Battler's theory : The crime was committed by the kid from 19 years ago ! Who is one of the 18... Battler himself ! After all, the 4th novel proved that he was not Asumu's son, both the 1st and 5th made Rudolf fidgety, and the 5th in particular hinted at a reveal about Battler's birth...
But, didn't Erika give an alibi for Battler ? Well, it only goes as far as the "discovery of the cousins' corpses", which was Battler screaming about it. But Erika didn't come there right away (she checked her various seals before that), and didn't even examine the corpses in detail when she finally came. There was a distinct possibility for faked deaths (especially if Dr Nanjo was in the confidence). Especially as the victims' deaths were only confirmed at 24:00 on the second day, when the trial took place.
By the way, Erika has been using Grampa as an explanation for the corpses' disappearance. But he's dead before the beginning of all games ! No, that's just red truth against red truth. Let's use something more powerful. Here is Grampa's corpse ! The golden truth is a special weapon available only to the Game Master, and reflects a true understanding of Beato's game. Which is what Battler has just achieved. Even Lambdadelta and (reluctantly) Bernkastel acknowledge it, though Erika is determined to go down fighting.
Wait, how could Battler have lied about discovering the corpse ? The detective can't have a subjective point of view ! There was no hint that Battler had ceased being the detective in this game !
Actually, yes there was. Remember when Battler was on his way to solving the epitaph, and claimed to have seen Grampa ? Or, according to the 4th game, nobody among the 18 could mistake Grampa with anybody/anything else. The very purpose of that scene was to establish that Battler's viewpoint was subjective ! Wow, just wow.
(It must be mentioned that a lot more red and blue are used in this scene than I'm showing, but it doesn't translate well in a summary. Also, there's an epic What Do You Mean, It's Not Awesome? fight scene as Battler summons Ronove, Gaap, Virgilia and the 7 Stakes to curbstomp Erika and Dlanor. This should be very impressive if it's ever animated.)
Dlanor lies defeated, and Bernkastel is starting to get angry at her pawn
◊. Will Erika please change her theory right now so that it doesn't rely on Grampa ? Well, so she does, but everyone, from Bernkastel to Dlanor, acknowledge that the new version is pathetic. But hey, it still works ! So does Battler's, though. And thus Lambdadelta concludes the 5th game as a draw. She'll now give control of the board to Battler, the new Game Master, the Endless Sorcerer.
So now the 6th game will start : Battler vs. Erika ! Let's get ready to ruuuuuumble ! (But Battler will change the title. Erika's was far too cheesy.)
Well, it's now over... and I'll need some time to re-arrange my thoughts about the whole thing. I'm pretty sure "Battler as the kid from 19 years ago" is a red herring (i.e. it might be true, but that doesn't make him the real culprit — what we've seen of his theory destroys nearly everyone's alibi).
Overall, it was a very enjoyable chapter, with barely any scene dragging on for too long, and with a good dose of awesome thrown in. (Of particular note, Battler's demonstration of how Grampa could have escaped, and Dlanor. Just Dlanor.) Lambdadelta & Bernkastel's takeover was very well played, and Erika carefully built up as an adversary you just love to hate. The new "Battler vs. Erika" status quo sounds fun, and it may even last until the end (though the Dawn of the Golden Witch title for EP 6 sounds like Battler may succeed in bringing Beato back to life).
Basically, it was just plain fun, which was a relief after all the Wangst brought in by Ange in EP 4. Not that it lacked touching moments, either (any of the Battler/Beato scenes, or Natsuhi's struggle).
I may take the time later to jot down some theories about what really happened in this chapter, but then we'll have to wait until the Witch Hunt translates EP 6... which should be around June or so.
