Umineko: When They Cry — Season 1, Episode 18: Swindles
Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama, Mystery, Crime • 23 min • 1 season, 26 episodes • ★ 7.0/10
Episode synopsis
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.
About Umineko: When They Cry
As customary per year, the entire family is gathering on the island for a conference that discusses the current financial situations of each respective person. Because of the family head's poor health, this year involves the topic of the head of the family's inheritance and how it will be distributed. However, the family is unaware that the distribution of his wealth is the least of Ushiromiya Kinzo's concerns for this year's family conference. After being told that his end was approaching by his longtime friend and physician, Kinzo is desperate to meet his life's true love one last time: the Golden Witch, Beatrice. Having immersed himself in black magic for many of the later years in his life, Kinzo instigates a ceremony to revive his beloved upon his family's arrival on Rokkenjima.