yeah well the unnecessarily long backstory we got for him for like 20 chapters was 10000% useless information i didnt even care about and they decided to give that to us immediately after he treats Elkin like dogshit. he has no redeemable qualities so far and he's just along for the ride and im sureeeee he'll have some grand revelation of courage and defy his uncle when it is absolutely critical and im 1000% just not gonna care lol
Sorry beforehand about the spelling mistakes, if there is one. Spoiler: 165 to 167 Erkin is running away while Terion and the other guy are chasing him. Erkin sees Kaya and makes her run, he tells her they're being chased and she uses her powers to destroy a chimney of a random house to distract the townspeople, it works for a moment but they're caught by Dion, who was in the streets. He knocks Kaya out and they both end up in an armory. He nails Kaya to the ground with a sword, and when he's about to do it with a second one, Erkin tries to help her but the guard interrupts him and tries to make him fight with him. Erkin tries to fight him with an axe, while Dion is trying to make Terion help him with the handcuffs, but Terion doesn't help him. Erkin is desperate to help Kaya and he only throws the axe to the guard. While the guard is distracted, Erkin pushes him to a fountain and nails (i don't know how to say it better) his cape to a wooden stick. Later, the guard tries to free himself. Erkin tries to fight with Dion now and this helps to distract him too, so Kaya frees herself from the sword that's nailing her. She takes the sword and seems to be about to kill Dion, but Terion yells not to kill him, and instead she pushes Dion onto the forge. The episode ends when he's about to fall on the fired forge. The espidoe is short and doesn’t have much dialogues. Dion falls on the forge and burns his head over his ear. Terion tries to help him while Kaya and Erkin escape. The guard takes a crossbow and shoots Kaya, but Kaya is a badass warrior and stops the arrow with her hand and gives the guard a killing glance. Our mcs are able to escape. The guard asks Terion if he recognized the northerner. He doesn't answer. The chief of the village arrives. In their conversation the guard mentions the commander Erkin wants to find. He asks the chief to appoint some guards to help them. But Dion slices the chief fingers and says the northerners just talk and do nothing, it seems he wants revenge because he's very, very mad. Erkin and Kaya finally arrive to a safe place, and poor Erkin, he seems to be about to have a heart attack. Kaya says the sword Dion used to harm her was made of moonstone and that she couldn't use her powers when she was nailed with it. But Erkin is still in shock, he doesn't seem to be paying attention. A few moments later, the little girl (the same one as before) appears and Erkin asks her for her help. The girl guides them through the woods and a few hour later walking, he asks the girl where she's taking them. It turns out she was taking them to the commander's place in the middle of the woods. When they arrive, Erkin introduces himself to Olen, the commander. He doesn't look that old, but he's blind and has a few scars. Erkin asks about his parents and he says he remembers them, Alicia and Lev. Erkin asks him why he sent the letter saying they died by the fire of the sun witch. He says he sent the letter because it is true. He explains that the witch dissapeared in the plains and then was captured by his men, he heard the witch was a redhead with healing powers, and he wasn't sure about that woman being the witch because he was very injured at the time, until she burned the tent, he confirmed that person was indeed the witch. Kaya asks him if he can recognize the witch's face, he is not sure, but asks her to get closer to him so he can touch her face. When he's touching her she asks him what he's afraid of, but he doesn't react at all. Then he touches her hands and at the end he concludes Kaya and the witch of the sun (the one that "was captured") aren't the same person. Kaya is surprised and looks at Erkin but he's sad. Later, Olen invites Kaya and Erkin to dinner. The girl, Nazri isn't blood related to him. He taught her to read because she is an orphan. He says she survives by collecting herbs and mushrooms in the woods (she also lives there) and people avoid her because they see her almost like a witch. He's worried for her because she will be alone when he dies and she will probably be seen as a witch or a weirdo. Erkin says they have to leave asap, and the girl asks them if they were talking about the witch of the wood (the old woman) and tells them about a time she saw her. She says the woman lives close and that when she appears, she looks like a ghost. In a funny, last scene, Erkin says in his mind that he isn't hungry but he'll eat what the girl cooked. Olen and Erkin look sick when they eat the food because she is a bad cook, but Olen tells them to eat all the food. Kaya did like the food though. Idk if this kind of revelation will change anything. Some people in the comments were saying Olen's behavior was strange and that he is definitely hiding something, because he was so calm the entire time. And that that fake witch could be someone from Kaya's tribe.
Yeah, it's a possibility, but I also have my theory... Spoiler: Theory that this is a conspiracy of the second army (and the mormerattans,) because Olen said he was injured and losing his sight when the witch was captured and that his men were in charge of the situation, this doesn'tsound like a coincidence. Idk why they would conspire against their own people though.
Spoiler: Some of my thoughts If your theory is correct, could Albrecht's betrayal started much earlier than expected? Maybe he struck a secret deal with them? Or maybe everything was truly a coincidence, albeit an unfortunate one that is basically a plot device to drive Erkin's hatred. I've also given thought to Terion's family environment and the princess' comments about how she thought Albrecht would be the one to marry Terion's mom. Albrecht did not seem to care very much about the impact on Terion and the rest of the family when he pulled the revenge shat. It's a risky plan that could get the entire family wiped. My mind-running-wild thought: The golden children (the ones who died) are actually Albrecht's children with the mom. They resembled Albrecht more, while Terion resembled their father (who is more of the bookish type). This could well explain why the mom wasn't quite attentive to Terion even after her elder children have all grown up and didn't need as much attention. Or perhaps this very resemblance is why Albrecht favoured them.
No, it doesn't have a novel. Spoiler: A revelation of the recent episodes Well it turns out Mormodes did designate/choose Leonard as his heir, but just a few knew it and kept the secret after his death. This is going to cause a lot of drama. I'll share the summary of the episodes in 2 weeks.
Spoiler: 168 to 172 At night Erkin says goodbye to Olen and the girl, and thanks them for the food, Er also asks him to keep their visit a secret. Olen asks Erkin if his answer help him. He says he hopes the girl next to Erkin isn't the witch, and he also says something that it's a terrible thing. Idk what he meant. The girl asks Olen why he said Kaya wasn't the witch and there's a short flashback of an injured Olen arriving to the camp. There's someone in front of him saying there's a fire and that the witch escaped, but we (the readers) can't see their face. He really thinks Kaya isn't that witch of that time. Kaya tells Erkin that Olen wants to believe that the prisoner he saw was indeed the witch of the sun. Later Erkin and Kaya are close to the river where Erkin saw the old lady. She asks him again what's he going to do, and he says he will continue until he finds out the truth about his parents and the witch. She notices she has a sad expression in his eyes. Kaya wonders what it meant the expression Erkin had when Olen said she wasn't the witch in the camp. She wonders if he felt relieved or if he was sad that he couldn't get revenge, and what will happen with them both (their relationship) at the end of the journey. In the morning, the girl is collecting mushrooms and when she arrives to Olen's house she sees footprints in the entrance. She sees Terion when he opens the door and she runs aways scared. In the house, Dion hit Olen and the old man is on the floor. Dion is mad and says they would have already captured the witch if the guards weren't incompetent. He wants Terion to kill the northerner. At some point of his tirade, he says something about Terion's dead siblings. Terion is about to hit Dion but the guard stops him. The guard says that Dion's wound is really bad, and that he has to return to the capital to focus on a treatment and that Terion, the guard himself and the other guards are going to keep looking for the criminals. Back at the capital Viviana sees prince Leonard amd Lindia talking and walking. She says she's jealous because she wants to hang out with them. After that she pushes a brick on the wall and reveals a secret passageway. Lindia and Leo are talking about the succession, but also about Lindia's family and Leo says she has the right to be the head of the Widehens. But Leo sees Viviana and starts to call her out about her behavior at the meeting. Lindia notices some bricks are loose and asks the other girl what is she doing without her maids. Lindia asks her what those bricks are like that and she and the prince convince Viviana to let them in. Viviana shows them the secret passage. It turns out the secret passage leads to a place where they can spy on the succession counseling. Viviana says that spying them isn't exactly illegal. The old guys of the counseling say Illosia, the princess, is the one who must rule. But they are relieved when the men say it's only how a part of the counseling thinks. The members also say, and this is the most important revelation of this episode, that mormodes actually chose Leonard as his heir, and it seems the only ones who knew it were these guys, obviously; Mormodes and Leonard's mom, the previous queen. They're all in shock and leave the passage, and Vivi leaves too saying she's going to pretend she wasn't there. Lindia says Leonard should stop the succession trial and claim his right, but Leonard is more in shock and angry at the fact that her mom knew it all along and never did anything to help him sit on the throne nor told him, not even now that he is competing with his aunt to be the next ruler. Leonard wonders why Lindia would care whether he claims his right or not. Later, the previous queen is walking with her maids and sees Illosia in a hall talking to a Mormodes portrait. The princess asks the queen how's Leonard, and she wonders aloud if she should send him plum bread because he used to like it very much, and she also asks the queen if she still likes it. (Remember that Leonard was almost killed once with a poisonous bread that Kaya/Hilde ended up eating instead of him. It seems the poisonous bread was plum bread.) The queens is angry. At night, the queen is in her room talking with her father. He says the princess was chosen as the crown princess, and that he's glad her daughter and grandson will remain as royals. It seems he wants her and his grandson to return to his hometown. Leonard arrives when the man leaves and this is when Leo asks her mom to look him in the eye and answer what he's going to ask with the truth. The episode ends there. — In this episode, there is more background of the queen Restrepia (Leonard's mom). It is said that she was born in a noble but irrelevant family, so, she didn't have high possibilities to be the queen, and that Terion’s mom had more. But the king (Ulderick) chose her anyway. She didn't have much power until the king died. It is said she was always in silence in order to survive. Mormodes visited her after his brother's death, and (lowkey) threatened her to put him on the throne because Leonard was still a crib baby. Mormodes promised he would put Leonard on the throne once he became an adult, but obviously, that didn't happen. When Leonard (in the present) asks his mother why they didn't fulfill the promise, she says that Mormodes used to say that any king should be able to control the sun, but when Leonard lose his ear by the hands of Hildegard, Mormodes considered Dion as the heir or make himself immortal (or something like that.) She says she kept the secret in order to protect them, and that Illosia knew the secret all along too, but she's now taking advantage of the situation, just like Mormodes/Valdor did when his older brother died. It's is also implied that most of the accidents Leonard had when he was young where orchestrated by Illosia, and that these accidents stopped when Kayahilde burnt him because Mormodes didn't consider him worth it anymore. (Well, after what Hilde did to Dion episodes ago, he isn't worth it either. Even less than Leo.) She asks her son to understand the desire of a mother to protect her family and Leonard tries to console her, but ends up saying something like "holding back the horse won't make the world safer." He runs away amd his mother tries to stop him, but he's gone. Leo is running and running. He has an inner monologue in which he questions his entire life, his ideals and how he didn't died because he was lucky (he didn't die because his relatives couldn't kill him.) When he stops he sees a portrait of his father, and a moment later, he sees Lindia praying in a small altar for the people who died at the plains. When she leaves, it seems she didn't see him, but she did. Later, Lindia is alone in her room and she thinks the only one with answers is Terion. The next day, Viviana is listening some people taking about Dion and his accident. They say his burn looks really bad and red because it wasn't treated. We see Albrech briefly. It is said that the people of the kingdom are getting anxious because the sun is turning red (instead of its normal yellow), and people think the witch is doing it (this or it's a punishment of the gods.) Later, Lindia and Leonard meet when while trying to talk to Dion. The vibe between them is unconfortable. Leo apologizes for yelling at her. They have a small conversation and Leo tells Lindia his situation and the situation of the succession. He regrets growing up as a happy and sheltered kid. And also says that his friendship with Kaya could have helped him to ascend the throne, but now, it can only affect him. Lindia invites him to drink tea together later. They're interrupted when they hear someone yelling. Viviana leaves the infirmary (or whatever it is) tearing. The prince removes some pieces of broken glass from her hair and she leaves. He says it was a little too much to treat her like that because she only wanted to see if her cousin was okay (he's talking to Dion.)
Thanks, Andvipe! This is what I've been waiting for! Albrecht and that princess do make a fine pair. I also believe Kaya is right about Olens. Like he wanted to believe they managed to do something at one point, that they managed to hurt the witch at least once. I guess Mosmodes changed his mind again at a later stage since he tried to get Hildegard to marry Leon and not Dion. Since he couldn't live forever, he had to choose between Leon and Dion (choosing his sister would be the same as choosing Dion) and he still chose Leon, as marriage is the only way he could think of to tie down Hildegard. Even if his marriage proposal is rejected, Mosmordes possible thought Hildegard would be a lot more partial and willing to stay due to her prior friendship with Leon. Is the "old lady" the old witch? I really wanna Kaya to meet her soon. I'm sure that's when we will learn more about her Kariya powers, her tribe and even about the "witch" who was captured.
Yeah, the old lady is the witch. The issue with the succession is confusing. Because when the queen named Mormodes as the successor instead of her son, the succession line changed and the heir should be Illosia, but if Mormodes promised he was going to put Leo in the throne when he became an adult, the throne must be his, right? But he doesn't have any proof to confirm this nor has he any proof to confirm his aunt tried to kill him in the past. Everything is against him. I really want to know what's going on in Erkin's mind, because we have seen Kaya's thoughts about their situation, but not Erkin's. It's hard to decipher what he's thinking or how he's feeling. I hope they come clean after talking with the old witch.
The succession issue is not a clean-cut matter. Normally, this change would indicate Mormodes is now the main line, with Leon and Illosia being cadet branches. Since Mormodes has no children, it's up to him or the council to pick from either of the cadet branches to succeed the throne after his inevitable passing. Apparently giving up the throne before does not necessarily mean Leon is out of the race either, because then Illosia would have no reason to try and murder him (if she indeed, is the culprit) and the throne would have simply gone straight to Illosia after Mormodes' passing. For Erkin, I think he's still trying to process his thoughts and feelings. All these years he had believed so strongly that the Knight of the Sun was responsible for his parents' death and he had carried that hatred for so long, it's hard to let it go. Sometimes people may even double down despite knowing the truth, though I doubt that's how it will go for Erkin. Or at least I hope not. He's possibly also feeling very lost right now because his goal had completely changed and he has no idea who to go after for revenge now. :\
Spoiler: 173 This arc ends in this episode. Leo and Lindia enter to Dion's room and when he sees Lindia he blushes. Leo tries to console his cousin, but he instead says that he's going to be the crown prince, blah blah blah, and that he's proud of his wound because he got it fighting for his life unlike Leonard. Dion calls Leo "useless" and says he's going to burn his way too the throne or something like that. He spoke a little bit more, but I didn't understand. Illosia arrives and Leo and Lindia leave, Leo tells his cousin to eat well. Lindia didn't speak the minutes they were there. When they're leaving, Lindia is like "is this guy really going to be the king someday?" Dion looks at her while she leaves. Illosia feeds Dion like if he were a baby and wonders why Lindia and Leo are always together. But she also says she's not worried about Widehen (because Albrech is on their side,) but Dion thinks it's weird that Kaya stopped when Terion told her not to kill him. He says they (the Widehens) have an intense look in their eyes and that they never give up when they want to achieve something (or something like that,) and that, one way or another, he's sure Lindia will be and obstacle in their way to the throne. Illosia doesn't seem pleased at this affirmation. Later, Lindia and Leo are talking about looking for proofs to demonstrate he's the right heir. At the end of their conversation, Lindia says she's going to help Leo to claim his right to the throne and she says she's helping him because she also thinks of him as her friend. Leo is a little bit surprised and he says in his mind that Lindia's help feels like a ray of sunshine, but he's still unsure about trusting her, because he thinks he's clinging to a snake's tail, but no matter what, he's not going to give up, and hopes Kaya and Erkin stay safe until he achieves his goal. At the end, we see Kaya walking and looking at Erkin from behind. The episode ends when Erkin turns around and looks at Kaya too. Honestly, I didn't understand this last part's meaning. Btw, her hair looks a little bit longer. Sorry for the bad translation, it wasn't good this episode and I didn't understand some things that were said.
It's not time yet for another summary, bit episode 175 was so sad and cute that I need to talk with you about it. Spoiler: 174 and 175 When Erkin turns around, Kaya tells him she's a little bit dizzy. Erkin looks really tired and has dark circles on his eyes. He tell Kaya to go to rest. They're running out of herbs. Later, they find a camp. It seems no one is there, but Erkin still thinks the camp belongs to the guards chasing them and that they must have gone to Teburz. When they leave, Erkin wonders how long he will have to wander. Erkin is having a dream/nightmare: there, he's back in the festival with Kaya, he's a little bit confused about being there, but he relaxes when Kaya asks him to dance with a big happy face, so they dance and for a moment, the old happy Erkin (who's in love with Kaya) is back. He sees his parents and friends happy in the crowd, and with teary eyes he hugs Kaya. It seems he's about to say he loves her, but when he looks at his parents again, they're burning. Erkin realizes he's burning too, and the flames are coming from Kaya. Erkin tells her to let go of him, but evil Kaya says something like "but Erkin, you're the one holding me." He wakes up shivering and looks at Kaya who's sleeping next to him. He looks tired and scared, and he puts his hand, just for a moment, around her neck, but then he removes it and goes back to sleep. Seconds later Kaya wakes up with the sensation of his hand around her neck. (This episode is short and doesn’t have much dialogues.) Later, they're climbing a mountain and Kaya confronts Erkin. She says she's a burden and asks him if he regrets he promised to stay with her. She also says she's looking for excuses to blame her for his parents' deaths, for not being able to return to his hometown and for being a wanderer. Erkin just says they should get going. She says he doesn't need to keep doing that (idk what she's talking about exactly) and then she asks him if he regrets saving her 8 years ago. He says he doesn't regret it because he saved her that time because he wanted, even though he knew she wasn't a northerner. He also says her wound was unusual. Kaya asks him one more time what is what he wants to do with her, she says he hates her so much that he wants to kill her (or viceversa, I'm not sure if she was talking about him or her) Erkin only says his head hurts and that he doesn't want to talk. She insists and Erkin turns to face her and he's crying; he yells that he told her he loved her and then she decieved him, then she asked him to stay with her (to choose her) and then she basically kicked him out of the castle: he doesn't know what he can do with her. He says he can't get rid of her easily because he still... Well, he didn't finish the sentece, but it's obvious he was going to say he still loves her. He keeps talking and says that for a moment he thought he could live a normal life in the castle, dance with her, and maybe later settle down together like his parents, and love each other without being wanderers and with no desire for revenge. The saddest part is when he says he didn't want to believe he can't be happy (Don't make me cry.) He says every time something good happens, that good thing is followed by something terrible, like when he saved her and then his parents die, or when they accepted each other and then it turned out she was the witch. He says he accepts she's not the enemy of his parents, but he's also afraid of accept her again because he feels something bad may happen later. This makes him always feel like a helpless child. He also says he tell himself constantly he shouldn't love her. Kaya says she knows how it feels like to be stuck in a swamp, but that she managed to get out. He asks her how she did that, and she says because she has/d him, because he held her hand (awwww.) Btw, Kaya is a little bit feverish the entire episode. She closes the distance and she's about to touch his face, but she stops because she notices someone is there. I thought it was the witch at first but it turns out it's some kind of bandit, because they have rotten teeth and a sword, and they say something like "oh bro, why are you crying, let's see if you have anything good." The good thing about this episode, it's that it seems there's a small possibility of reconciliation. Sorry if there's any grammar or spelling mistake. I'll correct them later.
Well guys, Kaya and Erkin finally did you know what Spoiler: 176, 177 and 178 Those two guys are bandits, indeed. Kaya wants to attack them but Erkin stops her and says to those guys that they're also wandering and that they don't have much with them to bargain. He also says Kaya doesn't feel well. They consider Erkin's offer. Kaya tells Erkin not to let down his guard because they don't seem polite. Kaya stops a wooden bullet another guy shot at Erkin with a crossbow from behind. One of the two guys in front of them takes advantage of Kaya's distraction and hits her on the head. She faints. There are three bandits in total. At the camp, Kaya is still unconscious and it seems Erkin is too. The first bandit is looking in Erkin's clothes and he finds the necklace Kaya gave him (he was wearing it under his clothes). The second guy is looking in their bags, but he doesn't find anything, just Kaya's medicine on which he steps. Erkin wakes up and sees Kaya unconscious. Erkin asks the bandits what they want to do with them if they already stole everything they had of value. The bandits implie they want to sell them as slaves (I hate those criminals already.) Erkin is in shock and wants to escape. Erkin asks the northerner bandit why he's doing that to another northerner like him. The guy only kicks him on the chest. The other two bandits don't look like northerners btw. One of the bandits is wondering if Kaya has something of value hidden under her clothes too. Erkin yells not to touch her, and the northerner bandit kicks him again. He asks the other two to hold him because he wants to "mark the mercancy before it is exported." They cover Erkin's mouth and they lift his shirt to mark him on the abdomen. The guy says that customers sometimes find amusing the mercancy has a "painting," and that he's a painter. Erkin remembers the commander saying that some humans are terrible or something like that. The third guy is pulling Kaya's hair while he says not to mark Erkin a lot, so the price doesn't drop. This is when she wakes up and sees what they're are doing to Erkin. The third guy tells her not to be scared because he's going to treat her nicely. For a moment, it seems Kaya is accepting she has to kill them. She knocks him and at the end, she looks really, really mad, like she's going to burn them until they die. Kaya frees herself and charges to the other two guys. She steals the weapon of the guy who was cutting Erkin and slices him, she also breaks his hand and ends him with a slice on his neck. The guy who holds Erkin tells her that if she gets closer he's going to hurt him, but Kaya burns his weapon, and when the guy runs, she's about to throw the weapon she still has to kill him, but instead, she burns his leg. She frees Erkin, and when he's free,he runs; it seems Kaya thought he was scared of her, but he actually wanted to take back the necklace. She thought he got rid of the necklace, it seems. When Erkin realizes she is watching him, he just blushes. He only says the bandits threw the herbs. Later, they are walking trying to find a place to stay or some help. It seems Kaya has fainted, and Erkin is desperate to find the raven witch. At the end of the episode, Erkin finds a door in a cave like if it were a house, so they go there. Erkin thinks they'll find the raven old lady there, but when he opens the door, there's no one there because the place is empty, but it seems someone used to be there because there is an old bonfire. Kaya's is really sick, so they stay there. They're trying to sleep, but Erkin is thinking about what happened before and that if he hadn't been so stupid, they would still have the herbs. But then, he notices Kaya is suffering and burning in fever, but she's trying not to scream. She tries to hold Erkin to stop her suffering and he's surprised, but she finally starts to cry and scream. Erkin thinks Kaya is going to die because he can't help her without the medicine, he thinks that if the sun witch dies, Kaya will die too, so he ends up hugging her. Later, Erkin notices Kaya's fever has gone down. For a moment Erkin thinks she's gone because she's unconscious. He thinks when he prayed for the witch to suffer the worst pain in the world and then in Kaya saying "I love you," so he starts to cry holding her body. But then, she wakes up because he was suffocating her. She says she thought she was going to die, but his hug made her feel at ease so, she's fine now. Erkin crying says it's hard forgiving her because he likes her, and Kaya says she's sorry for all she did to him, for deceiving him. After that, they stare at each other and then start kissing passionately and Kaya (or Erkin) has an inner monologue that I didn't understand, but later, Erkin and Kaya aren't completely dressed (but aren't completely naked either) and they seem red and sweaty while looking at each other, then they hug again. It seems they did the deed, even though it's not shown explicitly . At morning, Erkin is naked and Kaya is just wearing her tank top and shorts. When she wakes up and looks outside, she notices the sun is shining bright. The snow is almost gone.