It's okay, please take all the time you need to reply ❤️. I'm sorry for asking so many questions, but even after searching online and replaying some parts, I still couldn't figure some things out or be completely sure that I understood them correctly ><
It's okay! ^^; I just don't want to leave you hanging for too long. I know it's a long game with a lot of moving parts
to the people who sent anons with questions about coe -- i'll answer all your questions but it may take me a bit of time 🙇 I need to get together all the screenshots i need
to the person who asked more than a dozen questions - thats a lot of questions so im working on it! but i highly recommend replaying DLC! Many of your questions are answered there, and I think a second playthrough will help you get a more solid understanding.
Thank you so much, you are truly a lifesaver 🥺. I had assumed that the English version of the name Theodore (seodoa セオドア) had been translated unconsistenly (hence Seodore and Theodore) but it turned out it wasn't the case at all. I checked the Japanese version after reading your reply, and the non-English version of the name (teodoru テオドル) is also used. (1/2)
Thank you for reading!! I'm happy to help <3
Yes, the japanese version makes the distinction between Theodore and Seodore as well! This is especially clear in record 5, because Hatsutori asks if it's "Theodore" and is told not to call him that. (The artbook also spells it "SEOdore" on Seodore's page)
I tried checking the chinese translation (this is from a recording on bilibili), and they make the same distinction!
I don't know how this was translated in Korean; I've seen Seodore's name, but I don't know how clear the Seo/Theo distinction is ^^; I'm not familiar enough with korean to check (well, i don't know chinese either, but I can recognize Seodore's name, at least).
The Chainsaw incident that I mentioned is a nickname for the Hermit's Room Soundfile 1954/04. I apologize, i should have used the official scene name instead of my nickname for it.
He decapitates himself with a chainsaw (you can hear the buzzing of the chainsaw.) I've taken screenshots of the english lines here!
This can be corroborated by the artbook, where you can see the jagged scar around Seodore's neck!
This is a separate incident from the dream that Seodore had in Interlude. I have thoughts on that scene but I'll need a bit of time to write them out 🙇 I think that scene plays a role in a larger theory.
As far as name changes go, Cell of Empireo as a whole emphasizes the importance of a chosen name and chosen identity. (I'm going on a bit of a tangent here)
Haruki Atou is Haruki Atou, and chooses to live as such. He accepts Haruki Isoi as a part of his life and a part of what happened to him, even if Haruki Isoi is dead. Those experiences mattered to him.
For Seodore: "Theodore" is dead. Seodore is his own person in his own right, and he repeatedly affirms this separation that he is not Theodore and does not want to be. (as I talked about before, so I won't repeat myself lol).
Sanemitsu Isoi chooses to live as as such. Minoru Harada is a part of him too, but he chooses to live as snmt. With his wife's last name, and the name given to him by Hajime, carrying his past with him.
And Our Reiji Isoi chooses this name. He asks Sanemitsu for it, and it's his. He didn't have a name before. And with a name, he gained a family, and a life. The Radiant and Illuminating Reiji Isoi <3
(sniffles,, he loves his dad)
I just think it's sweet. You decide who you want to be, and how you want to live.
Theories about Reiji's amnesia: 1) Utsugi was in a hurry to find a child negative to the cells for Mutsushika. As a result, actual "Reiji Isoi" was kidnapped and the scientists erased his memories before realizing that he was positive. Desperate, Utsugi had no choice but to hand over the original Reiji. 2) He died, and the cells took over his body. 3) He lost his memories after receiving the cells. Still, that seems strange, considering that even Shinano managed to recover some of his memories.
Yes, the original Reiji Isoi (Rei-kun) was the child handed over to Mutsushika. The original Reiji Isoi is dead, for all intents and purposes, and Izu is the one in that vessel now.
As far as Our Reiji's memories go - we don't have a lot of information about it but gaining cells does not induce amnesia, and I don't think our Reiji died in the same way that Haruki Isoi did.
Shinano blocks out his memories as a coping mechanism because he can't deal with Tina and Akane's deaths (like his fear of dogs; he's not scared of dogs for the sake of it, it's because they remind him of Tina). His amnesia is not induced by the cells.
I think Our Reiji just doesn't remember anything from before Path to Empireo because he was just a little kid. Even his memory of the escape is shaky, because he was like five or six . I don't think it has to be any deeper than that.
(sorry about the terrible screenshot quality, this is from a friend's stream).
A tiny, scared, nameless child of unclear origin is rescued. And it's in that moment that his life really begins. I'm mostly including these lines because they make me emotional. he loves his dad :((((
I finished CoE and I didn't expect it to be such a pure masterpiece!! Knowing that Haruki Isoi is dead and that his little brother's body is being used as a vessel broke my heart more than the fate of Hajime and Utsugi 💔
I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much!!! It's a really beautiful series!!
i think the isoi siblings are super compelling,, I like them a lot.
I have a feeling the Polaris cruise incident is related to Seodore's immortality (that's when he stopped aging). His memory loss could be a case similar to Haruki Atou.
Okay first I want to note that a lot of the theorycrafting here is based on my personal interpretation and there's not a whole lot of concrete confirmation. Please feel free to disagree with me and draw your own conclusions; my goal is to talk a bit about my own thoughts on it and provide you the pieces that I used.
Yes, it's similar! "Theodore Riddle" died, and it was "Seodore" that returned. Similar to how Haruki Isoi died, and it was Haruki Atou/Alpha that returned, and similar to how Reiji Isoi (original)'s body was used as a vessel for Izu.
Personally, here's what i think:
Theodore Riddle dies on the Polaris. Something happens there, and he absorbs/becomes the Lime Azure (the rock). The Lime Azure restores the body to a living/"default" state, and this is the Seodore that returns; similar to Alpha regenerating haruki isoi's body, Theodore Riddle is Dead, and Seodore is the one who returns.
He has not aged or changed physically at all, since that day, with the exception of the scar from the chainsaw incident in 1954.
I'm going to talk more under the cut because this got longer than I expected; I'm not sure how much you've pieced together on your own, so I've tried to establish proof of everything i just mentioned above.
First, I should probably explain why I think Seodore is the Lime Azure:
We know the Lime Azure went missing alongside Theodore in the sinking of the Polaris. (record 4)
The rock is gone, but Seodore returns.
He also makes mention of his pieces being used during the chainsaw incident - we know that both Rangiri and Mutei have used pieces of That Damn Rock in Rangiri's Medicine and Mutei's Factor Artifacts respectively, and both of those were done BEFORE the chainsaw incident happened. We know this because a) Rangiri is Unstable after the chainsaw incident, and b) Mutei is just Gone.
the quotes below establish that Aescula's Medicine had the Lime Azure in it (record 7)
These lines establish the artifacts as having pieces of the Lime Azure in them (record 7) (DLC credits) (Artbook) (interlude report 5), and establishes them as created by Mutei ("Dr. Martin")
[Mutei has] left his descendants a rainbow fountain pen, an emerald lens, and a ruby knife.
The pieces were from Seodore.
We can also establish this from the fact that the artbook highlights the Lime Azure as the catalyst for Seodore's "Respawn" ability. The colored sections were originally censored. (TL HERE)
Respawn (Real Name: Continue)
Type: Persistent Ability
Source: Tag/Player Character
Catalyst: Lime Azure
Level: Impossible to measure
Seodore might not have Empyrean cells himself, but he has regenerative abilities and durability very close to that of Empyrean lifeforms. However, even that has limits, and there are injuries that result in death for him. This ability activates automatically when Seodore either 1) dies or 2) gets into a situation he can’t escape from. When this ability activates, it restores him to his most recent safe point. The restored Seodore is the same person, with the same memories and awareness of all the events that have transpired. Sometimes this ability activates and rewinds time to before the incident that killed him occurred, and sometimes it simply makes the body vanish and revives him but doesn’t change the situation itself. His earrings are also recognized as part of him, so they disappear with his corpse and appear back on him when he respawns, just like the rest of what he’s wearing.
(for more about what I think "player character" means, I talk about it here. That's off topic for now, though)
Seodore mentions a handful of different times that he doesn't age, he doesn't change physically, it just is stuck at as he was at 25. (from the artbook).
[N’s Attached Note: Could it be: [Seodore's] hair doesn’t grow either?]
It's not just that Seodore lost his memories; it's that the original person who HAD those memories is dead, and Seodore is a new consciousness, in that same body.
From the Databook Timeline (TL HERE). The colored sections were originally censored.
From the DLC credits, we get this line. SOMETHING happened on the Polaris (the details of which are unclear).
I know in the interlude reports and a few other places, they describe it as memory loss, but Seodore makes the distinction very clear and actively rejects seeing himself as "Theodore Riddle". For all intents and purposes, Theodore Riddle is dead. Seodore is the one who's here.
I think the chainsaw incident changed things for seodore too, but as that's more speculative, i'll leave that out of this response ^^; The only thing I'll note here is that in the databook timeline, the chainsaw incident is described as "Seodore's Awakening." I personally think this refers to Seodore's awareness of the nature of the world/the edges of the "screen". This is heavily speculation, though. A lot of theorycrafting is putting together several ambiguous lines that come together to imply something; we can't say much for sure because we simply don't know.
to the people who sent anons with questions about coe -- i'll answer all your questions but it may take me a bit of time 🙇 I need to get together all the screenshots i need
hii okay finally making an 🔞 quarantine zone on this website. you can follow @azumaposting if you want. PLEASE have adult or an age in your bio otherwise i will block you from interacting with that blog!
HELLO HI, i was approved for an apartment so i’ll be moving soon & i’d love some comms to save up so that my roommate n i can pay the security deposit without breaking our backs bc we are two trans people with chronic pain . it’s pride month brah lets spread this please?
hii okay finally making an 🔞 quarantine zone on this website. you can follow @azumaposting if you want. PLEASE have adult or an age in your bio otherwise i will block you from interacting with that blog!
