Umineko EP 5 - End of the Golden Witch

# Notes - **Prologue** (MW) - LAMBDADELTA is the gamemaster of this game. - Ronove says about this game that: "It did not… have love." - **Magic of Miracles** (SB) - As claimed by BEATRICE in the 4th game, Kinzo did die well before October 1986. - Krauss explains to Natsuhi that he used Kinzo's money as collateral and is now in a very precarious position. - Natsuhi imagines a conversation with a Kinzo from her own imagination - BEATRICE agrees to help Natsuhi - Natsuhi declares to everyone in the mansion that they are to act as if Kinzo is still alive. - **A Proper Mystery** (SB) - After the 1985 conference ends, Natsuhi reminisces a time when she travelled with Krauss. - He tried to get her to eat a berry that was treated as a symbol for couples. - BEATRICE praises Natsuhi for her handling of the situation - BERNKASTEL declares in red that unless this game is resolved, you will never be released and that Natsuhi is drinking tea all by herself. - **Closed Room Barrier** (SB) - Krauss's ventures are going well, but he needs a bit more time. - Krauss's siblings are suspecting that Kinzo is dead and are conspiring to extort money from him. - A young man called Natsuhi and introduced himself as her child. - "I came back for revenge….Revenge for your crime of 19 years ago." - **Furudo Erika** (WB) - Erika is introduced on the game board. BERNKASTEL proclaims that Erika is the detective. The detective is not the culprit. - Furudo Erika had no influence on any of Beato's games before now. She does not exist in the worlds before this one, nor does she influence them. Furudo Erika only increases it by one person. Besides her, the number of people on this island is exactly the same as it was in the previous games. In other words, the number of people in this parlor now is equal to the total number of people on this island. - **Witch of Miracles** (WB) - Erika finds out about the witch's epitaph. She hypothesizes that Kinzo wanted to use the epitaph to choose his successor. - About the epitaph: [[The Witch's Epitaph#Umineko EP 5 - End of the Golden Witch]]. - Battler wonders about the significance of the epitaph. Why did Eva survive in the 3rd game? If a "miracle" occurs that makes someone solve the epitaph, what meaning does it have? - **Those Who Reach It** - (SB) Gaap suggests to Natsuhi to make it seem like Kinzo disappeared. - (WB) Battler and Erika solve the epitaph. Battler sees Kinzo, and understands that he had been watching him solve it. Kinzo smiles and shows Battler the way. Battler and Erika find the gold. - (MW) LAMBDADELTA declares: "This mountain of gold is real. All of the ingots piled up here are real, pure gold! There are absolutely no tricks such as replicas or fakes!!" - **The Frantic Golden Drama** - (SB) BEATRICE and the witch side wonder what to do now that the gold has been discovered. Very interestingly, BEATRICE declares that "**she will keep on serving Natsuhi**" because "witches must not fail to show gratitude". Ronove assents: "**We should serve her until the family conference ends.**" Maybe this explains why the killings did not stop in EP 3? EVA BEATRICE did not wish for it, maybe? - (WB) The siblings discover the gold. - (MW) Meta-Battler wonders about BEATRICE's motive. VIRGILIA gives some answers: "**This child has nothing to gain from having someone solve the epitaph.** In the first place, the gold of the Golden Land belongs to this child. She had absolutely no need to make you find it for her or to snatch it away herself. Whether the epitaph's riddle is solved or not, this child stands nothing to gain at all. Regardless of whether the epitaph is solved or not, Beato has nothing to gain." - Meta-Battler: If the epitaph riddle is irrelevant to Beato, that must mean that the epitaph's murders are also irrelevant. VIRGILIA: "Battler-kun isn't the culprit. Battler-kun didn't kill anyone. This can be said of all games. Her goal is not to make someone experience fear. And it isn't to have revenge on someone either. Beato never committed murder for the sake of pleasure." Meta-Battler: if X is the riddle, and Y the murders, we have X=0, Y=0, and X+Y>0. Like playing rock, paper, scissors. - Just had an idea: ==**what if the goal of BEATRICE is to make us want to find ways for humans to be innocent, despite the fact that it is, and should be, impossible? Much like how Meta-Battler finds ways to clear Natsuhi later on in this episode? "Without love, it cannot be seen," i.e., if you don't love the characters enough, you cannot find them to be innocent.**== - **The True Family Conference** - (WB) Just before midnight, all those who are in the dining hall hear a reserved knocking sound. Shannon and Kanon turn around with a surprised look because, of all the other servants, only Genji could knock, but he wouldn't knock like that. - (SB) (We go back in time a bit) Krauss and Natsuhi discuss how to deal with Battler's finding the gold. - Krauss explains to Natsuhi that should they fail, he is ready to file for divorce so that he is the only one to take the blame. - Genji arrives and tells to Natsuhi alone that there is another phone call for her. The clock rings midnight at that moment. Natsuhi asks for the call to be transferred to her room. - Natushi takes the call in her room, which she has locked. The unknown man asks her what her favorite season is. She answers "autumn", and finds a card with "autumn" written on it. The man instructs Natushi not to leave her room tonight and not to make or take any phone call. - (MW) LAMBDADELTA appears to be the man on the other end of the line; she alters her voice. - (WB) (Back to midnight in the dining hall) Kanon opens the door and finds an envelope on the floor. Inside the envelope, there is the Head's Ring and a letter from BEATRICE, who acknowledges that Battler has solved the epitaph's riddle. All the gold belongs to him and he becomes the new head of the Ushiromiya family. - At 3:00am, Battler returns to the guesthouse. Gohda, Nanjo and Erika are chatting in the lounge. - Rudolf told Battler before he left: "Tomorrow, there's something important I want to talk about, as a family. It's about you. If I tell you about this, I'll probably be killed. It's about your birth." - **Revenge for 19 Years Ago** - (SB) Natsuhi tells BEATRICE about before she was pregnant with Jessica. - Kinzo asked her to raise a baby from the Fukuin house as his grandchild. - Natushi: "For the first time, I prayed and wished to demons…!! I wished that this baby would just disappear!!" - The servant who took her baby out for a walk fell from a cliff down to the rocks below. They both died. - (MS) It was BEATRICE who beckoned the servant with a trail of gold butterflies, all the way to her garden of gold roses. - When Natsuhi told Kinzo of the baby's death, Kinzo laughed. He then shut himself up in the world of the occult even more. - (MW) LAMBDADELTA and BERNKASTEL make fun of BEATRICE. The second day is about to start. - **Morning of Tragedy** - (WB) Battler wakes up at 7:00am. He switches on the light, and finds his cousins all dead, as well as Rosa. Their necks were sliced open. An eerie magic circle is drawn on the wall. - Erika uses her authority as a detective to inspect the scene: The detective has the right to inspect all crime scenes. - (SB) Kanon and Kumasawa go to wake up Genji. There is duct tape on the door. They open it, breaking the duct tape, and find Genji dead with his neck sliced open. - (SB) Natsuhi wakes up and picks up the phone. The man makes her hear that he has kidnapped Krauss and asks her 1. to keep it a secret and 2. to hide in a closet in a specific room of the mansion at 1:00pm, for one hour. - (WB) Everyone, except Krauss and Kinzo, is gathered in the mansion's parlor. Natushi goes to Krauss's room, and everyone follows. - (MS) Beato is wondering why the murders happen even though the epitaph has been solved. - (WB) No corpse in Krauss's room, but large blood stains. - (WB) They then go to the guesthouse, but the corpses have disappeared. - (MW) BERNKASTEL makes three different claims with the blue truth to explain this. LAMBDADELTA doesn't answer with the red truth. - **Ten Wedges to Pierce Witches** - (WB) Natsuhi claims that Kinzo is the only one to have the keys to his study. They take the ladder from the boiler room and stand it up in the courtyard. Rudolf climbs the ladder, smashes the window, enters the study, and opens the door. - Erika mentions having a photographic memory. - Erika points out that it is strange for Natushi to be sure to have been the last person to see Kinzo at 23:00 the day before. - (MS) Erika and BEATRICE fight using the blue and red truths. Dlanor enters the fray. Many red truths are used (cf [Red Truth](https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Truth#End_of_the_Golden_Witch), chapter 11 and [Blue Truth](https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Blue_Truth#End_of_the_Golden_Witch). Be careful, there are spoilers for the later chapters below.) - Erika corners Natsuhi and claims that Kinzo never was in this room to begin with. Battler counters, saying that Kinzo coulda have jumped out of the windows while Natsuhi was checking the study, and that she simply closed the window afterwards, still believing that Kinzo laid in bed. - **Reasoning and Inspection** - (MW) Dlanor comes visit Meta-Battler and Meta-BEATRICE. - She apologizes for not using all her weapons during the previous battle. Cornelia should have used the red truth that "the window was never opened after it started raining." But LAMBDADELTA probably interfered to stop her. - They surmise that LAMBDADELTA and BERNKASTEL intentionally let Kinzo "escape". Dlanor suspects that they have "some sort of wicked goal" and came here to tell Meta-Battler that. - (MW) BERNAKSTEL and LAMBDADELTA discuss about the letter and the knock from midnight. Again, refer to the wiki pages for the [blue](https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Blue_Truth#End_of_the_Golden_Witch) and [red](https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Truth#End_of_the_Golden_Witch) truths. - ==**It just occurs to me that, since Erika is the detective, and not Battler, and since Erika was in the guesthouse at that moment, it is completely possible that there was no knock at all. As for the letter, it didn't need to be placed in the hallway. For instance, Shannon or Kanon could simply have given it to Battler.**== - LAMBDADELTA claims that none of the characters misidentified a knocking sound, ==**which could also be true if no one heard any knocking sound!**== - **Closet** - (WB) Erika checked the alibis of everyone for the first twilight. - (MS) VIRGILIA uses the red to declare "anyone looking at George, Jessica, Maria, Rosa, or Genji's corpses could confirm at a glance that they are dead". - BEATRICE, Gaap and Ronove are surprised by her use of the red truth. - ==**Since it is a magical scene, it could have happened at any time. In particular, as Battler claims, it could have happened on October 5th at 24:00. However, maybe we should assume that the temporality is respected. Then this would be a hint of VIRGILIA's to help us pinpoint when they were killed.**== - It is - (WB) Natsuhi leaves the mansion's parlor. - (SB) She goes to hide in the closet of the room specified by the man. She ponders about the "Autumn" card and says: "I never told anyone except Shannon that I like autumn." - ==**Again, there is no proof that the card actually existed, much like the phone calls, since Erika did not witness any of it.**== - Natushi sees Hideyoshi enter the room, and hears him lock the door and set the chain, then close the shutters. She hears him cry. Then, she hears him struggle with someone, while Eva is trying to open the door. Natsuhi stays hidden in the closet. - (WB) Everyone comes back. Gohda cuts the chain and they enter. Hideyoshi is dead. They carry him off to the parlor, and Battler prevents Erika to open the closet, taking her with him. - (SB) Natsuhi leaves and is found by Erika in the hall. Erika tells her that Hideyoshi has been killed, so Natsuhi follows her to the parlor. Shannon and Kanon close the door, and lock it. Erika proclaims checkmate. - (MW) VIRGILIA says that it is now time to check the catbox. - **The Great Court of Illusions** - (MW) All the characters, human and fictional, are gathered in the Court of Illusions. - Erika accuses Natsuhi of being the culprit. She wants to begin with Hideyoshi's murder, but Beato objects and claims that we should proceed with the chronological order. LAMBDADELTA agrees. - Erika proceeds to explain why the crime could only have occured between 24:00 and 1:00am, and to find alibis for everyone except Natsuhi (cf [this Let's Play chapter](https://lparchive.org/Umineko-no-Naku-Koro-ni-Chiru/Update%2026/)). - It appears as though Natsuhi is the only possible culprit. BEATRICE protests, but the witches do not listen to her. - Dlanor tries to lend a helping hand to Battler, saying that he wants to intervene. He tries to use the blue truth about the seals of Erika and Eva, but is countered with red truth. - Battler: "..I promised that I'd kill you. So I won't let anyone else do it. I'll definitely keep that promise…!!" - BEATRICE: "Liar. I'll never trust your promises again." - Battler: "Huh? When did I ever make a promise to you and lie about it…?" - BEATRICE: "…Heheheh… After hearing you say that, hell might no be so bad….Ehahahahahah…!! Kill us! BERNKASTER, LAMBDADELTA…!!" - ==**Is that a reference to Battler's sin? But that was not a promise to BEATRICE at that time…**== - Battler tries many blue truths, but is utterly vanquished by Dlanor's red truths. - Erika proceeds to explain that Natsuhi, motivated by a long-standing grudge against the Ushiromiya famiy, seduced Kinzo into engaging in sexual acts with her. - **Revenge After 19 Years** - (WB) Natsuhi admits to committing murder 19 years ago. She pushed the servant who was holding the baby off the cliff herself. Natsuhi then breaks down. Battler then says his catchphrase: "It's useless… It's all useless!" - **Tea Party** - (MW) BERNKASTEL gives Erika the name of Witch of Truth. - **????** - (MW) Meta-BEATRICE comes close to Meta-Battler, who is still pierced by Dlanor's longsword. She calls Battler a liar and tells him: "Thank you… Liar… Goodbye… And… Sorry…" - Battler reminisces about Dlanor's talking to him about Knox's Ten Commandments. - VIRGILIA refuses to answer whether Umineko follows the Decalogue, but Dlanor claims that there is a chance that Meta-Battler could win. - VIRGILIA: "Beato wanted you to solve it, so she made this game…the riddles of this tale…solvable." - VIRGILIA: "…Unless the other party assures you that reasoning is possible, you won't do it. It's almost like love between shy, young people." - Battler goes back through the tale, and reaches the truth. He sees BEATRICE's remains still holding him, which fall apart as he tries to hold them. He calls BEATRICE an idiot. - Battler returns to the Court of Illusions, having reached the position of game master. LAMBDADELTA acknowledges it and accepts his request for a retrial. - Battler suggest another theory with someone other than Natsuhi as the culprit: himself. He points out first that the victims were proclaimed dead at 24:00 the second day, so they may have died after being moved! He also presents a corpse and declares in golden truth: "I guarantee that this corpse is Ushiromiya Kinzo's corpse…!!" He then explains that all that happened was a plot that he devised as the hidden son of Natsuhi seeking revenge on her. - The trial concludes in a draw since two different truths coexist. # Main Mysteries - Who knocked on the door? Who set the letter on the floor? - ==**Since Erika is the detective, and Battler *isn't*, and since Erika was in the guesthouse at that moment, it is completely possible that *there was no knock at all*. As for the letter, it didn't need to be placed in the hallway. For instance, Shannon or Kanon could simply have given it to Battler. This does not contradict Knox's 9th.**== - How did the murders of the first twilight occur (George, Jessica, Maria, Rosa, Genji)? - It is possible for George, Jessica and Maria to have killed each other, but then I'm not sure how Rosa would have been killed. Actually, if the crimes could only occur between 24:00 and 1:00 and Rosa only left the mansion at 1:00, it is physically impossible that she would be dead in the room before 1:00. There is therefore, necessarily, a bit of wiggle room. So **it should be possible that Rosa is the one who killed everybody and then killed herself, and Battler may have concealed the weapon!** - But all deaths were homicides… Maybe one of the siblings (George or Jessica) attacked Rosa after being sliced in the throat? - **I believe it is possible for Rosa to have killed Genji before Eva went to seal his room. BERNKASTEL declares that Eva did not enter his room, but does not say so for Rosa.** - Actually, the red truths about the corpses not being moved after death is not compatible with my hypotheses above. ==**Since Erika did not witness the scars on the necks of the victims herself, they were maybe still alive at that time**==. Assuming that, Nanjo did not *mistakenly* declare them dead, but did so *on purpose*. - How did Krauss disappear? Who murdered him? - Krauss was murdered "shortly after the phone call" in which Natsuhi heard him, according to BERNKASTEL. **Rosa could have murdered him too around 1:00am, actually.** - How was Hideyoshi murdered? - For that, I'm really not sure… **A possible theory is that Hideyoshi unset the chain for Eva to pierce him with the stake, and then she left and Hideyoshi set the chain back before dying**. But that sounds really strange… - How did the corpses disappear? - After death, the corpses were never moved. So perhaps everybody was playing dead at that point in time, and they were killed after that moment. ## Who, How and Why - Who: Battler. - How: He had the six victims play dead and move while Erika could not see them. He then murdered them before they were all gathered in the parlor. - Why: Revenge against Natsuhi, as explained.