Umineko no Naku Koro ni Timeline (1998)
The 1998 timeline, also known as the true timeline, is the timeline that the 18 year-old version of Ange Ushiromiya hails from. In the 1998 timeline, the island of Rokkenjima is destroyed in an explosion with Eva Ushiromiya as the only survivor. Eva goes on to become Ange's guardian despite a mutual hatred growing between them. Eva later dies from an illness and Ange leaves to investigate the truth behind the massacre at Rokkenjima. The truth of the 1998 timeline is revealed during the Episode 7 Tea Party.
The cliff incident
Kinzo Ushiromiya, after the death of his lover, Beatrice Castiglioni, became infatuated with his daughter, Beatrice Ushiromiya. Beatrice Ushiromiya strongly resembled her mother and Kinzo, in a state of madness, believed her to be the reincarnation of his dead lover. He forced himself on her and impregnated her. Beatrice Ushiromiya gave birth to Sayo Yasuda. In order to hide Kinzo's sin from the world, Kinzo and Genji Ronoue offered the child to Natsuhi Ushiromiya, who had been having trouble conceiving a child of her own. Natsuhi, distressed and angry at the offer, pushed the servant carrying the child, resulting in both the servant and the infant Sayo falling off of a cliff. The servant died upon impact with the rocky bottom, however Sayo miraculously survived. Unfortunately, Sayo sustained heavy injury to the abdominal and genital regions, resulting in severe mutilation.
The Rokkenjima masssacre
 Kyrie Ushiromiya, raising her Winchester rifle. | |
| Location | Rokkenjima |
|---|---|
| Date | October 4-5, 1986 |
| Attack type | Mass shooting |
| Deaths | 14 |
| Perpetrator(s) | Kyrie and Rudolf Ushiromiya |
In this timeline, Kinzo never comes downstairs yet the family conference goes on without conflict until Maria delivers Beatrice's letter. Upon reading the letter, the adults of the family spend the night attempting to solve the witch's epitaph. After much excited theorizing and search, the adults solve the riddle and discover Kinzo's hidden gold along with the existence of Beatrice. Beatrice explains that the island is rigged to explode from WWII-era bombs and, had the adults not solved the riddle, she would have flipped a switch on a grandfather clock which would destroy the island at midnight. Beatrice tells the adults that the switch is currently in the "off" position and that the island will not explode. The hysteria from discovering the gold along with a growing mistrust between the siblings turns into a mistrust of Beatrice and the adults argue amongst themselves about whether the switch is actually in the "off" position and whether the family should flip the switch or leave it be. The conflict becomes physical and results in Eva accidentally shooting Natsuhi, killing her. In a rage, Krauss attempts to wrestle the gun away from Eva. Hideyoshi intervenes and the struggle again results in a shooting, with Krauss falling to the floor dead. Eva and Hideyoshi protest the remaining siblings' accusations of murder until Kyrie defuses the situation. During the short moment of calm, Kyrie shoots and kills Rosa because Rosa was the only one with a bullet still in her gun. Kyrie and Rudolf kill Eva, Hideyoshi, and Beatrice. Kyrie and Rudolf quickly kill the five servants working that day and call the children in the guesthouse, tricking them into leaving the house one at a time under the guise of a special test prepared by Kinzo. The two kill George, Jessica and Maria. Kyrie, after killing Jessica, walks through the rose garden and comes face-to-face with Eva, who narrowly avoided death due to the low-firing nature of Kyrie's gun. Eva manages to kill Kyrie and later kills Rudolf in the chapel. Eva escapes to the Kuwadorian as the island explodes and returns to mainland Japan as the only survivor of the incident.
After the incident
Eva returns to Japan as the only survivor of the Rokkenjima massacre and becomes the legal guardian of the only other member of the Ushiromiya family, Ange Ushiromiya. Eva fosters a deep hatred of Ange due to her being Kyrie and Rudolf's child. Ange is ignored and treated poorly be Eva and the hate becomes mutual. Ange lives her life intrigued greatly by the mystery of her family's death and, once she turns 18, she leaves to search for the truth. During her travels she enlists the help of bodyguard Juuza Amakusa. She studies esoteric author Tohya Hachijo and comes to learn of her true identity. She arranges a meeting with the author, during which time she learns that she wrote several of the message bottles that detail possible events that took place on the island. Ange reads some of the messages as Tohya's miko.