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The idea has been raised that 'The Girl' in Dream Estrana is actually Serena. I initially thought this was impossible as she died when Rhue was nowhere near her, but I think I've worked out a way for it to work. If the auras absorbed by the bearers of the Shadow Swords are contained within THEM rather than their swords, then Jeruh would still have all the auras he absorbed even after losing his Shadow Sword. After 'Rhue' killed Jeruh with his Shadow Sword, then he would have gained all the auras contained within him, including Serena's.

Also, Serena is similar in appearance to Chasta during the flashback, which supports the idea that Scatha and Slade are Serena's siblings, (Scatha=Chasta). How she's grown up in aura form, I don't know.

I also think that the theory that Gaius has the last Illuminati is correct; 'Rhue' couldn't hurt him with the Shadow Sword. While this may be due to the supposed 'hurt only the innocent, not the guilty' nature of the Shadow Sword, the only other person 'Rhue' can't hurt is the harbinger, so I think this idea must be incorrect. Rather, I think that while the Shadow Swords attract each other (in a hostile way; 'Rhue' fighting Kalmar and knocking the Night Reaper into the pit) Illuminati and Shadow Swords repel each other, meaning that Gaius and 'Rhue' couldn't use them to fight. This also explains why Gaius never tries knocking the sword away from Rhue with his own.

If the Harbinger is Gaius or has another Illuminati, then this explains why 'Rhue' couldn't hurt him either. Also, if the Illuminati really can't hurt the innocent, then they're the perfect weapon to use to perform an execution.

Conversely, Kalmar wouldn't have been able to perform Kloe's execution if his Shadow Sword would only harm the innocent, so either he planned to use another weapon (would his sword allow that?) or, as I said above, that idea is incorrect.

(Hmm... Cetsa is sentenced for death because of an exaggaration of her crimes and is going to be killed by a man with an Illuminati, and Kloe is sentenced to death because of a crime she committed but almost noone knows about, and is going to be killed by a man with a Shadow Sword...)

As for the thing about 'Rhue' absorbing auras with the sword, I imagine that most of the memories he gains remain at the back of his mind, while those that the sword particularly 'likes' take him over so that he gains the identity of their original owner. I think the quality that the sword likes is a strong purpose; Midian REALLY wanted to kill Jeruh, while Jeruh REALLY wanted to find Serena.

This could also explain why 'Rhue' wanted to watch Kloe's execution.(assuming he wasn't going to rescue her; He didn't really have a good reason to.) The sword may have been attracted to her aura and compelled 'Rhue' to get close enough to absorb it. Perhaps it sensed her wish to find Gaius.

Actually, what happens if the bearer of a Shadow Sword is taken over by the memories of someone of the opposite gender?

Conversely, killing Jed in episode 3 felt wrong to 'Rhue' because he didn't have a strong purpose. He was just a wanderer.

There is a problem with Scatha and Slade being Serena's siblings.

SLADE: "I never wanted to kill you
Rhue. Look at what you've
let that woman do to you."

RHUE: "Leave Serena out of this!"

SLADE: "Who's Serena? I'm talking
about Cetsa!"

Eh. It's a good point, but there are plenty of people named Serena in The Way, or so I'm assuming.

It's like if someone had a sister named "Jennifer" and ten years after she died, someone who they've never met until a few days ago said "LEAVE JENNIFER OUT OF THIS" they probably wouldn't make the connection to their Jennifer. At least not right away.

But still, something valid to note.

Non-Sequitur wrote:There is a problem with Scatha and Slade being Serena's siblings.

SLADE: "I never wanted to kill you
Rhue. Look at what you've
let that woman do to you."

RHUE: "Leave Serena out of this!"

SLADE: "Who's Serena? I'm talking
about Cetsa!"

Incorrect.

In the latest version, it goes:


SLADE: "I never wanted to kill you
Rhue. Look at what you've
let that woman do to you."

RHUE: "Leave Serena out of this!"

SLADE: "W-What? What did you say?"

Well, hey, there you go.

Now the relation seems all the more likely.

Additionally, he says this when he meets Rhue for the last time at the icy peak area.

SLADE:
(Rhue\..\..\..\.\. The last time we met\..\..\..\.
He said something about\..\..\..\.\.\.\.
No\..\..\..\. a coincidence.\| It has to be.)

oh wow, some of the dialouge got redone? I suspect that gamingw.net never got the revamped ones before it became a forum :\

Wow... Then I guess it really does seem extremely likely, and perhaps a way to get it more tied in?

Holy shit, I haven't played the new version of E5, that's why I always disagreed with Serena being Slade's other sister. Now not only is the contradicting evidence gone, and the once thought to be contradicting evidence not all that strong, and Lun all-but-confirming it in the hidden note...

Actually, I think maybe Lun went too far to hint at it - but on the other hand, Lun didn't go far enough to hint at it, because he didn't confirm it IN THE PLOT ITSELF. Yes, we know, but it's simply not a fact until it happens in the story.

Would it have been so hard for there to be a cutscene at some point in E6 if you unlock Slade, in which Rhue and Slade talk about Serena, or Rhue just mentions Serena, and we're given a big enough connection for one less part of the plot to be as opaque as about 50% or so of it is right now?

Hey, my version of E5 still has the old dialogue, and I have the version with the new monsters and all that. When did it change? o_O

Edit: Ah, I didn't realise we were on 1.8 now...

Twiler wrote:Conversely, Kalmar wouldn't have been able to perform Kloe's execution if his Shadow Sword would only harm the innocent, so either he planned to use another weapon (would his sword allow that?) or, as I said above, that idea is incorrect.

But Kloe was guilty.

^ Which is why the Shadow Sword couldn't kill her, because it only hurts the innocent, while the Illuminati only hurt the guilty.

Both swords hurt only the guilty according to their personal view of the word "Justice".

the way is more complicated then many of you think, I doubt there's an absolute indicator of what is good and evil, right or wrong. (this exact believe has ended Slade, didn't it?)

Shadow Swords were picky about their victims. They never killed children,well, at least the Phantom Slasher never did.

Twiler wrote:The only other person 'Rhue' can't hurt is the harbinger, so I think this idea must be incorrect.

The harbinger was Gaius.

Angel_OA wrote:

Twiler wrote:The only other person 'Rhue' can't hurt is the harbinger, so I think this idea must be incorrect.

The harbinger was Gaius.

Whilst not being a known fact, this is incredibly likely.