Episode
Umineko: When They Cry: Positional play
Overview
Beatrice and her predecessor engage in a magic battle, though a surprise attack allows Beatrice to kill her teacher. Battler is bewildered by the entire spectacle, but regains his composure when the former Beatrice, under the new name Virgilia, reappears and gives him advice for countering Beatrice's claims, allowing him to deny that the witches' battle ever took place. In the real world, the siblings discover the bodies of Kinzo and the servants, each locked in a room containing the key to the next locked room, forming one large locked room. With Virgilia's guidance, Battler theorizes that one of the six victims is the murderer, created five of the locked rooms, and then died in an accident in the sixth room, forcing Beatrice to concede this round. Meanwhile, Eva, urged on by the vision of her younger self, solves the riddle of Beatrice's epitaph and discovers Kinzo's hidden gold.
Details
- Series
- Umineko: When They Cry
- Season
- Season 1
- Episode
- Episode 14
- Air date
- 2009-10-01
- Runtime
- 23 min
Episode context
Positional play is Episode 14 in Season 1 of Umineko: When They Cry. It aired on 2009-10-01. The runtime is 23 min.
Previous / Next
Episode 13: Gambit
Rosa recounts how she met the human Beatrice confined in a hidden mansion, Kuwadorian, on the island twenty years ago and helped her escape, only to see her accidentally fall off a cliff to her death. Beatrice confirms to Battler that she truly died as a human, and that there are currently no more than 18 people on the island, forcing Battler to accept his loved ones as possible culprits. Genji, Shannon, and Kanon are later summoned to Kinzo's study, where they see Beatrice offer him as a sacrifice and kill him. Kanon is pit against the seven Sisters of Purgatory, defeating Lucifer in a duel, though he and Shannon are overwhelmed as they try to fend them all off at once, prompting Genji to euthanize Shannon and Kanon before he is put to rest by Ronove. The Sisters search the mansion for more sacrifices, killing Gohda in the process. They find Kumasawa as well, who claims to have been waiting for Beatrice. Beatrice reveals Kumasawa to be her predecessor and teacher, the former Beatrice.
Episode 15: Isolated Pawn
Eva is discovered by Rosa and leaves to discuss how Kinzo's gold should be divided among the siblings. The young Eva, however, refuses to share the gold and remains behind, declaring herself to be the head of the Ushiromiya family. Acknowledging the young Eva's achievement, Beatrice appears and dubs her the new "Beatrice", whom Battler deems to be an alter ego for the real Eva. Later, Eva falls ill, and Rosa takes a whining Maria outside to spare Eva from her tantrum. They are suddenly attacked by Eva-Beatrice, who repeatedly kills and resurrects them in bizarre ways. Beatrice takes pleasure in the scene, but ends up enraging Battler, who refuses to play with her any longer. Dejected, Beatrice confronts Eva-Beatrice and mercifully kills Rosa and Maria once and for all, ordering her successor to act more dignified and reasonable in the future.
More episodes from this season
Episode 12: Castling
Several years in the past, a young, human Beatrice meets the Golden Witch "Beatrice" preceeding her and becomes her apprentice in magic. Back in 1986, Eva has recurring visions of her younger self claiming to have magic that will allow her to become the family head, which continue to haunt her during the family conference. Maria receives a letter from Beatrice, who is now powerful enough to summon her butler Ronove, and reads it to the guests during dinner. While discussing the contents and writer of the letter amongst themselves, the siblings talk about a rumor about Kinzo's mistress, a woman named Beatrice, who lived in the forest on the island thirty years ago, prompting Battler to theorize that the human Beatrice is still on the island. However, Rosa confesses to her siblings that she had killed Beatrice.
Episode 16: Queening Square
After the bodies of Rosa and Maria are found, Rudolf, Kyrie, and Hideyoshi go to retrieve food from the mansion, only to be trapped inside by Eva-Beatrice. Two Stakes of Purgatory, Leviathan and Belphegor, are sent to kill Rudolf and Kyrie, though they manage to outmaneuver and defeat them. Eva-Beatrice summons more powerful furniture, the Siesta Sisters, who successfully kill Rudolf and Kyrie. Hideyoshi confronts Eva-Beatrice to knock sense into her, but is killed by her as well. Beatrice berates Eva-Beatrice for ignoring her advice, but Eva-Beatrice tells her off, revealing she knows that acting dignified is only a means for Beatrice to get back in Battler's good graces in Purgatory. However, Battler is convinced to continue playing with Beatrice if he is to make any progress, though he still refuses to forgive her. Virgilia, meanwhile, meets with Beatrice and encourages her to act more passively if she is to make Battler accept witches.
Episode 11: Back rank mate
Shannon attempts to defend herself and George, but are killed by Beatrice. The remaining survivors find Nanjo's and Kumasawa's bodies, followed by the bodies of George, Shannon, and Gohda. Rosa begins to suspect Battler after they find another letter, but Battler and Maria blame Beatrice. Rosa and Maria go to take one of the gold bars from the chapel, leaving Genji to bring Battler before Beatrice herself. In exchange for an explanation of how Beatrice used her magic to commit the crimes, Battler is enslaved and humiliated by the witch before being killed by her goat butlers along with Kinzo. Rosa and Maria are also ambushed by the goat butlers and killed as they try to escape. In Purgatory, Beatrice tortures Rosa into accepting her as a witch until Battler stops her, having regained his will to fight her. Beatrice reveals to Bernkastel that she is aware of her meddling before the witches are joined by another, Lambdadelta, who seeks to participate in the next game against Bernkastel.
Episode 17: Promotion
Battler decides to give Beatrice another chance to change her ways, so Beatrice goes to the real world to visit George, who is still grieving over Shannon's death, and offers to bring Shannon back to life. However, her powers have greatly diminished, but with George's assistance, she manages to resurrect Shannon. Sensing this, Eva-Beatrice kills George and Shannon shortly after they reunite, along with Krauss and Natsuhi in the process. Shortly after the survivors discover the bodies, Jessica accuses Eva of being the culprit. Eva panics and accidentally fires her rifle at Jessica, blinding her with the muzzle flash. While Nanjo escorts Jessica away to treat her, Jessica insists he go back to keep Battler out of danger, but Nanjo is killed by Eva-Beatrice before he can, leaving Jessica completely defenseless.
Episode 10: Accept
The servants try to explain what happened to the others, but when they return to the room where Nanjo and Kumasawa were killed, their bodies are missing. In an effort to gain Rosa's trust, the servants give their master keys to her. Still suspicious, however, Rosa sends the servants off once again, this time with George deciding to accompany them. Put off by Rosa's paranoia and not wanting to suspect his family and friends, Battler begins to accept Beatrice as a witch. Meanwhile, the other servants learn about the mirror Shannon smashed, and remember that Natsuhi was in possession of a similar mirror, which they believe should help them. George, Shannon, and Gohda retrieve Natsuhi's room key from her corpse, but are chased by Beatrice and her furniture along the way. The three manage to enter Natsuhi's room, but Gohda is killed by Beelzebub while he tries to keep the witch's furniture at bay, allowing Beatrice to confront George and Shannon herself.
Episode 18: Swindles
Beatrice resurrects Kanon's spirit for Jessica and defends her against Eva-Beatrice, nearly getting killed in the process. Before Eva-Beatrice can finish her off, Battler brings her to Purgatory to challenge her. Battler theorizes that the real Eva is the culprit, but is unable to explain how Nanjo could have been killed, since Jessica was blind and he was with Eva the whole time. Battler nearly surrenders until Beatrice uses the red truth to "deny" the existence of witches and destroy Eva-Beatrice, leaving the emotionally unstable Eva to kill the other survivors and escape Rokkenjima alive. Battler is brought to the Golden Land where Beatrice and Virgilia suddenly attempt to force him to accept the existence of witches by signing a contract, revealing that Beatrice only pretended to reform to achieve this goal, and that it was Virgilia's strategy to do so. Before they can, Battler is saved by his sister Ange who, twelve years in the future, had been dispatched by Bernkastel to begin a new game. Afterwards, Lambdadelta orders Beatrice to keep winning so that she may be with Bernkastel for eternity. In the year 1998, the resentful, dying Eva grants Ange the name "Beatrice" and the Ushiromiya family headship and fortune. Hoping to find out what really happened to her family in 1986, Ange meets Bernkastel and accepts her offer to save them from Beatrice.
Episode 9: Skewer
Everyone finds Jessica's body in her locked room, while Kanon's is nowhere to be found, having been erased by Beatrice. After the notion of Kanon killing Jessica is deterred since he gave Jessica his master key, the other servants are marked as the most likely suspects. Battler, meanwhile, finds himself unable to think of any way the crime could have been carried out while knowing the servants are innocent. Rosa sends the servants off, hoping to use them as bait to draw out the culprit. In the process, the servants stumble across Kanon, severely wounded but apparently still alive, who tells them that Rosa was the one who attacked him. However, it is soon discovered that this Kanon is a duplicate created by Beatrice. The fake Kanon attacks the servants, killing Nanjo and Kumasawa before being destroyed by the other servants.
Episode 19: End Game
Between 1986 and 1998, Ange leads a harsh, isolated life at St. Lucia Academy, a boarding school Eva sent her to. Between classes, Ange learns about magic from Maria, whose soul is kept alive in her old diary. Maria shows Ange how she was often left at home by Rosa and forced to care for herself with Sakutaro, a stuffed lion doll Rosa made her for her birthday who was brought to life by Maria. In 1998, Ange discovers that she is being hunted for her fortune by her aunt Kasumi, Kyrie's sister, and escapes with assistance from her bodyguard, Amakusa. She begins her journey to Rokkenjima, where she enters Purgatory and becomes Battler's ally against Beatrice under the name "Gretel". To make things more fair for Battler, Ange convinces Beatrice to let Battler use blue text for when he makes his theories. During the family conference in 1986, Kyrie theorizes that Kinzo is already dead, which is why none of them except for Krauss and Natsuhi have supposedly seen him, and that there are actually seventeen people on the island. Battler adopts this theory and states it in blue, but after Krauss and Natsuhi are sent by Kyrie to prove that Kinzo is alive, Kinzo agrees to attend the family conference and settle the argument himself.
Episode 8: Week square
Rosa's siblings and their spouses go missing, while the remaining guests find the chapel door locked. Finding the key inside the envelope Beatrice gave Maria, everyone enters and find the missing people murdered inside, along with some of Kinzo's hidden gold. Jessica and Kanon are ambushed by Beatrice, who summons her legion of goat servants against them. Kanon fights off the goats until Beatrice summons two Stakes of Purgatory, Asmodeus and Satan, who kill Jessica and Kanon. In Purgatory, Battler and Beatrice suspend their game to determine how the first six people could have been murdered inside a locked room. Battler begins forming several theories, but Beatrice counters most of them, using red text to speak the truth. However, Battler manages to catch Beatrice off guard by theorizing that the culprit could have taken the key from the envelope, locked the dead bodies in the room, and put the key back where it was. Beatrice congratulates Battler, but remains confident he will submit.
Episode 20: Zugzwang
Ange briefly withdraws from Beatrice's game to confront Maria over her denial of being neglected by Rosa, but Maria tells her that she is content with Sakutaro ensuring her mother's love. Beatrice decides to show Ange how she, upon noticing how Maria created a soul for Sakutaro, gave a human body to Sakutaro and named Maria the Witch of Origins, joining forces with her in a witch's alliance called Mariage Sorcière. Ange recounts how she too was once a member of this alliance and learned how to summon the seven Sisters of Purgatory, becoming close friends with Mammon in the process. By the year 1998, however, she loses the ability to use magic, and continues her investigation of the Rokkenjima murders. Before she returns to the game, Ange is confronted by Lambdadelta, who tells her that if Battler defeats Beatrice, he will return to her past self in 1986 while her current self will remain alone, and proposes that Ange can remain with her brother if he continues to fight against Beatrice for eternity.