Not sure if you already answered a question like this, but it would be impossible if in this arc right now, o!Ciel doesn't experience defeat. So my assumption would be Snake and Finny's. I don't know why but I have a gut feeling either one of them might die. Snake dying, and seeing the Circus members again in his death, or Finny dying as for his love and loyalty for o!Ciel. So in the servant's arc, who do you think has the possibility to fail?
Great question! Although you and @heyheresthekurochapter have already posted some meta on this topic, here are my thoughts on the outcomes of the remaining missions:
Although both Bard and Lau have proven themselves to be deadly fighters, there’s an element of distrust to their relationship that could hinder efforts at teamwork. As Bard thinks to himself in the panel below, Lau is inscrutable even at the best of times. Unlike the Phantomhive servants, who are driven by loyalty to their young master, Lau is only involved for personal gain. And of course, there’s a strong possibility that Bard’s PTSD will be triggered during his time at the sanatorium, which would leave him mentally and emotionally compromised. If Lau thinks Bard has become incapable of completing the mission, or if other factors unfavorably alter the risk:reward ratio, he may decide this isn’t worth his while and abandon ship.
Meanwhile, Ronald is currently a wild card. In a worst-case scenario, he might view Lau and Bard as impediments to his own investigations into Undertaker’s activities (which I suspect is his reason for being there). If so, he might take a more antagonistic role...and having a death god pitted against them would dramatically decrease Bard’s and Lau’s chances of success.
All that being said...I think the most likely outcome is that Lau and Bard will team up with Ronald to destroy the sanatorium. The reapers learned the hard way aboard the Campania that, if they waste their energy on picking fights with O!Ciel’s crew while also trying to take out Undertaker, the old reaper will run rings around them. They’ll need to join forces if they want to end his plans once and for all. I suspect there will be severe casualties given Bard’s penchant for firearms and explosives, but if Ronald joins our bois, their odds of winning are much higher.
I’m on the fence about how their arc will pan out. We’ve already read Finny’s backstory, so unlike with Mey and (presumably) Bard, Yana won’t have to devote time to fleshing it out. She might decide to give us a bit of Snake’s backstory...or he might start to realize the truth about what really happened to his family. Maybe Finny accidentally lets something slip in conversation about that one time he, Mey, and Bard took out the weird circus people. If Snake manages to put the pieces together, he may retaliate by killing Finny (even superstrength can’t withstand snake venom) and hurry to the hotel to exact vengeance on “Smile” and “Black.”
This is possibly foreshadowed in the Akuma 6 bonus chapter, where Snake’s snakes steal one of the rosettes to form a single giant serpent, which Sebastian then must fight.
In addition, Finny is still more or less a child. Given his past trauma and the fact that he’s separated from the other servants, the psychological pressure may take a toll on him even if his relationship with Snake stays intact. And there’s also the chance that our sweet, openhearted boi might accidentally break his cover and attract suspicion. Out of the three teams, I definitely think Snake + Finny is the most likely to fail.
However, from a writing perspective, I think it might actually make sense for all three groups to succeed...because that would cut R!Ciel down to size. At present, he’s still too big for his britches, recognizing his brother’s intelligence but not fully grasping how much O!Ciel has grown during the elder twin’s absence, and what he’s now capable of. If three of his major blood supplies are cut off, that will put much more pressure on R!Ciel while also forcing him to recognize O!Ciel as a true equal, and likely propel him and Undertaker towards a final confrontation with Sebastian and O!Ciel at the hotel. In other words, it’ll raise the stakes.
But Yana may prove me completely wrong, and having Snake and Finny fail and/or die would certainly up the suspense for both O!Ciel and the readers. Sorry I was kind of all over the place with this answer! 🙈
