neko’s thinkbox

Finally.

Ever since I watched episode 1 of Baccano yesterday in the afternoon, I have been curious about why the vice-director of Daily Days, Gustav Saint-Germain, mentions the year 1711 and the ship Advenna Avis as a possible starting point for the whole story. Indeed, up until now we only have been led through the hectic early 1930’s, and except of that one small reference, there were absolutely no hints on the events that took place in the 18th century.

Episode 7 will finally unveil those events, the mysterious and dark origins of Baccano.

As I was watching the Opening, I was expecting a review of the past events (and the catchy trumpet solo), but this time there was none. I almost thought I had opened ep 1 by mistake, but no it was ep 7. Now that I know what this episode is about, I can understand why there was none: it would be totally unrelated to the events of that time – however, since Baccano has been so chaotic up until now, it wouldn’t have been so odd though.

You would expect this episode to continue in the same fashion as the six preceding episodes, however, for once, this episode is fairly normal. That’s right, normal. There is only one location, the ship, and in all there are only two different events that are intertwined. And they are closed at the end of the episode as well, such that you can logically assemble those pieces in your mind on the spot.

“Everything begins on board of the Advenna Avis.”

Baccano no Renkinjutsushi… Erm, no, wrong reference. No FMA please.

Anno 1711, on board of the Advenna Avis, a ship that is crossing the Atlantic. Gerd (Gureddo sounds more like Gred, Gret, Grett, w/e but not Gerd… that would be Gerudo… Ayu = sloppy? Or is it like that in the novel?) and Sylvie are debating whether eternal life at the cost of having a demon lurking around is worth it or not. Because, in order to discover the Cure-All elixir that renders a person immortal, a demon must be summoned first… Maiza Avaro, an alchemist, plans to summon said demon to achieve that utopic task. Amongst the population of the ship, Szilard Quates is the only one who expresses his distrust in Maiza.

Huey Laforet, who overheard Gerd’s and Sylvie’s discussion, expresses his eager interest in the upcoming event, and in the influence it will have in everyone’s behaviors, no matter how evil the demon might be. Perhaps he is implying, he knows that in the end, it’s not the demon that will bring evil upon them, but they themselves; they, who eventually will acquire eternal life.

Maiza finishes the preparations and gathers everyone in the lower deck. After a thorough justification of his actions, he begins the summoning. After some chants, the demon (who will remain hidden all along), interrupts him and tells him that he doesn’t want to hear all of those complaints, and that he is omniscient anyway. After each criticism about their behavior, he dismisses it with a “maa ii”, which translates to “oh well”, “but all right”.

Quates can’t wait for trying the elixir out on himself.

The demon tells Maiza the method to making the sought-after Cure-All elixir, and hands him a bucket full of elixir. Quates is the first one to try it out, but after swallowing the cup of elixir, he complains that the elixir is a fake. The demon then tries to convince him by chopping his head off, much to the horror of the fellow shipmates. But a few seconds later, all the blood and the head return to their original place and Quates is safe and sound. Upon this confirmation, everyone wants to drink a mouthful of elixir.

The demon, however, instructs them about some rules that they all will have to abide to. First, they are immortal, so they can not die in any way possible, but one single way: if they grow tired of living and want to die, another immortal might place their right hand on the head of the one who wants to die in order to ‘eat’ them, to literally absorb them, ending their life and acquiring all of their knowledge. Transmitting knowledge works with the same method. Finally, they should not use fake names to identify themselves, so they could recognize immortals, even in a distant future. Ultimately, Maiza is the only one who knows how to create more of the elixir.

The next day, Maiza decides to seal that knowledge so to restrict the number of immortals to the few people on board. Everyone except Quates and Huey (who wants to postpone his opinion) agree with that decision.
In the evening however, he secretly decides to entrust half of his knowledge to his younger brother Gerd, and ponders whether he should eat Quates or not.

From left to right: Sylvie, Czeslaw, Gerd, and Fermet

But, as indicated in the beginning of the episode, the good times are not for long. Szilard Quates, as everyone knows already, is a greedy bastard, so he goes on a rampage on board of the boat and eats some people here and there… just because he wants more knowledge. And guess who he eats? Exactly, Gerd, who knows half of the method to create the elixir. Sylvie, who wanted to be with Gerd, did not drink any of the elixir (unlike Gerd), thus rendering it impossible for Quates to eat her. Eventually we will know that she kept her elixir in a small bottle… What will happen to the bottle? Perhaps someone we know will have drunk it out at some point of the story?

After some fighting with Maiza and other alchemists, Quates falls into the sea. On top of the mast, Huey witnesses all of the happenings, and has a conversation with the demon. The demon seems to like the development of matters so far and has a lot of fun by only observing from afar. He also anticipates some event that will eventually take place somewhere in the future.

Back to the 1930’s, where Maiza tells Luck Gandor (?) that they have nothing to fear from the Runoratas, and leaves the room. Luck thinks aloud, saying that Quates might be in the neighbourhood. “Maa ii.”

More knowledge! AND MOAR CAEK PLZ GIMME CAEK

This episode sure gives me a lot of stuff to discuss about. It’s a whole revolution of the story, actually. Quoting the Daily Days’ vice-director’s speech: “Depending on who you place in the center of the same accident, the characteristics of said accident change kaleidoscopically.”

This statement is pretty much self-explanatory. After watching this episode, my opinion of the whole story and the interaction with its characters has been turned upside down. And, all of a sudden, a lot of things seem clear to me now.

I did not see many of the people I knew from the past episodes on board the ship; I saw Maiza, Quates, Czeslaw… Who else? I am sure I overlooked some. Now, we know Quates’ goal: the acquirement of knowledge. He knows only half of the method to create the all-cure elixir by having eaten Gerd, and he has always failed to recreate the All-Cure elixir – he did create an elixir that makes people invulnerable, but not eternally young. It is then safe to assume that the people under his commands, like Barnes, have drunk some of the elixir. Which explains why he could have been eaten by Quates as well.
At first I thought “well, he’s just a dominant and greedy bastard”, but after this episode, suddenly Quates is the ultimate villain to me.

Maiza’s goal, well, he still knows about the method to create the elixir. We know from his words to Gerd that he might use it in case he encounters special or wonderful people. Remember the first episode, where Isaac got his ear cut by a spear, but his wound vanished? Well, how could he have gotten this ability? I doubt he has ever been in contact with Quates. Now, there is episode 6, where after Maiza’s and Firo’s fight, the head of the Camorra organization shoots through the roof, and Miria screams from the floor above that Isaac has been killed. Perhaps it was just Miria overreacting over that gunshot, and Isaac fell down to the floor. Or… Maiza might have gone upstairs and given Isaac some of the elixir to save him?
Also in the first episode, Firo gets his fingers cut, but he regenerates – perhaps Maiza also gave him some elixir…?

Will this bottle play a significant role in the future…?

Czeslaw remains a mystery though. In Episode 2, he had hesitated to say his name, but he remembered the rule. What did he expect exactly? “Is there an Immortal among these people?” he asks himself. If there had been, would someone have told him? No response would mean no Immortal in the room… yet why is he doubting? Why is he so sure that there are Immortals on that train? In episode 6, still, he is determined to find the Immortals. (By the way, who is that Fermet sitting next to him all the time on the ship? His eyes are always covered by his hair…)

Up to now, Huey has only been a name, an imaginary person who had been locked up in jail, and who the Lemures wanted to free from jail. Now we have a face, but we do not have any hints on what his intentions are so far. He says he will watch from afar, like the demon, and give his opinion on whether Maiza’s decision was right or wrong in 200 years time, which would be around the 1930’s. What is he up to? I think he has a crucial role in the current events.

The last part of episode 7 is especially intriguing: if that person indeed is Luck Gandor… Why does he say “maa ii”? Silly question, I know, it’s such an obvious hint. Yet it iss so unlikely, it’s almost unimaginable. Is Luck Gandor the demon?? Is he perhaps trying to set up his own mafia gang in that epoch to have loads of fun while seeing his henchmen die in the war of the mafias? The Runorata’s, the Martillo’s… Wait, why is Maiza in Gandor’s office anyway? I thought he was a Martillo… Is that something from even before the 1930 events? Perhaps the Martillo family is under the command of the Gandors… It doesn’t seem that Maiza is aware that Luck could be the demon either…

Huey and the demon, watching from above. Stalkers.

Also, what was Elmer’s role? In my synopsis I didn’t mention him once, even though he was quite annoying with his “let’s laugh/smile together”, and his pretty silly actions on top of the deck, to catch Quates’ attention. He falls into the water, but isn’t he immortal? If yes, then I think he would have survived it all right, but why does the demon grant him one wish? And what was that wish? Being able to see Sylvie again, maybe? (She turned him down nevertheless haha)

Last but not least, what, or who is Rail Tracer now? Who, out of all the people who were on board of the ship, could he (or perhaps she) be? And what justifies their actions on board of the Flying Pussyfoot? Same for the green-clothed girl… Wait, the possibility exists that she also is an Immortal. And that scene where Rail Tracer whispers something in her ear could have been him telling her his real name, and she recognized him…

Once again, a considerable part of the puzzle has been solved; however, as you can see, there are again so many pieces that have been added to the stack, and there is no end in sight. Actually, it is a 3D puzzle, because you can look at it from so many points of view:

“There is only one accident, however, there are as many stories explaining it, as many as there are people involved in it.”

I can imagine that only the very last episode will give us the final piece that will link all of these stories ultimately. And until then, we’ll have to put with the chaotic telling of the story.

Maa ii…?

And lastly, one final line about yet another statement of the Daily Days’ vice-director from episode 1:

“It wouldn’t be strange if we were the beginning of this story.”

Just what the hell is going on! XD Stop confusing me! Enough Baccano (noise) for today!

Here’s the timeline for the events up to Episode 7. (1.32 MB .jpg) Also made the corrections mentioned in the Baccano ep 6 comments - once again, if anyone can give me any kind of feedback on it, a suggestion, a correction: don’t hesitate to do it! Thanks!