#undertaker theory

[cedric-k-rossignol]

The resurrection of the dead myth and the winning extra days for the calendar are really interesting... And the moon, cropping up again. I've mostly looked at the dates of full moons in my research because of the Easter association, maybe I need to start looking at crescent moons...

Egyptian Mythology in Black Butler: Thoth and company, Part One

UPDATED with more pics (3/22/16)

Warning: long post!

Ever since Rian Stoker told the earl that the “absolute salvation” technology was sold to a drug company called Osiris, I’ve been pondering the Egyptian mythology aspects of Black Butler, particularly the roles that portray the following gods/goddesses:

Thoth –> Undertaker/Cedric K. Ros–

Ma'at –> Cloudia Phantomhive

Seshat –> Frances Midford (?)

Nut –> Rachel 

Osiris –> (the real) Ciel

Horus (the elder) –> Edward Midford

Set/Seth –> the earl, (fake) Ciel

Isis –> Elizabeth Midford

Nephthys – > not represented??

Horus (the younger) –> not represented??

In this post, I’ll discuss Thoth, Ma’at, and Seshat. In the next post, I’ll discuss Thoth (again), Nut, Osiris, Set/Seth, Horus (the elder), and Isis….

Thoth, the “God of Knowledge”

Often depicted with the head of an ibis or baboon (his sacred animals).

One feminine counterpart is Seshat, sometimes depicted as his daughter. But she’s usually portrayed as a second wife… his wife when he is the scribe of the gods.

Other feminine counterpart is Ma'at… his wife when he is in the Underworld, weighing souls….

Chief temple located in Khmun (”the city of eight”), later called Hermopolis Magna during Greco-Roman era (Greeks associated him with Hermes). 

Early Roles: 

Maintaining the universe.

Being one of two deities (the other is Ma'at) to stand on either side of Ra’s boat. 

Added Roles/Credits: 

Arbitration of godly disputes. 

The arts of magic. 

The system of writing. 

The development of science. 

The judgment of the dead. 

Name originates as “he who is like the ibis”. 

 Other names: 

A 

Sheps 

Lord of Khemennu 

Asten 

Khenti 

Mehi Hab 

A'an 

Aspects/Forms: 

The moon god, representing the moon for the entire month. 

With the head of the ibis, a reckoner of times and seasons, with the headdress of a lunar disk on top of a crescent moon resting on his head.

As a form of Shu (god of wind and air) or Ankher, depicted to wear the respective god’s headdress.

Sometimes is art wearing the Atef or the United Crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Sometimes takes the form of an ibis directly.

Sometimes a dog-faced baboon or a man with the head of a baboon when he is A’an, “God of Equilibrium”, a mediating power, especially between good and evil, making sure that neither has a decisive victory over the other.

Scribe of the gods, with Seshat as his wife. “Scribe of the Company of the Gods”.

Credited as the inventor of writing and alphabets (including the hieroglyphs).

In the Underworld (Duat or Tuat), appears as an ape (a baboon), A’an - “God of Equilibrium”. Reports when the scales weigh the deceased’s heart against the feather, representing the principle of Ma’at, was exactly even. Also called “He who Balances” and “Master of the Balance”. Recorded the verdict of the deceased in the hall of Ma’at. The area of the Underworld he rules is called the “Land of the Caves”.

Regarded as One, self-begotten, and self-produced.

Master of both physical and moral (divine) law, making proper use of Ma’at.

Credited with making calculations for establishment of the heavens, stars, Earth, and everything in them. Compare this to how the feminine counterpart (Seshat) is the force that maintains the Universe.)

Said to direct the motions of the heavenly bodies (sun, moon, stars, planets). “Lord of the Divine Body”.

Without his words, the gods would not exist. Power was unlimited in the Underworld and rivalled that of Ra and Osiris. “Voice of Ra” and “Counsellor of Ra”, along with Ma’at.

Egyptians credit him as author of all works of science, religion, philosophy, and magic. Our word “thought” apparently comes from “Thoth”…. “Author of Every Work on Every Branch of Knowledge, Both Human and Divine”.

One title is “three times great, great”, so in Greek it was “Hermes Trismegistus”.

The Ogdoad:

a system of eight deities - four gods and their consorts. Sometimes known as the “souls of Thoth” or the “Eastern souls”, eight baboons that help the sun rise every morning.

Ruled the Earth during the Golden Age, but when they died they took up residence in Duat/Tuat, the Underworld. They not only make the sun rise but also make the Nile flow and flood.

Here’s one of the big parts he’s played in Egyptian mythology: causing the resurrection of the dead. From http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/thoth.html:

Thoth was a great magician who knew “all that is hidden under the heavenly vault”. He used his knowledge to help Isis after the murder of her husband Osiris by his brother Set. With the help of Anubis he created the first mummification ritual and helped resurrect Osiris (albeit in the land of the Dead). He also protected Isis´s son Horus by driving a magical poison from his body when he was very young and supported him in his fight to gain the throne which was rightfully his. [Bolds added.]

Another big role he’s played is helping Nut give birth to her children. From http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/thoth.html (again):

Many of the Egyptians religious and civil rituals were organised according to a lunar calendar. As Thoth was associated with writing and with the moon it is perhaps unsurprising that he was also linked to the creation of the calendar. As his association with the moon waned, he developed into a god of wisdom, magic and the measurement of time. Similarly he was considered to measure and record time. He was known by the epithets; “the One who Made Calculations Concerning the Heavens, the Stars and the Earth”, “the Reckoner of Time and of Seasons” and “the one who Measured out the Heavens and Planned the Earth”. Thoth was thought to be the inventor of the 365-day calendar (which replaced the inaccurate 360 day calendar). According to myth, he earned the extra days by gambling with the moon (Iabet or Khonsu) in a game of dice to help the goddess Nut. She was pregnant by her brother / husband Geb but Ra forbade her to give birth on any day of the Egyptian calendar. Thoth won a portion of light from the moon (1/72) which equated to five new days, and Nut gave birth to her five children on those days (Osiris, Horus the Elder, Set, Isis and Nephthys). [bolds added.]

Seshat, “Goddess of Writing”, “Goddess of the Library”

Depicted wearing leopard skin, she is also a scribe to the gods. Her name means “she who scrivens”. She’s also called The Enumerator, Lady of Writing, The Scribe, Head of the House of Divine Books, Lady of Builders, and Keeper of the Archives. She assists Thoth in this way and keeps track of all writings in a vast library of knowledge. Sometimes she’s described as his wife in the scribe role. In other accounts, she’s described as being his daughter….

Ma’at, goddess of the Underworld, “Goddess of Serenity”

Usually described as Thoth’s wife, particularly when he fills his role as judge of the dead… Depicted with an ostrich feather on her head or even sometimes with a feather as her head. This feather aspect is used by Thoth to weigh the hearts (read: souls) of the deceased. He has to make them even out and then reports this, records it in the “Hall of Ma’at”

She stands with Thoth, one on each side of Ra’s boat, and she also acts as the “Voice of Ra”, along with Thoth.

Thoth, Ma’at, and Seshat in Black Butler

Well, first off, we have Undertaker, a former reaper and, as Sebastian even says, reapers are like gods themselves. His activities seem to coincide with the appearance of the crescent moon, as well as gears/cogs in timepieces…. For example:

and:

The one of Lizzie shows not just the gears in the top left but also the moon cycle in the bottom right.

Ma’at and Seshat are harder to explain in terms of Black Butler, because they are sometimes depicted as his daughters instead of his wives.

I think of Ma’at as Cloudia Phantomhive (wife), and Seshat as being either Frances (as a daughter) or some other wife we don’t know about yet…. For the rest of this Egyptian mythology theory thing to work, though, it’s best if Seshat is more like a daughter….

[dalekofchaos]

If WWE Superstars were Pokémon Gym Leaders by animeempirestudios

Link 1

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Link 3

[bull-shit-suji]

with the hiatus ending in less than a month i'm casting the dice for kuro finale predictions. a lot of this is based on the manga's narrative style, as well as season one's ending (which, though yana didn't write it, she DID give the production team input). place your bets now!

the manor burns down again. partial credit for Something burning down because yana loves a full circle moment

elizabeth lives and is instrumental for some part of the climax, i.e. crashing out at o!ciel (it's what he deserves).

elizabeth inherits the title of guard dog and maybe funtom. girlboss!

sebastian gets badly injured or nearly dies. i think he needs to suffer a little more (endearing)

the phantomhives' killer is someone we've already met. that's murder mystery ground rule number one baby

bonus points if queen victoria did it! she's the only known character who i can piece together a viable motive for

madam red makes a harrowing return as a bizarre doll

undertaker is a red herring villain BUT knows who orchestrated the phantomhives' murders and/or tried to prevent it from happening. isn't telling o!ciel because that would mean satisfying the contract.

said contract is concluded

r!ciel is definitely dying again. let the kid rest man

tentatively theorizing that rachel phantomhive will be important to the murder reveal in some way. we've seen a lot of vincent thus far and it's suspicious that rachel, who parallels elizabeth in visuals, emotional intelligence, AND moral uprightness hasn't had her moment yet

[midnight-in-town]

"Humans really do change in the blink of an eye" (ch105) vs. "I feel as if you were born nary a moment ago" (ch151)

My guy UT really got emotional seeing his bby girl, huh...

[aquarianights]

ah yes undertaker my favourite topic to discuss, allow me to share some of my theories regarding these questions:

1. The connection is definitely linked to Claudia, I'd like to think her lover, and the father of Vincent and Francis. Although I doubt they actually got married but maybe they did who knows! Also, Undertaker might have been introduced to Claudia by someone in their circle or even her own father through their 'line of work'. Either way, his obsession with the Phantomhives definitely stems from his relationship with Claudia bc he has her locket and it's twisted in the shape of infinity which heavily implies love.

2. I think the obvious endgame is necromancy as he wants to defy death, so bringing back claudia or r!ciel. Imagine he's kept Claudia's corpse preserved and is working on perfecting his technique so that he cna successfully resurrect her. In a dark gothic romance kinda way it would be so romantic for him to have done all this for 'love', I'm probably reading too deep into it but the angst would be insane if we got this. Undertaker going against death itself to bring his loved one back only for her to tell him to move on 💔

3. This one is interesting, I haven't thought about it much. I guess it must be related to whoever burned the manor down in the first place, I think if Undertaker knows exactly who did it and how it went down, maybe during that time he was busy dealing with them on another front? OR he doesnt know and that's why he was blindsided and couldn't recover their bodies or the boys in time. I doubt he was the one responsible for kidnapping them in the first place. As for his underworld connections, if we assume the villain is the queen herself, then ig it's plausible that he couldn't find them.

4. I have contemplated this one a lot, so let me share my thoughts (sorry this might be long).

As stated earlier, I don't think he's behind the fire OR the final villain, that could be the queen or whatever third party was responsible for the fire. However, I do believe undertaker will be the catalyst for the ending of the story and particularly - saving ciel from the demon contract.

Undertaker being a main character is quite obvious when you realise yana based his entire design off the protagonist of her first (unpublished) manga draft — I have another theory regarding that but that would have to be a different thread.

Back to the story, if we simply consider how long undertaker has been alive, that means his backstory has the potential to be the longest and most important to the plot. He might even be the oldest character alive at present? not counting other grim reapers but I digress.

He lived a whole life before becoming a grim reaper, which makes me wonder when he started collecting all those mourning lockets. Destroying the HQ when he deserted is also a crazy move like?? what exactly prompted him to do that?

All i am getting from this is that Undertaker has a very long and twisted relationship with death itself, and perhaps that is the crux of his story which also makes a wonderful backdrop theme for the rest of the manga. Specifically, the whole demon contract which will devour ciel's soul.

Onto my final point, I believe Undertaker's history of essentially working closely with death, and his obsession with the Phantomhives might be the key in saving Ciel's soul from being devoured by Sebastian. I can't remember if Undertaker knows he's a demon? But I doubt he's unaware, and maybe he already has a plan to destroy him, who knows.

As for Undertaker's ending, I believe he will inevitably die. Breaking my heart as I say this and whilst writing this I just had an epiphany - how can he die if he's a grim reaper? His soul will be destroyed, either by offering it to Sebastian as a sacrifice, or by being punished by the grim reapers HQ, maybe being condemned to hell for his necromancer side gig.

Gosh this is making me sad, but I can't think of a more fitting and beautiful end for a character as tragic as him other than death? To have his soul destroyed sounds brutal but the angst of it all makes sense, so there we go that's my two cents on his lore.

If we ever get UT's backstory, there are a frw things that I want to know.

1. How is he related to the Phantomhives?

2. What is his endgame?

3. Why did it take him so long (about a month?) to locate the boys after the fire? He did find and took RC's body out of the burning building, but what took him so long? I know that the boys were sold off and moved around, but given his connection in the underworld, he should be able to find them quickly.

4. Whose side is he on? If he really cared about the Phantomhives, then it's unlikely that he was involved in the fire, which means he's not the 'final boss'. So, would he join OC & Seba in the end? Or would he be eliminated by the other Reapers? Or will he just... disappear?

So many questions...

[akailycoris]

So, the Kuroshitsuji manga is coming back in May, if I remember correctly, after a hiatus that started last year and I've just been going over previous chapters again, starting from the point in the story where the twin theory was proven to be correct and some panels really have me wondering: what if we have actually already been told Ciel's real name?

Like, I've always thought that they're just trying to place the blame on Ciel for all the illegal, dangerous blood collecting business (cuz they ARE), but re-reading this part now... it just gave me pause and it made me wonder: "What if his name actually IS Sirius???" What if it's not just about the ploy to blame someone else for the Sphere Music Hall dealings... but his actual name?

And that, in turn, made me think about other things too, the ways in which Yana had left clues about the existence of a twin brother all throughout the manga until the reveal, what Vincent said about his kids having modern names,

(maybe naming one for the sky and one for a star in the sky, like a pair, since parents may tend to do that for twins), Blavat talking about Sebastian and Ciel in terms of stars and black holes

and even going all the way back to the Campania arc, this... the way in which Sebastian once described Ciel:

a dignified figure charging into the abyss without hesitation; doesn't that sound like admiring the beauty of a star that shines in the night sky, that one speck of light burning brightly against a dark background?

This scenes with Sebastian and Ciel made me think of this since long ago.

And lastly... the Sirius star is actually a binary star, with 2 stars, so maybe giving the twins these kinds of names would help them always remeber that they have eachother? Like, there are stars in the sky and Sirius is not alone?

Maybe their names have this kind of wish behind them? From their parents?

Or maybe I'm just reaching.

Still, I guess I thought of this now because before, when thinking about that scene where Blavat called Ciel "Lord Sirius", that always left me gobsmacked and indignant, like "Oh, he did NOT JUST DO THAT!!!" and I was too caught up in these feelings to think about the "What if...?"

Not that I'm still not filled with righteous fury, cuz I am, but l this time, the thought just sprouted in my mind and I wanted to let it out here, to get it off my chest.

If anyone scrolling through the Black Butler tags finds this and wants to comment or interact in any way, please feel free to do so, I've been a fan of Kuroshitsuji for years and would be happy to talk about the series with other fans.

[kuroshitsuji-wiki]

Cloudia Phantomhive's birthday (April 5)

The manga's most mysterious backside + side profile...

Cloudia Phantomhive was involved with a man named Cedric K. Ros- and had two children with him, Vincent and Francis. Though she is the grandmother of Vincent's and Francis' children, Ciel (at least) says that he does not know anything about her, apart from their relation.

Thus, he is stumped when he discovers that no other than Undertaker, old family friend (?) and deserted wayward Grim Reaper, seems to have known her - and that he even kept a mourning locket in her remembrance on his chain which he calls his "treasure."

Out of all seven lockets on Undertaker's mourning chain, Cloudia's is the most prominently featured, having been fully shown for the first time all the way in the Circus Arc (Chapter 35/Episode 46) - in 2009!

Cloudia's first depiction (see above) was in Chapter 15 in the Indian Butler Arc, released in 2007!

Further, in the manga and the anime, it seems that the revealed hallmarks (verification marks for noble metals; follow link for a more detailed explanation on the wiki!), belong to another locket, Alex B.'s.

A piece of concept art from Book of Circus Official Record shows the hallmarks next to Cloudia's locket, however. (Possibly by mistake.)

Since Cloudia's first sighting, many years have passed, and all we were given since then was the revelation that she had blue hair, another backside picture, her birth-and-death dates (April 5, 1830 to July 13, 1866), and even more questions.

Her mysterious prominence in Kuroshitsuji since the manga's early days as well as the fact that Mr. K stated that Undertaker's current - and future - actions constitute the "main axis" in the manga's Phantomhive family saga means that Cloudia's story will certainly be told one day. The question, of course, is when and, as always,...

[maximumdante]

Man, imagine knowing only the first two season of Kuroshitsuji anime, deciding after years and years to catch up with the manga and finding out there's a serious theory among fans which states that Undertaker is Ciel's biological grandfather.

[phantomsky14]

The cracking theory about R!Ciel (Black Butler)

Hi, everyone who is reading this post! I’d like to share with you a theory about R!Ciel and the mystery surrounding the attack on the Phantomhive manor. Frankly speaking, I was strongly against this theory but after doing some deep into Japanese fandom I’ve changed my mind! I’m open to the discussion though! Please, don’t be too strict, it’s my first time writing theories 🥲

The main idea of this theory is that R!Ciel was involved in planning the attack on the manor of Phantomhive and even participated in the attack itself. However, in the end, he was deceived by the actual attackers, who used him (my little, poor boy 😔).

So let’s start. Yandere part of R!Ciel. R!Ciel seems to deeply love and care for O!Ciel. In some way it may seem like an unhealthy obsession and some kind of yandere stuff. The most precise depiction of R!Ciel’s yandere part is the scene where R!Ciel is awfully upset that O!Ciel wanted to move to London and launch the toy production instead of living together with his older brother forever (my little, cute, distinguished businessman😭). A little bit later we see the R!Ciel breakdown: he can’t accept the fact of separation with his brother, he tells Vincent and Rachel he will not become an earl (it seems that he doesn’t need this status if it means that he must be apart from O!Ciel) but instead he’ll move to London with his brother. Here we come up to the most important scene in my humble opinion: Rachel and Vincent trying to convince their little boy that he has no chance but to become an earl. R!Ciel stays speechless for a moment and after smiles and “accepts” it. Accept it? Are we sure? It’s kinda sus and also his smile that seems a little bit artificial (maybe not so little bit). I think, at that moment R!Ciel comes to the conclusion: his parents are a hindrance to their life together with his younger brother so he needs to do something about this!

The morning of the tween’s 10th birthday. Interesting, R!Ciel wasn’t sleeping all night long. What does that mean? Maybe, he was preparing for something, planning something? That suspicious but I agree it’s not a concrete evidence.

The attack. First of all, R!Ciel left O!Ciel in the room and went to check the situation. So, from this point we know nothing about R!Ciel, he has no alibi. O!Ciel was nervous and decided to figure out what’s was going on. The first clue: Sebastian (the dog). Someone put a muzzle on Sebastian and O!Ciel hadn’t heard the barking, so perhaps someone familiar to Sebastian had put the muzzle on him.

Next Tanaka. Tanaka apparently seemed to fight with someone. O!Ciel was running towards the gramps and we hear extremely weird respond: “Master Ciel is, the scene is much too harsh for you”

In Japanese (and in the English translation), it's clear that he’s referring to R!Ciel. Could it be that he made a distinction between them? But isn’t it strange? Tanaka, who spent so much time with the twins, couldn't tell them apart? In my humble opinion, he was trying to warn O!Ciel that some scene involving R!Ciel was too harsh for him to witness. But what could it have been? Maybe he was fighting with R!Ciel. Additionally, there’s the scene where Tanaka is in the hospital. O!Ciel asks Tanaka if he saw the attackers, and Tanaka says he didn’t. That seems odd, especially since it’s clear he was fighting with someone. Why did Tanaka lie to O!Ciel? Perhaps he didn’t want him to know something horrible, like the fact that the attacker was his older brother

The R!Ciel’s apology. After the attack, when the twins meet, the first thing R!Ciel does is apologize to O!Ciel—an apology for not being powerful enough. It's a very sad moment, especially considering he’s also a victim in this situation. But could it be about something else? What if R!Ciel was apologizing for the entire attack? What if he had been involved in planning it and played a part in carrying it out?

Conclusion. R!Ciel is a victim of the attack, just like O!Ciel, and both have overcome the same nightmare. In my opinion, this theory is harsh, because R!Ciel is only 10 years old. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel it’s possible. R!Ciel may have wanted to eliminate everyone who posed a threat to their life together with his beloved brother, including Vincent and Rachel. I’m not entirely sure how he got connected to the attacks (which, I believe, were orchestrated by either Queen Victoria, the Grim Reaper Dispatch Organization, or possibly both working together).

In the end, R!Ciel was deceived. The attackers used him to infiltrate the manor, gather information about exits, and so on. That’s why R!Ciel is so sorry to O!Ciel. It’s also why Tanaka didn’t tell O!Ciel the truth—and why, when R!Ciel returned, the first thing he said was, “I will never leave you again.”

Also interesting thing, the Vincent’s monologue from the chapter of Devil 6 about love. It can be the key to many events in Black Butler, including the theory about R!Ciel.

[cedric-k-rossignol]

The French Crown Jewels Theory - Parts 1 & 2

The gem in Undertaker's ring is 'diadochos', the Phantomhive Family Ring is indeed a diamond, and Sirius (r!Ciel), Canopus, Vega, & Polaris all possess their own gems as well. All of this jewelry was sourced by Undertaker from the French Crown Jewels that were stolen/went missing in the midst of the French revolution of 1792.

Alright y'all, once again I am back on my medieval French literature shit. This time in Latin! Fun stuff. No poetry analysis in this one, thank God. Instead, I got to go back in time to my years wasted spent studying biochemistry! Fuck me!

I have tried to find evidence of this being discussed online previously and have come up empty (obviously the hope diamond has been discussed, but not in the context of the Golden Fleece), but please let me know if this has already been theorized and I just missed something!

The gem in Undertaker's ring is not a diamond but a mineral that was once known as Diadochos. From ancient Greece through to the middle ages this mineral was considered sacred and powerful, thought to be capable of summoning and holding the 'shades of the dead' and making demons clearly visible to its user.

The gem being Diadochos would also explain the color difference of the ring between season 1 of the anime (green) and what would later appear in further seasons and in the manga (unclear....no pun intended). It also provides a link to the French Crown Jewels...

Which brought me to what I believe is a confirmation that the Phantomhive family ring being sourced from "The French Blue" diamond (a portion of which is now known as The Hope Diamond) as was seen in season 1 of the anime will become canon in the manga. I also am going to predict we will meet a certain grim reaper named Hendrik Fals that's based on a real person.

Not only that, but the idea of another ring with a sister diamond (as seen in the anime with another portion of The French Blue) was an interpretation of what will happen in the Manga. R!Ciel is likely in possession of The Bazu Diamond, which was a part of Louis XV's insignia of The Order of The Golden Fleece. Canopus, Vega and Polaris likely hold the three yellow sapphires that surround the Bazu Diamond, and I believe the other diamonds in this piece have something to do with Undertaker's other mourning lockets.

This also supports my theory of Undertaker being a Breton (from Brittany, France) as I believe he's represented by the dragon called "le Côte-de-Bretagne" in the insignia. And of course, that he was the one to originally gift the Phantomhive family ring to Ciel's grandmother Claudia as a symbol of his devotion and commitment to her, and in doing so "cursed" her and her family (it's a metaphor y'all)

The French Monarchy had no shortage of drip, you think only one measly giant ass diamond went missing when people's heads were getting chopped off? Buckle up, I fear this is going to be a long one. Trigger warning for discussion of suicide and mental illness.

Let's get into it.

Part One: Undertaker's Ring

In researching French medieval age jewelry for my Floire et Blancheflor series, which involves two rings (one of which is magical), I came across a gemstone that was noted to be "the most powerful" (or something along those lines) but I'd never heard of it before - Diadochos/Diadocos And then I googled it, and nothing came up. I had to dig into scholarly articles and Latin text to get info on this, and even then it's sparse.

There were three main sources I could find; two books on minerals hailing from ancient Greece, the other a popular book from the middle ages - 'De Lapidis' by Marbode de Rennes. Translated into several different languages shortly after publication, the original Latin text was written in the late 11th century by a French bishop from - say it with me everybody - Brittany.

Coincidence? Maybe. But I doubt it. I really need to finish my Undertaker is from Brittany write-up...

All these sources make similar and frustratingly brief claims, as neatly summarized in one article on the the ancient Greek text Tetrabiblos;

1. The stone diadochos is similar to the beryl. 2. It is as useful for divinations through water, and for the summoning of shades (adductionibus umbrarum) as no other stone. 3. Furthermore, it makes the appearances (effigies) of all daemons thoroughly visible. 4. Do not apply it to someone dead (=a corpse), because it is opposed to the deceased. 5. For this stone is divine and sanctus and santified by a perpetual consecration.

Side note - I will absolutely be making another post about Tetrabiblos and it's companion volume Almagest. Written in the 2nd century by Claudius Ptolemy, they're the respective astrology and astronomy bibles of the middle ages. Tetrabiblos literally means "four books", and it's Latin translation is titled Quadripartitum means "four parts". There are some very interesting notes about demon summoning in this. All of Claudius Ptolemy 's books are addressed to an unknown person named Syrus. He also has what appears to be a relevant volume on music (this guy REALLY likes fours...) looked to see if anyone had mentioned this in a theory before and when I couldn't find anything I was shocked. Let me know if I've missed a post cause there is absolutely stuff to be discussed from Claudius and these books - I just can't get into it or this post will be 5000 years long.

So, Diadochos is actually now known as Beryl.

Whereas diadochos means "heir, successor", the word "beryl" is Old French for a "precious blue-green color-of-sea-water stone".

It's worth noting the element "Beryllium" is #4 on the periodic table of elements.

Gemstones high in beryllium include beryl (aquamarine, emerald, red beryl) and chrysoberyl. It is a relatively rare element in the universe, usually occurring as a product of the spallation of larger atomic nuclei that have collided with cosmic rays. Within the cores of stars, beryllium is depleted as it is fused into heavier elements.

Diamond is element #6... Interesting.

This stone was, as I mentioned, considered sacred and magical - used often in divination, and to create crystal balls. But it also had much more practical uses -

When the first eyeglasses were constructed in 13th-century Italy, the lenses were made of beryl as glass could not be made clear enough

Well that sure is interesting...

Season 1 vs Canon - Fight!

As I said, this mineral is now known as 'beryl' - but you would be more likely to recognize the names we use to refer to the different colours beryl comes in - morganite, heliador, gosenthite, aquamarine, and emerald. You're likely familiar with the signature colors of some of these gems, all of which are different shades of the same mineral.

As previously mentioned, 'beryl' is the Old French word for the blue-green color of the sea.

I think it's pretty widely accepted that the creators of season 1 were given information from Yana that hadn't yet been released to readers of the manga. The most obvious example of this (so far) is the 'Undertaker is a reaper' reveal. Now I have no idea what the creative process behind developing an anime is like, how much contact or creative input Yana Toboso would have had, but I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest it's possible that admist a wealth of information that was handed over, there was a note that said Undertaker's ring was one of 'Beryl', and the creative team went with the 'traditional' Beryl color of blue-green - which is why people think the ring in season 1 is set with an emerald.

Peep the fleur de lis 👀 y'all they knew not to leave THAT out at the very least.

And yes, emerald is a shade of Beryl - but this was never intended to be an emerald.

The difference in color is something that's always really bugged me, so I'm relieved to finally have an explanation that makes sense (to me at least). Now as for the colour Yana chose...

So What Fucking Colour is it Anyways?

If you know of better official art that demonstrates the color of this damn beast of a rock on his hand, feel free to point me in its direction because I was struggling. There seems to be a pattern of colour-washing the art or appears in, or Undertaker posing in a way that hides the ring from view.

This is a much-discussed character design that shows a lock of hair embedded/underneath the gem of Undertaker's ring (we will return to this detail in a future theory), as well as confirmation of the fleur-de-lis on the side of the ring, and then of course the gem itself. Perhaps a light yellow, or perhaps just showing the gold backing through the translucent stone?

We do get some shots from the anime in BOC and BOA respectively;

Well, I get why people think it's a diamond.

Even in official artwork sometimes it's white, sometimes it's yellow, sometimes it's tanslucent , sometimes it's a little...blue, dare I say?

Back! on! my! Chemistry! Shit!

Alright, and now we get into the chemistry of it all. I know, first history and now this bullshit. I'll keep it brief; excuse me my nerdy nostalgia for a spectroscopy graph.

Basically, the different colors of Beryl are due to impurities within it (unclean one!). The purest form of Beryl is goshenite, which is clear/white.

The other colours are formed based on what ions (charged atoms) exist within them as impurities - for emerald it's Chromium, for Morganite it's Manganese... And both the yellow and aquamarine colors are due to the presence of iron (element #26) ions.

Now when you think of the gem aquamarine, you probably think of a pale blue; and for most gems sold nowadays that true. As a March baby it's my birthstone, and I've been gifted many a pale blue aquamarine birthstone reminiscent of the water it's named for....

Oh wait a second, who else is a March baby? Motherfucking Cedric K. Ros(signol), that's who!

Okay, I'll admit; I'm sort of invested in his ring being an aquamarine gem because it would relate back to both his birthday and his 'rebirth' as a reaper when he drowned, and the more I string these crazy red threads through French history the more I'm convinced these details are critical to his character. So yeah, I'm biased - but before you write me off as delusional, just hear me out, because the chemistry is in my favor!

The best-known green beryl is emerald, which obtains its colour from Cr and/or V ions. However, a different green colour can be obtained from mixtures of the yellow and blue beryl chromophores described above. When yellow and aquamarine chromophores are simultaneously present, the colour becomes light green. Depending on the relative concentrations of the two chromophores, the colour can vary from light yellow-green to light blue-green. Shang et al. (2022) classified the colours of beryls containing these chromophores into five groups, from yellow to light blue.

Fridrichová et al. (2015) heated crystals of deeply coloured aquamarine and yellow beryl to different temperatures. After heating one of the yellow crystals to 300°C it was still yellow. Heating of additional yellow beryl samples to 500°C and 700°C in each case resulted in light blue aquamarine colouration. Another yellow crystal heated to 900°C lost almost all its colour.

All this to say; apply enough heat to a green beryl and it will turn to yellow, to aquamarine, to clear.

Here's a little basic color theory refresher for you as well; blue and yellow pigment together make green, whereas blue and yellow light create white light.

Here are some examples of various coloured aquamarine gems, some set in gold bands like Undertaker's, based on the verbiage with which they were advertised;

1. A clear goshenite gem; 2. A pale aquamarine; 3. A yellow aquamarine

4. A clear blue aquamarine; 5. A yellow aquamarine; 6. A yellow aquamarine

5. A yellow Aquamarine; 6. A yellow Aquamarine; 7. A pale blue aquamarine

All of these could conceivably be made from the same source mineral - what changes its nature is the amount of heat that's been applied to it.

Neat, huh? And I would argue symbolic for this story. Both in that there's a whole lot of manors being burned down, but also as a metaphor for life experiences and trauma.

The scientific debate on nature vs nurture continues, but it seems to be proven again and again that the way we develop is significantly weighted towards nurture. Nature plays its part, for sure - if there weren't iron ions in these gems, the fire wouldn't have an effect on the gem's color. It might get a little toasty, but then it would cool off and have no lasting effect on the gem's appearance, structure, chemical composition... But since there are iron ions that are a part of the gem, that were within it when it first formed (which it can do nothing to change), it is significantly impacted by its environment. If the fire gets hot enough, it can lose all of its color.

For someone like Undertaker, who I believe to have been (and continue to be) mentally ill, depressed, and ultimately suicidal to wear this ring is symbolic of the mental illness he was born with, and the trauma he experienced living in Brittany from 1331-1366 (Black Plague, The Breton War of Succession, and The Hundred Years War between France and England).

I've seen it mentioned in discussion that Sebastian is a physical representation of Ciel's trauma - a physical demon to represent his metaphorical demons. I also see the story of Black Butler as an allegory for generational trauma and inherited mental illness; that which we bestow upon our children like heirloom jewelry.

However, this metaphor is also sort of hopeful in that the change isn't necessarily permanent. The color of the gem can revert back towards its original hue over time depending on the circumstances.

Undertaker & Water

There's a panel in the manga that implies Undertaker's method of suicide was drowning. I currently have two different theories on where he drowned that are duking it out for the top spot. Currently the top contender is that he jumped from La Pointe de Plouha, the tallest cliffside on the Breton coastline, and drowned in the waters separating England from France - The English Channel. Plouha has a very interesting myth about the Ankou, the Breton version of the grim reaper, and I find it poetic for him to be reborn in the waters seperating him from a country he'd been at war with for most of his life - especially given that he would proceed to fall in love with a British Aristocrat.

This French crown jewels theory seems to support the idea that he drowned in the English Channel as I believe he's represented in the insignia by the dragon, le Côte-de-Bretagne (Translates literally to the coast of Brittany) - but I'm not ready to fully call it yet. Withholding my final judgement for the moment.

Regardless, if Undertaker did drown, his character being associated with Diadochos/Beryl/Aquamarine, stones intrinsically associated with water, makes a lot of sense. Consider after all, the arc where we first really met him - book of the Atlantic takes place in the middle of the ocean.

The Romans believed Aquamarine to be sacred to Neptune, the god of the sea. Supposedly the gems came from mermaid's treasure chests (they're actually formed in hydrothermal vents) so saiilors would wear it for protection against shipwreck. They also thought it had healing properties because the gem would appear to disappear when submerged in water.

Well, Undertaker did disappear when submerged in water, didn't he? He was reborn as a reaper, only called himself by his serial number 136649 (an oddity even amongst reapers, who have all also committed suicide), and (externally at least) completely disassociated himself from his former life.

Cloudia and Undertaker share the zodiac sign Aries, a fire sign, so there's symbolism in water killing him. Extinguishing his flame, so to speak.

As mentioned in Tetrabiblios, Diadochos is useful for divinations in water, and the same is said of beryl;

Beryl was a popular skying stone in the Middle Ages. Most sources indicate that this was done either through dowsing, attaching the beryl to a thread over a bowl of water, with the crystal just touching the water...An alternative method involved throwing the stone into a bowl of water and reading the disturbance it created.

Undertaker threw himself into a body of water, then revolted against Reaper HQ, had an affair with and sired two illigitimate half-human children on the Queen of England's guard dog, and went against the laws of Gods and men to raise the dead. If thats not a disturbance, what is?

There's also a religious aspect to look into. Book of the Atlantic takes place over the holy week that precedes Easter - and I have a theory outlining why I believe both he and Cloudia's birthdates fall on 'Holy Monday'. He was also born on the day of the Annunciation - that's the day that an angel came to Mary to tell her she'd been chosen to carry the Incarnation of God. He's also associated with the white lily, a flower associated with Easter, and he carries a lot of religious symbols. His cassock, prayer beads, and the crown of thorns on his scythe and on Cloudia's locket are not there for shits and giggles. This religious symbolism ties into my theory on the circumstances of his birth, and the thread that I believe ties the lockets together...

...all of which I've been in the process of researching and writing for a hot minute, I just don't know how to keep it brief 😩 I'm a dog chasing squirrels.

Anywho, religion - there is the concept of Baptism. Undertaker being reborn into a new life when he submerged himself in water.

Baptism is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water.It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three times, once for each person of the Trinity. The synoptic gospels recount that John the Baptist baptised Jesus.

Speaking of Jesus, since he and Undertaker seem to be so tightly knit, Jesus performed seven canonical miracles, and two of the most notable (imo) are with water; walking on it, and turning it to wine. The last of course was Lazarus, raising the dead...

Magical Properties

I'm not suggesting that this stone actually grants Undertaker any abilities, but it's interesting that the supposed magical properties align with his character attributes.

It's been theorized that Frances is always making comments on how slovenly Sebastian's appearance is because she has the ability (on some level) to see his demon nature due to her half-reaper blood that she gets from her father, Undertaker/Cedric. This is somewhat supported by Ladger and Sascha speculating Ciel's ability to see them is from his bloodline - which is of course, where we got Cedric K. Ros- from!

Then there is of course summoning the shades of the dead and holding them here on earth. And I find it super interesting that this specifically mentions not to "apply it to a corpse" because "it is opposed". Like, what the heck does that even mean? A vague warning that if you fuck around, you'll find out? I have not been able to find any further details on what this might be referring to, but it sure sounds ominous.

And finally a note that the stone itself is "perpetually consecrated" - unable to be desecrated or corrupted. The stone is "divine". I will have to come back to this in another theory, because it's a can of worms, and this post is long enough.

Finally, I must note that according to the French wiki, Aquamarine is a symbol for a happy & faithful marriage. Specifically 23 years of marriage.

La couleur marine de ce minéral fait qu'il a été utilisé comme talisman pour les marins. Symbole de fidélité entre jeunes mariés, c'est un cadeau censé leur garantir un mariage heureux, ce béryl symbolise 23 ans de mariage.

Frankly it doesn't seem to have the most reliable source, but it's worth noting that is you take Claudia's age when she died, 36, and subtract 23 years, you get an age of 13.

Giving you maaaaaaaad side eye Undertaker 🤨.

Now to be clear I don't think they ever actually got legally married; perhaps not even "spiritually" married. However it is very possible that they met in 1843 - Undertaker likely deserted the reapers around the time of Queen Victoria's ascension to the throne in 1837. We don't know what he was doing during this time, what goal he might have been working towards - but befriending Claudia's father, the current guard dog of the new queen, might have been part of it.

I have my own personal head-canon that he worked as a jeweler during this time, but I don't have any real support for that - just that it makes sense given all this damn drip the guy has, it would be a way to familiarize himself with the British Aristocracy and perhaps even The Royal Family themselves, and the black market trade of stolen jewels might have been of particular interest to him. More on that in a minute.

Anyways it makes sense within the narrative for them to have met when Claudia was 13, as much we might find him even knowing her at that age icky, because of how significant the number 13 is to this story.

Part 2: The Hope Diamond & The Hirsch Aquamarine

Alright so as discussed - Undertaker's birthstone is aquamarine. Let's say for the sake of this argument, you agree with my interpretation of Undertaker's ring being a pale aquamarine gem. While he and Claudia share a zodiac sign, and a birthday on the same 'day' of Easter, they were born in different months. Cedric in March, Claudia in April. Which makes Claudia's birthstone a diamond.

The Origins of the Hope Diamond

Going back to season 1 of the anime, where the animators had more knowledge then we did about future events (even if they were interpreted oddly), they made the Phantomhive family ring not a sapphire but a blue diamond. Specifically, a gem cut from "le Grand diamant violet de Sa Majesté" a French Crown Jewel that was stolen in 1792 in the midst of a revolution. This is commonly referred to as "Le Bleu de France" in English circles, but the French actually called it purple, not blue.

Back to chemistry briefly for this point - in a similar concept to what has previously been discussed with Aquamarine and Beryl, impurities in the French Blue is what provides it with its distinctive colour - specifically, Boron (element #5).

Visually, the gray modifier (mask) is so dark (indigo) that it produces an "inky" effect, appearing almost blackish-blue in incandescent light. Current photographs of the Hope Diamond use high-intensity light sources that tend to maximize the brilliance of gemstones. In popular literature, many superlatives have been used to describe the Hope Diamond as a "superfine deep blue," often comparing it to the color of a fine sapphire—for example, "blue of the most beautiful blue sapphire" (Deulafait)—and describing its color as "a sapphire blue." Tavernier described it as a "beautiful violet".

The diamond also exhibits a phosphorescent quality (it glows);

Phosphorescence: The stone exhibits an unusually intense, brilliant red phosphorescence after exposure to short-wave ultraviolet light. This 'glow-in-the-dark' effect persists for some time after the light source has been switched off, and this strange quality may have helped fuel its reputation of being "cursed." The red glow is a phenomenon of blue diamonds that helps scientists "fingerprint" them, allowing them to distinguish real ones from artificial ones. The red glow occurs because of a mix of boron and nitrogen in the stone.

It's worth noting that while an Aquamarine is changeable, it doesn't fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet radiation like a diamond does.

A cursed blue diamond glowing red? Hmm....

You likely know this gem as The Hope Diamond, which is a recut section of the French Crown Jewel, which itself was cut from a diamond called "The Tavernier Blue", originally purchased by a French merchant in 1666 (yikes) in India, who then sold it to King Louis XIV, who is also known as Louis le Grand (the great) or le Roi Soleil (the Sun king).

Louis XIV's great grandson, Louis XV, had the diamond (as well as other gems) reset into a pendant for "l'ordre de la Toison d'or"- "The Order of the Golden Fleece". We will discuss this pendant more in Part 3, but it fell into disuse after Louis XV's death. It became property of Louis XV's grandson, Louis XVI, who married the infamous Marie Antoinette (also referenced in season 1 of the anime in relation to both the Hope Diamond and to Undertaker). Antoinette used many of the French Crown Jewels for personal adornment by having them reset - however, this pendant of The Golden Fleece stayed intact through their reign.

On September 11, 1792, while Louis XVI and his family were imprisoned in the Square du Temple during the early stages of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, a group of thieves broke into the Royal Storehouse—the Hôtel du Garde-Meuble de la Couronne (now Hôtel de la Marine)—stealing most of the Crown Jewels in a five-day looting spree. While many jewels were later recovered, including other pieces of the Order of the Golden Fleece*, the French Blue was not among them and it disappeared from history.

A likely scenario is that the French Blue, sometimes also known as the Blue Diamond, was "swiftly smuggled to London" after being seized in 1792 in Paris. But, the exact rock known as the French Blue was never seen again, since it almost certainly was recut during this decades-long period of anonymity, with the largest remaining piece becoming the Hope Diamond.

*this is misleading - so far as I can tell, the only other piece of the Order of the Golden Fleece that was recovered is le Côte-de-Bretagne, the red dragon. This piece is now in the Louvre.

Is it terrible for me to say I see a resemblance between the dragon and Undertaker lmao?

So the French Blue (and le Côte-de-Bretagne, and perhaps the rest of the Order of the Golden Fleece) was smuggled to London... But I'm going to pause here, and talk about another gem that disappeared - the Hirsch Aquamarine.

The Hirsch Aquamarine

Not nearly as well known as the French Blue, this is a gem that was in the possession of Louis XV, the same King who had the French Blue reset into the Order of the Golden Fleece. (Fun fact, King Louis XV was also the one to cede 'New France' to the British... And so New France would became Quebec).

I have been unable to find a lot of details on the Hirsch Aquamarine - supposedly King Louis found having it on his person to be soothing. There is no record of it being sold, or even stolen - it simply disappeared.

Well, I'm going to say it was stolen. And this was the thief - j'accuse...!

I propose that reaper 136649 knicked it while on the job.

It is not noted as being among the gems that were stored at the hotel from which the Order of the Golden Fleece, or indeed being in the posession of a King after Louis XV. Perhaps he reaped Louis XV's soul when he died in 1774. Perhaps Louis XV, who found the gem soothing, had it on his person at his time of death (his cause of death was smallpox), and Undertaker decided to grab a little momento of their time together.

Why?

Well... He's obviously sentimental. We will leave it there for now.

So let's say Undertaker stole the Hirsch Aquamarine while on the job - how did he end up with the remainder of the missing Order of the Golden Fleece? Let's return to the French Blue, the Côte-de-Bretagne, and conceivably the rest of the Order of the Golden Fleece being smuggled to London

The Recutting of The French Blue in London

Historians suggested that one burglar, Cadet Guillot, took several jewels, including the French Blue and the Côte-de-Bretagne spinel, to Le Havre and then to London, where the French Blue was cut in two pieces. Morel adds that in 1796, Guillot attempted to resell the Côte-de-Bretagne in France but was forced to relinquish it to fellow thief Lancry de la Loyelle, who put Guillot into debtors' prison.

So in 1792 the Order of the Golden Fleece is stolen from a French hotel, and smuggled to London. The Côte-de-Bretagne then turns back up in France in 1796, and eventually it is sold to the Louvre in 1887. So we know in the manga, Undertaker is not in possession of this part of the insignia. Him being the dragon has more to do with symbolism of the dragon who guards the Golden Fleece in the Greek myth, and the symbolism of being from Brittany - but I'm getting ahead of myself.

However... It's looking more and more to me like we will end up going to Paris in the manga, and I'm betting our little Lord will take a tour of the Louvre and see the dragon...

The next time this diamond appears in history, it is 20 years later, and in that time it has been cut into what will become known as The Hope Diamond.

A blue diamond with the same shape, size, and color as the Hope Diamond was recorded by John Francillon as in the possession of the London diamond merchant Daniel Eliason in September 1812, the earliest point when the history of the Hope Diamond can be definitively fixed. The 1812 date was just days after 20 years since the theft of the French Blue, just as the statute of limitations for the crime had taken effect.

Well that's bloody convenient.

So sometime in between 1792 and 1812 the French Blue is recut, with the Hope Diamond appearing in the jeweler Eliason's posession in 1812, and the Cote-de-Bretagne showing back up in France still in Guillot's posession, but none of the other gems. Those - there is no record of what happened to them, nor what happened to the other recut portion of the French Blue.

Now, an oft-cited source peaked my interest, so I went ahead and tracked down a copy of the book Blue Mystery: The Story of the Hope Diamond, written by Susanne Steinem, published in 1976. Within it is a list of the supposed deaths that trail the owners of the diamond. I went searching for something specific on a hunch - and boy, did I strike gold.

7. Wilhelm Fals, a Dutch diamond cutter, is said to have recut the French blue, producing a brilliant of 44 1/2 carats. He then supposedly died of grief after his son, Hendrik, stole the diamond. As for Hendrik, he is said to have committed suicide in London in 1830. 8. Francois Beaulieu is said to have obtained the diamond from "a nameless suicide" presumably Hendrik Fals. Beaulieu was supposedly forced to sell it to Daniel Eliason for a fraction of its value - and then died the next day of starvation.

Hendrik Fals, whose father cut the French Blue, and who himself was in possession of the Hope Diamond in 1830, killed himself.

Now you might be scratching your head going wait, what? You just said the ring showed up in London at Eliason's place in 1812, but in this version of events he wouldn't have gotten it until after 1830. I also don't mean to be insensitive - Hendrik Fals was (supposedly) a real person, and if it's true that he committed suicide, that's incredibly tragic.

To be completely frank, the author of this book says that there is no evidence for this sequence of events - it's the mythology of the ring. There are a ton of events detailed in the book as legend that have no basis in fact. That the diamond is cursed is itself a myth (I mean, duh, but also in that there are not a weird number of deaths that follow it).

However - I 100% believe Yana Toboso has read this book. The fucking title is Blue Mystery. Hendrik Fals, in the Black Butler universe, is now a Grim Reaper.

And he became a Grim Reaper in 1830 - and Undertaker likely didn't desert until 1837, around the time of Queen Victoria's ascension to the throne.

Now, Undertaker still being with the reapers between 1819 and 1837 is weird, given that the massacre at reaper HQ of 1819 wiped out half of management. I doubt our boy 136649 is just chilling in the employee lounge after pulling a stunt like that. But I am certain at some point Hendrik and 136649 met, and well, if I wanted to know where the gems from the Order of the Golden Fleece were, Hendrik Fals would be an excellent place to start.

Other Posts

Like I said, I tried to google to see if this has been discussed before and came up mostly empty (again, obviously, there has been a lot of discussion on the hope diamond but nothing I could find in the context of the other French Crown Jewels). Let me know if I missed something!

I did find an old post discussing a poem that was referenced in the Public School Arc between @abybweisse , @thaliaarche and @white-queen-lacus that referenced Beryl which is interesting. Seems like the poem also mentions shades of the dead, and the river Lethe from Greek mythology which I referenced in my Rossignol theory post and part 2 of my Floire et Blancheflor series.

That's All For Now!

If you made it this far, you deserve a medal...or a knightly order.

I really tried to fit this all into one but I'm going to have to split it. Next Part will focus on analyzing the other gems in the insignia of Louis XV, a look into the elements that make up these gems, how the Bazu is likely to be the 'sister diamond' of the Phantomhive family ring instead of another piece of The French Blue, the properties of yellow sapphires and how they might relate to blood (more spectroscopy for me whoopee), how the Dragon, Bazu Diamond, and Golden Fleece symbolize Undertaker and the twins, the Order of the Golden Fleece and its History, and of course the myth of the Golden Fleece itself.

A sheepskin is a brutal fucking metaphor - I'm sure you can guess what comes next, it's not a new theory.

If you liked this theory, you can take a look at my other theories via this masterpost that I will update as I crank these out. The theories I've developed mostly have to do with French history, French Christianity, Breton culture, and medieval French literature... I hope and pray chemistry does not become a trend.

I hope you enjoyed my insane rambling, my ask box is open and I'm always happy to talk about this stuff and thanks so much for reading!

[abybweisse]

Ch214 (p3); Must have forgotten?

The earl decides to stay and investigate, starting with inside.

They take the elevator down to the ground floor, and they see a cloaked figure with what appears to be a transfusion/infusion kit on a stand.

So, I've been discussing this person with others on Discord. My theory about the mystery person from ch137 has changed yet again, and it means also changing my theory about the Phantomhive butlers and Polaris' identity.

What if the butler shown dead at the manor isn't Polaris... but the other blond butler, the one not shown among the dead, is Polaris? Much like how Baron Kelvin wasn't at the ritual that night of the sacrifice and demon summoning...perhaps this Phantomhive butler wasn't at the manor when it was attacked? But he's fiercely loyal to the Phantomhive family, so he does his own investigation, making him decide to infiltrate the demon cult. He perhaps knew some of Vincent's inner circle were into the occult, perhaps these guys: https://www.tumblr.com/abybweisse/166605681479/if-queen-victoria-is-behind-the-events-of-the.

Then, mistaken as a cultist, he's killed by Sebastian. Undertaker collects his body and sees the devotion to the Phantomhive family in his cinematic records and turns him into Polaris. He also would have taken note of how much this guy would seek personal revenge against Sebastian.

Thoughts?

[bizarre-azure]

Theory: Grim Reapers Don’t Have Cinematic Records

I (like several other people on this website) have the headcanon that Grim Reapers have amnesia which prevents them from remembering their previous lives and becoming suicidal all over again. Over time, glimpses of their past lives may be triggered by viewing a certain human’s Cinematic Record and being reminded of something from their past, but it’s extremely foggy. This also ties into my headcanons for Grell’s life when she was alive. That is, she spent her entire past life thinking that she was just a gay man and did not realize that she truly was a woman until RIGHT before the end of her life. When she became a Grim Reaper, she had no memory of her time alive, and the only thing she knew in her heart was that she was a woman who for some reason was not born with the same anatomy as other women.

While rewatching Book of Atlantic, though, I realized that there is a detail that could support my headcanon.

One of the most pivotal moments of the Book of Atlantic movie is when Sebastian gets skewered by Undertaker’s Death Scythe, which was a fatal enough blow to cause his entire Cinematic Record to play from the point where he was first summoned by Ciel to the present day. It is interesting, however, that during that same fight, Ronald and Grell are also sliced by Undertaker’s Death Scythe moments later, but their Cinematic Records don’t play.

You could say that it was because the cut was not deep enough to cause Cinematic Records to appear, but Grell’s chainsaw barely grazed Sebastian’s arm during their fight in the Jack the Ripper arc, and his Cinematic Record still somewhat played. The blow that Undertaker landed on Grell and Ronald was enough to knock them both to the ground, so there’s no doubt that their Cinematic Records would’ve started playing. If they were of a different species, that is 👀.

But if Grim Reapers don’t have Cinematic Records, that means they must not have any memories and must have constant anterograde amnesia, right? But it’s shown that Grell still has her memories from the Jack the Ripper arc during her fight against Undertaker when he points out the stitches on her coat?

Yes, I think that if their Cinematic Records were removed, they would have terrible short term memory loss, UNLESS their Cinematic Records were replaced with artificial ones upon becoming reapers.

Grim Reapers can obviously harvest a human’s soul and Cinematic Record upon finding a dead body, so who’s to say that they can’t do the same thing once a human turns into a Grim Reaper? Perhaps the creation of a Grim Reaper is what happens when a human dies and their Cinematic Records are harvested but not their soul. The artificial Cinematic Records could also be manufactured so that they don’t fly out of the reapers’ bodies as easily as normal Cinematic Records if they were to ever get injured by someone else’s or their own Death Scythe. What could also prevent them from killing themselves again is that their artificial Cinematic Records cannot be taken out of them, since in order for someone to become a lifeless corpse and fully die, both their soul and their Cinematic Record need to be harvested.

After all, where do you think that Undertaker was able to get the extra blank Cinematic Records that he could attach to the preexisting ones inside the early Bizarre Dolls? There’s talk in the fandom about one of the reapers possibly being a double agent that’s also working for Undertaker, so that reaper might’ve been the one to supply him with both the extra Cinematic Records AND the material to create Layla’s scissors.

I wonder who that reaper double agent could be…

[komba114]

!!NEW FEAR UNLOCKED!!-

《SNAKE MIGHT BE THE NEXT TARGET FOR UNDERTAKER》💀!!

I have this feeling that undertaker might turn snake into a bizarre doll, just like R!Ciel and doll.

And I believe that Doll herself would beg on all fours to undertaker just to bring snake back, just like he did to her (as we can see just how strong her feelings towards him).

And they might as well stuff his brain with some shit about O!Ciel so he turns against him cause he "killed all his family", just like what happened to soma.[I'm praying this would never happen 🙏].

•••••••○○

[noirshitsuji]

Pitching in on the O!Ciel name theories a billion years late

(Posted: 26/12/2024, Edited: 27/12/2024)

Greetings, Kuroshitsuji fandom - longtime lurker and fan here.

One of the things I love the most about this fandom is the amount of theories and how rewarding theorising has been (with regards to 2CT specifically). I've been observing people doing it for years on the sidelines, and as I've been getting back into the fandom again over the holidays, I thought I might finally put together a post about my own headcanon about O!Ciel's name. A bit late to the party, I know, but it's dear to my heart and I thought people might find it interesting.

I've had this headcanon for a few years now that's been inspired by some of the existing theories/hunches that fits best with the manga theming around the twins from what I've seen so far. I haven't this HC anywhere else, though please let me know if you have.

Without further ado - my vote for O!Ciel's name is...

...Mond Phantomhive.

Let me explain.

I agree with many people who've said that Sebastian saying in chapter 11 he 'swore to/made a vow by the moon' is significant. While in context it makes sense as a return Romeo and Juliet reference on the one Grelle makes (see this post here), Sebastian is specifically talking about the day he became 'Sebastian' and concluded the contract, i.e. swore his service to O!Ciel. There are any number of ways he could have found out O!Ciel's real name by that point, whether through the magic of the contract, manor records, or simply having interacted with people within the Phantomhive estate who remembered both twins.

In German, Mond means 'moon'. However, it is also only one letter off from monde, which is French for 'world'. This gives us two different connections to the sky (ciel) with thematic meaning. I will touch on both, though the moon one is more important - if I'm correct, though, then there's some very clever thematic wordplay here across two languages, so it makes sense to explore it!

The moon that shines in it only when it is 'night' - i.e. the darkness or death of the sky. While his brother's death was a tragedy within a tragedy, it also meant that O!Ciel could finally 'shine' after growing up feeling that he was just a spare who would never inherit the estate, or be worthy of doing so (flashbacks from chapters 130-140, e.g. the below from 132).

Ciel is another way to say the heavens in French as well - that which we look to in the sky, and also an important fixed contrast to Earth, or le monde (heavens and earth). This contrast can have many meanings, but in our case it can relate to the other-wordly (i.e. the dead/supernatural R!Ciel) and the wordly (O!Ciel, who is still alive and embodying the Phantomhive legacy). People are right to point out the connection with star symbolism - it's all part of the same astronomy-based thematic group, and O!Ciel's name being related to both the Moon and the Earth fills in more elements.

(As a bonus, both Mond and monde are masculine nouns in German and French respectively, just like how ciel is in French, so I think that they would've been a better pick for a boy's name than, say, lune, which is a feminine noun in French. My vote is on Mond because of the moon connection, though I wouldn't be disappointed with Monde. Astre does not appeal to me personally, although - point in favour - it is also masculine.)

Another interesting connection comes from chapter 149. After we see a conversation between Othello and Grelle about the blood types, with the twins tied in both in Othello's explanation and the panel art, the transition of Othello sending a pigeon messenger takes us to R!Ciel looking at a bird flying against the moon. Seeing this, he reaches towards it.

R!Ciel collapses, and tells Undertaker that he wants to go to his brother's side, and then has a vision of O!Ciel standing at the windowsill when they were little. In other words, we're given a direct parallel between reaching for the moon and reaching for O!Ciel, and then a juxtaposition of O!Ciel and the window. In a way, it also functions as a metaphor of him having escaped to the outside (where the moon that R!Ciel can't reach is) and no longer being constrained to the inside of the manor like he was as a kid - if I'm correct about the name, that is.

(Also, in using the symbolism of one twin as death and one as life in the previous panels during Othello and Grelle's conversation, we again have the supernatural/earthly contrast that heavens/earth gives us.)

Well, there you have it. I like this headcanon because a) it gives us a masculine name, b) it gives us extra wordplay across both French and German, c) it incorporates all the relevant symbolism. Also, I like how it sounds, for what preference counts.

Let me know what you think of this/if I've missed anything big.

Bonus:

We know from Vincent (chapter 132) that neither twin has a traditional English name/one common on the country's territory (which is how Pastor Rathbourne phrases it). I've seen at least one person speculate (though I can't find that post now) that giving the other Phantomhive twin a German name to cement the family's strong connection to that part of the world (via Diedrich) would make sense. I know this is isn't really based on evidence, but personally I find that a compelling extra reason as well. Rachel was the one to pick the names, and while I don't think Vincent would have been so overt in showing affection to Diedrich by giving his son a German name, I think she might've.

Bonus Bonus:

Pastor Rathbourne may have provided us with another clue, actually. The following is half-sourced and half from my own general knowledge and love for classics.

Clergymen in the Victorian era (as was the case for a long-time before that) were normally highly educated people, and certainly if they were leading parishes of their own (as Rathbourne was). Virtually all of them would've received their education at Oxford or Cambridge, which may have included some kind of foreign language (most likely: French, which was still the diplomatic language of the period) and definitely included Latin (because: ecclesiastical duty) and also Hebrew/Greek.

It was one of the easy, almost default choices for sons of nobility who wouldn't inherit titles because of the good status and education attached (which all of them would've been receiving anyway). This is why it's one of the first things R!Ciel thinks his brother might do in Chapter 132 (and not just because they happened to be at the church when they were having this conversation).

Now, this is where we enter slightly more into speculation, but bear with me. Any clergyman worth his salt would be able to, at the very least, recognise French vocabulary by virtue of it being a Romance language as well (because they all learned Latin), and be able to differentiate it from vocabulary from a non-Latin language even if they didn't know what it was.

Ciel is a very common word in French, an inheritance from Latin, so the chances Pastor Rathbourne was aware it was derived from French are extremely high. He would've probably been able to recognise any other French (or even Romance language) names as well. Yet, when he's talking about both of the twins' names, he says that they have unusual names for the region of England, not that they have French names. If both of them are French, why use a weaker highest common denominator (foreign names, which includes names derived from other languages), when the most simple and obvious alternative is to say that both names were/seemed to be French? The obvious reason is because the twins don't both have French names, meaning that O!Ciel's name is not French and can only be grouped with his brother's as part of a broader category of non-traditional English names.

A counterargument here would be that Yana was simply trying to hide that O!Ciel's name was also French, but then why engineer this conversation in this way in the first place? It serves no other purpose in this scene than to describe what the twins' names are like (and to set up something ominous with Vincent's reply about a 'new age').

Also, I don't know what the original Japanese dialogue is, but it would seem from the translation that the emphasis is on the foreignness/unusualness of the names relative to England. This leads me to think it's more likely they're both derived from foreign languages, rather than one of them being French and the other one being e.g. a very weird Germanic/Old English name that simply isn't in use anymore.

Either way, though - if I'm right and the subtle implication here is that the twins don't both have French names, then that doesn't just mean that O!Ciel's name is maybe not French, but that it definitely isn't.

(This also discounts the possibility of Monde as a potential name spelling, though not the thematic implication/wordplay).

[midnight-in-town]

Long dead contractor or fake one ?

Thinking again about this guy ^ who probably isn't the Polaris Star Lord (because Polaris from ch169 doesn't have the similar neck tattoo thingy).

Crack theory from my insomnia : the thing is, we know UT checked Seb's cinematic records during the Campania arc and thus knows what contract Seb made with Ciel (i.e the 3 rules from ch138)...

...the remaining question though is whether he saw more than what we readers saw of Seb's CR.

When it comes to humans, their cinematic records start at birth and end at death. However, we don't know enough about demonology in Kuro to be sure

whether Seb's own CR only begins at his current summoning,

or if he has centuries old CR depicting his entire existence as a demon and thus all his previous contracts.

Depending on the answer, this means UT could have seen just Seb's existence since being summoned by our!Ciel, or also past contractors. Noteworthy, when Grelle briefly checked Seb's CR during the JTR arc, she too only saw moments of Seb's "life" as Ciel's butler.

So, if UT had access to Seb's memories of previous contractors, then he could have somehow found this guy and brought him back to life (somehow finding his corpse where Seb ate his soul, idek).

However, if UT didn't have access to Seb's CR before the current summoning and contract with our!Ciel, then the question remains : who is this guy from the cliffhanger and how did he end up involved ?

Considering UT's goal of separating Ciel from Seb...

...if UT had no way of finding a previous recent contractor and bringing him back to bizarre doll state, what if he faked one ? After all, he doesn't have to play fair when it comes to fighting against a demon.

Seb's contract with Ciel is based on the 3 main rules they discussed during ch138. Namely in that chapter, Seb and Ciel discussed the matter of possible betrayal and...

...while Seb said that multiple contracts were against his aesthetics, UT could have taken a corpse and altered his CR (by adding fake memories, like he did with the Campania BDs) to trick Ciel into thinking Seb broke their agreement of no multiple contracts, thus rendering the contract null.

This would explain the whole "would you like me to give you a hand ?"

And "then why did they welcome us ?"

Now, for anyone who might come at me saying "but Ciel would never believe such a thing" : I understand the feeling since Seb is indeed too stupid to betray his own aesthetics, but I beg to differ considering the Green Witch arc, the "90% serious" incident and mostly the fact that...

...Ciel doesn't trust that Seb has his best intentions in mind, far from it.

It will take convincing arguments for sure, but UT is not some ordinary villain and, again, the Nectar Springs Hotel staff was expecting them. Lastly, considering the theory that UT could be Cedric K. Ros, Frances once said in ch14...

...and I think it could apply to UT as well.

I mean, so far, the Campania, Weston and Blue Sect arcs saw UT winning every time. As for the current investigations, Mey and Bard were successful but Finny & Snake weren't, meaning that if Ciel & Seb lose, it's going to be a tie (which would keep real!Ciel longer in the story).

Maybe this arc will highlight that Seb was right in ch14 and our!Ciel can't win against UT and his brother if he doesn't add more Phantomhive brains to his side (aka Frances becoming some sort of mentor like Seb mentioned) :

TL;DR I don't know if Seb's past as a demon before the contract with Ciel could be relevant to the plot, so I wouldn't put it past UT to create a fake contractor to try and make the contract with our!Ciel null.

UT doesn't know how to mourn but he does know how to hatch conniving plans.

[aquarianights]

I've delulu'd too hard about claudia and undertaker like the fake scenarios in my head are canon TO ME okay hear me out:

firstly I strongly believe his name is cedric, but for the purpose of this theory I'll still call him UT, anyhow i believe when he met Claudia he was already a shinigami bc obviously the timeline wouldn't match up otherwise.

However, I think his personality might have been a complete 180° from now, like I dont think he was heehee haha-ing over everything. I'm assuming whatever his initial backstory is that made him a shinigami must've been really traumatic and tragic, which eventually led to him crashing out and destroying the HQ.

Maybe he met Claudia after that and he fell in love with her for her crazy personality 🥹 he basically evolved to match her freak, or in better words she showed him real joy and laughter that 'fixed' him - until she died of course leaving him once again a broken man :((

I imagine he was a complete gentleman when he met her, and they had a demure yearning love story. Stolen glances from across ballroom, a chaste kiss on her hand, referring to her politely as 'Lady Phantomhive' etc. Also the ponytail and glasses, how he used to look so prim and proper. I imagine she loved his hair and liked to see it down more often.

And then when they eventually got together he would have been the most devoted caring husband? 👀 or lover but either way I imagine he'd stay by her bedside when she was sick, fulfill all her silly whims and fancies yk.

Of course there would be this veil of doom hanging over them, an inevitable bad end they both could see coming, a lot of angst.

But i firmly believe that Undertaker's obsession with bringing back the dead is because he wants to bring back Claudia. And that might even be why he became an undertaker to begin with — his obsession with death began when she left him and he had no way to follow since he was already literally dead. I wouldn't put it past him to even have her (partially) preserved corpse that he is waiting to revive. There's just so much potential for an incredibly tragic romantic gothic lovestory here.

anyways, that's just my two cents on the matter, imagine these two characters have nothing to do with each other and I've just given myself brainrot for no reason