Thereβs been a thought lurking as Iβve read Battle Ballad that wonβt leave me the hell alone, so Iβm going to talk about it.
Does Heinkel have the Pride Witch Factor?
Okay. Yes. Iβm aware that does sound REALLY weird & like a crack theory rather then something serious. Bear with me lmao. Basically, this image here was the final nail in the proverbial coffin for me to finally talk about it.
This is a confirmation from Ex 6 changes that Stride does indeed possess the Pride Factor. A Theresia pregnant with Heinkel is casually chilling in the area when Stride keels over, and Theresia due to having a DP after this incident means she didnβt get the Factorβ¦ and the Factor conveniently disappears after this point and isnβt seen again in the Story.
Sounds like just some coincidence on the surface, but thereβs something that Heinkel has which ties him to an Authority quite well.
Yuuuuuup. The Astreas are tied to a fucking piece of Astronomy. An asteroid belt of all thingies, which is literally what some of the Witches Names are tied to.
Obviously, since Wilhelm is outta the area when Stride dies heβs not the Astrea that yoinks it and Reinhard isnβt born. Soooooo- why does Tappei purposefully name the Astreas after something associated with Authority Users?
The name of 5 Astrea is based on the Greek Goddess Astrea which means the following:
A goddess interested in Justice, innocence and purity and is disheartened by humanities corruption. Iβm sure we donβt know a character who has been confirmed to have a Witch Factor of Pride that is like that.
Oh, lookie, lookie! We do infact have said character literally herself being named after Astronomy aswell!
So. We have Heinkel being positioned at the perfect place & time to get the Pride Factor, Heinkelβs last name is connected to Astronomy, and that portion of Astronomy is directly connected to the Witch of Pride.
But. This gets even more damning.
Reinhard can detect miasma⦠and his POV is a spoiler. What are the odds Reinhard literally is detecting his Father emitting a shit ton of miasma 24/7?
Keep in mind, we have in LN 4 Reinhard give no visible reaction to Al when seeing him despite Al emitting a shit ton of Miasma as confirmed by Rem in LN 6.
We also have Reinhard despite being sus of Subaru during the initial alley encounter choose to let him go anyways even as Subaru said stuff about Emilia that very well could imply he was a Cultist.
Reinhard clearly has a big soft spot for Heinkel. Could this not translate into him being more tolerant of people who have Miasma then the typical reaction of those who can detect Miasma?
Reinhard also knows Heinkel is NOT a Cultist, so Reinhard logically would see all Miasma people as potentially not being Cultists since he himself knows that his own Father is in a situation like that.
Iβd like to delve into further evidence that Heinkel does indeed have connections to an Authority aswell because thereβs somehow MORE. This one is from Battle Ballad.
For extra context, Carol here was attacked by Strideβs Rings which are an Authority of Pride. We are outright having a Healer say however that nothing is wrong with Carolβs body. Does that not match Louanna eerily well?
Iβd now like to bring this up from LN 9.
This here is when we have the cast speculating on how Gluttonies Authority works, and Tappei literally outright introduces the Sleeping Beauty disease as if to connect the fact in the viewers mind they might be related.
Iβm supposed to believe Carol being described in a way you could take as the Sleeping Beauty condition after getting whacked by Strideβs Pride Factor is a coincidence when the Sleeping Beauty disease has been associated with an effect of an Authority previously?
Now, Iβve made this connection. Thereβs something interesting in Battle Ballad regarding the implication that Heinkelβs Authority of Pride may have inflicted the Sleeping Beauty disease unto Louanna.
We outright have Heinkel being referred to as a βlionheartβ here. That is the name of an ability Regulus has from his Authority which impacts his wives by sharing his heart with them.
Authorities clearly can take into account the idea of marriage given Regulus has showcased this with Emilia, so why canβt it take into account Heinkelβs marriage to Louanna and act based on that?
Since Iβve established Heinkelβs Authority of Pride couldβve inflicted the disease onto Louanna, what exactly did it do to her to cause that state then? Iβm frankly not sure, but itβs likely something to do with her Od.
I suspect whatever Heinkel has, itβs some sort of protective ability applicable to himself that inadvertently affected Louanna since he may have been using her open heart & mind to unwittingly load whatever cost the Authority required onto her.
Now, regarding Heinkelβs personality as an individual and how that matches up with the Sin. Hereβs a snippet from LN 9βs Shadow Garden scene.
Is that highlighted portion not a perfect encapsulation of the fact that Heinkel literally scorns everything but Louanna?
Iβd also like to bring something up from the Astrea Family Q&A Iβve covered.
Youβre telling me when asked who is the most human character in Re:Zero, Tappei brings up Subaru and Heinkel?
This is the story where Sin makes one Human. And Iβm supposed to think that Heinkel (who is allegedly not an Authority user) is supposed to match up with Subaru whom is running around with multiple Authorities?
From another meta-perspective, Heinkelβs Arc 5 intro scene mimics Arc 3 Subaru behavior with how he blatantly disregards social nuances of the situation around him and goes ahead pursuing his own mission.
Keep in mind, that same version of Subaru is accused of being the Archbishop of Pride in that very Arc.
This theory would be a deliciously tragic irony in that itβs actually all Heinkelβs own fault his wife is fucked up like this. And the Sword Saint Divine Protection the guy probably desired at some point was always inaccessible by virtue of him simply having been born in a way that the world would deem wrong.
I am aware the Divine Protection could still have gone to Reinhard even if Heinkel didnβt likely have an Authority, however I believe the Protection seems to want to boost the capabilities of itβs user. Itβs not exactly doing any boosting with regards to Reinhard.
The Protection imo seems sentient enough where it if it had the option wouldβve scuttled off to Heinkel because at the very least it could actually improve something there unlike Reinhard whoβd receive it and get 0 benefits which would likely smart at Reidβs Pride if itβs true that guy is inside the DP as the Q&Aβs imply.
Heinkel also back then to my knowledge wouldβve been somebody with a personality worthy of the Sword Saint role aswell so itβd not be his personality which disqualifies him.
I havenβt even gotten to Heinkel-centric content yet, but Tappei is CLEARLY setting up a shit ton of signs that Heinkel might actually be Pride. If thereβs some sign of Heinkel emitting miasma or something equally ridiculous that Tappei sneakily puts into Heinkelβs content expecting it to get overlooked Iβm going to just believe in this theory even more after freaking out for a hot sec.


















