#eridna

Like, this kid is leading an ARMY. He’s engaging with Machiavellian war plans and keeping up just fine. All of his soldiers respect him and will die for him and have also been completely annihilating the enemy under his leadership. He’s got the nickname “Child of War” from — at least Todd, but Todd is also like, a stand-in for a normal Vollachian in a lot of ways? So it wouldn’t be a huge stretch to say that that image is more widespread than just one person. He’s a brilliant tactician. He’s rumored to be the son of the emperor — and even if that is clearly just a rumor, it says something that people believe it. None of this contradicts with what they know of him so far, especially from the incidents with two of the Great Mabeasts and him leading the takedown of Sloth. He’s trying to adopt Gluttony. This also isn’t out of character: we just watched him decide to adopt a different little girl who was planning to murder him in cold blood a month (?) ago in the Pleiades Watchtower. Him asking Halibel if his “hello” meant wanting to rip out his intestines also was not out of character, because he has asked questions like that before. Who is this.

And they don’t know the half of this but — child!Subaru is so much more RUTHLESS than the one that they know, and I’m betting that it shows. So what happened, in the past? Did he have some sort of experience that made him reevaluate his priorities? He’s still got that compassionate center, even if it’s dulled down a bit (and even if it is making him want to adopt an enemy to the nation, SUBARU WHY —), but did something happen to make him disillusioned with war in a way that let that core thrive while the ruthless tactician was left to starve?

Julius in particular is almost certainly under the impression that Subaru is a fellow victim of Gluttony’s name-stealing ability. What does he think happened? Is he running through different wars in the past — wars from Vollachia, Kararagi, Gusteko? Subaru’s dark hair and eyes seem reminiscent of Gusteko and his mannerisms are frequently compared to those of Kararagians, but he seems to have established himself in Vollachia remarkably well, too. Does he think that Subaru may have taken part in some of them, perhaps, as a strategist? Is he wondering about the histories of child soldiers, of the possibility of Subaru being raised with war as his future? Is his “incurable childishness” perhaps a result of him coping with such an upbringing — or as the amnesia incident would suggest, is it an innate part of his character, and one that would have kept him sane in such a precarious position? With the Royal Selection incident in mind, did Subaru perhaps grow to become a very known and respected war general — one who very suddenly had it all wrenched away? Was the incident that dulled this edge and promoted his kindness simply the loss of the responsibility to be a soldier?