Fan Theories

a bunch of theories from different series.

[marihdtbhk]

I KNEEEWWW ITTT

SINCE THE FIRST SEASON I SAID: "THERE'S NO WAY HARROW IS REALLY DEAD..." AND NOW WE ARE HERE AAAA

[olgierdou]

Memories

Ok, I noticed something today.

Warning: there will be manga spoilers!

Actually, I started connecting the dots:

0) From the beginning of the manga, we know that Reiko was a single mother.

1) We know that Hinoe has the ability to erase or change memories (chapter 35).

2) In a memory, Natsume Reiko told a yokai that some older guy has been talking to her lately and buying her manju at Nanatsujiya (chapter 59).

3) Yorishima reacted very strangely to Natori's question about whether he had heard of Natsume Reiko or the Book of Friends (chapter 80, S7E3 - I can't wait for the episode to air!).

4) Natsume Reiko only summoned Hinoe once, and Hinoe describes the whole situation as Reiko's problem with forming closer relationships (chapter 119).

How does this sound to you?

[maomaojinshi]

Natsume vs Yujincho Shichi Yorishima being Natsume's grandfather. First off, they both had strange reactions to each other, including a feeling a familiarity. Second, he was relatively ambiguous in his reaction ro Reiko's name.

And finally, the whole part Yokai thing!! It would also explain all the weird hints that Natsume could be part yokai. (i.e. the yokai medicine from S5 working on him,).

[haru-chi]

You know .. I don't know why people only limit their option/thinking to "is Yorishima the grandpa or not?" and start rethinking everything from that angle only ..

Not to say this idea is wrong or right more like ... I find it kinda funny that people don't see Yorishima as anything but that .. that that his only purpose in the story either to serve as "fake grandpa" or "be the real grandpa" and see no other purpose or different role to him which's amusing in a way ..

It's like being blinded either directly or indirectly to other ideas which might be the real goal by Midorikawa-sensei, until she come and say that his role is actually different <3

Is him knowing Reiko for sure/weird familiarity between him and Natsume only serve the point of "fake/real grandpa" .. is that the only role and option opens to him story-wise ?

Some might say that then if not that one then what other options/ideas for him story-wise ?

I can't be the only one considering other ideas/theories about him related to Reiko aside from the grandpa one, right ?!

Like for example ...

him being the brother of the real grandpa so he's Natsume's uncle

him being Reiko's killer

him being a firsthand witness to the story of Reiko and her husband even how she died and by who thus hated the exorcist world and distanced himself ever since

him being the one who took care of Reiko's daughter/Natsume's mother after Reiko's death till she married and protect/hide her till then

as for what I believe personally, well, let's say so far for me he's not the grandpa for sure so I'm looking at things from that angle. so, I do consider all those options even tho I lean to a certain one maybe but can't say for sure yet ...

I'm only saying that Midorikawa-sensei has many options for him story-wise than what people actually assumed the first time and locked him down to only that to consider what else might be there for him.

there might also be an option I hadn't considered yet for all we know so far <3

[coquelicoq]

what if the reason yorishima and natsume have all these vague "who is this guy? he feels familiar somehow..." feelings about each other is because the name of the youkai who's possessing yorishima's arm is in the book of friends lol. yorishima isn't grandpa but there's a part of him (the youkai part) that knew reiko, and maybe he doesn't consciously have access to that part, so he has a reaction but doesn't know why. i'm not sold on this but it would be kinda funny. i'm getting a weird vibe from this guy i just met...oh it's because my grandma had beef with his arm. typical.

[multifandom-disaster]

Natsume having silver hair and green eyes makes him look like an ayakashi but him with golden hair and light brown eyes just makes him look like Natori's little brother and I don't know which one I like more

[natsume-the-moon-god]

Both

Silver and Green to Ayakashi and Seer eyes

Gold and Amber to Human eyes

Just imagine: everyone telling them that they look like brothers, and then them saying Natsumes hair is Silver and everyone being confused. lmao

[multifandom-disaster]

OMG definitely, I can totally see it thank you very much for the idea. They ask Natori later if his brother color his hair a lot being the reason it looks silver/bleached

[pinepickled-natsuyuu]

There are like. Obv parallels between Matoba and Natori and Natsume and Tanuma. What I feel like isn't talked about enough is how, if Natsume combines Natori's background (and some personality) with Matoba's power...

Will Tanuma eventually grow, or perhaps already has, Matoba's personality and Natori's power? Can we expect a bespeckled and dominating Tanuma???

[whimsicallywiddershins]

Reading Natsume Yuujinchou, with the Yokai Artifact Hunter, made me realize that Natsume probably has a ton of really powerful artifacts and he just doesn't realize it. Throughout the books, the exorcists constantly try to get these artifacts or knowledge from yokai. They horde every scrap and treat even small things like important items.

But yokai just give Natsume things. He has the cherry blossom picture, that vase, that instrument... Who wants to bet that Natsume's room is filled with extremely powerful objects but he has no idea. Nothing really compares to the Book of Friends anyways. Natsume is constantly carrying around an object that is like a nuclear warhead, he doesn't notice his giant collection of weapons.

Meanwhile, exorcist hunters are fighting over scraps.

[fantheories2412]

Another Viren and Callum parallel.....

I'm scared

This better not mean what I think it does...

[fantheories2412]

@officiallyobsessedwithasuma

BRUH OMG

But I don't think Sarai could stand Viren long enough to have a child with him...

[flor-de-un-salon-viejo]

ok guys i have a random theory

So, where is the prison of Aaravos located, I have the theory that it is located in nothing more and nothing less than in the cube (it would work in some way as a pocket dimension) so this would be the key to release it but not because it is a key that literally would open a lock but the lock itself, this is the reason why even Aaravos does not know where he is, he cannot locate his prison if there is nothing to identify, he cannot see a star, he cannot see light, He can't see vegetation, nothing.

we could argue that it is possible that he is underground or underwater but I see it unlikely because again he has not seen or felt anything that identifies where he is and being someone who can master the magic of all the elements he should be able to know what surrounds him but during all these years I have not discovered anything There is also the fact that even after all this time the relic has passed from generation to generation but it was never destroyed, not even by its original owner, the ancestor of Ezran, if this is the key that will liberate evil, the worst of all, why not melt it and make it disappear? after all, even if they get to where Aaravos is, they will have to fight a lot to get it out if the prison was made to never let it out on its own

I know that an argument against it is that each person involved has a piece of information so that no one would have the complete truth, so it would not make sense to do all this searching, but it could be another tactic to divert the gaze from the cube and send anyone that he should try to take him out on a search where, yes or yes, they should confront each one of those who know the information, giving everyone several opportunities to stop them

but wouldn't queen zubeia have let them know? not necessarily, callum was possessed in front of his eyes so telling the truth would be dangerous it would be better to send them in order to stop any progress claudia and company could make while informing those who are part of the puzzle of the situation

[rilyvesna]

i just remembered how aaravos described callum as “destined to play right into my hands” and how in callum’s spellbook, callum himself said that him possessing the key of aaravos was “destiny,” getting the feeling to get it in the lodge way back when, and how harrow even intended to give it to callum…

not to mention, as a startouch elf archmage and how star magic is described as involving “divination, cosmic vision, and seeing into the beyond”—the art at the end of ‘patience’ detailing ziard, viren, and callum as aaravos’s pawns, and how in that one opening, it’s callum holding the key of aaravos in his hand as he gets turned to stone and is swiped by aaravos to peer at closer—

What does it all entail?

[theredhairedmonkey]

One thing I do love in S4 is how Callum’s character had changed post-timeskip. It is honestly one of the few things that were changed that actually is a significant improvement over the previous seasons. 

In s1, he of course had his insecurities and flaws, but more often than not he was a sincere, albeit naive and slightly boring, hero-type character. And to be fair, Callum clearly thinks of himself as a generic hero too, or at least he wants to be this kind of person.

Callum: Believe me, I want to come with you and be the heroes who stop all the fighting and save the day.

But that changes in s4. For starters, every single character trait that made him a hero in s1-3 now work against him in s4. He’s reckless and impulsive, emotionally repressed, aggressive and even violent. It’s not only refreshing to see him as something other than a generic good-guy, but it clearly lays out and foreshadows the self-sabotage and self-destructive spiral that lies ahead for him. In fact, it’s because Callum can’t see himself as anything but the heroic good-guy protecting his friends and the world that guarantees this will happen.

Aaravos declaring that Callum will belong to him seemed pretty brazen, but his confidence may not be misplaced. He knows this is who he is, so he knows that Callum will play right into his hands.

[konmaao3]

And of course you gotta love how this is probably mainly the result of Rayla leaving, meaning she didn’t protect him with that, but actually caused harm way beyond “just” hurting him. Which will hopefully be addressed.

[fantheories2412]

Rayla Theory (Spoilers)

This theory has been around since the season 4 trailer came out, so it's not new. I'm just listening points of interest that others have noticed as well as myself.

Appearance

Her appearance is off, just by looking at her there is something niggling at the back of your mind saying that something isn't right.

Her hair blocks her ears and face markings frequently, which is a big part of her design.

Not to mention that something isn't right with her horns(I can't put my finger on it).

Her clothes are odd, they just don't fit her character, I don't know what it is. Someone else pointed out that her clothes are closer in color to stars than the moon.

Entrance

Rayla came into the season when Callum was interacting with Aaravos's mirror. He had just deciphered what the mirror said and then said it out loud, she appears directly after that.

Don't tell me that isn't super suspicious. They could have waited to introduce her, or done it a little earlier, but no they brought her in the moment he said the translation.

Why? My guess is that they are hinting at Aaravos being involved with her return.

Personality

She is NOT acting right. She didn't care that an innocent dragon was being hurt, choosing to walk away like nothing happened. She also didn't look back to check Soren followed her, she didn't seem to care.

Not to mention that she never apologized to Callum, she just came back and pretended everything was back to normal. She didn't seem very empathetic to his pain at all.

Stella

I have absolutely zero trust I that little hell spawn, it's super suspicious. Idk what it is about her but she puts me off majorly.

My guess is that they are pulling a Shiro on us....

These were just off the top of my head, tell me any ideas or points I should have on here and I'll edit to add them. Might add stuff later anyway.

[kaseyskat]

please give me your theories

rubs my hands so.

my big crack theory right now is the idea that something Else happened during the timeskip re: rayla and aaravos. rayla felt soooo off to me during the entire season and while the cynic in me wants to shit on tdps writing the theorist in me wants to come up with Reasons for why she felt so off and this is my favorite one: she's a sleeper agent unknown to even herself.

batshit, right? hear me out.

rayla doesn't talk about her time scouting, except to say that she failed and found nothing. rayla has a pet that has a connection to the Star Arcanum, which we know is the rarest of them all and yet she just... found her? rayla breaks into the palace via the mirror in the high mage's chambers instead of callum's room, and stella makes herself known via stealing the key for literally no apparent reason. rayla spends the rest of the season seemingly unaffected by the timeskip, trying to get callum's attention, and just generally acting... so very out of character. it could be that she's used as a plot device for callum's arc (something I'm painfully familiar with, sideeying amphibia) but i do have a theory and this theory is: rayla Did find claudia and the aaravos worm, but not only does she not remember it, she's actively being used to spy on the main cast, with stella placed conveniently in her path as a way to hold and maintain the spell.

I think it'd be fun. it'd explain why rayla didn't find anything in the two years despite her being an expert hunter and tracker. it'd explain why she tries so hard to pretend nothing's happened if to her, it doesn't feel like it's been two years cause her memories were altered. it'd explain why she went to the mirrors location first - to check on it, for aaravos's sake - and why she's so subdued throughout the season. she is still rayla, but she's a rayla under the influence of an aaravos spell, taken advantage by an aaravos that remembers very well how his first chance at freedom was thwarted by her when she tackled viren off that cliff (and successfully killed him, unlike his taunt of her suggests).

is it too crazy? am I reading too much into things? perhaps. but a sleeper agent rayla regaining callum's trust only to be turned against him with the spell would just be so interesting and frankly a missed opportunity if they go the boring route and say rayla's just fine and not talking out of like, repression or whatever. i rest my case.

[redpanda-redpanda]

Still curious about why Aaravos can use what seems to be all magic. …And why Callum can seemingly do the same, despite being human. Some sort of connection between them? I still like my theory of them somehow being related, or at least Callum somehow having Startouch Elf somehow in his bloodline...or stars a primal source maybe? (I haven't read the books or interacted with the franchise outside of the show, so I don't know if this has been discussed or debunked or what.)

[legend-of-the-fandoms]

Not to be all like, "I told you so," about the whole "Callum gets possessed by Aaravos" thing, but uhhhh. I told you so.

[fantheories2412]

Same

[platinumgigi]

hiiii so I finished watching TDP season 4 and uhhh...it's...not what I was expecting?

I didn't hate it, there was a lot that I liked about it, some stuff that I loved about it. But there were also some things that I... really did not love about it.

I guess my main problem is just...Rayla. only because I do not know where the series is taking her.

Ever since the trailer where we finally got to see her again, I was all aboard the train of suspecting that she wasn't the real Rayla. Everything about her felt off, from her clothing comprised of dark pinks, purples and silvers (while I know that this is a color palette pretty similar to the ones a lot of other moonshadow elves have, I can't help but immediately think 'starry evening sky' when looking at her outfit) to the fact that she just randomly has a fucking star monkey with her?? Like...um??

And upon going into the new season with the theory that this might not be the real Rayla in mind, things made a lot of sense for a while; the way she acts, the way she treats other people (especially Callum), her priorities, etcetera. Especially with the scene when she first arrives back in Katolis and reunites with Callum—she just so happens to conveniently appear through the window (also, the window in the High Mage's study and not somewhere she'd know he would more likely be?) while Callum is repeating the translated runes of the mirror, with her totally not star-inspired color palette and totally unsuspicious star monkey and overall just pretends like coming back after more than two years since she left him that everything is fine? That they can just be normal again? She honestly doesn't seem really all that guilty and apologetic for it at all either???? None of it felt like Rayla at all—especially not from all the things we know she's been through and the lessons she's learned.

And I think the Fake!Rayla theory could probably still be possible, I guess my issue with the season lies in that...I think they're actually intending for this to be the real Rayla?

I don't know. It's 5AM as I'm writing this, I need to sleep, maybe I'll do some rewatching come tomorrow, but I think the best way I can sum up my thoughts is just that...like, it was a good season. I enjoyed it. But because I really don't know whether or not the Rayla we see in this season with her VERY SUSPICIOUS PET STAR MONKEY WITH PORTAL POWERS is the real Rayla, and honestly I'm trying to cling to all the hope that I can that this, at least in some way, isn't the true Rayla, because if it is, then god damn did the writers assassinate her character. (No pun intended.)