#the times i cite Nora is from her twitter and the EC

[ionlydrinkhotwater]

I have some theories (take it with a grain of salt) about how the mafia stuff works in aftg

So let's start with the Main family vs branch family. Based on what Nora said on Twitter and in the EC; the treatment of the branch/younger son is dependent on the head of the family and their own feelings towards them. According to Nora Kengo and Tetsujis father was a lot more kind towards his younger son and not only allowed Kengo and Tetsuji to become close but let Tetsuji pursue his own interests (like co-inventing Exy) and giving him the means to make his own stadium and stuff. Nora also mentioned that Tetsuji had talked about lil Kevin and Kengo got rid of Kayleigh Day in order to give Kevin to Tetsuji as a present, Nora said that Tetsuji didn't talk to his brother for ages out of anger on behalf of Kayleigh. Which is interesting cause it shows Tetsujis power in his relationship with his brother where he is still subservient but allowed to give some attitude. Very different from Riko and Ichirou.

According to Nora Kengo unlike his own father was much more strict about drawing the line between the branch family and the main family. He and Ichirou never even acknowledged or visited Riko and Tetsuji did not afford Riko the same freedoms he himself enjoyed.

Another thing that always seemed odd to me was that the marriage between Mary and Nathan was arranged because as per Kevin's explanation in TRK:

"Your father was Lord Kengo's right-hand man, the most trusted weapon in Lord Kengo's arsenal. The territory he held, he held for the Moriyamas. He was the force that kept the empire in line and the name that would take the fall if the government ever caught on. "His power made you a loose end. You could never inherit his syndicate," Kevin said. "Lord Kengo handpicks his people very carefully to bolster his throne. Nepotism fractures that upward loyalty and leads families to think of their own successes first. He could have had you killed to keep things simple, but he gave you a chance to earn your keep."

What would be the point in an arranged marriage or producing children if they can't inherit? Like yes the alliance came with trading some access to territories but that could have been negotiated between the two families without a marriage so why the marriage and offspring?

Well I have some theories, first we don't know how old this rule of Kengos is, his father may have been fine with (perhaps even encouraged) his associates to marry and produce offspring to inherit their parents roles. Kevin says that this is Kengos choice to hand pick his people, not that this is standard Moriyama practice. It could be that when the Hartford/Wesininski alliance was made it was under Kengos fathers rule OR it was before Kengo decided against nepotism. It would also explain why these criminal families had children despite them becoming redundant once Kengo got rid of the old inheritance system. Neil clearly remembers being taught some of the ropes by Lola and Nathan when he was small so at that point it may have been understood that he would inherit.

I also have a pet theory that this is why Mary didn't leave with Neil until she did. Neil gives us strong hints that his mother was a coldly competent criminal:

"On the run his mother had always stayed in control, weaving the perfect stories and choosing ideal marks to help them."

And

"He thought about his mother standing unflinching in the face of his father's violent anger and her ruthlessly leaving bodies in their wake."

Almost all of Neil's criminal skills are from Mary (he says in TFC that his lockpick set is hers).

Based on what Nora says Mary was married off to Nathan by her family and based on her age when she died (38 according to Nora)she would have been at least 20 if not younger when she married him.

I can't imagine a woman like her being happy playing obedient wife to Nathan. And although this is just speculation I suspect she may have resented being used for an alliance rather than be a potential player in the family criminal empire with the skills and intelligence and ruthlessness she had (Neil says his mother taught him all the ways to shoot someone without killing them or how he watched her interrogate a man who tried to rat them out to Nathan). My theory is that she was biding her time until Neil could take over as the Butcher, maybe wait until he's a little older, arrange for Nathan to have an accident and she would be the real boss behind her son. But Kengos new policy of hand picking his people destroyed that ambition. The final nail in the coffin was Neil's sale to the Moriyamas as an Exy serf, completely eliminating any chance he'd have of taking over from Nathan. It also acts as a way of forcing her good behavior since they could use Neils safety to keep her behaved and the Hatfords in line as well. Win win for the Moriyamas and Nathan. Hence her decision to leave that day.

Additionally her arranged marriage to Nathan may be why she never went back to her family for help as there may have been some resentment on her part and indifference on theirs, keep in mind Neil says Stuart is the one who gave Mary his contact information and a list of contacts, he is not the only Hatford alive but he's the only one who actually offered help, it may be the rest of the family didn't care but this is me speculating based on what Neil said

"His mother married into an American crime family, but she'd been raised in a British one. Her brother, Stuart Hatford, gave her the list when she ran away from her husband. She in turn gave it to Neil when she died"

But I digress

The question is why did Kengo draw such hard lines with the branch family and get rid of inherited titles? Well I think it's because he knew he was sick.

Kengo is not that old, despite Tetsuji walking around with a cane he's not that old either, remember Tetsuji would be about Kayleighs age so Tetsuji would be in his 40s and Kengo is just a bit older than that. He died quite young from a serious illness.

So if you are Kengo you need to consider some things

First a sickly head of the family is susceptible to being overthrown and a healthy, athletic, successful younger brother (Tetsuji) is right there to replace him if anyone wanted to gather power around a rival. So keep your illness a secret and make sure the branch family knows their place. Keep them away from the business and make sure no one can see them as a viable option.

Second set up your heir for future success. The associates loyal to Kengo won't necessarily be loyal to Ichirou and the age of the kids who would eventually inherit his associates positions are much younger than he might be comfortable with (Neil and Jean are only 19) and he knows that Ichirou will have to inherit early cause he is dying. His associates may be loyal to him but they may balk at following a twenty something year old young man, they might prefer Tetsuji instead whose older. So if Kengo hand picks his people rather than let them inherit power from their parents he can vest all power in himself, prevent any of them from forming alliances against him or Ichirou and ensures that when he dies Ichirou would have an easier time.

I have a theory that Kengo got the idea of hand picking his people from his brother using skills in exy to earn spots on the team. And after throwing his son and Kevin to the Ravens he realised he had created a perfect place to send unwanted children of his associates.

And in the end Kengo was not that paranoid, it's clear when Stuart tells Neil

"They only let us come here unchallenged because we promised we would take him alive." Nathaniel finally found his voice. "The Moriyamas?" "No," Stuart said, so harsh Nathaniel leaned away from him. "Do not speak that name tonight. You cannot pull them into this. They were not expecting their Butcher to die"

They may not have wanted Nathan dead but that doesn't change that they were clearly working with the Hatfords (who obviously hate Nathan) to bring him in rather than asking him to report to them voluntarily. This suggests tension between Wesininski and Ichirou since that very morning Neil sees on TV that Kengo was in the hospital again. And it was Stuart's loyalty to his family that made him disobey the Moriyamas, exactly what Kengo said would happen with nepotism causing "families to think of their own successes first."

And to be honest we can see how perhaps Kengos illness left some cracks in his operation, his Butcher was arrested, his spare heir was running wild behind his and Ichirous back:

"Riko had an alarming amount of pull and he was working with just scraps."

It is interesting that for whatever tension may have existed between Ichirou and Nathan, Ichirou seems to value the nepotism system a bit, after all he says this to Neil

"you are your father's son, and your father was someone to me. He is the reason I came down here myself when I could have sent anyone to speak to you."

But I also think he valued the Intel on Riko that Neil provided him.

The fact is we don't know everything that went on between these criminal groups cause Jean and Neil were kept out of it.

Neil even says when Kevin is shocked at how little he knew

"My mother didn't tell me why we were running," Neil said. "I never asked her why she finally had enough. I was just glad to get away. We never talked about anything real after that. It was always about the weather or our current language or the local culture—the next time she had anything meaningful to say to me was when she was dying. Even then she didn't talk about my father. Not once did she mention the Moriyamas"

It's fun to speculate though and perhaps in TSC2 we may learn more.