Here are my thoughts on Chapter 404 of Hunter x Hunter, “Speculation”.
Zhang Lei’s Ability
Both Zhang Lei and Kurapika seem to believe the third prince’s coins will only have an effect after he becomes king.
I still don’t buy it. After all, Kurapika concludes the coins probably have another power: pseudo-coercive manipulation.
In all likelihood, the coin will have a far more substantial effect on Coventoba than what’s being hinted here. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Kurapika is missing something big about Zhang Lei’s ability—something that makes it a threat not only after but during the Succession Contest.
Halkenburg
I love the disturbing close-ups of Halkenburg in this chapter. They really lean into the horror atmosphere of the arc.
Even just the idea of Halkenburg’s soul having no body to return to is a bit spooky.
Before Chapter 391, I predicted Halkenburg would be the next prince to die, though I’m not sure I can take credit for being right here.
Back to the Troupe
In my post about Chapter 400, I explained how I thought the Troupe's actions aligned with the Succession War timeline-wise. In particular, I focused on the following panel, postulating that the “emergency announcement" would serve as a uniting event between the timelines.
“I believe this announcement will serve as a “uniting event” for these time jumps... As a result, it seems likely that Melody’s scenes take place before the announcement... Personally, I think this announcement concerns something we have yet to see.”
– LIBRARY OF KAKIN, "CLARIFYING 400"
Chapter 404 confirmed my suspicions: the announcement is about Halkenburg’s death.
There is a guiding thread to this scattered chapter. Everything is moving forward to a big ol kerfuffle tomorrow night. Building off of the recent setup for Kacho/Fugetsu's team and their upcoming assassination attempt. But this time I want to try and cast a wide net instead of focusing on just the part that intrigues me the most.
Starting here. We have a very tense exchange between Kurapika and the Third Prince. A lot of it though is just making characters aware of stuff we already know. Very cool how Pika picks up on the First Prince's guard likely swiping an early coin. But we go over how Zhang Lei's power seems to work, reiterate it'll show its true strength after he wins the war, and reinforce that the mafia games on the lower decks matter here. Especially when Benjamin is looking for a good excuse to declare martial law. I'd also note here the worry that Second Prince Camilla will use the next round of nen lessons to strike at Woble with her curse-carriers. But this man ain't no main character, no that's coming up...
The #1 main man himself, Leorio! I can't believe this is the first time I get to really talk about him being here on the whale ship. And it's very little honestly. Just a reminder he's with Cheadle and part of this mission to finish off his medical training. Truth be told, I feel like he's just biding his time here to have a bigger role in the Dark Continent when we get there. Will Kurapika even continue on? Recall the plan is to dump most of the Kakin people on an island that's uninhabited but still a ways away from the actual DC. Morel will make good on being introduced as a deep sea hunter for the rest of the trip.
Still, this is around something very important. Halkenburg is taking a huge gamble right now. He swapped bodies through his power with one of Benjamin's guards. In true Togashi fashion we get a whole diatribe about how this works. He will have a limited time after his body dies to control the guard's body and from the sound of it thinks he can execute his master stroke in that frame. Looking at the timeframe, it seems to line up fairly well with when Kacho is planning to strike at Seventh Prince Luzurus. That's the running theme here, and something I've figured about the Succession Contest for a while. There'll be one big moment where everything comes to a head and winnows down the number of princes dramatically.
Meanwhile, #4 still seems to be engrossed with his nen training. Which is something I keep thinking about him. I get a lot of Meruem vibes out of Tserri the more we see of him. He's so powerful, so detached that the revelation of nen has finally given him something to capture his attention. Like Meruem when he finally met his match in Komugi. There was someone out there who could compete with him in some way, that knowledge consumed him.
We've had aspects of this series that hint that nen changes a person. Tserri is a very bored person when we meet him. Consistently this training with nen has solved that. I don't think he'll become a good guy through this, just that he may become a bit of an ascetic like Netero. Isaac, not Beyond. Though he may differ on the challenge of the Dark Continent. Honestly...that's kinda what I see out of him. He'll ultimately be willing to forsake the contest over the chance to explore the real mystery.
And to bring it all home, we have the announcement of Halkenburg's death and impending funeral procession. Which leads to a little update on the Troupe. Not much to say there, Feitan's pretty funny, but of course they're here and involved and could throw a huge wrench in the main plans if Kurapika goes a little nutty learning that.
I know many said All Might had to die cause he is the mentor and the mentors in Shonen always die..... but in MHA Horikoshi likes to twist things up.
It is true that mentors of the main characters usually do die, but it's more towards the middle of the series. If All Might was ever going to die, it would have been at Kamino, but not now towards the end of the series.... it wouldn't make sense. It's been built up that he was going to survive. All Might went to his lowest after losing his powers, we saw him struggle but at the same time, we saw him wanting to live, to be a better teacher, to live fully among his students. Another clue is his eyes. All Might, except for his younger years, had black eyes, and this was to show him losing hope over the years, fighting crime but an end never coming. But in the latest fight his eyes went back to being white, because his students, all of Class A, are inspiring him, instilling hope back in him for a bright future.
