chatonarya

[chatonarya]

Hey! Hi! This is a way late message but I was the fantranslator for the keen edge silver blade manga! Just wanted to say it’s been a delight to watch you analyze my favorite trio with the words that I chose <3 it’s super exciting to see that everything it came through smoothly and that you picked up on my implications!! Godspeed fellow karlan enjoyer o7 you’re doing great work

Omg, hello!!! Thank you so much for your work, you're a lifesaver! I was absolutely ecstatic when the fan translation came out!

You must have seen me complaining about the poor word choices the official translation made in some parts of the manga, too, then. XD I think your translation captures the essence of what they were trying to convey better in some places! Even now after reading the official TL, your word choices sometimes pop up first in my mind. I'm so glad my appreciation has reached you as well!

Thank you so much for reading my analyses! <3 I'm always happy to meet another Karlan enjoyer! And I hope to continue providing more Karlan analysis. :)

[chatonarya]

Courier's oprec is another wonderful addition to the Kjerag lore compendium. (I will, hopefully at some time before the release of Kjerag 3, manage to write a post about Gnosis's oprec, aside from my "Crane of Ice and Fire" essay, and an essay further dissecting the travesty that is Silverash's second oprec.) I absolutely love it.

I'll preface by saying that I was looking forward to this oprec immensely. Weiss was my first Arknights favorite, and who drew me into the intrigue of the Kjerag characters in the first place, and for quite a while, I was disappointed with the fact that he was not given an oprec with the rest of the cast at the release of Break The Ice. So I was very excited at the announcement of his oprec, and eagerly waited six months for it to come to global, and I'm happy to say that it did not disappoint.

The characters are all amazing, from Weiss to Enciodes to Degenbrecher, and I love the focus being given to their relationship and dynamics. The oprec takes place shortly after Enciodes's return to Kjerag from Victoria, and deals with the impact Degenbrecher's arrival had not only on the locals, but on Weiss as she effectively took his job. This was already hinted at in Degenbrecher's operator file, so it's great to see it expanded on like this. There are so many moments I love!

The way Enciodes trusts Weiss to do as he wills regarding the avalanche--just as I said before, just as he always does, Enciodes always places his greatest trust on his people.

And I love this playful little exchange of theirs where Enciodes tells him there's no need to call him "sir" and Weiss chirps that it's an old habit. It's a moment that really establishes them as more than simply master and subordinate, which is something that I've noticed in BI, RS, and Gnosis's oprec, so this is something I really appreciate. Weiss has always been diffident towards Enciodes, always respectful to the utmost, and by his own profile, "his most faithful supporter," but I've always felt there is a distance between them. To see them share a moment of friendly intimacy like this adds so much to their relationship. It gives them a new depth, and makes it clearer that much of Weiss's extreme respect is done of his own volition and not because Enciodes demands it of him.

This moment is also adorable, showing how Enciodes has rubbed off on Weiss, which makes sense as they've known each other since childhood. In fact, Weiss's whole ploy to win over the doubtful Kjerag noble is very like Enciodes, and I love that a lot. Through their long acquaintance, Weiss has learned how Enciodes does things, and doesn't hesitate to emulate those methods. He flawlessly engineers a situation where he can demonstrate to the hesitant people not just the capabilities of the imported technology but of Degenbrecher, well aware that showing rather than making promises is the best way to do so.

It's also impressive once again to see the lengths that Enciodes has gone in his mission to modernize Kjerag, and just how much opposition he faced. Even Silverash allies doubted him upon his return, and believed he was wrong to bring Degenbrecher with him and thought he was playing favorites merely by bringing foreigners into Kjerag! It also demonstrates just how deep-seated Kjerag's hatred of foreigners was, and just how much that has changed by the time of RS. While we still see the ongoing clash between the more open-minded youngsters and the older folk in Kjera's oprec, by the time of Harold's module (which is some time after RS), the mingling of Kjerags and outsiders is much more accepted. It's fascinating to see that even Degenbrecher, who is deeply beloved by the Kjerag people, was not immediately accepted upon arrival but in fact needed to prove herself too.

And Degenbrecher, oh, Degenbrecher. How is she so wonderful? She is such a great character, so well-written. Even though she doesn't have many lines, the few that she does are good enough to capture the essence of her (and she's a laconic person anyway). She's long been one of my favorites, and I really love how she's always (spotty translation of some of her voice lines aside) portrayed with such subtlety. Though she speaks little, her simple nature and wry sense of humor always comes through.

I also appreciate these little nods to her module story about her first medal and her hobby of fighting avalanches.

There's also, sadly, a bit lost in translation with this scene:

In both CN and JP, Weiss switches from calling her Miss/Madam Degenbrecher to older/big sister Degenbrecher (Brecher-nee-san in JP, which is the same nickname Ensia uses for her, actually), something which unfortunately doesn't really work in English. It's a shame, because Weiss simply dropping the "madam" in English doesn't give as much of an impact. We also lose the parallel with how Weiss addresses Matterhorn as "aniki". But that aside, it's still very cute, and I love how friendly and playful it is and how Degenbrecher is smiling throughout and how it shows their bond deepening.

I love how Weiss points out that her aloofness isn't haughtiness or hostility, but simply her nature, and possibly even confusion. The sweet goat was probably taken aback by Kjerag at first, and maybe didn't really know what to make of it after Kazimierz and Victoria!

And the way Weiss defends her is so beautiful too. He saw through her detached exterior to her heart of pure gold, and wanted to make sure others knew the kind of person she really was beneath it. And to think Weiss played a role in making Kjerag accept her, not just for Enciodes, but for Kjerag and her!

Not to mention Weiss orchestrating the whole thing solely to get the stubborn Kjerag oldies to accept Degenbrecher and the fact that she's an asset to them. Again, not just because Weiss is thinking about what's best for Enciodes, but because he likes her too and recognizes that she's an ally, not an enemy. It's wonderful.

And I love how he says there are other ways he can serve Enciodes aside from being his bodyguard, so he doesn't feel like he was replaced. In my previous post speculating about this very oprec, I mused that Weiss was wary of Degenbrecher as she took his position per her profile, but I had not considered it from the angle of Enciodes and his actions; i.e. Was it callous of Enciodes to bring Degenbrecher to Kjerag and replace Weiss without his input?

Ah, only on the surface level. If we know Enciodes, after all the characterization he's been given, then the answer is quite obvious: he believed that Degenbrecher would eventually win over the Kjerag people, just as he believed that Kjerag would eventually win over her and eventually the whole world. As she did, and as Kjerag will.

As a minor detail, I appreciate the note of how it was Weiss, Matterhorn, Chester, and some of the older folks who held down the fort while Enciodes was away for seven years. There's also more mention of the Browntails and Paleroches taking Silverash land, and many Silverash supporters (vassals, perhaps) going over to their side. It fleshes out further the enormous disadvantage Enciodes was at when he returned, and why he'd lost his seat in the Council, and just how difficult his ascent to his present position was. The way almost everyone, including some of his own allies, was against him yet he still succeeded through determination and hard work is impressive.

In conclusion, this has to be one of my favorite of the Kjerag oprecs, as difficult as it is to choose a favorite among them. Like the other great Kjerag oprecs (Gnosis's and Kjera's spring to mind), this oprec wonderfully fleshes out not only its focus character, Weiss, but builds on the other characters and the country as well in small but significant ways, adding a fresh new layer to the Kjerag picture as a whole. Well done.

[chatonarya]

The Crane of Ice and Fire

About three years ago, I wrote an essay about why Gnosis is actually a tragic character. Now that Rides is behind us, and more importantly, Gnosis’s oprec, I feel it might be a good moment to present a second, more detailed essay about Gnosis and his character and why, indeed, he is very tragic—and also very beautiful.

Gnosis’s oprec is an impressive addition to the Kjerag storyline and lore, adding vital detail and background not only to Gnosis himself but to Enciodes and the country of Kjerag, establishing that the Victoria and Caster influence and connection to Kjerag already existed (likely via Enciodes’s mother Elizabeth) even before he was born and demonstrating clearly how pitiful and weak Kjerag appears in the eyes of outsiders and how easy they find it to tread upon Kjerag as they please. It also outlines the point of connection between Gnosis and Enciodes, and the inception of their bond and their grand dream to change Kjerag. 

But, most of all, naturally, it adds a new depth to Gnosis’s character, showing well why he is the way he is and throwing all of his actions thus far into a whole new light. Let’s begin.

What do we learn most about Gnosis from his oprec? His feelings about Kjerag and his driving motivation. I’ll address them one at a time.

Beginning with the former, we’re given an incredibly clear picture of an emotion I can only label as frustration. The oprec opens with Gnosis watching the fowlbeasts fly past the classroom, ignoring the lesson in the background in the favor of reflecting on the lives of the fowlbeasts: how they live and how they traverse half of Kjerag in a single day, how strong and sturdy and smart they are, and how there appears to be some kind of law governing them as they don’t ever appear to think about flying beyond the mountains. He already understands his lessons perfectly, finding the answers to their regular quiz “even easier than a fowlbeast finds looking for food,” and constantly aces his tests. The tutor who teaches him and Enciodes praises Gnosis’s smarts, calling him the brightest pupil he’s ever taught and telling Gnosis that “Kjerag is too small for [him]”, emphasizing how Kjerag’s primitive and simplistic ways hold him back as he points out that the signature of Gnosis’s father on the permission slip for the study abroad program is forged. The tutor thus lays his trap for the rest of the oprec: for Gnosis to unwittingly lead Enciodes into getting kidnapped in the framework of a twisted deal where Gnosis becomes the tutor’s accomplice in exchange for leaving Kjerag.

Gnosis is a smart kid; a shrewd kid, even. While we don’t have exact confirmation of the date this oprec took place, my guess would be Gnosis (and Enciodes) is about twelve years old, as we now know via Terra: A Journey that Elizabeth and Olafur died when Enciodes was fourteen. Young though he was at the time, he already understood the hidden truth in the tutor’s insidious words about Kjerag being “too small,” and already, for more than one reason, desired to leave and recognized what it was keeping him in Kjerag. He attempted to take matters into his own hands to fulfill his wishes, because other than the tutor and his trickery, nobody else understands Gnosis, or has attempted to help him with his goal of leaving, particularly as the heaviest shackles come from his own family.

Gnosis’s father is a classic archetype of the sage who has gone mad surrounded by his vast knowledge in isolation. Day in and day out, he loses himself in his archive, out of touch with reality and forgetting even his own child. While Gnosis doesn’t explicitly state that he resents his father for this, his father’s state is clear motivation for Gnosis to avoid going home if he can help it. He describes his father as “a drowning man, stretching out his hand to tell his son about all the mysteries hidden in the lake,” a poignant and striking line that conveys both a sense of revulsion and fear.

There is a disconnect between them, perhaps even a certain neglect as Mr. Edelweiss fails to recognize Gnosis’s needs and desires. It’s painfully clear now why the young Enciodes states in BI-6 that “nobody looked up to my father as much as you”: to Gnosis, Olafur Silverash represented not only a forward-thinking man who was making efforts to change Kjerag, but perhaps a more reasonable and rational parent figure who might actually lend an ear to what he had to say and how he felt. The study abroad program that Gnosis so wanted to participate in was also created and sponsored by Olafur, showing how Olafur, the first Kjerag to study outside of the country, recognized that Kjerag was severely lacking in those aspects. Because despite the fact that the Edelweisses and Silverashes have been close for generations and Mr. Edelweiss and Olafur were friends (Mrs. Edelweiss would tell her husband that Gnosis was studying with Olafur’s son every time he would call out for Gnosis to share his latest discovery, only for him to forget what he wanted to say), Mr. Edelweiss does not share Olafur’s opinions or outlook (and bear in mind that Olafur and Elizabeth were quite moderate in their reforms compared to their son Enciodes later on), and refuses to allow Gnosis to study abroad in Victoria as he so desperately desires, and refuses to allow him to leave Kjerag.

What Gnosis desires most as a child is freedom. The fowlbeasts he watches flying past the window and whose habits he is intimately familiar with are a metaphor for Gnosis himself, the opposite of his father drowning in the “sea of books”: he yearns to fly beyond Kjerag’s peaks and see the outside world. He finds Kjerag’s institutions “inefficient and backwards”; he “can’t help but feel the urge to run away” when he thinks about having to become a scholar like his father; he openly admits that he doesn’t like his life right now. He doesn’t know what he wants to do, he just wants to get out of Kjerag at almost any cost. In his desperation, he even forged his father’s signature on the authorization form, despite knowing its inherent risks, not just of getting caught but of potentially cutting all ties with his family once they discovered his rebellion, and it’s his desperation itself that allows him to be so easily manipulated by the tutor.

Gnosis was not a happy adolescent. Like a bird, he was stifled and trapped in the gilded cage of Kjerag: surrounded by the millenia-old peace, his life path already laid out before him, able to go wherever he pleased so long as within the confines of the peaks, yet unable to escape his prison and reach the sky beyond.

Despite this, however, Gnosis tells Enciodes that he does not dislike Kjerag. Although Kjerag and Kjerag’s ways cage him in, Gnosis doesn’t hate it. What Gnosis hates is the restrictive future looming before him and the prospect of losing himself within it. He dislikes how Kjerag is “inefficient and backwards,” how it’s what Enciodes calls “boring”, and most of all, what they both agree on: Kjerag’s weakness.

Kjerag is weak: not merely its institutions, but its economics, military, and geopolitical situation, something both Gnosis and Enciodes reflect on. “Maybe I should get used to this,” Enciodes comments after he’s been kidnapped, “this is the state of Kjerag right now. So weak that this may not be the last time something like this happens.” But he’s not happy about it: “I understand why Father says that Kjerag is weak and needs to learn to accept compromise. But I'm getting tired of seeing him bow his head to foreigners. It's like you said: boring. We need to be stronger, tougher, fiercer. Let the foreigners know that they can't walk over the people of Kjerag so easily.” And after he knocks out one of the kidnappers or potentially even kills him, Gnosis agrees: “They don’t see Kjerag as an equal partner. Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile.” The tutor even rubs it in at the end by asking them if they really think Victoria will allow them to develop: “Victoria takes pity on Kjerag at the moment, because you’re too weak. They will reap the fruit that belongs to them, when the time comes. You’re only ‘developing’ for their sake.” The problem is not Kjerag itself, but Kjerag’s ways.

It's so beautiful how even though rationally, Gnosis should hate Kjerag and everything it represents to him—all of its confinement and restriction—yet he doesn’t, because Kjerag is still his home. This is part of the reason Gnosis, desperate though he is to leave, refuses to go along with the kidnappers. He doesn’t want to become an accomplice to this crime and he doesn’t want to hurt Enciodes and Olafur and Kjerag by extension anymore than he already has. “[The fact that I’m unhappy here] doesn’t mean I want to leave with you,” he snaps back to the tutor, refusing to shrink despite the tutor insisting that his refusal to cooperate is “not smart” and he’s “lost [his] one shot at freedom” and he’ll “never know how big the world outside is”. Despite the opportunity dangling before him and despite the fact that perhaps only a day prior Gnosis made the decision to forge his father’s signature in hopes of escaping, Gnosis turns down this opportunity, instead choosing hope. “Perhaps he would still try to fly beyond the mountains, but not in this way”: not by betraying the first person who has ever reached out to him. He chooses to take the hope for a better future offered to him by Enciodes: “You want to leave Kjerag because it’s boring. But what if I told you that I can make Kjerag less boring?” As Enciodes doesn’t turn his back on Kjerag but instead imagines a better future for it, so too does he inspire Gnosis to do the same.

As I’ve said before, though not explicitly stated, Gnosis’s stubborn patriotism emerges when you look closer at his actions: the way he never, outside of his oprec, criticizes or speaks badly of Kjerag. He’s always thinking of Kjerag’s future and how it can be better. In Keen-Edge, Silver Blade, he even uses this to pick a staged fight with the planted guards outside of Viscount Walden’s ball, accusing them of giving him and Enciodes a hard time to get in solely because they’re Kjerag (and indeed, we also see the Victorians looking down on Kjerag there). All of his research is in service of working to build Kjerag up and make it stronger. And of course, this ties into his surname: Edelweiss. Edelweiss, the hardy flower of patriotism and rugged individualism and purity, the symbol of Switzerland, one of the nations Kjerag is based on. According to folk tradition, giving this flower to a loved one is a symbol of dedication, due to the fact that it only grows in remote mountain areas, making it difficult to pick. 

Yet despite the fact that Gnosis doesn’t hate Kjerag and dedicates himself to Kjerag, until RS, this isn’t a sentiment that goes both ways. Kjerag hates him, and has hated him for over fifteen years. Since the moment of the train accident that took the lives of Olafur and Elizabeth and the blame fell on the Edelweisses, conspiracy though it was and accident though it was ruled, Kjerag turned the full brunt of their loathing towards him, though his only “crime” was being their son.

Gnosis’s file details that nobody in Kjerag was happy to see him come back, and less happy that he was so closely associated with Enciodes, and only too glad to sling the blame for anything questionable his way. As I said in my previous essay, I don’t think it’s much of an exaggeration to extrapolate from the information at hand that most, if not all, of Kjerag treated Gnosis as if he were inherently evil in spite of his innocence. The Edelweisses, already clearly eccentric by nature at best, became something worse: traitors and murderers. 

Gnosis took this the hardest, not only on account of admiring Olafur deeply, but as shown in the oprec, on account of his father being a madman and with his own experience of being the unwitting participant of a crime. The same way he was manipulated into leading Enciodes into the kidnappers’ trap, he cannot know with complete certainty “if [he] was an accomplice somehow” or not. His father is inscrutable and incomprehensible, and more traditional than Olafur; who is Gnosis to say that Mr. Edelweiss and Olafur didn't have some sort of conflict and the mad Mr. Edelweiss didn't scheme, alone or with others, to be rid of him?

Of course, post-RS, we now have explicit confirmation from Arctosz's conversation with Rosalind that the Silverashes were targeted by other forces as well—not just Luca Browntail, as mentioned in BI-6, but likely members of the Vine-Bear Court, whose wrath Arctosz feared would turn towards Tatyana and Rosalind, further cementing the Edelweisses’ innocence.

But Gnosis—fourteen years old, full of his own conflict, doubt, fear, and unease, perhaps even the beginnings of mental illness—had no ways of knowing this at the time. Only Enciodes, familiar with the Kjerag politics and suspecting foul play from the other parties in Kjerag, believed in Gnosis’s innocence. Only Enciodes, the person who knew Gnosis best, remained unconvinced. Only Enciodes, Gnosis’s first and only friend, stood by his side. 

As I said before, this is the core of Gnosis’s tragedy. He is innocent, and always has been; he is a victim of the conspiracy just as much as Enciodes is, but due to his own position and circumstances, he could not see himself as such. Instead he internalized the blame around him, believing himself to be guilty, a belief which he continues to carry for a large part of his life in a tragic irony. He is innocent, but lacks the certainty and the concrete proof to believe anything other than himself being “the son of a sinner,” and embraces this assigned role to further his goals, while all along unaware that in truth he has committed no crime at all. He was pushed into the dark, and chose to walk that path under the belief that any other door was already and would forever be closed to him, but the forces which pushed him into that fate were false from the very beginning. 

But Kjerag does not forget. From his own file, “In an isolated environment like Kjerag, one tiny mistake can be engraved in the collective memory for generations.” It’s only thanks to Enciodes that Kjerag, despite everything that has happened, forgives him and gives him a second chance: Degenbrecher states in RS-2 “If Gnosis hadn't done all this, then Enciodes would've been in deep trouble after speaking up for him.”

Enciodes again comes to Gnosis’s rescue, as though mirroring the way Gnosis rescued Enciodes before. This line from RS is striking in its implications, not only on account of Gnosis’s efforts but on account of Enciodes going out of his way to clear Gnosis’s name. It’s important to Enciodes that Gnosis’s reputation is clean (and this is an off-handed line that I would adore to see explored in further detail) because otherwise Gnosis cannot live happily and peacefully in Kjerag. Gnosis being loathed and shunned is the exact opposite of what Enciodes wants, and this has always been part of his plan; he has always intended to sweep away the “sin” clinging to Gnosis. At the end of Break The Ice, Gnosis’s eventual return to Kjerag post-Snowcap Incident is alluded to, and this line shows that although Gnosis returned to the same infamy which greeted him the first time, this second time around, Enciodes is at last in the position of power to be able to quash the disgrace which has tailed Gnosis for nearly twenty years.

But although Enciodes has always planned for this, it does not diminish something deeper: the fact that Gnosis has, not only once but twice, chosen to return to a place that’s hated him, a place he tried to run away from—because of the promise he made to the one and only friend who reached out to him and stood by him. The promise to make Kjerag big enough for Enciodes, too. 

Think about it: Gnosis wanted so badly to escape Kjerag and go study in Victoria that he was willing to forge his father’s signature, and when the Edelweisses are forced to leave Kjerag, he’s at last had his wish granted, even if it’s by force. Why should he return to a place he finds boring and stifling and believes him to be the son of a murderer? Why should he come back to the place he’s always yearned to escape?

I quote the final section of his operator file: “To [Gnosis], the joint founding of Karlan Trade, and behind that, SilverAsh's concern for Kjerag's future, are the few fetters that exist for him. Aside from his work, that is the one and only thing he cares about. And just as he's willing to devote his heart and soul to his research, he'll actually do the same for Karlan Trade's affairs. Even though he'll never admit it, nor will anyone else ever understand.”

Because Enciodes promised him that he would make Kjerag big enough for him—make Kjerag a place he didn’t feel like running away from—and because he promised Enciodes in return that Kjerag would be big enough for him too; big enough for the both of them.

Enciodes: Let's make a promise, Gnosis. Gnosis: What? Enciodes: I'll make Kjerag big enough for you. Enciodes: And you'll stay. Gnosis: What kind of promise is that? Enciodes: No good? Gnosis: If we're going to do this, we'll make Kjerag big enough for the both of us.

It’s absolutely stunning. I said before that everything Gnosis has done is because of their mutual dream, but now, it isn’t just their dream, it’s their promise too. Gnosis doesn’t have merely an open-ended offer, but an obligation to Enciodes as well. They have an agreement to do this together, to do this for each other, so they can both live happily in Kjerag. And certainly, that is not something Gnosis would ever explain nor would anyone else understand.

But this is not to gloss over the magnitude of Gnosis’s decision. It would be so easy, so natural, even, for Gnosis to refuse Enciodes’s plea when he arrives in Victoria and says, “Come help me.” It would so easy for him to dismiss all of that as a childish fantasy, as something impossible, as something not worthwhile in the face of so much more potential, glory, and achievement he might have employing his skills elsewhere, as by all metrics, Gnosis is absolutely brilliant academically.

Yet all the while he was in Victoria, by his module, he continually kept thinking of Enciodes and whether he would really come, and if he did, whether they would be able to reconcile their differences. Those three years they were apart, Gnosis upheld his end of his promise to “study all the complicated stuff”, thinking about Enciodes and if they really were going to do this, to make this happen, if Enciodes would accept Gnosis’s radical streak and new methodology—and of course, just as Enciodes forgave Gnosis for his mistake in getting him kidnapped, just as he did before, Enciodes accepted him just as he was.

More than ever, Gnosis’s oprec lays out why Gnosis is so fiercely loyal to Enciodes, why he will never abandon Enciodes unless Enciodes abandons their dream first. More than ever, the motivation behind all of Gnosis’s actions is clear, as is the true meaning behind his enigmatic line from BI: “He promised me a future.”

Although in BI, Gnosis is quick to follow this line with details about sponsorship and creative freedom, the oprec lends it a new depth. The “promised future” isn’t merely a business deal: it’s something deeply, deeply personal. “I’ll make Kjerag big enough for you, and you’ll stay,” Enciodes says. Although Enciodes had already decided to build Kjerag up with or without Gnosis, this line states explicitly that part of Enciodes’s motivation behind everything is Gnosis. So much of what he does is because of this promise. It explains all, from their close relationship to Enciodes’s leniency regarding Gnosis’s actions and his endless gifts and boons to Gnosis; everything can be traced back to this one moment, where Enciodes promises that he will make Kjerag a true home for Gnosis.

I’ve postulated in previous essays based on the material at hand that Enciodes is the lynchpin of Gnosis’s life, that almost everything in Gnosis’s life revolves around Enciodes, but now, with his oprec, I think I can conclusively say that is no longer a hypothesis but actual textual fact. The medal for his oprec states “No one is born with an ambitious goal. Sometimes, it comes to be because of a promise, and a habit.” In other words, Gnosis didn’t even have a goal until he met Enciodes and they made their promise. He had ambition, but nowhere to direct it beyond his short-term desire to leave Kjerag, and he didn’t even know what he wanted to study. Enciodes gave him the starting point—which is also the name of his oprec.

Even Gnosis’s EP, “Heal the World,” hits different after the oprec. He begs to be saved; speaks of the pain within him; of standing on the edge and waiting for the end; of just a tear saving him from the darkness. It all takes on new connotations after knowing how close Gnosis was to falling into despair, how his struggle and his suffering began not after the accident whose blame he was implicated in, but even earlier than that. This “darkness” his EP speaks of has been present in his life for a long time, and the hope and love that he clings to in order to “heal the world” around him is clearer than ever as he “falls through dreams.”

Mentally, emotionally, and perhaps even physically (Gnosis mentions rocks being thrown at his window in BI; it isn’t difficult to imagine them being thrown at his person, too), battered, bruised, and suffering, Gnosis has silently endured the pain of neglect, of yearning, of repression, of being outcast, of being hated, of being badmouthed and cursed to his face, of being shunned and loathed for something he didn’t do—and pressed on, for the sake of their promise. Like the crane that is his animal spirit, like the grateful crane in the folk tale, he gave everything to Enciodes after Enciodes saved him from the “trap” that is Kjerag’s stifling environment and tradition in repayment; he plucked out his own feathers to bring wealth and success to Enciodes and Karlan Trade even to his own personal detriment during his gambit in BI. Gnosis, ever the radical, is only too happy to set himself ablaze to further their goals.

This lends an extra layer of tragedy to him, by the way: as he pushes Enciodes to allow him to bring down the other clans in the BI-6 flashback, Gnosis insists that Kjerag will never have a place for him anyway, despite Enciodes’s goal being to give him a place. He attempts to symbolically reject the future offered willingly to him as something pointless; he again tests Enciodes’s devotion in asking Enciodes if he would like to kill him; yet, symbolically “standing on the edge” as his EP sings, he is saved once again from the “twilight”, because of the “fate intwined between [them]” as Enciodes shakes his hand and pronounces him “dearest friend,” and later in RS, ensures that the slate is wiped clean for Gnosis and even later, truly gives him that future.

On the outside, Gnosis is a cold and emotionless scientist, but one only has to look just beneath the surface to see that he’s anything but. Gnosis burns with passion and emotion beneath his cloaking of ice: he’s full of pain and determination, brilliant ideas and dogged resolve, daring and fearless down to his core. At twelve years old, he made the decision to take responsibility and rescue Enciodes from the gang of kidnappers by his lonesome, armed with only a single Arts unit and his own wits and cunning, and his list of radical deeds has only grown since then. And interestingly, we see that Gnosis’s sub-color is red, a color associated with passion, fire, and all form of “hotter” emotions, despite his being what they call “an ice person,” and I can’t help but feel how fitting it is. Like the red streaks in his hair, only a few glimpses are visible at first glance, but a closer look reveals just how vivid and striking they are.

To conclude, I’d like to draw a contrast between the young childhood Gnosis and the present-day Gnosis in the most recent piece of lore pertaining to him that we know of: his ‘Forerunner’ skin and the tidbit about him in the “Public Hearing: Max D.C.”, both of which show Gnosis at the zenith of his life and the peak of his achievement: Speaker of Kjerag’s Parliament.

At his most emotional and most honest, Gnosis says, “I don’t like my life right now. I can't help but feel the urge to run away when I think about how I’m supposed to become a scholar like my father. I don’t know what kind of life I want.”

Twenty-odd years later, Gnosis says, “The world will be witness to Kjerag’s precipitous rise.”

Gnosis stood uncertain as a child: uncertain of himself, his future, his identity. Even his own desires and goals were opaque to him, lost beneath the weight of obligation and duty looming before him. The only thought in his heart was escape.

Gnosis as an adult stands in a position of power, presiding over Kjerag’s new modern parliament after the abolishment of the Tri-Clan Council. No longer restrained by Kjerag’s rules, now he plays a part in making them instead. Rather than the future being a dreaded prison, now he helps shape and form that future. Kjerag is not a cage for him any longer—Kjerag is his sky.

[chatonarya]

And with the When Elegies Are Ashes PV, we have the announcement of Gnosis's second module!!!

It's called "Project No. 1 Model", confirming my prior headcanon that Project 1 was Gnosis's brainchild!

I wonder if the icon means passive SP gen for Karlan faction... that would be great!

Excited!!!

[chatonarya]

HAROLD IS SELF-TAUGHT?!

Best grandpa says, "Forget university, the best school is practical experience."

[chatonarya]

New Kjerag merchandise has been released, featuring new art!

First things first: our second piece of official Gnosis art of him smiling! Truly blessed.

I have to say I love how Gnosis apparently decided to accessorize out the wazoo: tie clip, collar pins, scarf, cuff links, and watch(?) chain on his waistcoat. Bird moment. Even his waistcoat itself has a lovely feather pattern on the lapel and elaborate buttons, and his black and white shoes are a nice touch. Hard to see, but his belt is white too. And I love the red lining of his coat, just like his Speaker cloak! He knows how to dress!

Meanwhile, Enciodes: I'm naked without my bondage harness.

Degenbrecher's horn chain is such a great touch. I love seeing the AK characters adorning their animal body parts.

She looks great. Gold highlights suit her so well, as do boots, and her high-waisted pants(?) and corset-style belt work great. The fur collar of her jacket is also a nice parallel with Enciodes. The trio wearing silver, blue, and gold also gives them the feeling that they're a matching set. Triple date?

Enya's green ribbons give the vibe of being a gift from the Duke of Caster that she has to wear for political reasons. Ensia looks extremely cute in her mini sweater dress. I also can't help but laugh at Harold being included as an honorary Kjerag, though admittedly, this merchandise is being advertised as RS merch, hence the exclusion of Kjera etc., I would presume. I, too, enjoy counting Harold as an honorary Kjerag.

[chatonarya]

Another day in Kjerag.

(Another collab with my partner-in-crime Aelen!)

[chatonarya]

As a follow-up to my previous post and a second follow-up to my other post six months ago, here we have the Karlan Trio's anniversary lines.

To recap: Silverash reflects on Rhodes's (and the Doctor's) capabilities (perhaps remembering that they have a business relationship as well), though I would be remiss if I did not note that in JP, he says that he's "looking forward to it" rather than having great expectations, though that's a small quibble.

Gnosis, still likely bearing a grudge over the Doctor's interfering during Break The Ice, keeps his Bitch Mode switched firmly on while he's on Rhodes Island, leaving his work for only the most perfunctory of greetings and taking the opportunity to be rude while he's at it. I love him. I wonder why this particular line sounds slightly tinny compared to his other lines, as if it was poorly recorded (or Midorikawa had a cold or something).

Degenbrecher, I'm annoyed to have to point out again, has a slight mistranslation in her line again. In JP, she markedly does not say "a certain someone": she very clearly says Enciodes. I don't know why Yostar did this when she talks about him in several of her other lines.

Furthermore, she does not say that she distrusted him, she says that she "didn't believe his nonsense at first", which in my opinion is a subtle but important difference that is more in-line with Degenbrecher's character. She herself has stated that she has "always despised self-righteous challengers, pumped up on their skills or ideals. And, without exception, I crushed them all underfoot," in BI-8. She is not a person who particularly believes in lofty ideals or unattainable dreams, and by her own profile, she doesn't particularly understand them well; they're "nonsense" to her. She did not believe in Enciodes's vision until she saw him making strides towards it in Keen-Edge, Silver Blade and saw him changing Kjerag, and she's drawing a parallel between Enciodes's aspirations and Rhodes Island's here by saying that she didn't believe it either until she saw the proof with her own eyes. "Distrust," to me, has connotations more of expecting a betrayal or ulterior motives, rather than simply thinking that the dream in question is ridiculous.

In addition, there's a subtle mistake with her final line: she isn't saying she's kept an eye on Rhodes for Karlan Trade, but rather, that she's been "guarding Karlan Trade's gates for so long" that it's natural for her to guard Rhodes now, continuing to draw the parallel between the two entities by saying it's not a big deal for her. I don't think Degenbrecher would so explicitly say that she's watching RI for Karlan Trade like that, though this is hardly the first time her lines have had mistakes, and I have some issues with some of her others (though that's a topic for another post entirely).

[chatonarya]

The official Prelude Suite manga artist who drew Cadenza Virtuosa and Keen-Edge, Silver Blade posted new art of the Karlan Trio (and young Federico and Arturia) on weibo.

I really do love the way they draw Degenbrecher. And look, the chibis are holding hands!

[chatonarya]

Found some higher resolution scans of Gnosis art from Concept Art 3!

He DOES have pierced ears!

He's so beautiful...

[chatonarya]

I'm absolutely cracking up at Gnosis having Resting Bitch Face. I expected nothing less.

Also his WAIST IS SO TINY

And his LEGS? So bird of him??

Have I also ever mentioned how I love his red eyebrows, they're so RED

And I love that he's got feathers on like, everything

(Waiting for my copy of the book still and I'll have something more coherent to say later, maybe)

[chatonarya]

It genuinely baffles me how some people assume the relationship between Gnosis and Monch was a two-way street. It's blindingly evident from the very beginning that to Gnosis, she always was nothing more than a subordinate to him; a good subordinate, but nothing more than that. She was the one with the misplaced crush on a man who didn't especially care about her. Gnosis always remained focused on the only thing that matters to him: his dream with Enciodes. Nothing more, nothing less.

It also baffles me immensely how much his relationship with Enciodes is overlooked. Enciodes is, in effect, the lynchpin of Gnosis's life, around which everything is based. Enciodes saved him from despairing of Kjerag and gave him a goal to work towards, supported him and remained by his side when nobody else would, of course Gnosis is fiercely and eternally loyal to him, even if he cloaks it in a layer of tsun. Even Gnosis's EP is addressed to him. They've worked hand-in-hand towards their dream since they first became friends. You can't have one without the other.

Furthermore, it also baffles me how some people assume that Gnosis is unlovable or unloved, and play up his intellectual and cerebral traits like he's some kind of robot when the text itself says otherwise. Do his voice lines to the Doctor emphasize this? Yes, but voice lines are only one part of an operator's characterization in Arknights, and their writing in the story carries far more weight than their voice lines. Both BI, RS, and his oprec paint a very different image of Gnosis than his lines indicate, and that is an image of someone who is difficult to get along with yet cared for and appreciated regardless. Enciodes has remained by his side for twenty years and has never flinched or batted an eye at Gnosis's harsher side; Degenbrecher values him as one of her dearest friends on the same level as Enciodes; and Gnosis also cares for them in turn and lets down his facade with them. He not only has a potential long-time lover in Enciodes if you'd like to take the massive amount of subtext between them that way, but he has a good friend in Degenbrecher, with whom he's relaxed enough to bicker with (and you can take them as an OT3 too if you want).

At this point, Gnosis barely even qualifies as a mad scientist given that he doesn't even mention research once in RS, much less a hyperfocused machine who has nobody else in his life but his equipment! He has his company, his career, and most of all, he has his friends. He has bonds with other people, and deep ones at that. Yet most is made of what is, so far, his most shallow relationship (the one with Monch), while everything else is ignored.

I find it rather baffling.

[chatonarya]

Sometimes I think about Silverweiss and I'm just overwhelmed by how much has been put into it.

Childhood friends beginning from a wild escapade involving kidnappers, rescues, and a stampede, culminating in a staggering promise of "I will change the country for you so you'll stay" and "You're my first real friend". A shared vision and shared ideals. Enciodes from the very beginning watching Gnosis watch the fowlbeasts, noticing his unhappiness, recognizing that Gnosis has similar feelings of discontent about Kjerag and reaching out to him.

Enciodes's unwavering faith and belief even when the entire country turned against the Edelweisses, swearing that he would forgive Gnosis even if he was responsible; Enciodes's promise to come find Gnosis, Gnosis's promise to come back and help him even as he himself doubted his own innocence.

The years going by and the two of them changing, worrying if the other would hold up his end of the bargain, molded by their hard surroundings, yet still finding common ground because neither of them have let go of their shared dream and renewing their promise and reforging their connection. The risky plot to gain Viscount Walden's favor, putting all of their trust in each other's smarts and daring to pull it off.

The two of them going back to Kjerag, Enciodes ignoring all public opinion and making Gnosis his right-hand man, implied to give him essentially anything he wants and asks for, because of course, that's part of his promise. Gnosis willingly setting himself ablaze as the scapegoat and utilizing his infamy so Enciodes would get off scot-free to advance their plans and their dreams despite Enciodes promising him a future and a place in Kjerag from the very beginning, always taking on as much risk as he can even if it meant he'd have to leave again, because only their shared dream matters.

Enciodes bringing Gnosis back to Kjerag again after everything, speaking up for him and risking his own reputation and word for Gnosis so he would be able to stay--giving him his position back, making him Director as well as CTO, ensuring that Kjerag will accept him because he wants Gnosis there because Gnosis holds half of their dream; Enciodes making Gnosis Speaker of the new parliament in the future for the same reasons.

There's so much space and content dedicated to fleshing out their relationship and how they feel about each other, it's truly impressive. We're given an almost complete image of how much they care and how important the other is to them at essentially every stage in their lives. At almost every stage, their dedication and commitment to each other is made clear.

From the moment they made each other that promise, they've been inextricably intertwined, because making the other happy is explicitly part of their motivation in building Kjerag up.

"If we're going to do this, we'll make Kjerag big enough for the both of us."

Enciodes wants to change Kjerag so that Gnosis doesn't ever feel like running away from it again; Gnosis wants to change Kjerag so that it's a home for Enciodes, too--so that it's a home for both of them. So they can both live there happily.

From their childhood to their teens to their adult life, almost every new piece of content that involves one of them has a thread connecting to the other. Gnosis's module is all about how they overcame their differences and how ultimately his decision to choose their dream was long foregone; the prequel manga follows up on that by showing them post-module-doubt; Gnosis's oprec is all about how their connection began; Enciodes's module has a whole section dedicated to his sorrow at Gnosis's departure.

They truly are partners, in every sense of the word.

[chatonarya]

I wrote about this some months ago, but now we have the official translations for the anniversary lines.

To recap, SA philosophizes, Gnosis once again refuses to socialize with Rhodes Island (he takes his work vacation very seriously and still holds a grudge), and Degenbrecher pulls out her tsun side again.

There is, however, a bit of a nuance lost in the translation for Degenbrecher compared to what she says with her JP voice: she uses the word お屋�� (estate) hinting specifically at the Silverash estate, and the "weary faces" (顔も見飽きた連中) is more "faces I'm tired of seeing" (thank you once again, Aelen_altria). This implies much more clearly that Degenbrecher is saying she's used to celebrating just with her friends, and we already know that she does not like crowds. "Face I'm tired of seeing" also can be literally nobody else but Enciodes and Gnosis: who else would she rag on but continue to hang out with?

[chatonarya]

It's struck me more than once that throughout the entirety of his oprec, Gnosis primarily wears three expressions: a neutral facade, a glare, or a stressed and tense distrust...

...With the notable exception of when he's talking to Enciodes. It's only then that he shows an expression of wonder and surprise, and only then that he truly, genuinely smiles.

[chatonarya]

Wherever the snow may fall, the warmth of companionship always brings them together.

Source: AK official EN account.

This art is so lovely.

I love Enciodes being a child again and making snow kittens. Tenzin bringing the holly so all the couples present have an excuse to kiss. Ensia full of cheer and ready for a friendly snowball fight (that everyone else probably takes very seriously and turns the whole thing into a death match). An official picture of Gnosis smiling, even if he's hiding it a little (probably planning someone's murder). Degenbrecher preparing to absolutely obliterate someone with that snowball, probably tagteaming with Gnosis to do so (he plans the trajectory, she provides the ballistic missile). I love that it shows trio hanging out together on their off-time, too (Degenbrecher probably dragged the boys out of the office).

I can see the whole thing becoming a 3v3 all-out war very quickly, or at least, 2v2 with Degenbrecher and Gnosis versus Kjera and Enya (because Enya can't pass up the opportunity to try to beat Enciodes's ass, fighting avalanches is a fun day for Degenbrecher, Gnosis can use his Arts and has never lost a snowball fight in his life, and Kjera will play along with whatever Enya wants), while Ensia cheerleads and Enciodes plays commander (then goes back to making snow kittens as his seconds assure him everything is under control).

Merry Christmas, indeed.

[chatonarya]

Karlan Trio.jpg

Thank you Aelen_altria, my partner-in-crime!