I may not care for that series much anymore, but I will use a common chapter motif for a title! Especially when it fits like this; we getting Percival’s Origin story!! And as with ANY reveal; the more questions that are answered- the more questions crop up. Though in saying that, I can only really think of One. And we’ll get to that a little later. Not sure when you guys are seeing this, but I’m willing to bet it’s some time AFTER Edens Zero 262. But in summary: I’m anticipating the Dead Rock chapter to drop soon, and I’m trying to get as much of this out of the way as I can before then. So if this opening feels awful short- that’s part of the reason. The other being that I have work in an hour and a half. So I should probably get to work already. Man, this is Uncharacteristically Short, right? Four Knights Of The Apocalypse Chapter 127: “The Day You Were Born.” Let’s begin……….
Overview
Picking Up From Last Chapter: Percival has defeat Mortlach, ending the “Duelist” magic and sending them back to the Demon Realm. The Chaos Knights(and Chion) find it hard to believe that Percival was able to defeat Mortlach, and his friends are worried about his wounds- only to find out that the blood on him isn’t his own. Not that Percival has time to worry about that; He has a Question he wants to ask: “Tell Me Everything That You Know About Me.” Losing blood rapidly, Mortlach takes these last moments of consciousness to tell everyone Percival’s Origins- at least what he KNOWS………..
16 Years Ago- Eternal Kingdom Camelot: Young Diodra was……….. sick. And Ironside- trying everything in his power to give Diodra a chance at life- looks around for some way of fixing this. He vanished from Camelot, leaving his son with his father and Brother-In-Law. Then he returns out of the blue– with a Dead Baby in toe. Though based on its body temp, it hasn’t been dead for very long. But the baby is dead; a soul with regrets may linger in this world, but babies don’t have any of that. He begins casting a spell- one that takes up lots of his own life span to cast. But he succeeds in Imbuing The Baby’s Body With A Life Spirit, creating a “Soulless Vessel” for Diodra. With an immortal body, Diodra will be able to live a long, happy life wherever he chooses to live!!
Varghese is the only one to see the SHEER MADDNESS in this plan, while Mortlach…………… he just kind of keeps quiet. Varghese speaks up, telling him that he should love Diodra as he is, and that he should enjoy whatever time he has with him before he dies young. But Ironside believes that it is a father’s duty to make sure their child lives for the longest time possible. It becomes a Mute Point, and Varghese changes the subject: “Where did you bring this child from? Doesn’t he have parents of his own….?” Ironside hesitates for a minute before telling them the story: “There was an accident; a wagon fell off a cliff.” He continues to say that the Wagon bore a Royal Emblem on it, and that the driver said that the baby “Percival” was the 7th In Line For The Throne. Though that likely doesn’t matter at this point…………
Present Mortlach admits that- to this day- he has no clue how much of that story is true. But with “all” the questions answered at this point, Ironside demands that his father return to him the “vessel.” Then later that night Varghese took the baby and dipped out. The rest you know………. more or less. Back in the present, Mortlach begins to land another emotional blow on the kids(one of their leaders in particular) by spelling it out: He is Completely Unrelated to Diodra, Ironside, and Varghese– a being that is not Human nor Demon nor Fairy, Giant, Goddess, Demon- A Life Spirit That Gained Consciousness In A Human Vessel. Percival Is An Unnatural Creation Of Ironside Born From A Corpse- he is Effectively “Nobody.” Four Knights Of The Apocalypse Chapter 127 END!! Deep Sh!t, ain’t it? But it is because he’s “Nothing” that he’s going to become “Something” Camelot shouldn’t have f*cked with.
REVIEW
WHOLE LOT OF INFORMATION IN THIS ONE. Don’t really know which part to start with. It’s just such a big deal that we finally know his family history! So Diodra is in fact the blood son of Ironside, while Percival is………. an “outsider;” Not Ironside’s son. And the “sin” that Percival committed was………… gaining sentience. Because now he can no longer function as an “empty vessel.” Ergo, he’s just……….. an Abomination to them, I guess- one that will one day spell Doom for the Kingdom keeping their precious Diodra alive. It’s f*cked up to think about. I guess Varghese said that Ironside was his “Father” because it’s the easiest way to explain this situation to him. Though why Ironside chooses to REFER to himself as Percival’s “Father” in chapter 18 is peculiar; he CLEARLY wants to kill Percival, but to still go out of your way to call him your “son” is just odd. Maybe he was still only thinking of him in terms of “Another Version Of Diodra-” just a vessel for his actual son, so he still refers to him as such.
This chapter also somewhat confirms: Percival is Functionally Immortal. Sort of like Ban, I guess. His body itself will not decay or rot, and will always repair itself after damage(though it takes him considerably longer to heal than Ban did, as the wound Ironside gave him had not healed completely by the next day in chapter 3). But his Soul might still be susceptible to Death– also like Ban! Although I guess in HIS specific case; the Life Spirit within might just return to……… wherever it came from, leaving the body itself to decay after that. But for right now: Percival is Immortal. Will he end up getting a Ban type gag where characters don’t hold back on him? Doubt it, but I definitely think there’s gonna be a little more “recklessness” going forward. Maybe taking more attacks than normal to protect his friends or something……….
Ironside killed the baby and the driver- let’s just be clear on that. No limit to what he would do to save Diodra, yeah? Mortlach probably suspects it but won’t say it out loud because that’ll make it “Real.” Because- and you can see it in his face during the flashback- he knows how f*cked up this is. But he also wants what is best for Diodra. I don’t think he’s wholly onboard with “Transferring his soul” or anything, but………. Camelot is what’s keeping the boy alive for this long. And- like Mortlach said- the Knights of the Apocalypse come together to Destroy Camelot. So he fought his hardest against something that………….. was supposed to be his beloved nephew. And lost. Because he wasn’t Diodra. So……. will Mortlach make up his mind and decide to talk the the Knights- to Liones- about the best way to end this conflict? Now that he’s seen the kind of Man that was just supposed to be a “thoughtless vessel” has become? I guess we’ll have to wait and see on that front………….
Speaking of “Character Perspectives:” Chion Chion Chion. He’s either going to do everything in his power to prove that Percival is not a Life Spirit- because he doesn’t respect Percival at all and refuses to believe it- OR His perspective on Percival will change completely. Because he holds Life Spirits in a high regard. He may end up treating Percival in a similar vein to Tristan, though with less “personal” feelings to it. He’s the “Logic” type; being unable to revive Jade- being a Knight of the Apocalypse alongside Tristan- it’ll all make sense to him now. Life Spirits are impartial beings- OF COURSE the Mini-Percival’s aren’t able to revive Jade from death! And naturally a Powerful Spirit would be a “Knight Of Prophecy” alongside Tristan- they bring “Life” and “Death” equally. Like……….. Chion’s whole mindset might change towards Percival- for better and for worse. He’ll treat him better- but for the wrong reason. Should Suzuki Sensei choose to go in that direction with Chion…………..
This reveal also gives Percival a thematic connection to Arthur: Both are beings with Celestial Powers swelling within them- though of different levels. With this new information, I think that the “Great One” Percy mentioned in chapter 112 is Chaos itself; beings made by Chaos before the Supreme Deity, Demon King, and Sacred tree ever came about. Think about it in terms of Pokemon: Arceus is Chaos, and The Life Spirits are Mew- the Ancestor of All Pokemon. It’s like that. But whereas Percival is using his power to do the right thing and kind of play into the role of a Life Spirit without really thinking about it(Bringing “Death” and “Life” equally by destroying Camelot); Arthur has let Chaos’ power go to his head is on a Power Trip. Though he knew about it the moment he became Chaos’ vessel, while Percival is only just getting this information. One of those things, I guess? That- AND Percival doesn’t want to do that; his rejection of the role is only natural, considering his views on life and death. That’s gonna be a problem.
It might have something to do with what Ironside did and the nature of souls in this series. “A Soul With Little To No Regrets Won’t Linger In This World,” and a baby doesn’t even have the awareness for that. But if they have no “anchor” to the material world, then………… Would they have have something keeping them in the afterlife? I think that it’s not just a Life Spirit in that body- but the Baby “Percival,” too; a Human soul that was brought back into a body possessing a Life Spirit. Percy isn’t an aspect of the Life Spirit- He IS the Life Spirit, on some Jinjiruki/Biju type deal. But like he said: All Life Spirits are Formless masses. I think that either:
- Placing a Life Spirit in this body reconstituted its soul, and Percival is “the one in the Driver’s seat,” with Percy being a Life Spirit appearing as a copy to make things “easier” to understand
- Percival’s soul and the Life Spirit Percy are merged somewhat- an amalgamation that allows for the body to live, but the Soul will eventually leave to become a Life Spirit again
As for how he’s going to bring Arthur back to his senses: I think he might try to get Arthur to give up Chaos’ power- before it……… controls him. Even in knowing this; Percival isn’t going to let the power control him- he’s going to continue to fulfill the hopes and desires of everyone who believes in him. Arthur wants to make a Kingdom where everyone is happy– at the cost of another. I think Percival will help him fulfill that goal by using his power to help build a new Camelot- possibly sacrificing his own life in the process. If Arthur needs to sacrifice something to make Camelot, then- why not use endless power of “Hope” to build it? Something Idealistic like that.
Conclusion
Okay, I lost the plot a little bit there I can feel it in that last little bit. But that’s what happens when you’re rushing to finish everything up on time! Ah……….. Let me know what your guys are thinking in the comments. We know the story; where do we go from here? Seriously, we’re coming up on the end of this Demon Realm Adventure, right? And they have the Door to Camelot right in front of them– with no one on this side to stop them from……….. what are they gonna do now? Get in contact with Thetis and………. just leave the door there unguarded? That’d be kind of dumb. But it’s not like they can take it with them, right? Or can they? Asking questions- Bad Sign. Have a Magical day, everyone; Stay safe!!
