Recap / Umineko When They Cry Episode 5

Warning: This page contains unmarked spoilers for "End of the Golden Witch" and previous Episodes

Prologue

Continuing from EP 4's ending, Beatrice is rendered catatonic and Meta-Battler is thinking on remaining mysteries. Lambdadelta takes over the game despite his objection, and after he takes a short break, the game has advanced past the first twilight without him. Jessica, Hideyoshi, George, Genji, Rosa and Maria have their necks cut open. A new human (Erika) indicts Natsuhi.

Over a year ago, Kinzo dies peacefully in his bed, with Krauss and Natsuhi grieving. Krauss panics, because his moon tourism investment has failed and he put Rokkenjima as a collateral. Natsuhi starts talking to Kinzo's ghost and her own version of Beatrice, then decide with Krauss to lie about Kinzo dying and gets too invested.

In 1985, Kanon and Shannon have joined the ruse. Bernkastel brings up Knox's Commandments. Meta-Battler finally confirms that everything he's shown includes each person's imagination, but rejects the offer to see "true events" because it hurts Beatrice. Kyrie pushes Rudolf into blackmailing Krauss. Eva and Hideyoshi guess that Kinzo is dead. Natsuhi gets a phone call from someone calling himself her son, seeking revenge for 19 years ago.

The First Day

Previous demons join as Natsuhi's furniture. Some castaway girl gets drifted to Rokkenjima and is introduced as Erika Furudo, the Kid Detective, who Bernkastel states is her avatar and clarifies did not exist before, with Natsuhi calling her parents to confirm her identity. Illusion-Beatrice seems to be self-aware. Erika is introduced to the Epitaph and deduces the inheritance riddle for everyone. Bernkastel takes Meta-Battler to the Sea of Fragments and explains half of the solution to the Epitaph based of Episode 3.

Demons suggest moving Kinzo's corpse from the study. Battler and Erika solve the Epitaph off-screen and find the gold. Battler sees Kinzo, who "appears to" name him as the successor. Adults validate the gold, but Natsuhi objects to it. Virgilia confirms that the Epitaph is not related to Beatrice's motive or murders, and Meta-Battler deduces that there's symbolism only Asumu's Battler would know. Natsuhi prevents everyone from seeing Kinzo. The mysterious man calls Natsuhi again, who appears to know everything happening on the island and makes her obey him. Someone knocks on the door and everyone finds Beatrice's envelope in the corridor with the family ring inside, acknowledging Battler.

Natsuhi and Illusion-Beatrice discuss that if Kinzo wanted a perfect successor, he could have used the Fukuin orphanage for it. When Jessica was born, Natsuhi wished the baby she had adopted a year earlier would disappear, who soon falls off the cliff along with the servant taking care of it, and Natsuhi takes it as a Deal with the Devil. Lambdadelta shows she's the one talking over the phone with Voice Changeling, and Erika can move in the Meta-World freely.

The Second Day

The corpses of George, Jessica, Rosa and Maria are discovered with the magic circle. Erika unapologetically tries to investigate and everyone asks her to leave. Erika uses "Detective's Authority", a form of Red Truth that compels humans to assist her investigation. Genji's corpse is found. Natsuhi gets a call that Krauss is taken hostage but is still alive. People find blood in Krauss's room. Upon re-examination, the corpses have disappeared, revealed to be Gaap's doing.

Everyone breaks into Kinzo's study. Eva finally brings up suspicion about Kinzo's death. Erika presses Natsuhi for lying, while fighting Illusion-Beatrice in the Meta-World. Then she summons Eiserne Jungfrau as her furniture, who can use Red Truth to validate evidence on Erika's behalf and give Illusion-Beatrice a Curb-Stomp Battle. Before everyone agrees Natsuhi hasn't seen Kinzo, Battler steps in and finds a hole in Erika's logic, as Kinzo maybe be that crazy to jump from the 3rd floor to escape by showing it himself (later explained that he climbed down the rain gutter).

In the Meta-World, Dlanor A. Knox hangs out with Virgilia and Meta-Battler. Erika punishes Eiserne Jungfrau, then goes over a scene of envelope's discovery and the door knock, when everyone are confirmed to be elsewhere, but fails to find an answer. Natsuhi hides in the closet as instructed and remembers than Shannon is the only one who could have answered her question over the phone. Hideyoshi enters the room and soon gets killed in a locked room, and since the culprit has disappeared Natsuhi looks extra bad. Erika gathers everyone at the Summation.

Lambdadelta gathers the Court of Illusions where all fantasy and copies of human characters assemble, with the accusation of Natsuhi being presented as a trial for Illusion-Beatrice. Erika doesn't rely on Dlanor A. Knox and holds the prosecution personally, proving everyone's alibi with duct tape traps. Virgilia tells Meta-Battler that Natsuhi is innocent, but as a supernatural source he can't use this information against a detective. Krauss is confirmed dead. Illusion-Beatrice loses and is about to get executed. Meta-Battler objects and fights Eiserne Jungfrau, but nothing works and is executed with her.

Natsuhi's potential Freudian Excuse is found in her old diaries. Erika suddenly brings up that Battler defended Kinzo being alive, so she makes up a new narrative where Kinzo is an accomplice and her lover, provoking Natsuhi to confirm his death, but she refuses. After humiliating Natsuhi, Labmbadelta gives up and the "new truth" is written over the events. Natsuhi admits that 19 years ago, she accidentally pushed the servant with the baby over the fence. Battler comes to his senses and credits roll.

Tea Party

Erika is asked to compile a new truth for Episodes 1-4 with Natsuhi as the culprit. The Seven Stakes are revealed to be based off swindlers in New York. Chiester Sisters are rewritten to be manifestations of the Winchester rifles. Erika is promoted to a witch and is asked to lead the next game.

Beatrice arrives and cried over Meta-Battler's corpse before turning to dust. A flashback shows Dlanor A. Knox discussing Knox's Decalogue and nature of love and fiction with Meta-Battler. Virgila confirms that Beatrice's crimes were meant to be solvable. Before he passes on, Meta-Battler tries to use the Decalogue to solve the Myth Arc and appears to find the final truth in the Sea of Fragments, preventing him from being Killed Off for Real. Meta-Battler wakes up in the Court of Illusions only to see Beatrice to disappear.

When Erika checks on him, Meta-Battler manifest a golden sword. Bernkastel objects to a re-trial, but Labmbadelta promotes him to Endless Sorcerer and the Game Master as well. Meta-Battler battles Dlanor A. Knox and Erika by proposing he is the man from 19 years ago and the culprit. Demons show up and, with The Power of Friendship, show more holes in Erika's judgment. Meta-Battler uses Gold Truth to confirm Kinzo's Dead All A Long despite lacking evidence, pushing the game back to a tie and Erika swears revenge.

---

Tropes:

• 10-Minute Retirement: Meta-Battler lets the witches do as they please and quits the game, then decides them dishonoring Beatrice's game is too much of an offense and comes back.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: At the finale, Meta-Battler makes a statement in Golden text, which lets him destroy Detective's Authority by using evedience that hasn't been presented. The exact mechanics are not explained.
• Aborted Arc: Rudolf wanted to tell something to Battler regarding his birth, but doesn't do that on the following day.
• Accidental Murder: Natsuhi grabbed a servant leaning on a broken fence by the shoulder. Instead of pulling her away, it caused her to fall, along with the baby she was holding. Both are found dead and Natsuhi has been troubled for 19 years.
• Anachronism Stew: Erika makes a Shout-Out to Yukito Ayatsuji's Anraku Isu Tantei, with Illusion-Beatrice remarking that Yukito Ayatsuji hasn't even debuted in 1986.
• Anthropomorphic Personification: Erika's Eiserne Jungfrau are pretty much guardians of her detective reasoning despite being employed by force, with each "blocking" Kinzo's potential escape routes. Battler showing there is way is presented as him breaking through their Anti-Magic barrier with Anti-Anti-Magic.
• Anti-Villain: Bernkastel and Erika are partially responsible for the mystery and show to be completely heartless, but for as much as it bothers Battler, Erika is doing his job of searching for the murderer.
• Arc Villain: With Beatrice being an Empty Shell, Lambdadelta takes over from her as the Killer Game Master, a position she gives away in the end.
• Awesomeness Is a Force: Battler's Endless Nine mentioned in Episode 3 is now used offensively to crush Eiserne Jungfrau's barriers through bluffing and he is shown to actively fight with swords, which are only representations of his arguments.
• Bad Boss: Bernkastel threatens that if Erika can't solve the mystery, she'll just throw her into the void for eternity. Even when Erika wins, Bernkastel tells how pathetic she has been and has no value other than being her toy.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Erika puts the crime on Natsuhi which is what goes down in history, while she gets promoted into a witch. Illusion-Beatrice gets executed by the Court of Illusions and Meta-Battler is executed as well. Subverted, as Meta-Battler finds strength to come back and defeats Erika.
• Bad Powers, Good People: Dlanor A. Knox clarifies that she doesn't have an issue with magic or even Black Magic by itself. If it makes people happy, it doesn't matter if some trickery was used. Meta-Battler realizes him being Agent Scully has made him single-minded when illusions are neither bad nor have to be supernatural in nature.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • Natsuhi wishes for there to be a storm on the day of the conference, so nobody would get in or out until the distribution of wealth is finished. Cue Closed Circle. And Erika happens to get in despite the storm, and ruins her life before the police can even arrive.
  • Natsuhi wished her adopted child to disappear since she has now given birth to Jessica. The child dies in an accident and Natsuhi believes she has sold off her soul.
• Berserk Button: Erika has no tolerance to her detective display being questioned and holds a grudge against anyone who interrupts her for any reason.
• Blackmail:
  • Lambdadelta and Bernkastel push Meta-Battler into starting the new game with them, instead of trying to wake Beatrice up, using Ange's uncertain death in the future as leverage.
  • The mysterious man makes a direct threat to expose whatever Natsuhi did 19 years ago and she suddenly obeys him unconditionally. He goes further and also kidnaps Krauss, later confirmed dead despite the promise.
• Bland-Name Product: Maria goes to the newly opened Delzney World.
• Captain Obvious: After Illusion-Beatrice stops defending Kinzo escaping the study to try something else, Gertrude informs Dlanor A. Knox that Illusion-Beatrice has changed her strategy. She also declares that Battler targets Cornelia after he himself has said so.
• Central Theme: Some truths are subjective. When there's no way to confirm something for sure, the events will be remembers by how people have interpreted it, even if it's false. Delusional people also don't know they see delusions and it's not always a bad thing.
• Character Development: Meta-Battler realizes that instead of denying magic, he instead should be looking for the reason people rely on it and accept that it is at least real to the people who are desperate. The Board Battler seeing an illusion of Kinzo is treated as a sign that he no longer rejects the illusions even if he doesn't think they are supernatural.
• Church Militant: Being Fair-Play Whodunnit enforcers, Eiserne Jungfrau are presented as an inquisition who hunt down demons with robotic determination.
• Company Cross References: Lambdadelta asks Meta-Battler if he's going to use an unknown virus that causes mass delusions called the Rokkenjima Syndrome, bringing up other theories relevant to Higurashi: When They Cry.
• Con Man: Some American tries to invite Krauss into moon tourism investment, which he accepts unconditionally to get a head start over the rich monopolies. Natsuhi quickly deduces Krauss sold the mansion to god knows who and he still trusts a person he barely met over his wife, even going into some illegal depths for it.
• Continuity Nod: Since it was established in the last Episode that Ange was on Rokkenjima before as a child, and has missed the 1986 conference due to a sudden illness, both parts are retroactively added to Battler's exposition about his family.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Erika fills in the role of Token Evil Teammate from Maria, who knows what's that's happening for the most part and is trying to solve the rest, while Be as Unhelpful as Possible to Battler and approving the murders occurring to satisfy a witch. While Maria is Obliviously Evil, Erika is a chronic dog-kicker, and being Ambiguously Human has no interests other winning the game on Bernkastel's behalf. Ironically, Maria is one of the first victims.
• Deader than Dead: It's revealed that the punishment for losing the game is being left in the darkness of oblivion, though with magic Death Is Cheap.
• Death Is Cheap: Meta-Battler has already been Deader than Dead in Episode 2 and Episode 4 and comes back every time. Here, even the heavens themselves executing him fails to finish him off.
• Decoy Protagonist: For the first twilight, "Piece Battler" is noted to be slightly smarter than usual, while also not being very proactive, but otherwise acts the same as him. Meta-Battler later confirms that in the flashback Lambdadelta was in control, though Dlanor A. Knox clarifies this Battler has Copied the Morals, Too.
• Detective Mole: Despite not being the killer herself, Erika is Bernkastel's puppet and is aware the murders will occur ahead of time, which she doesn't prevent to enjoy the thrill of investigation. It is heavily implied Natsuhi is The Scapegoat, and Erika's humiliation of her is worthy of her "intellectual rapist" title. She also siphons some of Battler's protagonist privileges, though it's not explained which exactly.
• Determinator: Natsuhi refuses to betray Kinzo's expectations even when it's been confirmed that the real Kinzo never liked her, and her refusing to take the plea would mean her "honor" will go down in history as a murderer who has been sleeping with Kinzo.
• Dislikes the New Guy: Jessica is the only one not comfortable by Erika, as the only other girl, adults praise her manners and intelligence, and also for correctly figuring that Kinzo doesn't trust Jessica's father. Erika notices this attitude and takes great offense to it.
• Due to the Dead: When Gaap stole five corpses, it's later noted that they were laid in a row with their hands joined.
• Empty Shell: For the majority of the Episode, Beatrice is so hurt, she barely even moves and doesn't react to provocations. She slightly recovers at the end only to fall to Death by Despair.
• Evil All Along:
  • As shown early on, instead of simply being a cruel pragmatist, Bernkastel forces Meta-Battler to play against Lambdadelta because it's fun to her, keeps insulting Beatrice and Meta-Battler, and continues to be a Wild Card during arguments despite being on his team. She sees no worth in human life, even the "daughter"'s, and Meta-Battler tries to go against her as well on top of everything.
  • Erika is revealed to be a self-insert by Bernkastel, who quickly grows to antagonize Jessica for being inferior to her in intelligence and shows to support the crimes occurring For the Evulz. While it wouldn't been out of place in Mystery Fiction, her mentally grinding Natsuhi into confession is treated as a monstrous cruelty, despite that Natsuhi has been confirmed to not be the culprit.
• Fair-Play Whodunnit: Bernkastel insists that Battler should not only go with "no magic" theory, but to also follow Ronald Knox's Commandments (though slightly altered) to explain all Rokkenjima incidents, but he doesn't trust this. Even when all Commandments are supported by Red Truth, Meta-Battler demonstrates that real culprits don't behave rationally and Commandments leaves some room for interpretations.
• Falling into His Arms: When Illusion-Beatrice "escapes" the study by jumping into the window, she falls into Battler's arms who has seemingly demonstrated this method. Accompanied by roses, even. She asks to jump with Bridal Carry next time.
• Foe Romance Subtext: Battler catches Illusion-Beatrice and she declares her "riddle" is his alone. This looks like a marriage proposal.
• Friendly Enemy: Despite being opponents, Bernkastel and Lambdadelta enjoy the murders like kids at a tabletop game.
• Foreshadowing:
  • When everyone gathers at the parlor for the introductions, Bernkastel confirms in Red that there are no humans other than who Battler sees there. When Battler brings up an exact number, despite it being something very obvious, Bernkastel doesn't confirm it.
  • It is stated that Knox's Decalogue is inferior to Van Dine's Commandments, but they don't make an appearance this Episode.
• Good Samaritan: In contrast to the adults, when Battler sees the gold for the first time, his first thought is providing 100 random people for life for the hell of it.
• Graceful Loser: Dlanor A. Knox smiles when Battler is about to beat her, praising him for finding her weakness while following the rules, and asks to finish her off which he refuses. Then she goes out of their way to meet Meta-Battler to give an apology without the usual aggression, and to give a lot of hints about Lambdadelta and Bernkastel stalling the game for unknown reason and the nature of the Myth Arc.
• Hanging Judge: Illusion-Beatrice fears that in the Court of Illusions, Lambdadelta can declare Natsuhi guilty because everyone believes in the explanation, even if it's factual. This is exactly what happens.
• Heroic Second Wind: Meta-Battler is rendered Deader than Dead and left as a display. He finds the strength to come back anyway.
• Hope Spot: Battler and Erika find the gold before the game even begins. Murders averted? Now someone is carrying out the murders disregarding Beatrice's motives.
• How We Got Here: Bernkastel gives Meta-Battler some time to get in the mood to play. By the time he checks on Beatrice and comes back, Bernkastel and Lambdadelta are already past the first twilight with the former allegedly winning, so Meta-Battler has to watch the flashbacks with his counterpart moving without him.
• Hypocrite:
  • Erika yells that it's inconceivable that Kinzo would risk injury to jump from the third floor to avoid discovery, and insults everyone for getting to irrational. While using Detective's Authority as a Emotion Suppression so people act only in ways that benefit her and she herself is prone to tantrums.
  • Erika is very boisterous of her detective skills despite knowing that the mystery was tailor-made to be easy for her. She also uses "no magic" deduction like Battler, but relies on Anti-Magic summoned minions to make most of the arguments for her, and uses Detective's Authority as a convenient hypnosis, which is also extra ironic.
  • Erika takes offense to "Trap X" type of Bat Deduction. Yet, when she questions the envelope placement, she claims it used some unknown type of glue that gets unstuck at exact time, and "some kind of secret contraption" can produce a door knocking sound, while praising herself, further going on and on with Insane Troll Logic she has criticized Beatrice for earlier. She also insists that all clues should be foreshadowed, but her inhuman persistence and how investigation tools work were not shown before their reveal.
• Jack the Ripoff: The Seven Stakes note that the murders this time are lacking the emotions Beatrice had in the last games. Even the temporarily clone of Beatrice feels it gets in the way of her obligation to assist Natsuhi. The Seven Stakes also note the magic circles have small defects.
• Jerkass: Once the murders start, Erika shows just how inhuman she is by interrupting everyone's grieving and using hypnosis to access the corpses. She also really despises Ange and Jessica for not being as single-minded as her, and Beatrice for adding her emotions into previous games.
• Kick the Dog: When Natsuhi is about to be found guilty, she makes a heroic speech how Kinzo has believed in her. Bernkastel calls her delusional in red and that Kinzo would never say that. Since Natsuhi still refuses to betray him, Labmbadelta uses Red to say that Kinzo was nowhere to be found, but doesn't use Red when discussing her room to accuse her in sleeping with him. They both even know Kinzo was Dead All A Long.
• Kid Detective: Compared to Battler's Amateur Sleuth, Erika Furudo is the stereotypical young detective of Mystery Fiction, created by Bernkastel to take over Battler's role, and is noted to be younger than Jessica.
• Lack of Empathy: When Battler asks Erika if she even has a heart due to prioritizing own amusement over people's feelings, she bluntly replies that she doesn't have one. After running Natsuhi's pride through the ground, she even calls her Despair Event Horizon boring.
• Literal Split Personality: There are two Beatrices, one that stays with Meta-Battler and being catatonic, and the other cloned by Lambdadelta to oversee the game and to assist Natsuhi.
• Locked Room Mystery:
  • Kinzo has disappeared from his study after Natsuhi has talked to him and all entrances were locked. Erika concludes it means Natsuhi has been lying about it to begin with. Instead of accepting this, Battler supports Natsuhi's lie by claiming Kinzo has jumped through the window behind Natsuhi's back.
  • Hideyoshi is stabbed in a room with a chain lock. Natsuhi has been hiding in the closet and doesn't know where the culprit has left.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane:
  • At first, the game makes it very blunt the magic characters are Natsuhi's delusions, but they also appear to collect information or move evidence separately of her, and Erika with Battler can talk to them too.
  • Lambdadelta is shown to be impersonating Natsuhi's son using Voice Changeling. However, given that witches shouldn't be real, it's possible someone in the mansion really is blackmailing her, and Battler claims it could have been himself.
  • Erika is such an obedient Bernkastel's self-insert with borderline magic abilities, it's natural to assume she's an Artificial Human who has descended from outer space. She is also creepily The Unfettered and can stay in one spot for hours without even moving. But it being irrational, it means she has to have some history before Rokkenjima and is just Born Lucky. The first thing Natsuhi does is to call her contact, so she at least has parents.
  • Virgilia materializes a tea cup in the Meta-World. Dlanor A. Knox says that as far as she cares, they are sitting in a real room and Virgilia has pulled the tea from some blind spot. Knox's Decalogue forbids the existence of magic, but explicitly allows going along with someone's narrative. And even if it was made with magic, she doesn't have Fantastic Racism to reject a courtesy.
• Mêlée à Trois: The game becomes a match with Lambdadelta and the unknown culprit, versus Bernkastel and Erika, versus Natsuhi, Illusion-Beatrice and Battler.
• Metafiction: The ending compares the relationship between writers and readers as romantic. Readers read Mystery Fiction because they trust Fair-Play Whodunnit, and writers write Mystery Fiction because they trust the readers will attempt to solve puzzles instead of zooming to the solution.
• Mood Whiplash: When the second day starts, it opens with a peaceful imagery, before jumping right to the murder scene. After the initial examination is done, the scene cuts to Gohda and Shannon enjoying cooking.
• Mundane Made Awesome: Erika and Eva simply accusing Natsuhi of hiding Kinzo's corpse is represented with Storming the Castle with almost a dozen of demons involved, and then Battler joins in. It's a massive total war and Battler beats Dlanor A. Knox in mid-air. Which in reality is just three people yelling at each other in front of a crowd until Battler jumps through the window, and later clarified that he climbed down the drainpipe.
• Never the Obvious Suspect: Natsuhi has a lot to hide and is lacking alibi for the first twilight. Erika suspects her right away and Battler tries to find other possibilities. When Hideyoshi was murdered, Natsuhi so happened to be hiding in the room and everyone else was with Erika, so the detective makes a formal accusation. In the end, it's confirmed she was set-up, but is found guilty by failing to provide another suspect.
• Once More, with Clarity: Episode 5 re-threads a lot of tricks and motives from the previous Episodes and shows how they could have been done.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Battler and Illusion-Beatrice show Lambdadelta and Bernkastel that it's their fight, and they will not tolerate even the higher Cosmic Chess Game butting in.
• Pass the Popcorn: Bernkastel makes a Goat butler to deliver her popcorn, noting that they eat it too while idle.
• Photographic Memory: Erika threatens Natsuhi to not touch anything, as she has scanned the full environment of every room in detail.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Dlanor A. Knox says she's an inquisitor only when summoned. When not on the job, her opinions are complete opposite of Church Militant she displays on the field. She is even offended being a subordinate of evil Erika.
• The Reveal:
  • Kinzo passed away in peace at least a year ago. Natsuhi, Krauss, Genji, Nanjo and Kumasawa have hidden the corpse to stall the legal investigation until Krauss can pay off the debt. Kanon and Shannon later are asked to act along as well and Kinzo gets own daily schedule before claiming he doesn't want to see anyone.
  • Bernkastel validates Battler's theory regrading Unreliable Narrator. What Meta-Battler sees is what a person of interest wants to see, including dead people and displays of magic. A Red Truth can validate the scenes, but in the absence of one, Meta-Battler has to keep in mind that any given person will be indistinguishable from a disguise or someone's delusion.
  • The Epitaph has nothing to do with the murders and is mainly Kinzo's riddle. Why the culprit chose to imitate it is something the real Ushiromiya Battler would have known.
  • Shannon is at best the culprit's accomplice because she's the only one to know Natsuhi's private information the mysterious man blackmails her with.
  • Battler is said to be a detective, meaning he has the same abilities as Erika and so far has been using them unwittingly.
• The Rival: Erika is the secondary detective and operates on a principle that all mysteries should work like puzzles, disregarding people having emotions. Battler on the other hand wants to know not just who-dun-it, but why-dun-it, and finds new Devil's Proofs Erika missed due to them being irrational.
• Rule of Symbolism: As the "lowest ranked", Erika sits on the opposite end of the yable from where Kinzo sits. Since Kinzo isn't present, the narrator comments one could mistake Erika as the master of the mansion, which she effectively is.
• Sadistic Choice: Either Natsuhi takes the blame and admits Kinzo is dead, or she'll blame Kinzo. She refuses to do either, so Bernkastel makes up the worst interpretations about Kinzo before choosing for her.
• Self-Serving Memory: When Natsuhi recalls wishing her adopted child disappearing, she gets two contradictory flashbacks, one where the servant holding it fell off the cliff on accident, and another where Illusion-Beatrice and her minions killed them on her request and take the guilt away from her.
• Serial Escalation: Eiserne Jungfrau stand even higher in the hierarchy than Chiester Sisters, while Battler has to fight on an even higher plane of meta than the Meta-World.
• Shadow Archetype: While Battler slowly learns to accept that illusions are "real" to the people using them due to personal issues, Erika is a continuation of Battler who rejects illusions and treats his relative as an unsympathetic murderer, evidence be damned.
• Shared Family Quirks: It's repeatedly stated that Battler being a Fearless Fool is very close to how Kinzo was. Battler doesn't know this, but Ange has also escaped pursuit in Episode 4 by jumping through a high window.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: It's elaborated that Kinzo may have turned out the way he is possibly after receiving a head injury during World War II, which made him believe in miracles.
• Shout-Out:
  • Lambdadelta says "untap, upkeep, draw" when ending her turn.
  • Illusion-Beatrice brings up that the current situation reminds her of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Ronove corrects her that neither of the three kingdoms were victorious in the end.
  • Erika's remark about her "little grey cells" is a reference to Hercule Poirot.
  • Labmbadelta seems to have halls decorated in style of Galaxy Express 999 and Night on the Galactic Railroad. The Third Man and Children of Paradise are also mentioned.
• Skewed Priorities: Despite there being serial murders, Gohda feels it's important to show off himself as more competent than Kanon. At the same time, Natsuhi and the servants feel hiding Kinzo's death is more important than there being a serial killer on the loose.
• Smug Snake: As much as Erika is an unhinged Mystery Fiction fan, Battler humiliates her by showing he knows more about book trivia than her. Battler also shows to be a more competent detective due to Erika not understanding human emotions.
• Snowball Lie: Krauss has effectively took Kinzo's money that hasn't been inherited yet to finance his failing investments, produces no good result for over a year, and potentially faces criminal charges as well. As a heir, he and Natsuhi keep telling everyone how things are going smoothly. Krauss goes into more investments hoping to pay for previous debts and Natsuhi gets other servants involved in the ruse despite Kinzo only approving this in her head. Once the gold is discovered, it gets really ugly when Kinzo's final word is required and she still insists he's hiding.
• Story-Breaker Power: Erika's Detective's Authority and Dlanor A. Knox summon enforce Fair-Play Whodunnit to the point of effectively giving her mass-brainwashing and Winds of Destiny, Change! abilities. She can also use Red Truth to confirm her own theories without checking or waiting for confirmation from the suspect. The only limitation is that it needs to be physically verifiable and not simply given through supernatural means to avoid Bat Deduction. It's purposely unrealistic because Bernkastel and Lambdadelta don't care about realism. Also, Erika is aware of the game despite being a piece, and has been going around the mansion setting traps for the culprit before the crime even occurred.
• The Summation: Erika collects everyone at the parlor to demonstrate her reasoning for the first twilight.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Kinzo being Dead All A Long gets progressively harder to keep hidden when Natsuhi and the servants keep coming up with absurd excuses why nobody is allowed to enter the study. Erika finds it really boring.
• Sycophantic Servant: Bernkastel has created Erika as a proxy, who is happy with her position and notes she's a more reliable pawn than Ange was, despite Bernkastel abusing and threatening her.
• Tempting Fate: Illusion-Beatrice tries to argue that Battler doesn't have an alibi after 3:00 and rhetorically asks if Erika can confirm this. Erika was in fact listening to his nap through the wall until morning without a break.
• That Was Objectionable: At the court. Illusion-Beatrice objects to Erika to stall for time, but can't find anything to object to.
• Throwing the Fight: Dlanor A. Knox shows that Kinzo being Dead All A Long or the window never being open could have beaten Battler right away, but Lambdadelta vetoed such easy victory.
• The Time Traveller's Dilemma: Illusion-Beatrice says that even if she wins and moves to a different timeline, she has made a promise to Natsuhi of this board to protect her.
• Title Drop: Meta-Battler calls the game "The End of the Golden Witch" since Beatrice is no longer a player, and Lambdadelta names the Episode explicitly when it starts.
• The Unsolved Mystery: Since the game ends on the first twilight, how the bodies were moved doesn't get resolved. The question of the envelope's placement and the door knock is left unresolved. Battler claims the identity of the Man from 19 years ago as a miraculously survived child, but it doesn't get confirmed.
• Wham Shot:
  • One of the first things Battler sees in the game is Erika Furudo, a human he has never seen on Rokkenjima before.
  • Battler solves the Epitaph and shows the gold to everyone, with everyone accepting him as the next family head.
  • Erika hypnotizes everyone in the mansion into treating her as a proper detective.
  • Erika has a furniture set of her own who allow her to use witch privileges despite being a human.
  • Meta-Battler objects to the execution of Illusion-Beatrice, but since he can't find another solution, is double-killed with her.
  • Meta-Battler realizes Big Bad's identity and that it's all his fault, which gives him the power of "understanding the full game" and ascends him to the 6th Episode's Game Master.
• Winds of Destiny, Change!: Detective's Authority is a special ability of Erika Furudo that makes it so her actions as an investigator of Mystery Fiction are uninterrupted, which makes it so that people besides suspects always cooperate with her regardless of their prior protests and the culprit would never use a method that wasn't announced beforehand.
• Written by the Winners: The theme of the chapter is that "truth" is what the detective proclaims, and what really happened is lost forever.
• Villainous Breakdown: Erika completely loses her marbles when Battler shows that her trying to invalidate Natsuhi talking with Kinzo overlooks that Kinzo could have escaped through a blind spot, yelling This Cannot Be! and Laughing Mad even after he demonstrates it himself.
• Villain Protagonist: Erika Furudo is added as a Sixth Ranger to the cousins, before revealing to be Ambiguously Human, specifically added to take over Battler's role as The Protagonist, and has been putting the blame on Natsuhi despite knowing she isn't the culprit.
• Villain Respect: The Chiester Sisters are so used to Battler's crazy display of logic, when he steps in against their new master Erika, they are looking forward to whatever he's going to pull.
• You Have Failed Me: Erika punishes Cornelia and Gertrude for losing by making them balance on one leg and knocking her over repeatedly and forbidding them to cry. When Dlanor A. Knox asks to take their place, Erika responds that there's no point punishing someone lacking emotions.

---