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An Essay on the Red and Blue Truths, and their Relation to Dlanor A. Knox
When using the colored truths, it appears that they materialize as weapons - for example, Battler's blue truth usually takes the shape of shotgun rounds, and Beatrice's blue truth, as shown in EP5, is wedge-shaped. Dlanor's manifestation of choise is a pair of swords - one red longsword, one blue shortsword. She wields them with terrifying effectiveness, proving herself a fairly skilled swordsman in her own right. (Battler later acquires a sword of his own capable of wielding both the red and blue truths, as well as golden truth, but as Battler is not the character in question we will not be discussing that.)
So, what makes Dlanor's manifestation so special? As it turns out, this question mostly pertains to her use of the red truth withing her sword the Red Key. She is not a witch; she is not capable of elevating truth to red status. However, she is still capable of using the red truth. This is because she has been given express permission by the Senate to wield it; this permission seems to take the form of accompanying the detective. As shown in EP6, Dlanor is incapable of using her red sword to defend Erika until Battler gives them guaranteed seals.
The key word here is guaranteed.
Red truth is true. That is the truth. However, someone who is not the detective cannot be certain of everything; in fact, there are many things they must be uncertain about. Therefore, once Dlanor was no longer working with a detective, she lost her ability to use the red truth.
As for the blue truth, she is very rarely seen using it compared to how often she uses the red. Erika is usually responsible for launching blue truths - that is her role as the detective. (For reference, her weapon of choice is a scythe, but this is overall unimportant.) However, I have reason to believe that no restriction is placed on the blue truth for Dlanor - Battler, a mere human, uses it in the beginning of the series, and in fact blue truth is required to participate in a witch's game. With these facts in mind, it's plausible to assume that there are no real restrictions on the Blue Key, since there is no "authority" in any of the blue truth's words unless they are elevated to red.
Dlanor's ability to use the golden truth is unknown. She is never placed in the position of Game Master, but as Ryukishi later states, this position isn't necessary to use it. She is at the very least somewhat knowledgeable on the subject of golden truth.
Knox's Decalogue also falls under the red truth. However, in EP8, while fighting back a swarm of goats, she uses the Decalogue without the red truth.
This is where I get hazy on the subject of how this all works.
Probably, what has happened is that Knox's Decalogue has been elevated to the status of red truth for the sake of Episodes 5 and 6, but as Dlanor was not participating in a game at the time of EP8, she did not have permission to utilize her Red Key. But that didn't place a limit on whether or not she could use the Decalogue - her weapon, passed down to her by her father.
This does leave the rather large question of "how did she use her Red Key in the fight without invoking the red truth?" During the fight red slashes are shown, representing Dlanor's attacks (Will's are white, in correlation to his sword). This gives me reason to believe she can use the swords as weapons regardless of whether or not they have been imbued with red truth, but she cannot use them against witches or in a witch's game unless they have been given the power of colored truth. If you will note, the goats did not present their theories in blue; Dlanor, then, had no obligation to respond in red.
Another thing to note is that Dlanor is powerless against enemies that refuse to accept mystery as a possibility. Though she is still considered a "fantasy" character, she is heavily bent toward the "mystery" side of things, representing Knox's Decalogue on the Umineko game board. She and Will share this weakness. If there is no one to argue over a mystery with, regardless of whether or not she is using colored truths, her swords will be ineffective.
So, though I stated earlier that Dlanor is more than likely to be able to use the swords as weapons separately, they are still ultimately conceptual weapons, and not real ones. It's likely she can't cut anything unless it is in a fight like EP8 or during Battler's "death" in EP5, both of which involved mysteries and logic.
I do subscribe to the thought that Dlanor is an excellent swordswoman regardless if she's using conceptual or real weapons. Real weapons will probably be a little more unwieldy for her, as they probably weigh more than concepts, but it is plausible that she can use them. After all, though she relies on the power of red and blue truth to do real damage most of the time, she still swings the sword and makes the strikes herself.
In conclusion:
1. Dlanor can only use the Red Key as it is intended to be used with express permission, granted in such forms as working with the detective or guaranteed seals as a present from the Game Master.
2. Dlanor can use the Red Key as a weapon without the effects of the red truth as long as there is a mystery argument going on.
3. Dlanor cannot damage those who do not subscribe to mystery with her Red and Blue Keys.
4. Since Dlanor swings the swords herself, she would likely be at least an adequate swordswoman in her own right.
5. Knox's Decalogue is a similar case to the Red Key. It can be imbued with the power of red truth, but that power is not necessary if she is in a mystery argument that is not part of a witch's game.
6. Dlanor is pretty much the best character in Umineko. (This is a pretty subjective conclusion.)
...What do you think, everyone?
When using the colored truths, it appears that they materialize as weapons - for example, Battler's blue truth usually takes the shape of shotgun rounds, and Beatrice's blue truth, as shown in EP5, is wedge-shaped. Dlanor's manifestation of choise is a pair of swords - one red longsword, one blue shortsword. She wields them with terrifying effectiveness, proving herself a fairly skilled swordsman in her own right. (Battler later acquires a sword of his own capable of wielding both the red and blue truths, as well as golden truth, but as Battler is not the character in question we will not be discussing that.)
So, what makes Dlanor's manifestation so special? As it turns out, this question mostly pertains to her use of the red truth withing her sword the Red Key. She is not a witch; she is not capable of elevating truth to red status. However, she is still capable of using the red truth. This is because she has been given express permission by the Senate to wield it; this permission seems to take the form of accompanying the detective. As shown in EP6, Dlanor is incapable of using her red sword to defend Erika until Battler gives them guaranteed seals.
The key word here is guaranteed.
Red truth is true. That is the truth. However, someone who is not the detective cannot be certain of everything; in fact, there are many things they must be uncertain about. Therefore, once Dlanor was no longer working with a detective, she lost her ability to use the red truth.
As for the blue truth, she is very rarely seen using it compared to how often she uses the red. Erika is usually responsible for launching blue truths - that is her role as the detective. (For reference, her weapon of choice is a scythe, but this is overall unimportant.) However, I have reason to believe that no restriction is placed on the blue truth for Dlanor - Battler, a mere human, uses it in the beginning of the series, and in fact blue truth is required to participate in a witch's game. With these facts in mind, it's plausible to assume that there are no real restrictions on the Blue Key, since there is no "authority" in any of the blue truth's words unless they are elevated to red.
Dlanor's ability to use the golden truth is unknown. She is never placed in the position of Game Master, but as Ryukishi later states, this position isn't necessary to use it. She is at the very least somewhat knowledgeable on the subject of golden truth.
Knox's Decalogue also falls under the red truth. However, in EP8, while fighting back a swarm of goats, she uses the Decalogue without the red truth.
This is where I get hazy on the subject of how this all works.
Probably, what has happened is that Knox's Decalogue has been elevated to the status of red truth for the sake of Episodes 5 and 6, but as Dlanor was not participating in a game at the time of EP8, she did not have permission to utilize her Red Key. But that didn't place a limit on whether or not she could use the Decalogue - her weapon, passed down to her by her father.
This does leave the rather large question of "how did she use her Red Key in the fight without invoking the red truth?" During the fight red slashes are shown, representing Dlanor's attacks (Will's are white, in correlation to his sword). This gives me reason to believe she can use the swords as weapons regardless of whether or not they have been imbued with red truth, but she cannot use them against witches or in a witch's game unless they have been given the power of colored truth. If you will note, the goats did not present their theories in blue; Dlanor, then, had no obligation to respond in red.
Another thing to note is that Dlanor is powerless against enemies that refuse to accept mystery as a possibility. Though she is still considered a "fantasy" character, she is heavily bent toward the "mystery" side of things, representing Knox's Decalogue on the Umineko game board. She and Will share this weakness. If there is no one to argue over a mystery with, regardless of whether or not she is using colored truths, her swords will be ineffective.
So, though I stated earlier that Dlanor is more than likely to be able to use the swords as weapons separately, they are still ultimately conceptual weapons, and not real ones. It's likely she can't cut anything unless it is in a fight like EP8 or during Battler's "death" in EP5, both of which involved mysteries and logic.
I do subscribe to the thought that Dlanor is an excellent swordswoman regardless if she's using conceptual or real weapons. Real weapons will probably be a little more unwieldy for her, as they probably weigh more than concepts, but it is plausible that she can use them. After all, though she relies on the power of red and blue truth to do real damage most of the time, she still swings the sword and makes the strikes herself.
In conclusion:
1. Dlanor can only use the Red Key as it is intended to be used with express permission, granted in such forms as working with the detective or guaranteed seals as a present from the Game Master.
2. Dlanor can use the Red Key as a weapon without the effects of the red truth as long as there is a mystery argument going on.
3. Dlanor cannot damage those who do not subscribe to mystery with her Red and Blue Keys.
4. Since Dlanor swings the swords herself, she would likely be at least an adequate swordswoman in her own right.
5. Knox's Decalogue is a similar case to the Red Key. It can be imbued with the power of red truth, but that power is not necessary if she is in a mystery argument that is not part of a witch's game.
6. Dlanor is pretty much the best character in Umineko. (This is a pretty subjective conclusion.)
...What do you think, everyone?