#undertaker!

and Prince Soma

Some thoughts about Chapter 24: The Butler, Onstage and the “Book of Circus’”second episode because I am revisiting the arc due to the recent chapters.

If one is still baffled as to why Ciel Phantomhive decided to take on Undertaker’s challenge, one has to read the manga, too, in order to see the reasons Ciel did it. The “it” being the “payment” he bestowed on the mortician in order to gain more knowledge on the missing children and their connection to the travelling circus troupe. It lead to so many different speculations as to what exactly Ciel had really done. (Anyway, I have one that I incorporated to my head canon written on my fan fiction/interpretation later.)

The scenes and the manga caps reveal the sinister side of the mortician however. They are screaming at me for recognition how cruel Undertaker has been for rubbing this fact on Ciel’s face.

“In the underworld, you see dead children every day after all… You’re wellllll aware of that, aren’t you, Earl?”

We know how uncomfortable he is when dealing with Undertaker due to his odd manners.

It was a reminder that Ciel knew by heart. Ciel should have taken it as a hint, a red flag if you would, concerning Undertaker’s chosen words that somehow the mortician knew something about his abduction/incarceration. That should have planted the seeds of doubt on him. But thinking that the mortician was somehow a confidante of his father’s, he took it in stride.

Now, why was Ciel so desperate to accomplish the task? Look no further to Chapter 23. Ciel appointed Prince Soma as the caretaker of his townhouse in London after a chaos ensued. It happened at the end of the Indian Butler arc. Agni, was ready to turn himself in, atone for the sins he committed, prepared to do the right thing. But drastic measures hindered him to do what he wanted. It was a mix of comedic gags and violent measures from S admonishing the Indian butler would not only endanger Ciel’s standing in the society, but would also cause desperation to his own master, Prince Soma, if he was really imprisoned. It was also in the same chapter where Abberline found out the deal between the Phantomhives and the English royalty.

Ciel was impatient to return to the Manor. There was no good excuse to stay in London anymore when Prince Soma and Agni were staying there. He thought of the Indian prince’s petty insults of his height, his loneliness (no family members, no relatives and no friends to call), and his age. (Yes, Ciel had his aunt and cousins but he never bothered with them and the prince was not aware of it.) While Agni, who worshipped his master through and through, only looked on proudly at his ward thinking he was only giving advices as an older person imparting his knowledge to a much younger Ciel. Agni didn’t notice how uneasy this made the Earl. Agni is very much like a mother hen who spoils rotten their children, unaware of finding what is wrong.

There lies Ciel’s pride, who refuses to depend on any human being. He, who lost his family, must not rely on someone else’s assurance for support as they have their own personal aims. He was determined to do it on his own. That’s why it was understandable that the young aristocrat was eager to solve the missing children’s case in whatever form.

That, later, Undertaker also highlighted this dependence on his butler.

The anime version omitted these parts from the manga and left that tension courtesy of Undertaker alone.

This is the reason he decided on taking the challenge by himself. He had enough of the sarcastic remarks he received from the prince and the mortician. He wanted them to see him as a person, not a mere immature child, capable of making decisions and accomplishing tasks relegated to him by the Queen as her Watchdog. He wanted them to see him as their equal, despite his young age and diminutiveness, worthy of respect. Most of all, as an avid chess player, by not needing anyone he only regarded them as his pawns.

I’ve seen that glare before. That Sebastian Michaelis glare you have to pay attention to.

There’s a reason I think “Kuroshitsuji II” or the end of season 1 isn’t far off from the manga. Different players. Sure. But consider this. Ciel Phantomhive is challenged by someone his age. Someone with the same fate like his. Alois Trancy to Ciel’s older twin brother. From Claude Faustus (and Hannah Annafellows) to Undertaker. Against Sebastian. Ciel suffers more by losing everything. The opponents struggle to nullify Sebastian’s claim on Ciel’s soul ... maybe too simplistic to tell. But the instigator of Ciel’s murdered parents could be traced back to Queen Victoria. They can deny the existence of season 1 ending but everyone is speculating this.

The trouble with season 1 is that it made a series of preemptive moves. Revealing Undertaker’s real persona as a higher-up Shinigami and the legendary Death and suggesting his connection to the Phantomhives (episode 23: His Butler, Burning). Most of all, the existence of “bizarre dolls.”

And with season 2, it could have been better. But then again what would be more deviant, parasitic, and lowlier than a story about demons and their preys?

Interesting too how Yana chose the colour scheme. Purple/Violet was Alois Trancy’s colour, which has long been associated with royalty. Hannah was also seen wearing the Trancy House maid’s outfit. Yana now designates the colour to Undertaker. As opposed to Ciel’s blue scheme.

Perhaps someone already pointed this out.

Anyway, because many people don’t regard season 2 as canon does that mean Sebastian doesn’t smell good? Alois quipped that he does smell good! (God, I am so tragic.)

“Why not? It is just flesh. Nothing more.”

@kuro-morale-events KME Tarot Bingo: Two of Swords (Impasse, decisions, avoidance)

Undertaker couldn’t believe his ears. After goading the young Earl so many times to give him the “first-rate laughter,” he said yes for the first time. The demon was alarmed, then appalled. He didn’t want to take it seriously until his little lord ordered him to leave and not to peek inside. Was it Prince Soma’s taunting that brought him to this? The young Indian nobleman teased him during breakfast saying he was too small, too short, to act like a proper adult, and that he relied too much on his butler.

“I command you, Sebastian! Don’t peep nor enter until I say so!”

Like a dog with his tail lowered, the butler closed the heavy iron door annoyed and defeated. The boy began to take off his coat without wasting time. He unbuttoned his waist coat, untucked his shirt, and uncuffed his sleeves.

Undertaker looked at him surprised.

“I saw you once,” the knave untied the cerise ribbon around the collar and opened the first five buttons of his ruffled shirt, “with my predecessor, doing something behind my mother’s back. One night you came to his study after Diedrich left angry. They were arguing about you. He was jealous of you. I was there, Undertaker, I was hiding under the table. I thought Diedrich would kill my father. And the three of you didn’t notice me. Later my brother asked me where I was the whole time. I couldn’t tell him what I saw because I couldn’t explain it at first. I didn’t understand it at all. Now, I know. I realize.”

Of course, that explained why the boy was afraid of him compared to his older twin brother.

“Hold up, boy, do you think you could pay your way out stripteasing?!” The mortician snatched the young nobleman’s hand.

“Why not? It is just flesh. Nothing more. Don’t you desire me too? I can see it in your eyes. You gaze at us, at me as if I were your lost—“

“Stop! What happened between your father and I is none of your business, Earl. But you can do one thing.”

“Tell me and I’ll do it.” The boy’s look was daring, anticipating, yet his heart was beating fast and loud that the mortician could hear it.