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This is a list of Wild Mass Guesses which are still possibly true. Just for Fun and silly guesses go on the silly page. If a WMG is Jossed, please move it to the jossed page, if it is Confirmed, please move it to the confirmed page.Please add new entries to the bottom of the page. Bernkastel is The Virus
This is generally hinted at throughout Umineko, but I'd like to enumerate it. We know from Higurashi that "Frederica is not Furude Rika", but we also know that Bernkastel is probably an agglutination of all of those dead Rikas throughout Higurashi. Featherine Augusta Aurora is somehow related to Hanyuu, but not Hanyuu herself. The theory is that Bernkastel and Featherine are extremely powerful possible versions of Rika and Hanyuu and that, like an opportunistic infection, they forcibly write themselves into kakera after kakera (possibly overwriting the personalities of the existing Rika and Hanyuu). Either the Higurashi universe is one of the kakera that escaped this treatment or the Rika and Hanyuu we all know and love are the ones who went evil in the first place.
Kumasawa wrote the bottle messages.
The writer of the messages had the same handwriting as the "Beatrice" in Maria's Grimoire. Maria claims to have met Beatrice every year on the island, so it stands to reason that they were there that year too. Kumasawa appears to narrate certain details, ones that would otherwise go unexplained for several games, a few times early in the first game as if she were the one telling the story.
Maria really does understand (somewhat) the things Battler asks her to promise to him. She promises anyway because she developed a crush on him when they met at the airport.
Uu~ Maria doesn't have many human friends... But Battler understands Maria Uu~
Uu~ Everything's more fun when Battler's around Uu~ Battler even knows about Halloween Uu~ If only Maria could get Battler to believe in magic Uuu~
An explanation of the first twilight and Maria's death as derived from Maria's dream
Isn't it odd that most of the first-person statesments in Maria's dream actually belong to Rosa? Maria, in fact, in theory only gets one line of first-person, and it's a line on a screen that has nothing except for context to indicate that it is, in fact, Maria speaking.
If we yank the first person lines of the dream out of the context they're given in, we have Rosa waking up on a cold floor, meeting a child, coming to the conclusion that the child is Sakutaro and referring to him like that a few different times. Although he doesn't correct her, he doesn't confirm it either. We maybe have him saying that she needs to get away from Maria because Maria's not Maria anymore(I'm debating how much dialogue is relevant if we're removing narration from context. My leaning is to include it only where it is on the same screen as first-person narration). Then things start to get weird, where her head hurts a lot in connection to the "uryus", he leaves a hole in her hand, and then she denies him and he disappears (I forget whether this bit is in first-person or not). Rosa sees Maria and the silhouette of an adult behind her (Presumably Beatrice), and then after a lot of yelling, Rosa is torn apart by her own hands. Loads of third person. The next time we get the first person again is one line close to the end of the scene - "I erased that laughing voice. Next, I'll erase that laughing face."
One of the recurring theories as to how the first twilight of any arc could be possible is via a drug. However, Knox's 4th states on this matter that it can't be an unknown poison (in other words, drug). Therefore, we must get more specific. There are already plenty of drugs that can make people have weird hallucinations, but we don't even need to go that far. Just one that makes someone more suggestible - in other words, a depressant in the right dosage. Honestly, I would look at something like Ketamine - one of the "date rape drugs" - since it has both depressant and hallucinogenic qualities. In fact, as further evidence, I submit to you a section of That Other Wiki on Ketamine - my own speculations in red & blue:
"Ketamine produces effects similar to PCP and DXM. Unlike the other well known dissociatives PCP and DXM, ketamine is very short acting, its hallucinatory effects lasting sixty minutes when insufflated or injected and up to two hours when ingested, the total experience lasting no more than a couple of hours.[71] What ever was given to Kyrie et al. assuming none of them are the culprit could not last very long. Although for them, it did have to be even shorter than what's specified here. However, for Rosa, if we assume my theory about Maria, the time frame is just about perfect. Like other dissociative anaesthetics, hallucinations caused by ketamine are fundamentally different from those caused by tryptamines and phenethylamines. At low doses, hallucinations are only seen when one is in a dark room with one's eyes closed, while at medium to high doses the effects are far more intense and obvious.[72] I am, of course, vouching for the "medium to high dosages" point.
Ketamine produces a dissociative state, characterised by a sense of detachment from one's physical body and the external world which is known as depersonalization and derealization.[73] Rosa's description of the dimension she was in sounds a lot like this. At sufficiently high doses (e.g. 150 mg intramuscular), users may experience what is coined the "K-hole", a state of dissociation whose effects are thought to mimic the phenomenology of schizophrenia.[74] Users may experience worlds or dimensions that are ineffable, all the while being completely unaware of their individual identities or the external world. Users have reported intense hallucinations including visual hallucinations, perceptions of falling This matches the account given by Kyrie, Krauss, Kanon, Shannon, and Nanjo, fast and gradual movement and flying, 'seeing God', feeling connected to other users, objects and the cosmos, experiencing psychic connections, and shared hallucinations and thoughts with adjacent users. John C. Lilly[75], Marcia Moore[76] and D. M. Turner[77] (among others) have written extensively about their own spiritual/psychonautic use of ketamine. (Both Moore[78] and Turner[79] died prematurely in a way that has been linked to their ketamine use.)"
What we are seeing in the first part is Rosa waking up while under the influence of the drug. She sees a child. Still trying to fill in the blank on that one. Normally, I'd say it's Maria, but since she shows up later... This is probably the toughest part to fill in. Will get back to it. Rosa's head hurts - that'd be easy under the influence of a lot of different drugs, especially if she were overdosed, which she would probably have to be in a lot of these cases.
Sees Maria and Beatrice. Because of that, I'd yank this scene out of chronological context too and place it around the time Maria goes to take her test. Remember how her body is found? In the dining hall - the same place as the first twilight victims - including Rosa! And without any external injuries, so Battler himself theorizes that she was killed by poison. This is before any of the adults have had their faces removed, although they may be dead (I would theorize that Rosa's relative lucidity was an unintended element). Chances are, they were just about to poison her - give her a snack while they talked, or something.
In fact, I would take Maria's body being found in the dining room without injury as a support for the theory that the actual deaths of those six occur later than we are led to believe. It's not proof because she could have been killed in another room with the dining room with the dining room itself sealed off from her sight. However, I propose that she was, in fact, killed in the dining room. She saw the adults napping in their chairs and was told either:
a. They're napping. She's shown quite a few times to be gullible, so I wouldn't put falling for this past her.
b. They're going to the Golden Land. They don't look hurt; they look peaceful. That would comfort her, and she would be fine with the situation.
Now, here's why I don't think she could have been led into the dining room if they were killed with their heads smashed at the time we think they were - seeing the adults with faces half-gone would be an immediate warning to * RUN* for her. She still has some sort of sense of danger, even if she'll be led to the Golden Land. We saw that at the end of the second arc. Sure, that could have happened, and she could have been injected with something, but in that case, you'd expect to see some sort of evidence of a struggle, like an injury. There weren't any.
So Rosa sees Maria and tries to go over to her without understanding what's going on around her, when she is grabbed by someone - I would definitely place this person among the fifteen, but I think the one behind Maria, if (s)he is among the ones we know of as that group, is very well disguised. Rosa is too doped to figure out that the hands grabbing her are, in fact, someone else's and thinks that they're her own hands.
Then we have that one line - "I erased that laughing voice. Next, I'll erase that laughing face." Doesn't necessarily need to refer to Rosa here. I would have it as any of the six adults, because remind me how they were found again? Oh yeah - THEIR FACES WERE HALF-GONE. I will say this, though - it's most likely to be Rosa if we allow a tiny bit of context. Probably, knowing who it's referring to would be the key to cracking the mystery.
Now then, I know what you're thinking - "Well, then, why did Gohda and Kumasawa say that they saw the faces half-smashed before running to the guesthouse? Answer: They were put up to it. After everyone else was drugged and passed out, they were told by the culprit what would happen to everyone. And then, they were told that if they wanted to be spared, to leave and go to the guesthouse while the culprit did that. The culprit, of course, lied to them - their heads were smashed later. They were also told to tell the kids what they were told as if they had witnessed it. If everything worked according to plan, then maybe the children would be spared too. They would definitely be killed if they were found outside the guesthouse. And so they took a chance that they would be able to save someone and did as they were told.
As for why this goes against Kyrie's first-person statements? Frankly, I don't trust them. I think that Kyrie at the very least is aiding the culprit, probably against everyone else's knowledge. The fact that she goes so far as to describe the Siesta Sisters and goat-headed butlers is suspicious enough, but when it' s looking more and more likely that Shannon and Kanon are one person (see statements about that theory - connects to the sixth game too), the fact she stated that both of their deaths were separate makes me even more suspicious. Thus, I suspect her first-person parts, where she talks about the golden thread smashing the faces, of being lies.
And Krauss never directly says it when he's on the phone. Jessica says that she heard from Kumasawa and Gohda after Krauss basically pauses So what if he paused because he didn't actually know what had happened to Natsuhi when Jessica asked? Then Jessica says that and Krauss is worried about her rushing out to try to rescue Natsuhi, because he doesn't know what Gohda and Kumasawa told her - they may well have said that she was captured, as far as he knows. And so he tells her not to do anything brash.
There may be some other hints that can be gleaned from this scene, but the fact that it was so non-sensical in the flow of the story just makes me want to root around in it even more.
So. Stakes.
They're shafts about yea long. In appearance disgusting, even 'demonic'. Viciously pointed ends. They embody all that is sinful. They're partially autonomous, and might leap up and try to pierce a person even if their bearer doesn't wish them to. They talk at length about how ecstatically pleasant it is pierce flesh.
All of this was extrapolated from one phrase in the epitaph about how body parts should be 'gouged' somehow.
Conclusion: Our killer has issues. LOTS of issues. *
Battler has lost his magic immunity
With Erika promised to take over the role of detective, Piece-Battler's lost any privileged status as 'narrator' or 'witness'. His testimony is no longer any more reliable that any other piece on the board. Because of this, the polite fiction that he never witnessed any witchery in action because of his abnormally strong magic resistance is no longer necessary.
The next time Battler slinks off on his own, he's going to turn on the lights and BOOM! Piece-Beatrice right up in his face. She'll give him a hug and a kiss, shake his hand and then slap him across the cheek.
Battler should be feeling a lot of deja vu right about now
There is a woman who loves the Ushiromyia family very much. When she saw the terrible events that would follow from Kinzo's death, she swore to do anything to cover the truth with noble lies. She would gladly drag her reputation through the mud to preserve the honour of the Ushiromiya.
She never imagined how bad things would get, though, and the strain of constant deceit tears her apart. Worse than that, the witch of miracles has sent a detective against her who constantly attacks and belittles her, pokes holes in her deception and treats her with a chilling lack of love. Worse than that, she's acting under duress, and an enigmatic mastermind sometimes orders her to perform acts which further slander her — but if she refuses she will suffer the worst of all possible fates. Pinned on a board, she is gradually worn down until at her lowest ebb she breaks and confesses her darkest and most private shame. But it's all too late, zenzen dame da — the torture has broken her and she'll never be whole again.
Quickly: did I just describe the events of Episode 5, or Episodes 1 to 4?
Beatrice is actually three people.
Meta-Beatrice, that is. At least, the Beatrice from the first four or five games; whether this still applies to her is debatable, but...meh. Anyway, she is composed of the three Beatrices who existed: The Beatrice Kinzo loved but could not marry, the Beatrice whom Rosa met, and piece-Beatrice, who is also loli-Beatrice from her dream in the beginning of Ep3.
Kinzo did indeed love a woman named Beatrice, but that Beatrice died shortly after giving birth to their illegitimate daughter. Kinzo had this girl raised in Kuwadorian so he could keep a part of his beloved Beatrice nearby without shaming the family, but then SHE died. Kinzo was now on the grip of insanity and devastation after losing the only reminder of his lover, so he adopted another Beatrice from his orphanage, a baby (or a child) with blonde hair and blue eyes, hoping to raise this girl to become his beloved Beatrice.
Now, this Beatrice was truly unique. She had a wild imagination but no playmates. She somehow learned about the previous Beatrice's (possibly by going through old diaries left behind in Kuwadorian, and looking up old photos) and these two women combined and became her imaginary friend. Then she met Battler, who promised to come back for her on a white horse (in combination with the Pony Theory). This caused her to take her imaginary playtime with 'Beatrice' to a whole new level; she started dressing up like Beatrice and even claimed that she was Beatrice herself, pretending to be a princess awaiting for her prince to arrive.
To her misfortune, however, an already unstable Kinzo took her words a little too literally. He visited her one night, and questioned her of her identity, asking if she remembered him. She tried to explain she was just playing make-believe, but he tortured her into 'confessing' to being his beloved Beatrice. After this 'confession', he then proceeded to sexually assault her, believing this was his beloved Beatrice come back to him. Alternately, Genji and Kumasawa showed up just before he had a chance to do this, but it was too late; the damage had already been done.
After this incident, she was completely broken, thoroughly convinced it was her fault for pretending to be Beatrice while Kinzo was within earshot. She had a total nervous breakdown, causing her personality to split quite literally (similar to Eva and Eva-Beatrice) and merge with the other two Beatrices. Therefore, meta-Beatrice is in fact all three Beatrices put together.
This Beatrice has all the memories of the past Beatrices who lived, but she also has a combination of the three Beatrices' personalities, which is why she keeps tripping through the Face Heel Revolving Door. One of these Beatrices (probably the first) was slightly arrogant, the other one (the second) was a bit softer yet naive and unknowing of the world beyond Kuwadorian, and the third was a slight mixture of the two childish and naive, yet jaded by her experience with Kinzo, while also holding an affection for Battler. When you mix these three personalities together, you get meta-Beatrice.
A Brief Explanation of Time Loops
This theory arose as a means of trying to explain the time loop and meta-world without magic. It does however, require some seriously unlikely psychological phenomena. It's based on the time looping concept from Hiroshi Sakurazaka's novel All You Need is Kill.
Basically, only the beginning of the first arc and the conclusion of the last arc really happen. Everything else is Battler contemplating the path that's led him to the point at which he usually dies and considering where that path will lead him.
First Arc: The murders commence as usual. Before the ninth twilight, Battler tries to imagine what will happen next. His conclusion is that he, George, Maria, and Jessica will be killed in the ninth twilight, so he tries to formulate a plan that will lead to a better end.
Second Arc: Battler commences his session of thinking and imagines another possible way the last few days events could have played out. (His thinking here is influenced by the conversation about "bad luck" he overhears Genji and Kanon having in Episode 1.) Battler realizes accepting Beatrice rather than denying her will yield different results, but when he considers the consequences, it dawns on him that that course of action will only lead to more death.
Third Arc: Battler wonders if safeguarding his own safety by hiding would be a better course of action. He also probes his mind for memories of his grandmother's tales about Beatrice and discovers he remembers more about her than he thought. His disdain for the idea of Beatrice being the culprit leads him to assume Eva, being the most blatantly obvious suspect, is the killer. He realizes that if this is so, she'll eventually get to him anyway and moves on to another line of thought.
Fourth Arc: Battler, remembering the purpose of the family conference and the original positions of the first twilight victims, realizes it is quite likely his grandfather is the culprit. This hasty conclusion is a similar error to his folly regarding Eva in the third arc, and he decides that the very idea is absurd. His thoughts lead him to piece together a theory that Kinzo may already be dead, and thus should not play into his scheming any further.
Fifth Arc: In his despair at his inability to come up with a method of survival, Battler's thoughts lapse from strategy to fantasy. He prays desperately for a deus ex machina situation to occur and save him from his fate. His hopes manifest in the idea of a "super-detective" that would have the skills to solve the mystery. It finally hits Battler that if Beatrice doesn't exist, one of his family members must be a culprit and he hates the idea, so he changes his thinking.
Final Arc (Unseen): Battler comes to an ultimate conclusion, solves the mystery, and defeats the culprit. This is the true answer to the first arc.
All meta world segments can be considered metaphorical looks into Battler's mind.
Rosa was planning on giving Maria a new Sakutaro on Rokkenjima.
We know that Ange found something when she went down the stairs while talking with Captain Kawabata. We also know that things clicked into place for her regarding Maria and Beatrice. We also know that in the Golden Land, she summoned the Sakutarou plushie, which was the thing that allowed Maria to accept Sakutaro's existence again. This completely flummoxed Beatrice, who tried to state in red that Sakutaro was a plushie handmade by Rosa, and that there was only-" and then she stopped. Inference would lead us to think that she was trying to say that there was only one in the world. This, she couldn't say because what Ange had found was another Sakutaro plushie. Rosa had packed it to take to Rokkenjima, but dropped it accidentally on the boat ride over there. Captain Kawabata later found it and, although he wasn't sure who had dropped it, planned to give it back to them later. Of course, he couldn't do that, but he held on to the plushie, and after 12 years, of course he wouldn't remember it. After all, he had no one to connect it to. But Ange noticed because she knows what Sakutaro looks like, and on Rokkenjima, 12 years after the murders, she offered it there to Maria's spirit so that Maria's spirit could be at peace. Before she, herself, died.
Events in each arc correspond (loosely) to the appropriate twilight.
Sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically...
Love and the Seven Stakes of Purgatory .
Some old books show the Plan of Dante's Inferno. These books divide the Seven sins into 3 based on Love.
Torture is Witchspeak for "I love you."
Among witches, torturing your crush Higurashi/Umineko style is a perfectly acceptable way to court someone, because it's meant to be a fun game and gives you an excuse to spend lots of time with your target and get to know them. Hence the reason for all the Les Yay between Bern and Lambda; by witch standards, Higurashi is a classic romance story, and Bern was very touched by all the effort Lambda went through to win her over. For whatever reason, Beato has fallen in love with Battler and is trying to win him over the way any other witch would: by setting up a high stakes game (the gruesome murders just make it that much more exciting). However, torture isn't romantic at all for most humans, so Battler utterly rejects Beatrice at first. Beato realizes this fact over the course of the games and starts flirting with him in a more conventional (by human standards) manner. This is why her playing is so lackluster—she wants the damn game to end because it doesn't serve her purposes any more. However, it's not so easy to stop a courtship ritual once it's started, which gives Bern and Lambda to take it over for their own purposes.
The golden butterflies are a lit fuse
The golden butterflies might actually be the light from a lit fuse, a sparkling kind. If you follow them, it might lead to some trap to injure the follower... In the end of Episode 1, I reckon the survivors saw golden butterflies and Beatrice coming out of the portrait. That scene might be about a fuse set on the portrait, which might give quite an impression when it lights up.
Umineko is to Ryukishi07 what Evangelion was to Hideaki Anno.
Think about it; Evangelion deconstructed the mecha anime upon which it was based, while Umineko clearly deconstructs most of the tropes present in Higurashi. They both include You Suck and You Bastard moments along with serious mindscrew and meta segments. Also, you really can't deny that some Creator Breakdown is going on, what with BT's death and all.
Okonogi is the true culprit.
We know from Higurashi that Okonogi is a very clever and influential man. He out-xanatos'd Takano for God's sake! Looking at Umineko, Okonogi has a lot to gain from the deaths of the Ushiromiyas. He could get a payout from the Sumaderas for finishing off their greatest rivals, and the Ushiromiya fortune would fall under his control until Ange was of age. So it wouldn't be a stretch to say he might have paid off one of the Ushiromiyas to betray the rest, or used a trick in the counting of the people on the island to sneak in a few Yamainu to assassinate the key players at the right points to make it appear Beatrice had commited the crime. He then has his forces bomb the mansion, eliminating any remaining survivors. He then sends Amakusa (Yamainu himself) to gain the trust of Ange and eventually snipe her.
All the murders were done by a witch, using her witch magic
Bear with me a moment...
The statement "The games between Beatrice and Battler Ushiromiya adhere to Knox's Decalogue as Mysteries" must be stated in Gold to truly rule out possibilities that violate the Decalogue.
After all, hasn't Red been confirmed as being a subjective truth, which can be used if the statement is literally true from at least one given perspective? Therefore, the only possible way to truly rule out the possibilities that were countered with the Decalogue is to proclaim it in Gold that the games followed the Decalogue, and thus, recitals of the Decalogue can be transferred from Red Truth to Gold Truth.
It's the servants
Ok, this isn't as spectacular as many of the other theories on this page, and it's easy enough to poke holes in, but I'm throwing it out there anyway. We all know that Kinzo was obsessed with reviving Beatrice, and would be quite happy to sacrifice his family if he thought it would bring her back, but he's far too busy being dead to be responsible for the murders. This, however, doesn't stop him from leaving instructions for his furniture detailing the ceremony that needs to be carried out. Genji is repeatedly stated as being incredibly loyal to his master, and believing he would kill for him is not a stretch. Shannon and Kannon were both raised in an Uroshimiya-run orphanage and have been brainwashed to the point that they don't even see themselves as human. Getting them to kill and/or die for their master would not be hard. It's unlikely that Kumosawa is in on it, and Gohda almost certainly isn't, but the fact remains that three people working together, all possessing master keys and an intimate knowledge of the island, could explain many of the twilights. They aren't necessarily responsible for every murder, only the more ritualistic ones, with the more crazy/opportunistic family members capitalising on the deaths to eliminate a few loose ends of their own. They choose their victims at random, and if they themselves are selected (notably episode 3) then they offer themselves, confidant that the ritual will continue as their master predicted. Other theories can still apply (i.e. Shannon faking her death in episode 1 so she can continue the ritual - episode 3 apparently shows only five sacrifices are needed, Kannon giving up his identity in episode 2 and perhaps turning on the other servants etc).
Nanjo is the murderer for the Episode 3
The first twilight is conducted by Nanjo. The reason is simple. Only servants, Krauss, Natsuhi, Nanjo, and perhaps Jessica know Kinzo is dead. The servants are dead. Jessica is with her cousins playing cards. And Natsuhi and Krauss are discussing the issue of who is actually Beatrice. He can only be Nanjo. In addition, Nanjo ensures appear just as they leave the meeting all the brothers. I suspect that Jessica helped. That and the mobile Nanjo I explain later.
The second twilight is also borne out by Nanjo. Nanjo was at the top of the stairs, so quietly he could accompany Rosa and Maria to give him air to the child. Once out of he kill them.
Nanjo leaves a cigarette in the room of Eva and Hideyoshi to throw suspicion. Kyrie falls into the trap. Nanjo follows Kyrie, Rudolf and Hideyoshi to the mansion and he killed them by treachery. Prepare all the stakes stuff and return to the guesthouse. However, Kyrie has only been hit in the stomach, so he is not dead, just lost consciousness from the shock. This is shown by the fact that Ronove refuses to confirm that all three are dead in red.
After finding the bodies, George is very upset and decides to go to Shannon for the last time. Nanjo sees out the window and close the latch of the window to hide that fact. Take advantage Natsuhi and Krauss are alone to kill them. Probably he first drug them or something, to not resist and then strangle them. He then goes to the room where the body of Shannon is and kill George.
In the last part, when they discover the bodies of Natsuhi and Krauss, Eva runs off in search of George. The number of the door should be a message between the murderers. That's why I suspect that Jessica is complicated as it is the other person alive who knows the secret of Kinzo. When Eva and Battler then run out after she that hurts Jessica, Jessica and Nanjo are left. Whoever shoots Nanjo is Kyrie, who regains consciousness and decides to kill the murderer to save Battler. Kyrie then bleeds to death. When Eva discovers Nanjo is dead, Eva concludes that the murderer must be Battler, and so kills him.
Now the mobile of Nanjo. Nanjo is silent on the death of Krauss for the simple reason that they need to pay an expensive operation to save his granddaughter. However, Krauss has already lost all the money in the family business, and the only money left on the island is gold. Nanjo discovers that fact on the day of the conference. The problem is you can not extract the gold from the island without anyone noticing, so your only option is to kill them all and then take the gold.
And about Eva-Beatrice... after the massacre happen, Eva feels very remorseful because: 1 - has killed Battler but then she doubt that he is the murderer, and 2 - In his heart he wanted the rest died to win gold medal. So believes the witch inside the murders committed in its place.
Kanon and Shannon are murderers in the Episode 1
The first twilight is conducted by Shannon. She shots the 5 ones, but her gun explodes and destroy her face. Then Kanon destroy the faces of the other to hide this fact. The original plan was likely to kill all adults, but because Natsuhi locked her bedroom and Eva and Hideyoshi were gone... they make the crime look like the sacrifices to revive Beatrice.
The second twilight is conducted by Kanon. He cut the chain, kills Hideyoshi and Eva while Genji or Nanjo draw the circle. Then the act like they didn't know Kinzo is dead.
The forth and fifth twilight were Kanon faking his dead. He just have to use red paint into his chest. Then Nanjo "certifies" his death. The Kinzo's corpse probably was planted before killing Eva and Hideyoshi. The reason that Kanon fakes his death is to been away from Natsuhi survillance and kill her by surprise.
The sixth, seventh and eighth twilight were realized by Kanon. He kills Nanjo, Genji and Kumasawa. He is the "Beatrice" that Maria told the others about.
Regarding Natsuhi's death, she was killed by Kanon. He needs her to be separated from the group to do this. Probably in order to avoid Jessica being implicated. He separates her with the letter and shots her.
Kinzo is a child molester
We know that Kinzo have a girl being locked in Kuwadorian. After she is dead, he tries to ressurect her. This "resurrect" means to seek for other childrens that look like Beatrice, make dress like her and the rape their. This is probably what might happen to Kanon and Shannon. We have the following clues:
It is possible for information given in red to be objectively false.
Because any given scene might just be a hallucination, we have no way of knowing that anything said was actually ever spoken. Do we have any way of knowing for sure that red text can't be hallucinated? For that matter, maybe this is all just some absinthe-fueled
Erika can't detect her way out of a paper bag
She's an actress, hired to put the screws on Natsuhi. Kyrie feeds her her lines.
Seriously, people like that don't exist in real life.
Beatrice scapegoats herself to spare the family. Lambda is Beatrice's patron, and therefore complicit in her secret and terrible innocence. Bern talks a good game, but only seems to take actions that force Batter into a deeper understanding of himself. Dlanor is an unshakable pillar of moral character in a crooked world.
Hang on. We've no villains left; just a cast of actors in the make-Battler-a-better-person psychodrama.
Any letter claiming to be from Beatrice, that isn't checked against Maria's diary is a forgery.
Maria claims she meets Beatrice everytime she comes to Rokkenjima. Furthermore, her diary contains a bit of Beatrice's handwriting. The message bottles and money letters contain the same hand writing, and thus it is reasonable to assume they were written by the person Maria calls Beatrice. On the other hand Maria initially mistakes EVA for Beato, meaning its likely that anyone could claim to be Beatrice and she'd believe them (unless they acted too differntly from Beato) and thus believe that anything they gave her was from Beatrice. To summerize, the money letters and message bottles were written by the person Maria meets every year, and everything else is written by another person or persons.
EVA is and always has been the Big Bad
The mirror that prevented Beato from regaining her powers was created to seal the various evil spirits on Rokkenjima. These spirits eventually fused into one being, the black witch/EVA. However, at that point she was only able to influence people, in order to be able to directly interact with the world she needed people to commit murder on Rokkenjima and thus manipulated the killer(s) into killing the victims.
Maria is the mastermind, but she has an accomplice.
Beatrice's Game does NOT follow the rules of Knox.
After all, it would be ENTIRELY within Beatrice's character to have the 'detective' be the criminal, considering that she is obsessed with revealing people's sins. In addition, she has ALREADY violated one of the rules, the one on secret passages. There was no way for Battler to discover the passage to Beatrice's Mansion, since the way was locked. Most of theories with Shannon/Kanon rely on violating the rule about doubles. Even the 'demon' trick violates that, if barely.
If this is a mystery, the servants MUST be the killer.
Each of the servants perfectly lines up with one of the demons. The character sheets explain which. Thus, it seems reasonable that if this is a mystery, they MUST be the servants in disguise, otherwise there is no way to solve it. Admitedly, it is BARELY possible that Gaap is either Nanjo, or possibly Hideyoshi, since those are the two least-developed characters.
Umineko X is the arc after the Good End.
After all players reconcile, Beatrice gets revived, and Battler solves the mystery and finds the gold, he cracks open one of the ingots to find that Kinzo hid his stash in them. The entire family gets really baked, and he offers Beatrice a hit. While everyone's stoned out of their gourds, someone mentions a fun game idea they had and Beato agrees that it might be interesting; Bern mentions that she knew someone who might want to tag along...
Maria suffers from Disorganized Schizophrenia.
Symptoms (from college psychology textbook):
The are two culprits in the story.
There's the true mastermind, the one behind at least the killings of at least EP1. And there's also The Shion of the story, someone else who also go goes on a killing spree because of some form of trigger. Therefore, using every game as a means to determine the original culprit is foolish.
I suspect EP3 is one of the red herrings, as it doesn't follow the epitaph past the first twilight, and Maria's death could be the trigger for somebody else's Roaring Rampage of Revenge. Though The Shion is not necessarily Eva.
The previous game between Bernkastel and Lambdadelta was similar to, but distinct from the events of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.
Yukiwatashi-hen reveals that Hanyuu looped the live's of multiple Rika, and Bernkastel's profile note's that she is also called "the witch who knows that miracles don't occur", yet she was somehow able to beat Lamdadelta. Bern was killed by Rule X far more often then Rika was, because of this she decided that the best way to survive was to kill her friends (and when that failed her friends and random persons) before they could kill her. In her final arc the people she killed included Takano thus winning the game without a miracle.
Some Red Truth is not the literal truth, but are instead metaphors.
Let's play with this and return to the second twilight of EP2. When "When Jessica's corpse was discovered" was said, it could be meant the corpse made by Jessica was found there, not her actual body. Plus only Kanon is explictly stated to have been killed in Jessica's room in red, the same is not said about Jessica. Nor it is ever said two people died in her room in red. Taking all this into account, theoretically, the dead body found in her room could have been Kanon's, not Jessica's. Obviously, this thinking implies Jessica is Beatrice.
And there are other ways to rethink the situations.
Battler's endless nine magic cancel is due to the charm Maria gave him.
Maria said the scorpion had the power to block magic. If the charm works, then that overlapping with or magnifying Battler's natural Anti-Magic would result in this.
The Ushiromiya family are literal bastards.
This is based on the fact that Kinzo has six toes. Given that polydactyly is actually a dominant genetic trait (odd but true), the chances that none of his four children would have it are one in sixteen at best (if he's homozygous polydactyl [two genes for it], the odds drop to about zero).
Virgilia is Pendragon-sama
Virgilia is noted to be on good terms with many beings of different kinds and the Siestas have worked with the EVA, Goldsmith, the Eiserne Jungfrau, Cupid, and of course Beato.
The first four games didn't follow Knox.
The opening for Turn of the Golden Witch claims it is not a mystery. And information from the first four games is treated as valid during End of the Golden Witch despite violating Knox's 2nd.
Battler was part of the conspiricy to hide Kinzo's death in every arc except the first one.
It is possible that the first four games didn't follow Knox, and Battler isn't the detective in End of the Golden Witch.
Piece!Battler was never the detective. Therefore, it is possible that he is the culprit for the first four games.
Even though it's been confirmed that meta!Battler was the detective for the first four games via Dlanor, piece!Battler has no such barrier to prevent being the culprit. On the gameboard, he tries no harder than anyone else to find the criminal and solve the mysteries. I propose that meta!Battler is the detective, which allows the possibility of piece!Battler to be the murderer. As for the red truth that "Battler-kun is not the culprit," this can be explained is multiple ways - either that Virgilia was referring to the baby from 19 years ago, or, again, that this only applies to meta!Battler and not piece!Battler.
Shannon and Kanon were the murderers in Episode 1.
As Kyrie pointed out, it's easiest to see your opponent's moves in the endgame when there simply aren't many possible moves left. So, working from the end:
When Natsuhi was killed, Battler, George, Jessica and Maria were locked in the parlour. Red text confirms Eva, Hideyoshi, Kinzo, Nanjo, Kumasawa and Genji as dead at the time, leaving only Kanon and the people of the first twilight as suspects.
Red text for Kanon tells us he was either killed by a trap or faked his death since "no kind of human or dead person on the island could have killed Kanon!" and "Kanon did not commit suicide.". Of the people killed at the first twilight, we only know that "Regarding unidentified corpses, all of their identities are guaranteed. Therefore, no body double tricks exist!", which doesn't allow fake corpses, but does allow someone to pretend to be a corpse. Shannon was hidden right in the back of the shed, and Kanon was the one who controlled the time at which the shed was discovered. By telling about it in front of the kids after a morning wondering where everyone was, and then having everyone run off, the kids were made suspicious enough that they'd follow before anyone could properly examine all the bodies. Since Shannon was right in the back, she most likely didn't get more than a cursory glance before the kids arrived and everyone became more preoccupied with preventing them seeing and closing up the place than making sure they were all dead.
In short, if Kanon and Shannon were responsible, they faked their deaths in such a way as to draw suspicion away from them, in line with clues we were given to satisfy Knox's 8th, and with their faked deaths, everything else falls into place.
With Shannon's faked death, the second twilight locked room is easily solved with Shannon locking the door from the inside and hiding in a closet. Kinzo was most likely placed in the furnace at Natsuhi's orders, and Maria was most likely responsible for the magic circle of paranoia. The only remaining question is why Nanjo would say Kanon was dead.
This also means that at the time the first game ended, Battler, George, Jessica, Maria, Shannon, and Kanon were alive - the six people at the first tea party.
Even if someone is declared to be the detective in red, it is possible that he or she is acting under Knox's 9th rather then Knox's 7th
When Battler accused Knox's 3rd of allowing the detective to be lazy, Dlanor clearified that it didn't literally rule out the existence of secret passages, but that it instead ruled out the existance of secret passages the detective couldn't find. Therefore, it is possible to misinterpet the decalogue if one interpets it literaly. Furthermore, according to the original Knox's decalogue, Knox's 7th only applies if the author personally vouches for the detective. Therefore, regardless of what color someone else may use to proclaim X is the detective, X is only bound by Knox's 7th if the author (i.e. "Maria Ushiromiya"/Beatrice or Featherine depending on the arc) or the Game Master (by virtue of the premise that that Game Master creates the story) claims that X is the detctive.
Erika was right about Natsuhi sleeping with Kinzo.
According, to Battler's Blue Truth the name "Kinzo" refers to the head of the family. Since the original Kinzo died before Battler solved the ephitat that would make Krauss the new head and thus the new Kinzo. And of course there isn't anything shameful about Natsuhi sleeping with her husband.
We have been misled about Kinzo's Time of Death, but it happened more recently then we thought.
As shown above the scence where Kinzo is pronounced dead is unreliable. Furthermore, as far as we know Natsuhi is planning on saying Kinzo has gone missing once Krauss recovers from his financial troubles, having Kinzo's corpse some place it can be found can only hurt Natsuhi's chances of success. If Kinzo died over a year ago Natsuhi and the others would have had plently of time to dispose of his corpse. His corpse is found in various episodes. Thus, Kinzo died shortly before the start of the game, in fact his death could very well mark the start of the game.
Erika wasn't the detective during the fifth game
Furudo Erika had no influence on any of Beato's games before now. From this we can conclude that Erika was not the detective during the first four games. Furthermore, Battler was required to provide human proof that he wasn't the detective during the fifth game. Therefore, in order to prove that Erika was in fact the detective during the fifth, human proof must be provided. In other words the Red Truths claiming she is the detective are inadmissible. Note that Knox's Rules never say there has to be a detective.
Erika is Bernkastel's literal daughter.
The similarities in their appearances is uncanny, and Bern even calls Erika her daughter at one point.
Battler was still the detective in episode 5
When Dlanor challenges Battler's claim that he isn't the detective, he points out that he claimed to see Kinzo, produced a corpse, and said I guarantee that this corpse is Ushiromiya Kinzo's corpse!! However this doesn't prove anything at all because Battler's Blue Truth "My theory is that Kinzo's name is passed on as the title of the Ushiromiya family head!", was never countered. Furthermore, even if we assume that the corpse he showed didn't belong to someone else, he never established when Kinzo died with human proof. Furthermore, even if Kinzo was dead when Battler claimed to see him it's possible that Battler mistook Kinzo's corpse for a living Kinzo.
The game didn't follow Knox.
It was never stated in
It is possible to reconcile the fantasy scences with the idea the culprit must be a human using mundane means.
Summoned furniture cannot do anything that would result in something that would have been impossible had they not been summoned. This includes both physical and psychological impossibilites. For example, Jessica and Kanon really did die in the way shown in episode 2, but Culprit X was in a position where he/she could and would have murdered them. Furthermore, in every case Culprit X knowingly summoned the furniture.
The scene where Natsuhi and Beato drink tea together was genuine.
In Episode 2 there were no more then 17 people on the island, and Beato gave the keyto the chapal to Maria. However, Beato claims she isn't one of the seventeen on the island. Therefore, Beato is not counted as a person. The statement, "After all, Natsuhi is drinking tea all by herself right there."simply means she wasn't drinking tea with another person, it does not rule out the possibility she was drinking tea with Beato, who is not a person.
Some of the poems shown in Higurashi were written after the events of Umineko, and are written to refer to events in both series.
For example, this poem also refers to Battler's sin.
Erika loss the fifth game due to the early suspension.
The various abillities her detective's authority grants her only work if the game actually finishes. For example, someone could have been disguising him/herself, but the clue or clues indicating that appeared after the game was suspended and thus Erika didn't have the chance to see them. Likewise, Knox's 3rd doesn't gurentee that the detective will find any secret passages she looks for, but rather gurentees the she'll find any relevent to the mystery by the end of the game. Thus for example, she may have found some piece of evidence impicating Shannon in the crime had the game not ended early. For that matter, Natsuhi may have been the fourth twilight victim.
Knox's 2nd is just an excuse.
The real reason characters began demanding evidence to support the red is that they realized that it could be worded in a misleading way. For example,Natsuhi isn't the culprit. could refer to someone who isn't even on the island.
The Ushiromiya Eva we know is not the true Ushiromiya Eva, but an imposter.
Near the end of Alliance of the Golden Witch, Ange proclaims in red that her entire family never came home from Rokkenjima. At some point prior to meeting Hideyoshi, the real Eva spent a substantial ammount of time away from her family, met someone with an extremly similar appearance and the same given name and told this person a great deal about herself and her family. However the original Eva died somehow and this new Eva took her place. Since she isn't really part of the Ushiromiya family Red Truths referring to the family do not include her.
Regarding piece-Beatrice
Beatrice (1) is|(2) is not a member of the Ushiromiya family. She (1) is|(2) is not a half-sibling to the other Ushiromiya siblings, with Kinzo as father and Rosa's childhood story Beatrice as mother, and an unnaturally similar appearance to her mother. In every episode she (3) comes|(4) doesn't come to the family conference, but doesn't appear since (5) some characters' actions {(5.0) manslaughter|(5.1) murder} |(6) a fatal accident kill her early during her stay on Rokkenjima. The servants, in any case, aren't allowed to let the other siblings know about her death. Just because she's a mean bitch doesn't mean she's the culprit whenever she shows up.
X games does not mean X worlds.
There are two worlds involved in each game. A mystery world in which everything was done without magic, and a fantasy world in which somethings (i.e. atleast everything shown to be done with magic) were done by magic. Battler and the readers never actually see the Mystery worlds, but the Red truths refer to them. Furthermore, Beato deliberatly chose to show Battler Fantasy world's which would give him the neccesary information to figure out what happened in the Mystery world's without actually knowing those worlds existed.
Shannon and Beatrice are both alternate personalities of Kanon's.
Prepare for TL;DR.
First off, this isn't exactly a new theory, but I don't see a formal entry for it, and especially not one as indepth as what I'm about to provide.
The basic premise also has a twist. Although the current Shannon is a product of Kanon's invention, Shannon was indeed a real person up to a certain moment in time. Shannon died for some reason (perhaps falling from the rocks when she went to break the mirror as per her deal with Beatrice, maybe she fell off that cursed fenceless cliff of doom people keep dying on, maybe she fell down the stairs in a tragic Dojikko fashion. Ultimately irrelevant), and her death was recent enough for Shannon's and George's romance to be entirely sincere. I would wager that her death happened after the formation of the romance, a few months before October 1986. Most importantly, her corpse was preserved and stored somewhere.
Kanon recreated Shannon in his mind because he couldn't bear the depth of his onee-chan, and although he couldn't see the sea past its greys, she could see its blue. This new Shannon is a sincere personality, carrying on her life. Kanon is so dedicated to preserving her existence that his own self only came out for his servant's duties, causing him to become the depleted, repressed "furniture" we see today. He runs from his love for Jessica because he doesn't want to jeoprodize Shannon's future with George.
The Servants may or may not know of this; they surely would've noticed something was up, and it's not the first time they covered a death. Besides, there's no malice, and they surely miss sweet Shannon too, so what harm is there in letting this "magical resurrection" go on? Then again, they might also play into the charade for fear of awakening the ire of the Witch...
Which brings us to Beatrice. Born at the same moment as "Shannon", of Kanon's resentment that Shannon had to die. Of Kanon's resentment that she couldn't live for Battler to fulfill her promise. That she couldn't live to be "human." Beatrice represents this resentment, and thus she is sympathized with the tragic, caged witch of Beatrice. Like Beatrice, Shannon couldn't see the world save for the blue her magic showed her. Like Beatrice, no one came to save her. Like Beatrice, she has to use the magic of lies to keep existing. And like Beatrice, she may have died on the rocks while yearning for freedom. And now...the only way Beatrice can be free, the only way Shannon can be free, is if she dies like she was meant to. Kanon's insistence on their existence is like trapping a ghost. An unpleasant half-existence.
Is it not telling that Shannon has seen the Golden Land, which can only be visited through death? Lord knows Kanon can't be the false personality. Not only is it red that no one can take his name, but there is just no way you'd bound up those ginormous tits.
Is it not telling that Kanon and Shannon not only have magical powers when almost no other real human does, but they're also "furniture" like Beatrice's magical servants?
Is it not telling that only Kanon and Shannon can see Beatrice prior to the start of the Games, due to their being on the same "wavelength?" Yea, I fucking thought so. Though Maria can see Beatrice, one could argue this is just Beatrice being the dominant personality. What is clear is that Kanon, Shannon, and Beatrice behave like typical "headmates" of a Multiple system.
Most tellingly, in my opinion, is that at the Tea Party of the First Game, we have the children who lived to the end, Beatrice, and Kanon and Shannon. Why the hell are they there? Sure, you could argue that it's because of Jessica's and George's wish, but then why exclude Rosa? The reason they're there is because Beatrice is there, and they're all parts of each other.
How can we work this into the specific Games? Let's see:
First Game: Shannon's death in the first Twilight is simple. The Beatrice personality just appropriately mutilates and places the Shannon corpse, and then suppresses the Shannon personality from doing anything. Simple enough. After this things get a bit tricky. What about Kanon's death? Perhaps he may have have a Battle In the Center of the Mind with Beatrice, and she won out. After this, Beatrice fakes Kanon's death, and perhaps Nanjo is an accomplice. He's also necessary then for placing the letter that gets the servants and Maria kicked out of Kinzo's study. Beatrice then swoops in and kills the servants, and later Natsuhi. Beatrice may also be responsible for the message in a bottle.
Second Game: Simple. Kanon's death is reconciled by Kanon's personality being suppressed, and Beatrice takes control of the body. The Fake Kanon scene is effectively Beatrice revealing herself and forcing the servants into cooperation under penalty of death. When they report to Rosa, it's Beatrice speaking through Shannon's mouth, and she's threatening the servants to collaborate with her story, to both support the magic narrative and clear Kanon's name. After this, she drags off George and Gohda and kills them, then dumps the Shannon corpse. Beatrice proceeds to clean up the rest of the murders, throws out the message in a bottle, yadda yadda.
Third Game: Shit gets messy here. Beatrice carries out the First Twilight, dumps the Shannon corpse, and then fumbles and accidentally gets themself killed. The Dojikko curse. After this, Eva Culprit theory kicks in, but this doesn't explain Nanjo's death, does it? Well, I kind've found it suspicious that Krauss and Natsuhi's corpses are removed and unfound. Perhaps Eva-Beatrice dealt with them, but Natsuhi was still alive albeit injured? She knows she has to stop Eva, but she instead comes across Nanjo and an injured Jessica, and assumes that Nanjo is an accomplice. We know that mental stability isn't her thing.
Gaap represents Natsuhi.
What is Gaap's role and power? She disposes of corpses to create Closed Rooms, hide times of deaths, and such like that.
What is Natsuhi's biggest secret? She covered up Kinzo's death and burned it in the furnace to hide how long ago he died.
On top of that, neither of them wear the One Winged Eagle, and oddity for both sides. Ding ding ding! Winner.
Arimaa has some similarities to chess and it can be played using a chess board and chess pieces, but it's definitely not chess. Watch this tutorial and think of the people on the game board as Arimaa pieces instead of chess pieces and see if it makes sense to you.
Oh, and before you bring up the Knox rule about not solving the mystery with clues not presented; 1) This doesn't exactly solve the mystery, and 2) in the beginning of the 5th game, when Battler was re-examining Beato's old moves it was mentioned that the game looked like chess at a glance, but when you looked closer it wasn't like any chess game or something
(sorry if I wasn't very articulate in stating this wmg but it's 4:30 am)
At the end of the game the players have a minute to make any last minute arguments or counterarguments.
Furthermore, from our perspecitve the endgames seem to last much longer then a minute.However, despite appearances, talking is not a free action. The reason the endgames clearly last much longer then a minute is because whenever a player makes a move time gets added to his or her clock, much like "fixed extra time" in chess.
Erika can see dead people.
Kinzo's name is passed on as the title of the Ushiromiya family head! Therefore, as long as someone in the Ushiromiya family is alive Kinzo is alive. From 24:00 until morning, a living Kinzo could only have existed inside Natsuhi's bed. Furthermoe, Natsuhi is pure and faithful. Therefore, a living Kinzo can't exist and the whole Ushiromiya family is dead, this includes Ange and the Other Battler. Since Erika sees several members of the Ushiromiya family she is able to see dead people.
Natsuhi isn't pure and faithful.
Knox's 2nd. It is forbidden for supernatural agencies to be employed as a detective technique. Erika deduced that a living Kinzo couldn't exist outside of Natsuhi's bed, and used that as a basis to question Natsuhi's faithfulness. Battler countered by presenting his grandfather's corpse. However, I can construct a theory in which Natsuhi had sex with a different "Kinzo". Kinzo's name is passed on as the title of the Ushiromiya family head! Therefore, as long as someone in the Ushiromiya family is alive Kinzo is alive.When Erika searched for Kinzo, the only Ushiromiyas whose locations were unknown were the people whose bodies had gone missing. Krauss was dead by that point in time, and Erika had used her seals to confirm the location of the others during the night. However, one of those people may have been someone disgusing him/herself as someone else.
Battler's theory about Kinzo's name is incorrect.
Everyone at the family conference was shown Kinzo's corpse and recognized the existence of the late Kinzo.
Ange's timeline in the fourth game is an illusion.
Due to Battler's sin, everyone on the island dies. Therefore, it is impossible for Eva to have survived. That was an illusion crafted in order to create Meta-Ange and deliver clues to Battler.
The remaining Siestas are not bunny girls.
When Maria received the rabbits a lot believe the Siesta sisters are based on, she didn't just receive those rabbits. It was a whole forest band of different animals. There were about 20 in all. Just the four were rabbits. The remaining are all sorts of other Half Human Hybrids. So when they started referring to the other Siestas in EP6, those are the rest of the forest band! We're going to see Cat Girl Siesta, Dog Girl Siesta, Rooster Girl Siesta, Tanuki Girl Siesta (My, that one will be interesting), etc.!
Higurashi was a solitaire game
In the sixth game, Lambda said that Bern used to be the piece of an incompetent game master who lost sight of her goals and created a logic error. The incompetent GM forced Bern to repeat events over and over in order to find a solution, and Bern escaped by becoming a witch. But in the second game, Bern said that she was born from "Lambda's game". Also, Lambda wrote in her diary that she had tried to help a girl who "wanted to become a god", and that girl created a new witch for her. There was no indication that Lambda was competing with someone as part of that process.
The only way to reconcile this information is if the "incompetent GM" was Lambda herself. Then, since both Bern and Takano were Lambda's pieces, she wasn't playing against anyone but herself. In that case, even Hanyuu was one of her pieces, which implies various things about Featherine...
The closed room that produced the logic error in EP6 is not referring to the Guest Room but to the entire Mansion
If we reread all the red texts concerning the Guest Room closed room. The term Closed room is not directly appointed to the guest room.
As this troper sees in the beginning of the sixth episodes, there is a puzzle in which the solution is to put one inside another.
What if the real closed room is the mansion and the guestroom is a closed room inside another?
Okonogi is the Mastermind but not the culprit
Okonogi is cited in the first game. He could easily get any pressure method for almost any characters of the game. What if he is using that to make people do things they are not supposed to do (e.g. Natsuhi in the closet in the Guestroom)?
Younger Beatrice is weak against Mirrors because they reflect whom she really is.
If you take the whole theory that Beatrice=Shannon=Kanon, it also explains why Beatrice had Shannon destroy the mirror in the shrine.
A mirror will reveal the true body regardless of the personality in charge — doing so breaks the illusion of the witch on herself. Once the mirror was broken in Ep2, Beatrice became more powerful because there was no way to break the illusion in her mind. It also explains why Beatrice couldn't harm Natsuhi properly in Ep6 until she dropped the mirror.
The story does not actually take place in 1986.
Some people have noticed things that they believe hint at the gameboard being a story told between the characters, with the metaworld usually being a warped representation of the real world. If this is true than the metaworld doesn't need to be in 1986. If it's not set in 1986 then when is it set? Probably 1992, 6 years after the gameboard's setting, after all if Beatrice is using the story to remind Battler of his sin it has to be set in the time period he did so, and since they say he sinned 6 years ago if the story isn't set in 1986 it must be set 6 years after the sin that took place in 1986.
Lambda's true goal...
Bern, listen.
I will seal you in this Fragment, through your own pride at being unable to accept a loss. So that you may hurt no one else.
You may now hold the game board though the manipulation of that monster, Featherine, but I hold the trump card.
Battler and Beato will never give up. You will never make them surrender. I guarantee it on my name as the Witch of Certainty. No matter how much you twist this story, you will not win.
Beloved~, you will not leave until you rediscover love.
In EP6, Battler was a terrible Game Master.
The events of EP6 were not due to Erika being a supergenius or detective or anything. The fault, really, lies mostly due to Battler not just holding, but juggling idiot balls. His biggest mistakes, from minor to major:
It is implied that Battler planned everything out in EP6.
Not only does it make the story much more coherent, but Lambdadelta, someone who knows the entire truth, praised Battler for his "logic error", saying that he surpassed Bern as one who created miracles instead of waiting for one. And if there's a solution to it, then it wasn't really a Logic Error. It was all a Xanatos Gambit to force Beato to revive. He even goes so far as to awkwardly say, "Oh, if only the real Beatrice was here. She'd think of a solution in no time flat." And later, everyone is waiting for Beatrice to show up, to the point of calling her late! To say nothing of the Kinzo parallels of Battler trapping himself in an eternal locked room, pushing all his chips on one space to revive BEATORIICHE.
Beatrice(s) is a typhoon(s)
Fun fact. In 1947, there was a typhoon that passed through the sea of Japan, though it didn't actually hit the country. What was it's name? Beatrice. It was also the 19th typhoon of the year. Coincidence? I think not. We also know that Umineko is a separate universe from the real world with minor historical differences like Higurashi is, so perhaps the rules can be stretched here. Perhaps that typhoon did hit Japan. And, well...there were rumors of an Axis ship that was smuggling illegally obtained Nazi gold to hide which got sunk...perhaps the typhoon shipwrecked it and Kinzo found the gold? It helps that when Rokkenjima is hit by a typhoon that Kinzo declares, "You're late, Beatrice!" Out the window, then claims to give the ring to her by tossing it out into the storming sky.
An attempt to solve the first game
First twilight: The culprit first took the key to the garden shed, went around the main mansion, killed the first six victims, dragged them into the garden shed, locked them up, drew the magic circle and then returned the key to the servants' room.
Second twilight: Hideyoshi and Eva were poisoned. The culprit was able to switch Hideyoshi's jar of bathing soap with an identical jar of poisoned bathing soap. (This doesn't violate Knox's 4th as there are many well known organic chlorine compounds whose vapors are toxic to humans in even the slightest amounts.) After the culprit made sure that both of them are dead, he used a strong magnet to undo the chain lock on the door to Eva's and Hideoyoshi's room, entered the room with a gas mask on his face, opened the windows to drain the room of the toxic vapor, switched the soap jars, staked the bodies, and then exited the room, locking the door in the same way in which he unlocked it. Once again, he drew the magic circle on the door.
Fourth twilight: The culprit hauled Kinzo's body from the fridge to the incinerator;
The letter: Maria dropped it on the table;
Final three twilights: The culprit entered the parlor, and used a special crossbow to fire the poisoned stakes, one by one, at Genji, Nanjo and Kumasawa in that order; He then quickly ran out of the parlor, leaving behind in it Maria and the bodies.
Natsuhi's death: Shot by the culprit using one of the spare Winchester rifles.
Battler, Maria, George and Jessica died in the explosion.
Let's start looking for the culprit through the process of elimination; We have
( )( )( )( ) ( )( )( )( ) ( )( )( )( ) ( )( )( )( ) ( )( )( )( ) Kinzou is dead from the start, and in one of the later games, it is stated that neither Battler nor Maria are culprits (applies to all games); Therefore, we can eliminate them from the suspect list; Among the first twilight victims, only Krauss and Shannon didn't have their faces bashed in completely; The second twilight is impossible to fake; A red truth from episode 4's ???? states that Genji, Nanjo and Kumasawa really are dead, and that neither one of them is a murderer. Another red truth from episode 4's ???? states that Natsuhi was murdered; Therefore, she cannot be the culprit; All of the cousins were trapped in the parlor when Natsuhi died, so Jessica and George cannot be suspected; Another red truth from episode 4's ???? states that the identities of all the unidentified corpses are guaranteed and that no body double tricks are possible; That rules out all first twilight victims, and we're left with... (x)(x)(x)(x) (x)(x)(x)(x) (x)(x)(x)(x) (x)(x)(x)(x) (x)(x)(x)(x) (x = not the culprit) There is no 19th person on the island. (Including Kinzou's corpse) This means... ...wait, what?
Kanon is Kinzo.
This could be true regardless of whether or not Shkannon(trice) is true, so we'll leave that variant aside.
Kanon is the only servant, hell the only person period that Kinzo tells to solve the Epitaph. While Kinzo has been dead, Kanon did meet him, and it's already theorized that fantasy!Kinzo's dialogues happened in the past when he was still alive. (And if Kanon is Beatrice, he sort of has to know where the gold is anyway.)
Kanon finds the gold, inherits the legitimate headship and Kinzo's name, and everyone must acknowledge it in EP4. Cue Goldsmith shenanigans. It also allows for the filling of the EP6 Closed room Logic Error. "Kanon" isn't in the guestroom anymore, he's "Kinzo" now. That, and this all allows Kanon to be with Jessica without having to deal with the ire of her family. Hurray!
Erika's last red truth in the 6th Game and the Following Red Truth do not contradict each other
This ties into the Shannon=Kanon theory. Basically, Erika's red truth was I am the visitor, the 18th human on Rokkenjima!! The red truth that followed was Even if you do join us- There are 17 people. If we take the word "human" to mean anything that can be classified as a human (even a corpse), and the word "people" to mean number of pieces living (or assumed to be living) on Rokkenjima, then both statements can be true, and it could very well add evidence to the Shannon=Kanon theory.
Kinzo's body + Erika's body = two dead humans on Rokkenjima (leaving 16 humans remaining)
Shannon + Kanon = two separate people who happen to share one body.
The Repentance Enforcement Agencies of the Great Court of Heaven cover every genre of fiction, not just mystery.
We know there are atleast eight disticts exist, and that two of them investigate heresy involving mystery fiction (the 7th using Knox's rules and the 8th using Dine's). And of course in real life there are people who will claim something isn't a real or fair mystery (and is thus heresy) if it violates whichever rules they support. Such people exist for all genre of fiction and thus it seems plausible that the Great Court of Heaven would have districts for every genre of fiction.
A living Kinzo could have existed outside of Natsuhi's bed during the fifth game.
The theory "Red truths made during the fifth game can be lies." is correct. Furthermore, Battler's "Kinzo" is a title theory is correct. According to Erika her investigation showed that a living Kinzo couldn't exist outside the mansion, but she did not say which mansion. Therefore, Kinzo could have existed in Kuwadorian which was not searched. Alternativly, the courtyard counts as being inside the mansion and no indication is given that Erika searched the courtyard. Thus, Kinzo could have existed in the courtyard.
Battler was not playing a game of chess with Beatrice.
It's either a game of Mastermind or Battleship.
Erika used magic while trying to prove that Maria's candy magic wasn't magic.
The statement, Your so-called candy magic is nothing more than a sleight of hand!! Just a sleight of hand that the fake witch calling herself Beatrice or whatever claimed was magic!!,refers only to how the candy got inside the cup. It does not explain where the candy came from in the first place. We are told that when Erika arrived on Rokkenjima all she had was her swimsuit and her life jacket. Therefore,she couldn't have had any candy with her when she arrived. Furthermore, Knox's 8th. It is forbidden for the case to be resolved with clues that are not presented., no indication is ever given that she had found or been given candy at any point. Therefore, she must have created the candy using magic.
Bernkastel is jealous of Ange.
Bern isn't nice to anyone, but she seems to have a particular grudge against Ange and takes every possible opportunity to torment her. Is Bernkastel jealous of Ange? This theory seems unlikely unless Ange's story leads to a happy ending, but why else would Bern focus so much on someone who doesn't even come to Rokkenjima?
Umineko is Higurashi.
We already know that different universes exist in the When They Cry series (as explained by Bernie), but I submit that Umineko is Higurashi in a different dimmension. That is to say that in another dimmension, Keiichi is Battler, George is Satoko, Jessica is Mion, Shannon is Rika, Maria is Rena, and Rosa is Shion. However, even though the 12 characters cannot exist in the same realm together (neither can the Hinamizawa Disaster or the Rokkenjima Incident), Rokkenjima and Hinamizawa can exist in the same universe, albeit with a different cast of characters.
The witches are The Fair Folk.
Their incredibly warped sense of morality fits the bill enough, as does their desire for recognition, like Beatrice demanding the players kiss her feet and praise her name. The sacrifices are actually payments she makes to Hell in return for the use of the demons. It also explains her inability to lie, which is why she has to make up ways around whatever is stated in the red text.
Beatrice's body is made out of the spirits of Akujikishima.
When she was killed, in 1967 she didn't have enough magic power to interact with the physical world in any way. She thus resorted to consuming the spirits of Akujikishima in order to build up magic power. This explains why she has the same weaknesses they do. However, the spirit mirror limited her abillity to consume them, which is why she wanted Shannon to break it.
Lambdadelta considers her role as the Witch of Certainty more important then her other goals.
During the trial Battler tried to use the red truth, Ushiromiya Natsuhi is not the culprit!!!, but Dlanor countered with Knox's 2nd. Lambda could have backed up Battler's claim, but didn't because of this the game (temporarily) ended in Bernkastel's victory. Thus, Lambda failed in both the Game Master assigned goal of beating the detective-side, and her personal goal of having the game go on forever. However, as the Witch of Certainty, Lambda rewards those who work hard. Although Erika's theory was wrong, she reached the conclusion that Natsuhi was the culprit though hard work, while Battler was simply told that Natsuhi wasn't the culprit.
The use of the terms "humans" and "people" in the last two red truths of the sixth game is a red herring.
Those red truths were made after six people had been killed. In the fourth game it was established that the red truth doesn't count dead people. Therefore, at the start of the game there were 23 people on the island.
The meta-reality is total bullshit.
There isn't any reason to believe that it follows reality at all, or that Beatrice is ever telling the truth. In fact, the necessity of the creation of a specific universe with its own rules to "prove" that magic is real, instead of simply doing something else magical in the real world, speaks to this. Battler could just as easily avoid all this nonsense by destroying the meta-world by telling Beatrice to fuck off behind him, what what.
Maria is the detective
Battler and Maria are almost never separated, so Battler's testimony is 'locked in' to the Detective's objective observations for most of the story. Maria is conveniently absent when Battler meets Beatrice in the flesh in Episodes 2 and 4, and also when he inspects the bodies in the shed in Episode 1, all events that are surounded with mystery and innuendo for other reasons.
There's precedent: Murder mystery tradition dictates that that detective be the smartest and most eccentric person in the room, and the narrator be their not-quite-so-smart sidekick.
The Mad Staker is...
None of the parents could do it. None of the kids could do it. None of the servants could do it. A Nanjo-Shannon alliance could almost do it. Jessica could just about do it, if you assume she managed to fake her death in "Turn of the Golden Witch".
But aren't we overlooking someone? Someone very close to the heart of the case, someone who is verifiably alive at the time of each staking, someone with ample opportunity to do the deed, perhaps while the camera is away focusing on another character?
Battler isn't a killer. But he makes one hell of an accomplice.
Stakers and Fakers
An odd thing happened to Hideyoshi in Episode 5. In a closed room, he lay down on the bed and was run through by a demon stake.
So it's a fake: a pretend murder to pressure Natsuhi. But... there's something bizzare about it. Why would the 'fakers' stumble across the exact same method of murder as the killer from the previous four episodes? There's nothing in the epitaph to suggest goetic stake murder: only a vague suggestion that body parts be 'gouged'. What are the odds of the 'fakes' reinventing the 'real' stakings they know nothing about?
So.
Somewhere there is a cardbord box. The box contains stakes (some of them cunningly halved so as to harmlessly appear to pierce a body), stage blood, stencils (for the quick printing of magic circles) and other tricks of the pseudo-witch trade. The box was either assembled by the real deal and found by the fakers, or assembled by the fakers and found by the real one. The latter sounds slighty more plausible — it also fits the series theme of fake things become real.
1998 is a fantasy
Ange's persecution at the hands of a vast and faceless conspiracy, her flight across the nation in the company of her idealised boyfriend-figure, all that monkeying about with bank vaults and codes and bottle letters, did not exactly so to speak entirely honestly really... happen.
Like the man from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, she escaped a fall that should have killed her, had many exciting adventures on the run, returned home, buried her demons and... suddenly broke out into a rash of fatal wounds. Turns out the whole adventure was a fantasy flashing before her eyes in the instant before she died.
I'd hate to pull the trigger on this 'nuclear option', but it sure would explain a bunch.
Bern and Erika never intended to trap Battler in a Logic Error.
There real intention was to show that Battler didn't understand the truth of Beato's game. The Logic Error they set up had a flaw he could have used to escape. Namely, he could have claimed his piece left the room using magic. However, we know from the fifth game that Beato's games were solvable and that magic apparently doesn't count as a valid soloution. If Battler had used magic as the soloution the game would have continued until the end, but Lambda would judge that Battler had not reached the truth of Beato's game. Thus, either returning things to how they were at the start of the fifth game, or giving Erika a chance to be the Game Master.
The first twilight of the sixth game could not have been accomplished without magic.
[Erika] rekilled [Rosa, Maria, Kyrie, Natsuhi, and Eva]. Rekill means to kill someone or something that has already been killed. Killing means making a living thing into a dead thing. Dead things are not living things. A dead thing cannot be made into a living thing without magic.
Erika didn't fall off the boat, she jumped.
Bitch is crazy; she could've done it just cause, or she was suicidal over her boyfriend's betrayal.
All Games can be solved if everything was just a dream.
No matter what red truth you can use, if the detective was just dreaming, all episodes can be solved without magic.
Well, episode 1 cant, but that was not a game so... well, again, all just a bad dream.
Beato like acronyms
The names of each episode are Legend, Turn, Banquet, Alliance, End, Dawn, Requiem and Twilight. You get LTBAEDRT, order and then get BATTLERD (D can be another letter of another word, or be there just by mistake because if i recall right Dawn was a game made by Battler.
None of the Game Masters know what really happened.
According to Maria's book it takes 3 cuts to slice a piece of cheese into eight pieces. But, Erika and Battler are able to figure out how to do it with one cut. The book's riddles are a metaphor for the mysteries the Game Master presents and the answers in the book represent what the Game Master believes the solutions to the mysteries to be. Therefore, the book having the wrong answer is a metaphor for the Game Master having the wrong answer.
Erika didn't fall off the boat, she was pushed.
Erika being the Great Detective that she is had come to the conclusion that a single mastermind was behind most of the major crime in Japan, and was in the middle of gathering enough evidence to bring said mastermind to justice. Unfortunately, she wasn't discreet enough and ended up being attacked because of it.
Who was this mastermind? It was none other then popular mystery author Toya Hachijo. Since Erika's body was never found, Toya concluded that she was still alive, and had gone into hiding for the time being. Toya wrote End of the Golden Witch, and Dawn of the Golden Witch in order to taunt Erika so that she would come out of hiding.
Battler was indeed the culprit of the fifth arc and the man from 19 years ago, even if the child thrown off the cliff was actually Yasu.
I cite as evidence the meta-world fact that the Beatrice of the fifth arc was trying to defend Natsuhi. If Beatrice, and by extension Yasu, was in character (as even characters in the meta-world have to be), then she would not be trying to both get revenge on Natsuhi and defend her at the same time. In addition, the only one who has any right to hold a grudge against Natsuhi is Yasu, not Shannon or Kanon, since neither of them existed at that point.
It's also established that Battler and Shannon are a couple. If Yasu or Shannon had ever confided in Battler about their past then it's possible that Battler would have tried to get revenge on Natsuhi in order to get her to apologize to Yasu by pretending to be Yasu over the phone. It's also possible that since Natsuhi told Shannon about her favorite season, that information had also been passed on to Battler, allowing him to plant the card in her room. It's been hinted that even among normal circumstances Battler was involved in the murders on Rokkenjima. Is it really so much of a stretch to say that he would commit murder in order to right a wrong done to the person he loves?
Ange is the Culprit.
Yes, you read me right. Ange. You see, everyone's always been an asshole to Ange. Eva treats her like a snivelling brat, the cousins forget her, her mother was just using her to get control of Rudolf, and Maria stopped being friends with her after their fight. The only person who was ever nice to her was Battler, and because of his sin (forgetting Beatrice, causing the cascade of events that caused him not to come for six years), Ange grew up without her brother.
She had to kill them all for the suffering she went through. Also she's kind of a petulant and evil brat.
She faked being sick, and then stowed away in the back of the boat, then skittered around the island doing the murders and/or Bomba. Shkanon is indeed actually necessary to the plot in order to cover up the number count. It's a troll.
So she kills everyone. She is infact the one who sent out the first two message bottles, forging Yasu's handwriting and set the bitch up (This is why Meta-Beatrice is both suicidal and wanting to hide the truth; she's a personification of this fictional martyrdom of Yasu, but she wants the truth to get to Battler).
It was infact ANGE who hijacked Beatrice's innocent game, so no one figured out the horrible truth in the script until it was too late. Eva managed to escape, knowing the horrid truth. Yasu killed herself, since her game allowed this opportunity and she felt at fault. Battler and Ange actually hilariously collided on the way out and both of them drifted to different shores with amnesia of varying degrees.
Eva, knowing the truth, found and raised Ange, and realizing that the girl was amnesiac and retained her sweet personality prior to becoming embittered, and seeing that she fabricated fond and warm memories of her family, decided not to tell her the truth, and raise her lovingly. But because this is the little girl who killed her precious family, resentment and hatred slipped out. Eva is a tremendously strong woman for being as genuinely loving as she was.
Ange grew up never realizing the truth, and always yearning for her dear brother, who rises above all the other victims in her heart for some reason she can't seem to figure out despite their limited interaction. She entertains fantasies of magic, and even gains the title of "Beatrice"....why is that?
And why...WHY, does she comment that "she did something terrible to Maria, and somehow I feel that it played a role in that tragedy"?
If Maria had been her friend still...the tragedy would not have come to pass.
Why can Ange, someone who wasn't on Rokkenjima, travel to 1986's Meta World?
She was there.
Why does Bern keep torturing Ange disproportionately?
Because she deserves it. It wasn't a witch who spoiled Ange's relationship with Eva, it was her own subconscious, personified as the heartless monster that dresses up as a character from Onii-chan's favorite novel. It's the same reason Ange can see and interact with Erika in 1998, and why Bern/Erika keep "taking Ange's side" in a sense.
It's why Battler decided the catbox should be closed, and Ange should move on with her life.
It's the truth so terrible that Ange rejects it at the very end, then decides to fake her death.
It's why Ange, prior to Battler getting through to her, decided that she could trade her life if she knew the truth.
Ange fucking did it, and her entire personal journey was her trying to reclaim that memory, not knowing it would destroy her. Battler only wished to spare her little sister. Just as Toya felt that the memories of Battler would destroy him, Battler felt the memories would destroy the good-hearted Ange.
During the seventh game, Bern wasn't moving the pieces in order to hide information from Will.
When Will is first given Theatergoing authority it's mentioned that its use requires permission from the Senate. However, it's never stated that Bern actually acquired permission to give it to Will. Bernakstel illegally granted Will Theatergoing Authority. However, use of Theatergoing Authority on a subject for an extended period of time causes its use to become detectable. Bernkastel moved those piece because if Will had continued useing the Thetergoing Authority on them, the Meta!Police would have caught him, and of course he'd have no reason to hide her involvment.
In the next When They Cry series, Ange will appear as a Voyager Witch
Or whichever terminology is used in it. Just like Higurashi did, Umineko will spawn some extra recurring characters in the next work. While Beato and Battler all always centered around their gameboard, Ange keeps traveling both within and between Fragments and meeting high-level characters, so if any character does become a Voyager, it is gotta be her.
Eva did it, and I can explain why and how.
Be forewarned, there may be massive spoilers ahead. Be prepared.
It's very simple. The four sibling and their spouses solved the epitaph together. They found the gold, and there was much rejoicing. Someone, perhaps an actor brought to Rokkenjima beforehand (so as to seem real, they wouldn't believe it if one of the servants or family members was Beatrice) to play as Beatrice, and explain what they had just done, and what they inherited. Now, here is where my theory might stumble a bit. Since Rokkenjima used to be a submarine base, wouldn't it make sense that there would still be explosives? There might even been enough to destroy the mansion, along with everyone in it. Let's say, perhaps, that the bomb's explosion is as wide as one kilometer. Now, Kuwadorian is TWO kilometers from the mansion. Therefore, anyone in Kuwadorian would be able to survive the blast. Beato was willing to kill everyone on the island, should they not solve the epitaph. There is no need to explain why, since the adults already solved it, and no one was killed. The ninth twilight states that "none shall be left alive". Since the twilights seem to work off the clock, and the ninth twilight is midnight, wouldn't it make sense that the clock has something to do with the "none being left alive"? The may have been some kind of switch in a clock somewhere, which, when flipped up, would be the same as starting a countdown. When the clock hits midnight, and that switch is up, the fuse on the bombs start. However, they solved the epitaph, and no one had to die now. So, why is everyone but Eva dead...?
Eva, overcome with greed for the money, grabbed what she could, and flipped the switch. She escaped to Kuwadorian, perhaps on her feet, or perhaps via a tunnel in the VIP room under the mansion. Once there, she waited, and pretended to be innocent. This explains why she's the only one alive, why they only found Maria's lower jaw, and why they found no other bodies. This is supported by the fact that, when Ange goes to pay condolences to Maria, she is standing at the edge of a large crater. At least, in the anime she does. I never read Episode 4. This also explains why the shrine is missing. It's because Beato wanted to test the the bombs still worked. Feel free to poke fun at this and twist it around.
In Alliance, the bomb detonated on the first night.
Due to your sin, a great many humans on this island die. No one escapes, all die. However, Battler is a person on the island. If he really had the opportunity to roam freely on October 5th, then the chance existed, however slight, that he would be able to reach Kuwadorian before the bomb went off, leading to his survival. So, in order for the red given to be certainly true, Battler must already be dead. The epitaph was probably solved early on October 4th, which led to the drastically accelerated murder timeline and the bomb mechanism being set before midnight.
The consequences are that everything after midnight on October 4th was an illusion, beginning with Battler meeting Piece-Beatrice and including the whole next day's investigation on. Although Battler had control of his illusion-piece, he no longer had an objective viewpoint on account of being a corpse.
Some additional clues:
Regardless of their relationship on Rokkenjima-prime, or in any other games Shannon and Kanon are physically different people in the first five games.
Battler's goal in the sixth game was to prove he understood the truth of Beato's game, and he successfully did so. Battler was unable to solves the logic error. Therefore, the solution to the logic error cannot be part of the truth of Beato's game. The solution to the logic error is Shannon and Kanon being the same physical person. Therefore, Shakanon can not be part of the truth of Beato's game.
All of Will's explanations for the previous games are wrong.
Consider his explanation for the first twilight of the second game, "Illusion to Illusion. The golden truth locked the lock of illusion." The golden truth wasn't even introduced until the fifth game, and neither of the golden truths that have been used have anything to do with locks.
"Your so-called candy magic is nothing more than a sleight of hand!! Just a sleight of hand that the fake witch calling herself Beatrice or whatever claimed was magic!!"
is a vacusous truth.
This statement was made to MARIA. Thus the first sentence can be replaced with MARIA's so-called candy magic is nothing more than a sleight of hand!! However, the trick that was performed in that scence was Beato's candy magic, not MARIA's. Furthermore, no evidence exists that MARIA has a candy magic trick of her own. Thus, by Knox's 8th we can determine that "Your so-called candy magic" refers to an empty class, and thus Erika can say whatever she wants about it and still produce Red Truth.
As for the second sentence, the statements " The key to the chapel truly was the object inside the envelope I gave Maria" and "I am the Golden Witch, Beatrice." prove that Beatrice is a real witch and thus the "fake witch calling herself Beatrice" doesn't exist.
The in-universe author of Banquet of the Golden Witch wrote it as a fantasy story, but it was later retconned into a mystery story.
When Will says "No falsehoods in their final moments as told." He is referring to the author's original intention.
In the candy magic battle between Erika and MARIA, the Eiserne Jungfrau weren't obligated to recognize Sakutaro's diplomatic immunity.
Sakutarou's diplomatic immunity protects him from members of the Mariage Sorciere and those who have contracts with them. The members of the Eiserne Jungfrau are not members of the Mariage Sorciere nor do they have contracts with it. However, as shown they found the candy magic battle to be pointless, and thus when given an opportunity to get out of it did so.
The love duel was originally written as part of Land of the Golden Witch.
Land of the Golden Witch was suppose to be the third game, but was scrapped due to being to difficult. From a fantasy perspective it makes no sense for Shannon and Kanon to have the love duel in the sixth game when they completely rejected the idea that they were furniture in the fourth game.
Shannon and Kanon experience the games in a different order then they are played.
From their perspective Dawn of the Golden Witch takes place before Alliance of the Golden Witch.
The love duel is actually meant to show that Shakanon is false during Beato's games.
BATTLER's goal in the sixth game is to show that he understands Beato's game. The love dual is a fantastic metaphor for Shannon and Kanon being the same person physically and being torn between Jessica and George. However, the fantasy we are shown makes no sense in the context of the previous games. For example, Shannon and Kanon declared themselves to be human in the fourth game, since they retain their memories between games it doesn't make sense for them to consider themselves furniture in the sixth game. Also, The butterfly brooch just happens to summon the same demons Jessica had summoned for Mother's Day using Kinzo's grimoire, not only is that a rather contrived coincidence, but Jessica doesn't appear to recognize them at all. In short, even if magic exists there is no way the fantasy we were shown could have happened. Since the fantasy is impossible in the context of Beato's game, we can assume that its mundane counterpart is likewise impossible. Therefore, Shakanon is false.
Yasu isn't the only person who uses the Beato identity on the gameboard.
During the sixth game it's stated that Chick!Beato and Elder!Beato are to halves of the same whole. However, only Chick!Beato participates in the Love Dual. Furthermore, near the end of episode 1 Bern claims that thinking of Beato as a single person is a mistake. Furthermore, two Beatos talk to each in the fourth game, and this might have been witnessed by Battler.
The rules Dlanor gives are what (Touya thinks) Yasu thinks Knox's rules are.
In episode 2 Beato says, "Hmm. No secret passage exists that you all do not know of. Was it Knox, or was it Van Dine? It seems that in mystery novels, there must not be hidden passages, no matter what. I also follow that etiquette." While this indicates she follows Knox's 3rd it also shows she isn't 100% certain about the contents of Knox and Dine's rules. This also explains why they aren't the same as they are in our world, but for the most part are pretty close.
Okonogi Tetsuro is a lot more than just a side character
In fact, it is the same Okonogi Tetsuro from Higurashi, which is not fiction to Umineko as it was hinted in episode 1. In fact, the universe in which the Hinamizawa incident resolved without any people dying is the same universe in which Umineko takes place (and will probably resolve in happily). If Higurashi really is a work of fiction presented within Umineko, then it either shares nothing but the title with 'our' Higurashi, or it actually is the very Higurashi we had read, and is actually an account of the Hinamizawa events written down by Okonogi as part of a [[Xanatos Gambit]] in order to make people believe it's all fiction. The only way to explain this is by considering Okonogi to be a Voyager Sorcerer, who expirienced all the kakera of Higurashi and Umineko, and is dead bent on rescuing at least one kakera from the occurence of every single When They Cry murder-party. Meta!Okonogi and Piece!Okonogi are actually the same entity, and he, alongside with Tohya/Aurora/Hanyuu is one of the few entities who can actually 'sneak' themselves into the gameboards of When They Cry and masquerade as pieces. Herr Okonogi is there to save the day, while his diametric opposite, Fräulein Hachijo is a thing that is ready to prostitute the feelings, lives and integrity of everything else for personal entertainment. But before I continue, let me elaborate on the meta-levels:
[Nightmarish infinity of meta-levels stacked like layers of cake] ⊃ Rokkenjima Prime ⊃ Alliace/Dawn!1998 (meta-3) ⊃ Featherine's study (second meta-world floor) ⊃ Meta-world (first meta-world floor) ⊃ Gameboard Rokkenjima (ground floor) ⊃ [Infinity of antonymofmeta-levels]
Basically, what we have here is an analysis of the meta "cake" in Umineko, in which every layer is a gameboard to its hierarchical superior. Note that horizontal branching of meta-levels is also possible, while not depicted. This actually makes for an interesting situation where Bern's constant breaking of the fourth wall is actually justified because 龍騎士07 actually attempted to write our reality into the layered reality of When They Cry, what is, going by same logic as from above, actually a [[Xanatos Gambit]] he pulled in order to trick us into thinking that he isn't a Voyager Sorcerer (that he probably is), and that the When They Cry series aren't actually his memoires (which they probably are).
Now excuse me, I have to rest because I think I just short-circuited my brain.
Battler knew what he was doing the entire time in Episode 6
He desperately wanted to revive Beatrice, however, she was not the same person. No matter how much he wished, the Beatrice he loved would never come back. Eventually, he locked himself away in a room. The only way to get him out was to solve an impossible riddle, Beatrice solved it. And the two were reunited.
Now tell me, am I talking about Battler, or Kinzo?
When Kanon's death was declared in red during the third and fourth games he was physically dead.
In the second game we're simply told Kanon was killed in this room. Which leaves room for tricks like Kanon died, but Yoshiya or Yasu is still alive.
However in the third game we're told that 6 people: Kinzo, Genji, Shannon, Kanon, Gohda, and Kumasawa are dead! Thus, Kanon must be dead in the same way the other five are dead. (Note that there aren't any clues that would suggest Gohda's identity can be discarded).
Likewise, in the fourth game we're told Kanon is the ninth victim.
The Witch's Epitaph is fully functional magical ritual.
Furthermore, if successfully performed it will work regardless of whether or not Battler believes in magic. The person(s) trying to perform it are simply doing it wrong. The phrases "At the [nth] Twilight. . ." refer to the passage of time. In other words it takes ten days to perform, one simply cannot perform it in two.
When Toya Hachijo wrote End and Dawn she was rushing to meet a deadline.
This is the reason End ends before the third twilight, and that Kanon is the victim of most of the twilights in Dawn
Ryushiki07 is well aware of the The Bechdel Test and intentionally wrote a story that it would be difficult to apply it to.
Let's list the things required for The Bechdel Test:
If Ange and Maria had been born earlier they would have been Love Interests of Yasu.
(S)he did fall in love with all of the other cousins after all.
Ryukishi07 deliberately wrote Umineko in a way that would allow fans to easily disregard parts they don't like.
In universe, the game boards after the first two games are fanfiction based on the original two message bottles. And there's no guarantee that Ange's world and the Meta world are any more real then the game boards.
Rosa suffers from Bipolar disorder.
It would explain a whole lot. Any woman's going to be a mess if her fiance/boyfriend knocked her up then left, but Rosa's behavior goes beyond that. She experiences some pretty violent mood swings, going from an incredibly sweet mother to the mother from hell in half a second. She could have Bipolar disorder going undiagnosed.
Ronove's and Virgilia's roles should actually be filled by Shannon and Kanon, not Genji and Kumasawa.
The second Toya Hachijo assigns Ronove and Virgilia's roles to Genji and Kumasawa, he completely misunderstands Beatrice's identity. That's because the true mentors to Beatrice were not Genji and Kumasawa, but Shannon and Kanon, and Beatrice was not Shannon, but Jessica. By misunderstanding who Beatrice's mentors were, Hachijo shifted the entire identity of Beatrice to the wrong person and disguised the true main conflict of Umineko.
Now, I'll tell you a story. A story of two lonely young girls who just wanted to find happiness. Our story begins on Rokkenjima, not in the year 1967, which is the year in which Beatrice and Kinzo had their conversation and is the only one referred to by year, but the next year, 1968. For it was in the year 1968, and not 1967, in which Rosa and Beatrice Ushiromiya made their ill-fated escape from Kuwadorian. The child left was taken by Kinzo and given to Natsuhi. It is here that Hachijo makes her second fatal mistake by assuming that Natsuhi shoved the servant and child off a cliff, and that if she hadn't, then the result would have been a world in which Lion and Jessica both lived happily together. Such a world was never possible because the Rokkenjima that the message bottles tell of is in fact the world in which Natsuhi took care of the child and raised her into Jessica.
Sayo, in the meantime, grew up at the Fukuin house until she was put into the service of the Ushiromiya family as a young girl and became Shannon. Being incredibly shy and self-effacing, her time in the Fukuin house was very lonely, and she had very few friends. As a young girl, she created Yoshiya as an Imaginary Friend for her to take care of. That gave her a self-esteem boost and helped to ease her loneliness. Yoshiya also helped to reassure her during her first few years serving the Ushiromiya family. During this time, he was not a servant himself, and merely an Imaginary Friend. This also solves a small plot hole - namely, Kanon existing - even just to Shannon - before he should. In Hachijo's telling, Shannon creates Kanon at (and even possibly a little after) the time that she releases the pain that she was suffering to Beatrice, for which the mirror is a metaphor. However, Kanon appears during her conversation where Beatrice is trying to convince her to smash the mirror - before she has actually decided to. This is an impossibility that Hachijo overlooked, and it is an important key to the truth.
Jessica and Shannon were very close. Friends almost to the point of being sisters, and so eventually, Shannon was able to substitute being with Jessica for being with Yoshiya. However, though his existence was faint, Shannon was still able to call upon him to comfort her whenever stress was threatening to overwhelm her.
However, Kinzo hadn't had how awry things went with Yasu to teach him how badly he had screwed up. Although keeping Yasu away from Kinzo so that he wouldn't treat her the same way he had treated Beatrice Ushiromiya was a good idea of Hachijo's, it never actually happened. In fact, the fact that he was always left with a daughter of the last Beatrice who was always raised by him (with Jessica at a distance, but still) just led him to even more obsessively follow his Reincarnation Romance fantasies. Even though he loved Beatrice, he came to believe that he had a right to her, no matter the age. And so, starting when Jessica was still relatively young (long before Battler stopped coming to the island), he would have Jessica dress up in Beatrice's dress, and you can fill in the rest.
Krauss and Natsuhi did not know. The servants (Genji in particular) kept it a secret from them, and whenever Kinzo talked about Beatrice (the servants did their best to make sure it wasn't when Jessica was around), they chalked it up to his senility and insanity. Not that the servants didn't have a problem with it, of course, but Genji was obedient to Kinzo's whims, and none of the other servants were willing to say anything if Genji didn't - Genji being the most senior. All of them, however, at least tried to make things less painful for Jessica. That was... difficult, for good reason. However, the one who was best at calming Jessica and helping her to cope was, without question, Shannon. Jessica trusted Shannon, and Shannon knew a way to keep her calm. After all, it was Shannon who originally came up with "creating another self within yourself," not Jessica.
Shannon encouraged Jessica to become Beatrice before Kinzo, for that was what Kinzo wanted. That make things move quickly, with a minimum of pain for everyone. However, any other time, she was to be Jessica, a girl who would smile and do goofy things. She was to behave completely like a normal girl in front of her parents and in school. To help Beatrice to understand, Shannon very gently introduced her to Yoshiya. Although at first, when Beatrice and Yoshiya talked, Shannon would dress up, it didn't take long for Beatrice to understand Yoshiya's existence and copy it within herself. However, the circumstances of Yoshiya's and Beatrice's births were very different. Whereas Yoshiya was created simply as a companion, and thus Shannon was always aware of him and could have Yoshiya disappear completely at will, Beatrice was created as a way to isolate pain. She and Jessica did not communicate, and Jessica had no general awareness of Beatrice's existence after her birth.
Shannon was even more of a big sister to Beatrice than she was to Jessica. She and Jessica were very similar ages and rather like twin sisters. However, Beatrice, created in the midst of pain and confusion, was not the most emotionally well-developed, and was far more like a dependent younger sister to Shannon. Yoshiya, then, was almost like an older brother. She would cry onto their shoulders and beg them for hugs and reassurance. Eventually, Beatrice was able to expand from the concept of her own existence, with a little bit of help from Shannon, to create her own magical world to entertain herself when she was on her own. After all, if Kinzo could see multiple beings within her, and she could see multiple beings within Shannon, then why should she believe that there weren't multiple beings inside of all sorts of things?
In trying to pretend that she was, in fact, Beatrice, Jessitrice learned to nod along and agree with whatever Kinzo said as he ranted about their past together. Because of this, she began to incorporate aspects of both Beatrice Castiglioni and Beatrice Ushiromiya into her own life story in an ad hoc, jigsaw puzzle-ish manner. This is the true reason why the Beatrice of the message bottles incorporates all three Beatrices - not as some sort of confusing gambit to give hints as to her family history, but because this was the way she actually thought.
Shannon really did fall head-over-heels for Battler, as did Beatrice, but that does not connect in the way that the audience is lead to believe. Beatrice, in fact, only met Battler once, under the guise of Jessica. She quite liked him. He was very nice, if a little weird. However, one time is not enough to build an infatuation off of. Shannon, on the other hand, loved Battler and would not stop talking about him with Jessica and Beatrice. While Jessica liked to laugh it off and never thought much of it, Shannon's gushing formed most of what Beatrice knew about Battler. That combined with her one time meeting with him, and especially his "coming back on a white horse" remark led her to build him up into a Prince Charming kind of figure, to an extent that Shannon knew him too well to do, even though she was hopelessly in love with him.
There is a subway system underneath Rokkenjima
While I can't say how or why Kinzo had his own train, quite a few rules could be circumvented if there was an underground subway station connection to one of the other islands in the Izu archipelago or the mainland.
The people who have gone missing are abducted and put on a train, possibly to be killed elsewhere.
"There are no more than seventeen people on this island" was lowered from eighteen when it was declared Kinzo was dead. A train car full of fresh Mooks, possibly dressed as goat-headed butlers, was waiting underneath the island to fill in for the non-living persons and stake people.
Also, guess what's inside ◊ the arc.nsa file? ◊ * are argued in this game, I think it's worth considering.]]
Explaining "Kanon died in this room!"
Simple, really. It never says when he dies. So Shkanon murders Jessica, leaves the room, goes off and commits all of the other murders, and then happens to be in that room when the bomb goes off. Does not even require the dropping of personality theory. Multiple personalities to the death. If you assume that Genji and Gohda are in on it, the murders of Nanjo and Kumasawa can also be by him, and Shannon and the web are just a fallacy to magically explain him leaving the room and bringing the corpses with him.
Yasu survived
When Beatrice committed suicide, this was actually Yasu leaving all personalities behind and really becoming Yasu. Battler diving after him/her was him trying to stop him/her and loosing his memories afterwards, when the boat capsized. They drifted away in different directions and Yasu eventually ended up in/went back to the Fukuin House, where s/he staid and took care of the kids. When Battler saw him/her again, he accepted his memories again. I want a happy ending for them!
Not only is the Shkannon theory false, Yasu does not exist literately. However, this does NOT exclude Yasu and Beatrice from being the same.
The theory conflicts with several red truths:
1. Besides Erika, there are 17 people on the island. This number is the same as in previous games. (Episode 5) Erika has the perspective of the detective in this game AND sees BOTH Shannon and Kanon at the same time.
2. People are defined as bodies (Episode 6, might not be exact words though.) This discredits the notion that personas count as a person.
3. Servants are forbidden from being the culprit (episode 7).
4. Battler's sin is not against Beatrice If Beatrice and Shannon are the same person, then this is physically impossible.
As for Yasu, recall that episode 7 is from a magical perspective and thus is not to be trusted at face value. Symbolism is still valid though. This means that Yasu as a literal physical person does not exist. Since Yasu and Beatrice are the same entity, it means that Yasu is to be interpreted symbolically. What does Yasu symbolize you ask? The answer to that has already been given in a section of background story in the question arcs if you know where to look.
In addition, the location of the one winged eagle tatoo on "Island Beatrice" and Shannon are on different locations (front side of right leg on "Island Beatrice" and front of left leg on Shannon). There is no indication that this tatoo is anything but a permanent tatoo in this series.
I suspect that the reason for the theory even existing is due to a massive, multi-snare trap that was placed in the core arcs. Ryuukishi even said he was going to be doing such a thing in an interview before the core arcs were done and that he expected most of the fans to fall for it. Given that he's a Trolling Creator (we love it), this should not be a surprise. There are four likely snares in this trap. 1. Mis-interpretation of red truths via adding meaning that is not there. Red truths are supposed to be taken literately since they are merely truth without evidence and impossible to contradict. 2. The logic error (the double sealed room IIRC). There is a non magical solution to it. The hints needed to solve it are Erika's location, the order in which she does things, and the fact that there's three rooms in that hall. 3. The accidental "perfect closed room" in episode 6 (accidentally created by Erika). 4. Misinterpretation of what Yasu is considering the point of view (subjective) not being taken into consideration. 5. The seeming conflicting red truths regarding 18 and 17 people in episode 6. That discrepancy is not about Shannon and Kanon, its about Erika. The reason for the difference is a simple contra factual involving alternate timelines (which are therefore alternate worlds differing by differences between time lines). Alternate timelines/worlds is a common element of When They Cry. In most time lines, Erika would be dead rather than surviving. Its a similar trick used to rule out Kinzo as one of the "bodies".
This asks the question of who is "Island Beatrice". To prevent internet spoilers (something Ryuukishi said in an interview he wanted to avoid to protect the hard work of those who correctly solved the mystery), I shall not say who I believe to be the prime culprit. I will however say this: it says.......quite a lot actually, explains certain priorities, and explains the symbolic meaning of Yasu.
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