#nippolyte

I've never actually read that series, but from what I know of it, the parallels are continuing. Finny has to explain that he wasn't trying to escape, just trying to get a telegram to his master. Then Artie says they've saved his life.

Anyone who tries to leave apparently gets killed.

Turns out the outskirts of the area have been set with traps.

There are high fences with barbed wire at the top, and there are guardhouses where snipers wait to shoot escapees. The house staff also make rounds to keep an eye on the kids.

The orphanage is run by a "pervert" who maintains the place like a "miniature garden". This part reminds me of a few things. Not just Promised Neverland but also Weston (particularly the garden where they held the Midnight Tea Party, and Arden's friends popped out of the ground like plants), as well as Osohe Castle in Mother3, where Nippolyte (the eccentric gravedigger) maintains a garden where he grows rather odd things, like ramen and omelets. And I've compared Osohe Castle to Weston before, in masterposts about Mother3 theory.

Then Theo talks about kids who tried to escape. We get the idea that the last Pomeranian to fledge out was actually an escapee who was captured in the attempt. And the staff lied about him being fledged.

Seems that he didn't die on the spot. More like they decided to fledge him out because he wasn't behaving. He was captured, "fledged", and sent off to his death. These kids just don't realize it would likely be death by blood loss.

And I'm here to answer!

End game

1. Yes, I think Sebastian still has every intention of eating his soul. Yana-san has previously tweeted that this is the demon's very serious goal. That he'd truly eat the kid's soul sooner, too, if given the chance... like if our earl had given up on his wish after gaining the title of earl... or during the green witch arc. It doesn't matter to Sebastian how old or anything else his master is. Honestly, I think that both William and Sebastian underestimate our earl's soul. Or at least the impact it can have! Yana-san (I believe) confirmed there's nothing particularly special about his soul, in terms of human souls. It's just that it might turn out to be quite different than ones this demon has devoured before. Or perhaps, if our earl thanks the demon for its services, it's the "thanks" itself that makes the meal so much different. Harkening back to Hannah and Luka.

2. @midnight-in-town is quite right to say that Yana-san might choose to never actually reveal his name, at least not in the manga. I hope it's revealed, but I wouldn't bet money on it.

3. Undertaker might still be calling a few shots, but once he gets real Ciel to the level he's at now, real Ciel has probably been calling most of them. There's an odd dynamic going on here. Yes, I think Undertaker is his grandfather, but I don't think real Ciel knows this... yet. Real Ciel acts the part of the young noble who sees undertakers as low-class citizens, which they were considered at the time. Though real Ciel puts servants "in their place" and finds any disobedience to be offensive, he's extremely tolerant of Undertaker's laidback and visually lazy behavior. I figure that's because he knows he owes Undertaker some form of gratitude. I'd think if he knew his true relationship to Undertaker, then he'd never have asked if he'd serve as butler. Sometimes, he just has to let Undertaker do whatever is needed, particularly when it's about the physical upkeep of his body and the bodies of his fellow bizarre dolls. All the same, real Ciel likely bosses Undertaker around when he can. And Undertaker indulges him, probably because he wants to encourage real Ciel to be "himself" as much as possible. Which leads into #4.

4. Our Ciel and real Ciel are the kings in this game of chess, and neither one has given up just yet.

Notes on #3 and #4: I'd like to add that there are some Mother3 parallels very specific to these questions.

In regards to #3, Undertaker has a few character parallels with Mother3 and earlier games in the series, like:

Nippolyte, eccentric gravedigger with a special shovel... and keeper of a "treasured" family heirloom. He's only in Mother3. He has a secret garden where he raises particularly odd "crops", and though he doesn't raise the dead, he does have to fight zombies that randomly pop up. He's openly hostile towards the self-proclaimed king and is repeatedly punished for it; his house keeps getting burned down on the king's orders.

Dr. Andonuts, inventor of Fascinating Chimera and avid eater of red bean paste donuts. He's in all three games... because he's a time-traveler. Though, in Mother, he's only there if we are to assume Lloyd was him as a child; Lloyd looks like a younger version of him, and they both hide in trash cans. He's very quirky and likes to offer "an donuts" to protags, or at least to Lucas. He has a son named Jeff, and they have a rather strained relationship, though Jeff does leave his boarding school and finds himself at his father's lab.

Fassad, Magypsy who deserted their people and changed their name. They are only in Mother3.

George, ancestor of the mirror twins who started the whole thing by stealing technology from an alien race and giving it to humanity... including passing down certain abilities through generations. He's only shown in Mother/EarthBound2: Beginnings. However, he's alluded to later.

Here, there's another tie-in to the parallel with Dr. Andonuts, because the inventor of Fascinating Chimeras eventually creates what he calls the Ultimate Chimera. This UC quickly becomes completely uncontrollable, thanks to how it was designed. I see a couple possible parallels to the UC in the Kuroverse, and one of those takes form as these most-highly-advanced Bizarre Dolls. Though he hasn't said it yet, Undertaker might have a slightly different name for these upgraded BD's. If he ever transplants our earl's soul into the body of real Ciel, that result could end up getting the designation as Ultimate Doll (or something similar).

Whose lockets?

I used to have a theory that Undertaker treasures these lockets because they are all he has from Vincent, but ch131 shows us Undertaker is already wearing the chain while Vincent is still alive:

It was a slight bummer to realize he couldn't have taken them from Phantomhive Manor in an attempt to save them, or as a memento from Vincent, since that would have matched up with Mother3 incredibly well! Flint (the mirror twins' father) entrusts his Courage Badge ("treasured" family heirloom that's actually the legendary Franklin Badge) to Nippolyte (the eccentric gravedigger) to eventually pass it on to Lucas (the younger mirror twin brother). However, my happiness returned when I realized Vincent could have owned the chain of lockets and similarly entrusted them to Undertaker, quite some time before the attack.

I have to admit it's entirely possible he got the chain from Claudia/Cloudia herself and added a locket for her soon after her death. Then again, the "Courage Badge" is a family heirloom, after all... so... the chain of lockets could be passed down from watchdog to watchdog, and each generation adds lockets of people important to them, the last one being for Claudia/Cloudia, probably added by Vincent (or possibly Undertaker). She was alive when Molly/Mally died but just a little kid; her father, the previous Earl Phantomhive and Queen's Watchdog, would have likely added the oldest lockets to the chain. Either way, it could have eventually gone from mother to son, then it went to Undertaker for safe-keeping, before Vincent dies.

Like Vincent speaks with Diedrich in the same chapter, just before this scene with Undertaker, he might have recently sat Undertaker down (maybe even just before talking to Diedrich), talked about the possibility of dying soon, and handed over the chain of lockets... saying "please keep these safe and pass them over to my heir, when the time is right". That would be a damn near 100% parallel to Flint entrusting Nippolyte with his "treasured" family heirloom... with the instructions to pass it along to Lucas when the time is right.

I noticed an earlier image of Undertaker, when he's sitting on the edge of the pool table, and he's sitting with his legs crossed... so I can't see if he's got the chain of lockets. We just don't know how long he's had them, so we can't tell how he came by them. Whether they came from someone else, collection already started, or he is the one who started the collection.

We also don't know how Gregory Violet ends up with a similar looking chain of lockets when our earl goes to Sphere Music Hall for his special "Sirius" event. Had Undertaker snuck around Phantomhive Manor and taken them back sometime between the events of the Campania and the events at Sphere Music Hall... or is it actually another chain? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I hope we eventually get answers to all this.

How are you?

I read that the planning for the former Queen Elizabeth's funeral (in real life) was codenamed "London Bridge" and was planned 30 years ago/since 30 years. Can you imagine that this also plays a role in BB, since the focus was/is on the construction of the bridge and it's actually also about the Queen's funeral and is supposed to be a hint as to when the Queen will die? so when the bridge is finished, the queen dies? Or something similar?

it's probably just a coincidence. I find the fact interesting nonetheless. Maybe yana came across it during her research and included it.

Btw iam glad that i found your blog🙏. Please keep writing your blog.🤗😉

London Bridge falling down

I've never heard the idea that Tower Bridge (or even the name of it) was ever associated with the death of Queen Victoria or planning for it. I've never come across that in my research about Tower Bridge, but that's interesting about "London Bridge" being the code name for planning QE2's funeral.

What I have learned about Tower Bridge is that:

It was built to make a more direct connection to east end London, because industries had expanded there.

It's the only bridge going across the Thames that raises up to let taller ships go through.

It's got an upper level for foot traffic, so people can cross even if the lower section is raised. But that path wasn't very popular for a while and was temporarily closed off because of that.

I'd read on the Wikipedia page that it was dedicated to Prince Albert, the queen's dead husband.

And that last one -- the dedication -- might be the most important aspect in Black Butler. That and how it would have been a symbol back then for England (and all of Great Britain) of the industrial revolution taking place. A symbol of the nation's strength and technological advancements.

I'm not entirely sure, from how your ask is worded, but perhaps you are not saying Tower Bridge is the code word... but how cool it would be if Yana-san decided to make that true in the Kuroverse. I just think that if that were the case, the queen (with a premonition or something from John Brown) would know, and she would try to postpone its construction to extend her own life. She seems like the sort who would delay something to keep herself alive a while longer... as long as the public didn't know that's what she was doing! 😆

Truthfully, I think it's quite the opposite here; I think she wants to finish this project, dedicated to her dead husband, and others have been delaying its construction. If you look up "tower bridge" in my blog, you will find a bunch of posts about my theory that Vincent wasn't cooperating with the queen (as much as demanded) regarding money and manpower for the project. It might be on purpose to slow it down, or it might be he simply had other priorities (which is what our earl tells Sebastian about why humans take so long to build things like that). Our earl says maybe the construction was delayed because people had other priorities. He wouldn't know he was talking about his own father here; it's a general statement, but he might have hit the nail on the head with that observation.

My observations about Tower Bridge are deeply rooted in my Mother3 theory, since King Porky is obsessed with technological advancements and maintaining popularity among his subjects (even if it means forcing or brainwashing them to adore him). The king has your house burned down, if you don't pledge allegiance to him... or if you do anything that shows a lack of loyalty to him. Lucas and Claus' house gets burned down at least twice. Nippolyte, the local and very eccentric gravedigger, has seen his home burned down something like 14 times. Eventually, he boards up what's left of it with a sign telling people to go away (or something like that).

So, I believe the Tower Bridge project might have something to do with why the Phantomhives were targeted on December 14, 1885. Not the only reason, but a big one. The project's timeline in real life is a bit different than in the manga. Notice that the plan was approved in 1875, around the time the twins were born. Then basically nothing for ten years. As soon as the Phantomhives were attacked and their estate was relinquished to the crown, the Tower Bridge project finally got into gear. The estate was back under Phantomhive ownership on March 15, 1886. But it was in the queen's hands long enough for her to take whatever funds she wanted for the project... as well as move people off the estate/out of the village and into London to help. Ch132 is extremely important for my theory on this, because Vincent specifically talks about the money and help needed to construct/repair bridges and dig ditches. He also explains that the estate and earldom do so well because of the people who live and work there. It's also around that time that Vincent and his sister argue about preparing his heir, and he half-jokes he might have to relinquish the earldom to the crown if he doesn't have an heir ready to take over. When our earl returns to the estate, he finds it's not just about a burned down manor. The estate and the village are run-down and slipping into further debt.

I know that ch151 has real Ciel learning about competition from the US due to cheaper imports, etc., but I don't think that's all of it. There was no indication, from Vincent or anyone else, about the estate or earldom suffering from financial or infrastructural decline as the twins' 10th birthday approached. Our earl might not have even known the entire truth about what the queen did with the Phantomhive coffers and workers while she had full access to them.

Now... if the bridge is finally finished and she dies? That would be an interesting touch. But I don't think it's particularly significant.

Thank you 😊 I’m glad you enjoy my blog! 🖤

I feel pretty much the same way about Undertaker, and that’s a good way to put it. As a reaper who turned against the reaper organization, where does he belong?

Staying in the human realm, he gets too involved with human lives. Returned to the reaper realm, he’d have to be locked away with special bindings (or something) to keep him there… and to keep him from destroying the place… and he’d likely just lose whatever’s left of his mind.

According to the latest version of my Mother3 theory, his chances of survival are slim, at best. Here are his biggest parallels:

Nippolyte lives, as far as the player knows. He’s the eccentric gravedigger (who has the highest quality shovel 😆)who is close to the twins’ father and passes along to Lucas the “treasured” Courage Badge, a family heirloom (from the twins’ father) which ends up being the legendary Franklin Badge.

Dr. Andonuts lives, as far as the player knows, but the dr’s other big parallel is Sieglinde, and her chances of survival are much higher. He’s the eccentric creator of Fascinating Chimera and inventor of a bunch of gadgets and other machinery, like a time machine.

Locria/Fassad is destroyed by Lucas and his friends. Locria deserted their fellow Magypsies, used a disguise to hide in plain site, and changed their name to Fassad.

His parallel in the Harry Potter series, Severus Snape, also dies. Snape loves Lily Evans/Potter, he hears and shares a prophecy that ends up getting Lily killed, and then he spends the rest of his life regretting the role he had played in her death. He’s also what I call a “protective antagonist” to Harry.

Death is Undertaker’s most likely fate at this point. Like both Fassad and Snape, he might express his regrets before dying. Snape somewhat redeems himself, but Fassad really just shows disappointment and regret. Best case scenario for Undertaker’s death is that he:

Reveals his true identity and relationship to the Phantomhives,

Explains why he did everything he did,

Shows regret for the things he’s done (at least some of it), and then

Um, I think what you wanted was:

🤔 to discuss a specific theory

Sort of like the Prometheus of advanced technology?

Well, my theory isn’t the same, but it has something very striking in common with yours. Instead of him getting kicked out for “bringing anachronistic stuff” to humans, he escapes because he made a grave (pun intended) discovery about the organization. Then he brings “reaper/superior technology”... but it’s not the “anachronistic stuff” you are talking about.

In Mother3 theory, Undertaker has several character parallels.

Dr. Andonuts, the donut-loving inventor of Fascinating Chimera. He’s the only character who appears in all three games in the series, but he’s a kid (Lloyd) in Mother. He has a tendency to hide in trash cans when he’s scared (as a kid and as an adult). He sometimes offers the protagonist donuts. He’s usually helpful, but some of his Fascinating Chimera become enemies, so he’s a partial antagonist. He’s afraid of one of his own creations, the Ultimate Chimera. The king’s army uses his technology to make other types of Fascinating Chimera... including one that is the reanimated corpse of the older mirror twin brother (Claus) of the main protagonist (Lucas) in Mother3. He has a son named Fred (Mother2), who is also an inventor. He initially helps the self-proclaimed king, even before Pokey becomes King Porky, but he regrets it and eventually gets his own revenge against the king.

Nippolyte, who only appears in Mother3, is an eccentric gravedigger who has a special shovel “of the highest quality”. His house gets burned down at least 14 times because he’s a sworn enemy of the self-proclaimed king. He hands a “Courage Badge” to Lucas, the younger mirror twin... the protagonist... saying Lucas’s father (Flint) trusted him to pass it over to Lucas. It’s a family heirloom that Flint (the twins’ father) “treasures”. The item turns out to be the legendary Franklin Badge, and it ends up saving Lucas’s life... while destroying the Fascinating Chimera that his older mirror twin, Claus, had become.

George only appears in Mother, but he’s mentioned here and there later, usually in a vague way, mostly by Giygas (life form that comes from an alien race with advanced technology). George and Mary are humans who end up leaving Earth and going to live with an advanced alien civilization. George returns to Earth, bringing advanced technology with him. He continues to research it, but he also somehow manages to pass it onto future generations, as if some of the technology changed his DNA. His descendants (and possibly eventually others, through unknown means) develop special abilities that they must learn to use. These are psychic abilities that can be used as weapons. Giygas (who was raised by George and Mary) is sent back to Earth to stop George, but Giygas is too late; George has already died from old age, and the technology has started spreading through the human population. [[Interesting to note: the main psychic weapon that Lucas uses (and gets really good at) is PK Love. He uses love as his main weapon because he doesn’t really want to fight. Fascinating Chimera Claus uses some PSI attacks, too, most notably PK Flash. When he finally loses the will to fight his younger mirror twin, Claus aims a PK Flash at Lucas’s Franklin Badge, and it reflects back, destroying what’s left of Claus.]]

Honestly, the only tag you should need for that is #mother3. Or check out @abybweissekuromother3.

But, if you want to look for stuff about specific aspects of Mother3, check out these tags.

If he’s meant to be a strong parallel to Fassad/Locria of Mother3, then I would expect him to die... or at least to leave the human realm and never return again. Locria is the Magypsy who defies the others, changes their name to Fassad, gets manipulated by King Porky, and ends up being destroyed. Magypsies typically “die” by fading away, and it’s believed they might just leave that plane of existence for another one; they don’t really know what lies ahead for them, if anything does, they just know their time on Earth is over. In Locria/Fassad’s case, they slip on a banana peel (Fassad loves bananas) and fall off the top of the Lightning Tower. That’s “death” number one. Later, Fassad becomes a Fascinating Chimera of some sort, “upgraded” with musical instruments (horns, mostly). Before finally confronting King Porky face to face, Lucas confronts Fassad one last time; Fassad has an interpreter at this point, since they can now only “speak” in musical notes. Lucas and his pals fight Fassad until Fassad apparently cannot fight anymore. Fassad is tired of the struggles and is just thoroughly done with everything, then Fassad just sort of malfunctions and plummets into the underground sewer... never to be seen again. Undertaker could end up paralleling this by failing to “perfect” his bizarre doll of real Ciel... or by losing control of real Ciel. Whatever the exact details of his failure, he’d be angry, and he might finally give up, deciding that his actions in the human realm have become futile. There’s a chance he gets captured by the reaper association and taken back to their realm... and there’s also the chance he gets killed. Remember that a death scythe can cut through anything (except another death scythe). This could be carried out by a reaper or by Sebastian; recall how Eric told Sebastian to kill him with Alan’s death scythe in The Most Beautiful Death in the World. The other Magypsies simply faded away, as I mentioned above, so the other reapers might simply return to the reaper realm and leave the storyline. As much as it pains me, I have to admit that it would be fitting if Undertaker is destroyed... or at least captured, taken away, and punished — possibly destroyed — in the reaper realm.

If Undertaker’s “end” in the storyline is like his other Mother3 parallels, then he would get to live. Dr. Andonuts is the inventor of the Fascinating Chimera, and he lives... though his other big Black Butler parallel is Sieglinde. And Sieglinde might be the one who ends up paralleling Dr. Andonuts’ little victory over King Porky. So, she might also be the one who parallels Dr. Andonuts in surviving. Dr. Andonuts is also known for eating an donuts (donuts with red bean paste), and he offers them to Lucas. Just like how Undertaker likes to eat bone-shaped biscuits out of an urn, and he offers them to our earl. Also, if you go to Wikipedia and look up Ankou (a reaper from folklore), the first thing that pops up in the entry is this:

Then, if you click “red bean paste”, you get this...

...because another name for it is “anko”. I know this is slightly tangential, and I have older posts about it... but it makes me smile! 😃

Undertaker’s other major parallel in Mother3 is Nippolyte, the eccentric gravedigger and old friend of Lucas’ family. He’s the one who hands Lucas the Badge of Courage (aka the Franklin Badge), saying it belongs to Lucas’ father (Flint)... that it’s an heirloom that Flint has always “treasured”... and he entrusts Nippolyte to pass it over to Lucas. (Keep in mind that the mother, Hinawa, is dead. Flint is alive, but he is too distraught to do much of anything; he’s become a largely absentee father.) Nippolyte is a very odd fellow. When he holds Hinawa’s funeral, he makes the odd comment to Flint that it’s a double grave, so he’s already prepared a place for Flint. There’s a label on his shovel saying it’s top of the line; it says, “True connoisseurs know that this is the ultimate shovel of the highest quality." His house (in the cemetery) keeps getting burned down (like... 14 times?), so finally he puts a sign outside the boarded up ruins of his house that says “No visitors”. He takes care of a hidden garden at Osohe Castle, where he raises strange crops, like omelettes and ramen noodles. Oh, and Nippolyte has to destroy zombies that pop up in his graveyard from time to time.

Undertaker lets our earl hold onto his chain of mourning lockets, and he calls them his “treasure”; they include at least one mourning locket that would be considered a Phantomhive heirloom. The other parallels here are really funny. We’ve got Undertaker joking (or NOT joking) about getting our earl into one of his custom coffins. Keep in mind there are already graves for both of the twins, but neither one is buried there. Instead of a shovel, Undertaker has a scythe, but all of the reapers have gardening tools, and their death scythes are typically not actual scythes. The label on that shovel reminds me of how reapers like to boast that death scythes can cut through anything (though that’s not exactly true). We don’t know if any of Undertaker’s holdings have been burned down or anything (yet), but we know he eventually boarded up his funeral parlor. Also, Osohe Castle is the Mother3 parallel to Weston, and we know that Undertaker held a Midnight Tea Party in the private garden. Instead of unlikely crops of ramen noodles and omelettes... Undertaker had bizarre dolls pop out of the ground. Instead of having to destroy random zombies that pop up, Undertaker is creating them....

Well... Nippolyte survives, too.