Happy Father's Day 2026 in honour of all the Dads in Escaflowne! I created these images using official art / screenshots from the anime along with my original edits in Picmix. Who is your favourite father in Escaflowne? I like King Goau Fanel and Duke Mahad because they're both very loving towards their wives and sons - even if it's rather complicated in Duke Mahad's case!
I was scrolling through some of @fayrinferno 's posts and... If Leon was the first to set foot on Asgard, there's NO surprise or commentary that Isaac, then later (Zaiback) guards are there. Aslo, I don't recall, does Leon know they're Zaibackian? Does the Esca company know they're Zaibackian? Is Hitomi seeing Dryden's diary reading? Is it only us the audience that knows the truth?
Plothole much?
Personally I like to think that over the how many thousand years, at least a few people were passion-driven about Atlantis to attempt the trip to Asgard. Leon is the current 'crazy' who tried it.
🤔... Now I'm wondering if Dornkirk followed Leon. That makes logical sense.
@radical-rad1986 @konstantya in response to this post:
Don't blame the messenger, lol. But yes, it does say that.
But then, I was thinking... what did I think of the whole thing, really? Why would he be so desperate to meet this girl he only talked for a while again? Why else would Allen flip out when Dryden reads about her from the journal? Well, the obvious take is that he "fell in love" with her and dumped his family for that. What's your take?
This actually gave me a reason to do something I had planned for a longer while: to take a closer look at the Leon and Hitomi's grandma situation.
I never really paid too much attention to that part of the story, because yes, it's sort of creepy as it is and it's also sort of complicated with the timeline revealed through Hitomi's visions, random flashbacks and excerpts from Leon's journal. So maybe it will be nothing new for those who were actually analyzing it before already. But here goes, and chronologically this time.
The First Meeting
First revealed part (cold start to ep. 16)
What do we know of the first meeting? Younger!Leon (or let's call him Moustache Leon) climbs some sort of mountain. It's windy and foggy but not frozen; he just climbs a mountain for whatever reason, wherever he is, during his search for the secrets of Atlantis. On the top, a pillar of light hits, bringing a girl with it -- with a summer yukata and a pinwheel.
Second revealed part (Hitomi's vision)
Their revealed conversation goes something like this:
ML: "I can't believe it. You're from the Mystic Moon. I left on this journey to leave all my ties behind. But when I look at you, at your eyes... I think that maybe it was all in vain. You'll forgive me, won't you?"
HG: ... (gets whisked away by the pillar of light)
This doesn't seem to be something that a man falling in love on a first sight would say? Also, what is interesting, Allen gives the very same "you'll forgive me, won't you?" line to Hitomi in "present day", as he flips out about his dad and she is concerned.
Anyway, how old is ML at this point? Are the ties he mentions his family here already? I was hit by an idea that he could possibly be not married yet? Later on, he calls it an "encounter of his youth". Is it possible, he met the girl before marrying Encia, he tried to forget her and the whole Atlantis discourse but later on, he can't escape the restless wish to look into it further?
Whatever it is, he is supposed to be much younger here than his bearded self that appears in the other visions and such. If this is actually the first time he had left his family, I believe he would be in his late 20s or older (Allen is about 10 at the time). If this is before starting a family, perhaps even early 20s. Making the age difference same as Allen and Hitomi/Millerna.
The Search
First revealed part (Leon's journal)
Year of Crystal Northeast, Green, 12th Moon
In his search, Leon (the Older or Bearded; BL) is coming to the dark continent of Asgard, where "no man has set foot before". This means that the first meeting with the girl did not take place in Asgard! I believe I never realized it before.
Also, Leon is not searching for the girl per se (meaning he expects to find her there), he is searching for "the Mystic Valley, where the power that makes miracles happen resides - the Power of Atlantis".
Next, we are shown the leviship that is about to crash into the seas near Asgard. Leon "paid a large sum for the ship and the crew" and will not let them turn around. He is then shipwrecked and washes ashore of Asgard, possibly after several days. He mentions "the memory of girl reappeared, and that the gods led him there". It was "destiny". He also reveals he is seeking to "ascertain his feelings for the girl" and that "everything he looks for is in the Mystic Valley". I feel like he is planning to use the power of Atlantis to summon her.
Blue, 16th Moon
Bearded Leon reaches "driven snow and jagged rocks" that block his path. He also meets "Isaac" an old man saying he comes from the Mystic Moon.
White, 3rd Moon
Bearded Leon walks the misty moor that he is convinced is the last obstacle just before the Mystic Valley together with Isaac, but loses him in the fog. He doesn't care much as he is hell-bent on "revealing the mystery of Atlantis", and "meeting that girl, because if he can meet her..." Aaaand Allen has a ragefit and won't let him finish.
The Reunion
First part (revealed by Allen's vision in the Mystic Valley)
Bearded Leon is injured and runs from the Zaibach soldiers. He says "they chased after him since he left the valley" and that they were after "the mystery of Atlantis". But then, his whole visit to the Mystic Valley happens offscreen, doesn't it. And without any obvious results. What does happen to him there? What is the content of the torn journal page? Did the gate open for him, like it did for Hitomi and co.? Because apparently, the big realizations come only after he leaves the valley, is assaulted and left for dead by Zaibach.
Who, as it turns out, just wanted his journal, but he was cleverer than them and had ripped the important pages out. They, on the other hand, were dumb enough to kill him even if they wanted information out of him (you were supposed to be smart, Isaac). Defeated Isaac/Dornkirk leaves, left to his own devices about Atlantean power.
Then, using the pendant (that he has now and can be assumed found in the Mystic Valley as the only thing that confirms he was even there), Leon summons the girl one last time. Upon seeing her being the same age as she was the first time, Leon understands that wishes "transcend time and space" and "the power of Atlantis is the power of human heart (or wishes)". He also says his "hunch had been correct", meaning, he had assumed this earlier already. Finally, he sends his journal home, to his beloved wife, Encia.
One more thing is funny here, how did Allen not realize the final part of Leon's journal should not be at his villa? But maybe he just thought it was delivered by some sort of messenger and his mother never told him cause it was too painful or something.
Anyway, Allen, sill pissed at his cheating homewrecking father (also, the large sum of money that Leon used to "buy the lives of the crew" of the Asgard leviship was surely missed in the household budget, which is something the artbooks confirm as well), finally sees the truth which is that his parents truly loved each other. But he still can't understand why Leon left.
What Leon says to that is that "he wanted to break free of his destiny" because he married and had family out of duty. Finally, he says something like "what did it matter finding out if the Power of Atlantis is the power of wishes/feelings, when I didn't even understand my own wishes/feelings"... he concludes that he "loves Encia" and encourages Allen to "follow his heart" as well. The wishes/feelings duality comes from the word 思い (omoi) that Escaflowne uses very often. And means both, btw. That's why I didn't use literal translation of that line, cause I think Leon is talking more of his feelings there.
Also, I want to say something the words for "love" that were used:
恋する (koi suru) in the artbook for Leon / Hitomi's grandma
愛する (ai suru) Leon in his own words towards Encia (Allen also uses this in his confessions).
Ai suru is definitely the deeper type of expression, where koi suru can be sort of the infatuation, crush, yearning; ai suru is something you do not say lightly and shouldn't be something short-lived.
(My Own) Conclusions
So from all this, I feel like I want to headcanon that Leon met Hitomi's grandma even before Encia. I believe nothing that I've seen in the anime contradicts that option (even if the artbook kinda does). It would also be the most merciful one that puts him in the better light. He was researching Atlantis, met this mysterious girl on one of his trips but went back and married for duty. But the "what ifs" haunt him and the call of Atlantis prevails over his "destiny" in Asturia. The age difference of their meeting would also be way less creepy.
The worse option would be, he actually left the family first, met the girl and spent all the years searching for the power of Atlantis that could lead him back to her again. But I don't think it necessarily had to mean romantic love. Actually, I decide it doesn't. She probably personifies his obsession, the goal of his Odyssey. Imagine, he gives up on everything, including his own family and life, in search for something pretty unspecific. And then, at the end of one torturous journey, a girl falls from the sky. Probably, the fate would have him believe he searched for that girl, right? There has to be some higher meaning to their meeting. It's really as if one of these scholars and adventurers searching for Atlantis (on Earth) could suddenly talk to someone who lived there. Of course they would become obsessed. Their talk was too short, if he could talk to her some more, maybe he would understand. It would give a meaning to his journey. But in the end he realizes he had it wrong. He was searching for something he already had with his wife and family.
One last thing that would be interesting to look into is how it all influences Allen. One strong thought I had was, at one point in the episode, it really looks like his father abandons his "duty" for a woman which is something Allen doesn't do with Marlene. But I always feel like it haunts him a little that he gave up on his first love like that. So would he understand Leon a little, if it wasn't for all the grief he caused his mother? I really like the "heroic story can be forged out of the playboy Allen" from the artbook btw. I think this sort of captures the creators intentions for him. As for Leon, he still remains kind of an enigma... also wish I hadn't noticed today that the color of Hitomi's mother's eyes seemed dark blue in some shot... damn, I don't even want to go there X_X So I won't. This is it for today.
When Hitomi was doing the reading for Allen, the final words that were left unsaid when he stopped her were “eternal farewell to your father”. Her hand trembling, there was no way she could speak out such a dark result. Is there truth to this reading?! Only the tarot cards know…
