On the Kurta Clan Massacre- a theory
Yeah.. Sheila's probably dead;
I went back and reread the "Kurapika's Memories" chapter, and at this point of the plot and time, there were some things that struck me;
I'm sure this is something that must have been explored a lot in the fandom already, but there's a lot of suspicious and fishy things going on in those two chapters, so I want to leave it out here:
(This was originally written in another language and has been translated using a translator, sorry if it sounds a little awkward.. I didn't want to write the same thing twice)
Looking at it again now, this author really likes to insert small narrative devices.
For example, even passing moments—like Pairo taking out eye drops—turn out to be foreshadowing you can only notice upon rereading.
In the village where Kurapika lived, they said, “No one has ever broken the rules, so we don’t know what happens if you do.”
But realistically, there’s no way no one ever broke a rule.
And if it was a relatively autonomous, utopian community with over a hundred people, there must have been someone like Kurapika—someone uncontrollable or curious about the outside world.
Now, what’s interesting is that this situation parallels, but also contrasts with, the Meteor City backstory in Chrollo’s past. There, people constantly intrude, and even children wander around freely (which leads to kidnappings, deaths, and so on). Those tragedies became so frequent that Chrollo changed in order to prevent them.
In contrast, Kurapika’s community seems internally safe but very closed off. For such a society to sustain itself, there must have been something—perhaps the elders’ control, or some kind of power struggle.
I haven’t seen Midsommar, but maybe it was something like that—outwardly beautiful and peaceful, but not what it seemed underneath.
It’s possible that Sheila just left a letter and disappeared, but…
Afterward, the elder took away the book that Sheila had given Kurapika as a gift. When he saw Kurapika reacting innocently to it, he muttered something like, “He’s acting as if it’s his own book.”
That means he probably knew about Sheila’s existence.
Of course, he would know Kurapika wasn’t the original owner of the book, but this man showed no curiosity about where that book came from.
So I think Sheila might have been discovered and killed.
It’s also possible that individual members of the Phantom Troupe, like Uvogin, didn’t know the full story.
Maybe the Meteor City elders found out that one of their residents had been killed by the Kurta clan, and they informed Chrollo. (The elders of Meteor City seem to trust Chrollo, after all.)
Since Chrollo tends to bear everything alone, he might have avoided telling the other members about Sheila so they wouldn’t feel grief.
He could have just told them, “One of our people was killed by a Kurta—so we’ll avenge them.”
That would explain why the Troupe calls Kurapika “the Chain User” but doesn’t seem to recognize him specifically as the last survivor of the Kurta clan. Even Uvogin, upon learning it, didn’t react that strongly.
For the Troupe, their code is simple: “They hurt one of ours, so we’ll retaliate.”
But to carry out their mission that brutally… I feel like something quite irreversible and severe must have happened. It might not be so much of a stretch to think that someone must have actually died. That level of cruelty and amorality doesn’t come from nowhere.
And it’s consistent with how this story tends to show the cause of tragedies instead of just implying them.
The stuff around Sheila feels suspicious, and since the Troupe did commit the massacre, and Sheila was known to have close ties with them, the whole thing feels like a butterfly effect stemming from whatever happened to her.
It fits structurally too—it gives the story that kind of narrative symmetry and satisfaction that makes you think, “Ah, that’s why it was written this way.”
But Chrollo might actually know the full story behind the Kurta clan massacre—why they went there, what led to it.
If Sheila really was killed by the Kurtas, and Chrollo knew about it, that could make a future meeting between him and Kurapika much more dramatic.
Did Chrollo know that Kurapika was a Kurta?
Uvogin found out because Kurapika told him directly.
But did Kurapika ever say that to Chrollo?
Even if he did, I doubt Chrollo would’ve felt the need to bring up the whole story at that moment—saying, “Your people killed one of ours, so we wiped out your whole clan". (I’ll check that part again later.)
And now, this might sound conspiratorial, but I’ve been getting an uneasy feeling.
If the fact that “Kurta eyes are valuable” was widely known—that they sold for high prices—then wouldn’t it make sense for the village to openly tell the children and residents, “We’re hiding because people hunt us for our eyes, so don’t ever go outside”?
Instead, they just talk vaguely about “rules.”
Even the villagers don’t seem to really know what the danger is.
They mention “red-eye hunters” in passing, but if your survival literally depends on that threat, it would be something you’d talk about constantly.
So now I wonder—what happened to people who tried to leave before Kurapika?
Did anyone ever return after leaving? It doesn’t seem so.
Kurapika was a special case—he got official permission to leave—but what about others?
If someone tried to sneak out, or an outsider wanted to leave after visiting, were they killed to keep them silent?
Maybe the Elders have had ties with some outside factions like the Meteor City or mafia groups? The elders could have killed anyone who broke the “rules,” then secretly sold their eyes to fund the community’s survival.
Remember, the Kurta were massacred not long after Kurapika left. That means someone already knew where their village was.
For such a secretive place, doesn’t that suggest some sort of external contact or hidden deal?
Maybe they had mutual interests with outsiders for a while, but when a Meteor City resident was killed (perhaps while trying to protect the Kurta’s secret), Meteor City retaliated and wiped them out.
Something feels off in these first ten or so pages.
Even Kurapika’s mother questioning why only the elder has a mobile phone seems suspicious. The Kurta clan doesn’t really feel like a normal community.
And just now, I skimmed the later part again—
Kurapika's given an “indefinite permission to leave.”
This might sound like a conspiracy theory, but—
What if Kurapika actually would have been in danger if the Phantom Troupe hadn’t massacred the Kurta clan?
I’m not saying what the troupe did was right, of course—but think about it: they sent a child out alone, with “indefinite” leave, without even saying “come back soon” or “be safe.”
Isn’t that odd?
If Kurapika's given an indefinite leave, it wouldn't be that strange for his family members or close members to believe that he never chose to come back, is too busy to return or whatever. They'd be concerned, but they'd just believe he's off outside enjoying and having fun, even if that's not what's actually true.
Sure, you could say they believed in him, or had grown fond of him, and wanted him to see the world—but there are a lot of ominous details.
Sheila’s letter, for example—just left behind, and the children saying, “She probably didn’t tell us in person because it was too hard for her.”
That kind of scene usually works best when the truth is darker than it looks.
The villagers disapproved of people leaving, yet they sent a young boy out alone? Even if he was mature for his age, it doesn’t make sense for such an isolated community that sees the outside as dangerous.
Yes, in HxH’s world kids roam around freely, but given what we know about this village, isn’t it unrealistic that Kurapika was treated as a special exception?
(Though, you could say it parallels Chrollo, who was also the “hope” of Meteor City.)
Ironically, isn’t it possible that Kurapika’s life was spared because of the Phantom Troupe?
If later, upon meeting again, Chrollo were to tell him, “Your elder was planning to kill you. The Kurta weren’t what you thought. If we hadn’t destroyed the village, you’d have died soon after leaving—and your eyes would’ve become part of that collection you despised”…
That would be shocking, but it could also make narrative sense.
Besides, there seems to be something hidden about the Kurta clan—something ordinary families and children aren't entirely aware of. Why is the Elder the only one with a phone? What does he use it for? Who does/did he contact?
It feels like that’s going to be revealed eventually.
And the Kurta seem to have been quite aggressive, a clan that had been feared and hated on.
What did they do, that's caused to refer to them as “demons,” or say, “If we offend them, they’ll wipe us out” upon just seeing a kid with their trait? Even normal people from neighboring villages showed open fear and resentment. < This is something to take note of. What was their reaction based on?
What did they do in the past?
Is there still something happening behind the scenes, led by the elders?
Before, I just thought it was cruel that people discriminated against a child like Kurapika—but now, when I look at the old women and villagers, their reactions are mixed with fear. And that sort of feeling doesn't just stem from nowhere. Something has happened, and it might have been happening for quite some time for those village people to react in such an agitated way.
That suggests something more than plain prejudice against red eyes.
It’s as if the Kurta actually did something—perhaps a ritual, or even massacres of their own.
It seems there are still things left unrevealed.
Even if they are revealed later, it wouldn’t mean Kurapika deserved what happened to him. But it does feel like there’s more to the story—something crucial that hasn’t yet come to light.
So that's something I look forward to being expanded on.
