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Positional Play is the fourteenth episode of the Umineko When They Cry anime adaptation and the third episode of Banquet of the Golden Witch.

Synopsis[]

Beatrice and her predecessor have an all-out magic battle, much to Battler's disbelief. The morning after, the first twilight victims are discovered. As the survivors move to the guesthouse, Eva begins solving the epitaph.

Plot Summary[]

First Half[]

Anime ep3 beato vs virgilia

Beatrice is standing in the rose garden with her furniture, being scolded by her predecessor, who's gotten tired of her killing innocent people; the Endless Magic is not intended to be used this way. Beatrice tries to justify her actions, saying it's just a way to stave off boredom, but the Predecessor is unmoved by this and asks Ronove to clear everyone out of the way. As he and the Stakes stand back, the Predecessor then announces she'll be taking back her name and the title of Endless Witch from Beatrice.

Anime ep3 shoulder towers

Beatrice is unwilling to comply, and sparks of magic clash between the two witches and explode, leaving a smoldering crater. Beatrice is unfettered by her teacher's abilities, remarking that she'd have to destroy the entire island to defeat her; at her command, a pair of Shoulder Towers emerge from the ground behind Beatrice and fire upon her teacher. The Predecessor creates a barrier with her wand to block their attacks, and retaliates by summoning a massive spear, the words "Smothered Mate" appearing on-screen. Realizing the danger, Beatrice sends away her Shoulder Towers and summons an army of giants; the Predecessor is unfazed, saying that mere giants cannot block a spear of the gods. Calling upon the Disciples of Hephaestus, Beatrice orders her giants to create a shield that can block the spear. The giants protect Beatrice as her teacher throws her spear, which disappears after hitting the shield.

Beelzebub watches in awe at how Beatrice managed to block the Divine Spear, and Ronove corrects her, saying that she merely avoided it. Beatrice peeks through her shields to see that the Predecessor is gone; she's now above her, and launches more Divine Spears. Unprotected, Beatrice becomes impaled and pinned to the ground as her familiars disappear; the Stakes watch in horror as Ronove comments on the Predecessor's abilities. The former Beatrice alights and proclaims her victory. She begins reciting a spell to return Beatrice to her original form, asking her to remember. Beatrice reminisces on how long it's been since they last sang together; her teacher continues the spell and Beatrice sings along with her, telling her teacher to remember the things sticking in her back.

Anime ep3 virgilia gets speared
Anime ep3 beato steps on virgilia

The Predecessor soon realizes that she's been pierced with spears; the other spears pinning Beatrice disappear, and she explains that she actually summoned four Shoulder Towers. The other two Towers appeared behind the Predecessor and killed her as soon as the battle started; Beatrice revived her instantly and played along. The Predecessor falls over dead as Beatrice mocks her, digging her foot into her head. In the metaworld, Battler is bewildered by the entire spectacle, unsure of how he can deny the witch now that he's seen such crazy magic. Beatrice and Ronove arrive, with Beatrice overjoyed at her victory; Ronove asks Battler for a counterattack, but he can't come up with anything.

Anime ep3 parlor door circle

At 6:00 the next day, the adults end their conversation, having stayed up all night to consider every move Beatrice could make. Natsuhi suggests getting breakfast and taking a break. As they leave the dining hall, they pick up on a strange smell. They then see blood seeping out from under the parlor door, with a strange symbol drawn on it. Eva reports that no one is in the kitchen, and Kyrie and Rudolf say that a similar symbol was drawn on the boiler room and was locked; the weird smell is probably coming from there. Hideyoshi tries the parlor door, and that is locked as well. Worried for the cousins, Hideyoshi, Rosa, and Natsuhi go to the guesthouse while the others search throughout the mansion. The cousins turn out to be safe; Krauss goes to speak with Kinzo but gets no response, noting how the servants are nowhere to be seen as well. Eva notes that there are magic circles drawn on several doors, and were all locked while Natsuhi reports that a bunch of keys in the servant room are gone.

Anime ep3 shannon parlor

Hideyoshi, Rosa, and Kyrie return from the guesthouse with Nanjo; they look through the parlor window to see Shannon sitting inside. Hideyoshi tries to get her attention, but she doesn't respond. The other adults soon arrive, with Krauss using a rock to break the window. He reaches inside to unlock it, and the group soon finds that Shannon is dead, with blood around her.

Battler sits in the arbor in the metaworld, lamenting how there's seemingly nothing he can do against Beatrice. The Predecessor arrives, and Battler is surprised at her presence, citing how she should be dead; she explains that she's just a piece that has been taken and removed from the gameboard. The Predecessor offers to teach Battler a little bit about magic, explaining that Japanese magic involved a rain ceremony with fire; Battler explains that it's not magic because it's scientifically proven: fire creates an updraft to cause rain clouds to gather. The Predecessor then says that the ancient people believed that it was magic, and Battler comes to understand that if one doesn't know the principles behind something, then it's basically magic. The former Beatrice gives another example, saying that cathode-ray tubes in a TV are powered by gremlins using magic; Battler dismisses it as nonsense, to which she asks why he denies it if he's never looked inside one. She adds that, until they look inside the tube, both their magical explanations and scientific explanations can exist at the same time. The Predecessor then brings up Schrodinger's Cat, asking if the cat in the box is dead or alive. If you open the box, you'll learn the answer; until you open it, both can be accepted as truth.

Anime ep3 schrodinger's cat

A series with "neko" in the name had to bring up cats at some point

In short, Rokkenjima has become just like Schrodinger's Cat: Battler is seeing the murders from the magic side of things, and has been trying to come up with the logical side of things. Battler finds this idea hard to grasp since, if two truths can coexist, can you really defeat your opponent in an argument? The Predecessor adds that he's already been defeated, which is why he surrendered. Battler laughs, and asks for the former Beatrice's name; she no longer has one, but she settles for the name Virgilia. Virgilia offers to help Battler in his game against Beatrice, with him finding it ironic that a witch is helping him deny witches. He accepts her proposition, thinking that it'll help him save everyone on Rokkenjima; he then announces that he'll avenge her, and returns to Purgatorio.

Beatrice greets him back, asking what he thinks of the fantasy battle; Battler claims there was no battle, seeing no sign of the towers and spears that she used. He compares it to the cathode-ray tube, explaining that since the rose garden is currently empty, this means nothing at all happened there. Beatrice realizes that he's talking about Schrodinger's Cat as Ronove calls it a "Multilayered Worlds Contraction Technique", the power of a Finite Witch. Virgilia soon appears, announcing how she's assisting Battler.

Second Half[]

Anime ep3 loading guns

The clock is at 7:00. The survivors are gathered in the guesthouse, with the adults loading Winchester rifles. Rosa says that the source of the smell was Kinzo's corpse, found in the boiler room burnt; his extra toes are proof that it's him. Back in the metaworld, Battler accepts that he must accuse one of the 18 as the culprit. He asks Virgilia to reconstruct the first twilight: she explains that Shannon was the first victim found, her corpse in the first floor parlor; the doors and windows were all locked, making it a closed room. Battler asks Beatrice to clarify what a closed room is, with her explanation being that "all ways in or out of a particular room are completely sealed. Not only is intrusion from outside impossible, it's also impossible to intervene from across that boundary." She wants to refer to it from now on as "Beatrice's closed room definition"; Shannon's room fits that definition.

Virgilia continues, saying that Shannon's corpse had a single master key on it, found by the relatives. Upon request, Beatrice reiterates that there are five master keys, one for each servant. Next to Shannon's corpse was a letter containing the key to the second floor guest room. That room was also locked, with a magic circle drawn on it. Using the key, they found Kumasawa's corpse inside; she also had a master key, and the letter nearby contained a key to the third floor waiting room. Inside there was Gohda's corpse, again with a master key and a letter containing the key to the second floor VIP room; Battler realizes that it's a chain of locked rooms.

Anime ep3 closed room chain

The second floor VIP room had Genji's corpse, with a single master key; the letter contained the key to the boiler room. The boiler room had Kinzo's corpse, the letter containing the key to the chapel. Finally, the chapel had Kanon's corpse, with the last master key and the key to the parlor. The linked closed rooms formed a single closed room, with every master key and individual room key locked inside it.

Beatrice explains that murder from outside these rooms was impossible. Battler asks if traps were involved, and she states that none of the six were killed by a trap. Battler then theorizes that the culprit was one of the six people; Beatrice finds it ridiculous, saying that she already confirmed the deaths of everyone in red. Battler reasons that if one of the six locked themselves in a room and committed suicide, this closed room can be solved; Battler asks to repeat that "all of the six were killed by other people." Beatrice thinks for a bit, but refuses to repeat it, looking flustered. Battler sees her refusal to repeat it as resignation, and pronounces checkmate; Beatrice stops him and confirms that none of the six committed suicide.

Anime ep3 ronove blocks red

Beatrice relaxes as Battler is surprised that she could say it; Virgilia says it's a trick, as Beatrice changed the sentence he wanted to repeat. Battler thinks some more, and realizes that one of the deaths was neither homicide nor suicide. He then reasons that the culprit was among the victims, and wanted to hide or escape after constructing the closed rooms, but then accidentally killed someone. Beatrice starts to repeat something in red, but Ronove stops her; he requests that they receive some time to strategize. Virgilia grants their request and they disappear, with Battler looking disappointed.

Anime ep3 eva books

Meanwhile, the adults are resting as Eva sleeps, a notebook with the epitaph open in front of her. The younger Eva is asking if she's giving up on her dream of stealing the headship from Krauss; Eva mumbles in her sleep, finding a certain line of the epitaph to be difficult. She asks what a sweetfish river is, and her younger self tells her to think of something similar. Eva thinks about it, and wakes up with an epiphany; Hideyoshi sees her and asks what's up. Eva says she's going to wash her face, but goes to the library in the guesthouse instead. She searches through the shelves for a book, finding it and pulling it out; she flips through and figures out the meaning of the sweetfish river, quoting the line "if you go down the river, you will reach a village." Eva then has more realizations, assured that she's solved the epitaph.

Anime ep3 eva gold

Soon after, she walks down a stairwell, reaching the bottom and finding a door with the line "on the tenth twilight the journey will end, and you shall reach the village of gold" written in red on it. She goes through and finds herself inside a bedroom. After turning on the lights. Eva then sees a pile of gold; it really existed after all.

Teaser[]

Virgilia narrates the preview, speaking in a cheery voice and branding it as "Big Sis Virgilia's Life's Troubles Advice Corner." She reads out a letter coming from Natsuki in Saitama Prefecture:

"They say Madame Beatrice has lived for a thousand years. Virgilia was her teacher, so of course she has to be even older than that. Which brings me to my question-how old are you? You couldn't really be a ten-thousand-year-old fogey, could you?"

Virgilia stops reading the letter, taking offense at the word "fogey." She says the next episode title and continues in her cheery voice, saying that she's seventeen years old in witch years.

Soundtrack[]

Start End Title OST Description
0:00 1:29 Katayoku no Tori Katayoku no Tori Opening
1:30 2:20 N/A N/A Beatrice and her predecessor have a chat
2:40 3:57 Fake Red Shoes Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~ The witches engage in battle
5:07 5:50 Black Lilliana N/A Beatrice emerges victorious
6:58 9:21 N/A N/A The first twilight murders are discovered
10:34 12:19 N/A N/A Battler and the Predecessor talk about Schrödinger's Cat
12:40 13:27 Core N/A Battler determines the witches' magic battle never happened
13:57 16:36 Closed Room Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~ Virgilia reconstructs the first twilight
17:11 19:09 Suspicion N/A Battler theorizes over the first twilight
19:18 20:42 N/A N/A Eva's younger self encourages her to solve the epitaph
21:08 21:44 N/A N/A Eva discovers the gold room
21:45 23:14 la divina tragedia la divina tragedia~Makyoku~ Ending
23:19 23:57 N/A N/A Teaser

Comparisons to Source Material[]

This episode adapts the chapters "Madam Beatrice", "Virgilia", "Skirmish", "The Key to the Golden Land", and "Coronation".

  • The anime omits Virgilia confirming that granting Beatrice her name is the only decision she regretted.
  • In the VN, Battler panics about witnessing Beatrice and Virgilia's fight during it. In the anime, Battler panics after the fight.
    • This change also happened in the manga.
  • In the VN, Virgilia summons the Fallen Tower to block the shots from the Shoulder Towers. In the anime, Virgilia blocks the shots using a barrier she summoned with her wand.
  • In the VN, Virgilia summons the spear Gungnir with the words "Smothered mate" before plunging it into Beatrice's body. In the anime, she summoned it after blocking the shots from the Shoulder Towers.
    • The anime also omits Virgilia's Gungnir with the words "Smothered mate" at the final part of the battle and instead replaces it with a bunch of Divine Spears.
  • In the VN, Beatrice summons the Aegis Shield for the Giant Soldier Battle Line to block the Divine Spear. In the anime, Beatrice summons the shields for the giants to block the spear.
    • The anime also omits Ronove observing that blocking it is due to the law that the absolute spear and absolute shield must never fight against each other. Instead, he says that the shield avoided the Divine Spears.
  • The anime omits the Aegis Shield transforming into thousands of thunderbolts, Virgilia attempting to strike Beatrice down with Thor's hammer before she defends against it with a War Tower, and Virgilia locating Beatrice from the sky while riding a horse alongside Odin.
  • The anime omits mention of Virgilia having served Beatrice, reading her a book and baking her apple pies like a long time ago, while reciting the restoration incantation.
  • In the VN, Virgilia finds herself covered with ballista shots after Beatrice askes her to remember how she had been killed. In the anime, she was pierced with spears.
  • The anime omits mention of Quadruplet Towers as the four towers Beatrice summoned.
  • In the VN, Virgilia disappears along with the spear piercing Beatrice after Virgilia remembers her room. In the anime, Virgilia falls down on the ground dead after remembering her form, as well as the spears piercing Beatrice disappearing when Virgilia finds herself pierced with spears.
    • This change also happened in the manga, except with the spear piercing Beatrice disappearing when Virgilia recites the restoration incantation.
  • Just like in the manga, the anime omits Ronove summoning the goats to clean up the mess.
    • However, the anime also omits Beatrice allowing Ronove to handle the closed room arrangement.
  • In the VN, after Ronove calls Beatrice out on her laugh being undignified, she apologizes and responds with how she can't help herself after seeing Battler's reaction. In the anime, she apologizes after Ronove calls her out on her laugh lacking elegance, but she laughs in the elegant way afterwards.
  • The anime omits Beatrice taunting Battler to accept magic and apologize to her, along with Battler getting mad and leaving the game afterwards.
  • Just like in the manga, the anime omits the adults suspecting that the servants are pulling a prank under Kinzo's orders for the magic circle.
  • The anime omits Rosa and Kyrie deciding to stay with the children, while Hideyoshi returns to the mansion with Nanjo.
  • The anime omits Virgilia asking Battler if he resigned.
  • The anime omits the cousins waking up to discover the news of the first twilight victims, along with mention of the corpses of the servants and Kinzo being found in the rooms marked by the circles, Nanjo's examinations of the wounds being caused by a spear or a gun, and the letter being found to remind the family to solve the epitaph in order to stop the killings and the one who solved it will gain the gold, headship, and Beatrice's power.
  • The anime omits Virgilia suggesting that Beatrice's studied Battler's moves in the last game and removed the servants early to prevent him from suspecting them.
  • The anime omits some of Beatrice's red truths:
    • "All of the doors and windows on the six rooms cannot be locked without the keys"
    • "The six are all dead: Kinzo, Genji, Shannon, Kanon, Gohda, and Kumasawa" (Alongside Battler's repetition request. Although, Beatrice says she already confirmed the deaths of everyone in red, but the anime never showed it.)
    • "There is no one hiding in the six rooms" (Alongside Battler's repetition request)
    • "The six died instantly"
    • "Only the victims are inside the rooms, and no other people exist inside the rooms"
    • "There are no more than 18 people on the island" (Mentioned by Virgilia when she's referencing Beatrice's red truth of it)
      • The manga also omitted the red truth that the victims are only inside the rooms, and no other people exist.
  • The anime omits Battler's argument regarding closed room tricks.
  • The anime omits Beatrice's definition of a trap.
  • The anime omits Virgilia explaining that Beatrice is getting too stubborn to remove Battler's checkmate, along with Beatrice returning to resign for the battle.
  • The anime omits the adults attempting to solve the epitaph, along with Rosa questioning Eva on getting fixated on the epitaph.
  • This episode omits Virgilia bringing up "The North Wind and the Sun" to Beatrice, reminding her that her goal is not to make Battler submit, but to make him accept her existence.
  • The anime omits the young Eva telling Eva to forget about the sweetfish, along with Eva wondering what to remove the six characters from.
  • In the VN, Natsuhi attempts to place a blanket over Eva before she woke up from the couch, causing the other adults to feel concerned about her. In the anime, Eva was sleeping on the table and woke up instantly, but instead of Natsuhi placing the blanket over Eva, Hideyoshi notices Eva waking up from the other table.
  • The anime omits Eva worrying about Kyrie's intuition and feeling suspicions that Rosa's hiding her true ability.
  • The anime omits the young Eva telling Eva to find a way to read the short as six characters.

Trivia[]

  • In chess, positional plays are where you try to build up your own territory while limiting the enemy's.
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