Turn of the Golden Witch

Turn of the Golden Witch
Developer07th Expansion
WriterRyukishi07
Arc TypeQuestion
ReleasedDecember 31, 2007 C73
Word Count131,488 ~438 pages
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chronology
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Legend of the Golden Witch 		Next →
Banquet of the Golden Witch

Turn of the Golden Witch is the second arc in Umineko no Naku Koro ni. The arc follows Battler Ushiromiya and Beatrice as they battle over the existence of magic. This is the first arc wherein the "alternate existence" versions of characters from Rokkenjima make an appearance. The story focuses heavily on Rosa Ushiromiya and Shannon.

Introduction

Plot

George Ushiromiya and Shannon spend the day together at the aquarium, followed by dinner and a walk on the beach. During their time together, Shannon tells George that their love is the result of magic.

Suddenly Shannon wakes up on the beach of Rokkenjima. She makes her way to the shrine on Rokkenjima and finds a mirror inside. After some internal debate, Shannon smashes the mirror and screams to the sky that she has fulfilled her promise and calls upon Beatrice to fulfill her own.

Back on the Rokkenjima mainland, George, Eva, and Hideyoshi Ushiromiya arrive on the island to apply for a business loan from the family head, Kinzo Ushiromiya. During their stay, Shannon begins to see George in a romantic light. Her feelings are further grown by the prodding of Jessica Ushiromiya, who is excited to see a relationship between the two. However, Eva reveals that she has arranged a marriage meeting so that George may find a suitable wife. While George is against the prospect of an arranged marriage, he acquiesces to his mother's guidance. Upset by this turn of events, Shannon reveals the pains of her love to the portrait of Beatrice while cleaning the reception hall. Immediately afterwards, Beatrice appears before Shannon and offers to unite her with George if, in exchange, Shannon ventures to the Rokkenjima shrine and smashes a mirror inside of it. Shannon is hesitant to accept the witch's deal and Kanon arrives shortly afterwards to advocate against helping the witch. Beatrice says she will allow Shannon however long it takes to smash the mirror and will hold up her end of the deal regardless; however she warns Shannon that she cannot break apart two who love each other and implies that, should George fall in love with someone else before Shannon smashes the mirror, Beatrice will be unable to grant Shannon's wish. As proof of their meeting, Beatrice leaves a small butterfly-shaped bruise on the palms of both Shannon and Kanon.

After Shannon destroys the mirror, Beatrice pays her a visit and they have tea together. During their time together, Shannon attempts to return to Beatrice a golden butterfly brooch, which had been given to Shannon to fuel her relationship with George and it was due to its power that they went to the aquarium in the first place. However Beatrice says Shannon should hold onto it or give it to another. Shortly after, Shannon gives the brooch to Kanon.

Meanwhile, Jessica is been scrambling to find a date for the upcoming culture festival at her school. She eventually accepts Shannon's offer to have Kanon accompany her as her pretend-boyfriend. While at the festival, Kanon learns of Jessica's more wild personality as well as her proclivities towards rock music. However, Kanon later confronts Jessica and tells her that he cannot return her feelings towards him as he is furniture and she is not. Jessica runs away in tears and Beatrice appears before Kanon. She confirms Kanon's belief that she only used her magic to bring George and Shannon together because she knew their relationship is destined to fail and she desired to see that outcome. Kanon smashes the golden brooch Shannon gave him.

On October 4, 1986, the Ushiromiya family convenes on Rokkenjima for the annual family conference. Genji Ronoue repeatedly mentions the imminent arrival of a "long-awaited guest" for the conference though he doesn't explain who he is referring to. Once the family is together on the island, it is revealed that the story thus far is taking place on a "Game Board" in Purgatorio as part of a game being played by Beatrice and and the Battler Ushiromiya from Legend of the Golden Witch.

On Rokkenjima, everything proceeds similarly to Legend of the Golden Witch up until Maria receives a letter from Beatrice. Rosa Ushiromiya receives a similar letter and she and Maria are both instructed to read said letters once the family is gathered at dinner. Shortly afterwards, Beatrice walks through the Ushiromiya mansion accompanied by Genji. On her way to the VIP Room, she is seen by Kyrie. Kyrie greets her, however Beatrice doesn't reveal her name, instead implying that Kyrie already knows who she is. Kyrie relays the details of this encounter to Rudolf, Eva, and Hideyoshi in order to prepare for what Beatrice might do at the conference.

When it is time for dinner, the siblings confront Krauss and Natsuhi about the unexpected guest. Krauss and Natsuhi claim they were unaware of a 19th guest and become equally concerned with the possibility of Beatrice interfering with Kinzo's inheritance distribution. After learning that Krauss and Natsuhi did not invite Beatrice to the conference, the rest of the family asks Genji to see if Kinzo himself had invited her.

Rather than joining in at dinner, Beatrice opted to eat in the VIP room. When Shannon delivers her food, the two become caught up in conversation regarding Beatrice's true intentions in allowing Shannon to fall in love with George. Regardless of Beatrice's trickery, Shannon thanks Beatrice for allowing their union and reaffirms her belief that she is a human, rather than furniture.

That night, George proposes to Shannon, who happily accepts. When Kanon learns about this, he breaks down and confesses that he wants to be able to love as well and reveals he has feelings for Jessica. Meanwhile, Krauss, Natsuhi, Eva, Hideyoshi, Rudolf, Kyrie, and Rosa gather in the chapel as Beatrice makes an effort to prove that she is, in fact, the Beatrice of legend. One by one, all seven acknowledge her existence.

The next morning, Shannon finds a small note in the dining hall that reads "chapel". She makes her way to the chapel and discovers a mysterious symbol painted on the chapel doors. After retrieving the other servants, Shannon realizes that all of the adults, other than Rosa, have disappeared. Furthermore, the only key to the chapel is missing from the keybox. Rosa correctly surmises that the key is actually inside the letter Beatrice gave the Maria the previous day. After unlocking the chapel, Rosa and the servants discover the corpses of Krauss, Natsuhi, Eva, Hideyoshi, Rudolf, and Kyrie seated around a table adorned with Halloween decorations on the altar. Each of them had seemingly had their stomachs cut open and had candy stuffed inside. Furthermore, Beatrice's letter as well as three gold ingots are placed on top of the table. Battler, George, Jessica, and Maria arrive soon after and all except Maria despair over the loss of their parents. Jessica eventually runs out of the chapel in an attempt to find Beatrice.

Jessica angrily bangs on the door to the VIP room, however it is locked. Gohda and Kanon, who followed Jessica out of the chapel, use one of their master keys to unlock the door. Beatrice is no longer in the room, instead she left a note mocking Jessica for attempting to find her. This sends Jessica into a fit of rage which quickly leads to an asthma attack. Kanon helps Jessica to her room and fetches her inhaler. While Jessica begins to cry, Gohda leaves the pair and returns to the chapel. Kanon allows Jessica to cry by herself and stands outside in the corridor to guard her. He is immediately approached by Beatrice, who taunts him and then tells him that she is going to kill Jessica. She disappears and Kanon returns to Jessica's room. Inside, Beatrice has summoned a large servant wielding a blue blade of energy to kill Jessica. Kanon reveals his own red blade of energy and fights the beast. He eventually defeats it, however Beatrice immediately summons two more servants: Asmodeus and Satan, two of the stakes of Purgatory. Asmodeus impales Jessica in the back and Satan impales Kanon in the chest. In order to further disrespect Kanon, Beatrice uses her magic to cause Kanon's body to vanish.

Meanwhile, Genji and Shannon report what has happened to Kinzo. Everyone else is outside the chapel, having made the decision to leave the crime scene alone. While outside, Rosa realizes that the only key to the chapel was in Maria's possession since before the murders occurred, making the chapel a locked room. At this point, the Beatrice and Battler in Purgatorio argue about how the chapel became a locked room. During their argument, Beatrice creates a rule known as the Red Truth, allowing her to present certain arguments as definitively true without the need for proof. Battler eventually uses this rule to corner Beatrice and prove that the chapel wasn't necessarily a locked room as someone could have easily taken the key from Maria's bag between when Maria initially received the key and when Rosa took it from her bag. Beatrice acquiesces and admits defeat in this instance, however she vows that she will win in the end.

The survivors return to the parlor for a brief period before deciding to gather Jessica and Kanon so that everyone is in one place. When they approach Jessica's room, they see strange symbolism on her door. Using a master key, they unlock the room and find Jessica's body on the ground. Rosa immediately suspects the servants, especially Kanon, as being complicit in the murders. However, Kanon's master keys are found inside Jessica's pockets, meaning Kanon wasn't in possession of them himself. Despite this, Rosa continues to suspect the servants.

In order to protect herself and Maria, Rosa separates the servants and Doctor Nanjo from herself, Maria, George, and Battler. The servants and Doctor Nanjo retire to the kitchen to eat some lunch from the canned food they have stored. Their lunch is soon interrupted by a knocking on the kitchen's back door. When they open the door, Kanon falls into the room, severely injured. As Nanjo tries to administer first aid, Shannon becomes suspicious that the injured person isn't actually Kanon. She approaches Kanon with a handkerchief with spiderwebs wiped on it. In a flash, Kanon slits the throats of Kumasawa and Doctor Nanjo. Before he can escape, Gohda pins "Kanon" to the wall while Shannon presses the handkerchief into his face. "Kanon" then explodes into a swarm of golden butterflies.

The servants return to the parlor to tell Rosa about what happened. However, they soon discover that Kumasawa and Doctor Nanjo's bodies have disappeared. This causes Rosa to further suspect the servants. In order to assuage her suspicions, the servants voluntarily hand over their master keys and once again separate from Rosa. George joins the servants so that he may be with Shannon.

Shannon tells George the details of what occurred with "Kanon". Shannon claims that she feels somewhat responsible for the murders as she believes they were committed by Beatrice, who regained her power when Shannon broke the shrine's mirror earlier on. In order to fend off further supernatural influence, George and Shannon decide to retrieve a spirit mirror that Natsuhi kept in her room. Gohda joins them in this endeavor, however Genji remains so that he may be on standby for any potential orders from the remaining Ushiromiya family. George, Shannon, and Gohda first go to the chapel in order to get the key to Natsuhi's room from her dead body. When they try to leave the chapel, Beatrice appears and summons a large group of goats to chase them. The pursuit continues into Natsuhi's room. Gohda is then killed by Beelzebub while George and Shannon search Natsuhi's room for the mirror. Their efforts are in vain, however, and Beatrice manages to kill them both.

While doing his rounds, Genji discovers the bodies of Kumasawa and Doctor Nanjo in the courtyard. He reports this to Rosa, who investigates the bodies and determines that Shannon, George, and Gohda must be in danger due to the rules of the epitaph. When she goes to Natsuhi's room, she finds the bodies of George, Shannon, and Gohda. Rosa and Maria return to the parlor, however Battler refuses to go with them as he is fed up with hiding.

Battler has Genji lead him up to Kinzo's room. Inside, Battler sees Kinzo and Beatrice happily playing chess. Kinzo explains that the twilights have all occurred as planned and Beatrice has resurrected. Battler demands to know the truth behind each of the murders and Beatrice says she will tell him as long as he promises to kiss her shoes once he is satisfied. Battler acquiesces and is eventually forced to submit and admit witches exist.

Rosa breaks into the chapel with Maria and steals one of the gold bars from the table. Meanwhile, Beatrice hosts a supernatural banquet in the reception hall of the Ushiromiya building. Notably, Battler is forced to follow Beatrice around with a leash around his neck. When the clock strikes midnight, the Golden Land merges with the real world and the supernatural guests devour both Kinzo and Battler. They then begin to chase after Rosa and Maria. Rosa manages to kill several goats with her rifle, however she breaks her ankle while running towards the ocean. Rosa and Maria embrace each other as the supernatural beings descend upon them.

Characters

The Ushiromiya Family

Kinzo Ushiromiya

Servants

Genji Ronoue

  • The most senior butler of the Ushiromiya family
  • Kinzo's oldest friend
Toshiro Gohda

  • The Ushiromiya family's chef
  • The most recent hire of all the servants
Chiyo Kumasawa

  • One of the Ushiromiya family's longest serving servants
Shannon

  • A relatively new servant who is prone to making mistakes
Kanon

  • A dedicated and quiet servant

Witches and Demons

Beatrice

  • A powerful and cruel witch
Bernkastel

  • An enigmatic witch and extremely powerful witch
Lambdadelta

  • An enigmatic witch and extremely powerful witch
Lucifer

  • The eldest of the Seven Sisters of Purgatory
  • Represents pride
Leviathan

  • The second oldest of the Seven Sisters of Purgatory
  • Represents envy
Satan

  • The third oldest of the Seven Sisters of Purgatory
  • Represents wrath
Belphegor

  • The middle sister of the Seven Sisters of Purgatory
  • Represents sloth
Mammon

  • The third youngest of the Seven Sisters of Purgatory
  • Represents greed
Beelzebub

  • The second youngest of the Seven Sisters of Purgatory
  • Represents gluttony
Asmodeus

  • The youngest of the Seven Sisters of Purgatory
  • Represents lust
Goat Butlers

  • Otherworldly henchmen

Other

Terumasa Nanjo

  • Kinzo's personal physician and longtime friend

Deaths and Disappearances

All deaths and disappearances are listed only as they are told in Turn of the Golden Witch and apply only for the individual arc, not the overall series.

Deaths

  • Krauss Ushiromiya, disemboweled on October 5, 1986 as part of the first twilight.
  • Natsuhi Ushiromiya, disemboweled on October 5, 1986 as part of the first twilight.
  • Eva Ushiromiya, disemboweled on October 5, 1986 as part of the first twilight.
  • Hideyoshi Ushiromiya, disemboweled on October 5, 1986 as part of the first twilight.
  • Rudolf Ushiromiya, disemboweled on October 5, 1986 as part of the first twilight.
  • Kyrie Ushiromiya, disemboweled on October 5, 1986 as part of the first twilight.
  • Jessica Ushiromiya, stabbed in the back by a stake on October 5, 1986 as part of the second twilight.
  • Chiyo Kumasawa, had her throat slit and her ankle pierced with a stake on October 5, 1986 as part of the seventh twilight.
  • Terumasa Nanjo, had his throat slit and his knee pierced with a stake on October 5, 1986 as part of the eighth twilight.
  • Shannon, pierced in the forehead with a stake on October 5, 1986 as part of the fourth twilight.
  • Toshiro Gohda, pierced in the chest with a stake on October 5, 1986 as part of the fifth twilight.
  • George Ushiromiya, pierced in the stomach with a stake on October 5, 1986 as part of the sixth twilight.

Disappearances

  • Kanon, disappeared on October 5, 1986 as part of the second twilight.
  • Kinzo Ushiromiya, disappeared on October 5, 1986 as part of the tenth twilight.
  • Rosa Ushiromiya, disappeared on October 5, 1986 as part of the tenth twilight.
  • Maria Ushiromiya, disappeared on October 5, 1986 as part of the tenth twilight.
  • Genji Ronoue, disappeared on October 5, 1986 as part of the tenth twilight.
  • Battler Ushiromiya, disappeared on October 5, 1986 as part of the tenth twilight.

Endroll

And the Witch began to tell of everything.
She started providing answers to all of Battler's questions.
Every one made logical sense.
Every one satisfied him.
And Battler as forced to admit: Witches truly did "exist".

The rest is a story that need not be told.
After toppling the king and resigning,
All that remains is to reflect on one's moves,
And set the pieces up once more...

Media

Chapters

Volumes

Episodes

Trivia

  • In the opening scene, George states that he and Shannon were at the "largest aquarium in the world" and later, at dinner, states that they are currently in Okinawa. This lines up with the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, which was the largest aquarium in the world until 2005. However, the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium wasn't open until 2002, well after when the events of Umineko no Naku Koro ni typically take place, in 1986. Given that this scene is later explicitly addressed during a conversation between Shannon and Jessica Ushiromiya, this is likely a simple anachronism.

See also

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