Hunter x Hunter No. 412: Question

Following the cliffhanger of last time, Kurapika reveals exactly why Prince Woble is not eligible for the succession contest. The baby with which we are familiar is in fact, Oito’s sister’s child, and have been swapped for safety, meaning the child we currently see is not a Kakin Prince. The way this is figured out by the principle cast is a really great bit of writing. Attention is brought to Kurapika’s mispronunciation of Kakin names, unable to distinguish between the masculine and feminine endings of names. Using this information, Kurakpika is able to find the contradictions in the way Oito referred to her child. Bill is definitely the MVP of this chapter for his language skills.

If the real Prince Woble is still aboard, it could spell trouble. Benjamin and Zhang-Lei’s guards are now aware of the switcheroo, but haven’t changed tack, meaning that they are very much aware of this possibility too. The unknown factor is Beyond Netero. The curses he has placed on his children (the majority of whose identities are still unknown) could activate at any time, killing the real Prince Woble.

Beyond is a weird and eccentric character, charming and hateable in equal measure, his methods are heinous, his moral code questionable, he is the spearhead of this Dark Continent Expedition, and arguably the most important character of the Saga. His plan to undermine the entire Kakin Empire receives yet another layer in this chapter, as he intends to change the law of Kakin in order to put the Royal family on an equal playing field as the rest of the populace. If I were to speculate, based on the way Nen curses have been explored just last week, it is highly possible that some kind of unilateral constitutional change would be a trigger for his cursed offspring. While the Kakin Empire is despicable, Beyond is no hero.

As Kurapika emphasised last time, the higher the risk, the higher the reward for these curses. Such a change would be near-impossible to pull off, and would certainly lead to something big. We also must not forget the possibility, raised by Longhi, that one of the Princes is secretly the child of Beyond Netero as the rules of the Contest do not specify paternal lineage as a determining factor. I won’t yet speculate on who it could be.

As the narration counts down to the declaration of Special Martial Law, I anticipate some big fights to come, as it’s been quite some time since we’ve had a punch-up. Before that, Kurapika’s Nen lessons need to begin . The pieces are slowly but surely falling into place, the once-foggy goals are coming into focus. The Dark Continent still seems far out of reach, but the Succession Contest is surely beginning to reach its climax. Whatever Benjamin has in store for the inhabitants of the Black Whale 1 cannot be good. I hope that we can also learn more of what Netero wants out of all this soon.