  This article or section contains untagged major spoilers for all of Umineko When They Cry, possibly including the manga. Readers who have not completed the story are advised not to proceed further. |
This article attempts to describe solutions to the gameboard's mysteries in Banquet of the Golden Witch. It is primarily based on content from the manga versions of the final two arcs, which Ryukishi07 has stated to be an official answer from him.[1]
Willard's solutions and the elaborations in the Requiem of the Golden Witch manga are the most direct solutions and are taken verbatim from the story. In addition, the page will contain additional information as well as solutions to other mysteries based interviews, side materials, and story content from analogous scenes in the Twilight of the Golden Witch manga. Clair's descriptions of the mysteries are also listed whenever they exist.
This page only aims to describe the whodunnit and howdunnit of the mysteries. There is a wealth of additional emotional subtext behind many of these scenes that will not be described here due to its greater reliance on reader interpretation of the scenes themselves. We strongly encourage rereading the story in order to discover this for yourself.
Overview[]
| Role | People |
|---|---|
| Culprit | Sayo Yasuda |
| Common Accomplices | Genji Ronoue, Chiyo Kumasawa, Terumasa Nanjo, and Maria Ushiromiya. |
| Accomplice Roulette | Eva Ushiromiya and Hideyoshi Ushiromiya |
| Separate Culprits | Eva Ushiromiya and Hideyoshi Ushiromiya, working together |
| Rule | Description |
|---|---|
| X | Different coconspirators each time. All adults are in need of money. Buying their cooperation is easy. |
| Y | Any lies that all parties agree upon are depicted as reality. Even better when it pertains to locked rooms. Those who see golden butterflies are either on the culprit’s side or dead. Those who haven’t been bought off will not see the butterflies until thirty minutes before their death. |
| Z | Someone please stop me. I won’t pray for absolute certainty. I want you to solve it, so I won’t put too much pressure on you. Winning by killing everyone or losing by having my mystery solved are both outcomes I desire. |
Before the Murders[]
Sayo enlists the help of Kumasawa and Nanjo in setting up a fake murder mystery for Battler[2]. Genji is told the true nature of Sayo's murder-suicide plan, but still pledges his cooperation due to his loyalty and a sense of guilt for having contributed to Sayo's suffering[3].
Sayo likely played the part of Beatrice and gave Maria a letter. No disguise is necessary as Maria recognizes people by their appearance, and believes Beatrice to be possessing Sayo.[4]
Sayo also removes the switchboard at some point before the first twilight, disabling the phones[5]. It is unknown if this disabled only the external lines or if she re-enabled them before making the call to the guesthouse to lure George out.
After the first twilight, Eva solves the epitaph and starts murdering people.
First Twilight[]
Third game, first twilight. Six corpses connected by the linked closed rooms.
Red Truths
- There are five [master keys], one for each servant.
- Furthermore, all of the doors and windows on the six rooms are normal. No device exists which can lock them without a key, such as an auto-lock.
- These six are all dead: Kinzo, Genji, Shannon, Kanon, Gohda, and Kumasawa!
- There is no one hiding in the six rooms!
- The six died instantly!
- Only the victims are inside the rooms, and no other people exist inside the rooms.
- The six were not killed by traps.
- None of the six committed suicide!
- All five master keys were discovered, each in the pocket of one of the servants! The individual keys were found inside envelopes alongside the corpses! In short, all keys related to the linked closed rooms were locked inside the linked closed rooms!! No key could be returned from outside the room using the crack of the door, the crack of the window, vents or any place of the sort!!
- All of them had what appeared to be gunshot wounds that were fatal! Murdering them from outside the room would have been impossible!! I shall say more with the red! When the five other than Kinzo were killed, the killer was definitely in the same room as them! I already proclaimed in red at the time that there were no suicides!!
Red Truths (Manga)
- All keys involved in the circle of locked rooms were locked within the circle! The discoverer of a body cannot have any key beyond one recovered at the time the body was found!!
- The ones who found the bodies of the first night have no connection to the murders or arrangement of the locked-room circle.
| Type | Information |
|---|---|
| Will's Solution | Illusions to illusions. ...In the closed room ring, the end and the beginning overlap. |
| Manga Description | Shannon orchestrated a string of murders and locked rooms. The first body found in the string was false. When the coast was clear, Shannon became Kanon to falsify another death in the chapel. |
| Additional Information | Sayo killed Genji, Kumasawa and Gohda, and prepared the ring of closed rooms with them and Kinzo's corpse.
Shannon (Sayo in disguise) was the first corpse to be discovered, having set herself up in the parlor since there was a window that could be easily broken.[6][7] Because Nanjo was an accomplice, he could falsify Shannon's death and take the master key from her corpse.[8] As the adults search the mansion, Sayo is given enough time to change into Kanon and become discovered as the last corpse in the closed-room ring.[7] Because the entrance to the chapel can't be unlocked with a master key, Sayo had to leave it unlocked before locking the chapel key inside the boiler room. Due to Eva's solving the Witch's Epitaph later, it is implied Sayo's plan goes off the rails at this point. |
Second Twilight[]
Third game, second twilight. The corpses of mother and child lay together in the rose garden.
Red Truths
- Rosa and Maria died. The causes of death were as Nanjo diagnosed.
- Rosa's and Maria's deaths were homicides.
- [Hideyoshi] was in the room the whole time. Both before and after the time of the crime.
| Type | Information |
|---|---|
| Will's Solution | Earth to earth. ...No falsehoods in their final moments as told. |
| Manga Description | Eva murdered Rosa. When Maria raised a fuss, she was strangled. |
| Additional Information | Eva killed Rosa by pushing her onto the fence, impaling her head on the metal thorn, and then strangled Maria while she was distraught over her mother's death.
It is unlikely that Eva killed the two on behalf of Sayo, as Maria was valued by Sayo.[9] The victims being close to each other as described in the epitaph is a coincidence. |
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Twilights[]
Third game, fourth, fifth, and sixth twilights. Three corpses lying in the mansion.
Red Truths
- Kyrie didn't think that they needed food.
- She claimed that they should not leave the guesthouse.
- [Kyrie] suggested that they leave the guesthouse to get food.
- The reason she changed her mind was not passed on to anyone, nor was it written down.
- Until the last instant before she died, Kyrie's behavior pattern of 'not going to get food = not going to the mansion' was maintained.
- Kyrie did not leave anything written down.
Red Truths (Manga)
- Eva did not kill Hideyoshi!
| Type | Information |
|---|---|
| Will's Solution | Earth to earth. ...No falsehoods in their final moments as told. |
| Manga Description | Eva and Hideyoshi were bought off. They suspected Hideyoshi. In the mansion, he killed Rudolf and Kyrie. Kyrie did not die instantly. She killed Hideyoshi. |
| Additional Information | Kyrie was suspicious of Hideyoshi, as she found one of his cigarette butts in his and Eva's room; Eva hated smoking, and the butt being in the ashtray implies Eva was not in her room.[10]
Kyrie and Rudolf went to the mansion with Hideyoshi on the pretense of wanting to get food when in reality, they wanted to confront him. After reaching the mansion, Hideyoshi shot both of them. However, Kyrie was not instantly killed because "the stomach isn't a particularly lethal spot" and used her remaining strength to shoot Hideyoshi before perishing herself. The victims being hit on the head, the chest, and the stomach as described in the epitaph is a coincidence. Notably, Eva and Hideyoshi are said to be accomplices in the manga despite the lack of explicit clues of them helping Sayo. The removal of rifles and the piercing with stakes can be done by either Eva or Sayo. |
Seventh and Eighth Twilights[]
Third game, seventh and eighth twilights. The corpses of husband and wife lay exposed under the arbor.
| Type | Information |
|---|---|
| Will's Solution | Earth to earth. ...The obvious culprit wields a mutable blade. |
| Manga Description | They were killed by Eva. |
| Additional Information | It is implied that Eva stole Rosa's sedatives earlier[11] and put them in the coffee.[12][13] Krauss and Natsuhi drank the coffee, fell unconscious, and were then strangled by Eva with a rope.
The piercing with stakes can be done by either Eva or Sayo. |
Ninth Twilight - George's Death[]
Red Truths
- George did not go down the stairs of the guesthouse.
- All windows and doors leading to the outside were locked from the inside. Furthermore, it is impossible to lock any of those from outside!
Solution
Sayo called Nanjo, who helped George escape the guesthouse by locking the window behind George after George used it to escape. Nanjo locks the window from the inside, fulfilling both of the red truths. It is unknown as to whether she disabled only the external lines or disabled all phone communications and re-enabled them for this call. George went to the mansion where he was shot and killed.[14]
Afterwards, Sayo likely painted the number "07151129" on the parlor door. 0715 is Battler's birthday, July 15th, while 1129 is Beatrice's birthday, November 29th.
Ninth Twilight - Nanjo's Death[]
The light novel adds additional sections for the duel between Clair and Willard in Requiem regarding Nanjo's death. (Translated by Pteryon)
Third game, ninth twilight. The Golden Witch who attacked the pleading old doctor.
Red Truths
- After Jessica was injured, Eva was constantly under Battler's supervision. Battler is neither the culprit nor an accomplice. By this, we can establish a perfect alibi for Eva.
- There are no more than 18 humans on this island.
- No life forms other than humans have any connection to this game.
- Kinzo is dead.
- Krauss is dead.
- Natsuhi is dead
- Hideyoshi is dead
- George is dead
- Rudolf is dead
- Kyrie is dead
- Rosa is dead
- Maria is dead
- Genji is dead
- Shannon is dead
- Kanon is dead
- Gohda is dead
- Kumasawa is dead
- Nanjo is dead
- Those 15 are all dead
- Battler is alive
- Eva is alive
- Jessica is alive
- Eva was with [Battler] the whole time. So committing a crime was impossible for her. Of course, Battler-kun isn't the culprit. He wasn't forging an alibi for her, and he took the possibility that she was the culprit into account, watching her actions carefully. No chance existed for her to do anything suspicious! In short, at the time of the crime, only Nanjo and Jessica were in the servant room.
- Ushiromiya Jessica has not committed murder! She was not involved with Nanjo's murder!! Her eyes were completely covered. It's impossible for her to carry out a murder like that.
- The culprit who killed Nanjo was neither Battler nor Eva nor Jessica.
- Jessica's eyes were completely covered, and murder was impossible for her.
- No actions caused by Jessica's body had any relation to or influence on the murder of Nanjo! This also applies to Battler and Eva.
- Neither Jessica nor Battler nor Eva is the culprit who killed Nanjo.
- Nanjo's death was a homicide. ...Of course, it was with a direct method of murder, not a trap. A weapon was readied, and he was killed with it from point-blank range in front of him! The culprit appeared openly before Nanjo's eyes, and as they both looked at each other's faces, the culprit killed him.
- Absolutely no factors other than humans participated in this game board.
- The one who killed Nanjo was definitely a human! A human, with their feet on the ground, held up a weapon and killed with it! Right before his eyes!
Red Truths (Manga)
- Before Nanjo's murder, Kinzo, Krauss, Natsuhi, Hideyoshi, Rudolf, Kyrie, Rosa, Maria, George, Gohda, Kumasawa, Genji, Shannon, and Kanon were all dead!
- Knox's first commandment! The culprit must be introduced at the beginning of the story!!
| Type | Information |
|---|---|
| Will's Solution | Earth to earth. ......The true culprit who started moving again. It was impossible for the injured girl to observe their appearance. |
| Additional Information |
Sayo killed Nanjo and then used Kanon's voice to lure Jessica to the parlor. The red truths state that Battler, Eva, and Jessica were alive at the time of the murder, but they don't state that those three were the only ones alive. |
Tenth Twilight[]
The bomb was activated sometime on the second day. Once the clock struck 24:00, it triggered the activation of 900 tons of explosives. After killing Battler, Eva escaped to Kuwadorian before the end of Oct 5 and survived while everyone else was "brought to the Golden Land". How Eva acquired the Head's Ring and learned about the planned explosion and the path to Kuwadorian is left unexplained.
References[]
- ↑ Say It In Red! An Interview with Ryukishi07 Ryukishi07: "By no means is the manga version a individual interpretation. It is an official answer from me, Ryukishi07."
- ↑ Twilight of the Golden Witch (manga). Confession of the Golden Witch 3. Kumasawa and Nanjo: "Oh? A pretend murder? Of course we will play along!"
- ↑ Twilight of the Golden Witch (manga). Confession of the Golden Witch 3. Sayo: "Even if I told you that I wanted to die along with the rest of the family?" Genji: "It was my fault that you were placed under such incredible pressure in the first place. I, Genji, will serve you to the very end."
- ↑ Requiem of the Golden Witch Chapter 8: Here is the Culprit. Narration: "Maria tends to recognize people by their behavior, rather than their physical appearance. [...] this person acted as though Beatrice was possessing them. On the outside, they didn't look like Beatrice. However, when their manner of speech and behavior changed abruptly, Maria would recognize them as a different person."
- ↑ Twilight of the Golden Witch (manga) Confession of the Golden Witch 3. Sayo: "Remove the switchboard, and the phones won't work."
- ↑ Answer to the Golden Witch. Ryukishi07: The keyword is “Among the 6 locked rooms, there is only 1 on the first floor.”. If you give it some common sense, at that point there was no hypothesis made about the locked room of the chapel. No one came close to the chapel, it was just thought of as locked. If you exclude the chapel, there is 1 locked room on the first floor, then 2 rooms on the second floor, 1 on the third floor and the one in the downstairs boiler room. And if those were locked from the inside, and there was no key to open them, then… Keiya: Then it’s natural to enter through the first floor window. R: And if you look at it like this is all scatters. In this chain of 6 locked rooms where each locked room can be broken that way, there was a big hint which room was entered first, at least I think so. For me it’s actually quite embarrassing that I have to answer this right now *laugh*.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Twilight of the Golden Witch (manga) Chapter 24: Confession of the Golden Witch 3. Sayo: "In [the chapel] there is only the key for [the parlor] and the door is left unlocked. Finally I enter [the parlor], lock the door with the inside-lock and pretend to be dead. The important point is that [the chapel] has to be at a place as far away and as difficult to find as possible. [The parlor] on the other hand must be very easy to spot. It must be a room that has a window or something, which allows the locked room to be easily destroyed from the outside. The people discovering [the parlor] will easily break the window pane and enter, the locked room key to [the second floor guest room] inside and being lead in reverse order around the rooms. In the meantime I will sneak out through the broken window and enter [the chapel], lock the door from the inside and again pretend to be dead."
- ↑ Twilight of the Golden Witch (manga) Chapter 24: Confession of the Golden Witch 3. Sayo: "Nanjo's help is essential in this but there is a very high gain to it." The background shows the adults finding Shannon's corpse on the couch.
- ↑ Twilight of the Golden Witch (manga) Chapter 24: Confession of the Golden Witch 3. Sayo: Yes, Maria is my most precious accomplice, who I promised to take to the Golden Land. I would never allow for her body to be disgraced. She must rest in peace.
- ↑ Banquet of the Golden Witch Chapter 17: The Witch's Courtroom. Virgilia: ...The cigarette butt Kyrie is holding is not of the same brand that Rudolf smokes.(...)...Checking the brand. We acknowledge that the cigarette butt is of the same brand that Hideyoshi smokes. Battler: It's this. This cigarette butt. This was set in the ashtray of the guest room that Uncle Hideyoshi was in.(...)Aunt Eva hated smoking!!There's no way there'd be a cigarette butt there while Aunt Eva was sick and sleeping!!!
- ↑ Banquet of the Golden Witch Chapter 12: The New Witch. Narration: Without hiding her displeasure, Rosa grabbed the handbag that had been set on the sofa and fished around for some medicine. ...It seemed she had brought some child-use sedatives for Maria's tantrums. She found it and opened the bottle, but it must have been empty. Irritated, Rosa shook the bottle several times, but that didn't change the fact that nothing was in there.
- ↑ Answer to the Golden Witch. Ryukishi07: There were many scenes that appeared like Eva was mixing sleeping pills into something.
- ↑ Banquet of the Golden Witch (manga) Chapter 18: Battler vs. Eva. Battler: "If there were tranquilizers in your coffee, it would have been easy to strangle them!" Battler reasons this against EVA-Beatrice, and it is not countered against.
- ↑ Twilight of the Golden Witch (manga) Chapter 24: Confession of the Golden Witch 3. The background of Sayo's narration shows her killing George soon after he enters the parlor.