Weak Square

Episode II-III Weak Square
Key Episode Staff
Director	Hiroyuki Tsuchiya
Script	Fumihiko Shimo
Episode Information
Story Arc	Turn of the Golden Witch
Part	3
Season	Umineko: When They Cry
Episode Number	8
Air Date	August 20, 2009
Previous	Early Queen Move
Next	Skewer

Weak Square is the eighth episode of the Umineko When They Cry anime adaptation and the third episode of Turn of the Golden Witch.

Synopsis

The second game reaches the first twilight as Battler and Beatrice start making their moves. However, Beatrice introduces some new tricks, both on and off the gameboard.

Plot Summary

First Half

The clock strikes 6:00 in the morning as Kinzo awakes, intrigued that he hasn't been chosen for a sacrifice. He laughs to himself as he wonders who Beatrice did choose.

The servants, Nanjo, and Rosa stand outside the chapel, looking at a magic circle drawn on the door; Shannon was guided there after finding a memo in the dining hall saying "chapel" on it. Rosa notices something else drawn on the door: a message saying "Happy Halloween for Maria". Genji says they can't get into the chapel because the doors and windows are locked, and the only key that can open it is missing. He also notes how Krauss, Eva, Rudolf, and their spouses have gone missing. Rosa then heads into the cousins' bedroom where they're still asleep, relieved that Maria is safe. She goes through Maria's purse and opens the letter Beatrice gave her; the key to the chapel is inside. Battler awakes, and Rosa tells him to stay there with the cousins. Rosa brings the chapel key back to the servants, and Genji recognizes it as such. Inside, they find the missing people, dead and seated at a table; their stomachs have been sliced open, and candy is stuffed inside them. Genji and Shannon go to tell Kinzo as the cousins arrive; they run to inspect the bodies of their dead parents as Nanjo tries to hold them back, wanting to preserve the crime scene.

Inside the metaworld, Battler chastises Beatrice for her twisted method of murder. Beatrice references the first game, where the first twilight victims had destroyed faces, leaving room for Battler to suspect one of them was alive. Such is not the case here; the victims of the second game are clearly identifiable, narrowing the list of suspects. Beatrice mocks Battler's desire to deny the witch while also avoiding suspecting one of the eighteen, cackling as they leave the metaworld.

Back on the gameboard, Battler demands to know who the culprit is, with Jessica accusing the 19th guest Beatrice; she runs out of the chapel as Kanon and Gohda follow her. As George cries over the loss of his parents, he notices that the pumpkin on the table has several gold bars in it; Maria laughs evilly behind them, waiting for Beatrice to take her to the Golden Land.

Jessica bangs on the door to the VIP room as Gohda tries to calm her down. Kanon gives Jessica a master key to unlock the room with, and they find a note on the table inside; Beatrice is nowhere to be seen. Jessica reads the letter and cries out in anger, reaffirming her belief that Beatrice is the culprit as she has another coughing fit. Kanon reads the note, which is just Beatrice making fun of the victims and mocking the survivors for thinking she'd just wait around for them. Kanon hands the note to Gohda as he brings Jessica back to her room.

Inside her room, Jessica takes her medication and calms down. Kanon decides to leave her alone, offering to wait outside her room for any orders when Beatrice suddenly appears. The witch berates Kanon for not understanding a woman's heart, citing it as the reason he's furniture. Beatrice then wishes to see what sort of power Kinzo's furniture has and summons a legion of goat servants. Dumbfounded, Jessica stares at the goats, who manifest magic swords. Kanon stands in front of Jessica, summoning his own sword; Jessica is even more surprised to see this as Kanon laments how he never wanted to show her. Beatrice compliments Kinzo's ability to create furniture as Kanon enters a fighting stance; the legion of goat servants start attacking him as the clock strikes 6:43.

Second Half

In the parlor, the rest of the survivors are looking at Beatrice's note, taking it as confirmation that she is indeed the murderer. Nanjo notes how they found another letter in the chapel; it's a message from Beatrice, introducing herself as a witch and announcing her plan to take the gold back from Kinzo with interest. If the family solves the epitaph, she'll return everything; the family assume she's telling the truth because of the gold bars in the chapel.

Meanwhile, Kanon manages to fend off the goats and moves to attack Beatrice, who teleports out of the way. She insults Kanon, repeatedly calling him furniture when Jessica stands up; she believes Kanon is human with a will of his own since he was risking his life to defend her. Beatrice, excited by Jessica's acknowledgement of Kanon, chooses the two of them as sacrifices for the second twilight as the "two who are close". She then summons a demon much more powerful than the goats: Asmodeus of Lust, one of the Seven Stakes of Purgatory. Kanon moves to attack Asmodeus, who dodges all of his swings. She then transforms into a stake and begins rebounding off the walls of the room, too fast for Kanon to see.

Asmodeus finally gets into position to pierce Kanon in the back, only for Jessica to take the hit for him, as she'd predicted where Asmodeus would attack. Jessica faints, and Beatrice laughs at Kanon's failure to protect her, summoning another Stake: Satan of Wrath. As Kanon announces his resolve that he's no longer furniture, Satan talks about wanting to pierce him again; she then transforms into a stake like Asmodeus and stabs Kanon. As Jessica and Kanon lay dying, they reach out for each other; Jessica asks Kanon what his real name is, but she dies before he can say it. Kanon dies soon after, believing that he's finally become human. Beatrice laughs hysterically at this, planning to humiliate Kanon even in death by making his corpse disappear.

Inside the study, Genji and Shannon have informed Kinzo about the murders, asking what to do next. Kinzo decides to write a will, asking Shannon to prepare materials as Genji gets him a drink.

Back at the parlor, Gohda informs Rosa that the phone lines are down, meaning that the police's arrival will have to wait. Everyone else is talking about the murders, wondering why it was so horrible and why there was scribbling on the door; Maria informs them that the scribbling is a magic circle before getting hit by Rosa. Battler asks Maria to clarify, and she explains that the magic circle had a Hebrew phrase calling for a "sacrifice of thanksgiving". George deduces that the victims were sacrifices as Battler thinks about the other phrase on the door, "Happy Halloween for Maria"; he deduces that message was the reason Maria had the key to the chapel. Speaking of which, George questions how there was only one key to the chapel, yet the culprit could still open and lock it when it was inside of Maria's bag all day.

The metaworld begins again, and Beatrice asks Battler to explain this closed room murder. Battler doesn't have enough information and cites the Devil's Proof, thinking there's a duplicate key or hidden door. Beatrice then decides to add a new rule: "From now on, when I speak the truth, that sentence will be displayed in red letters." Beatrice introduces this rule so Battler can't weasel out of explanations from lack of evidence; everything said in red is the truth. Battler then asks her why she doesn't just say "these crimes were done with magic" in red; Beatrice wants to make this a fair game and make Battler submit completely. When asked about how the victims entered the chapel, Beatrice reveals that "regardless of whether they were dead or alive, those six people (Krauss, Rudolf, Eva, Hideyoshi, Kyrie, and Natsuhi) definitely entered through the door." Battler asks her for proof, and Beatrice supplements the red truth rule by adding that the red is absolute; it's a fact, and no evidence or proof needs to be shown. Beatrice then confirms that there is only one key to the chapel, and it's impossible to lock and unlock the door to the chapel without the key to the chapel.

Beatrice claims that the six entered the door with magic until Battler brings up Maria's key; the culprit must have given her a fake, switching it with the real key after the murder. Beatrice finds it ridiculous and confirms that "the object inside the envelope I (Beatrice) gave Maria really was the key to the chapel."

Battler then suggests that, until Rosa took the envelope out of Maria's bag, no one could touch it. Beatrice doesn't respond, and Battler uses this chance to expand his theory. He suggests that, before this morning, the culprit stole the envelope out of Maria's bag and unlocked the chapel, putting it back after the murder was done. Beatrice laughs and compliments his theory, going on to say that Battler still has to suspect one of his relatives if he wants to claim victory. She likens it to Battler strangling his own neck.

It's now 7:30 is the parlor, and the cousins are talking about Beatrice's goals; Maria says she's testing to see if they can solve the epitaph or not. Maria doesn't care about the gold and just wants to go to the Golden Land. Rosa soon arrives in the parlor, carrying a Winchester; she borrowed it from Kinzo, who wants to stay in the study. Rosa announces her desire to protect the survivors, her grip on the gun tightening.

Teaser

Maria narrates the preview, wishing the viewer a Happy Halloween. She says Beatrice gave her all kinds of sweets, but they're sticky and not very tasty. Beato told her they were packed with iron and calcium, but they smell stinky too. Maria says the next episode title and laughs, wanting Battler to hold out his hands so she can give him a surprise.

Soundtrack

Start	End	Title	OST	Description
0:00	1:29	Katayoku no Tori	Katayoku no Tori	Opening
1:55	3:30	N/A	N/A	Kinzo awaits Beatrice's roulette
3:54	4:40	Broken Taboo	Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~	Corpses are discovered inside the chapel
5:53	7:44	N/A	N/A	George sees the gold bars piled on the table
8:45	9:50	Creeping Anxiety	Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~	Beatrice speaks to Jessica and Kanon in their room
10:42	11:16	N/A	N/A	Kanon fights off Beatrice's goats
12:04	13:52	System 0	N/A	Beatrice summons the Stakes of Purgatory
13:59	14:31	Requiem	Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~	Kanon and Jessica die
14:33	15:18	N/A	N/A	Beatrice makes Kanon's corpse disappear
15:19	15:57	N/A	N/A	From Maria's TV while Gohda reports the situation to Rosa
16:00	16:13	N/A	N/A	Maria explains the meaning of the magic circle
16:31	16:53	N/A	N/A	Battler askes about the chapel key
18:04	20:43	Suspicion	N/A	Battler and Beatrice start debating with red truth
21:08	21:44	N/A	N/A	Rosa arrives carrying a Winchester
21:45	23:14	la divina tragedia	la divina tragedia~Makyoku~	Ending
23:15	23:54	Melody	VN OST	Teaser

Comparisons to Source Material

This episode adapts the visual novel chapters "Halloween", "Jessica and Kanon", "New Rule", and "A Suspect".

• Just like in the manga, the anime omits Genji, Kanon, Shannon, and Gohda making morning preparations before Shannon finds a note in the dining hall with the word "chapel" and Genji informing Rosa of something strange going on.
  • However, in the manga, Genji informing Rosa is kept in, along with Shannon mentioning that she found a note in the dining hall that said "chapel".
• In the VN, Battler notices Rosa when she finds the key before going back to sleep. In the anime, he woke up after noticing Rosa. This change also happened in the manga.
• In the VN, Rosa tells Gohda and Kanon to bring Nanjo and contact the police. In the anime, Nanjo is seen with Rosa, Kanon, Shannon, Gohda, and Genji while inspecting the chapel and heading inside, and Gohda and Kanon are seen alongside Nanjo on stopping the cousins from seeing the murder scene.
  • This change also happened in the manga.
• Just like in the manga, the anime omits Maria crying about her envelope being taken and Gohda rushing to the servant room to make a phone call.
• The anime omits Beatrice telling Battler not to worry about the possibility of Nanjo being an accomplice.
• In the VN, George finds one of the special envelopes on the decorated table and reads it. In the anime, Nanjo finds it and tells it to everyone outside Jessica and Kanon in the parlor while they're looking at Beatrice's note, which happens while Kanon was fighting against the goats.
• In the VN, Rosa slaps Maria for her creepy laugh in the chapel during the witness of the murder scene. In the anime, she does that in the parlor during the discussion of the magic circle.
• In the VN, Jessica reads the piece of paper before becoming enraged and breaks down in tears and coughing. In the anime, Kanon reads the piece of paper while Jessica breaks down coughing.
• The anime omits Jessica smashing the furniture with a light stand.
• Just like in the manga, the anime omits Kanon telling Jessica that he won't let her be alone before leaving her be.
• In the VN, Beatrice shows up in front of Kanon in the corridor and tells him that he and Jessica are fitting sacrifices for the 2nd twilight before he rushes to Jessica's room. In the anime, Beatrice shows up in front of Kanon and Jessica in Jessica's room, but does not mention them being the sacrifices for the 2nd twilight.
  • The anime also omitted golden butterflies filling Jessica's room and surrounding her.
• In the VN, Beatrice summons 1 goat against Kanon. In the anime, Beatrice summons a legion of goats against Kanon.
  • This change also happened in the manga.
• In the VN, Gohda informs Rosa about the phone lines being down after the cousins witnessed the murder scene. In the anime, he does that in the parlor after he left Jessica and Kanon alone.
  • Like the manga, the anime also omits Gohda reporting the situation about Kanon looking after Jessica to Rosa.
• In the VN, George comments on the magic circle and Maria explains its meaning as everyone leaves the chapel. In the anime, it happens in the parlor.
• The anime omits Rosa's explanation about the chapel, along with mention of Genji saying that there is only one key to the chapel and that it had gone missing.
• The anime omits some of Beatrice's red truths:

• • "Everything she speaks in red is the truth"
  • "The locked chapel door prevents all methods of entry or exit"
  • "The six entered through 'the front door'"
  • "This morning, Rosa took an envelope out of Maria's handbag and obtained the key to the chapel"
  • "The envelope Beatrice handed over to Maria and the one Rosa opened are the same thing"

• • • It also omits Battler's arguments with ways to pass through the locked door and the six people entering through a different door, along with Battler's request to repeat that the envelope Beatrice handed over to Maria and the one Rosa opened are the same thing.
    • The manga does the same thing with omitting the red truths: "The six entered through 'the front door'" and "The envelope Beatrice handed over to Maria and the one Rosa opened are the same thing", along with Battler's argument with six people entering through a different door and Battler's request to repeat that the envelope Beatrice handed over to Maria and the one Rosa opened are the same thing.
• The anime omits Battler's request to Beatrice to repeat that the envelope was completely under Maria's supervision until Rosa opened it before Beatrice refused and gave out a reason why.
  • It also omits Battler's request to repeat that the chapel key inside Maria's envelope wasn't used until Aunt Rosa opened it before Beatrice refused.
• Just like in the manga, the anime omits Beatrice telling Battler to call her Beato.
• The anime omits Battler's argument of using wax to reseal the key back to the envelope and return it back to Maria.
• The anime omits the golden butterfly landing on Rosa's back, Beatrice contemplating her next move, Gohda mentioning that Beatrice isn't in her room and George feeling worried about Kanon and Jessica, and Kumasawa's discussion of not being possible to leave the island due to the typhoon.
  • The manga does the same thing with omitting the golden butterfly landing on Rosa's back and Beatrice contemplating her next move.

Trivia

• In chess, a weak square is a square that cannot be defended by a pawn.
• The TV show Maria watches in this episode contains a scene involving Rika and Hanyuu running with a man, likely Keiichi's father, and a scene showing the doll from the 6th episode of Hi​gurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai.