Killua some time later:

this is what having experience in the field means. They figured out so much in only so little and immediately took measures against it. this fight is so good... shows u how insane the zoldycks are

even chrollo was like damn chill!!

you wanna know whats real tragic?

the zoldyck legacy ends in this arc.

i clown on the zoldycks a lot for being bitches (lookin at you silva) but this is actually like a generational tragedy.

what i'm talking about is the fact that illumi and kalluto are the only two kids that the most recent line of zoldycks has produced that actually care about appealing to the family.

like they don't have options.

milluki is the middle child (derogatory)

killua ran away

alluka ran away

it's not entirely clear but kalluto and illumi, the youngest and the oldest, are the only two that really have a chance at progressing the zoldyck bloodline.

illumi of course is devoted, body and soul, to serving the family. his need for control was probably stemmed from the demand to reel in his younger siblings and indoctrinate them to the family tradition. even his monologue about alluka was all about accumulating power in the zoldyck name.

kalluto is still growing and deciding what he wants or if he is even strong enough to have those wants (at least that's my read), but he is working towards the same goal. he wants his brothers back and he's doing everything he can to do so. HE WAS ALSO attached to kikyo and supposedly coddled for his entire life, so it is likely he's not even learned how to have autonomy.

but the tragedy is that they are probably both going to die on the black whale one.

the way the plot is going (and my own wishes), i think that boat is going to blow up and everyone is going to die. the only exceptions being *maybe* hisoka and *a little more likely maybe* leorio.

and also beyond but shhh

the point still stands.

unless killua is eventually going to return to the family, or unless kikyo has another child, there will be no one left to carry on the family name.

Which, in my opinion, is why he is, compared to his family, quite adequate.

I also want to note that I have no psychological education, these are just my assumptions and theories

First, I would like to write a little about Silva, because it is important. Well, as we have seen, Silva is manipulative and self-confident. He is absolutely sure that Killua will return, because he is HIS son. He is confident that he has control and influence over him. He also spoke about it with a crazy(?) smile. And also, in the same series, Killua was shown to be, at the very least, tense when he entered his room.(This is better shown in the 1999 version, I don't remember how it in 2011).

If Silva is like this, most likely Zeno was like this before too. I'm sure it was he who influenced him like that, because women in this family have no influence. So his mother didn't make any important decisions about his upbringing. (Plus, I think the Zoldycks already have a certain technique for raising children from generation to generation, which they don't change or only change slightly). Zeno is noticeably softer than Silva, especially towards children. He also hates it when innocent people suffer.(Yorknew City arc, after the battle with Kuroro Lucifer: "Do you think we do this for fun? It's not like we take pleasure from killing. I don't want to work or die for nothing", Chimera Ant Arch: immediately gave up work when he saw that his attack had injured Komugi)

In my opinion, Zeno softened when he was about 40-45. I think he heard something that changed his mind or prompted him to do so, from someone he respected a lot. Or maybe something happened in his life that made him understand the value of human life.(I'm almost certain that this is not the case and I'm leaning towards the first option. But I don't completely rule out that this could also have happened). But still, he would never consider most of the institutions of this family to be something bad. At this age, it's hard to change your mind about what you've always considered familiar, normal, what you've always seen around you and what you've done yourself.

The Zoldycks (except Killua) are afraid of naming her for who she is because it would solidify her purpose.