In continuation to my previous post about the prison break arc, I think I figured out one possible candidate for Fyodor’s Queen-- Nikolai Gogol (fyolai! haha but no I don’t mean in the shipping sense here)
Honestly, when Dazai and Fyodor started the game of chess I imagined they meant it figuratively as in to judge which one of their associates is the most powerful, most intelligent, most trusted etc. etc. (For example, how Roy Mustang assigned the positions to his subordinates?)
But no lol—they meant it literally—they were really playing a game of chess using people as their chess pieces; I can’t with these monsters (affectionate)— Why I am saying this is because then, we can throw out their personal attachments to the people (pieces) (if any) and treat this purely as a game of chess. Very interesting and so like them too!
Oh, btw, there is this big brain post from twitter that beautifully explains the whole game of chess between Dazai and Fyodor complete with chessboard images if you wanna check it out.
Now, then, back to the topic of Fyodor’s Queen—Firstly (for those who don’t know much about chess), the queen (♕, ♛) is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally or diagonally, combining the power of the rook and bishop.
That’s why Dazai’s Queen being Lucy Maud Montgomery makes so much sense. Lucy moves so freely about the board (Sky Casino) that she manages to transport Atsushi midair to Anne’s Room while he was falling to certain death from the aerial tower.
Sometimes, I feel like we don’t give her enough credit for all she contributes to the story and just how powerful her ability is. She freezes time inside her Room (she used it to store coffee beans!)—Anne’s Room isn’t in the least bit affected by the outside world—so mysterious is her ability that even she doesn’t know specific details about it such as the Key? Not to forget that however powerful be the ability users, inside her Room, they are at the mercy of Anne; that she carried the whole of the Sky Casino arc and to add she isn’t even part of the Agency?? Well, not officially, at least. Yeah, if it were not for Lucy, the Agency would have been done for before even they started. Well, I don’t particularly want her to join the Agency at the end of the story, just want her to keep doing what she likes, but I digress.
To put it simply, the Queen is the one chess piece with the highest freedom of movement on the board. On Fyodor’s side, the only ability user with that kind of freedom is Gogol. Gogol’s ability is almost on par with Lucy, except he can’t disappear altogether into his overcoat. He has to appear somewhere else but again, there is no limitation over how much distance he could cover and how many things he could store with his spatial manipulation.
Seems pretty plausible, right?
But there are some drawbacks to this theory,,, I will explain both the cases: what if Gogol is the Queen and if he is not.
Gogol is the Queen.
One thing I noted is that Fyodor didn’t mention his Queen even once during the whole of Sky Casino arc. He plays with his Rook (Sigma) and moves his King once (idk what that means in real time or maybe it’s just a compulsory free move lol) but more or less whatever pieces he moves are the Rook or the pawns (I believe the residents of the Casino and the Hunting Dogs (??) are the pawns? No idea)
Chess fun fact: you can checkmate with one rook and one pawn! See:
Overall, Fyodor’s movements were very minimal when compared to Dazai’s. Even Ango mentions this:
--and add to it Fyodor seeming surprised Dazai brings his Queen this early into the game:
What I am saying is that he did not move his Queen from its original position at all. Makes sense bc Gogol was out of the picture after the Wretched Chair arc. Gogol was believed to have died during that arc.
Moving forward, during the final showdown just after Sigma surrendered and was willing to impart information about the Page to Atsushi, he sends in Hawthorne (his Bishop as per the above post) to ‘kill’ Sigma as well as Atsushi. But then, Dazai moves his Queen (Lucy) to help his Knight (Atsushi) and they end up capturing Hawthorne in the process. Sigma falls from the sky.
So far, so good.
Now comes the confusing part. If Gogol indeed is his Queen, then it’d mean he moved his Queen for the first time to save his Rook but sacrificing his Bishop in the process. Just like how Lucy saves Atsushi, Gogol saves Sigma. Or to say, Fyodor isn’t all that infallible as Ango or Dazai were saying just after their loss in the Sky Casino. He did have to make a choice between saving one or the other of the pieces, right? (See, I am trying to write this totally unbiased and not bring my secret shipping propaganda here) so setting that aside, what I don’t understand is why and how Sigma is more valuable to him than the blood manipulating pastor who has been doing exactly as per his biddings? At first, I wondered if he was gonna opt for castling with Sigma but he has already changed positions now so that isn’t possible either. Maybe, he didn’t expect Hawthorne attaching himself to Atsushi with a thin line of blood and getting himself captured?
idk seems off to me too, but let’s just keep going and see all kinds of questions this hypothesis raises—the hypothesis that it really was Fyodor who sent Gogol to save Sigma:
one] shooting Sigma was a calculated risk on Fyodor’s part to make him fall from the height to the waiting Gogol and to stop him from revealing the location of the Page to Atsushi (which he did anyway and which I believe Fyodor didn’t foresee) I might be making Fyodor more empathetic toward Sigma than he is (and I am sure I am wrong) but I do believe he didn’t mean to straight up kill him, for he didn’t make Hawthorne use any of the poison-blood-ink-bullets (whatever those are) that he used on Fitzgerald. Remember, how he wanted to off the guy to stop them from using God’s Eye but Kyouka foiled his attempt with her quick action?
two] Fyodor was aware of Gogol not dying in the Wretched Chair arc. Gogol knows Fyodor knew about his escape too. He is playing the role of the Queen, after all. Maybe, all along that was the actual plan?
three] Fyodor lied to Sigma about the Decay of Angels plan since Sigma genuinely believed Gogol (Queen) was gonna die in the very first move.
four] Gogol is lying to Sigma about Fyodor’s intentions for him. In chapter 98, he says that Fyodor is gonna be hellbent on killing him one way or the other because his assassination attempt had failed. That’s how he convinced him to join him in the jailbreak.
But Fyodor is the one who sent him to save Sigma? Then, why is he lying?
I can think of two reasons: 1] Gogol decided to forfeit being a piece in Dostoyevsky’s game right after he was sent to save Sigma and decided to turn his game on itself. That’s why he needs Sigma to find out Fyodor’s ability so he can kill him OR 2] both Gogol and Fyodor know the real plan and are lying to Sigma.
phew, I am tired why is all this so complicated lol but tl;dr: Fyodor knew Gogol was alive and was purposely not moving him; he sent Gogol to save Sigma from falling to his death; now they are both lying about the real purpose of the jailbreak or Gogol has decided to stop being his chess piece.
Gogol is not the Queen.
In this case, the story is pretty much linear and goes as Sigma says and believes. Gogol was truly meant to die during the Wretched Chair operation. And, Fyodor expected him to be dead too.
So that, after escaping, Gogol secretly came to the Sky Casino of his own free will knowing that the next step in Decay of Angels’ plan is supposed to happen there. Then spotting Sigma falling from the sky, he saves him so he could use him to find out Dostoyevsky’s ability and kill him to free himself of ‘the brainwashing called feeling’. Well, this is quite simple and makes sense too compared to the first scenario which leaves me with more questions than answers if true lol
The only point I have here then: if Gogol isn’t Fyodor’s Queen, we haven’t met his Queen yet. It has to be some new character with an ability even more powerful than or on par with Lucy and Gogol, someone who can move freely about the board, someone who he hasn’t moved at all as of yet. Because of all the characters we met so far, I don’t think there is anyone else who fits the description?
Of course, there is a third scenario that he started off without a Queen which is... impossible, lol.
Oh, and I agree with the post I linked above that Chuuya could be one of Dazai’s Rooks just like Sigma is to Fyodor.
Does any of this make any sense? I hope so? You can tell me in the comments or the tags about what you think :D
Some theories I formed after rereading chapters 95/96 and my brain just won’t let me be so here lol:
1. Dazai too wanted to choose the security keycard but couldn’t. So, as a counterattack and having realized that Sigma is Fyodor’s ultimate weakness from their earlier conversation, he chose Sigma for the jailbreak escape item (based purely on this big brain post)
2. Contrary to how Dazai transmits his messages via encoded pulse variations to Ango, Fyodor directly controls the minds of his pawns and makes them do his biddings
3. Gogol (and Fyodor) are lying to Sigma about...almost everything
4. Fyodor will betray Fukuchi when no one expects.
Explanations under cut:
Dazai choosing Sigma:
I know there are many speculations about this sudden surprising choice from Dazai but what struck me as even more surprising is Fyodor’s choice.
Okay, let’s retrace a bit but first keep in mind that Dazai and Fyodor are equally matched in intelligence. Maybe, their strategies and their outlook toward life and existence are different. But they are head-to-head in their IQ department. Which is why got me thinking: what if Dazai too had wanted to choose the security keycard? Since Gogol passed the first chance to his dear friend, Dostoevsky, he couldn’t. Don’t ask me what either of their plans is for reaching the exit idk lol. But I am pretty sure they must have some sorta strategy laid out perfectly in their minds till they get to the final point.
After that? Dazai doesn’t have the final pass to escape and he’d get stuck. That’s where Sigma comes in. Based on the above post, if--if Fyodor does hold the Casino Manager in high regard (he considers Sigma above even himself which is saying a lot), he might hesitate to let him be killed in cold blood? (but then, again, since he had no qualms in getting him shot by Hawthorne so...yeah, doubtful)
Either way, what I know for sure is that Dazai didn’t choose Sigma for his own merits,,, ‘cause 1] If Dazai is planning to get some information from him, he can’t because his ability will be nullified. 2] Sigma isn’t a big fighter or anything. Even his ability is not suitable for stealth mission such as Light Snow. Yeah, Fyodor was going on and on about his being pushed to his limits and beyond since he is an ‘ordinary man’ but what use is there in being all that in a prison break? 3] Sigma is not even a trained assassin (as in he can’t be used to kill off all the guards in one strike or anything that impressive)
So then what remains?
Unless ofc Dazai is gonna throw a bomb like hey, Dos-kun, know what? I too am made from the Book like your friend here. So, you gotta give me the same kind of respect lolol well, that’d be interesting if it happens
Fyodor’s communication with the outside
Um, I don’t have any definite proof for this; I am just basing this off this panel:
Okay I know this is probably symbolism of the hold Dostoevsky has on this guy but what if it is literal? What if he can really control their minds once he reconfigures them? So, while Dazai is communicating outside via encoded pulse variations sent to Ango iirc, Fyodor might be directly mind-controlling all of his pawns.
Pros: he doesn’t suffer from any timelag or miscommunication. As soon as he sends the instructions, his pawns have to do as ordered. Esp., the more I see Hawthorne, the more I am sure this is what’s happening. Fyodor reconfigured his brain somehow so that he has become a mindless assassin purely acting on Fyodor’s orders.
Cons: He and he alone is controlling all the strings, which is...real bad in the long run. I don’t think Dazai has absolute control over the movement of his pieces. They do have room for their own thoughts and improvisations in case necessary. Like, in case of Ranpo, who Dazai lets move about the board in whatever way he thinks right. In the finale, maybe this is what will bite back Fyodor? He might keep his eyes only on Dazai’s movements and Ranpo will launch a surprise attack he didn’t predict at all??
Another thought: ig this is how the two pilots got poisoned as well. It is too much of a stretch to believe that he already knew everything Ranpo was planning and poisoned their drinks beforehand....but what if he mind-controlled them as soon as he knew of the situation and made them poison themselves with some secret “emergency back-up” poison kept in the aircraft glovebox? Well, again, *shrugs in let me ignore the whole radio program setup for communication in cannibalism arc lol*
Gogol lying to Sigma:
This just... is hard to explain. I am going by a gut impression of Sigma being lied to a lot by both Gogol and Fyodor. (regrettably understandable because of his ability. It is not a one-way psychometry but equivalent exchange (lol) based ability where he has to give a piece of information to his subject for something else in return. Both times he used his ability, the Agency got to know very sensitive information from him. For a very very careful guy like Fyodor, pretty sure he’s holding back most of his cards from Sigma.)
See, when Sigma said (and actually believed, oh what a sweet summer child!) that Gogol was really supposed to die during the Wretched Seat Incident according to their plan??? For an escape artist like Gogol with such a powerful ability, I doubt Fyodor won’t have foreseen him escaping... Plus, why do I feel like it was Fyodor who planned for Gogol to be in the exact place where Sigma was falling so he could save him? (And I don’t necessarily mean this in a Fyodor-cares-about-Sigma way but more like Fyodor-must-still-have-some-important-use-out-of-him...That and does he even so many people on his side to waste his resources in simple accidents? idk but again he isn’t showing all his pieces too. Sigma is the rook. Who is his queen??)
Anyway, back to topic; Gogol is definitely lying about his goal of the prison break. I don’t believe one bit of his he-is-my-close-friend-so-I-wanna-kill-him-to-get-liberation story. No, he is hiding his (their) true intentions from Sigma so that nobody could find out.
Or, maybe, so that everyone thinks of Sigma’s version of the story as what really happened? For example, if Fyodor fakes his death and puts on a good act before Sigma so he truly believes he is dead and only then whatever part A/B/C/D of their Plan No. 785362 will be enacted? (Most probably, it is to fool the Agency. Coming from Sigma, they might actually believe he is dead. No, but Dazai is right there; he will know, right? Okay, I give up lol everything in this story is just......for me lol)
Fyodor betraying Fukuchi
This....I just know this will happen at one point or the other. Firstly, Fyodor doesn’t have in his character to have loyalty to any one (probably not even to himself). Secondly, he doesn’t strike me as a man aiming for “World Domination” like Fukuchi. Fyodor strikes me more as a guy who would pull out one card and watch the entire tower topple just because more entertainment. I can’t figure out his real agenda but it’s definitely not something cliché like that. Part of his agenda does involve killing Ability Users and bringing down the Agency (and the Port Mafia) which is why he is allying with the war veteran as far as I understand. But he is the brains behind the whole operation. Kamui/Fukuchi is the leader of the DoA but he is the strategist. That’s why at some really critical point (entertaining point for him), after he’s made full use of Fukuchi’s position of power and everything gone according to his plans (whatever they are), he’s sure to pull the plug. Whether or not he will ally with the Agency is debatable but my advice to the Agency: don’t ever trust him lol. Again, I could be wrong and maybe, he’s just a typical villain aiming for World Domination,,, which’d be boring at its best
To sum up: Dazai will be the one to escape the prison (because the agency is in dire need of him rn and it won’t make sense for him to die yet), Sigma will join the ADA found family, Gogol will again disappear to wherever, Dostoyevsky will fake his death and lie low for a while before resurfacing and turning the game on its head again. Or, at least, this is what I think.
Uh, why does everything I write go for so long ;-;? See, I am pretty sure 99% of this is all wrong bc the author has a habit of flipping the script and bombing us with a plot twist every now and then. Still, this was quite fun to write XD
I don’t know why but this panel is too funny for me:
This is the face of a man who has no idea what he is getting into but he has to put up an impression that he-knows-everything coz that’s how he rolls; this is the fakest smile I have ever seen from him lol please it’s literally a pained smile just a bit better than Sigma who doesn’t even pretend to hide his discomfort like
At this point, Sigma has given up trying to cover his I-am-so-done-with-Gogol-I-have-been-dealing-with-his-bs-for-the-last-fifteen-chapters-somebody-HELP face (he has dark circles now, for crying out loud) and Dazai is obviously very new to all this
So, I was reading a bunch of theories (x, x, x, x, x, x) about his supposed ability and some of the common points I found in them: 1] his ability kills people who feel even the slightest guilt about their actions 2] it doesn’t work against other ability users 3] it is activated only by touch and through his hands (doesn’t matter if he touches someone or the other way round.) 4] it isn’t hindered by protective clothing (gloves etc.) (as we saw in the case of the officer under Ango who died trying to handcuff him) 5] I am not quite sure whether he has control over his ability or it is active all the time but that too
Now, this panel is very... interesting.
It pretty much confirms the second point, doesn’t it?
Assuming Gogol’s words to Atsushi aren’t lies and that he is indeed a sane person who feels remorse over his overly dramatic clown themed murders, he should be dead the moment he touched Fyodor’s hands. Since he didn’t, either he’s lying about his conscience or he is aware Fyodor’s ability can’t affect other ability users.
I wonder if Fyodor foresaw Gogol jumping up to grab his hands of all things (from his reaction he seems shocked but hard to say with this guy) Say, he does have control over his ability... in this situation he’d probably instinctively activate his ability rather than not lol
And...I get why he is so obsessed in finding the Book. If his ability could kill anyone with a guilty conscience by a single touch, he’d go around the world killing everyone with an ability (who are the greatest sinners according to him) and lastly end his own life I guess? But he can’t. His ability can’t punish those with the greatest “sins” (kinda ironic if you ask me) so he wants to rewrite the world making it free of abilities. Does bring about the question why he so intensely looks upon abilities as crimes and ability users as sinners.
tl;dr: anyway this is the first time we see someone grab his hands and live to tell the tale cause more chaos.
