#*furious pecking*

hey so AZ is using a cane now and first thought is "oh ok he's an old man. totally normal he'd be using one"

however:

AZ has had the same knee brace since introduction. and he's immortal so presumably his health has remained the same, possibly with a healing factor, this whole time

Laios not remembering the specifics of everyone's gear is somewhat played for laughs but besides that Scarfchuck is the one that most consistently looks/acts like the actual Chilchuck

(ignore the poor cropping)

both Scarfchuck and Realchuck look the same age and get properly grouchy. Marcillechuck looks younger than Realchuck but not by a lot (it's mostly that he still has youthful hope in his eyes) what does set them apart is his behavior

Realchuck gets to work right away. Marcillechuck is in need of help (and willing to admit it lol) + immediately after this the Marcilles and Senshis start babying their cute and friendly Chilchuck. we know he hates getting the infantilizing treatment but Marcillechuck puts up with it without much of a fight. yeah Laios is still suspicious of Realchuck's canon ornery attitude, but at this point he's still considering the possibility that the fakes could be intentionally playing up their behavior

wheeze i've been working on this one forever and it's finally done \o/ manga redraw of Ed's first trip to the door :]

but Thistle isn't just looking for Delgal, afterwards they're going to do something together. by this point Thistle is too far gone to remember what exactly that is, but it's important enough to him that the desire hasn't fully been devoured

in Thistle's house he has everyone's bodies set up around the family dining table. this is very likely the exact same table from his flashback since just behind Delgal you can see an identical hearth, log stacks, and tree painting in the present day home. Thistle is very into keeping things preserved after all

in fact the dining table is so important to Thistle it's one of the last things he remembers as the Winged Lion eats the last of his desires

after the Winged Lion eats him Thistle is left alive but fully catatonic. though the closing chapters Yaad is taking care of Thistle and trying to get him to wake up. when he finally rouses it's in response to hearing the Golden Kingdom kids calling for "his majesty" (Laios) to come eat with them

CONCLUSION: Delgal was late for dinner. after Thistle found him they were going to have a nice family dinner, just like they had been doing for decades