I'm responding here to a comment by @kayleysayer because it piqued my interest and I have too much to say to just consign it to the comments, lol. Thanks for prompting me!
I'll include the original comment below:
kayleysayer:
As you're asking for discussion, I might have sth for you. I was actually waiting for Hilmes to turn around and leave for good (which he might have this chapter if it hadn't been for Merlaine and Alfarid, though I was rooting for Zandeh to convince him if they hadn't) but now it seems like he'll at least join the action. With the disciplines and Zahhak out to destroy Rukhnabad and the royal line - do you see death flags for Hilmes? It's been a while since I checked the lore (and with Arakawa wrapping up her own ending this might differ in any case), but do we know if Parsian royal blood will be required to seal away Zahhak? That way Hilmes might get his heroic ending still. Though, tbh, I hope for him to have his peaceful ending with Irina, his life has been fuelled by hatred long enough, he deserves a break.
While his death is a possibility (anything could happen in Arakawa's version so I can't 100% mark characters as safe), to be honest I don't specifically see death flags for Hilmes. If anything, it feels like Arakawa is setting things up for him to survive, though whether he manages to behave truly heroically or never makes it any further than being a grudging ally is another matter.
Personally I'm also still rooting for him and Irina to go to Maryam together, and if anything it feels like this might be what Arakawa is steering him towards, rather than having him sacrifice himself. She didn't let him sacrifice himself in the fight against Kharlan (even though he was clearly willing to die and perhaps even expecting to) and she didn't let him run away in the most recent chapter. I hope that him taking responsibility for his role in Parsian suffering will not only involve him helping to defeat Zahhak somehow but also eventually take the form of him acknowledging that Arslan will be a better king of Pars than him and actually choosing to leave Pars himself, rather than being exiled.
Maryam itself is in a different state in the manga to what it was in the novels. In the novels, Bodin escaped to Maryam leading to a power struggle between him and Guiscard after Guiscard's forces were defeated by Pars. In the manga, Guiscard has been sent packing to Lusitania, leaving a vacuum in Maryam. For Hilmes to willingly abandon his claim to Pars and peacefully rule Maryam with Irina instead feels like more of a fitting and significant end than a heroic death, and very much in keeping with the theme of things coming full circle (invading Pars and trying to take the throne at the start versus giving up his claim to the throne and leaving Pars at the end; basing his identity around his bloodline versus renouncing it). It would leave him not as a friend to Arslan, but a neighbour and an ally against any future Lusitanian invasions.
(Much as I'd love to see him defeat Zahhak, it's Arslan's name in the title of the series and it doesn't really feel like the right fit for Hilmes to steal the glory lmao... though it did occur to me that if Hilmes does end up wielding Rukhnabad it would be a relatively simple matter to later give Arslan credit instead and for that to become the legend of the title. Again, not sure that's likely, but it did occur to me that we've already seen some twisting of the truth going on in that Tahamenay's role in Andragoras's death was concealed in favour of saying he died in the fall, so perhaps it could be an option here.)
The second question you asked is really interesting, too! No, it hasn't been 100% confirmed that Parsian royal blood is required to defeat Zahhak, but I do think this might be an element, for several reasons. A couple of things to look at:
It feels certain that the Snake King's defeat will hinge on Rukhnabad somehow, no matter how it ends up being wielded or who by.
Vahriz, with his dying words, implies the sword combined with royal blood is the only hope of success. However, given that this chapter also has Arslan compare himself to Kaykhusraw in dialogue that hints heavily at the importance of the presence of his comrades, it could be taken as foreshadowing the need for teamwork to take down Zahhak (and I hope so, I don't want to see any one on one duels with the Snake King!).
What we do know from what we have seen in canon so far is that royal blood is required to draw Rukhnabad. Unless something changes, that rule appears to hold true, meaning that someone of Kaykhusraw's bloodline will need to draw the sword, even if only to allow someone else to wield it (if that would even be successful; if the sword responds to the bloodline of its wielder will its powers even be in effect in someone else's hands? Can someone else even wield it without it seeking to find its way back into its scabbard? I have so many questions and no answers).
So, that would have to be Hilmes or possibly Tahamenay's missing daughter, if that is an element Arakawa wants to explore.
Hilmes's royal blood makes him a threat ā if not right now, then in the future.
Destroying all remnants of the Parsian royal line is not just revenge for Zahhak, it's also a way of eliminating that threat for good. The order to kill Hilmes comes from the same place as the order to destroy Rukhnabad; both are capable of harming Zahhak.
This creepy guy materialising out of the walls also indicates to us readers that Hilmes can't 'not my throne, not my problem' his way out of this one, because Team Zahhak will make it his problem. Even if he had actually gone through with fleeing Ecbatana, they were keeping tabs on his movements and would not have simply let him live his life.
Okay, now I'm going to backtrack a bit to look at where this Parsian royal blood = danger for Zahhak notion comes from.
In Chapter 77, a flashback shows young Gieve listening to a warning not to venture near Mount Demavant, for Zahhak is sealed there. This tale includes the fact that Zahhak's return is foretold, but not only that, it also features this element:
So, Zahhak's defeat is also foretold.
It doesn't seem likely that Kaykhusraw himself will do the deed (whatever happened to the scraps of his body, I doubt they are up to much), but that in reality, this 'return' will take the form of someone of his bloodline taking up his mantle and sword. This would appear to be what Team Zahhak are afraid of. It seems likely that they and Zahhak also know of this part of the myth, and fear it coming true.
Incidentally, why is it that this second defeat of Zahhak will be final? Why could Kaykhusraw (even with Rukhnabad) not kill him? What's changed?
If you've seen my post about the Kaykhusraw/Rukhnabad soulbond, it could be the fact that Rukhnabad was interred with Kaykhusraw when he died. This could not only have strengthened the seal (which lasted longer than expected) but also strengthened Rukhnabad itself, turning it from a weapon that could defeat Zahhak into a weapon that could destroy him forever. However this is just speculation. I do like it, though, as it fits in with the myth as presented here that Kaykhusraw will return to defeat Zahhak, because his soul being linked to Rukhnabad kinda counts even if someone else wields it, right?
With this whole thing of Zahhak's defeat being foretold/something he fears, I wonder whether Tanaka was playing on the fact that in the Shahnameh, Zahhak has a dream which turns out to be a prescient vision of his defeat at the hands of Fereydun. Although he tries to avert it by sending out agents to kill Fereydun as a child, this attempt fails and eventually his defeat comes to pass just as he saw it.
Zoroastrian eschatology also states that Zahhak will return at the end world and cause chaos before being defeated at the hands of the resurrected hero, which matches up with what young Gieve is told in that flashback.
So hopefully ArSen's Zahhak cannot escape the fate that has been foretold, either.
I just can't say exactly how Zahhak will meet his end, and that's both fun and nervewracking!
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