Hunter x Hunter No. 417: Contingency

Poor Salkov has been put in an impossible situation. He has witnessed the murder of Prince Tserriednich at the hands of Prince Benjamin, and intends to find the course of action that will stop Tserreidnich from reviving. However as it stands, it’s impossible to know what of the current situation is part of his ability. His death was exceptionally brutal, and believing he could still be alive and with a plan is very hard. It seems to me, the more realistic and horrible the death, the more likely it is that Tserriednich will come back with overwhelming power, as seems to be the theme of this storyline. The riskier the play, the more awesome the reward.

As Benjamin’s tour de force continues, he meets up with two of his sisters, Tubeppa and Tyson, both of whom he infects with the deadly virus, as he has Camilla. All of them are now on a countdown to their deaths, Benjamin of course included. Benjamin reflects on what he has achieved and what is yet to complete, intending to put Fugetsu out of her misery, clearly having a soft spot for her. Benjamin’s plan for Oito and Woble is interesting, having some heart for them too, intending to declare them dead officially while in reality exiling them if Woble is safe on the mainland. However if the real Woble is on board, they will be summarily executed. Unfortunately there is a translation mistake here, calling Oito a Prince instead of a Queen, which led to some confusion for me on my first read-through. Hunter x Hunter is an exceptionally wordy series so I do empathise with the translators. I’m sure it’ll be fixed in the volume release, but I do think Viz should re-upload corrected chapters to their site sooner than that.

Given Benjamin’s plan, it’s safe to say Kurapika and Co. Are not out of the woods. The need to prove Woble isn’t on board is more important than ever. Benjamin’s gambit is wiping out all heirs. If he does this, when he dies he will ascend to becoming a Nen beast, becoming a guardian of one of his chosen blood relatives. The unknown variable is, as always, Beyond Netero, and whatever his curse will do could easily undermine everything Benjamin is trying to do. His next step, to confront his mother.

Part of me is rooting for Benjamin at this point, now knowing he really can’t succeed with Tserreidnich being the snake he is, it makes him more of an underdog. Even though he’s done some awful things, and plans to do worse, even being willing to kill a baby, he has some moral compass, as twisted as it is. Soon we will catch back up to Chapter 410, with Benjamin making his demands to the Zodiacs. With Benjamin’s push at full power, I know the action is going to break out at any moment and I can’t wait. One character we haven’t seen for a really long time now, is Leorio! We saw Gon and Killua, but where’s the final main character!?