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 momentsâlike Pairo taking out eye dropsâturn out to be foreshadowing you can only notice upon rereading.
In the village where Kurapika lived, they said, âNo one has ever broken the rules, so we donât know what happens if you do.â
But realistically, thereâs 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 Kurapikaâsomeone uncontrollable or curious about the outside world.
Now, whatâs interesting is that this situation parallels, but also contrasts with, the Meteor City backstory in Chrolloâs 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, Kurapikaâs community seems internally safe but very closed off. For such a society to sustain itself, there must have been somethingâperhaps the eldersâ control, or some kind of power struggle.
I havenât seen Midsommar, but maybe it was something like thatâoutwardly beautiful and peaceful, but not what it seemed underneath.
Itâs possible that Sheila just left a letter and disappeared, butâŚ
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, âHeâs acting as if itâs his own book.â
That means he probably knew about Sheilaâs existence.
Of course, he would know Kurapika wasnât 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.
Itâs also possible that individual members of the Phantom Troupe, like Uvogin, didnât 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 wouldnât feel grief.
He could have just told them, âOne of our people was killed by a Kurtaâso weâll avenge them.â
That would explain why the Troupe calls Kurapika âthe Chain Userâ but doesnât seem to recognize him specifically as the last survivor of the Kurta clan. Even Uvogin, upon learning it, didnât react that strongly.
For the Troupe, their code is simple: âThey hurt one of ours, so weâll retaliate.â
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 doesnât come from nowhere.
And itâs 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 tooâit gives the story that kind of narrative symmetry and satisfaction that makes you think, âAh, thatâs why it was written this way.â
But Chrollo might actually know the full story behind the Kurta clan massacreâwhy 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 wouldâve felt the need to bring up the whole story at that momentâsaying, âYour people killed one of ours, so we wiped out your whole clan". (Iâll check that part again later.)
And now, this might sound conspiratorial, but Iâve been getting an uneasy feeling.
If the fact that âKurta eyes are valuableâ was widely knownâthat they sold for high pricesâthen wouldnât it make sense for the village to openly tell the children and residents, âWeâre hiding because people hunt us for our eyes, so donât ever go outsideâ?
Instead, they just talk vaguely about ârules.â
Even the villagers donât seem to really know what the danger is.
They mention âred-eye huntersâ in passing, but if your survival literally depends on that threat, it would be something youâd talk about constantly.
So now I wonderâwhat happened to people who tried to leave before Kurapika?
Did anyone ever return after leaving? It doesnât seem so.
Kurapika was a special caseâhe got official permission to leaveâbut 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 ârules,â then secretly sold their eyes to fund the communityâs 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, doesnât 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 Kurtaâs secret), Meteor City retaliated and wiped them out.
Something feels off in these first ten or so pages.
Even Kurapikaâs mother questioning why only the elder has a mobile phone seems suspicious. The Kurta clan doesnât really feel like a normal community.
And just now, I skimmed the later part againâ
Kurapika's given an âindefinite permission to leave.â
This might sound like a conspiracy theory, butâ
What if Kurapika actually would have been in danger if the Phantom Troupe hadnât massacred the Kurta clan?
Iâm not saying what the troupe did was right, of courseâbut think about it: they sent a child out alone, with âindefiniteâ leave, without even saying âcome back soonâ or âbe safe.â
Isnât 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 worldâbut there are a lot of ominous details.
Sheilaâs letter, for exampleâjust left behind, and the children saying, âShe probably didnât tell us in person because it was too hard for her.â
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 doesnât make sense for such an isolated community that sees the outside as dangerous.
Yes, in HxHâs world kids roam around freely, but given what we know about this village, isnât it unrealistic that Kurapika was treated as a special exception?
(Though, you could say it parallels Chrollo, who was also the âhopeâ of Meteor City.)
Ironically, isnât it possible that Kurapikaâs life was spared because of the Phantom Troupe?
If later, upon meeting again, Chrollo were to tell him, âYour elder was planning to kill you. The Kurta werenât what you thought. If we hadnât destroyed the village, youâd have died soon after leavingâand your eyes wouldâve become part of that collection you despisedââŚ
That would be shocking, but it could also make narrative sense.
Besides, there seems to be something hidden about the Kurta clanâsomething 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 thatâs 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 âdemons,â or say, âIf we offend them, theyâll wipe us outâ 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 Kurapikaâbut 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.
Itâs as if the Kurta actually did somethingâperhaps a ritual, or even massacres of their own.
It seems there are still things left unrevealed.
Even if they are revealed later, it wouldnât mean Kurapika deserved what happened to him. But it does feel like thereâs more to the storyâsomething crucial that hasnât yet come to light.
So that's something I look forward to being expanded on.
