Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - 5 - End of the Golden Witch recap

Episode 5 - End of the Golden Witch

Lambda and Bern, 2 witches that outrank Beato, and Virgilia doesn't even come close to them... these 2 want to resume the game in Beato's stead... Lambda as the new game master. Bern reminds Battler of Ange to convince him to continue with the game. Battler decides to take a break and have Bern substitute for him... Lambda can't do anything with Beato's game board that Beato couldn't do herself, but she can do things Beato wouldn't do. Maria is already dead when Battler rejoins the game.

Kinzo has the power to turn desire into reality, and is the only one who can control Beatrice...

A true monarch fears no hardship. They declare that they will overcome anything without fail.

He dies 2 years before the 1986 conference.. Natsuhi and Krauss have to deal with the inheritance problem... Natsuhi then convinces Beatrice to revive him with magic. she has to keep Kinzo away from the magic-resisting toxin to keep him alive.

Without love, it cannot be seen.

Bern solves the witch's epitaph, while giving Battler hints...

Behold the sweetfish river running through my beloved hometown.
You who seek the Golden Land, follow its path downstream in search of the key.
As you travel down it, you will see a village.
In that village, look for the shore the two will tell you of.
There sleeps the key to the Golden Land.
On the first twilight, offer the six chosen by the key as sacrifices.
On the second twilight, those who remain shall tear apart the two who are close.
On the third twilight, those who remain shall praise my noble name.
Twilight 4-8: Kill a single character
On the ninth twilight, the witch shall revive, and none shall be left alive.
On the tenth twilight, the journey shall end, and you shall reach the capital where the gold dwells.
The witch will praise the wise, and should bestow four treasures.
One shall be, all the gold from the Golden Land.
One shall be, the resurrection of the souls of all the dead.
One shall be, even the resurrection of the lost love.
One shall be, to put the witch to sleep for all time.
Sleep peacefully, my most beloved witch, Beatrice.

That hometown with the sweetfish river, is probably referring to something that's at least 11 or 13 characters long. First remove 6 characters, then tear apart the 2 characters that are close together, etc...

Natsuhi and Kraus, Beatrice's allies, were getting cornered. They didn't expect
Battler to find the gold. In the worst case scenario, Kraus offers to divorce from Natsuhi so that her and Jessica won't have to be held responsible.

Just then, at midnight, Genji tells Natsuhi she got another call from that strange guy who wants revenge for 19 years ago... He proves that he knows her by revealing some kind of tarot card thing hidden inside the clock in her room. He claims he's on the island right now... wants to be introduced to his little sister Jessica. At that same time, the letter from Beatrice arrived at the room where Eva, Hide, Rudolf, Kyrie, Battler, and all the servants except Genji were in.

The people in the guesthouse were locked out of the main building, so it seemed like only Genji, Natsuhi, Krauss, or.. Kinzo could have delivered it.
the letter had Kinzo's ring inside it. the letter acknowledges Battler as the new head.

So, 19 years ago, Kinzo brought home a child from an orphanage, and asked Natsuhi to raise it her child/Kinzo's grandchild, to be the one who succeeds Krauss. Natsuhi prayed to demons to wish that the adopted child would disappear, and that she would have her own child instead. that wish was granted by demons just 3 days later. Beatrice takes the blame for it instead of Natsuhi, and tries to get the 19 year old to curse her instead.

Let me remind you just who it was that lured you off that cliff!

Natsuhi blocked the memory of that 3 days out, and thought of it as a nightmare that never happened.

There is no red truth in the human world. Nothing can be trusted in the human world.

...that child might turn out to be alive, even though he's supposed to be dead.
a 19th person (according to Natsuhi/Beatrice's truth), and a person born 19 years ago... 19...
Furudo Erika is Lady Bernkastel's piece... so who's piece is the man from 19 years ago? Lambdadelta's, apparently...

Natsuhi is the king, Beato is the queen, the pack of servants and witches guarding Natsuhi are supposed to be like chess pieces, but they are more like bowling pins. These 2 witches are turning Beato into their play thing... a mere illusion of Natsuhi's...

The morning of October 5th, 5 murders occured again, even though Battler solved the epitaph. Battler discovered the corpses of George, Jessica, Maria, and Rosa... the servants discovered Genji's corpse... The 7 sisters of purgatory also found out about it and reported it to Natsuhi and Beatrice.

Now the 19 year old had Kraus held hostage, and told Natsuhi to not tell anybody about it and wait in a guest room closet at 1pm...
I think this 19 year old is just another illusion of Natsuhi's that Lambda created with her influence over the Natsuhi piece.. yeah, since there's only supposed to be 18 people on the island.
Since Kraus is missing, everyone except Natsuhi assumes he is the 6th victim.

That Erika has brought everyone together is actually convenient for us. All darkness outside the range of observers belongs to us demons.

...the Devil's Proof, which gives witches and demons their form in the human world.

Kraus's bed had a red bloodstain, but Kraus wasn't there. When they went back to the guesthouse, the corpses had disappeared. A move by Beato's servants as the humans all enter Kinzo's study and investigate his disappearance, Beato battles the human Erika on another plane, and uses blue truth to deny Natsuhi's involvement.

Erika is trying to prove that Kinzo's disappearance was caused by a human culprit, not a witch. She can't take out Beatrice's blue wedge, so she summons Dlanor A. Knox, her 2nd piece, the greatest natural enemy of witches, to fight Beatrice. As well as Dlanor's subordinates: Gertrude, Cornelia, Siesta Corps...
Dlanor had her underlings guard the study door so Beatrice can't escape. on the human side, Eva had placed a scrap of paper in between the door so she'd know if it was opened.
Beatrice's blue truth was destroyed by the red... and another red: Knox's 3rd: It is forbidden for hidden passages to exist.
Beatrice counters with another blue: Kinzo was outside of the study since the beginning of the closed room. Natsuhi could have talked to him through the phone.

There's nothing strange about Kinzo going to the hidden mansion, Kuwadorian, to stay away from the relatives.

Blue Truth. Effective.

Beato's warp gate reappeared... Then Natsuhi ruins it by claiming that she met Kinzo face to face. the only blue wedge remaining was "Kinzo is hiding in this room."
Dlanor cut that last blue truth down, and just when she was about to finish Beatrice and Kinzo off...
Battler: "It's useless."... he claims he'll become Kinzo and disappear from this room.
Kinzo:

I see... he is using that move. He really is my successor.

Battler claims that Kinzo could have left the study after talking with Natsuhi, but before Natsuhi left the room, while she was inspecting the other closed off parts of the study. The study is now being filled with the power of darkness... Beatrice is again able to escape. As Battler is about to act out Kinzo leaving the study, Gertrude blocks him, claiming that the study door makes a sound when it is unlocked...
Battler looks at Cornelia...

but what about you over there by the window?

Battler uses his endless nine magic resistance power to break through the Dlanor guards. A one-winged eagle, fleeing from a closed room through a 3rd floor window...

You aren't the kind of witch who can be locked up inside a closed room, right?

The power which denies magic had scattered. Kinzo and Beato escaped from the closed room.

My riddle is yours alone, Ushiromiya Battler. I won't let anyone else solve it.

After that fight (it was actually just Battler's piece controlled by Lambda that was doing all that), Dlanor went to have tea with the real Battler and Virgilia. Apparently she held back to let Battler win.
Beato had already proclaimed in red "Kinzo is dead at the beginning of all games.", so she could've finished Kinzo off at any time... but using that argument would violate Knox's 2nd:

It is forbidden for supernatural agencies to be employed as a detective technique.

...but Cornelia also could've used "The window was never opened"

So... Lambda and Bern are intentionally letting Kinzo exist within the game even though they already know he doesn't. They're working together for some reason.
Nobody can reach the Golden Land with Beato wanting them to be there... but Ange had entered it in the last game...

Court of illusions... the final moment where the "Natsuhi is the culprit" truth becomes the truth everyone believes in.
...wait wtf? Erika is trying to prove that all the people who died in the 2nd floor of the guesthouse (Jessica, Goerge, Maria, Rosa), died between 24:00 and 1:00, but then Bern said Rosa left the dining hall at 1:00???

During the short break at 1:00 AM, the first two to leave the dining hall were Rosa and Eva.

Bern just declared with the red truth that Rosa was killed AFTER 1:00 AM... I thought Rosa was already at the guesthouse by then... I guess that was a mixup? They meant someone else instead of Rosa?
Finally, Battler takes a stand and tries to find a more convincing truth than Erika's where Natsuhi is innocent, without contradicting any of Bern/Lambda's red truths...
Virgilia then gives Battler the red truth "Natsuhi is not the culprit"
Bern then tries to bargain with him to acknowledge that Kraus is the culprit, the only remaining human culprit that is possible. Beato refuses it, believing that Battler will come through with the witch theory to save her... and then Bern uses the red to deny Kraus as the culprit... then, in a completely unrelated move, she used the red truth to deny the existence of Natsuhi's phantom Kinzo.

Lambda revoked Beatrice's title of witch and fed her to the goats... suddenly, Dlanor jumped in with a red sword and saved her at the last second. she wanted Battler to go all out against her first. After Battler exhausted all other options, he resorted to the red truth that Virgilia gave him, and that violated Knox's 2nd... unless a witch says it... um, Beato? hello?

Real truth is a very fragile thing. Does real truth exist? ... and is it necessary?

Erika then explains the "why dunnit"... she found a diary from Natsuhi from long ago that said she was like a hostage being held by the Ushiromiya family. Erika gives Natsuhi one last chance to defend herself, by naming the phantom Kinzo as the true culprit, she refuses... Erika then did a thorough investigation to look for a living Kinzo, and determined that he couldn't exist anywhere except in Natsuhi's bed between 24:00 and morning at the same time she was sleeping in it (wtf? I don't get this)

They wanted to get her to admit herself that Kinzo was dead... seriously? That's really stupid. Erika can use her detective authority to claim that she investigated the ENTIRE ISLAND and prove without a doubt that a person doesn't exist there?

In Bern's truth... Natsuhi had sexual relations with Kinzo, even disguising herself as the witch of his delusions, in order to get revenge and control the Ushiromiya family...

Natsuhi, still talking to Erika... now she confesses about a murder. Not the current one, but the one from 19 years ago, where she summoned a demon to kill that baby. She really believes that baby died thanks to her magical power... Battler and the others were now sympathizing with her. Erika, who couldn't see this kind of magic, didn't understand.
Battler says "It's all useless, isn't it", and then the 5th game ends...

wow this game is getting ridiculous...