#murder arc

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Artbook 2 Pt. 1   Artbook 2 Pt. 2 

Starting in Ch 175, we get our first honest glimpse of Bard’s tragic past (apart from his fake PTSD attack earlier in the arc, and his comment when talking to Ada, or the one-panel flashback in ch 44).

That chapter introduces us to Bard, surrounded by corpses and starving, on the brink of resorting to cannibalism.

Then, in ch 177, we see another flashback (Bard’s traumatic nightmare, apparently) of Terry’s death, and Bard says, “Please don’t leave me behind,” which was sad enough then, but now that we’ve seen the flashbacks in ch 178, it puts that into an entirely new perspective.

Presumably, Bard lost both a woman and boy who were dear to him— perhaps his wife and child, meaning there was a certain (if warped) truth to what Bard told the other vets when he first came to the sanitarium.

This sets Bard apart from Finny and Mey Rin in several ways.

First, ofc he’s much older. We’ve never gotten an exact age (except maybe one from the character book eons ago?), but he’s likely somewhere in or near his 40s. That means he could be Finny or Mey’s father.

Second, unlike both Mey and Finny, who were essentially “orphans,” Bard had a family. He had a happy life at one point. Maybe it was 10, 20 years ago, but he was happy once.

Third, although both Mey and Finny saw their friends killed, and therefore have experienced loss in their own ways, Bard has lost his “family” twice: first the boy and woman, then his fellow soldiers.

This puts what he says when Terry dies in an even sadder perspective… He’s been the only survivor—the one left behind—not once, but twice.

Do you remember the murder arc? That was the first arc (other than the circus one), where we really got to see Bard’s role in the household as the one to guide and direct the other servants. Even though Sebastian’s death affected him, he still kept his feelings in check so he could ensure they continued to do their job—protect the young master and the house.

Even during the funeral, when nearly everyone else is sobbing, Bard is stoic (if sad). It isn’t until Sebastian “comes back to life” that Bard’s emotions finally break through: “I thought for sure I’d lost another comrade!”

Sebastian’s death must have deeply affected Bard, the third time he’s lost (part) of his family, and so that phrase hits even harder now that we know exactly how much loss Bard has suffered in his life.

We still don’t know exactly what happened to the woman (his wife?). I have plenty of headcanons, but that’s for another post. Depending on what did happen to her, it might mean Bard’s past holds even more tragedy than has already been revealed.

The question is, did Sebastian and/or Ciel know about Bard’s past, and that was part of why he was recruited? Because they knew if they could get him to see the servants/Ciel as his new home/family/comrades, that he could be the fiercely loyal general they needed?

Yana seems to have conveniently skipped over the why Bard was recruited, or how they even knew about a soldier in the far Wild West of the USA, thousands of miles from Britain. So we may never know that element.

"I know I shall never forget that smile of his for as long as I live. For like that of a little boy delighting in a game, it was cruel and beautiful, the smile of an imp descended from the devil himself."

I. Love. Him. Just look at him. That's a gremlin.