Woke up to a realization.

[xaq_the_aereon]

In my dreams last night, my subconscious was apparently out of interesting ideas and decided to try and make sense of some parts of Anghel's backstory that have bugged me for months.

I ultimately came to a conclusion: kjorteo's theory that the "Cage of Ice" he claims to have been trapped in cannot have been literal. He has to have been active in the school as a student the whole time.

1- If such were the case, failing to wish for the mad love of a fallen angel at the Tanabata would mean that he couldn't possibly have ever shown up in the game at all, as he never would have been freed.
2- Ryouta's familiar with who he is in BBL, recognizing him as a student from the class next door, a member of the manga club, and a reputable nutcase. He couldn't have achieved any of those things in a short amount of time while under literal imprisonment (particularly the reputation, as well as getting registered with the school at all and getting a Student ID).
3- Regardless of whether you choose his route or not prior to BBL engaging, he knows the protagonist and refers to her as Edel Blau. Proven when he identifies her by both names when interrogated by Sakuya and Ryouta.

In short, I'm 100% certain the "Cage of Ice" is not a literal form of imprisonment, merely an embellishment of his head-canon backstory regarding the Crimson Angel's history with the Apostle of the Blue Sky.


Another problem that came up was the nature of his still being a sophomore despite being involved with the medical center studies 5 years ago, during which time he probably would have been a student as well. 2 possible explanations come to mind: St. Pigeonation's is a K-12 type of school, or Anghel's incapable of focusing on his studies well enough to keep from getting held back multiple times. I'm guessing the former, since in the latter case I would think they'd have kicked him out by now.


Anyway, just wanted to get that written down before I forgot.

Comments

[davidn]

So that just leaves the greater question of... what happened! How does he know her, why does he address her as "{regal/precious} blue" (I'm not sure if there is a more likely translation in context) and why she, specifically, imprisoned him in the cage of ice (whatever that now is) long ago.

[kjorteo]

Regarding the Cage of Ice: I really, really don't want to let this theory go. I admit you have a fair point, but I'd honestly rather try to figure this out in terms of answering the inconsistencies it raises (how he got his reputation, etc. while imprisoned) than toss it and figure anything out in terms of what else he could have meant.

1. He is imprisoned until you wish for the mad love of a fallen angel or BBL starts (the former first if you were on his route pre-second term, obviously) at which point he coincidentally escapes. Of course he never shows up in the game at all otherwise. That's why he's a secret character! The fact that he literally only appears on his own route and BBL actually supports this theory. It's proven that Shuu is merciful enough to ... delay his prisoners' executions for a while if you're doing BBL, since you can be on his path, meaning you sold out Yuuya and admitted he was lying and all that, and Yuuya is still fine when BBL starts.

2. Anghel probably got his student ID, his reputation, etc. from before he disappeared. You said he's a Sophomore, right? Maybe he spent his Freshman year wandering around the campus generally being Anghel, and then got Cage of Ice'd before the Sophomore year started.

3. He also knows who Sakuya is--or at least knows of him well enough to give him a nickname and everything--even though they've very clearly never met. He just ... is familiar with the main cast; it's part of his "being secretly aware of the plot of BBL" power.

Regarding the other problem: I am convinced that Anghel was not around during the events of five years ago. Yeah, he was imprisoned in the Cage of Ice and all that, but no one ever said that happened five years ago, or that he was around to have met Nageki, or any of that. He just came along as a Freshman, and all this happened anyway. Remember, as BBL definitely proves, it's not like the medical center fire made Shuu give up his plot and stop experimenting on people or anything.

The only thing I'm still stuck on is why Anghel thinks Edel Blau imprisoned him in the Cage of Ice, or that it happened however many thousands of years ago or whatever. Maybe he's just ... wrong? I mean, Nageki is utterly convinced that he killed himself in the library, even though he didn't, so it's possible...? I don't know.