parents and his dog John were/are living in America thanks to a work transfer of some sort before Minoru's death. Maybe their absence exacerbated his issues. And three years later, despite Japan being devastated by the Magical Incursion, Cid seems to think his/Minoru's parents and dog are just fine.
• When young Cid found young Alpha, she was completely naked. If she had clothes after her exile, she couldn't possibly have taken them off as she's barely able to move at all due to her magic deviation. The only possible way was that the bandits stripped them off. If that was true, that meant these bandits were planning to rape a child who was also basically a corpse. Or have they done it already?
  • Possessed mutation has been noted to cause the body to grow and shift in unnatural ways that cause clothing to rip and tear apart. Rather than remove her clothes, her captors simply chose not to give her new ones after her turning into a lump of meat destroyed the first ones.
• At the end of the Midgar Academy terrorism arc, Sherry tells Cid that she's going to Rawagas City like Ruslan told her to. The problem is that Ruslan told Sherry to go there. Whatever's at the city, Sherry's troubles are far from over.
• By now, two moles from the Order of Diabolos have been discovered within Midgar Academy and dealt with and that's probably the end of it. However, Emilia, a victim of the cult has somehow managed to still be within the cult's hands. The last time we saw Emilia, she was killed at the Kingdom of Midgar. To get her body sent from Midgar to Oriana meant only one thing, there are still some moles within the kingdom.
• The fact that Goldoh gets captured easily despite his skills and powers shows not only how powerful Outlaw City is but also that the citizens have been doing this for a long time. Goldoh may not have been their first victim and there had been plenty of others that came by here and never came back.
• The aftermath of Minoru's (Cid) death can come off as a Fridge Tearjerker. Do remember that his desire to be unnoticed had basically alienated almost everyone in that world. One must think of the possibility that the police could not have identified his body and would just label him as a John Doe. Or if he was recognized and had a funeral, just how many people could have come to it? Probably not a lot and the only ones who did come might be his parents and Akane. While Cid might not have cared and possibly might have been even delighted at this, it's still such a scary and depressing thought that this is how much Cid has allowed himself to be forgotten by the world.
  • Akane has been severely affected by Minoru's death, to the point where she still feels guilty about it some 3 years later and keeps Minoru's blood-stained school uniform as some sort of memento. She pressures Cid, who believes he looks nothing like Minoru, although his current appearance seems to pass for Japanese among the Earth natives, to wear the uniform, and when Cid does, she acts as if she's seen a ghost.
• Given how eerily similar Akane's path as a hero is to the Three Heroes from the other world, it's implied her brother, Akira would have eventually founded his own version of the Cult of Diabolos. And Yuuka's murder of Akira has unknowingly stopped that from ever happening.

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