i love the parallels drawn between episode 1 hoeru and hisamitsu in the flashback. both are tired of losing things, except hisamitsu wants to take away from people before they can take away from him, and hoeru decides to have nothing and never belong so that there's nothing for him to lose.
both risked their lives for power, but hisamitsu's drive for power displays his will to live—to grasp at anything for the power because he's tired of losing, while hoeru's drive for power displays his lack of regard for his own life, reaching for a ring that has consumed (presumably killed) someone before his very eyes, simply to save a friend who was in need.
neither belong in the mundane world—too changed and too broken for society. while hoeru finds a group of stragglers who accept him for who he is, kuon breaks apart even further until he no longer exists as a human but simply as part of the queen.