#kuro169

Back to Mey & Ran’s investigation we go: since I have some time, I want to do a recap post on why I think Jane is a demon and is also possibly John Brown, Victoria’s aide. 

This sums up different posts that I previously wrote on Jane and on John being supernatural [x][x] and also possibly the main attacker behind the massacre at the Phantomhive manor, 4 years ago. 

Premise

First of all, to replace the context: Heathfield was “looking to replace his wife” who died in a carriage accident along with their daughter. 

Whether or not we think this was just a big lie, so that he could appeal to young women with a lower social standing in order to have intercourse with them (while UT maybe promised to eventually revive his wife or something), it’s clear that Abby and at least another servant used to be a part of the Aurora Society and were the ones driving this whole blood collect operation.

Meanwhile Jane was hired as a security guard...

 ...which means that she’s unrelated to the Aurora society. 

Notion of a job contract between Heathfield’s household and Jane

That’s the simplest clue: many readers noticed the way Jane talked whenever she referred to her job in the manor:

&

At some point, she also said that she would never do more on a job than what was directly asked of her (it was mistranslated in English so I won’t add the panel) and this all sounds very typical of demons speaking about their contract.

In other words, Jane stuck to her contract like glue, up until the operation was dismantled by Ciel’s allies. We’ll get back later to why a demon would give up when she could have easily defeated at least Mey. 

Jane’s behavior towards Baron Heathfield

Also something many readers noticed, as in, Jane lacked a lot of deference towards “her master”. 

This could be explained by the fact that she, as a demon, has no respect for him as a human (remember, Seb sees humans as grasshoppers & their soul as food). Besides, it’s very hard to be the master of a demon: our!Ciel does a rather good job, considering the wild and mocking beast that is Seb. 

So it’s not hard to think that Heathfield didn’t have it in him to correct & control Jane’s behavior towards him (if he even cared to do so in the first place).  

Parallels to S1 of the anime

As much as I kinda dislike admitting it (since I’m no fan of the anime), this arc was rather reminiscent of the one with Angela Blanc and Henry Barrymore. As we know, Angela eventually turned out to be a fallen angel and also Ash Landers, the Queen’s aide. 

So, while I’m really not sure angels are meant to appear in the manga, Jane being supernatural and having a “male counterpart” (named John) that we already met would be in tune as a parallel. Which leads me to the second part of the post.

Jane = John? 

As I linked to above, it is my belief that John Brown was hinted to be supernatural and even possibly a demon (instead of, like, a Shinigami or Angel). 

So, if John is indeed a demon, then it is likely to think that his master and holder of the contract is Queen Victoria and, in that case, one can wonder what was the point of “Jane” entering a contract with Baron Heathfield. 

Too many demons can spoil the soup

Unlike Shinigamis who are introduced in almost every arc (we get it, Yana), I’m personally against the possibility that Jane could be a third demon (assuming John is indeed one), because that’d mean introducing a pretty powerful character with literally no agency after Mey & Ran’s investigation, when we are far into the story and the plot is complex enough as it is. 

Yeah, storytelling-wise, it doesn’t sound like a good idea.

Besides, if Jane is a demon who only was in a contract with Heathfield, then...

...one can wonder what he even paid to have her summoned. That’s why this explanation makes not much sense, I find, considering the household seemed to have no idea at all about Jane being possibly supernatural.

Whereas if we’re considering that Jane already was in a contract with someone else, then it gives her a lot of agency + it means that meeting Heathfield and entering a very secondary contract with him would not have needed fare for the crossing (making the process even more simple). 

Why the presence of a demon at Heathfield’s manor

If we’re considering that John = Jane, then Jane would have been gathering intel on the blue sect’s operations for her real master: Queen Victoria. 

After all, remember that discussion between Victoria and Brown at the end of the Weston arc? 

Victoria clearly was interested in UT’s bizarre dolls (because she wants Albert back? Because they’re great war weapons?), so if she’s slightly aware of what’s been going on since ch140 and the real!Ciel’s return, then it’d make sense that she’d send her precious aide to gather info for her. 

And what Jane discovered is that the Bizarre Dolls need blood (amongst edited records and episodes) to function properly and long enough. 

As for that possible secondary contract that she made with Heathfield: we don’t know what it was about (maybe getting to eat the dead maids’ soul?), but it doesn’t nullify the contract with Victoria, seeing as Seb confirmed multiple contracts are possible.

Why Jane didn’t try to fight for long against Mey and Ran

If she’s a demon, then she theoretically had the strength to escape Mey’s gun and win, but there is a main explanation as to why she gave up: she didn’t want to be found out as a supernatural being. 

After all she was facing Ran & Mey and:

Ran showed that she was indeed strong as hell, which makes it interesting to ponder if she’s also a supernatural being or a strength-enhanced human (like Finny)

Mey is Ciel’s staff (and if Jane = John, it’s possible Jane would have known about that fact), so Jane proving to Mey that she was more than human would mean Ciel & Seb would get to hear about it and I’m pretty sure Jane/John wouldn’t want that. 

Another additional possibility is that Jane had gathered enough info, as her original mission requested, and she had no reason to stay longer (except maybe to eat some more souls, as per her contract with Heathfield, who knows). 

Ending word: what about the other investigations?

There is a lot at stake here and, as we know, UT definitely needs stopping. 

So it’s interesting to think that we possibly saw the Queen’s side gathering info on the situation through Jane, while Ronald (definitely representing the Shinigamis’ Organization) just made his appearance during Bard & Lau’s investigation. 

While Ronald’s arrival is definitely bad news (because it means people are going to die and for all we know Bard might be one of them), it makes one wonder who we’ll meet next if we get to read about Finny & Snake and Ciel & Seb: finally one of the remaining star lords? another government’s spy (France? Since UT went there some time ago)?

We’ll see!

Hello Anon and thanks for reading! So, about this idea of yours: 

“what if UT/Cedric K. Ros- (Cross?) became a Phantomhive butler under Claudia & fathered Vincent? (also a parallel to Grell!)”

It’s true that I’m a believer of the UT = Cedric K. Ros, so I agree that he fathered Vincent and Frances. :)

However, while I know it’s tempting to imagine that UT used to be Claudia’s butler (since, indeed, most iconic duos of this series are made of a master and their butler), personally I disagree with this theory for 4 reasons! 

Butlers aren’t the only characters who received an identity in Kuro

In fact, it’s a theme of the series for many characters to act on behalf of the identity they’ve taken for themselves (Finny, Noah’s Ark, Snake, our!Ciel himself, etc).

So while I agree that UT was possibly once given the name “Cedric” by Claudia, this doesn’t imply that it was necessarily because he was her butler. :) 

UT’s lockets

I’d also like to remind you that Claudia’s locket is not the only one on UT’s chain and he apparently referred to all of them as his “treasure”.

So, unless we’re to assume he was the butler of all these people represented by the lockets, I think it’s hard to assume that UT was Claudia’s butler when he apparently met many humans he did enjoy/care about, after he deserted.

Also Seb found no link between the different people represented by the lockets, so they can’t all be fellow servants of the Phantomhive household (for instance). Speaking of which...

Tanaka’s character

If UT used to be Claudia’s butler, then what about Tanaka’s character, who’s also a butler?

After all, we know that Tanaka has been around the household since Claudia’s days as the Watchdog, as well as since Vincent and Frances’ childhood. 

So I don’t think Claudia would have had 2 butlers (not considering the usual master & butler duos amongst the series) and I also don’t think UT trained Tanaka because, in ch151, UT said...

Of course, it’s hard to know whether he was telling the truth or lying in this whole chapter (since whoever he used to be is gone, now he’s only “the Undertaker”), but still, I think Tanaka as both Claudia’s and then Vincent’s butler makes more sense with what we’ve seen so far of the past.

Of course I can be wrong, but actually...

I think UT rather used to act as/be a nobleman 

And I made a whole post about this idea here. :3 In other words, I’m overall more fond of the theory that UT used to possibly be “Earl Phantomhive” before Vincent, while “the Watchdog” was Claudia. [x]

As for UT’s reaction to Polaris’ words in the newest chapter, hm, well...

...it’s actually hard to interpret it, because :

UT could simply be worried about Polaris not lasting as a bizarre doll (since BDs need “episodes” of quality to keep on functioning, as much as they need edited records and, as we now know, blood transfusions)

UT could be thinking about “not being able to rest” until he’s finished what he’s trying to achieve through the BD project, and that even if the Shinigamis catch him, or Victoria or Seb get in his way

since it’s definitely a flashback arc (Ciel’s, Mey’s, etc), maybe UT could be thinking about the life he led before he killed himself

And that’s only 3 ideas out of many possibilities. 

Frankly speaking though, maybe UT once had a master he served, but then again...

UT’s character does seem to enjoy the freedom to think and act entirely for himself (or for what pleases him), because he’s been existing for a long time. So after being such a skilled Shinigami and deserting, because he possibly found some huge dirt on their higher-ups, I find it hard to believe that he’d have been happy as someone’s butler. But again, I can be absolutely wrong!

TL;DR I understand why some fans choose to follow the idea that UT used to be Claudia’s butler, considering that we had many master/butler duos in the series so far. For now, it’s simply not my favorite possibility though. :)

I hope I managed to explain my point of view? Please have a nice day, Anon! :3

Hello Anon and thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)) 

Actually, I have no idea if Yana means for UT to be a real-life historical figure but, to be honest, if Sensei wants to introduce actual historical people in the main cast then my money’s not on UT. After all, Yana is Japanese, so I don’t know how much she would know about England’s History (and, I mean, this is quite the specific historical fact). 

So who knows! Personally, I’d rather bet on Tanaka as an actual historical figure within the main cast. :)) [x][x]