#ch170

I love Knightwalker’s introduction. It’s looming, fearsome, and just as impressive as Erza Scarlet’s. 

Also, while Erza’s armor has always been blissfully practical, Knightwalker epitomizes bikini armour itself. Once again, Edolas continues to feel more like a stereotypical fantasy universe than Earthland. It’s very cool. 

Though, it’s slightly ironic and fascinating how Knightwalker is part of the royal military. Not just because this means Erza’s most important character trait is her love for Fairy Tail, but also because technically, Knightwalker represents what kind of character Erza would have been if she continued to work under the control of the cult in the Tower of Heaven. 

Ironically, this time, it is Mystogan (Jellal) that is cast out into the wilderness alone. 

⚠️ Way longer post than originally intended ⚠️

Lau’s intentions

Ahhhh…. I find it really difficult to read him. My main character analysis of him is that he's the "Jester" literary archetype, which makes him interesting specifically because he's such a wild card. You never really know what he's going to do or say. He's often starting out really serious and then turning it all into a joke, often with himself as the butt of it. However, sometimes he's deadly serious. And he knows more than he's letting on, suggesting the times where he's playing dumb are really just part of the act. I suggest clicking the tags below for more about this, particularly the archetype-related ones. Here and here are a couple posts about Lau as the Jester. There's also this about ch174. I found them by clicking the Tagging Masterpost then clicking Character Archetypes. There's also a link under the Tagging Masterpost for Analysis of Lau.

If we are to go by anything he says, he's interested in whatever he finds entertaining, which makes sense for his archetype. He's told the young earl he'll stick around as long as the kid is/things are interesting. He's also said, from time to time, that he wants our earl to be indebted to him, so that he might request some favor later. Idk what kind of favor that might be, and Lau himself might not yet know, but we should expect it to end up being significant... if it ever comes to pass. I should think so, otherwise why the build-up to it?

It could have something to do with protection for his opium den and trade. There's the queen and her servants to keep at bay, as well as competitors. His whole operation there continues only because it's being allowed to continue. What would happen if Lau returned to Limehouse (after this assignment in Wiltshire) to find out that real Ciel took over the watchdog duties and decided to demolish all the opium dens... or just Lau's? The queen could have ordered it, or real Ciel could have made a personal direct hit to his younger brother's allies. Kind of like how he targeted Soma and Agni earlier. While our earl is targeting whatever looks like it's connected to the Aurora Society, real Ciel likely has his pawns going after whoever/whatever seems loyal to our earl.

Places that have been or could be attacked and/or controlled that were/are under our earl's control or protection:

The townhouse ✅ Agni is dead, Soma has probably become an adversary, and the townhouse itself is now under real Ciel's control.

Phantomhive Manor ✅ All the servants are gone except Tanaka (who I believe is secretly loyal to our earl), and real Ciel has taken up residence there, at least for now. Polaris comes and goes, but he makes reports on their operations elsewhere. Undertaker seems to be using it as his base, as well, so all the lords of the stars are probably there a good deal of the time. At least when they need transfusions... unless one of the facilities is doing transfusions for one or more of the "lords". Not sure how everything is set up, but Polaris and Vega definitely leave sometimes to bring the blood supply for real Ciel.

Lau's opium den ❓ Ran-Mao and Mey-Rin might have returned there, but was the place even still standing by the time they arrived? Will they be attacked there, as retaliation for what they did in Yorkshire? We have to watch out for Polaris, for sure, but Jane is also still a possible adversary.

Lark Photography ❓ Last we saw, young Mr. Pitt was being interrogated by Lord Randall, but we don't know whether the Yard searched the photography studio. Regardless of whether the Yard did a thorough investigation, real Ciel might recall Mr. Pitt and order an investigation of his own. Or at least pay a visit there and demand loyalty to himself. Mr. Pitt might visit the manor and offer his loyalty to save his own arse. That could help keep the studio safe... unless real Ciel can think of some reason to go there and turn the place upside down... perhaps looking for something in particular.

Places that are not under our earl's control or protection but are still connected to him and have been generally supportive of him.

The Midford estate ❓ Lizzie chose to be loyal to real Ciel, even though she knows he and Undertaker are up to no good (but doesn't understand how or to what extent). Then again, she's torn over what to do. Paula will be loyal to Lizzie, and likely so will Edward. Alexis is a toss-up, but he will probably follow the will of Frances/Francis. If anyone in the Midford household finally speaks up against real Ciel, it could be Frances/Francis. Partly because she doesn't completely buy real Ciel's story, but mostly because she doesn't trust Undertaker (*cough* her father *cough*). Once they make up their minds, the Midfords are likely to all go in the same direction... and I expect that to be in favor of our earl. (It parallels Duster, Wess and Alex supporting Lucas in Mother3 theory.)

The Yard ❓ Lord Randall is loyal to the queen and the Yard. Fred Abberline shows loyalty towards the Yard itself but also to our earl; he was heartbroken to have to arrest our earl and Sebastian. Since Abberline previously said he would investigate and take care of things to keep our earl's "hands from getting dirty again", I believe he's trying to get to the bottom of all this, largely on his own. So, sadly, that also makes him a target. Recall that he dies in the anime adaption, and that it's really just because he was trying so hard to do his job. This might also happen in the manga; it's just that the details would be a bit different.

Sieglinde's laboratory ❓ Sieglinde and Wolfram have become loyal to our earl, but they are now financially indebted to the queen (who has provided them with the house and lab facilities), and the queen likely has various demands for Sieglinde's work focus. Since the P5 are no more, she's probably focused on random projects, some of which might turn out to be useful as weapons. Besides, the last time she saw our earl, he was telling her to be wary of opening the door to anyone, even "him". I don't think Sieglinde and Wolfram realize how unsafe their situation really is. If real Ciel visits them, she won't immediately know it's not our earl, since he apparently never explained what's going on with his twin. If she's overly familiar with real Ciel, like she tends to be with our earl (like Soma also tended to be), then she and Wolfram could end up being attacked, just like Soma and Agni. It might not matter that she's connected to the queen or that she's infinitely useful.

The queen/Windsor 🚫 Victoria -- I'm sure she only pretends to be supportive of our earl. Or she's only supportive to the extent that it's helping her. Real Ciel says to his aunt and uncle that he will eventually have to present himself to the queen (presumably to make everything official and pick up the mantle of queen's watchdog). No one in the room (including Undertaker) seems too pleased with the idea. But I expect Victoria to be delighted to finally have a bizarre doll as an "ally", as she once suggests to John Brown. And I'm sure she'll know he's a bizarre doll, even if it takes John Brown informing her of the fact (because I'm sure he already knows, as I've alluded to in an old post about ch35. Notice that while Double Charles are using binoculars to see what's going on at Kelvin's manor, John is staring across to the opposite cliff, where Undertaker is holding real Ciel). Real Ciel isn't likely to attack the queen or her servants, unless they get in the way of his own goals. If he picks up the "collar" of watchdog, he'd likely have the queen's full support to attack any target loyal or potentially loyal to our earl... including Lau's opium den/HQ in the Limehouse district.

So... that could be why Lau has been helping our earl, to save his operations in Limehouse. To protect himself, his income, his workers, his business partners, and perhaps even more to protect Ran-Mao (though she seems quite capable of protecting herself).

One of my biggest questions about Lau remains, though: How, why, and exactly when did they start corresponding by mail? All we know is that it started while Lau was still in China; he was rising through the local ranks of Qīng Bāng (and using ruthless tactics to do so, according to Haku). Who contacted whom first? Why? Was our earl trying from the start to replace Haku with someone who could be loyal to him, as the watchdog? Or was Lau already planning to leave China and sending out letters to anyone who might prove useful to him? 🤔

It might be a translation issue, but this strikes me as ominous: ch170's tagline on the title page says "The time has come. I shall accomplish it in a faraway land."

This suggests that regardless of who first contacted whom, Lau has had some particular goal set for years, before he moved to England. And it doesn't particularly matter where it comes to fruition. Now it looks as though he will finally accomplish his goal or mission, and it's going to happen in England. He's been waiting for quite some time now, but he's not giving us any hints what it is. It could be "bad". It could be "good".

I used to think he wants to punish all of Great Britain for the Opium Wars in China. He's previously suggested he lost family during those wars. It could be that's why he wanted to deal in opium in England -- get them hooked on this drug. Because the Opium Wars were all about the Brits (mostly) wanting to flood China with opium while financially profiting from it. This not only increased opium addiction in China, but it meant silver (used to buy the drug) was leaving the country. This could explain why Lau's holding onto his opium den, instead of fleeing the country and heading elsewhere, like back to China.

But, if things get bad enough, he might have to halt operations anyway. Or operations might be halted on real Ciel's or the queen's orders. In other words, the den might be shut down by force. As I said in one of my old posts (linked at the start of this reply), Lau and Ran-Mao could end up fleeing like they did in s1 of the anime. That was also related to charges about drug trafficking. It was "Ciel" who was charged with filling candy wrappers with drugs (the drugs even ended up in the hands of children), but Lau decided this was having a negative effect on his opium business, so he decides to bail. "Ciel" has Sebastian fight to kill them, and he supposedly does. In the season 2 reboot, Lau and Ran-Mao return, explaining they had made a deal with Sebastian to spare their lives. We know that Sebastian can't make deals like that, based on his contract with our earl, so that's just one more reason why I say s2 wasn't well-written. Anyway... back to the manga.

Idk what Lau has to gain from completing this assignment other than a huge boon over our earl. Of course, our earl has likely been stripped of his title and his position as queen's watchdog. He's definitely lost easy access to the Phantomhive coffers. So, what can our earl ever do for Lau now? Unless our earl wins and somehow manages to regain his former wealth and status. Whatever Lau's true intentions, if he ever decides the rewards are no longer worth the risks, he and Ran-Mao will likely bail. Though it wouldn't go exactly like it does in s1, the situation might be very similar.

Interesting (non)reaction by Zoro here, and I really want someone to calculate the force it would take to decapitate a solid wooden chair in one blow

And this is a panel I think is worth talking about in more detail, because it’s a good example of a lot of the small things Oda does well. 

It starts with the black flecks trailing behind Vivi. Oda uses them a lot in panels with emotional weight as a kind of less obtrusive DON effect, but in this instance they show the motion of Vivi’s jump without the use of speed lines or some sort of after image. 

The subtle motion to the skirt of the tablecloth and the tilt of the wine glass (show in the next panel to be completely knocked over) also sell the sense of motion, and contrast with the nonchalance of Crocodile’s pose. He hasn’t moved, but just about everything else in the panel has. He alone remains in control. There is both a sense of timing and a sense of weight to the action on the page.