Actually now that I think about it what allows someone to smell miasma it seems to be a rare ability that capella has with rem and all the mabeasts but it seems very rare which makes the ability to smell miasma seem special for some reason?
Even Garfiel can't smell it it only the clowns in the sanctuary that can and even then it seems only the one that can talk seem able too what do you think about miasma smelling?
While on that what causes miasma it can't be just authoriys since normal witch cultist have it so what makes it?
Gods, this is tough man. Genuinely have 0 solid clue but I can try I guess.
To first establish a basepoint for my brain to venture from and so you can all follow me so it’s not like I’m going into outer space with random trains of thought. Whom can sense/detect miasma are the following.
Reinhard
Rem
Ryuzu Shima
Capella (?)
Petelgeuse
Beatrice
Sloth Fingers/Regular Sloth Grunts
Mabeasts
Now. What can we say about these that has some common point? Well. At the very least they are alive.
To slip into an adjacent topic of what is behind sensing miasma, I’ll answer what causes miasma beyond an Authority that you asked. That I believe is corrupted mana since miasma is that at the end of the day.
Now this doesn’t explain how the Cult has such a mass amount of people with corrupted mana, but I think that comes from the Gospel which we know is a fork off the Tome of Wisdom which is apparently an item of an Authority.
Perhaps the Gospel is some kind of meteor in classification so it is enough of a magical item that it emits its own magical presence of mana that is then corrupted so it leeches miasma.
We know Al’s helmet where Rem in LN 6 is sniffing where the miasma Al emits is coming from, and I did speculate that helmet has good evidence of actually being a meteor (see the Al Helmet = Meteor tag for specific details on why I believe that) so the idea of items emitting the corrupted mana that is miasma to leech onto the Witch Cultists via their Gospels and make them stink makes sense.
So with this in mind, let’s circle around to what precisely causes miasma detection. This is an odd topic. So I’m going to break it down further to get some more clearer parameters.
Created by a Witch
Beatrice
Mabeasts
Ryuzu Shima
Rem (if Oni’s = Mabeasts is true anyways. Thus this is a ? still.)
Regarding Ryuzu here, Bilma or the others couldn’t detect Miasma. Only Shima. Since it was only Shima (whom had Echidna’s soul inside her) this then implies that having a connection to a Witch in some capacity is necessary to detect miasma.
Next. We have…
Authority Holders
Petelgeuse
Sloth Fingers
Capella
Capella is still iffy if she can detect the miasma tbh, but she is an Authority holder so hence making the category this. I think basically if you have a lvl of miasma (as would also the regular Sloth Cultists) you are able to detect miasma due to it maybe resonating with you?
To clarify on the resonating point. Here in these screenshots and subsequent discussions from me from LN 5-
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 2 · Oh? So the Cultists chant WAS doing something to Subaru here that’s nice to see confirmed. The way this is all framed - esp
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 7 · Hmmm.. so the closer proximity to Petelgeuse - and also other Cultists - makes this “black wriggling thing” Subaru’s been d
-where it seemed as if Subaru was being prepped for a ritual with miasma to take over his mind and it was partly happening before he luckily got snapped out of that state.
With these 2 things, my brain is coming to the general conclusion that some of the categories to sense miasma are a connection to a Witch & being attuned to miasma in some specific way be it through a ritual or being made from birth in a way that makes you attuned.
Since Subaru was not attuned but is an Authority user + has a connection a Witch, that could help make this make more sense why he can’t detect miasma even as the other Archbishops can.
However even as this all makes sense… it leaves one big question of the people whom can sense miasma.
The sus redhead. Why can he detect it?
If we go by what I’ve been saying on paper, the audience believes Reinhard has 0 connection to a Witch + hasn’t been attuned in any facet to miasma. Thus this raises more ??? for him.
Reinhard’s method of miasma detection we know is unusual compared to the rest as whilst the others compare miasma to a stench, Reinhard in The Oni Sisters of the Hidden Village SS talked about realizing miasma was there in the following manner.
“A hint of miasma… no wonder the guards were running around the capital.”
The verbiage utilized here is not making it clear it is in fact a stench to Reinhard but doesn’t fully rule it out either leaving it ambiguous.
If Reinhard doesn’t detect it in the fashion of a stench I believe Reinhard is detecting it via sensing corrupted mana since Reinhard can suction mana in so he clearly has a weird dynamic with mana.
Reinhard also critically lacks the ability to have any element of magic accept him. He can solely use mana and that is it due to his wonky Gate. However the elements not even being a thing that Reinhard has an affinity for should be a red flag since you can have an affinity whilst having a not pristine Gate or even having a DP.
To give some leeway, Reinhard’s Gate is unusual amongst even the typical defective Gate we have seen in the series + Reinhard has multiple DP’s so perhaps something about those things could be influencing him and it’s not as much of a red flag as it is.
But. This is me. And I don’t believe in coincidences. So something about Reinhard’s ability to have a mass amount of DP’s + his defective Gate makes me think Reinhard potentially at birth was attuned to miasma in an unnatural fashion that might make Reinhard so unappealing to the magical elements.
The lack of stench mention to Reinhard’s miasma detection adds to this since we see people like Petelgeuse and whatnot using magic still whilst being inundated w/ miasma and sensing it via stench, so magical elements don’t flee on miasma residing heavily in a person whom can detect it.
With those bits of yapping out of the way, what could fulfill the plausible clause of needing a Witch connection then that Reinhard might need to meet to sense miasma if he already fits the attune clause?
Fairly simple albeit tinfoil hat. I think Reinhard might have a connection to Satella in some capacity.
Reinhard we know pays a LOT attention to the moon and feels unease at it. The moon is linked to the Observers obviously (whom Reinhard is obviously heavily linked to) but the moon is also linked to Satella prominently.
There is also the fact that Reinhard might have potential Sword God Reid Astrea in his head & I spoke in the Loving the Days Gone By SS how Reid & Toska may have shared the DP so if that is true, some Od’s are being shared between Reid and the current DP holder.
The idea of Od’s bring shared between Reid and the DP holder also does grow stronger with this here-
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 1 · Like to see how marriages & children resultant of bloodlines are framed in a feudal society like this. The portion on the
-from the Sword Demon Love Story: The Other Side of The Honeymoon SS where we learn the Astreas blood is so strong they basically marry anybody and can keep their bloodline the same as it always is.
However this in actuality could that Reid’s Od anchored to the current DP holder essentially is keeping the classic Astrea look of red hair and sky blue eyes always active no matter what since we know Od is linked to one’s appearance with Omega & Shima, and how Echidna as a multi century soul began to overtake Shima’s appearance. So Reid could be doing the same thing at a more tame lvl since he’s not outright possessing the DP holders.
Anyhow. This is meaning that Reinhard might have access to things Reid knows + if their Od’s are jumbled together maybe something about that transfers over to Reinhard given we know Reid was involved at the site of the Covenant w/ Volcanica in Ex 3 & I’ve speculated Satella was the OG Dragon Priestess soooo. Perhaps Satella & Reid had a deeper relationship.
The idea does gain further traction on to me in that we have 0 idea how Reid’s probable soul was shoved into the Dragon Sword to have the thing be sentient, but Satella has showcased some ability to do some soul fuckery with her whole Contract w/ Subaru. If Satella was behind it and assisted Reid maybe she has some traces of her Od chilling with Reid.
Anywaaaays. Another thing that could link Reinhard to Satella (and thus give Reinhard the connection to a Witch necessary to detect miasma) beyond what I’ve already discussed here is simply the narrative itself.
To clarify what I mean by that, Reinhard explicitly parallels Subaru in the following ways.
Seen as a Hero by others, referred to such by narration
Both have obscenely powerful abilities
Can come back from the dead
Extremely self deprecating
Serve as personal Knights to the only 2 Candidates who lacked the Heaven motif classic of the Observers in their Candidacy Speeches
As you can see, bunch of parallels. So having an angle where Reinhard is connected to Satella in some way (albeit not as intimately as Subaru) wouldn’t exactly narratively be implausible with how Tappei has purposefully paralleled these two.
We also never see Reinhard speak of Satella or the Witch on screen ever from what I’ve seen so far of the series. Think about that. So we have 0 idea what Reinhard views Satella as, just the standard baseline assumption of Witch = Evil as we do for everybody else.
Apologies if I went on a long rant, but hey. These are my thoughts after a good amount of work and running in circles.